258: century

Inside the Mingchang Hall cultivation chamber, Xiao Zhuo's Divine Thought wandered through the vast, smoke-like Great Thousand World classics.

His comprehension of immortal arts and immortal power deepened daily, and most of his acquired knowledge had been deduced to the Heaven-Grade level.

However, such deductions were still in their initial stages; many immortal arts still had flaws, making them unsuitable for actual combat, and required long years of refinement, or tempering to Perfection through life-and-death struggles.

The month after Xiao Zhuo entered seclusion, Yuan Tian returned to Blood Palace with Cao Xiaochuan.

In the bedchamber of the rear hall, Xiao Zhuo finally met his first Disciple.

The young man before him was about sixteen, and his first impression was shyness.

This Heart-Nature caused Xiao Zhuo's brow to furrow almost imperceptibly.

However, when Yuan Tian mentioned that Cao Xiaochuan could condense Soul Power with only a rudimentary understanding of the True Explanation of Soul Refining, Xiao Zhuo's heart was stirred.

He had read about countless Geniuses, but a Divine Soul talent as exceptional as this was truly unheard of.

His gaze, like lightning, fell upon the young man, and Xiao Zhuo finally spoke: "Cao Xiaochuan, are you willing to enter my tutelage and Cultivate the Dao of Soul?"

Cao Xiaochuan subconsciously looked at Yuan Tian beside him.

Yuan Tian grinned, nodding repeatedly in encouragement.

Having traveled together, Yuan Tian had long regarded him as his own Junior, showing him great care, and Cao Xiaochuan also viewed Yuan Tian as a close Senior.

Receiving this encouragement, the young man's eyes became firm, and he knelt before Xiao Zhuo with a thud, prostrating himself to perform the grand Disciple-acknowledgment ceremony: "Revered Master above! Disciple Cao Xiaochuan, I am willing to follow Revered Master and Cultivate the Dao of Soul!"

Xiao Zhuo's lips curved slightly.

This child's talent was astonishing, far surpassing his own in his youth; his future achievements in the Dao of Soul might far exceed expectations.

As for his Heart-Nature, it could be tempered more in the future.

"Good, rise." With a slight thought from Xiao Zhuo, a gentle Divine Thought gently lifted Cao Xiaochuan.

As soon as the young man stood firm, a Jade Slip glowing with golden light and an ancient storage ring floated before him.

"This is the fundamental Cultivation Technique passed down by your Revered Master. Although you are my first Personal Disciple, this acceptance of a Disciple is actually in fulfillment of a promise to a Senior. What you will Cultivate is the Sect's Legacy of that Senior. The hidden Karma within is clear in the Jade Slip. Once you Cultivate it, you will bear a piece of Karma. Consider it carefully!" Xiao Zhuo's voice was solemn and firm as stone, "As for this storage ring, it contains cultivation resources and Spirit Stones for your use. Your Revered Master is about to enter seclusion. If you need anything in the future, you can find Bai Huang."

With that, Xiao Zhuo said no more, his gaze calm, fixed on Cao Xiaochuan, quietly awaiting his decision.

The young man showed no hesitation, reaching out to take the Jade Slip and the ring, his Soul Power instantly probing the Jade Slip.

In an instant, the blood feud between the Sacred Soul Sect, the Soul Refining Sect, and the Blood Palace, as well as the immense burden of rebuilding the Sect, flooded his mind.

What Void Soul sought was not revenge, but only that the Dao Legacy should not be severed, and that the Sacred Soul Sect would have a day to rise again.

However, accepting this Legacy meant that the Soul Refining Sect would very likely become his mortal enemy in the future.

Currently, the Soul Refining Sect might not be able to shake Xiao Zhuo in the slightest, but for Cao Xiaochuan, who still needed to grow, danger certainly existed.

Fortunately, before he matured, his identity would naturally remain a secret.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Cao Xiaochuan looked up, his eyes clear and resolute: "Revered Master! Disciple Cao Xiaochuan, I am willing to bear this Karma!"

Xiao Zhuo smiled, gently stroking the young man's head: "Very good. Cultivate with peace of mind in Mingchang Hall. Your Revered Master will emerge from seclusion for a period each year. If you have any difficulties, you may come for guidance."

With that, Xiao Zhuo's figure suddenly vanished, leaving only Cao Xiaochuan and Yuan Tian in the hall.

Since the young man had already condensed Soul Power, the storage ring was easy to use.

He solemnly put away the Jade Slip, his gaze as unyielding as a rock, and turned to walk resolutely out of the hall... Time flew by, and a year passed in a flash.

On this day, the deduction progress on the panel finally reached Perfection.

"Ding!"

"Deduction successful. Cultivation Technique information has been fully imported into the host's Sea of Consciousness."

In the cultivation chamber, Xiao Zhuo awoke from deep enlightenment, closing his eyes and concentrating. Profound and vast Cultivation Technique information surged like a river, flowing into his mind.

This was a High-grade Heavenly Tier Cultivation Technique, perfectly compatible with his The Way of Freedom, forging an immaculate path to the heavens tailored for him.

The Cultivation Technique revealed that he needed to primarily Cultivate the three great Dao Principles: Soul Law, Space Law, and Law of Thunder, using them as a foundation to integrate into his own Dao Principle and command wan fa (myriad laws).

It also contained a supreme method for tempering the Dao Principle of Freedom.

If he could persevere in these profound Dao truths, the power of wan fa (myriad laws) he commanded would eventually be no less than that of the three primary Dao Principles, reaching the supreme Realm of "commanding myriad Daos with one's own Dao."

"I shall call you Free and Natural Heavenly Art!" Xiao Zhuo's mind was made up.

On the panel, the corresponding entry appeared.

High-grade Heavenly Tier, enough to support him in reaching the Profound Immortal Realm, and currently more than sufficient.

Setting the deduction target again, Xiao Zhuo began to deduce a sacred illusionary art that surpassed the Thousand Illusions Demonic Art.

"Deduction task received: Deduce a sacred illusionary art for the host. Target grade: saint-grade high-rank. Attribute Points required: ten million. Estimated deduction time: seventeen years and three months."

"Confirm?"

To deceive Old Ancestor Blood Heaven and hide from him, the sacred illusionary art's grade must reach Saint-Grade.

With life and death at stake, Xiao Zhuo dared not be negligent in the slightest, directly raising the requirement to saint-grade high-rank, striving for absolute certainty.

"Confirm!"

Seeing the deduction button glow again, Xiao Zhuo composed himself and began to comprehend and Cultivate the Free and Natural Heavenly Art.

Soul, symbolizing the Origin of the Divine Soul; Space, symbolizing the ultimate of speed; Law of Thunder, symbolizing the Peak of power.

Using these three as the core to forge his own great power, he could then command wan fa (myriad laws) to return to their source.

As the profound art circulated, within his body, apart from the translucent Soul Law runes containing the Profound Truth of the Divine Soul, the silver-glowing Space Law runes connecting the void, and the dark-gold shimmering Law of Thunder runes containing the power of destruction, all other Laws were dispelled and stripped away.

At this moment, the Law of Thunder was the strongest, having reached thirty percent of the Great Thousand World; the Space Law was next, at ten percent of the Great Thousand World; while the Soul Law remained at the Middle Thousand Realm Domain Perfection Realm.

He did not possess a Soul-type Divine Body. To comprehend the Great Thousand World Soul Law, there were only two options: first, to personally step into the Major Thousand Worlds and explore the Profound Truth of the Soul; second, to reverse-deduce and trace the source using the fragments of Soul Law contained within the myriad laws source seed, which had already merged into the Zizai Dao Principle Immortal Script.

With his mind focused, Xiao Zhuo completely immersed his Divine Soul into the mysterious and unfathomable Zizai Dao Principle Immortal Script deep within his Sea of Consciousness, beginning to capture and comprehend the fragments of the Great Thousand World Soul Law contained within it.

The Cultivation of the Free and Natural Heavenly Art required all three great Laws to reach the ten percent Great Thousand World Realm.

He cast aside all distracting thoughts, his mind completely absorbed in the boundless profundity of the Soul Law.

Time flowed silently, unnoticed, and a hundred years passed in a blink.

Within these hundred years, the Dao Yi Realm's Origin was reclaimed by Xue Qin, while the Nether Soul Realm vanished into the depths of the boundary Realm sea, its whereabouts unknown.

However, the Dao Yi Realm had, after all, once merged with a world Origin, giving it a deep foundation.

After Blood Heaven merged its Origin into the Blood Demon Realm, the Blood Demon Realm's Origin grew to six strands, only three strands short of the nine Origins required to trigger the Great Thousand World advancement tribulation.

The forces under the Blood Palace began to continuously explore the surrounding boundary Realm sea, searching for traces of Middle Thousand Realm Domains.

And Cao Xiaochuan, after receiving the Sacred Soul Scripture, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

In a hundred years, he had actually condensed a third-rank soul infant, reaching the Soul Cultivator level of the Void Refining Realm.

Under Yuan Tian's protection, he ventured out for experience, gradually showing his prominence among the younger generation and gaining some renown.

However, almost no one outside knew that he was Xiao Zhuo's Personal Disciple, only thinking he was a Prodigy from some reclusive Soul Cultivator Family coming out for experience.

Xiao Zhuo, too, finally emerged from his cultivation chamber, which had been sealed for a hundred years.

His white hair, as his vital essence gradually recovered, had almost entirely turned black, with only two clusters of silver strands like frost and snow imprinted at his temples, which never faded.

He had long since shed his disguise as "Blood Sea"—for Blood Heaven, his Origin was utterly insignificant; what Blood Heaven valued was only whether Xiao Zhuo could be used by him.

Since the Thousand Illusions Demonic Art could not deceive Blood Heaven's Dharma Eye, there was no need to continue using it. Xiao Zhuo had already confessed his identity from the Yuan Realm during the past hundred years, but the Blood Palace's attitude towards him remained unchanged, as his achievements were evident to all.

Since the Law of Blood had been dispelled, the Innate Blood God Body only left Xiao Zhuo with a few divine peculiarities brought by the Divine Body itself.

The new sacred illusionary art was named Heavenly Illusion Sacred Art by Xiao Zhuo.

On the very day the Heavenly Illusion Sacred Art's deduction was successful, Xiao Zhuo directly added Attribute Points to it, pushing it to the breakthrough limit.