Dual Cultivation God Returns

Chapter 494 Current Standing

?He then looked through the loot he got from the members of the Cloud Piercing Sect and Profound Martial Arts Palace in the Winter Forest as he got their rings in that brief moment he slayed them, but didn’t find anything noteworthy apart from some medicinal ingredients and money.

Finally, he searched through the ring he got off of Do Bishui. He had only briefly inspected the contents, which is where he got that Profound Grade sword from.

“Heh, as expected of an alchemist, he has some good stuff”

A smile touched his lips since there were medicinal ingredients Wu Long could only hope to get in this fractured world, likely saved for emergency times.

There were also the results of this alchemist’s exploration of the Secret Realm which lasted much longer than his, and who traveled around much faster.

To top it all off, he found some more Profound Grade weapons, even though they were of poor quality, but that was nothing unexpected from the dwellers of a Boundless Mortal World.

‘All in all, a good haul’

Wu Long chuckled as he also took into consideration his own findings during their brief trip to the Secret Realm.

“Hmm, I guess I’ll have to ask Zhiqiu for a forging array”

He then inspected the ring itself, which was a low-level 1st-tier Profound Grade treasure.

He could fit all of his possessions into it, without bothering to carry multiple Spatial Rings on him, though he would still keep a few specific ones like the one he used to store exclusively talismans.

But since Gu Zhen likely knew this ring, he had to reforge it.

He was no Forging Master, as that profession was as demanding on very specific talent as Alchemy, but as with almost any other major field, it did not stop him from trying his hand in it, acquiring massive knowledge, skills, and some rudimentary abilities of the field in the process.

But the crown jewel of this trip was a small completely black orb that held his “Devoured World”. A satisfied smile appearing on his face as he inspected it.

‘Hmm, the Cold Qi it holds will have to be expelled, but the ladies of the Frozen Garden Palace will benefit a lot from it. Perhaps I could use it as leverage to convince the more conservative members to accept my proposal…’

He then thought as the younger generation was far more likely to agree. He could see it in their interactions with them, that they were yet far too young to become stuck in the ways of the Frozen Garden Palace.

In truth the younger generation made the majority of the current Frozen Garden Palace after separation of renegades. He could not

He then closed his eyes, feeling the movement of the wind all around him. His senses now expanded far beyond their previous boundaries.

‘Hah, now illusion and camouflage techniques would not work even without the Chaos Origin Eyes’

He chuckled, as a big part of why he could see through any disguise, concealment or illusion was the profound and incredibly powerful eye technique.

Of course, a big part of it also was knowing how exactly those techniques worked as he studied them.

And even though good illusion masters made sure not to miss any such obvious tells such as wind, and concealment techniques were specifically designed to confuse spiritual and normal senses, the way he perceived the movement of airflows was completely different.

Even if Spiritual Qi moved in profound patterns concealing one’s presence, making it seem that there was no breaking of the wind by the body of a cultivator, he would feel a void in the airflow where the wind did not actually pass.

Wu Long knew that his senses would only improve like it happened with the Water Rune.

“And…”

He then concentrated as water started rising from the nearby river, which was why he picked this place to stop in the first place.

Carrying this water that flowed in beautiful streams around him, he traveled further, to a small barren valley devoid of any vegetation, sending the water streaming into the distance in front of him while hundreds of talismans floated in front of him.

At the same time, he released droplets of his own sweat that joined the stream of water.

His eyes flashed with electric light and small arcs of electricity appeared around him, growing exponentially until thick lightning danced in the air surrounding him, and then a lightning strike flashed.

The water in the distance was covered in air currents from the outside, and then…

‘Success’

His eyes flashed as he made a series of barriers with the talismans in front of him while he saw the same spontaneous reaction, this time capturing everything in detail, as it seemed that the water instantly evaporated at the center and then the vapor ignited from residual sparks.

*BOOM!!!*

A deafening explosion resounded in the valley he was in, as a giant cloud of dust and smoke rose into the air after a brief flash of flames.

“Khu-khu… yeah, still needs experiments… and I still was too close”

He emerged from the smoke, flying backwards with only one barrier left in front of him, which was also crumbling. As his feet stopped making long tracks in the ground, he still had a smile even though he yet lacked control over this explosive power.

Though this time the it was far more powerful than the accidental one he made before, he could guess it was because the volume of water he used, which explained why his barriers almost didn’t hold out even though he was further back from the explosion.

‘All that power… but so inefficient’

His eyes then grew sharper as he wondered how to harness this power in more effective ways.

If the power of this explosion was concentrated it could even damage a Seven Profound Realms cultivator, something currently impossible as it was far to spread out, and the target would have to be in immediate proximity to a massive amount of water.

He also could not guarantee that a Flame Attribute cultivator, Forging Master or Alchemy Master could not benefit from the flames generated in process.

So the practical benefits were still far from clear, but he could not deny the allure of such a prospect.

Though he made this breakthrough partially thanks to his Water Rune enlightenment prior to entering the Secret Realm, the real insight came to him when he comprehended the nature of wind and got the Wind Rune, since a flash of realization told him that the ‘air’ bubble produced at the time was not necessarily normal air.

He also realized that when he first produced the accidental explosion, there was some of his own sweat mixed in the water which was not present in any of his subsequent attempts.

Not content with reproducing the phenomenon only once, he started searching for more water, and then felt it running deep in the ground.

Placing his hand to the ground, he closed his eyes for a moment, and as they flashed open, the surroundings started shaking, water shooting up from several cracks appearing around him.

He made another experiment, and then more of them as explosions rang out in the valley one after another, with some failing as he gradually grasped hold of the exact process.

‘Hmm, for now I can at least reproduce it at will, even though I can’t really control it’

He looked at the craters caused by explosions with a pondering expression, the small rocky valley completely decimated while water was still shooting high into the air around him.

“Haa~ I guess it is time to go”

He then turned in the direction of the Yin Yang Unity Palace, since he still had a lot to do. For now, it was enough to confirm his current standing with the powers he had.