Chapter 972: The Fury of Thunder
The first six tests of the Path of Creation tested a practitioner’s willpower, state of mind, body, cultivation, soul, and comprehension.
The so-called cultivation was the foundation of energy a cultivator had mastered. The energy did not represent the entirety of one’s ability – it wasn’t even a large percentage of it – but it was one’s foundation.
In the beginning, there was only a void. There was no heaven, no earth, and no self. Everything was without form.
Then, an energy mass appeared in the void. This energy mass gave birth to everything in the universe. Cultivators were people who were at one with nature and held mastery over the heavens and earth. They had even mastered the process of becoming one with the heavens and earth. Therefore, the amount of energy mastered by a cultivator represented their level of unity with the heavens and earth.
If one did not have enough energy, they could not advance into the higher realms.
Many of the things the cultivators mastered were were created from energy. They included the soul, the deified soul, the body, the esoteric rules, and others.
However, the fourth test in the Path of Creation only tested a cultivator’s basic energy. In other words, the amount of Inner Qi in an ancient martial art practitioner’s body determined whether they could pass the fourth test.
Mo Wen was fairly confident of passing this test. His Yin Yang Qi was an energy that far surpassed the ordinary spiritual power. There were also other forms of energy he could use. Besides, the amount of Yin Yang Qi Mo Wen had was equal to, or even higher than, that of an intermediate stage Primordial Soul Realm cultivator.
Normally, people who came to the Path of Creation were mostly people with their cultivation below the level of the Primordial Soul Realm. If those people could make it through the fourth test, Mo Wen had an excellent chance of passing.
The light shroud that separated the palace halls was the challenge for this test. One only needed to break the light shroud in order to advance to the next palace hall.
For ordinary preliminary cultivators, they only needed to break one light shroud in order to advance to the next test.
Mo Wen walked towards a light shroud and directed a gentle blast of energy from his palm at it. The light shroud shattered into pieces without much resistance. Mo Wen guessed that the first light shroud could withstand any force below the Martial Arts Grandmaster Third Realm level. Any cultivators of the Martial Arts Grandmaster Third Realm could break the light shroud. Some powerful Martial Arts Grandmaster Second Realm cultivators had a chance of breaking the light shroud too.
For Mo Wen, the first light shroud was as flimsy as a piece of paper. He successfully entered the next palace hall. Inside the hall was a teleportation area that emanated a faint glow. Mo Wen only needed to enter the teleportation area and he would be sent to the next test.
However, Mo Wen did not go head towards the teleportation area. Instead, he stared at the layer of white light. There was another palace hall inside that light shroud.
Bang!
The second light shroud shattered as Mo Wen applied force to it. It wasn’t challenging for him in the slightest. He advanced without stopping and quickly broke the third, the fourth, and the fifth light shroud.
It wasn’t until Mo Wen targeted the sixth light shroud that he failed to shatter it with a single blow.
“The force that the sixth light shroud can withstand is equivalent to that of the intermediate stage Primordial Soul Realm. I’ll probably only be able to shatter it if I go all out.
Mo Wen was secretly shocked. It was said that there were a total of nine light shrouds in the fourth test. One could only achieve the highest result by shattering all nine of them. The sixth light shroud was very challenging. How much tougher would the next three light shrouds be?
No wonder Mo Qingge had said it was easy to pass the first six tests in the Path of Creation; however, it was extremely difficult to achieve good results.
Rumble!
When Mo Wen sent out an all-out attack, the sixth light shroud shattered. Mo Wen’s current level of Yin Yang Qi was only at the ordinary intermediate stage of the Primordial Soul Realm. It was still far from reaching the later stage of the Primordial Soul Realm.
“If I don’t demonstrate some tricks, I probably won’t be able to make it through the seventh light shroud.”
Mo Wen stood before the seventh light shroud. He tried to break it using just his Yin Yang Qi, but it was rather difficult. He realized he’d have to use some powerful secret techniques in order to break it.
The preliminary cultivators could not rely on external forces such as magical treasures, spiritual talismans, and stratagems to pass the fourth test. They were also forbidden from using their soul or strength. If this wasn’t the case, Mo Wen would find it easy to break all nine light shrouds by using his Celestial Body.
Right now, he could not unleash the Celestial Body at all. It was suppressed by a hidden force.
However, the preliminary cultivators were allowed to use martial arts techniques, remarkable power secret techniques or any esoteric rules. It was because Yin Yang Qi was still the foundation in demonstrating all these techniques.
Mo Wen attempted to break the light shroud by using some of his powerful techniques. However, when his rite of passage level powers such as the Flame Phoenix Wave and the Gigantic Spirit Blazing Flame Palm landed on the seventh light shroud, it was unaffected.
“That’s just wrong!”
Mo Wen was shocked. What he had unleashed was the equivalent to an all-out attack from an intermediate stage Primordial Soul Realm cultivator. In other words, if an intermediate stage Primordial Soul Realm cultivator was here, they would be unlikely to break this light shroud, even without any restrictions being placed upon them. Probably only an all-out attack from a later stage Primordial Soul Realm cultivator could break this light shroud.
Mo Wen was left with no choice but to unleash the three Glory techniques. With the force of the Glory of Thunder, the speed of the Glory of Wind, and the precision of the Glory of Cloud, Mo Wen managed to break the seventh light shroud after blasting it frenziedly for a short while.
The seventh light shroud was so difficult, so it stood to reason that the eighth light shroud would be even harder.
Mo Wen noticed that the eighth light shroud was different from the previous seven light shrouds. Inside, it was even more intricate and even had a profound regulated mechanism. If brute force were to be used against it, 50 percent of the power would be negated. The remaining 50 percent would then be of no use.
“An average cultivator at the pinnacle of the Primordial Soul Realm would probably only be able to sigh helplessly if they came up against the eighth light shroud.
Mo Wen laughed bitterly. An ordinary later stage Primordial Soul Realm cultivator would not be able to break the defensive power of the eighth light shroud. Moreover, the light shroud could negate 50% of the power of their attacks. Mo Wen was certain that even if the Blood Evil Temple Leader appeared here and unleashed the Blood Buddha forbidden technique, he would still be unable to shatter the eighth light shroud.
Moreover, the Blood Buddha forbidden technique was a forbidden technique that relied on a treasure to be unleashed. It was impossible to unleash it in this hall.
Originally, Mo Wen was still convinced that, since his Yin Yang Qi had increased by more than half in the Pool of Rejuvenation, he should be able to easily achieve the highest results in this test.
Only now did he understand that he had underestimated the difficulty of the Path of Creation’s trials by a considerable amount. The method that the Ancient Age Creation Sect used to test its disciples was very complex. The majority of the present-day geniuses would likely be nothing in the Ancient Age Creation Sect.
“Luckily, I have cultivated similar remarkable powers. The Yin Yang Heaven and Earth Great Shift are also proficient at reducing the impact of a force. If I unleash it in reverse, it should be able to cancel out the light shroud’s power negating ability.”
A Tai Chi Trigram appeared in Mo Wen’s hand and then slowly pressed against the light shroud. As a small path remarkable power, The Yin Yang Heaven and Earth Great Shift were extraordinary. Moreover, it contained the esoteric rule of Tai Chi. It was extremely proficient at leveraging forces.
When The Yin Yang Heaven and Earth Great Shift acted on the light shroud, it immediately made it tremble slightly. The light shroud emanated a marvelous wave which disappeared little by little and finally completely disappeared.
“As expected!”
A look of joy flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. The power negating effect was canceled out by the Yin Yang Heaven and Earth Great Shift. He only needed to unleash power at the level of the pinnacle of the Primordial Soul Realm and he should be able to break the light shroud.
However, Mo Wen was in somewhat of a predicament. The cultivation of his Yin Yang Qi was just slightly more powerful than the intermediate stage Primordial Soul Realm. Although the three Glory techniques were miraculous, they were extremely difficult to cultivate and he had only managed to scratch the surface up to this point. He did not have the increase of his body’s power or absolute treasures like the Heavenly Serpent Divine Spear and could not even unleash the power of his soul.
Even with his Yin Yang Qi and remarkable powers, he couldn’t unleash power comparable to the pinnacle of the Primordial Soul Realm.
Although Mo Wen had always been leapfrogging over challenges, once at the level of the Primordial Soul Realm, the difference between each small realm was actually rather big. He could use his mysterious remarkable powers to jump one level at a time. However, to surpass two levels was too difficult.
Mo Wen’s mood kept fluctuating. There were too many restrictions. He suddenly had a feeling that he was at his wit’s end. Could it be that he would retire at the eighth level?
Mo Wen desperately wanted to break all nine light shrouds and achieve the highest possible result. When one got the highest result in any of the tests in the Path of Creation, they would be rewarded with something astonishing. The reward of the first test was the Pool of Rejuvenation, the reward of the second test was the Power of Creation, and the reward for the third test was the Mist of Rebirth. Mo Wen had no idea what reward there would be for the fourth test.
Even though the information given by the Huatian Palace was detailed, it did not cover all aspects of the challenge. Mo Wen had known about the Pool of Rejuvenation and the Mist of Rebirth beforehand. However, he did not know anything about the Power of Creation in the second test before experiencing it. It was likely that even Mo Qingge didn’t know about it.
After all, it was very difficult to obtain the highest result in the Path of Creation. It was hard to find someone who had been able to do it even in a few generations of practitioners from the Huatian Palace. The Huatian Palace did not even know what the rewards for achieving the highest results in the second test and the fourth test were.
However, one thing was certain: there would be an enormous reward awaiting the person who achieved the highest result. If Mo Wen could not get the highest result, he would receive nothing apart from the right to advance to the next test. Although there were plenty of treasures hidden in the Path of Creation, one would need to be capable in order to receive them.
“What should I do now?”
Mo Wen was in a dilemma. No wonder there was no record in the Huatian Palace about rewards from this test. This test was insanely difficult. Have such an astonishing amount of Yin Yang Qi even before he broke through to the Primordial Soul Realm meant that Mo Wen was considered to be exceptional. Who would have thought that, with all his power, Mo Wen would be unable to break the eighth light shroud?
“Of the three Glory techniques, the Glory of Thunder has the most extraordinary power. But I have only mastered it until the third stage of the first realm. If I had cultivated it until the fourth stage, the Fury of Thunder, I would surely be able to break the light shroud,” Mo Wen thought to himself.
There were a few realms in each of the three Glory techniques. The first realm was suitable to be practiced by practitioners who were below the Primordial Soul Realm. From the second realm onwards, the three Glory techniques were path remarkable powers. Moreover, they were high-level small path remarkable powers. One could not even cultivate them if they did not have Primordial Soul Realm cultivation. Rumor has it that the third realm of the three Glory techniques were medium path remarkable powers. Their might was unfathomable.
Even in the first realm of the Glory of Thunder, there were four stages: the Brewing Thunder, the Sound of Thunder, the Thunderbolt, and the Fury of Thunder.
Mo Wen had only recently cultivated the Thunderbolt. He could create a thunderbolt at will. He was still far from reaching the Fury of Thunder. By rights, with Mo Wen’s current condition, he should be able to practice ordinary small path remarkable powers. However, the three Glory techniques were different, and their difficulties were much higher than that of ordinary small path remarkable powers.
For example, it was impossible to master the Fury of Thunder if one did not comprehend the complete esoteric rule for thunder. Similarly, for the Glory of Wind and the Glory of Cloud, if one did not master the complete esoteric rule for wind and the esoteric rule for cloud, they could not master their respective fourth stages.
When Mo Wen was battling in Li’an City, he had comprehended the complete esoteric rule for thunder. However, he did not manage to cultivate the Fury of Thunder in time. Otherwise, he would be able to solve this predicament easily.