Lin Feng walked towards the mirror again. No matter what he did, his mirror attack him back with the same strength. Poor Lin Feng, he didn't feel like being attacked again. His entire body was sore.
"Continue. Someday, you'll defeat the person you are now." said Qiong Qi with a smile yet not a smile. Was he gloating over Lin Feng's misfortune again?
Lin Feng looked at him and said, "Emperor, don't you want to come and try?"
Qiong Qi looked at him and said, "It's such an easy technique, I don't need to practice that kind of skill. I already understand and control that kind of strength. Why would I need to study them?"
"Who knows? You're bragging but haven't shown anything." said Lin Feng in a disdainful way. Qiong Qi looked furious, "You understand nothing on the path. Don't think that you understand holy marks properly. I'm telling you, you don't understand holy marks right now, otherwise, you'd kill any Tian level cultivator. You just understand rudimentary holy marks, they're almost illusionary and not real at all!"
"What path?" asked Lin Feng.
"A flower in the world, a thought, a step, the path englobes all things of creation. If you understand the path, you can create holy weapons using holy marks. The force of the Earth and sky are a part of the path." said Qiong Qi raising his head. Then, he looked at Lin Feng in a disdainful way and said, "Telling you those things is useless to you right now, you can't understand."
Lin Feng grinded his teeth. Qiong Qi was an emperor so he already understood those things, but Lin Feng didn't.
"So what does the natural strength of the Earth and sky have to do with the path?" asked Lin Feng.
"You don't understand the Earth and sky. If you understood how to control the force of the Earth and the sky properly, you'll understand the path." said Qiong Qi disdainfully. He sounded like a Buddha, but in that animal body, he looked comical.
"What you mean to say is that I first need to understand how to control the force of the Earth and sky and then I'll understand the path of strength?" asked Lin Feng.
"Indeed. Do you understand what cultivation means?"
"No, I don't." replied Lin Feng without hesitation.
"I see, a funny one…" sighed Qiong Qi. He lied down again and closed his eyes. Lin Feng grinded his teeth.
"I have some abstruse crystals, I can give you some." said Lin Feng throwing a ring at Qiong Qi. Qiong Qi's eyes twinkled.
He grabbed the ring, inspected it and whispered, "The path of cultivation is priceless, each world is worth a thousand pieces of gold." said Qiong Qi. Then, he stopped talking and closed his eyes again.
What did Qiong Qi want to do with so many abstruse crystals anyways! Qiong Qi's level hadn't changed. Lin Feng was sure that he was hiding his real cultivation level. He couldn't possibly stop there.
"You bastard!" said Lin Feng and threw another ring.
Qiong Qi inspected it and said, "In the Continent of the Nine Clouds, a long time ago, people wouldn't dare bully me. On the path of cultivation, you must be perseverant and true to yourself. You can separate those two words. Path and cultivation. Path means everything that belongs to the Earth and the sky, like a path on which you walk. The Earth and the sky are natural things which englobe the ten thousand things of creation. You can use those things to release terrifying strength. Concerning cultivation, cultivation is a school, cultivation is composed of rules and principles. People who apply to those rules and principles are cultivators, real cultivators can break holes in the atmosphere, they can reincarnate, they can release abstruse energies, they understand all the rudimentary aspects of the path."
"Therefore, we have to keep learning new principles, understand the Earth and the sky in more detail, we have to be one with the Earth and the sky."
Lin Feng remained silent. He had never really asked himself what the concept "the path of cultivation" meant. Every real cultivator wanted to understand nature and its secrets.
"In the palace where you live now, there isn't only the strength of force, there's also the force of the path, it's unfathomable, enigmatic, mysterious. An emperor build it for you." said Qiong Qi. As Mu Chen had said.
"I used to be an incredible hero back then. How sad.. What a tragedy…" sighed Qiong Qi looking at the sky in a serious way. Lin Feng was making him sad with those questions. It reminded him of the past.
"I gave you so many abstruse crystals and you gave me absolutely no information!" said Lin Feng grinding his teeth. He walked towards the illusion again. If he didn't manage to pass that test, he wouldn't be able to make it to the next palace.
He was attacked by the mirror many times again, and then he gave up. He went back to the middle of the palace. Lin Feng decided to sense those oppressive energies. It was painful, but he grinded his teeth and endured it. He had ranked first and had obtained the best palace, if he didn't study those energies, sooner or later, someone would catch up to him and replace him.
There were many people in lower levels. They were determined to become stronger and replace the cultivators at the higher levels.
Where he was, the risk to see someone catch up and replace him was low. But he couldn't eliminate that opportunity. Even without that risk, he had to become stronger anyways. He had to motivate himself.
After half a month, Lin Feng's attacks against the mirror were even more powerful. His attack had become so powerful that he could destroy people at even higher cultivation levels than him.
Even with that, it wasn't enough. He still couldn't win against the illusion. However, he didn't feel dispirited anymore, he was just feeling determined.
"Emperor, my attacks are quite powerful. Even though my attacks are powerful, other people can have such powerful attacks by using special skills. Is understanding the force of the Earth and sky the only way to understand the path?" asked Lin Feng to Qiong Qi.
"You're as stupid as a pig." said Qiong Qi. He sighed and said, "How can you be so stupid? If you can attract the force of the Earth and sky and use it for your own attacks, if you condense twice the force you usually use and it doesn't kill your opponent, what about thrice force? And four times?"
"What I don't understand is how you can ask such stupid questions. I told you to study the force of the Earth and sky, not to learn how to make your attacks more powerful like a brute. So what if you use force? If your special attacks are extremely powerful, what will happen if you mix them with force? Really strong cultivators can attack once and destroy their enemies in the world, but their attacks are not brutal, they are subtle."
"Eh…"
Lin Feng had been attacked by the illusion for half a month and couldn't think clearly anymore.
"Hm, I was a hero in the past and now I end up teaching an idiot. What a tragedy." sighed Qiong Qi. He then turned around and lied down away.
Actually, Qiong Qi was laughing on the inside. Lin Feng wasn't stupid, he was just trying to make him think and analyze his surroundings. Lin Feng was so talented, he had to be shaken a bit. He couldn't do everything for him!