Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Little Ling’er!

Xianbao Pavilion, the Martial Pavilion.

Ye Tianming stood in a void — a special space that the Martial Pavilion had carved out on its own. Within it stood countless pillars of light, numbering in the millions.

Every one of these pillars contained all manner of top-tier martial arts and divine abilities.

These had been collected by the Martial Pavilion over the years, and some had even been created by the Pavilion itself.

Looking at the martial arts and divine abilities before him, Ye Tianming was still somewhat awestruck.

Guanxuan Academy and Xianbao Pavilion were truly terrifying — this was practically a collection of every martial art in the world.

Not only that, but each martial art and divine ability was documented in extraordinary detail, with annotations from all kinds of top-tier powerhouses, including the very creators of those arts.

It couldn’t be helped — in the world of cultivation, practitioners always ran short on money at some point, and the one thing Xianbao Pavilion never lacked was money. So when certain powerhouses were in desperate need of funds, they would pledge the work of their entire lives to Xianbao Pavilion, and as long as it was something worthwhile, Xianbao Pavilion would pay a very handsome price.

Looking at the densely packed martial arts and divine abilities, Ye Tianming smiled.

The truly high-level ones right now — like the “Heaven-Splitting Divine Fist” created by his second senior sister — still put a bit of pressure on him to absorb. That “Heaven-Splitting Divine Fist” was no longer a technique but a Dao, an extraordinarily terrifying Grand Dao. He didn’t yet have a thorough enough understanding of his second senior sister’s “Dao,” so he would have to hold off on that for now.

But the martial arts and divine abilities here didn’t pose much difficulty for him — he could study and draw from them.

Ye Tianming took a deep breath and began examining these martial arts and divine abilities directly.

He, Ye Tianming, was not walking just a single Grand Dao — he was walking the path of Dao Merging. And since it was Dao Merging, why couldn’t he merge with ten thousand Daos?

Of course, the simplest path was still merging with the Tianming Sword, since the Tianming Sword was his own. After merging Daos with Xiaohun, his strength would take a substantial leap forward.

He naturally wouldn’t be satisfied with just that — if he could merge with every Dao in the world…

Just thinking about it was thrilling.

He remained quite clear-headed, knowing he didn’t yet have that kind of capability. What he could do now was lay a solid foundation first.

And the resources here at Xianbao Pavilion and Guanxuan Academy could forge his foundation into something unshakably solid.

The cultivation speed in this place was also different from the outside world — one year of cultivation here corresponded to only one day passing outside, and what he lacked most right now was undoubtedly time.

In the time that followed, he began frantically studying the martial arts and divine abilities within the Martial Pavilion.

He studied with complete absorption. Where had he ever had the chance to encounter so many martial arts and divine abilities before? Although most of them were inferior to what he currently possessed, each still had its own unique merits.

For instance, he learned one divine ability: the Myriad Dharma Manifestation.

The “Myriad Dharma Manifestation” wasn’t particularly high in rank, but it had one very special quality — simulation. After learning this dharma manifestation, one could simulate the opponent’s dharma manifestation. Of course, the reason its rank was low was that it could only produce a simulation without possessing the full power of the opponent’s manifestation.

But in Ye Tianming’s view, if he could understand the core of the opponent’s Grand Dao, then the manifestation he simulated could fully match the opponent’s in terms of capability.

He decided to give it a try.

He stood up, slowly closed his eyes, and after some unknown amount of time, a mysterious pressure suddenly appeared between heaven and earth. Simultaneously, a dharma manifestation quietly condensed behind him, and as it took shape, wave after wave of terrifying oppressive will spread out from the heavens and earth like a tide.

The Imperial Dharma Manifestation!

What he was simulating was none other than Yang Jia’s Imperial Dharma Manifestation.

Soon, a towering and majestic Imperial Dharma Manifestation appeared behind him.

Ye Tianming looked at the Imperial Dharma Manifestation he had condensed and shook his head with a smile.

His Imperial Dharma Manifestation was still quite a bit inferior to Yang Jia’s — the main reason being that he lacked an imperial heart.

The Imperial Dao that Yang Jia had established stemmed from his imperial heart and his desire to become the master of the universe. But he, Ye Tianming, harbored no such ambition, so the dharma manifestations the two of them formed would naturally differ greatly.

Ye Tianming gave a light wave of his right hand and the manifestation disappeared. He shook his head with a smile — the “Myriad Dharma Manifestation” was indeed somewhat underwhelming, and his original idea of copying another person’s Grand Dao didn’t quite work either. Without the other person’s conviction, what you imitated lacked any core substance and wasn’t of much use.

Just as now — the gap between his Imperial Dharma Manifestation and Yang Jia’s was still enormous.

Of course, it wasn’t completely useless. There were times when it could bluff people.

If someone were to copy his dharma manifestation, he’d still be startled.

Besides the “Myriad Dharma Manifestation,” he also learned another divine combat technique.

“The Head-Severing Art!”

This Head-Severing Art was a bit bloody and violent — with a single thought, it directly manipulated the blood within the opponent’s body, causing their head to separate from their body on the spot.

The Head-Severing Art!

Not high in rank, but extremely brutal. Who knows what kind of wrathful person created this.

He liked it!

Learned it!

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, a year had gone by. Over that year, he had studied all the martial arts and divine abilities contained within.

Of course, his “studying” was essentially direct absorption rather than reading through them one by one like a normal person. After finishing, the conclusion he reached was that all paths ultimately led to the same destination.

Though the philosophies differed, the core of pursuing the Grand Dao was the same.

This round of study had been enormously rewarding for him — it gave him an understanding of all kinds of martial arts and divine abilities. While it hadn’t significantly boosted his current combat power, it had been of great help in building his foundation.

Lay a solid foundation!

Better safe than sorry!

Ye Tianming took a deep breath, then left the Martial Pavilion. After returning to Guanxuan Hall, Qin Feng came to find him.

Qin Feng said in a grave tone, “These aristocratic clans and sects have been far too quiet lately — unnaturally quiet. And I’ve received word that they all seem to be secretly recalling the powerful members of their clans. This is clearly a sign they’re planning something.”

Ye Tianming nodded, “Understood.”

Qin Feng glanced at him, “What do you need me to do?”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Protect yourself.”

Qin Feng immediately gave a bitter smile, “I can’t protect myself at all. Even though I’ve built up some forces of my own, they’re no match for them. If they want to kill me, I can only wait for death.”

Ye Tianming turned to look outside the hall, “They should be arriving soon…”

Qin Feng was puzzled, “Who?”

Ye Tianming was about to speak when he suddenly smiled. The next moment, he brought Qin Feng directly into a vast starry sky.

The moment they arrived, he spotted twelve people. Leading them was a middle-aged man, and at the sight of these twelve, Qin Feng’s expression immediately turned solemn.

Among the twelve, four were actually powerhouses at the Ancestor Realm, and the remaining eight were all at the Dao-Establishing Realm — and judging by their auras, they were the kind with absolutely no water in their cultivation.

The middle-aged man at the front saw Ye Tianming and walked over with a smile, “Greetings, Young Master. I am Xiao Xu, Vice Sect Master of the Jing Sect at the Main Academy.”

Ye Tianming smiled, “You’re Miss Mu Qing’s friends?”

“Friends?”

Xiao Xu gave a bitter smile, “We’d love to be friends with Miss Mu Qing, but…”

The status of the Craftsman Sect within the Main Academy of Guanxuan Academy was truly transcendent. After all, the Craftsman Sect had been personally recruited by Sect Master Qin back in the day, and building a good relationship with the Craftsman Sect — what did that mean?

It meant your sect’s strength would increase dramatically.

Dramatically.

Not only could they forge supreme divine artifacts, they could also enhance the quality of existing ones. When the Jing Sect had participated in the “Dao-Slaying War” plotted by Guanxuan Academy, the supreme divine artifact within the sect had been severely damaged. From that point on, the Jing Sect’s strength and standing had plummeted sharply — and it was only later, with Mu Qing’s help, that their supreme divine artifact was finally restored.

Beyond that, Mu Qing had also forged several exclusive divine artifacts specifically for them.

Exclusive divine artifacts!

These were more than five times stronger than ordinary divine artifacts, because they were crafted according to the individual’s own Grand Dao philosophy — tailor-made for the person, one could say.

And within the entire Guanxuan Academy, only two people currently had this ability: one was Mu Qing, and the other was her grandfather — who listened to her.

You could afford to offend her grandfather, but you could not offend her. Offending her was the same as offending the entire Craftsman Sect, and offending the entire Craftsman Sect meant you were finished — the Craftsman Sect’s connections were extraordinarily vast.

Within the Main Academy of Guanxuan Academy, there were three figures you absolutely could not afford to offend: one was Xiao Ling’er, the Pill Ancestor of the Pill Sect, and another was this Mu Qing.

And Mu Qing and that Xiao Ling’er had an exceptionally close relationship…

It was precisely for all these reasons that when Xiao Xu received Mu Qing’s message this time, he was overjoyed — finally, a chance to get closer to Miss Mu Qing.

Ye Tianming naturally understood that the other party’s courtesy and respect toward him was entirely because of Mu Qing. He smiled and said, “Sect Master Xiao, there are many things I’ll need to trouble you with this time.”

Xiao Xu quickly replied, “No trouble at all. Whatever you need, Young Master, just give the word.”

Beside them, a smile spread across Qin Feng’s face. With these people lending a hand, the situation would be much better.

At the very least, his miserable life wouldn’t be so easily taken from him.

After Ye Tianming returned to Guanxuan Hall, his expression remained grave.

Miss Ding, who was handling official matters, looked over at him, “With those people from the Main Academy helping, you’re still worried?”

Ye Tianming pondered for a moment, then said, “Miss Ding, do you think this Young Master Xin and those aristocratic clans and sects are all fools?”

Miss Ding blinked, “Not entirely foolish.”

Ye Tianming: “…….”

Ye Tianming thought it over, then said, “They know I have this divine sword, yet they still dare to make a move… No, I can’t be careless and underestimate them. I need to call for reinforcements.”

Miss Ding said, “Xianbao Pavilion headquarters? They might not be so willing to listen to you right now…”

Ye Tianming shook his head. He walked to the side, picked up a brush, and began to write.

Miss Ding was a little curious and walked over to look. She saw the words: “Big Brother Jidian, it has been a long time since we last parted, and my longing for you grows with each passing day…”