Chapter 230: The walk of the willy ones

The road to the realm of King was something that needed an extreme amount of preparation, especially when he wanted to take the step that hadn't been taken by anyone, no one knows for how many years.

"The path you desire to walk is quite long. Not only do you need to be at the top of your game, but the reserve of energy you need to achieve that feat is quite high." The Keeper was preparing a list of things for Long Tao to do.

"Let's begin with your current cultivation realm and how long you have to go."

"I am currently at the eighth level of Qi cultivation in the normal method. If you consider Hell-Forger art, I am at the eighth level too, which means I have 3 more levels to go."

"What about Blood Tempering art?"

"Two more levels till the very peak."

"Your soul level is already quite high and hence wouldn't require much practice in the meantime, but I would still recommend practicing the Heaven Pestle art. The realm of Chaotic Laws is a mystery even for me."

"But the Crimson Lords are an ancient race who represented the top of the food chain. How could none of them ever connect with that realm."

"The path of martial arts is not set-in stones. There are multiple ways to reach the top level."

"Doesn't it mean that my ancestors were capable enough of standing at the top of the chain? They must have recorded their journey and how they comprehended their own martial path. Can I have a look?"

The Keeper didn't say anything for a moment. He kept staring at the skies, trying to comprehend something.

"Do you know the reason behind your supremacy over every other cultivator who stands within your realm?"

"It is because of the efforts I put in to build my martial path, making it incredibly strong."

"No. The reason is because of the path you took. Every other major enemy you faced until now simply followed the pathway laid out by their ancestors, or someone else, making them incapable of ever surpassing their ancestors."

"Are you suggesting that I wouldn't be able to become stronger if I comprehended their paths?"

"I am suggesting that you need to set your goal right. What do you want to achieve through your martial path?"

"Absolute supremacy over the world itself." The Keeper started at Long Tao once again.

"This is not the time to kid with me. I want you to think deeply enough and comprehend the proper way for yourself."

"Absolute supremacy over the world." Long Tao repeated his earlier words without a change in expression.

The Keeper couldn't help but be surprised to hear this answer. Was Long Tao truly this ambitious.?

"Walking the path of your ancestors wouldn't help you achieve that?"

"Didn't you say that they reached the top of the food chain?"

"They did reach the top of the food chain, but they were not alone. I did say that there were multiple paths to reach the top of the food chain. Your ancestors just followed the regular path, and they did reach the top. But there was other too."

"So, the Heavens is truly limited. It means that I would reach the top if I follow their path."

"I didn't say they reached the top. I just said that they had reached the top of the food chain, not the top."

Long Tao couldn't help but become alert after he heard it.

"The top of martial arts is not defined yet. There are no records of anyone reaching the true top."

"Even the Crimson lord failed?"

"I said there were no records. There were geniuses within the ranks of Crimson lords who managed to transcend this world, but they never came back, taking their teachings and experiences with them. The only similarity between them was the path they walked."

"What is the similarity?"

"unique, irrational, dangerous, and near impossible."

"What do you suggest I do then?" Long Tao was extremely agitated to get the answer to his query.

"I honestly don't have an answer to your question. I can provide some tips, but the path is to be designed and walked upon by you. Even if you do manage to get your hands-on ancient records, I would recommend gaining some insights and motivation from it, but do not copy the path. It's not only irrational but useless at the same time. You would never be able to reach the top that way."

"For now, you just need to follow our plan earlier. Continue the practice of the Qi rotation method presented by the Pill-sword saint. Your normal Qi cultivation would reach the normal peak by default. The other two cultivation systems would work as a barrier after that."

"That barrier will not only give you time for practicing your body cultivation but also provide more Qi reserve within the formation. I hope the preparation we made would be enough."

Long Tao followed the training exercise and started to open more and more acupoints. True to his theory, he automatically went through a break-through by the time he cultivated all the fir element acupoints. Long Tao now stood at the very peak of the normal Qi general stage.

He then started to cultivate with the Wind element stone which he got from Teng Huan. The art he was practicing in parallel was Blood Tempering art. Although the Wind stones were not that great in quality, they were more than enough for the opening of wind acupoints.

The power contained with the wind elemental stones was something only King level and above cultivators could practice in. It was due to his prior experience with the fire stones, that Long Tao managed to use them.

After around a year of practice within the crimson lord world, Long Tao finally managed to open up most of the wind elemental acupoints. It was now time to switch to the Earth element. Long Tao continued his practice.

......…

Although he managed to get his hands on a huge quantity of frost dew from the spring, he didn't cultivate it instantly. Long Tao's body was predominantly practicing the fire element and immediately following it up with the water element would have been a huge mistake. He decided to cultivate other elements before comprehending the water element.

He was only halfway to the Earth's element acupoint when he managed to break-through the ninth level of blood tempering art. Long Tao could feel his acupoints loosening up and easy to find with every level of Blood Tempering he accomplished.

This occurrence managed to spark his belief that the last cultivation method he was desiring to obtain, was as a matter of fact the Blood Tempering art he practiced since childhood.

The Earthen element finally managed to reach its maximum limit by the time the last stage of Blood Tempering was achieved. Long Tao's blood was shining with a lot of mysterious runes within them. It was about to go through a complete advancement.

"It is time to begin the training with the water element."

"You need to be a careful boy. Fire and water are the exact opposite of each other. Even after opening the other two types of acupoints and having an elemental lord body, you are still not assured about the success of this process. Tread carefully."

Long Tao finally injected a thread of frost dew into his body.