Chapter 1042: Acknowledge Me as Your Teacher and I Will Teach You!
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
There were no mistakes in what the other party said at all. The first two flaws were still not much of an issue. It wasn’t easy for the crux of the Unbounded Voyager to be found due to its sheer speed, and if it was utilized well in battle, it could be a powerful weapon to catching one’s opponent off guard.
However, the third problem was indeed an issue that had been plaguing him for much time.
The reason he had been able to cultivate the movement technique was due to the unique bloodline that flowed through his body, granting him a body superior to the others. Even without cultivating his physical body, he could still easily execute the technique without suffering any damage. However, the same could not be said about others. The Unbounded Voyager was a powerful movement technique, but it was impossible to master without a powerful body to withstand its overwhelming prowess.
If one were to attempt to cultivate it forcefully, one might end up incurring devastating damage to one’s body instead, resulting in a steep decline in one’s cultivation.
However, this was a problem that only those who had started cultivating the Unbounded Voyager would understand. For the other party to be able to discern such a problem with just a glance, wasn’t his eye of discernment a little too formidable? Was he really just a Nascent Saint?
On the other hand, noticing the expression on the elder’s face, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.
Even without utilizing his Library of Heaven’s Path, he could still easily find numerous flaws in the other party’s movement technique.
In fact, back when he first cultivated the Heaven’s Path Movement Art, he had met with the same problem as well. Due to the lacking resilience of his physical body, his body was nearly torn apart from the astounding speed he was traveling at.
It was even more so for the Unbounded Voyager. Moving at the speed nearly comparable to teleportation, if one’s physical body didn’t meet the prerequisite, one would suffer devastating damage just by executing the technique.
In the end, after everything the other party had said, the technique was only feasible when paired with exceptional zhenqi capacity and an incredibly resilient body, or else it would only end up hindering one.
Of course, if one could meet the two prerequisites for the technique, the Unbounded Voyager could become a powerful trump card in battle, allowing one to become invincible within one’s cultivation realm.
As such, there was no way Zhang Xuan was going to let such a valuable technique slip through his fingers. But for him to acknowledge another man as his teacher, impossible!
"How is it? Is there a mistake in what I have said?" Smiling, Zhang Xuan turned to the elder with a glint in his eyes.
After a moment of hesitation, the elder replied, "There is indeed nothing wrong with what you have said. That is also the reason I only impart this technique to those who possess superior aptitude. The fact that you could pass through the lava, as well as approach the seal outside and destroy it, shows that your physical body has already reached an incredible level. On top of that, your ability to find this stone tablet within the allocated time limit also shows that you possess a powerful soul and a vast capacity of zhenqi. Since that is the case, you have already met the prerequisites for the cultivation of the Unbounded Voyager. The issues that you have stated aren’t problems for you."
Be it the lava or the seal, they were trials that he had left behind to test those who entered the Spatial Formation. Since the other party had come this far, it meant that the other party had already met the basic requirements for the cultivation of the technique.
As such, the flaws that the other party had mentioned weren’t issues either.
"I do possess the required ability to cultivate the Unbounded Voyager. It’s just that... I happen to wield the ability to improve the Unbounded Voyager and make it even stronger. Are you willing to listen?" Zhang Xuan asked with a smile.
"Improve the Unbounded Voyager? Impossible!" The elder shook his head.
His cultivation had reached an astounding level before his death, but even so, he had still been unable to find a way to advance the Unbounded Voyager. How could the mere Nascent Saint before him possibly possess the ability to do so?
"There’s no need to rush into denying the matter. Why don’t we do this instead? Allow me to take a peek at the Unbounded Voyager cultivation technique, and I will point out the flaws in it for you. You can make your choice after hearing my analysis and see whether there is a mistake in it or not," Zhang Xuan said.
"I’m fine with that. In any case, I was intending to pass down the secret art to you anyway, so it’s not a problem. However... I am only a fragmented soul, and the time I have is severely limited. It is probably going to be several hours before you are done reading, and I don’t think that I can last until then," the elder said.
The aim of leaving behind his ancient domain was to pass down his cultivation technique to the later generations, and the young man before him was a person who had passed his trial. Naturally, he would impart the Unbounded Voyager to the young man. However, the Unbounded Voyager was an incredibly profound technique that even the most talented of people would at least require several hours before they could finish reading the entire book, let alone find the flaws in it!
As a fragmented soul, the time he had left was sorely lacking. Chances were that he would dissipate before the other party even finished browsing through the book, making it impossible for him to verify the authenticity of the other party’s words.
"I don’t need several hours. As long as you can allow me a look at the cultivation technique, I will be able to find the flaws in it for you within a minute!" Zhang Xuan smiled.
"A minute?" The elder stared at the young man before him doubtfully.
After a moment of hesitation, the elder flicked his wrist, and a series of words reminiscent of the Milky Way abruptly materialized in the sky.
It was the manual for the Unbounded Voyager.
Sweeping through it, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but be astonished.
Just as the other party had said, there were five dans to the technique, and each dan represented a realm. Even if he just cultivated the 1-dan to Consummation, the speed that he could travel at would increase by leaps and bounds.
That meant that he would be able to display a far greater fighting prowess than before as well.
As astonished as Zhang Xuan was, he didn’t allow it to show on his face. Exhaling deeply, he turned to the elder and remarked with a light smile, "This Unbounded Voyager is indeed a formidable technique, but... if I am not mistaken, there should be nine flaws in it, right?"
"You..." Shocked by Zhang Xuan’s words, the elder began trembling uncontrollably.
Back then, he had asked Kong shi to evaluate this movement technique of his, and the latter did mention that there were nine flaws with it as well. However, instead of correcting the technique for him, Kong shi had only pointed them out to him and asked him to think of a way to resolve them himself.
When he opened the ancient domain, his strength hadn’t reached its peak yet, and he had yet to find a way to resolve the issues in the Unbounded Voyager. Thus, he could only leave the flawed movement technique behind.
Who would have thought that the person he was intending to pass the movement technique down to would be able to come to the same conclusion just by taking a glimpse at the manual? Wasn’t his eye of discernment way too terrifying?
"Firstly, in the cultivation of the 1-dan, when driving one’s zhenqi through the Bimen acupoint, it will produce an effect of temporary blindness. With a bit of bad luck, it is possible that one might even lose one’s sense of sight permanently. Am I right?"
"This... You’re right." After a moment of hesitation, the elder nodded.
That was exactly what Kong shi had said to him back then!
Back when he had just started cultivating the Unbounded Voyager 1-dan, he had indeed encountered signs of losing his sense of sight. It was fortunate that Kong shi had saved him then and resolved his trauma.
Zhang Xuan continued. "The reason for the occurrence of such a situation is due to the zhenqi threads passing through the Mingmou acupoint. There are some problems with the circulation pathway of the technique, and as long as the correct pathway isn’t found, such a situation will occur."
The Library of Heaven’s Path couldn’t correct the flaws by itself and provide him with a flawless Unbounded Voyager. Nevertheless, just by pointing out the flaws alone, he could still easily win the other party’s trust.
Without giving the other party any time to recover from his shock, Zhang Xuan pushed on. "The second flaw is also within the cultivation of the Unbounded Voyager 1-dan. During the cultivation process, it must be completed within a single breath. If one were to run out of zhenqi in the process and fail to push into the Shenxing acupoint, there is a good chance that one might become paralyzed for life..."
The crux to the incredible speed of the Unbounded Voyager lay in the opening of the Shenxing acupoint.
However, the acupoint was located at the center of one’s feet, and it was an extraordinarily difficult acupoint to open. It was highly demanding on the purity and quantity of zhenqi one harnessed. The slightest deviation that occurred in this stage could result in full body paralysis!
Even though he had been spared from that unfortunate outcome back when he was cultivating it, a couple of students he had accepted later on weren’t as lucky as him. Instead of mastering the technique, they had ended up losing their ability to walk instead.
All along, he had thought that it was due to his students’ weak body and lacking zhenqi. He had thought that, as long he could find someone who possessed a bloodline as powerful as his, the problem could be averted entirely. However, at that moment, the young man was saying the very same words that Kong shi had told him back then, and this left him thinking that the matter might not have been as simple as he thought it was.
"The third flaw is in the Unbounded Voyager 2-dan. While cultivating that realm, the driving of one’s zhenqi through that point could lead to the breeding of Inner Demons..."
"The fourth flaw lies in the 3-dan..."
"The fifth flaw..."
In a single breath, Zhang Xuan spilled out the nine flaws in the Unbounded Voyager in detail.
These were all reflected in the Library of Heaven’s Path, so he only had to read them out accordingly.
"... and these are the nine flaws that I have identified. Is there any mistake with my analysis?"
"T-this..." The elder trembled uncontrollably as he retracted the words in the sky before nodding. "There is no mistake at all. Your analysis is correct!"
At that moment, there was no word that could possibly describe the immense shock he was feeling.
The manual for the Unbounded Voyager consisted of over ten thousand words, and the meaning behind them was extremely profound as well. Even he would have needed several hours before he could fully make sense out of the entire manual. Yet, with a simple glance, the other party had been able to point out the flaws in it, and it was exactly the same as what Kong shi had said back then. His eye of discernment was truly frightening!
His talent was nowhere beneath that of Kong shi’s!
"Do you believe that I can improve the Unbounded Voyager for you now?" Zhang Xuan said.
The elder was conflicted for a short moment before eventually nodding. "... I do."
Judging from how the other party was able to point out the flaws in the Unbounded Voyager with just a glance, it wouldn’t be too difficult for him to correct them and bring it a step closer to perfection.
"Good. Right, there is something that I want to ask you. Did a group of master teachers pass by this area two years ago? May I know if they are still living?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"There was indeed a group of master teachers who passed by this stone tablet two years ago. However, as they didn’t find the way out of the Unbounded World in the allocated time, I didn’t impart my secret art to them, simply sending them away. However, they didn’t listen to my advice and chose to continue onward. As this soul of mine is bound here, I am not too sure about how they fared in the later trials," the elder replied.
Despite being a soul fragment of the ancient domain’s master, he was effectively no different from a puppet that had been left behind to stand guard in the Unbounded World. Anything beyond this trial was outside his scope of authority, so he had no way of peeking and learning about it.
"Alright then." Hearing the explanation, Zhang Xuan sighed deeply and nodded.
He had thought that he could receive some vital news from the other party, but it seemed like he could only take one step at a time.
Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan was about to turn around and leave when the elder behind him suddenly spoke up. "Since you know the way to perfecting the Unbounded Voyager, can you share it with me?"
This question had been plaguing him for the longest time. As he had been left behind in the Unbounded World before these problems could be resolved, he had never had a chance to learn of the solutions to resolving the problems.
While the time he had left was limited, if he could learn of the correct cultivation technique before his dissipation, his life wouldn’t have been spent in vain.
If this final regret of his could be resolved, he wouldn’t mind even if he were to dissipate then and there!
Halting in his footsteps, Zhang Xuan turned around and asked, "You wish to know how to resolve the flaws of the Unbounded Voyager?"
"That’s right!" The elder nodded. "If you can enlighten me, I will be extremely grateful to you!"
Since the other party had been able to see through the flaws in his cultivation technique with just a single look, he dared not pull his weight and say words about how he was going to impart the Unbounded Voyager to the other party anymore.
Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan placed his hands behind his back, and an indomitable aura burst forth from him, as if a deity that had descended from the heavens.
"Acknowledge me as your teacher, and I will impart it to you!"