Chapter Nineteenth: The Secret Manual

  Due to his low cultivation, Gan Ping is currently unable to decipher all the memories in the Xuan Mingzi and Huo Long Yuanshen fragments. He only has a rough understanding of some things. In the ring, he discovered a pair of strange treasures - two small bronze armor pieces, with sharp tips and a diamond shape, an ancient color, and mysterious symbols etched onto them. Gan Ping simply placed them in the palm of his hands, and the two armor pieces merged into his palms like two water droplets.

  Gan Ping was taken aback, turning his hands over and over again, but couldn't find any trace of the treasure. His heart stirred, he sat down cross-legged, slowly running the "Fengyuan Decision" to merge with the bronze armor pieces. After a while, a strange expression appeared on his face. The two bronze armor pieces had merged into his body and were circulating along his meridians without stopping for a moment. He extracted a thread of his divine soul to wrap around the two armor pieces, only then did he feel connected to them. With a turn of his mind, an ancient, rugged, diamond-shaped armor piece appeared on his forehead. This armor piece could move around inside his body, and when his body was attacked, it would emerge automatically to defend against the attack. Moreover, it could also float to the surface of his skin, forming a thin, yet incredibly sturdy layer. What a wonderful treasure!

  For the first time, Gan Ping came into contact with the two magical artifacts. As they circulated throughout his body, the bronze armor plates flickered in and out of sight on his skin, and he was having a great time. But unexpectedly, after just a short while, he felt his spiritual energy drying up, and wave after wave of dizziness washed over him. Hastily, he stopped the circulation of the magical artifacts. Having only used them for a moment, Gan Ping still didn't have enough spiritual energy, and he couldn't help but stop with a bitter smile.

  It was beyond Gan Ping's expectation that the two treasures did not wander to his Dantian to nourish as he had imagined, but instead followed the meridians of his arm and arrived at his palm. This made Gan Ping extremely curious - could it be that these treasures were particular about their location? It was indeed strange, but for now, his divine soul's energy was exhausted and unable to control the two treasures, so he let them go. The two bronze plates in a diamond shape lingered slightly in the meridians of Gan Ping's right hand before suddenly finding their way home and swiftly flying towards his right middle finger and index finger. Gan Ping looked at these two fingers with suspicion, and on the surface of the nails, the mysterious patterns of the treasures faintly appeared. His heart stirred - could it be that these treasures were not defensive objects but sharp attacking tools? Looking at the faintly shining copper light on his nails, Gan Ping became even more certain of his conjecture.

  The remaining treasures are probably around a dozen or so, but the ones that can be stored in this ring must be extraordinary objects. Unfortunately, Gan Ping is now powerless to manipulate them. He simply took out the books and manuals from the ring and browsed through them one by one. These books were very miscellaneous, probably thrown into the ring by Xuan Mingzi after he killed people and stole treasures, without bothering to organize them. This search left Gan Ping bewildered and frustrated, with no clue what to do next. Fortunately, many of the manuals were recorded on jade slips, which saved him a lot of trouble.

  Although it's said to be a simple reorganization, it took Gan Ping several months. As the leaves fell and the wheat turned golden, autumn arrived again. Calculating carefully, he realized he had been in Majiacun for a year already. Looking up at the cloudless sky, Gan Ping thought to himself that last night, he had finally broken through the barrier of the third layer of Lianyuan's Iron Boundary, reaching the second layer of Zhan Yu. From today on, his cultivation of Lianyuan's Fusion could be considered official. Thinking about the memory of the raging flames that could destroy heaven and earth, Gan Ping felt a surge of longing.

  These days, he has been busy sorting out the items in the storage ring, and his cultivation has slowed down. What delights him is that although he didn't find any high-level fire-based techniques in the "Yuanshi Jian", he did find a secret book among those strange and absurd miscellaneous books. This secret book was not written in the script of the Tianfu Continent, and the text on it was mysterious and incomprehensible. If it were someone else, they would certainly not be able to recognize it, but Gan Ping, who had merged with the Fire Dragon Yuan Shen fragment, recognized the characters on the cover: "Taiyi Pure Yang Heart Scripture". He couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, and hastily opened the book to read.

  This is the Taiyi Pure Yang Heart Scripture, a secret recipe that exists in the space of the Jiuzhou continent. This kung fu was passed down from the ancient Golden Immortal Taichi True Man. Gan Ping didn't know who this Taichi True Man was, but seeing the records of people's reverence for him, he could imagine that he must have been a great figure. It seems that this heart method has a great origin.

  According to the book, the author was also a genius in the Jiuzhou continent at that time. He practiced the ancient Taichi Pure Yang Heart Method and flew up to the sky in just a few hundred years. Unfortunately, he had bad luck and encountered two powerful gods fighting during his ascension, causing him to be swept away by the spatial chaos and arrive at this place, Tianfu Continent. His cultivation was completely lost, but this predecessor was also a talented person who flew up again in just a few hundred years.

  However, he was afraid of encountering the same situation as before, which would lead to the loss of the Taoist lineage, so he left behind this secret book, waiting for someone with fate to come and find it.

  Gan Ping couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw this. This senior was indeed admirable, but unfortunately had a narrow mind. He left behind a secret manual written in the script of the Nine States Continent. Except for someone like Gan Ping who had coincidentally encountered the Nine States' texts multiple times and could recognize them, anyone else would find it as cryptic as heavenly scripture. At the end of the book, however, was recorded a cultivation method of the demonic sect. When this senior stumbled upon the Taiyi Pure Yang Heart Scripture, he also obtained the Tianmo Huaxue Shenzao cultivation method, but felt that it harmed the harmony of heaven and so didn't cultivate it. In the end, unable to bear the thought of this technique being lost, he recorded it as well. It seemed that this senior already knew that there was no one in this realm who could understand the Nine States' script, so he simply didn't care, seeking only a clear conscience.

  Gan Ping carefully read through the Tai Yi Pure Yang Heart Scripture, and the more he read, the more delighted he became. This heart method was simply the most suitable for him. However, at that time, he still had some doubts in his mind. After all, this heart method was not a secret recipe passed down in the Tian Fu Continent, so it was unknown what kind of effect it would have after cultivation. But since this senior could re-cultivate on the Tian Fu Continent, he himself should also be able to cultivate it.

  After reading through the Taiyi Pure Yang Heart Method, Gan Ping secretly made a decision. Since he couldn't find any other techniques, he had to start cultivating this strange and extraordinary technique from the Nine States Continent first. He casually flipped to the section that recorded the Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao (Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Knife), and carefully read it. The senior who wrote it mentioned in the general introduction that this heart method was harmful to the heavens, but also highly praised it, saying it was a top-notch attacking technique, which piqued Gan Ping's interest.

  Looking at it carefully, Gan Ping couldn't help but admire it. Indeed, it was a top-notch attacking technique. Although the Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao sounded eerie and frightening, it was also an orthodox mental method passed down from the ancient Xuanmen sect. Considering that Xuanmen and Chuantu were both major sects of the ancient times, this technique wasn't inferior to the Taiyi Chunyang Xinfa either. The predecessor who wrote the book must have been mistaken. Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao was a cultivation method for attacking, while Taiyi Chunyang Xinjing was a path for self-improvement. Although they took different approaches, their ultimate goal was the same - to attain enlightenment and become a saint through physical cultivation. It was only because of differences in personal usage that people misunderstood it as an evil technique.

  The various magical skills recorded in the Demon Blood God Knife made Gan Ping's heart move, but he didn't have the deep-rooted idea of the Nine States Continent that this skill was an evil demon and couldn't be practiced. At this time, he had already secretly decided to practice both skills at the same time.

  With the help of Taiyi Pure Yang's new release, he won't be in an embarrassing situation where he can't use his true yuan spiritual power. Although Binghuo Rongyuan Jue is good, it's also a secret method of the Huolong tribe, and for Gan Ping, who is still human, it's indeed extremely difficult to cultivate. However, Gan Ping won't give up on cultivating this technique. The improvement in physical strength brought about by Binghuo Rongyuan Jue is evident, but he can only use it as an auxiliary technique.

  As for the Tianmo Huaxue Shengdao, it can only be cultivated when the Taizhen Chuyang Heart Method reaches a certain level. At that time, it will be able to defend against the attacks of the external Tianmo demons. Finally, there is the Minghun Huasichu technique. The inheritance method of the Dacui Ze Wangxia Mountain indeed has its unique place. This time, being able to open the storage ring so quickly, this method is absolutely not to be underestimated. Moreover, driving the treasure requires not only true yuan spiritual power but also the coordination of divine soul power. Gan Ping faintly feels that even if the Minghun Huasichu technique is cultivated to its extreme, it may not necessarily be inferior to other methods.

  After spending so much time, he finally settled on the direction of his future cultivation. Gān Píng felt a wave of relief in his heart, and there were still many messy things in the ring that he couldn't be bothered with. Improving his own strength was currently the most pressing matter. Thinking back to last year's spiritual power surge and the demon beast attack on the village, Gān Píng still had lingering fears. Although it had been half a year since then, and everything had been calm and peaceful, Gān Píng vaguely felt that this peace hid an enormous crisis. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that focusing on improving his own strength was the most important thing to do.

  Gan Ping sat with his knees bent and his five hearts facing the origin, his mouth and nose slightly moving, initiating the circulation of the Taiyi Pure Yang Heart Meridian. This heart method is indeed a skill passed down by the Golden Immortals of the Nine Provinces' ancient teachings, being upright, harmonious, and majestic. It perfectly matches Gan Ping's physical constitution, resonating with his Fire Spirit body, as spiritual energy gathered from all directions converged onto his body, transforming into threads of True Origin power within him.

  What surprised Gan Ping was that the Taiyi Pure Yang Heart Sutra actually had an effect on cultivating his divine soul. Under the operation of the true yuan, his extreme yang energy expanded and contracted in harmony, and he could feel it growing stronger thread by thread. Gan Ping immediately activated the Minghun Huasi technique, and indeed, as he thought, there was no conflict between the two. Since that was the case, Gan Ping began to cultivate with peace of mind.

  Just as he was diligently absorbing the spiritual energy and operating these two skills, a thread of thought suddenly appeared in his mind. It turned out that the remaining soul fragments of Huo Long and Xuan Mingzi were being refined bit by bit, which made Gan Ping both surprised and delighted. He finally didn't have to rely on fainting to absorb the divine thoughts of these two great masters, how could this not make him overjoyed?

  A thread of thoughts was brewing, and a mysterious and unknown world was opening its doors to Gan Ping.