Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"I guess having a young lord who could rival a mid-True Essence Cultivator truly lets one relax." He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself in self-satisfaction, feeling his decision was definitely a good one. Not to mention, Tao was a morally just person and he would never follow someone like Diyi’s father, so he didn’t have to worry about slaughtering innocents or sending children out to die in the Deep Mines. Life was truly looking up for him.

After three weeks, in Tao’s cultivation room, an eruption of condensed qi-essence filled with origin source surged outward in a domineering fashion. This eruption even riled Yan Zaizen awake from his cultivation state. "He broke through?" With a smile on his face, Yan Zaizen’s eyes shone with dazzling brilliance.

A confident laughter resounded outwards from Tao’s cabin. To break through to the Origin Core Realm at 700 years old was exceptionally fast, albeit it couldn’t match Prince Ren, it definitely displayed his innate talents. He didn’t even try comparing himself to Yan Zaizen, but only compared himself to the myriad of other geniuses within Grux.

Yan Zaizen and Tao left their rooms and met up at the helm of the ship. Bai Lufeng had a slight smile on his face looking at Tao. He remembered his breakthrough into the Origin Core Realm, and that was a thousand years ago. Despite this, he didn’t feel despondent at breaking through at the age of a sixteen hundred years old but felt utterly prideful.

To origin core cultivators, three thousand years could be considered mid-life, still possessing about another two thousand, while Qi Unification cultivators have about fifteen hundred years of life on average.

He was one of the lucky few to breakthrough nearing the end of his life, extending it, and progressing promptly afterwards. As one’s cultivation base increases, so does the resource quality one could fight for or earn from others. It was due to this that he reached the mid-Origin Core a few decades ago.

"Young Master Zai and Tao, congratulations on your breakthroughs," He noted to offer congratulations to Yan Zaizen before Tao, obviously a bit of ass-kissing there. Tao couldn’t help but chuckle at his little wordplay antics while Yan Zaizen simply smiled.

"Your cultivation base has grown quite exceptional rather quickly," Tao commented, looking closely at Yan Zaizen. His heart was filled with shock, considering the time span being only three weeks, but Yan Zaizen had already reached the late-Qi Unification Realm from the peak-Essence Formation, and his foundation was exceptionally sturdy and robust. The qi essence his body contained made his aura incredibly intense, and one could tell he was still trying to regulate it as can be seen from its leakage.

What Tao still had yet to know was that his qi-essence now inherently carried the characteristics of life, death, space, archery, and destruction after the baptism of the laws. If he wished to execute any qi-art, it would contain characteristics of these five even before reaching the Origin Core Realm. It won’t be their concepts but their actual true law. Over the past week or so, he’s been trying to regulate the aura leakage pertaining to his laws and not his qi-essence. This was why he still hadn’t stabilized his cultivation base’s aura.

"You’re one to speak! Haha." Yan Zaizen was in an exceptionally gleeful mood, and the youthfulness reminiscent of his time in the Yan Clan couldn’t help but resurface, of course without the depression.

Tao smiled lightly, his eyes suffused with unyielding confidence as if infected by Yan Zaizen’s Dao. He clenched his fist, a burst of origin-infused qi-essence exploded outwards from within, and its power was not to be underestimated. If one looked closely, they could see traces of wind cycling about like a twister.

"Law of wind?" Yan Zaizen was shocked. Did Tao comprehend a world law?

However, Tao immediately corrected, "It’s the law of cyclone, not wind." His words contained a trace of reluctance and disappointment. The law of cyclone was essentially the law that focused upon centrifugal force with the concept of circulation. It could be used to produce whirlwinds, whirlpools, or even to interfere with an external force. It was a profound mortal law, but still a weak one in comparison to all things.

"The law of cyclone, not bad." Yan Zaizen nodded in approval. Any cultivator who could comprehend a law, no matter mortal or world, was exceptional in their own right.

However, Tao couldn’t help but sigh softly at that response. "The concept originates from my bloodline. Essentially, my ancestor reached the True Essence Realm and comprehended the cyclone law to the Manifestation-Level. The main reason it’s called that is due to the laws being able to manifest in the bloodline of your descendants. So..." He felt reluctant to say more, but continued, "My qi-essence will have traces and properties of this law to the Perfect Force Level simply by progressing through the Origin Core Realm from initial to peak. Regrettably, there’s no conceptual law but simply a trace of true law."

Yan Zaizen had his mind enlightened. Without a concept, a true law was just raw and uncontrolled. So, when one’s bloodline is awakened at the Origin Core Realm it meant the laws their ancestors comprehended would baptize their qi-essence.

"I wonder...what laws I’ll comprehend." He couldn’t help but mutter in curiosity.

Bai Lufeng chimed in pridefully, "My bloodline is sword law." The law of sword, spear, axe, and shield were actually mortal laws that were the most common bloodline, but they could not be underestimated. A cultivator with sword law had qi-essence with incredible sharpness and agility, a spear could penetrate a myriad of things, the axe can cleave through the skies, and shield could defend one’s very existence.

Yan Zaizen nodded, his eyes gleaming in anticipation of his own bloodline law.

"Well, one’s bloodline could contain laws, but it could also contain a special vital energy source, or soul energy source, but that’s incredibly rare. The difficulty in passing one’s bloodline using these two methods was exceptionally higher than the first." Tao further explained, essentially explaining that one’s bloodline wasn’t limited to just the law, but extends to the body and soul as well.

"How far till Sky Heart City?" He inquired, his anticipation was high, but his goal remained the same.

"About eight days." Bai Lufeng calculated and determined.

"Let’s get there and celebrate our achievements with drink and food!" Yan Zaizen said loudly, filled with excitement. Tao agreed with his signature pearly white smile, and Bai Lufeng’s eyes lit in excitement.

"Sky Heart City is known for its most famous restaurant, the Heavenly Heart! Filled with beautiful women, great food, and powerful cultivators." Bai Lufeng explained, one could see his excitement gleaming even greater than before. He was obviously hoping to reach there sooner.

"Hahaha! If it doesn’t have that, how could we celebrate properly?" They all chuckled in unison, but their tones were a little odd. They were like a band of men filled with concealed intentions towards the outside world, while the guys near them understood them perfectly.