Chapter 120: Request

"Why did he leave?" John asked in confusion. He was standing there in silence for some time, and then the holy aura suddenly vanished. John was hoping to ask it many questions regarding the palace realm, although he was sure he was unable to find out the truth due to Karma.

Silence filled the temple for some time before Celestial Soulrend responded. "His matter is...unique, and he cannot be out in the open for an extended period of time. This formation can hide us from peering eyes, but for someone like him, he can only remain hidden for so long, even inside here."

'Hiding? Someone that strong needs to hide?' John raised his eyebrows in surprise. He wanted to ask what he was hiding from, but knew he would not get an answer. Not only that, but after seeing the effects of Karma with his own eyes, John was no longer eager to find out about things he should not yet know.

"Then...have you also been hiding in here? And for how long?" John asked.

"Not hiding..I suppose telling you this much won't impact you too much. Due to matters you cannot yet know, I was gravely injured, and was forced to cast my body aside and preserve my soul. This formation was made by me as a contingency for such a case."

John had expected such an answer, due to the discussions he had heard prior. However, one thing he heard during the discussion still weighed on his mind.

"Then, if I can know the truth, what is this realm exactly?" John had always wanted to know the truth regarding the pocket realm, and this seemed like the only chance he would have to find out the truth.

"This realm was created by me as a collective trial and inheritance realm for the surrounding powers. However, it appears that through the vestiges of time, almost all the entrances have been destroyed. Your entrance is the only fully functioning one, while one can only act as an exit."

'Trials ground? I guess I expected as much.' While John was thinking, the Celestial Soulrend spoke up once more.

"Then, do you know anything about the Elysian Lightning World?" John asked. He had heard the temple artifact spirit mention something about the Elysian Lightning World, and it somehow related to the egg of his.

"Elysian Lightning World? Oh yes, I did see that you managed to obtain that inheritance. It seems you truly do have some talent. In time, once your strength grows enough, you'll naturally come to learn all about that world."

'Another vague answer. Oh well, I guess I'm going to have to get used to this in the future until I raise my strength enough. Besides, it's not an immediate concern of mine.'

"Then I have another question I'm curious about. If you were looking for a successor, why did you hide your inheritance down here?" Clearly Soulrend was looking for a successor, but he put it in such a hidden place. John only happened to stumble on it due to being forced off the cliff.

"I scryed into the heavens many years ago and determined that I would successfully find a successor. I was not concerned about if, but only when. As such, the location of my inheritance did not matter."

'That makes sense I guess. I wonder how strong someone has to be to be able to scry the heavens itself?'

John was about to ask another question when Celestial Soulrend cut him off.

"My time is growing short. Divin..I mean, the other entity allowed me to grant you one thing you desire, should it be in my power to do so."

"One thing I desire?" John was caught unprepared by the chance to request one thing from Celestial Soulrend. He knew this was an amazing opportunity, and didn't want it to go to waste.

'What do I need? The Immortal Asura Body handles my body cultivation, and I doubt he knows anything about it. With enough human blood essence, my cultivation can proceed as fast as I want, the only thing holding it back is my essence cultivation...."

John's eyes lit up as he thought of a request, which was a high level essence cultivation technique. Essence cultivation techniques controlled how fast and how sturdy one could raise their essence dantians cultivation realm, and was an incredibly essential part of cultivation. His current cultivation technique was the one bestowed to him by his clan, and it was good enough for now, but John had a suspicion that it would be a hindrance to his cultivation journey before long.

"I would like an essence cultivation technique, if possible," John answered firmly.

"Essence cultivation technique? Hmm, let's see....what type of essence cultivation technique would you prefer?" Celestial Soulrend asked, confusing John.

"Type? Aren't they all the same, just more profound?" John asked in confusion.

"They are not. While there are straight forward cultivation techniques, there are also cultivation techniques that also aim to alter the very dantian itself to suit their power the greatest. For example, a fire cultivator might choose to use a fire essence cultivation technique, while a sword cultivator would choose a cultivation technique which favors sword Qi. This improves their dantians' affinity towards those chosen fields, and strengthens their attacks in those fields as such."

"There's such a thing?" John asked in surprise. He had never heard of such cultivation techniques, and had only heard of one's that raised the dantian's cultivation realm and nothing else.

"Wait, if one cultivates such a technique, does that mean they cannot use Qi attack types different from their dantian's cultivation type then?" John asked.

"Not necessarily. These cultivation arts, at least the high level ones, do not hinder the use of other Qi types, but only enhance the targeted Qi type," Celestial Soulrend responded, alleviating John's concerns over such cultivation techniques. It seemed these cultivation acted in a similar nature to attribute bodies.

"Then...do you have a lightning based cultivation technique?" John asked.

"Lightning based? I guess I did detect that you have a lightning attribute body, and a stunning one at that. A lightning focused dantian to go along with that would be a frightening combination. Let's see....I happen to know two techniques, one which focuses on cultivating a dantian focused on healing lightning, and the other on pure destructive lightning. You can choose from either one."

"The destructive lightning," John answered without hesitation. His entire combat style was based on power, and having even more powerful lightning would be a perfect match.

John suddenly clenched his head in pain as information began to flood into it. The pain lasted for several minutes. Images of lightning destroying worlds and stars flickered in his mind before eventually disappearing, along with the pain.

"I have directly imparted the Primordial Extermination Lightning technique to you. This is one of the best lightning cultivation techniques you could ever hope to have."