The bowl of medicine did indeed look a bit nauseating, but it was the key to unlocking the second stage of the Radiant Divine Eyes.
Fang Chen took a deep breath and drank it all in front of Fairy Yu. Fairy Yu couldn't bring herself to watch and turned her head away.
A few moments later, Fairy Yu carefully peered at Fang Chen.
After downing the medicine, Fang Chen suddenly felt that his left eye had become unbearably itchy, and waves of discomfort surged through him. He really wanted to reach up and scratch the itch off.
"You seem to be in a lot of discomfort," Fairy Yu said anxiously.
Seeing what was happening, the Qinghu Empire's ruler and the other two approached cautiously. When they got close, they saw that, although Fang Chen's left eye was tightly closed, there was a faint, odd blue light emitting from within it.
The Qinghu Empire's ruler noticed something and commented in surprise, "He seems to be practicing some kind of eye technique. Maybe he's using the medicine he drank just now to assist in his cultivation?"
The Qinghu Clan also had a heritage of eye techniques, but their lineage's inheritance had long been lost. According to ancient records, if a cultivator could successfully cultivate with an eye technique, it meant that they had boundless potential. They could even reach the Middle Three Realms.
The Qinghu Clan's lineage had declined because they had lost their clan-exclusive eye techniques. Otherwise, the clan wouldn't have been reduced to such a state, with only a few members remaining. This was a testament to how highly regarded eye techniques were in the cultivation world.
"Brother, hang in there. It isn't simple to cultivate eye techniques. You are cultivating the Radiant Divine Eyes, so this point is especially evident. Not to mention that it requires external intervention. As long as you endure and persist through this, the Twilight Eye will be completely under your control!"
"How long will it take?"
To Fang Chen, every moment was excruciatingly painful, and each minute felt like forever to him. He never felt such agony before even when he had experienced twelve years as a wandering lost soul.
"If it were an ordinary cultivator, it might take several years or months, depending on their talent and the strength of their spiritual soul. However, your spiritual soul is exceptional, which can greatly shorten the integration time. It can be completed within a few hours."
Fang Chen didn't know whether he should feel he was fortunate or not. At least, he could push through a few hours with enough determination. If it were several years, he doubted he could endure this trial.
Finally, after a few hours of a horribly painful itch, Fang Chen felt a cool sensation arise in his left eye. This cool feeling quickly spread throughout his body, and the painful itching vanished instantly! At the same time, he suddenly felt the surrounding airflow becoming very distinct, not just regular wind but the elemental forces of the world—the Five Elements!
Fang Chen opened his eyes. They had a strange blue color as he saw the scene before him. The world had become colorful. It was filled with the elemental energy of the Five Elements. Fang Chen felt as though he could use these forces with just a thought.
To validate that feeling, Fang Chen waved his hand lightly, and suddenly, tens of thousands of flying swords condensed in the sky. They shrouded the sky and blocked the sunlight. Only a few rays of light squeezed through the gaps between the swords.
Even Fairy Yu was astonished when she saw that scene.
A faint smile appeared in Fang Chen's eyes, and he gradually gained some enlightenment. Ordinary cultivators used to believe that the more elemental forces they could manipulate, the stronger they were. And that wasn't entirely wrong.
However, the essence of controlling the elements lay in the details. The more details and nuances a cultivator controlled, the more varied the elemental forces became. The more variations they had, the more of an advantage they'd have over their enemies.
For example, Fang Chen could now effortlessly split his thoughts into tens of thousands, forming a sword formation of the same number. This level of control would be challenging even for a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. At that point, the seemingly simple Five Elements Technique could unleash terrifying power.
This was a clear indication that immortal techniques indeed had different levels. If a cultivator's strength was high enough, even simple immortal techniques could produce extraordinary effects.
A few moments later, Fang Chen felt a drastic depletion of spiritual energy, and his thoughts scattered instantly. The vast sword array in the sky quietly disappeared, as if the scene had never existed.
"If I combine it with the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture and infuse it with sword intent within the sword formation..." Fang Chen pondered quietly.
It seemed that he had obtained a new method to battle many enemies at once. Considering his current affinity and control over the Five Elements, the strength of the metal element energy in the sword array was in no way inferior to a top-grade, yellow-rank spiritual treasure that had seventy-two Soul Imprints. It even hinted at reaching the level of a peak-grade, yellow-rank peak treasure. In many future situations, he might not even need to use Little Sword.
Suddenly, Fang Chen's eyes lit up. "Huh, what are these spiritual energies…."
He discovered that there seemed to be several types of energies that existed in the world besides the Five Elements. Fang Chen even found one of them to be familiar, bearing a resemblance to the Purple Lightning Talisman.
Realizing what this was, Fang Chen was caught by surprise. "It's the lightning element!"
There were a few other types of energies besides the lightning element, but Fang Chen couldn't put his finger on what their attributes were. However, they should be other types of rare spiritual energies that existed in the world.
"I've heard that some techniques can manipulate lightning element energy without the need for talismans. Now that I can see it, I wonder if I can control it..." mused Fang Chen.
With this thought in mind, Fang Chen attempted to control the lightning element energy, but no matter how hard he tried, he could only stare at it blankly, unable to control it one bit.
Clearly, he lacked the required techniques to control it. It was like the gap between two great rivers. Without a bridge, the gap couldn't be crossed. Fang Chen could easily control the Five Elements but couldn't control any forces beyond them.
Fairy Yu checked on him cautiously. "Are you feeling better now, my lord?"
"Much better." Fang Chen nodded with a smile. "We've wasted some time. Let's continue on our journey."
In the end, she didn't dare to dwell on it any longer. However, she now looked at Fang Chen with a gaze filled with awe and curiosity.