173: Shen Zhengqing explains

"Professor."

"Student Chu Yuan, is something the matter?" Shen Zhengqing turned around and said with a gentle smile.

"I have some questions and would like to ask for the Professor's guidance."

"Follow me." Shen Zhengqing nodded and walked toward his office. "That child Xing Zhao mentioned you to me a long time ago. No one expected that you would be able to Cultivate to this level in one go..."

"..."

Upon entering the office, Shen Zhengqing poured himself a cup of hot water and sat down in his chair.

"What is it that you don't understand?"

Of course, what Chu Yuan wanted to ask about was not related to his own Cultivation.

He sat opposite Shen Zhengqing and tentatively asked, "Professor, do you know of the 'Star Body Tempering Art', the 'Soul Burning Secret Canon', and 'One Sword Star Fall'?"

Shen Zhengqing held his water cup and countered, "Of course I know them, but the question is, how do you know about them? Could it be that you have been Cultivating these for the past two months?"

Chu Yuan nodded. "The 'Star Body Tempering Art' was a reward for participating in the Outer Heaven Battlefield trial, and the latter two were exchanged using military merit."

Shen Zhengqing was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "You are certainly generous with your resources... How about it, did you encounter any confusion while Cultivating them? Just so you know, I might not necessarily understand everything about these three..."

"No, no, I wanted to ask, this one Cultivation Technique and two Martial Skills... do they have anything in common?"

A meaningful smile appeared on Shen Zhengqing's face. "You noticed?"

Chu Yuan was a bit confused—noticed what?

"Um... I did notice something..."

"Do you feel that their power is greater and their concepts deeper... and that the secret canons created by other experts seem somewhat immature compared to them?"

"Yes, yes..."

"Normally, you wouldn't have the clearance to know this yet. But since you have already come into contact with them, it wouldn't hurt to tell you... This one Cultivation Technique and two Martial Skills were indeed not created by experts from our Great Qin; they all originate from ruins!"

"Ruins? What ruins?" Chu Yuan had never heard of such a thing.

He knew about the Earth Star, the Outer Heaven Battlefield, Secret Realms, and Profound Realms... but what exactly were ruins? And where did they exist?

"Ruins are, naturally, the remnants left behind after powerful civilizations have perished," Shen Zhengqing explained. "Generally speaking, only those above the Eighth Realm have the qualifications to explore ruins. It's not that we don't want you to go, but for Martial Artists of too low a Realm, exploring ruins is purely courting death! Ruins contain not only the inherent dangers of the ruins themselves but also alien races that might be lurking in the shadows at any time... So, you'd better not set your sights on them for now."

After Shen Zhengqing's attempt to scare him, Chu Yuan did not argue with him and smiled. "I won't. I was just asking casually."

Shen Zhengqing nodded and put down his water cup. "The 'Star Body Tempering Art', 'Soul Burning Secret Canon', and 'One Sword Star Fall' you mentioned are indeed enough to last you for a long time. However, Chu Yuan, you are talented. Do you know why Ninth Realm experts almost all choose to create their own Cultivation Techniques?"

Chu Yuan thought to himself that he really didn't know...

"Please, Professor, enlighten me."

"The Ninth Realm is not the end of the Dao of Martial Arts. If one wishes to advance further... the only way is to create one's own Cultivation Technique. A self-created Cultivation Technique, regardless of its starting point, is the most compatible with one's own Dao of Martial Arts! What is suitable is what is strongest..." Shen Zhengqing cautioned. "Therefore, I do not wish for you to place your focus on these products of ruins."

Chu Yuan thought to himself, who would even care for them...

"The best path is still to create your own Cultivation Technique. As for the rest, no matter how strong they are, use them only as references and take their essence! However, this path is still a long way off for you. At the very least, you must wait until you reach the Seventh Realm and comprehend the Law before you can slowly begin."

"To tell you the truth, I have already comprehended the Soul Law," Chu Yuan said quickly.

Shen Zhengqing was stunned for a moment. "Xing Zhao didn't tell me that... Since that's the case, it depends on your own choice. If you want to improve your strength as quickly as possible, you might as well continue Cultivating the 'Star Body Tempering Art'. If you are planning for the long term, you can create your own Cultivation Technique based on the Law you have comprehended."

Chu Yuan's expression was a bit strange. He asked in distress, "Professor, I still cannot understand. Creating a Cultivation Technique of one's own to help oneself advance... isn't that a paradox? Isn't it all just conjecture and speculation?"

If a high-level Martial Artist creates a Cultivation Technique that allows low-level Martial Artists to Cultivate, that is naturally the most reasonable thing. But, for example, if you are in the Seventh Realm with no path forward, and you decide to create your own exclusive Cultivation Technique to allow yourself to Cultivate to the Eighth Realm... isn't that a bit like reversing the natural order?

Shen Zhengqing nodded and admitted, "Yes, it does sound like a paradox, and it is very difficult to achieve... But if it were not difficult, why has not even a single person above the Ninth Realm appeared in the entire Outer Heaven Battlefield?"

Chu Yuan asked again, "Since no one has successfully verified it, how can we know that this path is correct?"

"Because there is no other way..." Shen Zhengqing paused, then added, "There was once someone who had hope of succeeding."

"Who?"

"The 'Martial God Scroll' you are Cultivating was created by him."

"The former director of the Zhenwu Bureau?"

"Yes... I have also studied the 'Martial God Scroll'. If Director Qin hadn't died, the situation in the Outer Heaven Battlefield would definitely not be what it is now." Shen Zhengqing sighed with emotion, seemingly nostalgic.

"The 'Martial God Scroll' only has an opening chapter and has not yet touched upon the most fundamental Laws. If you can perfect it... it might not be a bad way to forge your own path."

Shen Zhengqing just mentioned it casually. In his view, wanting to perfect the 'Martial God Scroll' was no simpler than Chu Yuan creating his own Cultivation Technique; it might even be harder...

What kind of person was Director Qin? Even just an opening chapter was enough to make too many people shrink back in awe.

Chu Yuan, however, was calm. Me? Perfecting the 'Golden Core Great Dao Song'? What a joke...

If it were just the 'Martial God Scroll', he felt that after he entered a higher Realm, there might be a chance to complete it. But combined with his hypothesis about the System's conversion logic... the 'Martial God Scroll' he completed would probably not convert into anything very good.

It was even possible that the System would ignore him; after all, things he obtained through Immortal Dao methods were never within the scope of the System's conversion.

"Professor, I saw that in the Cultivation Technique library, there are clearly many Cultivation Techniques personally created by Ninth Realm experts, aren't there?" Chu Yuan asked another question he was confused about.

Shen Zhengqing laughed in spite of himself and shook his head. "How can you not understand even this? Didn't you also create a Martial Skill today: the 'One Yang Finger'? But does it represent you? Of course, in the Cultivation Technique library, the Cultivation Techniques created by Ninth Realm experts are not that rough. They also hope that their Dao of Martial Arts will be Cultivated by others, to jointly identify deficiencies, fill in the gaps, and open up the path..."