Chapter 3843 — Designs on the Art
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
Across the whole of the five great island tiers of the Heaven Rank, those with both the aptitude and the opportunity to cultivate the Formless Divine Art numbered no more than the fingers of one hand.
Yet the Lesser Formless Divine Art that Nan Tianguan cultivated was not the genuine Formless Divine Art, but a simplified version remodeled by a master of high attainment. Its effects were not so heaven-defying as the original, though it retained similar properties—merely greatly attenuated.
The Lesser Formless Divine Art could not fully replicate other martial techniques; even when replicated, the result was somewhat weaker than the original. Nor did its Lesser Formless Divine Technique perfectly fuse the essence of many martial techniques and improve without limit as the genuine one did—it was subject to layer upon layer of restrictions.
Even so, the Lesser Formless Divine Art remained a formidable art far surpassing ordinary cultivation methods, and those with the opportunity to cultivate it were likewise exceedingly few.
The reason Nan Tianguan had been able to obtain the Lesser Formless Divine Art was not only that his own fortune was great enough, but more crucially that a powerful patron of the Nan clan's Three Heroes on the Central Island had spoken on his behalf—only then had he come by it.
More than seventy percent of Nan Tianguan's present attainment and strength was owing to the Lesser Formless Divine Art.
For Nan Tianguan, the more formidable martial techniques he witnessed, the more potent his Lesser Formless Divine Art could become, and the mightier his Lesser Formless Divine Technique would grow.
So long as his martial techniques grew in power, his actual combat strength would keep rising even if his cultivation realm did not advance. That was why Nan Tianguan never tired of it; other cultivators' trump cards and killing moves were, to him, nothing short of a great tonic!
The moment he heard that a mere wandering cultivator's trump card—a great killing weapon—had been able to finish off the Third Brother, Nan Tianyong, whose strength stood at the very peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage, Nan Tianguan's interest was instantly kindled. If he could fuse this man's great killing weapon into his own Lesser Formless Divine Technique, would his strength not rise another notch?
As Nan Tianyong's disciple, Yu Jiang had naturally heard something of Nan Tianguan's cultivation of the Lesser Formless Divine Art—and had long coveted it with watering mouth.
Nor was he alone in this; even his master-by-convenience, Nan Tianyong, whom he had slain, had eyed his Second Brother's Lesser Formless Divine Art with deep envy.
It was only that the two brothers did not get along, and among cultivators profit has always counted for more than kinship. Unless it be a passing of the art from father to son or master to disciple, a thing as vital as a cultivation art could scarcely ever be shared. So however much Nan Tianyong envied Nan Tianguan's Lesser Formless Divine Art, he could do no more than dream of it—he never had the chance to lay hands on it.
But Nan Tianyong's lack of opportunity did not mean Yu Jiang likewise had none.
Had Nan Tianyong still been alive, then out of deference to the bonds of their school, Yu Jiang truly could never have obtained the Lesser Formless Divine Art from Nan Tianguan. The trouble was that Nan Tianyong had now died at his hands without anyone the wiser, and so that obstacle had naturally ceased to exist.
Even among the Nan clan's Three Heroes, own brothers though they were, no one would share a formidable art like the Lesser Formless Divine Art—but what if Yu Jiang could win Nan Tianguan's favor and have the man take him as a disciple?