The elder’s posture stiffened. Change his destiny? Him, stuck at the peak of the ninth layer for years? Untalented, unable to break through? A chance for the Forest Clan to rise, to stand proud? To be the same as those high-ranking influences, moving Heaven and Earth?
Could this youth provide him with this opportunity?
On the surface, a youngster at the peak of the fifth layer of the Body Tempering Realm considered untalented anywhere. The same youth said to be in deep slumber for many years, but who somehow woke up and escaped from the Cloud Clan’s custody.
The simplest explanation: he had help. Anyone with information on what happened to the Bright Clan knew why they took him to the Cloud Clan, his friendship with the young mistress, a true peerless talent, capable of moving even the royal family. Rumors floated around the lady loved the boy, and the Cloud Clan worried over this possibility.
One, capable of reaching the Heavens. The other, the progeny of a fallen clan, stuck at the fourth layer. No one in their right minds would think they made a good match.
To make things worse, other rumors said someone from the royal family wanted her as his wife and met immediate rejection. In that scenario, even without extreme measures, the clan wouldn’t let him go. Murder was the simplest and most common answer, exile if they wanted to avoid angering the young lady.
Why would he hide in this dangerous forest otherwise? He had nowhere else to go. The clans took all assets of the Bright Clan long ago.
Little Fu’s mother said before some treasure caused the boy’s coma. At first, news spread as if he met misfortune during cultivation. Then information spread like wildfire with the betrayal of some elders, and it also expedited the situation surrounding the clan. Putting everything together, couldn’t his mysteriousness also relate to the treasure?
The greatest factor that left the elder pondering was Ming Ren’s bearing and former display. No ordinary fourth layer cultivator hunted a scaled greenbeast, roamed alone in these woods, displayed such cooking prowess, and peerless sword skill. All signs pointed to a talented and resourceful young man, even if he tried to hide. Unafraid and composed, he showed no signs of a lie when offering this opportunity.
Called east elder in the Forest Clan, the elder’s name was Lin Dong. His cultivation base prevented his rise in the Clan. The patriarch still held him in high regard, but he was powerless.
What did he have to lose? Face? He didn’t have much in the first place!
The elder hesitated. Ming Ren didn’t blame him. A hard decision to make, considering everything. After a while, the elder’s eyes shone with determination. He clasped both hands together, “If your words are true, this elder is willing to trust the young lord, walk through fire and water!”
Ming Ren smiled, “Good! First, circulate your cultivation law.”
This time the elder didn’t hesitate. He sat cross-legged and circulated the Qi inside his body, revolving the Forest Clan’s cultivation law–[One With the Wood]. Lin Dong already decided to trust this young man, being from the higher-ranked Bright Clan, how could the poor law of the Forest Clan be of any worth to him?
Ming Ren’s eyes didn’t show any change. The Bright Eyes technique activated, scanning the elder’s body. Ming Ren found several problems in the meridians and channels, lowering the amount of spiritual energy that passed through. The elder stood at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm but his spiritual energy showed no signs of differing from someone at lower layers. In a normal case, he should have seen an increase in the quality of his spiritual energy due to the imminent completion of the spirit sea.
The cultivation law of the Forest Clan had no special qualities. Lin Dong never crossed the last step and consolidated the spirit sea but Ming Ren knew his chances already improved after the spirit beast food. The elder also didn’t show any affinity to rare energies, but surprisingly had a true element–wood.
“Your meridians and channels were born thin, some even damaged, it’s no wonder you couldn’t form a complete spirit sea before. They have expanded since you ate the bloody stew,” Ming Ren told him.
“…Is that… true? Can I break through?” Lin Dong asked full of hope.
“Yes, and not only that–your body attunement is the wood element!”
Lin Dong’s eyes opened wide. Attunement with the wood element meant he surpassed common cultivators and entered the realm of the blessed ones! But why couldn’t he feel it before?
“Without completing the spirit sea you couldn’t reach the half-step required to feel the true element, it’s nothing surprising,” Ming cleared his thoughts. The elder clenched his fists. He truly wanted to believe this young man’s words.
Proper tempering and cleansing impurities would solve the problems in the elder’s body. A cultivation law could expand and repair his inner channels. Ming Ren moved to the next step, “Teach me your cultivation law.”
Even if Ming Ren understood the law completely he needed to experiment to reach its potential. Cultivation theory had many flaws, imperfections, and different paths. Trial and error reached the greatest height and minimized mistakes. Because of this, he dared not to write a spirit sea law right now. To clans in the Lower Realms, heaven rank Body Tempering cultivation laws were already amazing assets.
The elder recited the formula, and Ming Ren nodded. He cultivated the law, circulating Qi. [One With the Wood] was a low-grade Body Tempering cultivation law full of flaws. Low-grade Qi gathering speed, Qi might, body strengthening, and Qi distribution. Truly a law from a sixth-ranked influence!
However, it possessed a small innate connection to the True Element of Wood, feeble and almost non-existent. Its creator only had Spirit Sea cultivation base and wrote it without understanding the element.
Ming Ren breathed through the technique again, correcting the mistakes, and improving whenever possible. Qi gathering, perfection stage. He matched it to elder Lin Dong’s constitution. High-grade Qi distribution, perfect grade for the elder. He chose the optimal way through channels taking notice of the best path inside the elder’s body. High-grade Qi might, perfect grade for the elder.
He chose almost the same path as his own cultivation law for the tempering but lowered its effects and the amount of energy needed. The law expanded and reinforced thin channels. High-grade body strengthening. Ming Ren circulated the technique once more, happy with the results. The [One With The Wood] became a heaven tier law, almost peak heaven tier for Lin Dong.
“Good!” Ming Ren smiled.
Elder Lin Dong couldn’t believe his eyes. This youth learned the law as if it was nothing, circulating Qi at tremendous speed. He seemed focused on… changing the law? Was he going crazy? Could a cultivator change cultivation laws like this, with no fear of causing Qi deviation? Not afraid of interfering with his own cultivation?
Were cultivation laws always this simple?
Ming Ren didn’t need to recite back, he extended his spiritual sense until it touched the elder’s forehead and passed the new law. The elder seemed in a daze, but as soon as the law popped in his mind he sat to cultivate, even forgetting to question how Ming Ren passed it to him. The youth needed less than fifteen minutes to improve the law. The elder used an hour to understand the changes and circulate it inside his body, a law he knew his entire life. It was nothing like before, frightening speed and power.
“This… this… this… heaven grade cultivation law!!! No, wait, higher than heaven grade…? HEAVENS!” The elder almost died from shock, staring at Ming Ren with bulging eyes. Who was this youth?!
In the next second…
… Pu-tong!
The elder kowtowed in front of Ming Ren.
Ming Ren: “O__________O elder, please get up!”
Gratitude surged sincerely, “Thank you, benefactor. As long as I live the Forest Clan will not forget your kindness. If benefactor needs me to go east, I will never go west. Thank you for this opportunity!”
“Huh? Oh, elder, please calm down. That wasn’t the chance I talked about, only a gift to you, elder,” Ming Ren said casually. The elder’s heart almost gave out. Only a gift? Not the chance? There’s… more?
“Now, teach me… the secret arts of the Forest Clan!”
The elder legs almost gave out, and he wobbled vigorously. This time… secret arts? Is he going to…?
He blinked several times in a row to check if it was a dream but then showed the arts of the Forest Clan. They weren’t anything special, but he showed fist, palm, sword, spear, leg, and movement techniques.
As Ming Ren expected, common low-grade human tier arts with no innate element.
Ming Ren replicated every art and excelled at everything. The elder stood dumbfounded as he practiced each art for a few minutes, completely mastering and improving them all. Compared to creating his own style, improving these arts was much faster.
The essence of the Forest Clan’s arts was stability and resilience. They focused on wearing the opponent out by outliving them. Each art attacked and defended in a steady but powerful way, like an unmovable forest.
“Good!” Ming Ren finished and transferred the techniques again. Tears of happiness dripped down Lin Dong’s middle-aged face. A heaven rank Body Tempering Realm cultivation law, even surpassing common Spirit Sea laws. All the techniques of his clan were now heaven tier, and top-ranked influences would kill for them.
Arts belonging to the Spirit Sea and Spirit Gate Realms were rare, only the influences on the same level as the royal family had access to high-grade arts. Even the top-ranked influences used earth tier Body Tempering Arts often. Only a few of them had heaven tier arts, even at the Body Tempering Realm. Higher realms heaven tier arts reached legendary status.
As cultivation rose, good arts became scarcer in the Lower Realms. A single heaven tier Spirit Gate Realm art erupted sect destroying wars. To powerhouses of that realm, such arts were true treasures. His Forest Clan now had several heaven tier arts of the Body Tempering Realm, which reached power comparable to low-grade Spirit Sea arts. Their cultivators would become a lot more powerful.
Cultivation laws and arts improved the strength and foundation of an entire clan. It would be a matter of time before the Forest Clan rose to be one of the best in the entire province, even without higher realm laws. Elder Lin Dong thanked Min Ren non-stop, he would grovel at the ground if the youth let him do it.
“Elder, this matter cannot be treated lightly, you should know the disaster those arts might bring. Before the Forest Clan reach enough power to protect itself, teach those only to the most dedicated and trustworthy. Never breathe a word of it outside. It would be ideal if only you, the patriarch, and a few trusted elders know about it!”
The elder nodded, “I was too happy there for a while, almost forgot the obvious. I will be careful about this. I, Lin Dong, will forever be your loyal dog in gratitude for the Forest Clan. I can’t speak for the clan itself, but I bet the patriarch will be willing to follow Young Lord Ming Ren!”
Ming Ren smiled, “I don’t need servants! What I need is a sharp sword, one that will keep our mutual enemies at bay and slash at their throats when they least expect.”
Elder Lin Dong clasped his hands, “That, I can promise. We will never forget that humiliation, even if it takes thousands of years, we will strike back!”
Ming Ren shook the head, “Even ten years is too much!”
He thought hard for a few breaths, many theories coming up in this mind. Once again his spiritual sense flowed into the elder’s mind, transferring several theoretical pill recipes. Ming Ren never thought about fighting alone. With his current abilities, rising a clan status would only be a matter of time and strategy. This sword would aim at what they liked the most…
…The Silver Clan and Sunflower Pavilion base industries!