Chapter 40: Great Desolation Manual

After three days’ time, Shen Changge finally arrived at the apex of the Falling Sun technique. Now, he could finally unleash the maximum power of the Truth Return level Assaulting Art.

The might of a Truth Return level Assaulting Art at its apex made Shen Changge a little excited.

Besides, he had also arrived at the apex of the spiritual breathing technique, Spirit Guidance.

Now, Shen Changge could already feel that when he was practicing Spirit Guidance, his physical qualities would seemingly alter bit by bit like a slowly progressing meridian renewal procedure…

“But why haven’t I ascended yet?”

Shen Changge had a strange look on his face.

He had been at the peak of the Liberation stage for three days.

Those three days must not be looked down upon. After three days of check-ins at the training ground, it was equivalent to 1500 years of cultivation effort for Shen Changge!

However, those 1500 years did not let Shen Changge step into the next stage in cultivation. Is it because my aptitude is too awful? No, that isn’t right. Shen Changge felt like that was not the key to his problem. He could feel that he had reached a bottleneck. It felt for him like the next stage was already at his fingertips. However, there was this strange barrier that was separating him from it.

The Divine Bridge stage.

Many had stepped into it.

The Sect Lord of the Sol Sword Sect and the old geezer at home were both beings at the Divine Bridge stage. However, Shen Changge did not feel that the stage was anything extraordinary.

“This is kinda strange, but I feel like the Divine Bridge Stage that I’m about to step into seems very different from theirs.”

At that moment, Shen Changge was sitting cross-legged on the Empyrean Peak. His eyes were shut as his consciousness sank into himself.

His consciousness passed through his heart, feeling the state of his own cultivation. At that moment, as if the internal void within him had been shattered, his inner self had begun ascending to the next stage. It was just that the Divine Bridge had yet to be constructed. However, he could still feel the next stage. That was the rampart to the next stage!

“Mmm?”

Suddenly, Shen Changge made a doubtful sound. The place where his Cultivation Base was heading to consisted of a riot of colors and was extremely gorgeous.

Vaguely, he could feel something pulling him over, and it was exactly this invisible traction that made his next stage very odd.

That thing was definitely not something that naturally existed in his body, it was most likely…

A foreign object!

A foreign object from within the dark mist!

“Rebirth!”

Shen Changge immediately commenced a reverse deduction!

All of a sudden, his entire body trembled violently and his expression became somewhat awful.

“I think I’m kinda playing with fire over here. This object is extremely terrifying. Though I’ve only caught a glimpse of it, I can see that it is a stone stele rooted in the dark mist. It’s kinda run down and its surface is engraved with a large number of characters. However, I can’t make out what those characters are saying…”

…

This place was a field of nothingness.

When the dark fog thickened to a certain level, all the substantive matter in the area would gradually become homogenized. The land would become empty, barren, and even the flow of time would seemingly be affected.

Whoosh!

The dark mist suddenly rumbled. At the center where the dark mist was slightly thinner, a mysterious ancient stone stele appeared. The surface of the dark stone stele was made of a special material and was mottled with the vestiges of time, adding to it an extra sense of age-worn oppression.

All of a sudden, a few figures teleported over from afar. Their bodies were one with the dark mist. The dark mist in the area and every breath they took seemingly enhanced each other with fine and resonating brilliance.

“Has the member of the Dark God Stele for this session been confirmed?”

Their voices were hoarse as if they had been specially processed. They were rumbling. Their voices alone left the earth vibrating.

They carefully watched the name that appeared on the ancient stone stele, and suddenly, someone made a sound of doubt.

“Someone from the Outer Ring is included in the Dark God Stele’s list?”

“Outer Ring?”

The Outer Ring of the dark mist represented an area where the dark mist was thin and resources were scarce. The sects over there were mostly inconspicuous small sects. How would they attract the Dark God Stele’s attention?

“The Dark God Stele is closely related to the Sect Statues. It can never be wrong…”

“He is the final 100th person who arrived at the peak of the Liberation stage. He should be somewhat talented. However, within the Mist Ocean, what we aren’t lacking is geniuses.”

It was true.

The few figures gathered there began recording and the disciple of the Outer Ring, Shen Changge, just reminded them that the dark mist had an outer circle, nothing more.

“I wonder who will emerge as the Dark Lord for this session…”

“Don’t say that too soon. It has been so many years since we had a Dark Lord. After the funneling of magic by the Dark God Stele to incite Traversing, their qualities within have to be shaped into perfection. Besides, their abilities have to be acknowledged by the Dark God Stele, which is not at all an easy feat…”

Some among them sighed.

Immediately, their bodies exploded into a field of dark mist and beamed away.

…

At that moment, Shen Changge’s checking in had awarded him a unique technique.

“Check-in Success +1”

“Acquired Reward: Soul Manual (Incomplete)”

Shen Changge was fairly interested. This Soul Manual was seemingly a technique to cultivate one’s soul.

Shen Changge sighed. His arsenal of techniques was growing constantly and he wondered if this would affect him. After all, many of those who cultivated in multiple techniques at the same time would become a jack of all trades and a master of none. Cultivators ought to practice in one technique to its perfection in order to achieve something with it. However, as soon as Shen Changge remembered that he had seemingly maxed out a few of his techniques automatically with a few days of check-ins he realized that saying had nothing to do with him!

Cultivation is not my job. You’re already a mature system. You must cultivate harder!

But at present, Shen Changge wanted to try some things out.

That skeleton told him many things about the Mist Ocean.

It also gave Shen Changge a bit of guesswork.

If he were to check in at the dark mist, which was inside the Mist Ocean, what reward would he get?

Shen Changge stepped into the dark mist.

“Check-in.”

“Check-in Success!”

The check-in was successful!

Shen Changge’s spirits were heightened a bit.

The dark mist was unique and mysterious. What reward could he possibly get from it by checking in?

“Acquired reward: Great Desolation Manual: Ruin.”

A skill manual?

Shen Changge’s pupils suddenly constricted. He promptly felt an endless array of ancient information exploding in his mind. It caused him to develop a splitting headache. However, he could seemingly feel that after he acquired the Great Desolation Manual, the surrounding dark mist became somewhat friendlier to him. In the past, if he were to linger in the dark mist for too long, he would feel extremely unpleasant. Psyche-affecting energy would emerge in his mind, making it feel as if countless little ghosts were whispering into his ears.

But now, Shen Changge felt as though the dark mist was a massive treasure stash containing rich energy!

Great Desolation Manual…

This technique was probably immensely terrifying.

Shen Changge’s face was sullen. After reading this manual, although he could not quite understand it, he could still feel the mystery and horror conveyed by the vast and magnificent text. In comparison, even the Empyrean Sword Manual seemed extremely simple.

“The technique of the dark mist, Mist Dwellers…

“Interesting,” Shen Changge said.

He slowly vanished into the mist. The surrounding dark mist surged and formed an arch around him!