Chapter 213.3: After Twenty Years of Cultivation, I Have Finally Reached the Divine Ability Realm! (III)
At the Li Clan, Li Guang stood before his father, Li Chengwu. At this moment, a trace of surprise showed on Li Chengwu's face.
"Guang'er, what did you say? You want to contend for the position of patriarch? Did I hear you right? You can't even reach the Divine Ability Realm, so how do you intend to contend for the position of patriarch?"[1]
Li Chengwu himself had outstanding talent and had reached the Divine Ability Realm early on. Then he rose above all the competition to become patriarch. However, the Li Clan's patriarch had to be selected by others and could not be passed down from father to son. The patriarch candidates would be subjected to an all-around assessment, and without a doubt, one's cultivation base was an important factor.
"Father, must the Li Clan's patriarch necessarily be at the Divine Ability Realm? Not necessarily, surely. The thirty-eighth-generation patriarch, the sixty-first-generation patriarch, and others were not at the Divine Ability Realm," Li Guang said calmly.
"Yes, none of them were at the Divine Ability Realm. But they had other extraordinary qualities. They led the family to glory. And you? Guang'er, what has spurred you to insist on contending for the position of patriarch? That position certainly carries great power, but it is actually very hard..."
In fact, Li Chengwu had long since given up on grooming his son to become the patriarch, as it was simply impossible!
"Father, no matter what, I want to contend for it! And haven't the other few contenders also failed to reach the Divine Ability Realm? They merely have hope, and in theory, I, too, have hope of reaching the Divine Ability Realm.
"Besides, I've made preparations to contend for the position of patriarch. I won't claim absolute certainty, but I do have some confidence."
Li Guang's words greatly surprised Li Chengwu.
Some confidence? That's quite a claim. What kind of fortuitous encounter has Li Guang stumbled upon? He actually dares to say he has some confidence in contending for the position of patriarch.
Still, Li Chengwu did not press for the root of it. Since his son wished to contend, then as his father, he would naturally throw his full weight behind his son, giving the latter a push.
"Guang'er, if you truly wish to contend, then I will lend you a hand! I'll persuade some of the clan elders and then push to begin the selection of the patriarch's successor as soon as possible.
"At most, you can get some advance word and seize some early initiative to make ample preparations. But to really contend for the position, you must still rely on strength. Do you understand? And strength can be your own, but it can also be external assets, or even helpers," Li Chengwu said in a low voice.
"Father, I will be well prepared!" Li Guang's tone was resolute and unyielding.
"Good. Then wait for my word..."
With that, Li Guang turned around and left.
Li Chengwu thought for a moment, then ordered, "Go, look into where Guang'er has been recently and whom he has been in contact with."
"Yes, Patriarch," replied a figure within the shadows. Then they vanished without a trace in an instant.
***
In a practice room of the Vast Immortal Square, Lu Changsheng had already refined ninety drops of Heavenly Spirit Water. Earlier, he had refined some eighty-odd drops in all with seemingly little change.
Once he reached ninety drops, a change happened at once. Lu Changsheng could clearly feel his Divine Ability Dao Fruit transforming bit by bit. The sensation was extremely vivid, and each step was a qualitative leap.
Every drop of Heavenly Spirit Water seemed to stir some marvelous change within the Divine Ability Dao Fruit, which now looked like a flower bud that was "blossoming" little by little.
Ninety-one drops, ninety-three, ninety-five, ninety-eight, ninety-nine... At last, the hundredth drop of Heavenly Spirit Water was refined.
A boom went off in Lu Changsheng's mind, and then the Mental Black Hole Dao Fruit swelled violently before bursting apart. The Dao Fruit had exploded! Lu Changsheng was startled. He had not expected the Dao Fruit to burst. Did I fail?
No, I've never heard of the transformation of a Dao Fruit into a divine ability ending in failure... Lu Changsheng quickly came to his senses. Condensing a Divine Ability Dao Fruit carried the risk of failure, but how could the transformation of a Dao Fruit into a divine ability fail? Failure was simply impossible!
Since that was the case, the only explanation was that he had succeeded! Yet where had the divine ability gone after its transformation? Lu Changsheng's Divine Ability Dao Fruit had vanished completely. On the surface, only two visible Divine Ability Dao Fruits remained.
Stirred by some unknown instinct, Lu Changsheng suddenly raised his head and saw a black hole! A black hole had appeared, blotting out the sky. It disregarded the practice room entirely, manifesting directly outside it, across the void. The entire Vast Immortal Square dimmed.
The people walking around the Vast Immortal Square looked up. When they saw that enormous black hole in the void, every one of them was dumbstruck and stupefied.
"What is that?"
"Wh-Why does it feel like I can't control my mind?"
"No, don't look at that black hole..."
To their shock, they discovered that the black hole seemed to be devouring their minds bit by bit, even though it was so far away!
Regardless of their cultivation base, everyone was affected. Even releasing enchanted treasures and formations made no difference whatsoever. Their minds were still being devoured bit by bit by the black hole, and distance didn't matter, either.
The most shaken of all was True One Cui Xuan. He abruptly raised his head, and he looked like he couldn't believe his eyes.
"This is... a divine ability? And it should be a mental-type divine ability. Even my mind can't control it? That's Lu Changsheng's divine ability operating on its own, and it's not directed at anyone.
"I am a dignified Golden Core True One. My mind is anchored within my Golden Core, utterly solid, fused as one with the Golden Core. So long as the Golden Core is not broken, I will not die. So, how come my mind is shaken? And the concealment formations I set up seem to have no effect whatsoever..."
True One Cui Xuan was shaken inside. His first thought was—Is that a major divine ability?
If it were a major divine ability, perhaps that would explain it. It was too terrifying. True One Cui Xuan could never have imagined that a major divine ability could be so terrifying that it made him, a dignified Golden Core True One, feel like his heart was quaking inside his chest.
True One Cui Xuan weighed it. When it came to a real battle, he would lose! And luck wouldn't affect the battle at all. In the face of that, he could even die! This was the terror of a major divine ability.
Though True One Cui Xuan's formations had lost their effect, the formations he had set up were not one or two layers but many.
True One Cui Xuan activated formation after formation. Presiding over them personally, he barely managed to restrain the aura and the strange phenomenon over the Vast Immortal Square so that it wouldn't alarm all of Heavenly Sacred City.
In the practice room, Lu Changsheng sensed a little and understood at once. "So the divine ability has already merged with me. It's like... it has always been a part of me since I was born."
Once a Dao Fruit transformed into a divine ability, that divine ability would automatically merge with the martial artist. There was even a saying, "A divine ability is formed by the heavens," which meant divine abilities were most likely innate.
Of course, a divine ability was certainly not innate, but once a Dao Fruit transformed into a divine ability, that divine ability would become a part of the martial artist.
Some divine abilities would even merge with their bloodline, which could then be passed down to one's descendants, granting those descendants exceptional talent in a certain aspect.
For instance, if Lu Changsheng's Mental Black Hole could be inherited by his descendants, then their mental talent would be especially outstanding.
If the Five Elements Decomposition or Four Symbols Prison were passed down to his descendants, then those descendants would display exceptionally high talent in some aspect of the five elements or four symbols. Comprehending Principles for them would also come somewhat more easily later on.
This was a divine ability bloodline! It was also why, in many families where a Divine Ability Realm ancestor had once been born, the descendants who inherited the bloodline generally found comprehending Principles to be not a great problem.
As long as one could comprehend a Principle to Perfection, the chances of them reaching the Divine Ability Realm were far greater than those of an ordinary martial artist. Bloodline inheritance was of utmost importance!
However, Lu Changsheng had no descendants, and he did not care about such things. Descendants were hardly as solid and real as attaining longevity and eternal life for oneself.
Lu Changsheng pondered and realized that it had been just about twenty years since he began practicing martial arts.
Lu Changsheng's gaze was calm, and a faint smile appeared on his face. After twenty years of cultivation, I have finally reached the Divine Ability Realm!
1. "er" is added to someone's name to show endearment in Chinese, usually used among family members. ☜