Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

The surrounding black mist absorbed the runes from Chen Fei and dissipated automatically.

In less than a moment, the mountain peak, previously empty of anyone, saw Chen Fei once again appearing in his original position.

From beginning to end, Chen Fei had not moved a single step. He hadn’t teleported away either; rather, his entire being had completely concealed itself.

Not only his physical form but even his aura and soul imprint were forcibly hidden.

This was the power of the rune, Return to Nothing!

By hiding his body within a spatial layer, he was both present and not present at the same time, a truly miraculous ability.

It was somewhat reminiscent of certain groups of talents, but this rune ultimately did not merge with his soul like those talents; it was entirely unique.

“This hiding ability will come in handy within the Sacred City!”

Glancing at the interface, Chen Fei noticed the rune listed separately, not categorized under martial arts or talents.

Just absorbed, the proficiency was already at the Great Completion stage, which was why Chen Fei had been able to use it so smoothly just now.

Chen Fei opened his right hand, revealing a pattern in his palm, the very one carried by the rune moments ago.

The contamination within had naturally been cleared away, and the function of this pattern was quite simple: it received commands from the Black Divine. Upon completion, it could be used to exchange for rewards.

Currently, the rewards from the Black Divine were very modest, but remarkably effective—they provided insights into martial arts.

The true form of the Black Divine was still asleep; the pattern communicated with a general consciousness of the Black Divine.

If Chen Fei’s strength had been sufficiently formidable, perhaps through this general consciousness, he could have roughly pinpointed the location of the Black Divine’s true form.

However, Chen Fei was merely an ordinary mid-level practitioner in the Mountain Sea Realm; he lacked the powerful soul required for reverse deduction.

As for handing over this pattern to practitioners in the Sun Moon Realm within the Sacred City, it was uncertain whether they would immediately imprison Chen Fei.

Once this pattern touched anyone other than Chen Fei, it shattered directly, leaving no opportunity for deduction.

Just as certain monsters could sense practitioners in the Sun Moon Realm thousands of miles away, this pattern similarly maintained an extremely sensitive perception of them.

At that moment, as Chen Fei communicated, the pattern emitted a faint glow, and a sphere of light composed entirely of the energies of heaven and earth appeared in his palm.

The sphere still carried traces of contamination, not because the Black Divine intended to further corrupt others, but simply because this insight, derived using the Black Divine’s power, inherently possessed its attributes.

Chen Fei summoned the illusion of Xuanyuan Sword, clearing away the contamination, and then directly absorbed this insight representing the indestructible golden light talent.

On the panel, proficiency in the indestructible golden light talent increased slightly.

This insight could be considered a greeting gift; every month thereafter, a new insight into martial arts would appear as a form of reward.

While the amount of insight was not substantial, other practitioners might find it generous. For Chen Fei, however, this small amount of martial arts insight could probably save him about ten days of rigorous cultivation.

Considering it a gain, Chen Fei harbored no dissatisfaction.

To obtain more insights into martial arts, one had to follow the Black Divine’s instructions and complete tasks.

Upon completing a task, the pattern would reward abundant insights into martial arts.

Chen Fei turned his palm over and looked into the distance.

In the general consciousness of the Black Divine, Chen Fei was considered his subordinate, but to those monsters, he remained a practitioner in the Mountain Sea Realm—thus, attacks would continue.

These were rules deliberately set by the Black Divine. Otherwise, if Chen Fei were to move with other practitioners in the Mountain Sea Realm and encountered monsters that completely ignored him, it would raise suspicions at first glance, especially if he attempted to conceal himself.

Monsters, devoid of much intelligence, were suited only for direct and straightforward actions. They were incapable of acting or pretending.

“With the power of Return to Nothing, it seems I can really venture into places where monsters gather and see what’s going on.”

A thought flashed through Chen Fei’s mind. Initially, when taking on tasks, Chen Fei never considered reconnaissance.

It was too dangerous; real insight required deep immersion.

But now, with this newfound ability suddenly at hand, it seemed he could use it directly.

For Chen Fei, the revival and empowerment of the Black Divine were not only detrimental to the Boundless Sea but also posed risks to Chen Fei himself.

Currently regarded as an ally, Chen Fei knew that if he dared to appear before the true form of the Black Divine, his true identity would be instantly recognized as false, and he would be killed on the spot.

Stepping forward, Chen Fei’s entire body entered the spatial layer.

Unlike teleportation through spatial fissures using his talent, moving within this spatial layer imposed no pressure.

However, the absence of pressure also meant an inability to leap forward swiftly.

Compared to Chen Fei’s usual flying speed, in the Return to Nothing state, his speed was reduced to less than thirty percent of its original.

Moreover, any action in the Return to Nothing state would immediately exit this condition.

He could forcefully continue to enter the spatial layer, but the moment he acted, the disturbance of energy, exposure of aura and soul, would make such stealth imperfect and easily detectable.

In the Return to Nothing state, there was no immunity to damage. In fact, due to all bodily functions operating at a lower level, defensive capabilities were reduced compared to normal.

Chen Fei traveled less than a hundred miles before distinguishing the various advantages and disadvantages of Return to Nothing.

When used, it was naturally effective, but relying entirely on this power could easily lead to problems.

Soul power was constantly consumed, but within Chen Fei’s endurance, even if it continued for a day, he would have no problem.

” I wonder if I can directly integrate the power of Return to Nothing into the talent of Teleportation?”

Chen Fei’s steps suddenly hesitated. Return to Nothing existed in the spatial layer, while teleportation occurred in spatial fissures; to some extent, both belonged to spatial powers.

Chen Fei often used the interface to integrate martial arts. Initially breaking through to the Mountain Sea Realm, he even tried to fuse talents.

However, the integration of talents ultimately failed. It wasn’t because talents couldn’t be fused, but rather, the resulting power after fusion was too much for Chen Fei’s soul to sustain.

At that time, it led Chen Fei to contemplate many things, even the cultivation methods of the Sun Moon Realm.

Currently, if talents couldn’t be fused, could a similar talent-like ability be integrated into an existing talent?

Return to Nothing was very effective, but its movement speed was slow. As Chen Fei’s strength improved in the future, it was likely that even in the Return to Nothing state, the speed would remain at its current level.

This was determined by the characteristics of the spatial layer; moving too quickly would expose the hidden aura and soul imprint.

Moreover, the significant reduction in defense was also a major weakness. If someone detected Chen Fei’s presence under Return to Nothing, he could easily become fatally vulnerable.

But if Return to Nothing could be integrated into the talent of teleportation, perhaps these two drawbacks could be mitigated.

“Fuse!”

Chen Fei commanded, staring at the interface.

On the interface, the words “Teleportation” and “Return to Nothing” began to blur. Chen Fei felt his soul churning, which lasted half an hour before finally stopping.

At the same time, the information about Return to Nothing disappeared from the interface, while Teleportation underwent a transformation.

“Discovered talent: Teleportation (Moving Through Nothing).”

Chen Fei’s expression shifted slightly as he sensed the change in his talent. In the next moment, his form, now enhanced by the fusion of Return to Nothing, once again concealed itself.

Moments later, Chen Fei appeared hundreds of miles away, materializing his figure.

“The impediments to speed have disappeared, and the weakness in defense is gone.”

A smile spread across Chen Fei’s face. His earlier speculation had proven successful. The only caveat now was the significant increase in soul consumption when using Moving Through Nothing.

In a sense, it was akin to using a variant of teleportation.

Whereas previously with Return to Nothing, Chen Fei could maintain it effortlessly for an entire day, now with Moving Through Nothing, his soul power would deplete within half an hour.

The consumption rate had increased substantially.

However, as Chen Fei’s realm continued to advance in the future, the duration of Moving Through Nothing would inevitably extend.

It could be said that this fusion had transformed a flawed special power into a potent talent unique to Chen Fei.

As for the heavy soul consumption—what powerful force didn’t come with significant costs?

Three hours later, Chen Fei stepped into a massive mountain cavity.

If Return to Nothing previously had a slight possibility of being detected by monsters, now with the fusion of teleportation, Chen Fei’s form continued to merge into the spatial fissures.

Such stealth was beyond the detection of Fourth-Tier monsters.

Based on Chen Fei’s understanding of Fourth-Tier and Mountain Sea Realm beings, unless they reached the Sun Moon Realm and accessed spatial powers, it was impossible for them to detect him in this state.

Chen Fei descended rapidly. The mountain cavity was shrouded in the demonic energy of monsters, creating a formation effect that prevented distant scrutiny from practitioners in the Mountain Sea Realm.

Moments later, Chen Fei arrived at a vast cavern where he saw a group of monsters moving back and forth, using their innate powers to engrave a massive pattern.

Chen Fei furrowed his brows slightly, leaping above the cavern to get a clear view of the complete pattern.

“A teleportation altar?”

It seemed vaguely familiar to Chen Fei. Realizing it now, the pattern resembled the altar of the Thousand Feathers Alliance with more than seventy percent similarity!

The patterns weren’t entirely identical, but the core positions of several patterns were strikingly similar.

The altar of the Thousand Feathers Alliance was still gathering power, with at least half a year before its next activation.

“Is the Black Divine setting up the altar to transmit power from the original world to accelerate his own recovery? Or is he directly summoning his former subordinates?”

A series of speculations raced through Chen Fei’s mind as he turned and left the cavern.

This information needed to be relayed back to the Sacred City because either scenario would spell disaster for humans and monsters alike in the Boundless Sea.

Soon, the Sun Moon Realm practitioners would need to sweep through these monster gathering points.

However, it remained uncertain whether those hidden monsters were also constructing such altars!

After leaving the mountain cavity and manifesting his form hundreds of miles away, Chen Fei swiftly flew towards the Sacred City.

Several hours later, Chen Fei caught sight of Thousand Geese City.

Just as he was about to continue towards the Mission Hall, a tremendous commotion erupted from the direction of Jade Spring Valley. A colossal force surged into the sky, completely flattening half of the mountain at Jade Spring Valley.

Chen Fei’s eyes widened slightly. Before he could fully perceive the situation in Jade Spring Valley, suddenly a mighty force descended from the sky, crashing directly towards him.

Chen Fei’s expression changed slightly. The Qianyuan Sword was drawn from its sheath, intercepting from above.

“Boom!”

A thunderous roar echoed through the sky as Chen Fei was propelled through the mountains below.

The momentum of this force remained unabated, sweeping towards Thousand Geese City.