Ye Chen gently pricked his fingertips and let a few drops of fresh blood drip from his fingertips down to the secret technique jade slip. It did not seep into the secret technique jade slip. Instead, it followed its smooth surface before dripping onto the floor.
The secret technique within this secret technique jade slip could not be learned either.
Ye Chen felt a little defeated. The secret technique jade slips had an extremely strict blood type condition. He was having a difficult time finding a secret technique jade slip that he could make use of.
There was only the final secret technique jade slip left and Ye Chen was slowly losing hope.
At Ye Chen’s current level, it was not an easy task to obtain more secret technique jade slips. If both he and Little Wingsy could not utilize these three secret technique jade slips, he would have to look for an opportunity to sell them to try to get something valuable in exchange.
Master Lion kept a calm, undisturbed expression when he saw that Ye Chen’s blood did not fuse with the secret technique jade slip. This was all within his calculations.
Ye Chen held the final secret technique jade slip on his palms and let another drop of blood drip on top of it. The moment the drop of blood touched the surface of the secret technique jade slip, it began to glow. A halo of light began to slowly expand from it, carrying a hint of mysterious energy within it. Suddenly, dazzling rainbow-colored lights burst out of the secret technique jade slip.
The rainbow-colored light felt warm and gentle. It made Ye Chen feel like he was in paradise. Sweet and gentle music flowed into his ears.
“Did it fuse successfully?” Ye Chen was overjoyed. What secret technique would he gain from it?
Master Lion sat beside him, feeling the gentle energy pouring out from within the secret technique jade slip. Even he had a faint smile on his lips. The little brat Ye Chen was quite lucky to successfully fuse with the jade slip. The secret technique sealed within a secret technique jade slip would be quite remarkable.
Suddenly, Master Lion seemed to have sensed an unusual energy.
“Not good. Little brat Ye Chen, get away from it!” Master Lion called out urgently.
Ye Chen did not even have time to react to Master Lion’s warning. He was instantly enveloped by the rainbow-colored light and could not hear Master Lion anymore. He suddenly felt the air around him fall silent like he had fallen into a dream state. Master Lion’s concerned expression seemed to become a blurry haze.
“What’s going on? Where am I?” Ye Chen inspected his surroundings. He found himself in a strange space. He saw rainbow-colored aurora everywhere around him. When he looked around, he found himself in a place that was like a secluded haven. He could hear the chirping of birds and smell the fragrance of flowers that filled the air.
‘Did Master Lion say that a secret technique could be attained by fusing the secret technique jade slip with blood? Was Master Lion mistaken? Maybe they were not even secret technique jade slips in the first place?’
Also, what was this place?
Ye Chen kept his composure and inspected his surroundings. The atmosphere in this place did not even feel real. It was like being in some sort of illusion or fantasy.
Was this the world inside the secret technique jade slip?
“Finally, someone opened the secret technique jade slip. Boy, you’re the first one.” An old, ancient voice rang.
“May I know who exactly senior is? Also, where am I?” Ye Chen lifted his head and looked everywhere around him but did not see anyone. He wondered what the owner of this voice was planning.
“Who am I? Hoho, you may call me Tian Ji.”
“Tian Ji?” Ye Chen stayed silent.
“That’s right, you’re now inside my consciousness. My scattered conscience was infused into each secret technique jade slip. You’re very lucky to be able to enter one of the secret technique jade slips. This secret technique jade slip must’ve synchronized with your constitution and blood.”
The consciousness of a powerful being was fused inside the secret technique jade slip?
This was all too unbelievable. It was as if everything that had gone down in the Soul Pagoda was all according to someone’s planning. Ye Chen did not understand the elder’s motive.
“Young man, since you’ve fused into this secret technique jade slip, what secret technique do you wish to learn? I have three hundred and seventy-two secret techniques for your choosing. There are low-rank secret techniques, mid-rank secret techniques, even the powerful Thunderclap Secret Technique, Divine Secret Technique, and Tianyuan Secret Technique.”
So many secret techniques for Ye Chen to choose from? He felt like he was struggling to process all that was happening. What was Elder Tian Ji planning? Tianyuan Secret Technique? Why was it named after Senior Tian Yuan?
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. I’m just a dead man after all. I can’t possibly be a threat to you and I won’t tell you anything else either. You fused with a secret technique jade slip, so you can now learn one secret technique of your choice.”
“What secret technique may I learn?” Ye Chen lifted his head but the elder was nowhere to be found. Maybe it was just like the elder said, it was just his conscience.
The moment Ye Chen finished his words, a great number of apparitions appeared in the sky above. All of them were apparitions of fighters casting secret techniques.
“The secret ancestral techniques are the essence of martial arts. The more powerful the secret technique is, the more difficult it is to learn. A low-rank secret technique may take several days to learn, a mid-rank secret technique may take several years. High-rank secret technique takes up to fifteen years and as for even more powerful ones such as the Thunderclap Secret Technique, Divine Secret Technique, and Tianyuan Secret Techniques, they may take an entire lifetime to study.”
Ye Chen browsed the selection of secret techniques. He was trying to figure out which one of these secret techniques could help him out of his current predicament.
As Ye Chen surveyed the secret techniques, one of the fighter apparitions caught his attention. “I choose this secret technique!”
“Are you sure you want to learn this secret technique?” Tian Ji asked, slightly unsure.
“That’s right.”
“Daylight Thief, this secret technique can conceal your energy and disguise your appearance. At grade one, it can avoid the tracing of Grand Supreme and Peerless Power Stage. Despite being a Divine Secret Technique, it’s easy to master. However, since it’s not a combat technique, it’ll not be of any use in combat. Are you sure you want to learn this one? I have many combat techniques in my arsenal. At your current level, you might not find it so easy to obtain another secret technique jade slip,” Tian Ji informed.
“I want to learn this secret technique!” Ye Chen was certain of it. Once he had set his mind on something, he would not have any second thoughts. At his current cultivation base, even if he learned a powerful secret technique, it still would not help him defeat a Boundless Stage fighter. Besides, the powerful secret combat techniques took a very long time to learn. In contrast, the Daylight Thief technique was extremely easy to master. It was also the key to helping him get out of his current crisis.
“Very well then. I shall teach you this secret technique!”
Right after Tian Ji finished, mysterious runic seals came down from above and entered Ye Chen’s body. Ye Chen heard a series of incantations echoing inside his mind. These incantations were the formula to casting Daylight Thief.
Upon learning the secret technique, before Ye Chen even had time to say anything, he noticed the rainbow-colored light starting to dissipate. Within an instant, he was already outside the Heavenly Astra Seal. When he looked down, he saw the secret technique jade slip in his hand burst open and vanished completely.
Ye Chen frowned. He was not expecting something this bizarre to happen after fusing with the secret technique jade slip. It was all rather surprising to him. He glanced at the remaining two secret technique jade slips. Did this mean that anyone who managed to fuse with the secret technique jade slip would encounter the same thing as well?
“Little Brat Ye Chen, what is it?” the Purple-fire Astra Lion asked Ye Chen.
“Master Lion, does every secret technique jade slip contain a trace of consciousness within them?” Ye Chen asked, frowning.
“This is very normal. During the creation of the secret technique jade slip, each one of them is fused with the consciousness of its creator. This consciousness will pass on a secret technique to you,” Master Lion explained. This was how all secret technique jade slips were created. “The stronger the creator of the secret technique jade slip, the more powerful the secret techniques carried within it.”
This particular secret technique jade slip contained more than three hundred secret techniques to choose from. This implied that the creator of the secret technique jade slip, Elder Tian Ji, was unimaginably powerful.
Secret technique – Daylight Thief!
Ye Chen mumbled the incantation of Daylight Thief. He seemed to have gained some further insight on the technique.
Once the Daylight Thief secret technique had been honed to a certain stage, the user’s body, bone structure, skin, and even meridian channels could be morphed. The user’s energy could be concealed as well, just like the Bone Contraction Technique and Turtle Guard Technique in the legends. The Daylight Thief technique belonged to the class of Divine Secret Technique. Upon honing it to first grade, even fighters of Grand Supreme stage could not detect the user’s energy.
As Ye Chen silently chanted the incantation of the Daylight Thief technique, his facial structure began to change. His bones began shifting up and down, his current appearance became completely different from his original appearance.
Ye Chen’s energy was also slowly becoming concealed.
After approximately three hours, Ye Chen had transformed into an entirely different person. His energy was completely concealed as well.
Each casting of the Daylight Thief Technique required an hour of channeling. He had honed the Daylight Thief Technique to Minor Advance Level.
When he saw Ye Chen’s transformation, the Master Lion smiled. “Little Brat Ye Chen, you can even deceive a Boundless Stage now, there should be no problems.”
Master Lion was slightly shocked. For a technique like this, even an incredibly gifted practitioner would require two to three months to cultivate the first grade of the technique to Minor Advance Level. However, it only took Ye Chen three hours to cultivate it to that stage.
Was this the prodigy as foretold in the legends?
What Master Lion did not know was that it was not so much about Ye Chen’s talents. It was largely due to the wonders of the Nine Astra Skies cultivation system. The Nine Astra Skies cultivation system originated from an unknown almighty being. It was as profound and deep as the ocean, enveloping everything in the world. Ye Chen could especially feel the mystique of the Nine Astra Skies when learning martial arts techniques and secret techniques. He would always feel an unexplainable sense of familiarity. All martial arts techniques and secret techniques became very easy to master when put into his hands.
After finalizing his appearance and energy transformation, Ye Chen had turned into a completely different person. Even those who were close to him would not be able to recognize him at a close distance.
Since even Master Lion said that he could fool a Boundless Stage fighter, then there should be no further concerns. Only Bi Lin and Cang Lu knew who he was. Even if the other Transcendent Stage fighters had arrived, they would not be able to recognize him either.
“Maser Lion, I’m going out to take a look.” Ye Chen got up. It would not do him any good to keep hiding in the Heavenly Astra Seal. Since he could deceive Bi Lin and Cang Lu now, he should head out there to survey the situation and find a chance to escape! He had already reaped enough treasures from the Soul Pagoda.