"Righteous Prevailance Technique... Reincarnation Cycle Arts... Brightjade Arts..." Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense through the jade slip and muttered the name of the techniques it contained. These names alone suggested they were Buddhist techniques.
When Monarch Soul Divergence heard the name of the latter, he shouted out in amazement, "I heard of that name before! The Brightjade Arts is a very rare technique passed down by vajra protectors in Buddhist sects. It is also exceptionally difficult to cultivate. How was the Feng Clan ancestor able to acquire it? Give me the jade slip and let me see whether it can be used to dissolve baleful Qi."
Han Li was overjoyed to hear this and promptly handed the jade slip over to the bamboo tube on his back.
After that, Monarch Soul Divergence was absorbed in comprehending the contents of the jade slip. As Han Li waited, he began to look for the most valuable items in the Feng Clan's secret cave.
He would've wanted to loot the entirety of these items for himself, but it was a pity that he had limited space in his storage pouch. Apart from the spirit stones, he would have to carefully choose what he would bring along.
Han Li took away the several magic treasures and a few of the materials and talismans that were useful to him. As for the magic tools, he took three of exceptional quality and left the rest behind.
With that done, he turned his attention to the large pile of jade slips. When he was looking through them with his spiritual sense, he found a technique that interested him. After he had seen all of them, he sat down cross-legged and began to silently meditate the technique that caught his attention.
As time slowly passed by, Monarch Soul Divergence eventually broke the silence in the room, immediately attracting Han Li's attention.
He slowly said, "The Brightjade Arts is quite a bit heretical. It is said to be a Buddhist technique, but the cultivation method is overbearing to the point where it can be considered a partial devilish art."
"A devilish art?" Han Li's heart sank and he asked, "What do you mean? Is the technique able to dissolve the baleful Qi in my body?"
"There is no need to be impatient. The technique will truly be able to resolve your problem, however, the method to dissolve the baleful Qi is somewhat similar to the method of the Devil Dao. You will not be expelling the baleful Qi but refining it for your own uses. This method of cultivation is clearly dangerous as this Qi isn't something that is easily controlled. You should consider the advantages of finding another Buddhist technique!" Monarch Soul Divergence muttered for a moment and tossed the jade slip out from the storage pouch.
Han Li caught the jade slip and his heart trembled. He then vigilantly asked, "Refine the baleful Qi for my own uses? After I cultivate this technique, won't I be set on the path of the Elder Devils?"
"There is no worry of that. The Brightjade Arts is truly a Buddhist protector technique and will not set you on the path of the Devil Dao. Although its methods are somewhat extreme and share a few similarities with Devil Dao techniques, it will only have the baleful Qi to assist in your cultivation; it won't have you directly use the baleful Qi to attack others. This way, you will be able to eliminate a majority of its harmful effects despite its overbearing nature. Tch tch! Buddhist sects have truly capable individuals and are even able to fold devilish techniques into Buddhist ones. I reckon they had someone on my level to accomplish this. This is a grand technique that rivals the abilities of even my Great Development Technique." Monarch Soul Divergence said with admiration.
When Han Li heard Monarch Soul Divergence, he felt a wave of doubt and promptly sank his spiritual sense into the jade slip, examining the contents for the Brightjade Arts.
After a moment, he shouted in surprise, "Yi! This technique seems quite familiar. Where have I seen this before?"
"You've seen this before?" Monarch Soul Divergence asked in amazement.
"That's right... I've remember now! This technique is similar to the demon race cultivation art!" Han Li then touched his storage pouch and took out a palm-sized copper plate into his hand. It was the Sacred Provenance Plate [1] he acquired from the Scattered Star Seas.
Without another word, Han Li began to compare the scripts on the plate and the jade slip.
After a moment, he discovered that the techniques were different, but they clearly stemmed from the same source. Of the two techniques, the Brightjade Arts was far more shallow, but the two gave the same indistinct feeling that something was missing, causing him to feel confused over the matter.
When Monarch Soul Divergence saw Han Li shifting his attention between the jade slip and copper plate, he felt that something was odd and couldn't help but ask, "What is that copper plate?"
After a moment of hesitation, Han Li sighed and tossed the copper plate into the bamboo tube. "Senior, have a look. My aptitude is too poor so I am unable to see how they relate. Perhaps, Senior will be able to clear my confusion."
Monarch Soul Divergence began to examine the technique on the copper plate. "These are demon characters. This should be a technique that came from an exceptional demon clan. Let me look..."
About a quarter of an hour later, Monarch Soul Divergence came to a clear conclusion. With a decisive tone, he stated, "I have a general idea of what is similar. The Buddhist Brightjade Arts is an altered version of the demon clan technique. Furthermore, it is based on the portion of the copper plate that is missing."
At that moment, Han Li finished his thoughts as well and said, "So it was like that. However, the last portion of the Brightjade Arts isn't capable of being joined together with the copper plate. It should still be lacking an addition section."
"I didn't think that Youngster Han would be able to see that too. That's right, the set of demon clan cultivation arts could be divided into three sections. The Brightjade Arts are using the most basic body refinement portion of the demon clan technique. As for the copper plate, it details the incantations for the final ability and is missing the middle portion that details the bodily transformations. These techniques are quite extraordinary. How interesting! Three heads and six arms, isn't that the same technique the Elder Devil used? I've heard that the demon clan were those most in touch with the Elder Devil Realm. It seems the rumors were true." Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled with great amusement.
After hearing that, Han Li added on, "Then the technique should've been something the Elder Devils passed onto the beast clans. Later, a Buddhist Sect acquired a portion of the technique's foundations and changed it into the current Brightjade Arts. For the devils, demons, and Buddhists to hold this technique with such importance, it seems to have come from a single great origin." Han Li then sank into thought for a long while before sighing and saying, "But regardless of the might of the technique, the pestilence demons in my body may soon fail to contain the baleful Qi and I don't have much more time. I will have to cultivate the Brightjade Arts to resolve this crisis as soon as possible."
Monarch Soul Divergence pondered for a moment and said, "Yes, it is as you say. Spending more time to find another technique will prove far too dangerous. Furthermore, the technique might prove difficult for others, but with the vast amount of baleful Qi at your disposal, it should be much easier to cultivate."
"I hope that is the case, but it seems it requires a vajra relic in order to cultivate. Will there be any problems if I attempt to cultivate it?"
"Didn't you just acquire a vajra relic? This is an opportunity. I might've not suggested you to cultivate the technique otherwise. Although you would barely be able to use the Feng Clan ancestor's crystal relic to cultivate it, it would be far less effective than not using a vajra relic. Once your spirit beast finishes consuming the corpse flames in the vajra barrier, you will be able to finish refining it. I will impart another set of techniques to you for do so, allowing you to cultivate the Brightjade Arts without a problem. When I journeyed in the past, I became very interested in crystal relics and such; I even infiltrated one of the ten great Buddhist sects for over ten years. There is no need to worry too much over the matter, given how much I researched into it. Even if you didn't cultivate the Brightjade Arts, you would need a crystal relic to cultivate other Buddhist techniques for dissolving baleful Qi. And given how widespread Buddhist sects are in the Great Jin, it shouldn't be too difficult to find one." Monarch Soul Divergence seemed to have already given the matter much thought.
After some careful consideration, Han Li felt that there was no problem in cultivating the technique and said, "If that's the case, I can be at ease. Since the technique is suitable, I may as well hurry and leave. Ever since I entered these mountains, I felt that something was amiss. This is not a good omen. I better look for a spirit vein to cultivate with."
Afterwards, he swept his gaze through the hall one last time before walking back into the transportation formation and disappearing in a flash of white light.
In the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li was directly flying out from the Snowmound Mountains in a streak of azure light. As he flew, he was discussing with Monarch Soul Divergence about where he could find a spirit vein and secretly cultivate.
After flying over a hundred kilometers, a large world-shaking boom echoed from the air and an entire group of mountains collapsed.
Han Li was caught off guard from the boom and lost balance as he felt a ring buzzing in his ear.
With a vastly changed expression, he turned to look in the direction of the sound. Then, he flew off in the opposite direction with greater speed.
As he flew a dozen kilometers away, he felt astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations from behind him. Then, a cloud of grey Qi, a cloud of black Qi and a white windstorm began to tear through the sky pursuing one another as they headed in Han Li's direction. With his current cultivation, they quickly closed the distance to only two kilometers away.
[1] First appeared in Chapter 546. Han Li later acquired it from the Venomous Flood Dragon.