The Demon with Holy Radiance

Back in the Gray Scale, Fu Ming had warned that fusing Forbidden Artifact Fragments from the Real World with the Power of Rules would make one unable to escape the Origin Realm, a prison on the verge of collapse.

This meant that in the future, Yang An had only one path for fusing Forbidden Artifact Fragments: find a Xianyuan Forbidden Artifact Fragment in the Xian Origin Land and fuse it with the Power of Rules from the Xian Origin.

That way, he wouldn’t be tied to the Origin Realm. If disaster struck the Origin Realm in the future, he would remain unaffected.

Even the Purification of Forbidden Artifact Fragments would require a Xianyuan Forbidden Artifact as a base to devour fragments from the Real World. This was the only way to ensure the hidden dangers were removed.

This way, no matter what kind of Power of Rules he obtained in the Xian Origin Land, it would be easier to find a corresponding one in the Real World; he wouldn’t be starting from scratch.

Now, standing inside the Earth Spirit Stele and watching as countless motes of light coalesced into words on the barrier before him, Yang An made his decision.

’First, I’ll master a new Technique. While I’m learning it, I can wait for Wen Yin and the other members of the Scripture Defector Association. After that, I’ll figure out how to get a Xianyuan Forbidden Artifact from the Xian Origin Land.’

’Otherwise, once I enter the Xian Origin Land, I’ll have no way of knowing if Wen Yin has arrived, and there’s no telling when I might find a Xianyuan Forbidden Artifact.’

The Earth Spirit Stele contained many Techniques. They all originated from the Old Techniques of the past, which meant they were primarily based on Spirit, not Turbidity.

’In fact, I’ve been pondering a question for a long time,’ Yang An thought. ’All these Techniques were created by others, so why can’t I create one that’s perfectly suited for me?’

’Life Crane, for instance, created the Lighting Technique. And in the early days of my own cultivation, I’d even seen plenty of people with unremarkable Cultivation Levels create some rather unique Techniques.’

’But I’ve never been able to grasp the first thing about it. What is the key to creating a New Technique?’

’Is it the creator’s Enlightenment? A sudden epiphany, a moment of profound insight that allows one to extrapolate and understand everything else?’

’Or is it dependent on a certain Rule, simply manifesting as a Technique without actually containing any Power of Rules?’

Yang An had one great strength: if he couldn’t figure something out, he wouldn’t dwell on it and torment himself. He knew the answer might just come to him when he least expected it.

Pushing the questions from his mind, he began to study the Earth Spirit Stele.

He was now the master of the Earth Spirit Stele, so he could see all the content displayed upon its barrier.

He didn’t know if the blank spaces meant that some Techniques had escaped, like the Summoning Incantation, or if there was another reason.

But the number of Techniques that were visible was still substantial.

Yang An studied the stele carefully. According to its records, the Techniques it contained were divided into two main categories.

They were the Five Wheels Ultimate Technique and the Earth Spirit Skill.

The Five Wheels Ultimate Technique itself was split into three types: the Refining Spirit Chapter, the Fusion Incarnation Chapter, and the Seven Extremes Chapter.

The Earth Spirit Skill, on the other hand, was a single category of its own.

For instance, the Extreme Day Divine Aspect Yang An had already mastered was from the Refining Spirit Chapter of the Five Wheels Ultimate Technique. The Summoning Incantation was from the Fusion Incarnation Chapter, and the Shell Nourishing Technique that Elder Zhuan Yu had taught him belonged to the Seven Extremes Chapter.

Compared to the Techniques within the Five Wheels Ultimate Technique, Yang An found himself more interested in those of the Earth Spirit Skill.

’The name contains the words "Earth Spirit," so it’s hard for me not to suspect a direct connection between this category of Techniques and the Earth Spirit Stele.’

’He recalled the Workshop Master saying that the Earth Spirit Stele was the legacy of the Earth Immortal Dao Sect—once the leader of the Five Great Celestial Sects in the Central Continent. Could it be that the Earth Spirit Skill was the primary set of techniques cultivated by the original Earth Immortal Dao Sect lineage?’

The likelihood was high, so Yang An decided to examine the contents of the Earth Spirit Skill first, setting the Five Wheels Ultimate Technique aside for now.

He spent a little more than an hour searching across all the barriers. In the end, he found a total of thirteen Techniques belonging to the Earth Spirit Skill category.

All thirteen of these Techniques had "Xian" in their name, making them seem extraordinary.

Take, for instance, a Technique called the Seven Immortals Scattering Technique. Its cultivation required mastering seven complex seals and was fueled by a massive consumption of one’s own Essence Blood.

Once activated, the Technique could summon the Dharma Aspects of seven former Cultivators. These aspects would be under the caster’s control for a short time and could unleash one wide-range annihilation attack.

The power of the summoned Cultivator Dharma Aspects was determined by the caster’s own Cultivation Level, and they would be one Small Realm weaker than the caster.

In other words, if a cultivator at the Middle Stage of Zombie God activated this Technique, the summoned Dharma Aspects would, at most, have the power of the Early Stage of Zombie God.

However, the technique also came at an enormous cost.

When the Technique wasn’t active, its seals would autonomously consume the user’s mind and spirit to summon uncontrollable Cultivator Dharma Aspects that would then attack the user.

This meant that whenever the Technique was dormant, the user would not only suffer from mental confusion and spiritual exhaustion but would also have to deal with seven enemies appearing out of nowhere, ready to kill them at any moment.

Another example was a Technique called Summoning the Immortal.

The name of this Technique was very similar to the Summoning Incantation Yang An had already mastered, but the way it worked was completely different.

The Summoning Incantation was used to summon a true or unknown Xian. Despite the name, this "Xian" was actually a practitioner of Ancient Cultivation Techniques from a bygone era, and the summoned being might not be controllable.

This Technique, however, turned the user into a Xian-like being. To put it simply, it was like Inviting the God.

From the moment this Technique was activated until it ended, the caster would completely lose control of their body. They could only select a target at the moment of activation. Afterward, once transformed into a Xian-like state, they would attack the target at all costs.