Chapter 578: Breakthrough – Part 4

Mulling over what had just been said, Allina couldn’t help muttering, "But, that must mean that using the combination of the Unarmed Foundations Art and Focused Breathing Art isn’t completely ineffective for Spirit Realm Cultivators, it just means that it’s only as effective as using the Unarmed Foundation Art, right?"

"Not exactly," Elizabeth shook her head, "Under the right conditions, I believe that the new method can still be highly effective; however, those conditions aren’t easy to create."

"And what are those conditions?" Celestina asked.

"Cultivating in an environment with dramatically increased physical pressure on the body and extremely dense ambient World Qi," Elizabeth stated, "For someone like Allina or myself, Peak Initiates, I believe we would need at least a 3-fold increase in both of these factors to see any additional benefit from the new cultivation method, while a 10-fold increase would be ideal."

"That number would, naturally, only increase the higher one’s cultivation becomes. For instance, I imagine you, Celestina, would need at least a 10-fold increase to see improved results, with 25-fold being the ideal."

These numbers put frowns on the faces of everyone in the room, Eris included, as even she could understand how difficult it would be to create such an environment.

Lucas did have a plan, Project Dyson, to create an extremely dense World Qi environment, but he was nowhere near being able to implement that yet.

The only other way to create such a dense area of World Qi would be by continuously draining or shattering a large number of Spirit Crystals in a space like this cultivation chamber that could, at least temporarily, contain the excess Qi.

As for increasing the physical stress on the body, weighted clothes might be able to do that, but that wouldn’t create an even distribution of pressure and given the necessary amount of weight, would also probably require very bulky attachments which would make moving around awkward.

Submerging oneself in water might also work, but breathing was a very important factor in cultivation, and humans can’t breathe underwater... At least not without special equipment.

The best way to accomplish this would be to increase the local gravity, something that Lucas actually knew how to do thanks to his inherited memories; however, there was no way for him to build a spatial-warping mass-gravity generator with the tools he had access to.

There was something he suspected worked on a similar principle lying around nearby... but the last time Lucas had asked his Master for permission to ’tinker’ with the Sunchaser’s Levitation Array, he had left her office with a very sore backside.

So, was this doable?

Technically, yes.

Would it be practical for normal cultivation?

Not likely.

Would it be cost effective?

Absolutely not.

Perhaps, in the future, this might be an option, but right now, it wasn’t.

However, if it was just for a short period, in order to achieve a breakthrough...

"We could try it," Lucas muttered, drawing a nod from Celestina.

It would be a challenge, for sure, and an expensive one whether it succeeded or not, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth an attempt.

"Hold on," Elizabeth Carlson waved her hand elegantly, "I wasn’t finished yet."

"Oh?" Celestina raised her brow, wondering what else her old friend had discovered over these past 5 months of study.

"Observing Eris’ breakthrough allowed me to confirm my theories about how the Unarmed Foundations Art and Focused Breathing Art interacted for Mortal Realm Practitioners, and by extension Spirit Realm Cultivations who have unlearned their Cultivation Techniques," Elizabeth stated before turning to Lucas, "However, you told me that early on, you were actually combining the Unarmed Foundations Art with other Cultivation Techniques as well, correct?"

"En, that’s right," Lucas nodded, "We did notice an increase in cultivation efficiency by combining appropriate Forms with the Flowing Flame Art, and after your explanation, I can now understand why that was the case, but even if that allowed someone who has reached Master’s level to break through once, or even twice more, there would still be a hard limit, which is what we’re trying to overcome."

"I agree," Elizabeth nodded, before saying something truly shocking, "Which is why we need to find a way to alter and enhance our Cultivation Techniques so we can continue using them. Either that, or we need to design entirely new ones."

Jaws dropped across the room, and everyone with the exception of one, two if you counted the snoring Yuki, gawked at the Carlson Family’s Supreme Elder.

Obviously, creating new Cultivation Techniques wasn’t unheard of or impossible; after all, the techniques they had were invented by someone in the past.

However, it was not nearly as easy as Elizabeth Carlson was making it sound.

Take the Balfour Family’s Flowing Flame Art, for instance.

Hundreds of years ago, long before the founding of the Rockwell Kingdom, Celestina’s ancestor had acquired a Cultivation Technique that would eventually become the Flowing Flame Art from the Black Tiger Kingdom’s Royal Family as a reward for valorous military service in one of that nation’s many, many wars.

As for where the Royal Family got that Cultivation Technique, that was unclear. In all likelihood, it had just been lying around in their vault, gathering dust for hundreds of years.

In any case, at the time, it was just a Mid-Rank Spirit Grade Tier Two Cultivation Technique known as the ’Flame Art’, allowing one to reach the Complete Mid-Rank Adept Realm at most.

Over multiple centuries, small, incremental innovations and improvements were made by members of the Balfour Family until finally it was elevated to the High-Rank and re-named the Flowing Flame Art.

That was just before the mass migration from the Black Tiger Kingdom by the Rockwell Family, the exodus which ultimately led to the establishment of the Rockwell Kingdom.

Since then, many others, including Celestina herself, had tried to improve the Flowing Flame Art further, but so far, they had been met with very little success.

It seemed that the current Flowing Flame Art had reached the absolute limit of its potential and that only major alterations, ones that would greatly change the circulation paths and mantra of the Cultivation Technique, could further enhance its Grade.

Making major changes like this, however, was extremely risky, as it was far more likely you would introduce serious and dangerous defects to the Cultivation Technique rather than improve it.

In other words, it was for very good reason that everyone was skeptical about the prospects of suddenly and dramatically re-working the Cultivation Techniques they had been using previously.

As for creating new techniques from scratch...

Only Lucas didn’t show a look of total disbelief, though his expression was still a bit cramped.

In truth, he had been planning on doing exactly what Elizabeth Carlson proposed, even taking things a step further than that and creating an adaptable Cultivation Technique that could be customized for each individual as they progressed; however, he had never considered trying to scale that particular mountain so soon.

Lucas had also never anticipated that someone else would even suggest this crazy idea before he brought it up, not that he was against others having wild dreams.

While he was in a state of shock, however, Lucas realized something and a glow flashed across the depths of his eyes. Looking up at the old woman in front of him, he eagerly asked, "You must have discovered something that gives you confidence to make such a bold statement, right?"

"En," Elizabeth Carlson nodded firmly, "You told me that in order to properly match the Unarmed Foundations Art to a specific Cultivation Technique, you had to alter the Forms to better suit the mantra and circulation pattern, yes?"

"Correct," Lucas affirmed.

"Well then, let me ask you this," Elizabeth flashed a fierce grin, one that seemed unsuited to her usual elegant air, "Between our Cultivation Techniques, and the Unarmed Foundations Art, which is the more perfected?"