Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 235: Surge of Power (1)

Endless flows of spiritual qi spewed out onto the mountain peak from the underground spiritual veins, and were then drawn into Wu Yuan's body. The spiritual qi from the Luminous Immortal Soil was also devoured just as voraciously. With multiple sources of spiritual qi, his body underwent a swift metamorphosis, involuntarily exuding a dreadful aura akin to a ferocious beast.

A full day passed before the torrent of spiritual qi finally subsided. Wu Yuan rose, his skin now as clear as jade, his muscles chiseled to perfection. The surface of his skin radiated a faint, earthy luminescence, the mark of the Terranean Eldritch Body.

At long last, success. The first stage of the Communion phase! Wu Yuan exhaled in relief. He sensed the wondrous nature of his soul chamber and the extraordinary characteristics of the earthy-yellow vital ether. It was worlds apart from his previous state.

Thank goodness for the Luminous Immortal Soil. Wu Yuan clenched his fists, feeling boundless power coursing within him. It far surpassed anything he had experienced before. Without it, cultivating a body as robust as mine would have taken an eternity. Who knows how long I would have to absorb spiritual qi?

In the past, my combat power was comparable to that of a Heavenly Ranker, but at the end of the day, I was still mortal, unable to soar through the skies or tunnel beneath the earth's surface, or live much longer than a Grandmaster. Wu Yuan's eyes brimmed with a fiery determination. By reaching the Communion phase, I’ve finally stepped on the path of transcending mortality.

One had to reach the Qi Sea and Communion phases before one could truly call themselves cultivators of the immortal path.

Expelling a breath, Wu Yuan's body levitated into the air without the support of heaven and earth's power.

Most martial artists eventually become qi refiners, forsaking close combat in favor of cultivating mana and arcane arts. Those who go on to become body refiners are the ones who carry on the true legacy of martial artists. Even so, the transformations are equally incredible. A soft smile tugged at Wu Yuan's lips.

Whoosh~ A green robe materialized and draped over Wu Yuan’s body. As the door to the meditation chamber slammed open, he darted out. Light and shadow distorted around as he flew upward into the vast expanse of ice and snow.

So this is flight. Suspended 1000 zhangs above the ground, he felt that treading the air was as natural as stepping on the ground. This newfound ability was granted to him by his soul chamber. The vital ether merged with his flesh and blood, bestowing it with spirituality and allowing him to take flight at will.

Let’s test it out! He dove forward, calculating his speed. My burst speed is around four li per second, with a peak flight speed of 1.5 li per second. This was taking into account the slight boost from heaven and earth's power.

Naturally, he knew that the boost in speed provided by the spiritual qi was minimal compared to that of his body itself, since he was still at the Unity level of skill. Even so, he was seven times faster than the speed of sound. Many Heavenly Rankers who just unlocked their qi seas would hardly be able to reach such speed.

I am not an ordinary body refiner, but someone with second-degree eldritch tattoos, a powerful body, and potent eldritch ether, surpassing many mid-stage Qi Sea cultivators. However, when it comes to flight speed, I am slower than most cultivators in the Middle Land, let alone late-stage Qi Sea cultivators.

Through his interactions with Fang Xia, he had learned that late-stage Qi Sea cultivators could typically reach peak flight speeds of ten li per second. While the flight abilities of an eldritch warrior were decent, it fell short when compared to their qi refiner counterparts. At the Communion phase, one could reach astonishing speeds on land by relying on the strength of one’s physique.

It was only in the Spiritual Body phase that a body refiner could truly compete with a qi refiner in terms of flight.

Still, my immortal root is strong enough. Once I reach the high-tier Communion phases, my flight speed should rival most late-stage Qi Sea cultivators. Wu Yuan felt calm.

Body refiners and qi refiners each had their own set of strengths and weaknesses!

Now, I should assess my running speed on land. Coming to a decision, he flew toward the north.

In just ten seconds, he found himself above a jagged, ravaged mountain range. Below him lay the area where Wu Yuan, Fang Xia, Bu Yu, and Huan Jian frequently engaged in sparring matches to test their combat prowess and hone their arcane arts. This was a forbidden zone sanctioned by the Cloudstride Sect.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan descended, landing deftly on the ground. It was time to start assessing his speed.

Boom! Like a bolt of lightning, he left behind a trail of afterimages.

My instantaneous burst of speed is approximately nine li per second! In fact, my maximum speed exceeds eleven li per second. Wu Yuan marveled inwardly.

His running speed was more than double his flight speed.

Under normal circumstances, a Communion cultivator's running speed is twice that of their flight speed. Yet my running speed is significantly faster thanks to my Terranean Body.

The profundity of the land belonged to the Earth Dao. Wu Yuan's vital ether, or more precisely, his earth ether, naturally meant he had a strong affinity for earth, granting him swiftness on foot.

Each cultivator focused on different attributes of ether or mana, thus coming to possess their own unique strengths. For instance, wind-attribute individuals, like Jin Ji of the Great Jin Empire, might be weaker than Fang Xia in terms of raw power, but his flight speed far surpassed Fang Xia’s.

Why was the Qiong Sea King invincible in the sea? Other than his strong immortal root, he was also a water attribute type. Thus, he naturally dominated all aquatic battles.

My punch strength. Wu Yuan landed on a distant hill. Then, he pushed off the ground, dashing down the hill like a meteor.

Boom! Layers of faint, earthy-yellow light surrounded his figure.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! After dashing back and forth several times, the hill crumbled like fragile tofu, the resulting rockslide filling the air with dust and soil. A good third of the hill had toppled.

Only then did Wu Yuan halt at the forest's edge on the opposite side of the hill.

Base punch strength surpasses 15 million catties. With Threefold Power Surge, it can reach 50 million catties.

When converted to his previous life's measurements, it was equivalent to an explosive force of 25,000 tons! However, such power was not unheard of. After all, Wu Yuan had witnessed intergalactic warships weighing millions of tons, which were essentially weapons of mass destruction.

However, what was a cultivator’s greatest weapon? Agility!

A cultivator can take flight through the skies or delve beneath the earth, capable of launching assaults from any angle at any moment. Wu Yuan was satisfied with his newfound strength. This is true transcendence.

If Wu Yuan so desired, he could obliterate an entire city in the blink of an eye!

Nevertheless, when it comes to destructive power, body refiners cannot compare to qi refiners. Wu Yuan contemplated inwardly.

For instance, seventh-stage Qi Sea cultivators could produce explosive power in the tens of millions of catties just by unleashing their essentia. However, by harmonizing their essentia with heaven and earth, they could cast large-scale arcane arts!

That sort of destructive power could not be described with mere catties. Naturally, mastering such arcane arts was no easy feat.

When pitted against an opponent in one-on-one combat, the speed and defense of a body refiner are truly astonishing. The large-scale arcane arts of a qi refiner can hardly make a dent. Wu Yuan smiled faintly. They must rely on single-target arcane arts or instantaneous ones.

In a nutshell, when facing a qi refiner, a body refiner should not allow the opponent the chance to cast arcane arts or remain in one place for long. Instead, one should unleash their maximum speed, striving for close combat and ending the fight swiftly!

A body refiner in the Communion phase could unleash hundreds of millions of catties of raw power solely through the strength of their physical body. Their bodies were so resilient that they collided directly with spirit weapons. As for qi refiners? Their physical strength paled in comparison, around 400,000 catties. Though terrifying to mortals, their fates were sealed if they were forced into close combat with a body refiner.

Qi refiners may possess feeble physical bodies, but they wield the power to reshape the world. Wu Yuan observed the flow of earthy-yellow energy and sighed inwardly.

Body refiners, like myself, circulate vital ether within our bodies, providing no enhancement to our power. I must cultivate an ether art. Only then can I harness the vital ether in battle.

A qi refiner's essentia contained immense power, enabling them to unleash various arcane arts capable of reshaping the world. But for a body refiner, their true power lay in their physical body. The foundation of their combat power lay in their enduring and unyielding body. Vital ether had several interesting uses. Firstly, for rapid healing of bodily injuries. Secondly, the cultivation of ether arts!

Ether arts are what allow body refiners to dominate countless worlds, challenge heaven and earth, and earn them the title of war deities. Wu Yuan recalled the information from his inheritance memories.

A body refiner that had yet to master ether arts was still considerably strong. However, when confronted with a qi refiner capable of creating puppets, constructing arrays, casting arcane arts, and controlling a multitude of artifacts, the odds of victory shrank drastically.

But once a body refiner cultivated an ether art, their strength experienced a dramatic surge, giving them the confidence to challenge a qi refiner. According to legends, a body refiner's body could grow to billions of li, and they could obliterate a world with a single strike. Or with an undying body, one could stand unscathed as numerous qi refiners bombarded them with arcane arts—all thanks to ether arts!

Ether arts stem from vital ether, originating from the soul chamber, and are ultimately executed by the body. Wu Yuan contemplated. Should I cultivate body technique ether arts, not only will my running speed reach unprecedented levels, but even my flying speed may rival that of my qi refiner counterparts. Unfortunately, my first ether art has to be Eldritch Form.

Unlike arcane arts which came in a myriad of eccentric types, ether arts originated from the body and were manifested through the combination of eldritch tattoos and the body, resulting in relatively fixed categories. For instance, the function of eyes was to observe the outside world, hence cultivating detection type ether arts inevitably led to the cultivation of Double Eyes. One could only cultivate one ether art for their eyes.

Similarly, human body refiners often utilized their arms to attack and typically cultivated an outburst type ether art to enhance their offensive power. However, each person possessed only a single pair of arms, limiting them to cultivating only one ether art for their arms.

The cultivation of ether arts also originates from the vital ether within the soul chamber. But for someone in the initial Communion stage who just stepped onto the path of transcendence, neither the body nor the soul chamber possesses sufficient strength. The vital ether within the soul chamber can only support one ether art. Wu Yuan contemplated.

Thus, the first ether art one chose to cultivate was crucial. Many body refiners without an inheritance might fail to comprehend this, but for Wu Yuan, he had already devised a plan through his inheritance memories prior to his breakthrough.

Basic ether art, Eldritch Form! This is the first ether art I will cultivate, a comprehensive ether art that nurtures the Soul Chamber and strengthens one’s burst attacks.

The soul chamber, also known as the lower dantian lobe, could also be supported with one ether art. Typically, one would cultivate a burst type ether art that enhanced a body refiner's combat prowess in all aspects, including speed, strength, and bodily defense. Eldritch Form was one such burst type ether art.

If I had first-degree eldritch tattoos, I could cultivate the advanced ether art Deity Form.

From least to most powerful, ether arts were categorized into basic, advanced, and grand tiers. Wu Yuan’s inherited memories contained dozens of ether arts from each tier. Unfortunately, the strength of an ether art was directly proportional to the demands it placed on one's soul chamber and body.

Only a first-degree eldritch tattoo bearer could cultivate a grand ether art as their first ether art upon reaching the Communion phase. For those with ninth-degree to second-degree eldritch tattoos, they had to pick from the basic ether arts.

Nevertheless, ordinary ether arts should suffice. Qiong Sea King and Black Jiao King lack inheritances and have yet to cultivate any ether arts, yet they have still reached the apex of the Middle Land.

Once I enter the Spiritual Body phase, I will be able to cultivate an advanced ether art. He recalled the details of Eldritch Form. Among the many basic ether arts, Eldritch Form is among the strongest. In the future, it will be a seamless transition to the advanced ether art Deity Form. According to the plan laid out in my inherited memories, my lifebound eldritch beast, the Teng Snake, combined with eldritch battle armor, and my cultivation of the ether art Eldritch Form, forms the ideal combination for a Communion phase eldritch warrior.

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