Levi squinted and then his eyes suddenly opened as he realized.
His heart began to beat a little faster.
This was not a natural formation. This was a ruin. An undiscovered, man-made structure within the dimensional zone, it was actually an inheritance.
He cautiously stepped through the broken gate.
The moment he crossed the gate, the world around him changed.
The desolate, rocky landscape vanished, replaced by an endless, starry void.
Before him, a single, massive staircase materialized, stretching upwards into the fog for what looked like a thousand steps.
The staircase was immense, each step a colossal block of polished jade, and it was flanked on both sides by rows of imposing carved statues.
On the right side of the staircase stood statues of gods and angels. They were depicted in heroic poses, their faces serene and powerful, wielding weapons of light and radiating an aura of righteousness and order.
On the left side stood statues of demons and devils. They were twisted with faces and eyes and terrifying, with twisted horns, snarling faces, and bodies rippling with destructive power.
The staircase was divided into ten distinct checkpoints, and at each checkpoint, a single god statue on the right and a single demon statue on the left held a glowing object in their hands.
They were treasures—shimmering pendants, ornate rings, ancient-looking scrolls, and powerful weapons—each one pulsing with a palpable energy that made Levi's eyes turn red with greed.
There were twenty treasures in total, a hoard of unimaginable value just waiting to be claimed.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. A place with such obvious rewards was never simple. There was always a catch.
He picked up a small, loose rock from near the entrance and tossed it onto the very first step of the grand staircase.
"Puff!"
The moment the rock touched the obsidian surface, an invisible, overwhelming force descended upon it. The stone was not rebounded but instantly pulverized into a fine, grey dust that scattered in the wind.
Levi's face turned grim. The pressure on that first step was enough to instantly kill any ordinary person, and likely even a low-rank Super Soldier.
He managed to tear his eyes away from the tempting treasures and began to carefully observing the area at the base of the stairs.
It was then that he saw them. At the beginning of each path, standing before the first statue on both the left and the right, were two colossal stone monuments.
He walked to the monument on the right side, the side of the gods. It was a towering slab of white marble, covered in an ancient, flowing script. It detailed a breathing technique, a unique and incredibly complex method of circulating energy through the body.
It had no name, but the patterns were profound, each line of text seeming to hold a deep and complex meaning. It was an orthodox, majestic technique, but its difficulty was staggering.
He then crossed over to the monument on the left, the side of the demons. This monument was made of the same black stone as the gate, and it too detailed a breathing technique.
This one, however, was bizarre and dangerous.
The energy circulation paths it described were in complete reverse to any conventional method. It was a technique that seemed designed to tear a cultivator apart from the inside!
To practice it incorrectly, even a slight deviation, would undoubtedly cripple a cultivator for life.
He immediately understood.
These two techniques were the keys. To ascend the stairs and claim the treasures, one had to master the corresponding breathing art.
He didn't need to think much before he made a choice.
He would start with the path of the gods.
It seemed safer, more stable. He sat down before the white marble monument and began the task of deciphering and learning the nameless technique.
His comprehension, when it came to complex theoretical arts, was admittedly not his strong suit.
He spent the next three hours in intense, frustrating concentration. He tried to emulate the breathing patterns, to guide his energy along the complex pathways, but he failed time and time again.
He just couldn't grasp the core principle of the art. Even when he activated his system, the multipliers did little to help, as his base progress was effectively zero.
He was on the verge of giving up, his mind aching with fatigue, when he decided to try it a different way.
He cleared his mind of all his previous attempts and focused on a single, core concept of the technique he had been struggling with. It was way better than thing about everything as a whole.
[Ding!]
[Random multiplier activated: 3,000x!]
Levi spent the next three hours in intense, frustrating concentration. He tried to emulate the breathing patterns, to guide his energy along the complex pathways, but he failed time and time again.
He just couldn't grasp the core principle of the art. Even when he activated his system, the multipliers did little to help, as his base progress was effectively zero.
He was on the verge of giving up, his mind aching with fatigue, when he decided to try it a different way.
He cleared his mind of all his previous attempts and focused on a single, core concept of the technique he had been struggling with. It was way better than thing about everything as a whole.
[Ding!]
[Random multiplier activated: 3,000x!]
It was like a lightning bolt of enlightenment striking his mind.
The single concept he had grasped instantly expanded , the multiplier forcibly connecting it to all the other strange parts of the technique he had been studying.
The complex puzzle pieces snapped together in his mind, forming a single, perfect, and whole technique!
['Nameless Divine Art' has reached the Initial Stage!]
Levi's eyes flew open, a new, serene light shining within them. He had done it. He decided to give it a name of his own: the Divine Heaven Breathing Technique.