The art of devouring.
It was the first step in the karmic cultivation method, a method that revolved around the sin part of the karmic wheel.
Whatever was devoured by the flames of chaos, it became a part of Ma Jin itself, whether it be metals, cultivation techniques, people or qi.
This allowed him to recreate these things; however, in cases of materials like metals, the amount depends on how much he absorbed.
For variants of qi, such things require a medium; it meant that he needed to use his own qi to produce a certain type of special qi.
When Ma Jin had killed people for the first time, he had taken the very first step in his path of cultivation; the pain he had felt after it was the reward of this step.
It was the spiritual roots. The innate trait of a person, which allows them to cultivate and absorb the qi of Heaven and Earth.
Indeed, martial artists also exist, beings who use their own blood and flesh to absorb qi and cultivate; however, in the long term, cultivators outpace in the meaning of refinement and absorption of qi.
And the spiritual root Ma Jin had gained as his reward was the Demonic Sin roots, a root that defined the sin as the absolute forge for him.
It had its own benefits, like every sin, every demonic act that Ma Jin does, it will boost his cultivation.
But these roots were like a double-edged blade.
It had its own disadvantages, for example, Ma Jin will feel...
***
I walked out of the bathhouse, wearing a hanfu coloured with red and dark black aesthetics.
Walking comfortably, I looked around the palace's chambers. There were many precious artistic pieces here, like jade statues and paintings painted by renowned artists.
In a way, the entire palace was itself a sort of treasury. But for a cultivator, this wasn't the real treasure; it was this... the chamber of treasury.
When I arrived at the spot, after taking 7 lefts and 12 rights from the bathhouse, a majestic gate stood in front of me, guarded by none, as what it needed was my essence—my blood.
Just between the gate and my feet, there was a small well filled with water. It was the lock of the formation guarding the chamber.
"Hmm, quite peculiar," I muttered to myself. I had expected a little more, but such a rudimentary appearance was interesting.
In truth, Chen Liang has visited this place fewer times than the number of fingers on his one hand, which is why this place was mostly trivial to him.
I walked closer to the well and looked at the water contained in it; there was no reflection, only transparent water.
Indeed, this was the right place.
"This is going to sting a little."
I bit on my thumb, making it bleed. Lowering it over the well's water, I let drops of my blood fall into it.
The drops of blood fell into the water before dissolving in it, then the water started to ripple with intensity, and at that moment, I said with a clear voice:
「七重天開啟, 山神已歸」
As my words flowed in the rippling water, the chamber in front of me shuddered, and as if the words I had said, the gate opened and following it were seven other gates...
Like the seven-layered heaven, opening for the mountain god.
I didn't think that Chen Liang would remember such a complex phrase with this clarity. Well, let's go inside.
Keeping my excited persona under the skin of my calm face, I entered the chamber of the treasury.
Inside, it was a vast place, even vast than possible. It was miraculous to my newborn vision in this path; the strangeness and mysteries were truly interwined.
"This is truly wonderful!!" I shouted aloud with a smile
"What is wonderful, huh, you brat!?" An elderly voice shut down my smile. Indeed, noisy and cranky bastards are always there as a taint to these beautiful places.
Just then, someone appeared in front of me. It was an old man with no presence, or it was just that he was a martial master hiding his presence.
He had a receding hairline; his hair was grey and light due to his old age, but the shine in his light brown eyes was still there.
Due to old age, his back was slightly bent, but it was undeniable that this person in front of me is a first-rate master.
From the memories of Chen Liang, his name started from Shu, but that was all I could find in it.
"What brings the young master to the chamber of the treasury?" He asked while holding an expression of interest.
Since he was a martial master and also an elder of mine, I bowed down while performing bào quán.
"Bah! Keep the greetings away from me, tell me what you are here for? There is nothing here that can help you become a cultivator, so if you are here for this, then leave." Elder Shu snorted.
I released my hand and straightened my back, then I smiled at him and said with a firm voice:
"I am here to become a martial artist. I know that I have wasted my precious years, but please, Elder Shu, please teach me."
Despite my sincere words, his face remained indifferent, then he said, breaking all of my 'hope':
"If this is what you came for, then don't come to me; do whatever you want in this place. But, no matter what, don't enter the area marked with a black line."
A black line? I thought, before keeping this in the back of my mind.
With that, he disappeared like a phantom, leaving me in the chamber of the treasury.
I mustered an expression of sadness, although I didn't feel any of that, before I started to move around in the specific sections of the chamber.
Library.
The place that contained several texts about knowledge, cultivation methods, martial arts and many more.
Going through this much information and selecting out the best will be hard, but it will also shape my growth.
I know what I want; it is not much, but it's enough.
Moving through the library, I entered the martial arts section. Many types of manuals depicted complex techniques and prowess.
I was delighted, but I also felt distasteful.
Despite their worldly names, the techniques were so lousy in these so-called manuals, I could even bet that a nine-year-old child could understand them.
"Memorising these manuals is easy, but what I need is... yet to be found...." I muttered to myself while moving around this great library.
Going through this lake of knowledge and mysticism, I remembered the time when I had to go through a similar situation in the consciousness of Xuanyuan Wudi.
Although I had not found what I wanted, I got something even better than that.
Perhaps, fate might play another favour to me, like that time.
"Hmm... 'Chronicles of the Heaven Refining Demon Venerable?' sounds pretty interesting." I looked at the old text, which was somehow placed in this martial arts section despite being a textbook.
However, for some reason, it felt interesting.
I opened the old text and gave it a short read.
"In the golden era of myriad paths, there existed a cultivator unlike any born of this world — an otherworldly demon whose heart knew neither Heaven's mercy nor Earth's restraint.
It is said he gazed upon the endless cycle of birth and death and found it wanting. To him, life was but a fleeting dream— "Humans only live for a hundred years," he wrote, "it is as unreal as a dream that ends in an instant." From that thought, his desire for true immortality was born.
His heart knew nothing but perseverance, and for that perseverance, he had once said, "I had once screamed, gradually, I lost my voice.
I had once cried, gradually, I lost my tears.
I had once grieved, gradually, I became able to withstand everything.
I had once rejoiced, gradually, I became unmoved by the world.
And now!
All I have left is an expressionless face, my gaze is as tough as a monolith, only perseverance remains in my heart.
This is my own, an insignificant character, Fang ****'s — Perseverance!"
No one knows whether he had achieved immortality or not, but one thing was clear: his name is a taboo, but his knowledge and words are the divine nectar.
This text that I have written for the generations who shared the same dream as that man, I hope deep within this frail heart of mine, that your path is layered with success."
I closed the old text slowly, my fingers brushing across the rough texture of its ancient cover. The words lingered in my mind like whispers of a forbidden scripture, their weight settling deep within my chest.
Fang... whoever he was, the writer dared not even complete his name. Yet his words were carved with truth so profound it burned — a truth born from solitude, agony, and endless pursuit.
"...Interesting," I whispered.
I placed the book back, and at that moment, a whisp of black flame shot out from my finger.
There was no way I was going to leave this thing here.
I delved further in the library, marking a few manuals that I thought could be helpful, but it wasn't much.
Taking a sharp left at the corner that marked the end of this martial arts section, I entered another section.
Mysticism.
There were many reasons behind going through this section; however, there was one particular reason behind it.
***
Ma Jin turned his head, his gaze piercing through and seeing something that no one else could see.
In a secluded section of the chamber of the treasury, the one that contained numinous treasures, swords made by renowned masters, and artifacts.
There was a black line marked at the end of that section.
And beyond that, there existed only one thing.
A ring made out of onyx, carved in it were two names, long gone because of the essence of time, floating in an imperceptible, immovable force.
And as if sensing his gaze, the ring shuddered.
"Wait for me...You are my next target before killing everyone here."