Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

Gong Lianfen cautiously approached Chen Fei. Just now, she thought Chen Fei was crazy—without saying a word, he drew his sword to kill.

Now realizing it was a misunderstanding, she still felt somewhat frightened.

But the Metal Tiger, such a powerful spiritual treasure, was suppressed by Chen Fei’s sword and couldn’t move.

Gong Lianfen wanted to escape from here, and her only hope seemed to rely on Chen Fei.

Gong Lianfen stole a glance at Chen Fei. If his demands weren’t too excessive, she wouldn’t hesitate to agree—after all, staying alive was the top priority.

Chen Fei glanced at Gong Lianfen, then carefully observed the Metal Tiger under his sword.

Even the most unconventional demon cultivators rarely added eyes and a mouth to their spiritual treasures on the Middle Continent. After all, spiritual treasures were meant for battle, and extra eyes and mouths served no purpose in combat.

Moreover, achieving such a design wasn’t easy; it required modifying various casting methods, something most casters didn’t research.

Furthermore, the realm of this Metal Tiger was also peculiar. Despite possessing the strength of a late-stage Fourth-Tier, Chen Fei always felt it was illusory, as if its realm could drop at any moment.

“What’s the story behind this spiritual treasure?” Chen Fei asked Gong Lianfen. “I don’t know either. I’ve been trapped here by this spiritual treasure since over a month ago.”

Gong Lianfen shook her head and whispered, “There were initially ten Mountain Sea Realm experts, but now only I remain.”

“Human, you better release me, or when my master achieves supreme mastery, he will surely tear you into pieces!”

The Metal Tiger roared loudly, struggling fiercely under the Qianyuan Sword.

But with Chen Fei’s current strength, even against this peculiar Fourth-Tier late-stage like the Metal Tiger, or a normal late-stage of the Mountain Sea Realm, Chen Fei could suppress them just the same.

“Oh? You have a master too? Who is your master?” Chen Fei remained composed and calmly asked.

In the black-and-white vision of the Heavenly Eye, there was indeed a faint connection between the Metal Tiger and a distant place.

“My master is the pride of the heavens, invincible among peers. Facing my master, you’re just a nobody! Hahaha, ah…”

The Metal Tiger burst into laughter, but before it could finish, Chen Fei struck it with his sword.

A tremendous force shook through, even bending the blade and leaving a small dent where it struck.

The Qianyuan Sword was also a top-grade spiritual treasure, infused with Void Wood, granting it the ability to penetrate outer defenses.

The Metal Tiger’s main body was extremely tough, but Chen Fei’s immense strength pierced directly through its surface, injuring its interior, which caused it to bend and crack.

Chen Fei looked down at the Metal Tiger. Its mouth moved slightly, but it refrained from saying another word, closing its eyes and mouth altogether.

“Tell me everything you know,” Chen Fei said to Gong Lianfen.

“Yes!”

Gong Lianfen nodded and proceeded to recount everything that had happened since they were ensnared in this situation.

After a moment, Chen Fei nodded slightly, forming a rough understanding.

Gong Lianfen and her companions had barely arrived here when they were confronted by the Metal Tiger.

Rather than playing with them, the Metal Tiger sought their help to find its master.

It was astonishing that a spiritual treasure couldn’t locate its own master. According to the Metal Tiger, its master was actually within this formation.

The reason for the confusion was that there were two individuals here who could be considered its master.

It wasn’t a case of consciousness splitting or one devouring the other, but rather both were genuinely the master of the Metal Tiger.

To distinguish between them, the master the Metal Tiger sought was closer to the concept of its original self, while the other had emerged later as a split.

“The Six Desires Demonic Separation?”

Chen Fei lowered his head to look at the Metal Tiger. This was the name of the technique the Metal Tiger had mentioned to Gong Lianfen and her companions earlier.

However, the specifics of this technique, its effects, and what exactly would happen were all unclear from the Metal Tiger’s initial explanation.

Perhaps from the Metal Tiger’s perspective, Gong Lianfen and her group were considered weak, and as such, it saw no need to divulge too much information. They were to follow its instructions.

“The Six Desires Demonic Separation is a technique practiced by my master. During the cultivation process, it continuously separates demonic bodies. These bodies are actively split from the original and are considered part of the same entity.”

Metal Tiger explained reluctantly, sensing the increasing force from the Qianyuan Sword.

“Continuous separation?” Chen Fei’s expression shifted slightly.

“Yes, the Six Desires Demonic Separation involves splitting the body six times. Each demonic body, once grown to its limit, is absorbed back. The practitioner grows stronger with each absorption, until all six separations are complete, achieving ultimate mastery.”

The Metal Tiger, being a spiritual treasure and always by its master’s side, knew these details well.

Chen Fei’s eyes gleamed faintly. The Six Desires Demonic Separation—a profound and lofty concept for a technique, yet simultaneously fraught with extreme danger.

Although the Metal Tiger’s explanation was brief, Chen Fei already had a general understanding of the Six Desires Demonic Separation technique.

Separating the body six times, absorbing each body when it reaches its peak growth—if successful, this would instantly propel the practitioner’s strength forward dramatically.

Because each body originates from oneself, there are no compatibility issues or excessive impurities; they can seamlessly merge together.

However, this technique was also extraordinarily perilous.

In Chen Fei’s usual practice of body separation, he always guarded against any disturbance in the fragments of consciousness within the split bodies, which could lead to awakening of the self.

On the Middle Continent, as far as Chen Fei knew, all the body separation techniques aimed to prevent such occurrences.

Yet, the Six Desires Demonic Separation actively induces consciousness in the separated demonic bodies.

Ultimately, whether the demonic body or the original self triumphs, the victor can continue practicing and separating until six times are complete.

If the practitioner is strong enough to win all six times, their realm would indeed skyrocket. However, even losing once along the way wouldn’t necessarily invalidate their progress, since after all, the demonic bodies are still part of oneself.

It all boils down to whether one accepts the concept that clones are also part of oneself.

“But I reckon most practitioners wouldn’t accept this concept. Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that the Six Desires Demonic Separation is an extraordinary technique,” Chen Fei remarked.

“What iteration is it for your master to separate a demonic body this time? How long has it been ongoing?” Chen Fei asked solemnly.

“The second iteration has been in deadlock for hundreds of sunrises and moons,” the Metal Tiger muttered.

Gong Lianfen, standing nearby, listened to the Metal Tiger’s explanation of the Six Desires Demonic Separation with astonishment in her eyes.

As a mid-level Mountain Sea Realm cultivator and an elder of a sect, Gong Lianfen had considerable knowledge of techniques practiced on the Middle Continent.

The Six Desires Demonic Separation sounded more demonic than many demonic techniques she had heard of.

Many demonic techniques offered quick results with some drawbacks but remained generally controllable.

In contrast, the Six Desires Demonic Separation seemed utterly uncontrollable. While achieving mastery would undoubtedly bring immense power, the risks were immense—one failure could nullify all previous progress.

Gong Lianfen couldn’t accept the notion that the demonic bodies were also oneself. To her, losing meant losing everything; a demonic body was just that, despite retaining all memories—it wasn’ t oneself.

“You can’t distinguish between the demonic bodies and the original self, so you sought their help to find them?” Chen Fei continued to question the Metal Tiger.

“Yeah, although these people might be a bit weaker, I reckon they’re probably smarter than my metal head,” the Metal Tiger’s tone lifted, looking at Gong Lianfen.

“But what a disappointment they turned out to be. Not a single one of them can distinguish between a demonic body and its master. What good are they then?”

Gong Lianfen’s mouth quivered slightly. If she weren’t aware that she couldn’t defeat the Metal Tiger, she would have been tempted to give it a few kicks.

What did it mean by “disappointment”?

If distinguishing between demonic bodies and the original self were so straightforward, this technique wouldn’t have so many complications.

Moreover, the Metal Tiger’s earlier explanations to them were vague and incomplete, nothing like its current forthrightness.

Under these circumstances, if they could actually discern the difference between the demonic bodies and the original self, that would truly be extraordinary.

Chen Fei chuckled silently. This spiritual treasure sure knew how to shift the blame—if it couldn’t distinguish them, it blamed others.

“So, did it kill all eight of them initially?” Chen Fei asked Gong Lianfen.

“No, not exactly. We found a peculiar spatial channel and a few went in, but none of them returned,” Gong Lianfen shook her head.

“Oh, there’s a spatial channel too?”

Chen Fei’s eyes brightened, including those from the Outer Territories?

The peculiar appearance of the Metal Tiger, coupled with the Six Desires Demonic Separation, were completely different from anything found on the Middle Continent.

If they hailed from the Outer Territories, everything could suddenly make sense.

After all, in Middle Continent, a treasure like the Metal Tiger with its ability to talk wasn’t common, let alone a profound technique like the Six Desires Demonic Separation, which would definitely not be obscure.

“Haha, daring to enter that spatial channel, not even knowing how they died,” the Metal Tiger laughed loudly.

“You all came here through that spatial channel, right?” Chen Fei asked the Metal Tiger.

“Yeah, although the spiritual energy here is thin, it’s just right for my master to cultivate techniques,” the Metal Tiger didn’t deny.

One thing the Metal Tiger didn’t get wrong earlier was that it was indeed straightforward now that it knew it couldn’t beat Chen Fei. Many things it said started to lose their covers; it said what it knew.

“Take me there.”

Chen Fei looked at Gong Lianfen and continued, “By the way, your sect issued a task to find you, and I accepted that task.”

“A task?” Gong Lianfen’s eyes widened in realization. No wonder Chen Fei had shown mercy to her subordinates.

“How much is the reward?” Gong Lianfen asked curiously.

“Twenty thousand high-grade elemental stones,” Chen Fei stated, glancing at Gong Lianfen.

Seeing her hesitation, he continued, “If the task cannot be completed, bringing back a corpse will still earn ten thousand high-grade elemental stones.”

Gong Lianfen halted the words she was about to speak.

Originally, she had intended to negotiate whether the twenty thousand high-grade elemental stones could be lowered in price, considering it was just the value of a medium-grade spiritual treasure.

Now, she realized that safety in returning was the most crucial consideration.

Money could be earned again if lost.