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*****
"What?!" Shangguan Tianyang and Shangguan Tianyue cried out in unison, their voices filled with disbelief.
Six attributes! And they included rarities like Evil and Time? This was beyond absurd! To think such a monstrous talent was forged merely by a single Heavenly Beast Life Core. It was terrifying.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Shangguan Tianyue blurted out.
Tang Xian gave him a cold, sharp look. Shangguan Tianyue winced, realizing his slip, and let out a sheepish laugh. When he had been discussing the trade with Su Wen, Tang Xian was still fuming at him; even if she had thought of Zhou Weiqing's example then, she likely wouldn't have wasted her breath explaining it to him.
"Sister-in-law, why didn't you bring that Zhou Weiqing back with you?" Shangguan Tianyang asked, puzzled.
He knew Tang Xian was a woman of principle and discretion; she wouldn't allow a personal spat to damage the interests of the Boundless Palace. With talent as staggering as Zhou Weiqing's, she wouldn't have given up on recruiting him to the Palace just because she was annoyed with Shangguan Tianyue.
Tang Xian gave a wry smile. "Zhou Weiqing's Heavenly Jewels were awakened with Su Wen's help, but Su Wen wants him to cultivate on his own. After finding him a Consolidating Equipment Master as a teacher, Su Wen left him to his own devices in the Heavenly Bow Empire."
"Of course, the primary reason is that I have a history with Zhou Weiqing's parents. When Tianyue and I were traveling through the Heavenly Bow Empire years ago, we saved their lives. From that perspective, our Boundless Palace has a natural affinity with him. Even if we let him grow on his own for now, we can use that debt of gratitude later to invite him to join us—at the very least as a guest elder or a Consolidating Equipment Master on Heavenly Jewel Island."
Hearing this, the two Shangguan brothers nodded slowly. That was indeed a solid plan.
However, bringing Zhou Weiqing to the Boundless Palace now would obviously have been better. The Palace certainly didn't lack the resources to nurture a powerhouse. With Zhou Weiqing's talent, wouldn't reaching the Heavenly King stage be a walk in the park? Trading resources for a guaranteed Heavenly King—or perhaps even a future Heavenly Emperor—was an incredibly lucrative bargain.
The brothers looked at Tang Xian, not in interrogation, but waiting for her further reasoning. She must have had a reason for letting such a gem stay in the wild.
Tang Xian sighed. "The issue is the technique Zhou Weiqing is practicing: the Immortal Deity Technique."
"Immortal Deity Technique?" The brothers exchanged a look of confusion. It was clear they had never heard of such a thing.
The Immortal Deity Technique... quite the arrogant name, they thought. Even the inherited cultivation methods of the Boundless Palace barely claimed such a lofty status. How could a technique they had never even heard of possess such an exaggerated title?
As the masters of the Boundless Palace, they were well-acquainted with every significant cultivation method on the continent. Generally, a technique only earned the title of "Deity Technique" if a Heavenly Emperor practiced it or used it to carve out a legendary reputation. This "Immortal Deity Technique" had zero prestige.
Tang Xian produced a manual. It wasn't the original, but a transcribed copy. As the Shangguan brothers flipped to the very first page, their pupils constricted in shock.
Piercing Death Accupoints!
"What a localized insanity," Shangguan Tianyang muttered.
He forced himself to read through the entire manual before letting out a deep, heavy breath. This kind of cultivation was unheard of. Even after finishing the text, he could only grasp a few fragments of its profound mysteries; he couldn't simulate the intricate details of the cultivation process through deduction alone. Even with the descriptions provided, the specific characteristics one gained after practicing the Immortal Deity Technique remained a mystery.
This was one of the reasons Su Wen had allowed Tang Xian to copy it. It was the foundation of Zhou Weiqing's power; if someone could discover his weaknesses just by reading the manual, it wouldn't be much of a foundation. Of course, Su Wen hadn't done this out of the goodness of his heart for Zhou Weiqing; he had simply answered the boy's worried questions when Tang Xian first asked to copy it.
"Are you saying... that Zhou Weiqing has already successfully entered the first stages of this technique?" Shangguan Tianyang asked, his expression grim.
Tang Xian nodded solemnly.
"If that is the case, then this technique isn't just a baseless, mad theory. There really is hope of success, though the conditions are far too harsh. Even knowing the factors behind Zhou Weiqing's success, it would be nearly impossible for us to replicate it," Shangguan Tianyang murmured. "Furthermore, he has only just begun. He is far from mastering it."
Every subsequent strike at a Death Accupoint would be a literal trial of life and death. While the progression was straightforward—simply piercing the points—it was terrifyingly dangerous. Every step was a dance on the edge of a blade.
Perhaps that was why Su Wen let him cultivate alone. "Wild growth" often produced a more violent, resilient vitality. Uncertainty was the only path to success for such a hazardous journey.
If Zhou Weiqing were brought to the Boundless Palace, the masters here would likely judge his chances of success as infinitesimal. From a conventional training perspective, they would find it impossible to design a unique curriculum for him that didn't involve trying to "fix" his dangerous path. It wouldn't compare to the desperate, focused madness of seeking hope in a dead end. In the midst of a true "dead end," a new path of hope is often carved out.
"A pity. Since his fate has already been successfully changed, why is Su Wen still so insistent on him practicing the Immortal Deity Technique?" Shangguan Tianyang lamented. Even if the boy's meridians were fragile, natural treasures could always compensate for that. If Su Wen didn't want to waste his own resources, the Boundless Palace certainly would have provided them!
Tang Xian didn't share his regret. Having witnessed the entire process, she could sense Su Wen's mystery and his immense expectations for both the technique and the boy.
The Six-Ultimate Heavenly Emperor...
That title had flashed through her mind when Zhou Weiqing first awakened. Even though the mathematical probability of Zhou Weiqing actually meeting the legendary Six-Ultimate Heavenly Emperor was astronomically low, she couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting in that direction. Originally, she had intended to use the Six-Ultimate Heavenly Emperor's fame to convince Su Wen to stop forcing Zhou Weiqing into the Immortal Deity Technique, but now she found herself wondering about the possibility of the boy actually becoming the Six-Ultimate's disciple.
If they brought Zhou Weiqing to the Boundless Palace, that possibility would vanish entirely.
"Enough about the boy for now. The most important thing about Zhou Weiqing's case is its reference value for our own research," Shangguan Tianyang stated. He turned to Tang Xian with a serious gaze. "Sister-in-law, are you certain that during Zhou Weiqing's awakening process, it was entirely a self-awakening?"
If it was truly a self-awakening, it meant that once Zhou Weiqing's attributes were "developed" post-birth, they manifested during the awakening without additional external manipulation. Applied to the Attribute Expansion Method, this suggested that as long as the ratios of attribute affinity were adjusted correctly, one could simply proceed with the Jewel Awakening.
But Shangguan Tianyang knew it couldn't be that simple. If merely adjusting affinity was enough to awaken multiple attributes, the Boundless Palace would have succeeded long ago!
So, why did Zhou Weiqing succeed?
(End of Chapter)