"You really think too highly of me, Flame Emperor..." The Spirit of the Ancestral Stone let out a helpless sigh. "I can repair incomplete martial arts and techniques, but trying to restore something on the level of a divine ability? That's completely unrealistic. Even my creator, the Rune Ancestor, was only a Sovereign. Divine arts or divine abilities? Those are crafted by Earth Sovereigns or even Heavenly Sovereigns. If I could patch one of those, that'd be beyond outrageous."
"I was just asking casually," Xiao Yan replied with a dry chuckle, though in his heart he couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. If the Ancestral Stone's repair ability worked even on these divine arts and abilities from the Great Thousand World, then he really would've hit the jackpot. But clearly, he'd gotten ahead of himself.
"No need to be too let down, Flame Emperor. While I can't fully restore broken divine arts or divine abilities, my ability to assist in cultivating techniques still works. And if you can find special items in this world—like Forging Divine Stones—to enhance me, I might eventually be able to help restore even those kinds of arts."
"Forging Divine Stones? What are those?" Xiao Yan asked curiously.
"They're rare minerals unique to the Great Thousand World. They can strengthen spiritual artifacts, divine weapons, even sacred objects," the Spirit of the Ancestral Stone explained. "With enough of them, I could be enhanced to the level of a sacred artifact. And once I'm that strong, I might be able to attempt repairing the incomplete Golden Crow Infernal Art."
"Oh? How many of these stones are we talking?" Xiao Yan asked, a faint glimmer of hope returning.
"Er... maybe a quantity about the size of Mount Yunlan that you once visited?" the Ancestral Stone Spirit replied after some thought.
"A whole mountain?! Are you messing with me?" The corner of Xiao Yan's mouth twitched. This guy had to be joking. He couldn't even get half a shard of a Forging Divine Stone, and it wanted an entire mountain's worth? Wasn't that a bit excessive?
The spirit let out a small sigh. "Divine artifacts and sacred objects are worlds apart. To make that leap... well, you need to throw in a bit more than a few trinkets."
Xiao Yan stopped wasting his time arguing. He directly used his Nine Nether Token to acquire the Golden Crow Infernal Art. Though it was priced at an eye-watering 1.5 million drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid, as a new member of the Nine Nether Law Enforcement Squad, he had the right to freely claim one divine art of his choice. Afterward, he spent some of his liquid wealth to buy the Heavenly Flame Divine Art and the pill formula for the Blood Jade Heaven Mending Pill. He'd save the rest for actual cultivation.
On the other side, Qingtan had also completed her purchases. She had selected the Ice Jade Divine Body and the Iceplume Divine Art—the same one Qin Wan'er had used in their battle. With that, every last drop of her Sovereign Spiritual Liquid was gone. She was now completely broke.
Just as Xiao Yan was preparing to study the two new divine arts, Qingtan sidled up to him with a pitiful look. Xiao Yan didn't even need to ask—he knew she wanted to borrow some Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. He glanced at the light screen projected by the Nine Nether Token and asked, "You're aiming for that Heaven Ascension Pill?"
"Mm." Qingtan nodded. Her current power was barely at First Grade Sovereign—a level that placed her at the very bottom of the Nine Nether squad. But if she could consume a Heaven Ascension Pill, she could quickly reach Second Grade Sovereign, giving her a real chance of surviving the trial in the Nine Nether Secret Realm.
"You're really something else... fine, I'll lend you fifty thousand." Xiao Yan sighed. He couldn't just let her get killed after bringing her into this world himself. Lin Jing would kill him.
While the pill only cost thirty thousand, using it to break through still required additional Sovereign Liquid, so Xiao Yan figured he might as well lend her a bit extra.
"You're actually being generous?" Qingtan blinked, surprised as the number on her token updated.
"Just pay me back double next month," Xiao Yan said with a grin.
"I knew it..." Qingtan's face twitched. She was seriously regretting the moment she thought Xiao Yan might be a decent guy. "Ten thousand interest? Are you trying to rob me?"
"If you can't repay it, don't borrow it. You think I wanted to give you any?" Xiao Yan shrugged. "But hey, if you successfully advance, you'll get two hundred thousand Sovereign Liquid next month. Pay me ten and you still have ninety left. You're profiting."
"Ugh, you win." Qingtan gritted her teeth but still bought the Heaven Ascension Pill and headed off to refine it. Meanwhile, Xiao Yan dove into the Heavenly Tomb to begin his divine art training.
Although the Golden Crow Infernal Art and the Heavenly Flame Divine Art were both peak-level divine arts, the former was far more complex. So Xiao Yan decided to master the Heavenly Flame technique first, then tackle the Golden Crow one.
Under normal circumstances, mastering such top-tier divine arts would take a massive amount of time. But only three days remained until their entry into the Nine Nether Secret Realm—not nearly enough time to make any real progress.
However, Xiao Yan had one advantage—he possessed the Heavenly Tomb, a mysterious time-accelerated space.
Normally, time in the Heavenly Tomb flowed about six times faster than the outside world. And with the additional tomb layers formed from refining its spirits, the time dilation increased even more. Three days outside translated to nearly a full month inside. That would have to be enough.
With the Ancestral Stone's guidance, and his own extraordinary talent, Xiao Yan believed he could at least grasp the basics of both divine arts in that time. He didn't expect to master them completely—that would be wishful thinking—but having more trump cards never hurt. As for upgrading his Demon Wrath Nine Absolutes, that could wait until later.
"All right then... let's begin."
With a flick of his finger, Xiao Yan activated the Ancestral Stone. Soft light flowed from the artifact as countless illusory images manifested before him—step-by-step demonstrations of the Heavenly Flame Divine Art. Xiao Yan immersed his mind into the stream of light and began mimicking the techniques, drawing the energy within his body according to the method.
And so began his intensive training.
(End of Chapter)
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