Ancient Godly Monarch
chapter-44

AGM 0044 – Spirit Refinement Method

Qin Wentian stared blankly at Fan Le. His sleep lasted for three days?

“Astral Soul.” Qin Wentian closed his eyes. In his sea of consciousness, he had successfully opened up two Astral Gates. The Heavenly Hammer Astral Soul as well as the Great Dream Astral Soul resided inside them. Beside the Astral Gates, there was a dimmed figure of the tiny Astral-Being.

“Fragments of memory, there really were fragments of memories. My head feels as though it’s splitting apart right now.” Qin Wentian shook his head, trying to numb the pain as the new memories he gained slowly integrated themselves into his mind

“Dreamcast Art, a Cultivation Technique of the Heavenly Dipper Realm Level. This cultivation technique would be able to support my cultivation until I reach the Heavenly Dipper Realm.”

“Dreamcast Art consists of three levels: Shallow Dream State, Immersed Dream State, and Forgotten Dream State.

“The Shallow Dream State has the slowest speed when used for cultivation. Despite of this, it would still be several times faster compared to my normal rate of absorption. It would enable the user to enter light sleep and cultivate in that state.”

“Immersed Dream State enables the user to enter into a state of deep sleep that exponentially increased the speed of cultivation. Not only that, the user would be able to create dreams, forcing others to enter into a dream-like state.

“Forgotten Dream State. The user would be able to form a dream-will, where his dreams are reality. He would even have the power to determine life and death in the dream state.”

Qin Wentian gradually immersed himself in the memories as his heart slightly trembled. During the time when he had condensed his first Astral Soul, the Tempered Thousand Hammers Refinement Technique was bestowed upon him via the tiny Astral-Being. It had been extremely suitable for cultivating at his Body Refinement Level. Now, after he condensed his 2nd Astral Soul, the Dreamcast Art appeared in his memories. It seemed that the tiny Astral-Being was intentionally passing onto him memories of secret arts and techniques based on the types of Astral Souls he condensed.

And this time round, not only was there the Dreamcast Art, an even more profound memory was unlocked: Spirit Refinement Method.

The Spirit Refinement Method was not a technique nor a Secret Art that could be used to increase one’s cultivation level. Instead, it was an extremely terrifying, supreme method that would enable the user to condense and refine the Astral Energy within the body.

Based on his understanding of the memory, the 1st-level of the Spirit Refinement Method would require 1st-level Divine Imprints to condense and refine the Astral Energy he absorbed, transforming it into Divine Yuan Energy.

Using Divine Imprints to condense and refine Astral Energy, Qin Wentian had never imagined that such an earth-shattering method existed. Divine Imprints were capable of transforming ordinary weapons into Divine Weapons. For example, a flying-sword Divine Imprint, when inscribed onto a weapon, would bestow upon the weapon an aura of sharpness, as well as increasing weapon’s might.

If, in the same context, the Astral Energy within a human body was refined and compacted by a 1st-level Divine Imprint, when the refined Astral Energy was released, boosted by the effects of the Divine Imprint, how terrifying would the unleashed might be?

And now, if the Astral Energy was replaced by Innate Strength, boosted by the effects of the Divine Imprint, how much more terrifying would the unleashed might be?

Just thinking of the possibilities would cause the blood of any cultivators to surged wildly.

However, the degree of difficulty in cultivating Spirit Refinement Method was even tougher than ascending the heavens. To fully convert the Astral Energy in the human body to Divine Energy, not only would one require a vast source of Astral Qi, one must also have great talent when it came to comprehending the insights of the Divine Imprint, not to mention that this type of cultivation method would take up an immense amount of time.

There was one more key aspect for Stellar Martial Cultivators: they would exhaust their True Yuan Energy during battles. This meant that the Divine Yuan that was so painstakingly gathered from the refinement of Astral Energy, would be completely depleted after a great battle and would require the cultivator to refine the energy once again. One could only imagine that, in order to practice the Spirit Refinement Method, one would need an incomparably vast amount of resources as well as invest all their time into cultivating the method.

“Hu……” Qin Wentian slowly digested the memories, drawing in another huge breath.

Difficult! This Spirit Refinement Method was too difficult to practice. The Dreamcast Art would enable the user’s cultivation speed to increase, but wouldn’t this Spirit Refinement Method actually reduce one’s cultivation speed to the lowest possible level?

“The middle-aged man of the Qin Heavenly Divine Sect…the cultivation technique he practiced should have been this Spirit Refinement Method.” Qin Wentian recalled the scenario as his heart trembled with awe. But…… What was the truth of the relationship between Qin Wentian and the middle-aged man?

“Damn old fogey, what in the world did you leave behind for me?” Qin Wentian breathed. He thought back to Uncle Black, but sadly, after the incident at Qin Residence, Uncle Black had disappeared.

Fan Le waved his hands in front of Qin Wentian, causing Qin Wentian to stare at him.

“Are you sick?” Fatty asked with concern. Did this fellow sleep so much to the extent that he became idiotic?

Qin Wentian twitched his eyebrows as his face broke into a smile, causing Fatty to involuntarily shiver. Fatty hurriedly smiled. “Boss, I was just joking. I only meant to say that I was worried about you.”

Fatty winced. The beating he endured previously was still fresh in his mind.

“Shall we return to the Emperor Star Academy tomorrow?” Qin Wentian asked.

Fatty’s eyes shone, and a familiar wretched smile appeared on his face. They were finally about to return to the Emperor Star Academy. He had been badly anticipating this for quite a long time.

Qin Wentian was currently at the Arterial Circulation Realm. Based on his tyrannical Astral Souls, there shouldn’t be any problems dealing with Orfon.

As he thought of this, a cold glint appeared in Fatty’s eyes.

“Master.” At this moment, Francis approached with a face full of smiles.

“What happen?” Qin Wentian asked, looking at Francis.

“Good news. Today, the Divine Weapon Pavilion auctioned a divine weapon that master forged. The news spread far and wide, attracting many people from the Royal Capital. Not only that, there were some bigshots present, and after they tested the divine weapon, they found that not only does it have the boosting effect, there’s an unexpected ability as well. The divine weapon has to ability to store Yuan Energy and is able to burst forth with it during unexpected moments in a fight, catching opponents unaware. Try guessing how much the 2nd-level low graded divine weapon sold for.”

Francis was extremely excited and happy that he did not follow the wrong man. If he chose to remain at the Star River Association, he would remained stagnant there unless he was willing to become Murin’s lapdog.

“How much was it?” Qin Wentian was extremely curious.

“Fifteen 2nd-layer Yuan Meteor Stone.” Francis exclaimed. He continued, “Normally, one Yuan Meteor Stone would be sufficient to purchase a 2nd-level low graded Divine Weapon. Not only that, this auction caused such a huge commotion that it attracted countless people. There were even some who were inspired to study Divine Imprints and become a weaponsmith.”

Qin Wentian smiled. If he had sold it normally instead of through an auction, there wouldn’t have been such an effect. Once his comprehension of the insights behind the Divine Imprints improved, he would be able to forge weapons of an even higher grade. By then, he would no longer need to worry about having sufficient Yuan Meteor Stones to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Method.

“Master, these are the Yuan Meteor Stones. After deducting their share, the Divine Weapon Pavilion gave us a total of eight pieces of Yuan Meteor Stones.” Francis smiled as he passed the Yuan Meteor Stones over to Qin Wentian.

“Right, hold on to these two. When I’m free in the future, I will be coming here to forge weapons. As for you, you should spend some time to comprehend the insights as well as ensure that your cultivation level does not stagnate.” Qin Wentian passed two Yuan Meteor Stones back to Francis.

“Thank you Master.”

“You can go.” Qin Wentian gave Francis permission to leave while he continued practicing the Dragon Subduing Fist, trying to comprehend the essence of the Spirit Refinement Technique as well as the Dreamcast Art.

There was no way he could master the Spirit Refinement Method without long term and consistent efforts. And as for the first level, the Shallow Dream State of the Dreamcast Art, Qin Wentian entered the dream state during night as he fell asleep. In the 5th Heavenly Layer, the Astral Energy from the two constellations cascaded down and fell on his body, allowing him to cultivate even in his sleep. Fan Le could only stared blankly at Qin Wentian; he had been dumbstruck once he discovered what was happening.

Cultivating in his sleep? Was this even possible?

I’m so envious that I could die!

On the second morning, Qin Wentian and Fan Le bid goodbye to Francis. They rented two horses and began their journey to Emperor Star Academy.

Upon reaching Emperor Star Academy, Qin Wentian discovered that there were many others like him, all moving in the direction of the Emperor Star Academy’s gate.

“Why is it so rowdy today?” Qin Wentian curiously asked.

“Could it be that they know I’m back?” Fan Le grinned.

Qin Wentian rolled his eyes. He was still thinking of how could he enter the academy and contact Senior Sister Luo Huan, as well as obtaining the Emperor Star Jade Medallion. To think that today, the Emperor Star Academy would open its gates, granting everyone free entry.

“Which academy are you guys from?” Beside them, there was a girl in braids who smiled at Qin Wentian while asking.

“Emperor Star Academy. How about you?” Qin Wentian replied.

“Wow, if you’re from Emperor Star Academy, then you must be extremely powerful. I’m currently cultivating at the Crimson Flame Academy. Today is the last day of the ranking competition, and since your academy has sent an invitation to all students from the other martial academies, I decided to come here myself and take a look at the strength of the Emperor Star Academy’s elites to motivate myself. There should still be time to join in the battle” The girl smiled. “It’s not every day that I’m here, so I shall get going first. See you later.”

After exchanging pleasantries, the girl departed, waving goodbye to both of them.

Qin Wentian locked gazes with Fan Le as both of them grinned. Very quickly, the two of them joined the flow of people and soon arrived at the training ground of the Emperor Star Academy. There were several people crowding together, gazing at the battle that was occurring on the arena.

“Murong Feng is, without a doubt, the strongest among the latest batch of students that joined the Emperor Star Academy. His talent is on par with the ten prodigies of the Royal Capital, condensing two Astral Souls and stepping into the 4th level of the Arterial Circulation Realm when he was 16. His potential could only be described as monstrous.” On the Arena, a mature-looking youth easily defeated his opponent with a single strike, looking incomparably calm. To him, this was nothing but a procedure.

“This is the ultimate academy of Chu Country, where geniuses are as common as cloud.” Every year, there would be people with monstrous potential like him. Other than Murong Feng, there was still Laxus and Du Hao, both of whom are at the 3rd level of the Arterial Circulation Realm. In addition, there were still three cultivators at the 2nd level of the Arterial Circulation Realm. This current batch of students was much stronger than the previous one.

Discussions rang out amongst the crowd, reminding Qin Wentian that the Emperor Star Academy was a place filled with many hidden dragons and tigers.

“Tsk tsk, the number one genius, me, has yet to showcase my talent.” Fan Le laughed in a low tone. He cast a glance at Qin Wentian before continuing, “You don’t need to worry. Your first Astral Soul was from a layer even higher than the 3rd Heavenly Layer, similar to the genius me. I bet you didn’t absorb Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi until you condensed your first Astral Soul and embarking on the path of cultivation, am I right?”

“Orfon went up.” Qin Wentian’s eyes flashed with a cold light as he ignored Fan Le’s words, focusing on a figure standing on top of the Arena.

“He almost caused our deaths, right?” Fan Le smiled.

“Right.” Qin Wentian replied.

“Want to do something big?” Fan Le’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“How?” Qin Wentian asked.

“We play him to death.” Fan Le grinned.

“Fine, let’s do it.” Qin Wentian locked gazes with Fan Le as both of their faces broke into brilliant grins.