Chapter 3501: Inspiration
Chapter 3501: Inspiration
"Haha, not bad! This is my Art of Flower Shifting!" Su Shidao said with a laugh. "Back when I fought against Meng Sang, he couldn't handle this sourcebox array and almost died. If not for some hidden reasons, there would not be a Seraph Meng Sang, but rather a Seraph Su!
"Unfortunately, everything is beyond people’s control. Even with my strength, I can still suffer from injustice. But it doesn't matter anymore. I no longer care about the title of Seraph. As for you, given your position, would you actually want to fight for the title of Seraph?"
Lu Yin slowly smiled."Why wouldn’t I compete? As long as the High Seraph doesn't make me a public enemy of the entire Spirit Nidus, then I’ll certainly have a chance."
Su Shidao sighed. "You really are brash enough, but don't forget that you’re nothing but a fish."
"Old man, I'm not a fish."
"No one can control their fate."
"That's a good point."
"Oh? I thought that you were going to say, 'I control my own fate, no one else.'"
Lu Yin rolled his eyes. "The karmic cycle has destined the outcome long ago. What people refer to as ‘going against the heavens’ is just another aspect of karma. At least, for now, we can’t escape karma."
"Karma? Is that the force behind the unseen attack that you used?" Su Shidao stared intently at Lu Yin, who nodded.
"That’s also why the High Seraph wants to get rid of me."
Su Shidao was impressed. "The path of karma... How many wish to comprehend that? The Old Man Under the Stars wanted to walk that path, but unfortunately, he was killed by the current High Seraph. Anyone who walks that path has to die. The High Seraph is a complete tyrant. You really are just a fish."
Lu Yin was speechless.
He looked up at the big tree. Su Shidao had not attacked yet. Since Lu Yin wanted to witness his Art of Flower Shifting, Su Shidao allowed the younger man to observe it in full. If he used the full power of his Art of Flower Shifting against Lu Yin, the outcome would still be questionable, but there was one guaranteed outcome: the Spirit Treasure Society would cease to exist. They were not enemies, so such a battle was meaningless.
Lu Yin stood beneath the tree and just stared at it.
He continued to observe it for ten days.
For those ten days, he did not move. He examined the tree, studying every branch and flower. Finally, he sat down, cross-legged, and closed his eyes.
Su Shidao watched Lu Yin with open admiration, but also with great regret.
From the perspective of the three megaverses, Lu Yin should be his enemy, but the Tianyuan Megaverse was destined to be reset. So, as long as Lu Yin survived, he would be forced to join the Spirit Nidus in order to live. Ultimately, there was no need for the two men to be enemies.
Su Shidao simply regretted that the young man would not be able to escape death at the hands of the High Seraph. What a pity.
Slowly, the big tree vanished.
Grandmaster Yu Ran was confused by this development. Ten days had passed, and yet no one had attacked. What was going on within the Black and White Domain?
Everyone else was waiting back at the Spirit Treasure Society.
Another half a month passed before Lu Yin finally opened his eyes. "999 flowers."
Su Shidao's eyes bulged. "What did you just say?"
Lu Yin looked at the old man and smiled. "999 flowers."
Su Shidao stared at Lu Yin, visibly shaken. "You took less than a month to figure that out?"
Lu Yin smiled. "It’s quite the complex sourcebox array. If I’m not mistaken, you cheated again."
"Hahaha! There’s no such thing as cheating in the world of adults! If you get caught, it’s called cheating, but if you don’t, it’s not. You’re impressing me more and more. No one else has ever figured that out. Impressive, very impressive. It’s no wonder how you’re the top Spirit Treasure Grandmaster of your megaverse." Su Shidao did not feel any hint of frustration from his spirit treasure formation being seen through, only admiration.
Lu Yin stood up. "The limit is 999 flowers, so how many are you able to open at the same time?"
"Just now, I opened 270 flowers."
"Are you unable to open more?"
"It would be quite difficult. Do you think it’s easy? Back when I fought against Meng Sang, I only opened 190 flowers."
"Are you telling me that Meng Sang was struck by your Epoch Blade 190 times? It’s a miracle that he didn’t die."
"That’s why I said that there were hidden reasons behind his victory. He only managed to win by cheating."
"And yet you cheated from the very beginning of the battle." Lu Yin glanced over Su Shidao. "I understand. Since you also cheated in that fight, you don’t care about what was hidden back then, do you? You’re a fish, a salted fish."
Su Shidao rolled his eyes. "Brat, you don’t need to be so harsh when talking. If the High Seraph couldn't spot what I did, then it’s not cheating."
Lu Yin smiled.
The reason why Floral Transposition sourcebox array had appeared so quickly was because Su Shidao had been arranging it for years. Its manifestation was simply the final step.
If the old man had tried to set up the sourcebox array from scratch, it would have been impossible to complete in time. Meng Sang would have never given the Grandmaster that much time.
During that ancient battle, 190 flowers had opened. No one could say how long Su Shidao had spent arranging those flowers. That was how he had cheated.
However, as he said, if no one noticed, it could not be considered cheating.
Lu Yin had gained some insight into Floral Transposition after half a month of studying, and he had come to understand that the tree could bloom up to 999 flowers. That was the limit.
However, even if that was very impressive, it was not enough. This limit was imposed by the tree itself. That was the limiting factor. The half a month of study had actually been for Lu Yin to consider how to break past that limit.
There were two great obstacles that needed to be overcome to improve Floral Transposition. The first was storing a sourcebox array in Floral Transposition, and the second was surpassing the numerical limit.
Lu Yin had no solution to the first problem. Even if he could see through the sourcebox array, he could not duplicate it. Because of that, he had connected these two obstacles together. Eventually, he decided to abandon Floral Transposition entirely. He would simply use this inspiration with Verdant Eternity in place of the impressive sourcebox array.
Next, he needed to test things out.
However, before proceeding, there were other questions he wanted to ask. "How did you manage to merge the Epoch Blade into Floral Transposition sourcebox array? If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to tell me."
Su Shidao chuckled. "I just used Transposition."
"Transposition?" Lu Yin was confused. He immediately ran countless mental simulations, but nothing worked out.
Su Shidao proudly stated, "My Spirit Transformation innate gift is Transposition."
Lu Yin stared blankly at the old man. It took him a long time to recover and react.
"So, in the end, the only way you got this sourcebox array to work is by relying on your Spirit Transformation innate gift?"
"You got it."
Lu Yin smiled bitterly. "Throughout all of history, I’m guessing that this is a method available to you alone. No one else will ever be able to learn this."
Su Shidao sighed. "Exactly, and that’s precisely what troubles me about it. People claim that no one is talented enough to learn this spirit treasure formation, but the truth of the matter is that I can’t bear to tell them the truth.
"I have dreamed of leaving this formation behind for future generations, but alas. It’s such a pity."
Lu Yin looked outside the Black and White Domain. "I’d like to learn some combat sourcebox arrays. I can offer you some of my Tianyuan Megaverse’s soucebox arrays in exchange."
Su Shidao waved the offer away. "There’s no need for any sort of trade. You’re welcome to learn whatever you want. With your skill, even if you don’t learn one, it’ll only take you a bit of time to create it on your own."
"Alright. In that case, I want to learn your Epoch Blade," Lu Yin stated bluntly.
Su Shidao chuckled. "You really aren’t shy."
Lu Yin stayed at the Spirit Treasure Society for some time.
Still in the plaza, Old Tao and the others who traveled with Lu Yin were informed that they would remain in the Spirit Treasure Society for the time being.
None of them were worried about Lu Yin getting into trouble. Even if he did, it would never happen silently. First, the Spirit Treasure Domain itself would cease to exist.
Everyone in the Spirit Treasure Society wanted to know what had happened between Lu Yin and Su Shidao and why they had suddenly decided to stay.
Speculations ran amuck in the outside world, and various organizations tried to spy on the Black and White Domain, only to all be stopped by Grandmaster Yu Ran.
Not even she knew what was happening between Lu Yin and Su Shidao.
As Su Shidao had said, Lu Yin’s level of mastery meant that he could create his own sourcebox arrays. That also meant that it was much easier for him to learn a sourcebox array from another Grandmaster.
During this time, not only did Lu Yin learn the Epoch Blade from Su Shidao, but he also learned Qian Huifeng’s Twilight Maple Forest, Zhi Shan’s Tomb of Mountains and Streams, as well as sourcebox arrays designed by Grandmaster Yu Ran and the society’s other Spirit Formation Grandmasters. In turn, Lu Yin shared several of the Tianyuan Megaverse’s sourcebox arrays with Su Shidao. Out of them, Su Shidao was most interested in the Six Ancient Spirit Array and Hidden Corner.
Su Shidao exclaimed, "Who created this Six Ancient Spirit Array? What a genius! This perfectly deals with the problem of the spirit treasures that are scattered throughout the Spirit Treasure Domain. With this, we can gather the countless spirit treasures into an Ancient Spirit Sea, just like your Lockbreaker Society."
Lu Yin was puzzled by this reaction. "Why gather them together? Isn't it better for them to be scattered throughout the domain? Why not just treat the entire Spirit Treasure Domain like the Ancient Spirit Sea?"
Su Shidao explained, "It’s not a problem for some of them to be scattered about, but the weak ones should still be collected. If we don’t, outsiders will continue to overwhelm the spirit treasures with brute strength, collecting them and then selling them back to our Spirit Treasure Society at a steep price. It’s a revolting practice."
Lu Yin then understood. The Six Ancient Spirit Array really would help the Spirit Treasure Domain.
The array that Su Shidao was personally the happiest to learn was Hidden Corner.
"Haha, interesting! This is too entertaining! If at all possible, I would love to meet this Grandmaster Gu Yan. To think that he created a spirit treasure formation specifically for Spirit Chess! What a genius!"
Lu Yin laughed. "Sure enough, as soon as you use Hidden Corner in a game, you become unstoppable in Spirit Chess."
Su Shidao was eager to find some other Grandmasters to practice on, so he left his Black and White Domain, abandoning Lu Yin.
Presented with an opportunity, Lu Yin prepared to test his new inspiration.
He decided to test the Tomb of Mountains and Streams out first.
First, he intended to replace Floral Transposition with Verdant Eternity. The sourcebox arrays would be stored within the Origin Progenitor’s battle technique. Verdant Eternity ensured that no energy was consumed within its domain, so it would not matter how long Lu Yin kept an array stored for.
This method seemed simple, and Lu Yin regretted not thinking of it before. However, without the driving inspiration, it was very difficult to think of new options.
He was not sure that it would work, but he still wanted to give it a try.
...
A sedan chair moved up into outer space.
On the ground below, countless eyes belonging to the members of the Spirit Treasure Society watched.
Grandmaster Yu Ran stared up at the sky. He was finally leaving, which triggered complicated emotions to appear in her expression.
"He’s quite remarkable. It’s such a pity." She heard Su Shidao’s voice.
She turned and looked at the old man in surprise. "Are you referring to that Third Boss when you say that it’s such a pity?"
Su Shidao appeared rather conflicted. "Such a person has appeared in the Tianyuan Megaverse. With enough time, he would be able to hold his own, but he is far too young. Despite his strength, which makes him nearly invincible, he is still not quite at that level. He still cannot deal with the High Seraph.
"Seventy-percent of his future is already set in stone."
"And the other thirty-percent?" Grandmaster Yu Ran asked curiously.
Su Shidao's eyes suddenly looked even deeper. “Within the remaining thirty percent lie fate, aura, and opportunity.”
"Then what should our Spirit Treasure Society do?" Grandmaster Yu Ran inquired.
Su Shidao let out a wry chuckle. "What we must. We take it one step at a time. To be honest, I once despised the High Seraph and wished for his demise. But if he were to truly disappear, and this Third Boss from the Tianyuan Megaverse were to rise in his place, it would be our Spirit Nidus that suffers. It’s... a complicated feeling."
Grandmaster Yu Ran was taken aback. "Is there truly no one in the entire Spirit Nidus who can restrain the Third Boss... aside from the High Seraph himself?"