540 The Way of Eternal Life
Looking at the villain he had slain with a mere thought, Qin Huai was swept over by a wave of emotions.
Being in control of the blood sea felt like being a god, able to observe and even dictate the lives of the martial artists under its purview in Qingzhou City. He could kill them instantly with a single thought.
“The core of the blood sea resonates with the heart. A single thought pierces through countless hearts. Human secrets are truly amazing,” Qin Huai murmured, deep in contemplation. He recalled the images on the water surface shown to him by the Emperor of Qingzhou in the bronze world. It was reminiscent of his current method of surveillance.
Soon, he felt a faint surge of power flowing into the blood sea from Qingzhou City. This power didn’t enter his body, but rather nourished the operation of the grand array.
“It appears that my previous losses have been replenished,” Qin Huai reflected, feeling subtle changes in his body.
Having refined the blood sea core, he was highly attuned to each shift in the blood sea array. It felt as if the array had become part of his soul and body. He knew that if he died, the array would shatter, but the collapse of the array would not affect him.
“Interesting. The blood sea array is undeniably connected to my soul. Could it be that my soul can coexist with the blood sea array even after my body dies?” He contemplated this possibility.
Then, his thoughts shifted to the bronze world array, which was said to envelop the entirety of Qingzhou, drawing upon its power.
“It’s far more sophisticated than the blood sea array,” Qin Huai mused, thinking about its features. “There should be elements of light and dark, life and death, right?”
He speculated that the bronze mountain and river diagram he possessed was the dead eye of the bronze world, and the never-fading ‘power body’ of the Emperor of Qingzhou was its living eye. It was similar to his current situation.
“If so, as long as the array’s energy doesn’t run out, one could theoretically survive for a very long time, even thousands of years, despite a body’s decay,” Qin Huai hypothesized. This could be why the Emperor of Qingzhou had endured for ten thousand years.
“Arrays, arrays, I’ve gained a new perspective on you. Your path is as mysterious and profound as the Great Dao of martial cultivation,” Qin Huai marveled, a sense of awe in his voice.
Qin Huai’s thoughts drifted to the various provinces and the Great You. He wondered if the higher-ups there might employ a similar tactic to the bronze world’s array formation to prolong their lives when they were nearing their ends.
“Or perhaps, the Senior Emperor of Qingzhou isn’t really dead?” He laughed at this audacious idea, pushing it to the back of his mind.
His thoughts danced as he continued to observe the varying states of the human world. Suddenly, he froze, his gaze resting on the spot where he had killed a few people. Experience orbs had materialized there.
“These… They can actually materialize from tens of thousands of feet away?” Qin Huai was thrilled. With just a thought, an experience orb traveled thousands of feet, infusing him with its power.
“Ding! You have collected [Four Square Fist Skill Essence (Orange)],[Four Square Fist Technique] experience points +10,000!”
“Ding! You have collected [Nourishing Blood Essence (Orange)],[Nourishing Blood Technique] experience points +11,111!”
“Ding! You have collected [Tiger Leopard Kick Essence (Orange)],[Tiger Leopard Kick Technique] experience points +11,110!”
“Ding! You have collected…”
In an instant, a myriad of ‘pasts’ entered Qin Huai’s ‘life’.
As time went on, more diverse cultivation techniques started to manifest in his body. The converted blood essence, now conflicting qi and blood, constantly clashed within him. Every time this happened, he had to endure countless life-threatening experiences to adapt to this sensation.
Eventually, Qin Huai’s body seemed to develop a tolerance to the pain. Many cultivation techniques, even those not from a high realm that conflicted with one another, could now smoothly fuse with Qin Huai’s body.
The experience he needed to break through to the fifth-level visceral prefecture realm had been fully accumulated through the divine power book of a thousand creations. Any excess had been stored in his body, unable to be converted.
The main contributor to this was Wang Kun. Upon his death, Qin Huai had absorbed an impressive number of experience orbs. In the span of half a day, he spent a significant portion of his time ‘forging’ these cultivation techniques.
“Now, my ‘vision’ encompasses the entirety of Qingzhou City. Among the millions of martial artists, there are at least a few thousand different cultivation techniques. When I gather them all, won’t I be wielding thousands of techniques simultaneously?” Qin Huai felt a headache coming on.
Despite his body being the most resilient in Qingzhou, he wasn’t certain it could bear such an immense number of cultivation techniques.
For the first time, he was confronted with the challenge of mastering countless techniques. However, he could only take things one step at a time. His first aim was to push his body to its limits.
His gaze started to project images, allowing him to observe the happenings in Qingzhou City. He saw acts of bullying, deception, and mischief occurring in every corner of the city.