Chapter 309: Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp
Chapter 309: Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp
Translator: Irene Editor: TYZ/KLKL
The faint light lit Ai Hui’s face up and he felt the thread of warmth flow between his brows.
In the sky palace, a lotus flower lamp suddenly glowed brightly as the flame in the centre of the petals became bright and concentrated. A roll of golden scripture surrounded and circled around the lamp fire. The words on the scripture were unclear no matter how closely Ai Hui tried to look. Following the circling of the golden scripture, an indistinct and faintly discernible sutra-chanting voice echoed through his sky palace.
Wisps of black smoke grew and were released from all parts of his body, moving quietly like a beast upon smelling something fishy.
Ai Hui’s face was quickly enveloped by a layer of thick black smoke. It was as if he was wearing a mask made of fog. The black smog wriggled like little weird and dangerous poisonous worms. Cold and malevolent, it rushed unceasingly towards the space between Ai Hui’s brows.
The black fog curled up within his sky palace as the lotus flower lamp pulsed unhurriedly. The circling golden scripture surrounding the flames spun just like before, making a full circle. The black smoke burned cleanly and completely at mere contact with the scripture and flames.
But, as if feeling nothing, the black smog continued pouncing on the lotus flower lamp within Ai Hui’s sky palace.
The smog enveloping Ai Hui’s face gradually faded.
The malevolence reduced greatly as an indescribable peace and calm started to appear on his face.
He would be surprised and unable to recognize himself if he could see his face now. The grave lines on his previously stone-like face started to soften and loosen up. The sharpness from before was gone and the space between his brows carried a sense of compassion.
It was said that the inspiration for the [Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp] originated from the Suspending Temple’s meditation formula.
Ancient meditation meant inner peace, calmness and freedom from suffering.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed.
Ai Hui woke up slowly from this tranquility and was surprised to feel an inexpressible sense of comfort in his whole body. It was as if he had been cleansed thoroughly, both inside and out.
Completely thoroughly. Right, this was the feeling.
Even his bones felt lighter. Ai Hui supposed he could start to float if there was a gust of incoming wind.
This was the first time he’d felt this relaxed and at peace so even he himself was rather shocked.
After observing his condition thoroughly, he fell into even greater shock. The qi and blood flow in his body was exceptionally smooth and full of vigor. Unlike the sluggishness from before, it was completely unobstructed now. Even the little internal and hidden injuries within his body were gone at this point.
[Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp] had its own unique qualities which enabled it to cultivate the sky palace independently and become an absolute art.
It could bring inner peace and calm to people. While there was not much use for this on the battlefield, it was a fundamental inherited nourishment. It could purify one’s body continuously to purge any contamination within the body, so as to improve the body’s constitution. It was said that upon mastering it, one could start practicing the legendary "Skyheart Pure Body", which was intimately connected with elemental energy.
Of course, this was only a legend. Until now, there hadn’t been anyone who’d practiced "Skyheart Pure Body".
But the older generations that practiced absolute arts lived long.
Compared to the unique aspects of [Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp], this absolute art faced much more apparent abuses. While it could improve one’s body constitution, it was a very slow process where a day felt like ten years. The practicing elementalists would have been above forty years old by the time they were almost done mastering it and had greatly improved their affinity with elemental energy.
If a practitioner had already missed the golden age for training, even if doing it could improve his aptitude, it wouldn’t be of much use.
Ai Hui chose [Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp] mainly because it was cheap. All along, very few people practiced this technique, so the number of Heaven Merit Points needed for this was the lowest as compared to many other absolute arts. Once he reached the realm of nine lotus petals, he could effectively restrain psychic attacks, preventing evilness from invading.
Blood of God’s psychic attacks were strange, ever-changing and difficult to guard against. It was very important for Ai Hui to possess this ability to curb the attacks.
Improving his body constitution was just a convenient bonus.
But things were all different with the fire lotus seeds.
Ai Hui stared with his bright eyes at the drought fire lotus seed heads on his hand and counted them meticulously. There were five, some big and some small, and there was a total of ninety-two lotus seeds.
His thoughts fell on the [Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp] in his sky palace. It had a total of five petals and one of them was slightly smaller than the rest. And before this, Ai Hui clearly remembered that there were only four petals on that lotus flower lamp.
The efficacy of the fire lotus seeds far exceeded Ai Hui’s expectations.
If he were to absorb all ninety-two fire lotus seeds, what base level could his [Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp] reach?
Without hesitation, Ai Hui took a fire lotus seed and started practicing.
He focused and felt the growth of the [Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp]’s fifth petal more clearly this time. On his fourth fire lotus seed, the fifth petal was as big as the rest. The lamp’s flame was much stronger and brighter than before.
That roll of golden scripture revolving around the flames changed the most. It became more condensed and carried a more solemn breath.
According to what he had learnt from practicing for years, Ai Hui knew that it was time to stop. He needed time to adapt to his completely new body. Good preparation was the key to success when it came to all breakthroughs. Blindly relying on external objects would bring rapid progress but only in the beginning. As one reached a higher base level, the hidden dangers developed from having a weak foundation would break out.
In this aspect, Ai Hui was exceptionally calm, neither arrogant nor impatient.
The Circulatory Cycle Revolution felt super smooth as the elemental energy evidently flowed much faster than before. Ai Hui was pleasantly surprised to find out that the elemental energy sword pills within his body became gentler with each cycle.
From before, there was a thread of sharp sword consciousness that remained in the pill. It felt as if there was a round rock with thorns moving within his body, which unknowingly gave him slight injuries. These fine bruises accumulated and turned into internal injuries over time.
Such internal injuries were difficult to treat and they destabilized elementalists’ fundamentals as well.
One cycle after another caused Ai Hui to lose track of time.
The sharpness throughout his body faded with each cycle. He had the same face and body but his whole body and temperament had changed thoroughly. The old Ai Hui was like an unsheathed treasure sword, shivering and conspicuous within a crowd.
Ai Hui now became more and more introspective, as if the treasure sword had a concealed sharpness and protection, making it less garish than before.
Ai Hui’s greatest experience was the fact that his control over his elemental energy had improved once again.
When an elementalist achieved elemental externalization, his elemental energy would improve greatly, but at the same time such progress demanded more when it came to his control techniques.
This was also a meticulous and delicate skill so Ai Hui wasn’t the least bit anxious.
From early morning to evening, Ai Hui had been deep in mystical thoughts and had forgotten about the time.
A cheery voice sounded.
"Ai Hui, Lou Lan is here!"