"Fellow Daoist, having listened to this old Daoist for so long, you seem to be interested in this technique?"
Master Yixin asked somewhat curiously.
"Of course, it’s a transmission of divine power, after all. If a talented cultivator were to dedicate themselves to harsh cultivation for over a hundred years, it’s not impossible for them to advance in divine power before their lifespan ends," Zhong Shenxiu nodded.
"Heh heh... Back in the days of the Ten Thousand Techniques Sect, there were numerous cultivators who dragged it out until their lifespan was exhausted and still failed to succeed. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have declined so rapidly..."
Master Yixin felt somewhat melancholic and tossed out a jade slip, "This Daoist skill is like chicken ribs—good for nothing much—it’s not unique to my sect alone. Since you have shown grace towards Yixin Temple, I might as well give it to you."
Zhong Shenxiu held the jade slip, looking somewhat dumbfounded.
He hadn’t even said anything yet!
"Heh heh... When the Ten Thousand Techniques Sect was declining, they passed this technique to various major forces. The Wanfa Ancestor initially created this technique for the welfare of cultivators."
Master Yixin smiled, "This transmission is available to the government offices, the Cloud Mirror Sect, and even loose cultivators—nobody just wants to cultivate it. You, fellow Daoist, may obtain it with a little effort, so why shouldn’t I do you a favor?"
He finished saying this and added another line:
"The real foundation of our temple, however, is the Daoist Sword Technique, and that I absolutely cannot give."
"Haha... Old Daoist, you are really interesting."
Zhong Shenxiu laughed heartily.
He originally had some thoughts about Lu Huolong’s sword techniques, but having received so many favors at this time, he felt somewhat embarrassed to pursue it.
He even wondered if this was Yixin Temple’s way of intelligently preserving themselves?
Before him, there were likely others who had also been given gifts.
"Now that this matter is concluded, please allow me to take my leave!"
The two talked about Daoist skills for a while longer, and then Zhong Shenxiu stood to take his leave.
"Fellow Daoist, please take your time. Why not rest for a few days in our temple? Although small, our temple has a quiet room and three meals of spirit food," Master Yixin suggested further.
"That would indeed be kind."
Zhong Shenxiu was just idling around at the time and needed a place to close off and contemplate the Daoist skills, so he readily agreed.
Inside the quiet room.
Zhong Shenxiu lowered the jade slip from his glabella and mentally lashed out at the dopy system.
Through his recent contemplation, he had mastered the introductory level of the Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil, and now it was time for the Heavenly Show Points.
[Would you like to spend 2 Heavenly Show points to enhance the Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil?]
"Two points for the first level, yes!"
Zhong Shenxiu sighed but didn’t hesitate.
[Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil Enhanced!]
[Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil: First Level]
Within his sea of consciousness, a somewhat ethereal talisman emerged.
This talisman was different from the previous ones; its surface runes constantly shifted like clouds, seemingly containing infinite possibilities.
"So the Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil look ."
With a thought, he changed the shape of the talisman into a Yin Evil Skill, "Yin Soul Saber!"
At Zhong Shenxiu’s fingertips, threads of dark green filaments emerged, forming a blade of qi.
"This technique is probably equivalent to Feng Xixi’s Eight Willow Leaf Flying Knives, except it’s less powerful since it’s only the first level."
Zhong Shenxiu murmured and then shouted, "Change!"
The talisman immediately transformed, its runes altered, morphing into another Daoist skill, "Yin Wind Escape!"
"Change again! Bone Shield!"
"Change again! Beast Driving Technique!"
"Indeed, one talisman can transform into nine variations, it’s just too bad it’s fixed."
"Even so, it greatly expands a cultivator’s fundamental spell slots, giving birth to completely new combinations and possibilities..."
After experimenting for a while, Zhong Shenxiu was both excited and regretful.
"In the world of cultivation, indeed, there are geniuses everywhere; it’s just too bad that the Wanfa Ancestor still passed away in obscurity..."
"Just this will not satisfy my needs," Feng Xixi declared.
After all, the nine transformations were fixed, the associated divine skills were rather obscure, and their power was feeble.
[Detected parts of Daoist Skill from "Dragon Tiger Pill Book," "White Bone Dao Book," "Yellow Sand Daoist Scripture," which can be integrated into the Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil. Would you like to spend 10 Heavenly Show Points to merge?]
"Stupid system, you’re getting cocky charging me fees?" Zhong Shenxiu ground his teeth, but soon he relented, "Yes!"
[Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil has been upgraded to Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations!]
[Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations: Third Level!]
Within the sea of Zhong Shenxiu’s consciousness, a talisman transformed dramatically. Clouds of mist rose, seemingly containing dragon roars and tiger howls, white bones, yellow sand... encompassing everything, evolving myriad techniques!
"Is this... amassing numerous scriptures and Daoist Skills, deducing the nine transformations into seventy-two? The largest contribution must be from the ’Dragon Tiger Pill Book,’ right? After all, it’s the true transmitted Daoist Skill from Supreme Dragon and Tiger Sect which even Wanfa Ancestor couldn’t acquire..."
He thought again and stretched out two fingers.
Strands of mysterious aura converged, forming a sword technique.
"Xuanyin Soul-cutting Sword Technique!"
"To think, the Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations contains swordsmanship?"
"I see now. Within the Ten Thousand Techniques Sect, there must have been a sword cultivator’s legacy. Yixin Temple also obtained this part. When Wanfa Ancestor created the technique, he must have tried to merge the sword technique into the Nine Changes of Mysterious Evil, but it never fully evolved to show this change... and now I have deduced it."
"Moreover, these seventy-two transformations also include the White Bone Daoist Skill and the Yin Evil Skill from the Dragon Tiger Pill Book. Whether I pose as a demon cultivator or play the part of a righteous expert, I will be adept either way."
This one Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations could morph into the Three Yin Bone Searching Claw, even into Earth Escape Skill, or even Taiching Demon Refining Immortal Light!
This is the true magical technique and divine power Wanfa Ancestor hoped for!
One technique evolves into myriad techniques, a single skill could reach divine levels!
"Next, it’s time to try refining it more profoundly." Zhong Shenxiu continued conducting experiments.
[Would you like to use 4 Heavenly Show Points to enhance the Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations?]
"Costs more, but no option—yes!"
[Would you like to use 10 Heavenly Show Points to enhance Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations to the sixth level, evolving the type of talisman?]
"As expected, lacking the proper evil qi can be overcome using Heavenly Show Points—yes!"
In an instant, Zhong Shenxiu felt that within his sea of consciousness, that talisman had transformed into a seed radiating boundless light and endless transformations, taking a central position and pushing the other two talisman seeds to the corners.
"Having refined this native Daoist Skill, I’m essentially cultivating seventy-two magic techniques to the sixth level at once. If I could simultaneously release them, I’d be invincible in the Gang Sha Realm. Even if I can only use one at a time, the multitude of techniques at my disposal would probably scare people to death!" Zhong Shenxiu remarked, glancing at his attributes:
[Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting: Third Level]
[Dragon Tiger Magic Power: Refining Evil Triple]
[Native Daoist Skill: Carefree Wind Escape (Sixth Level), Ten Thousand Beasts True Body Technique (Sixth Level), Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations (Sixth Level)]
[Heavenly Show Points: 30 (2%)]
[Gate of Ten Thousand Methods: Opening (47%)]
"Wind blows the eggshell off, wealth brings peace to men."
Zhong Shenxiu was initially ecstatic, then his face turned blank: "Running low on Heavenly Show Points. In the last world, I thought 70 points was a lot, so I didn’t refresh the lower limit or impersonate others. I didn’t expect... one technique to cost me so much!"
"It’s a pity, within a cultivator’s native Daoist Skill, there can’t be duplicates; otherwise, I would definitely switch all the technique slots to advanced Earthly Fiendish 72 Transformations and Heavenly Gang Eight Transformations. Eventually, combining them into eight roads of Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations, it would be daunting if not deadly!"
In the sea of consciousness of a Gang Sha Cultivator, no two talisman seeds can be identical—this is an ironclad rule!
Even if one could find eight different kinds like the Dragon-subduing and Tiger-suppressing Divine Seal, which consist of both yin and yang techniques, forming the eighth divine power is impossible!
In Zhang Taiyi’s memory, cultivators who tried this either ended up with a collapsed sea of consciousness, turning into fools, or died outright, having their Dao vanish. Zhong Shenxiu would not lightly challenge this.
Having an extra divine power for flexibility, providing enough room for the future, he was already quite satisfied.
"By the same logic, a Divine Power Realm Cultivator can’t refine two identical divine powers..."
"Of course, my Thousand Transformations Divine Power can slightly break this rule, but fundamentally, they are different. Used to intimidate, it’s perfect for harvesting a batch of Heavenly Show Points..."