Chapter 119: The Five Element Subworlds
Zhang Haobo opened his eyes, and the wandering sword intent swiftly returned to his dantian.
As the sharpness in his eyes slowly faded away, he appeared unremarkable and harmless.
Li Fan, observing Zhang Haobo's changes, couldn't help but marvel.
To achieve such a level of concealing one's presence and returning to a state of simplicity and innocence during the Foundation Establishment stage was truly remarkable.
Indeed, Zhang Haobo possessed exceptional talent.
After spending a while underwater to familiarize himself with the newly reached Foundation Establishment stage, Zhang Haobo promptly flew to the ocean's surface.
Without a moment's rest, he began practicing the "Sea Fixing Sword Technique."
One after another, the blue water swords appeared and danced in the air.
Under Zhang Haobo's control, the blue swords crisscrossed the sky, and water dragons soared.
Li Fan, who was covertly observing, noticed something.
With the unknown sword intent he comprehended to establish his Foundation, Zhang Haobo's Sea Fixing Sword Technique showed some noticeable changes.
If the previous Sea Fixing Sword Technique was grand and dignified, the present version, infused with a mysterious sword intent, harbored hidden madness and ruthlessness within its mighty sword techniques.
Moreover, Li Fan had a faint feeling.
Zhang Haobo was still holding back.
An overwhelming malevolent aura remained concealed.
Once this malevolent aura that originated from the black sword hilt erupted, the power of the Sea Fixing Sword Technique would likely increase several times instantly.
Zhang Haobo tirelessly practiced the Sea Fixing Sword Technique on the uninhabited sea surface without any rest.
Day and night, wind and rain were of no concern.
The countless dots of blue light converged from all directions in the ocean, and within his home ground of the Cong Yun Sea, Zhang Haobo had no worries about depleting his spiritual energy. He could practice without restraint.
In this manner, although his cultivation stage remained at the early Foundation Establishment level, his actual combat power was rapidly improving.
The most visible aspect of his progress was the number of Divine Sea Swords he could manifest. These past few days, they had increased from thirty-six to seventy-two, and now to one hundred and eight!
In just over a month since entering the Foundation Establishment stage, Zhang Haobo, who had recently arrived in this stage, had perfected the "Sea Fixing Sword Technique."
While external factors were at play, there was no denying that Zhang Haobo's talent was genuinely astonishing.
With one hundred and eight Divine Sea Swords simultaneously released, the sky was filled with the roars of water dragons.
In Li Fan's eyes, this level of power surpassed that of Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi, both of whom were in the late Foundation Establishment stage.
It's important to note that Zhang Haobo achieved this without using any Foundation Treasure.
Upon seeing Zhang Haobo's rapid progress, Li Fan couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.
"What will you do next? I only gave you the 'Sea Fixing Sword Technique' up to the Foundation Establishment stage."
"Could you really deduce the Golden Core stage on your own?"
Li Fan was skeptical.
In the world of cultivation, it was possible to create new techniques, but it wasn't a task that could be accomplished solely with extraordinary talent.
It required an extremely profound understanding of techniques as a foundation, allowing one to create new techniques from scratch.
In the Immortal Cultivation World, such cultivators who could deduce new techniques were honored as Master Pathweavers.
The position of a Master Artificer was highly revered and held significant respect, even above that of Master Artifact Refiners, Master Alchemists, Rune Masters, and Formation Masters in any organization.
Moreover, there were Grandmaster Pathweavers who were highly skilled, with a transcendent understanding of techniques. They were able to design custom techniques for cultivators.
Their status could even be on par with that of Immortal Sages.
Currently, Zhang Haobo, despite his exceptional talent, had only cultivated the "Sea Fixing Sword Technique."
Deducing the Golden Core stage from the Foundation Establishment stage of the "Sea Fixing Sword Technique" was indeed possible, but the chances were incredibly low.
Li Fan was curious about what Zhang Haobo would do next.
However, at the moment, Zhang Haobo, who was in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, did not have to worry about the cultivation technique.
He acted as the best teacher, repeating and meticulously demonstrating various moves from the "Sea Fixing Sword Technique" in front of Li Fan, time and time again.
He was incredibly patient and thorough.
Li Fan devoted most of his attention to studying and comprehending.
The rest of his focus was directed back into the Ten Thousand Profound Mirror.
They say that cultivation knows no years, and it was indeed true.
During the period of time that Li Fan and Zhang Haobo were cultivating, time quietly slipped away.
Now, it had reached the 16th year.
The grand event of the Crimson Flame burning the sea was getting closer and closer.
Li Fan began by looking into the major events that had occurred during these two years.
Due to the influence of the heavens, although only two years had passed, many records of various events have been lost.
But afterward, Li Fan visited cultivators like Yuwen Xing, continuously inquiring and piecing together the clues. He recorded these events one by one.
Although he was sure that he would slowly forget these events in the near future, it didn't matter.
Because in the next life, Li Fan would remember these events once again.
Li Fan studied the records in his hands, and a few of them piqued his interest.
In the 14th year, shortly after he and Zhang Haobo entered their enlightenment, something significant seemed to have occurred in the northwestern region of the Cong Yun Sea, near the border between Yongliang Prefecture and Jiushan Prefecture.
The local specialty, the "Gold Flying Fish," had its price skyrocket by fifty times in a short period.
It only lasted for seven days before quickly falling back.
However, all the surviving buyers couldn't recall why they had bought these "Gold Flying Fish" or what had happened at that time.
This was the first event.
The second interesting event took place in the 15th year.
A fiery meteor lit up the sky and streaked across the night.
It was unclear where it had fallen.
All the cultivators who saw this meteor couldn't help but feel a sense of fear, sorrow, and other emotions.
There had been attempts to find the crash site of the meteor, but it seemed that no one could locate it.
The third event had occurred not long ago.
The rumors mentioned by Jiao Xiuyuan were confirmed: near the wood-element spirit energy subworld, there were indeed two other subworlds nearby.
But, the reality was more exaggerated than the rumors.
There weren't just two subworlds hidden there; there were four.
These five subworlds belonged to the gold, wood, water, fire, and earth elements, and they were subtly connected as if they formed a single entity.
The discovery of these Five Element Subworlds was truly astonishing.
It even attracted the covetousness of the Five Elders Association.
The two sides engaged in a battle near the subworlds, and in the end, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance repelled the Five Elders Association at the cost of a Soul Transformation cultivator.
Later on, in order to prevent further disputes and to protect the Five Element Subworlds, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance paid a great price to move the entire subworld to a location near the Tianyu Prefecture.
...
Li Fan firmly stored this information in his mind. These were all important channels for gaining benefits in the next life.