Chapter 3493 — The Utterly Unfathomable Heavens?

"And this bird—when the seas move, it will journey to the Southern Darkness. The Southern Darkness is the Pool of Heaven. Vast and profound, boundless and measureless, it is great because it embraces all; the sea admits a hundred rivers..."

Yet this was only the first volume of the Southern Darkness Divine Art's mental cultivation verses—the Chapter of Qi Transformation. From the description, one could transform the spiritual qi of heaven and earth for one's own use, but nowhere did it say how to circulate true qi, nor how to employ it.

In other words, the mental cultivation art Wang Xinyan was practicing could absorb true qi, but could not use it. All she could do by circulating these verses was draw in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and the true qi of others; when it came to summoning true qi for combat, that was beyond her.

Without the corresponding mental verses, Wang Xinyan could neither circulate nor unleash her true qi, and so it could not serve her. One could only say her cultivation level had risen—but she was a harmless sort of expert.

Even so, Wei Zhao was satisfied. He needed nothing from Wang Xinyan; it was enough that she could stay by his side. Her greatest contribution was to assist his own cultivation, speeding his progress.

Though he had no use for it now, it might serve him one day.

So Wei Zhao said, "Since this art suits you, begin cultivating now. Absorb my true qi and make it your own, and once I have raised you to the peak of the late Earth-rank, you may take the Qi Gathering Pill!"

"Then... will absorbing your true qi harm you?" Wang Xinyan asked with some concern.

"No. The true qi I give others replenishes swiftly—I am unlike other cultivators," Wei Zhao said. "So have no scruples. Simply circulate the verses."

"All right, then let me try." Wang Xinyan nodded and began attempting to circulate the art according to the verses of the Southern Darkness Divine Art. The verses were not difficult to comprehend, and under Wei Zhao's guidance she mastered them with ease.

Though somewhat clumsy, it did not hinder her cultivation.

"Good. Now you may begin absorbing the stamina true qi I channel to you!" At this, Wei Zhao circulated the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Art, seized Wang Xinyan's wrist at the pulse gate, and began transmitting stamina true qi into her...

A suction force unlike anything before began to devour the stamina true qi Wei Zhao sent over.

The speed of absorption somewhat surprised Wei Zhao. He had transmitted true qi to others before, yet never so violently—Wang Xinyan was practically wrenching the stamina true qi out of him!

Fortunately, the spiritual qi within Wei Zhao's jade pendant space was inexhaustible; he was merely serving as a conduit. Even so, Wang Xinyan's absorption clearly outpaced his supply, and so no small amount of Wei Zhao's own stamina true qi was drawn away as well.

Of course, Wei Zhao did not mind overmuch. Where the jade pendant space fell short in any given moment, his own body made up the difference. Even if it were drained entirely, he did not care—he had the jade pendant space and could recover at any time.

As all know, a cultivator's stamina true qi is limited; once used, it is depleted and must be restored over time before it brims again.

Some special cultivators are exceptions, however—alchemists, for instance. When their stamina true qi is exhausted, they can overdraw it, drawing out the portion reserved for breaking through levels.

But once that portion is overdrawn, the cultivator's rank falls.

Wang Xinyan, conversely, was likewise such a case. Like Zhang Naipao before her, she could actively absorb the stamina true qi from others' bodies, forcing them to overdraw it passively and thus drop to the lowest rank.

It was by this very trick that Zhang Naipao had once roamed the martial world without a rival—until he met Wei Zhao, this freak, and his road as an expert was cut short halfway.

Now Wang Xinyan was the same. Soon Wei Zhao found his stamina true qi drained away, and still Wang Xinyan showed no intention of letting him go—she began to passively overdraw his stamina true qi.

And so Wei Zhao began to drop from the great perfection of the peak late Heaven-rank, falling level by level, until after a time he felt his strength reduced to the peak of the late Heaven-rank alone!

Wang Xinyan, meanwhile, advanced from an ordinary person toward cultivator: early Yellow-rank, peak early Yellow-rank, mid Yellow-rank... all the way to the peak of the late Yellow-rank, poised to break through to the Mystic-rank!

"Boom—" The instant Wang Xinyan broke through to the Mystic-rank, the clothes on her body burst apart. Her method of breakthrough differed somewhat from how Wei Zhao helped his underlings level up; in essence, Wang Xinyan was advancing herself, distinct from the passive advancement of others.

It was only that Wei Zhao was furnishing her with ample true qi for the ascent.

Yet though her clothes were blasted to shreds, she was only briefly startled. Earlier, at Han Jingyi's home, she had stripped entirely bare, so she no longer much minded such things, and she continued to circulate the verses.

The excitement within her now surpassed her shame—in but a moment she had become a Mystic-rank expert. Her advancement was truly astonishing.

After the Mystic-rank came the Earth-rank... the peak of the late Earth-rank... To Wei Zhao's amazement, Wang Xinyan showed no sign of stopping at all; she was still absorbing the stamina true qi he transmitted!

What was going on? His other underlings, upon reaching the peak of the late Earth-rank, had all halted of their own accord, and his stamina true qi could no longer be passed to them—yet with Wang Xinyan there was no such problem!

After his puzzlement, Wei Zhao thought it over carefully and found it made sense. The verses Wang Xinyan cultivated were meant precisely to absorb others' stamina true qi and make it her own, so her art could absorb any true qi whatsoever. The limit on Wei Zhao's side applied only to other mental arts—but to Wang Xinyan's verses, there was no limit at all!

"Boom—"

Quickly, Wang Xinyan broke through once more, formally stepping into the Heaven-rank! And what delighted Wei Zhao was that Wang Xinyan's verses were plainly superior to Zhang Naipao's Bee-Devouring Divine Art! Zhang Naipao had absorbed himself to the point of bursting, but Wang Xinyan seemed to have no such problem.

Of course, what Wei Zhao did not know was that both the Bee-Devouring Divine Art and Wang Xinyan's Southern Darkness Divine Art had in ages past derived from another remarkable set of mental verses—verses now lost. Only later did the two factions, working from the fragments that had come down to them, recompile these two arts anew! (To be continued) RL