Divine Wilderness Dragon Emperor

Inside the Golden Dragon Mace, Ling Fei could vaguely sense the Third Prince's soul aura.

It was the soul imprint he had left behind.

'His soul aura seems even weaker than mine.' After a brief inspection, Ling Fei's Heart Spirit stirred. 'I can completely erase his imprint with my Soul Power.' With that thought, he infused his Heart Spirit into the Golden Dragon Mace and began to erase the Third Prince's soul imprint.

The Third Prince was a Quasi-Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, so his soul was indeed very strong.

Unfortunately for him, Ling Fei had not only condensed his Divine Sense, but his soul had also been tempered by True Dragon Blood during the True Dragon Blood Qi empowerment.

This caused his soul to contain True Dragon Blood Qi, imbuing it with the True Dragon's Might.

Wherever his Heart Spirit reached, it was incomparably powerful, sweeping through like a True Dragon with unstoppable momentum.

Before long, the soul imprint left by the Third Prince was completely erased.

After erasing the soul imprint, Ling Fei began to leave his own Soul Power imprint within it.

A short while later, he had taken control of the treasure.

'Now I have the Five Elements Seal, the Beiming Sword Shield, and the Golden Dragon Mace. With three Profound Spirit Treasures, I'll have more of an advantage in battle.'

Ling Fei was quite satisfied with this.

'I have enough treasures. Now, I should focus on consolidating my strength.'

Consolidating his strength.

First, Ling Fei cultivated the Sword Dao, and his Swordsmanship was already extremely formidable.

In addition, his True Dragon Transformation Technique had nearly reached Perfection.

His physique was even stronger than that of the Third Prince, a Quasi-Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

"Then, it's time for Divine Techniques." Ling Fei's eyes flashed as he murmured, "I should start cultivating the Heaven-Reaching Hand left behind by the Marsh King."

The Heaven-Reaching Hand!

This was one of the Marsh King's powerful Divine Techniques.

Back when the Marsh King had reigned over the Southern Wilderness, besides being blessed with True Dragon Blood Qi which allowed him to condense the True Dragon Body, the Heaven-Reaching Hand had also been a major contributor to his success.

It was a powerful Divine Technique.

With a thought, a scene materialized in his mind.

This was the inheritance of the Heaven-Reaching Hand that the Marsh King had left in Ling Fei's mind.

"This first form is called Void-Shattering. Condense the power of your entire body into your arm, hold the intent to shatter the void in your heart, and fuse that intent with your power. The resulting force can shatter stars."

"A fist can shatter the void, a palm can shatter the void... Wherever your intent reaches, all can shatter the void!"

"Martial Arts Divine Techniques. 'Martial' is your own power, which you combine with Martial Arts to unleash a shocking strike."

"'Divine Technique' is where the Mystical lies. Only by fusing one's power and Willpower with the Mystical can one unleash a shocking strike and reach a level unimaginable to ordinary people."

"The key to a Divine Technique is intent!"

"Picking Stars... this form is all about speed. Extend the Divine Technique, and with enough speed, you can pluck a falling star from the sky!" the Marsh King said.

Only by achieving ultimate speed could one kill an enemy from a thousand miles away in an instant.

The images of the Marsh King's lessons from long ago surfaced in Ling Fei's mind.

"The ancients had a saying: picking stars and taking the moon," the Marsh King said. "The third form is Taking the Moon."

"The moon is vast and represents a great distance. To take the moon, your Divine Technique must first be able to extend limitlessly—a thousand miles, ten thousand miles..." said the Marsh King.

"Only when your heart encompasses the heavens and the earth can your Divine Technique cover the firmament and possess limitless potential..." the Marsh King continued. "This Divine Technique Mystical Technique grows more complex toward the end. Most people are simply unable to comprehend it. After Taking the Moon, there should be subsequent forms. However, my strength was limited back then, so I was unable to comprehend them myself."

"Therefore, I leave these three forms of the Heaven-Reaching Hand for you to cultivate for now. When your cultivation reaches a certain realm, you will surely be able to continuously perfect them."

The Marsh King's image then faded away.

Watching these scenes, Ling Fei felt as if he were experiencing it all again, as if he had returned to the time he received the inheritance in the Marsh King Cauldron.

His mind was completely immersed, the Marsh King's words echoing endlessly in his ears.

'Martial is one's own power combined with Martial Arts to attack.' Ling Fei was deep in thought, his mind racing. 'That's Low Martial. No matter how strong it is, it can only shatter gold and crush stone, killing someone from a hundred meters away. But Divine Techniques are different. If fused with a Divine Technique, Martial Arts can become capable of picking stars and taking the moon.'

Thus, Martial Arts that incorporated Divine Techniques could be called High Martial.

The gap between Low Martial and High Martial created an insurmountable chasm between Cultivators.

'A Divine Technique lies in the intent. Intent is the foundation of the Mystical, just like Sword Intent. Only by comprehending and controlling Sword Intent can one's intent manifest qi as a sword and kill without a trace.' Ling Fei reasoned by analogy, continuously dissecting the key to Divine Techniques. In doing so, his understanding of Martial Arts Divine Techniques became much clearer.

'The Mystical is the foundation of a Divine Technique, and Willpower is the driver. The Mystical can only be released when the intent moves.' Ling Fei's eyes flashed. 'So, what is the Mystical of the Heaven-Reaching Hand?' As he thought of this, the Visualization Image for the Heaven-Reaching Hand appeared in his mind. It was less a Visualization Image and more a recording left by the Marsh King.

In his mind, the Marsh King began to speak, explaining the Key Points of the Heaven-Reaching Hand while simultaneously demonstrating the Martial Arts as an example.

'The foundation of the first form is Void-Shattering. Void-Shattering is the Mystical of the first form.' After repeatedly watching and comprehending, Ling Fei had an epiphany.

'If I can grasp the True Intent within Void-Shattering, then I will have understood the first form.'

With a clear goal in mind, he began to comprehend the Mystical of Void-Shattering.

As he comprehended, Ling Fei would also test his understanding.

WHOOSH!

Inside the Cultivation Room, Ling Fei struck out again and again.

His fist shot through the air, creating a roaring wind. The violent power made the void in front of him tremble.

The power from his fist erupted, sending out terrifying shockwaves.

Even Celestial Pill Realm cultivators would have to be wary of such aftershocks.

This was because this punch contained True Dragon Power.

'This punch isn't enough. Although its power is decent, it lacks the Power of Void-Shattering.' After throwing the punch, Ling Fei shook his head, dissatisfied.

This punch had raw power, but it was devoid of the Mystical of Void-Shattering.

Since Ling Fei had not mastered the Mystical, he could only replicate the form, not the divine essence of the Heaven-Reaching Hand's first form, Void-Shattering.

'I have to keep comprehending.' With a thought, the Visualization Image appeared in his mind, and the scene of the Marsh King demonstrating the three forms of the Heaven-Reaching Hand replayed.

Ling Fei watched continuously, sensing the aura the Marsh King exuded with each move.

He watched the effect of that one punch.

'Void-Shattering. When the Marsh King strikes, his heart, spirit, and intent all merge into one punch...' After some observation, Ling Fei discovered a few key points.

'Only when heart, spirit, intent, and power merge can a fist unleash its ultimate force,' Ling Fei murmured.

He then continued to watch, trying to discover the profound mysteries within.

Again and again, the image of the Marsh King striking replayed in Ling Fei's mind.

Ling Fei continuously comprehended, continuously tested, and continuously gained insights...

Finally, the Marsh King's punch was completely imprinted upon Ling Fei's Heart Spirit.

He captured every subtle movement the Marsh King made when he threw his punch.

'Void-Shattering. The intent of this fist is to shatter the void. But to do that, my power must be concentrated on a single point to unleash its full potential. Only then can I break the void with force. Without enough power, how can I shatter the void? It would just be empty talk.' At last, Ling Fei had an epiphany.

To shatter the void, he had to ponder how to actually do it.

If he just stubbornly fixated on the two words 'Void-Shattering' without considering the key principles, he would just be running around like a headless chicken.

Power was clearly the key to Void-Shattering.

If the power was dispersed, the area of the void bearing the force would be larger, making it much harder to shatter.

Conversely, if the power was concentrated on a single point, shattering the void would be much easier.

This was the Mystical of Void-Shattering.

'This should be it.' With a thought, Ling Fei began to adjust and struck out again.

BANG!

This time, as his fist shot out, that patch of void caved in, almost on the verge of collapsing.

A vast shockwave rippled out, making his entire Cultivation Room tremble.

'It's clearly thirty percent stronger than before.' Seeing this, Ling Fei's heart leaped with joy.

'But I haven't completely mastered the Mystical of Void-Shattering yet. I need to keep perfecting it.' With a thought, Ling Fei continued to comprehend this form.

「Time flew by in a flash.」

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed since Ling Fei began comprehending the Heaven-Reaching Hand.

He had now been in the Lingyun Sect for nearly ten months.

BOOM!

On this day, Ling Fei threw a punch. The power within it surged like a raging dragon, yet it was condensed into a single point, not leaking out at all.

The punch shot out, its power like a Sword Aura, about to pierce through the void.

BANG!

Where the power struck, the void in front of him shattered. There was no astonishing shockwave, merely a slight tremor about ten feet to the side.

However, after seeing this punch, Ling Fei withdrew his fist with great satisfaction.

'This is how it should be. All my power is restrained and condensed into a single point, like a long sword piercing the sky. Only then can I shatter the void with minimal force,' Ling Fei said in a low voice.

He was still only at the Profound Pill Realm. Generally speaking, a cultivator at this realm simply couldn't master the first form of the Heaven-Reaching Hand, Void-Shattering.

Ling Fei had only reached this stage because the True Dragon Power in his body was tyrannical and powerful, and he had grasped the true Mystical of Void-Shattering.

Otherwise, Ling Fei's punch would have been completely unable to shatter the void.

Furthermore, without sufficient True Dragon Blood Qi, he would have needed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm to successfully practice the first form, Void-Shattering.

Being able to master it now undoubtedly gave him another trump card for future battles.

'I have now gained initial control over the first form of the Heaven-Reaching Hand. As for the second form, it's beyond my current realm's capabilities. However, there is still much room to perfect and improve this first form. For example, I could fuse this Divine Technique Mystical Technique with my Swordsmanship. If I do, my strength will surely soar,' Ling Fei thought.

In fact, he had incorporated a trace of his Swordsmanship's Mystical into the punch he had just thrown.

Martial Arts were left by one's predecessors and should be studied diligently.

However, everyone's comprehension and circumstances were different.

Sometimes, one could make improvements based on their own situation.

Blindly following the path of one's predecessors would only become a restraint, hindering one's growth.

Therefore, as Ling Fei comprehended the Heaven-Reaching Hand, he was constantly pondering and thinking about how he could better master this Martial Arts Divine Technique.

「Another half-month passed.」

'As long as the Mystical is present, a single thought can manifest it through a fist, a palm, a sword, and so on.' One day, Ling Fei stood up, a glint of wisdom in his eyes. At this moment, he finally understood the meaning behind the Marsh King's words. However, back then, the Marsh King had not mentioned blades or swords.

But through constant verification, Ling Fei had finally grasped this point.