Da Xuan Martial Saint

This means,

With the use of the power of heaven and earth, while making sure he could execute the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, the maximum might he could exert was about the level of "twenty portions," which had already reached the lower limit of the Wind Cloud List!

This is the power of the Qiankun Artistic Conception!

Even though he had just stepped into the second stage not long ago, and even Chen Mu himself had not yet broken through to the Six Viscera Realm, he almost had the strength to contend with a figure like Yan Jingqing, who was listed on the Wind Cloud List!

All other Artic Conceptions, even Yin Yang and Five Elements, upon fully cultivating and stepping into the second step, still fell short of the threshold of the Wind Cloud List—only Qiankun could directly reach the level of the Wind Cloud List!

"However, if I really encountered someone like Yan Jingqing, an expert of the Wind Cloud List, I would most likely still be no match for him."

Chen Mu shook his head slightly.

He had just barely reached the threshold of the Wind Cloud List. Although he had mastered the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal and could mobilize the might of heaven and earth almost adequately, in actual combat, compared to someone like Yan Jingqing, who had been on the Wind Cloud List for many years, there was still a slight gap.

Moreover, there was a crucial point, which was that beings like Yan Jingqing who were on the Wind Cloud List generally mastered "Martial Arts Domains," within which they could ignore distance, strike surely, and with unlimited frequency... This kind of difference in realm, for those without such domains, often meant they could only passively take hits, with not much power to strike back.

Of course,

If he could wield a more massive power of heaven and earth, reaching thirty or even forty portions, then he could also "break skill with power," forcibly shattering the opponent's Martial Arts Domain.

That's why people like Yan Jingqing, even when facing weaker Marrow Cleansing Grandmasters who hadn't mastered domains, could only fight on equal terms and almost never win because, no matter how weak, a Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster's control over the power of heaven and earth also far exceeded thirty portions. Without a domain, they could still break skill with power, enduring the domain's attacks forcefully.

Yan Jingqing had absolute suppression over him in the skill level, but against a Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster, it was like a frail woman encountering a robust man. With skill, she might manage a short back and forth, but in the end, she would still be brutally forced to the ground.

Chen Mu's thought shifted, and he called out the system interface again.

This time, however, he looked further down along Artistic Conception to quickly find another row of content.

[Artistic Conception Technique: Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal (First Layer)]

[Experience: 47] Explore more at empire

"I wonder how much experience it would take to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal to the next layer."

Chen Mu pondered slightly.

For him now, continuing to comprehend Artistic Conception Maps in the short term would not be as effective as deepening the level of the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, which had cost him 1000 Experience Points to elevate to the first layer.

And accumulating those 1000 Experience Points had taken him slightly over half a month.

Of course, during this half month, he hadn't solely focused on cultivating the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal; he had also been looking for other suitable techniques and trying to continue comprehending other Artistic Conceptions.

Once the Qiankun Eight Phases had completely unified and merged into the Qiankun Artistic Conception, the way he acquired experience had changed.

Firstly,

No matter which Artistic Conception Map he comprehended, whether Separating Fire or Kan Water, the added experience all summed up to the Qiankun Artistic Conception's experience, no longer separate as before.

Secondly, the progress of completely cultivating the Qiankun Artistic Conception was faster than when separately cultivating the eight kinds.

Simply put, previously, to "derive" each of the eight kinds of Artistic Conceptions once, each kind needed a month of accumulation, which added up to eight months. But now, it only required about five months to gather enough for one derivation of the Qiankun Artistic Conception.

Chen Mu had also tried putting several Artistic Conception Maps together, attempting to comprehend multiple Artistic Conceptions at once, but it proved impossible. Even comprehending two Artistic Conception Maps at the same time was unachievable; two maps were always two different maps, even if there were connections between them in terms of Artistic Conception. They ultimately could not be directly combined.

Among all the Artistic Conception Maps, comprehending Qian Heaven or Kun Earth provided the most noticeable effects and the most Experience Points.

After a brief reflection,

Chen Mu stowed the Flowing Fire Blade and headed back towards the direction of the Seven Profound Sect.

For the current him, tempering the Five Viscera didn't need much attention anymore, as Inner Breath naturally circulated, and the comprehension of the Qiankun Artistic Conception had temporarily reached a bottleneck. Perhaps spending one or two years might allow him to derive the Qiankun Artistic Conception three or four times, but as his comprehension of the realm deepened, the effect of the Artistic Conception Maps would decline.

Also, unless he reached the extreme limit of the second step and took a half-step further to develop the Qiankun Domain, there wouldn't be much significant change, just like the Five Viscera Tempering, it had reached a stage where slow accumulation was necessary.

In fact,

Most Martial Artists in the Six Viscera Realm spent their entire lives and never touched the extreme limit of the second step.

And those who comprehended a domain in the Six Viscera Realm were even rarer.

At the moment, for Chen Mu, what most directly improved his strength was the Artistic Conception Technique he was always lacking.

By his estimate.

Having practiced the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal to the second layer, Chen Mu estimated he could control seventeen or eighteen portions of the power of Heaven and Earth. If he could advance to the third layer, he might even be able to fully control twenty portions.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"The Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal is currently crucial in my cultivation, but besides this, I also need to practice a movement technique and an Art of Concealment," Chen Mu contemplated.

The Art of Concealment and movement techniques greatly influenced practical combat capabilities.

The reason why the assassins from the Blood Hidden Pavilion were so dreaded was precisely because they specialized in concealment. Upon reaching the Five Viscera Realm and even the Six Viscera Realm, they could make their forms and auras completely invisible, passing by unnoticed right in front of you. Coupled with their strategy of retreating a thousand miles if their first strike missed, they were the most annoying opponents in the Martial World.

As for the movement techniques, it goes without saying that as long as the speed was fast enough, fast enough that even Marrow Cleansing Grandmasters couldn't catch up, it would be equivalent to having a means of retreating from a grandmaster's clutches, able to advance or retreat, composed and unruffled.

Very soon.

Chen Mu returned to the Seven Profound Sect.

He made his way to the Hall of Transmission located in the Central Valley of the Seven Profound Sect.

By now, he was very familiar with the surroundings. The protector guarding the Hall of Transmission merely glanced up when Chen Mu arrived, nodded at him, and allowed Chen Mu to enter the Archive Hall.

Ordinary disciples who wanted to borrow technique manuals often had to apply through the Hall of Transmission, or bring a permit endorsed by the protector of their respective peaks in order to directly borrow anything. Even those in the Five Viscera Realm holding the position of steward had certain restrictions.

Only true transmissions of each sect and those above the level of protector could borrow at will.

Chen Mu entered the Archive Hall. This wasn't his first time here; he had previously visited twice, having come across his technique of the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal here during those times as he was understanding Artistic Conceptions.

However, his visit this time wasn't to seek the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal but to find a movement technique and an Art of Concealment.

Artistic Conception Techniques did not require one to ponder over an Artistic Conception Map like regular artistic conceptions; merely memorizing them would suffice for cultivation anytime. If he had enough time, Chen Mu wouldn't mind browsing through all the Artistic Conception Techniques available.

After all.

After mastering the Qiankun Artistic Conception, he could cultivate all the Artistic Conception Techniques in the world. Not to mention the various techniques within the Qiankun Eight Phases, even techniques like Hehuan and Blood Concealment could be practiced, because all techniques originated from the transformations of Yin Yang and the Five Elements, all within Qiankun, with no limitations in cultivation.

However, cultivating too many Artistic Conception Techniques also had no true meaning. One Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal as his primary offensive and defensive technique, combined with one top-tier movement technique and one top-tier Art of Concealment, would be enough to sweep through anything.

Of course.

Techniques like the Perception Technique and longevity techniques also had their uses, but for Chen Mu currently, these techniques could be put off to later, as they were not urgently needed.

Chen Mu directly approached the row of bookshelves that contained various concealment techniques, looking over the volumes placed on the shelf made of millennium-old purplewood, one by one.

"Fog Concealment Art... requires mastery of the Kan Water Artistic Conception."

"Earth Concealment Decree... requires mastery of the Five Elements Earth or a combination of Dui Ze Artistic Conception and Gen Mountain Artistic Conception."

"Shape-Shifting... necessitates mastery of the Kan Water Artistic Conception and Xun Wind Artistic Conception..."

All manuals clearly stipulated cultivation requirements underneath.

However, Chen Mu didn't care about these requirements since he met the conditions; he just needed the best among them. In fact, he was more interested in seeing the Art of Concealment from the Blood Hidden Pavilion, which would definitely be far superior to those collected by the Seven Profound Sect, but those were the Blood Hidden Pavilion's proprietary techniques, and as a disciple of the Seven Profound Sect, he naturally had no chance to see them.

By the time he had the opportunity, they would mostly be useless to him.

"Sun and Moon Traceless, hmm... requires mastery of the Sun and Moon Artistic Conception?"

Chen Mu quickly found a seemingly special technique, which required mastery of 'Sun and Moon' Artistic Conception, derived from the Yin Yang Artistic Conception and one of the superior artistic conceptions just below Yin Yang. An Art of Concealment based on Sun and Moon Artistic Conception was likely to be quite good.

Chen Mu closely examined it but soon frowned slightly.

Because this Sun and Moon Traceless was indeed excellent, once mastered, one could leave no trace under the sun and moon, able to completely conceal one's form, standing in front of someone without being seen. However, this technique had a flaw—it needed to draw on the Power of the Sun and Moon to function, and its effectiveness would greatly diminish when both were obscured.

Yet, just as Chen Mu was about to set down the volume of Sun and Moon Traceless, his gaze quickly shifted to another volume next to it, covered with a thin layer of dust, seemingly long untouched.

"Imperial Qi Concealment Technique."

Chen Mu glanced at the name of the Dharma Decree, a glint passing through his eyes.

Then he looked at the cultivation requirement.

Sure enough—

Qiankun Artistic Conception!

Daring to be named 'Imperial' and having remained untouched here for so long indicated either that it was too rudimentary, attracting no interest or that it was extremely difficult, with few capable of mastering it. Clearly, this Imperial Qi Concealment Technique belonged to the latter case.