Chapter 75: Theurgical Art

Back in the same familiar room.

Su Chen carefully tilted the test tube sideways and poured out a single drop of blood onto a crystal chip. He then brought it close to his eyes to carefully inspect it.

Next, he placed the crystal chip into a pre-prepared flask and infused it with Origin Energy.

As his Origin Energy surged into the flask, the liquid began to boil.

This was a special concoction of Su Chen’s unique design. It could activate Origin Substances and excite them, making it easier for Su Chen to observe.

Underneath the stare of his microscopic eye, the Scarlet-Eyed Demon King Bloodline’s secrets were pried wide open.

Three hours later, Su Chen emerged from his research lab. Now, no one understood the secrets of the Scarlet-Eyed Demon King’s Bloodline better than him.

The next step was to figure out a way to replicate this incredible speed as part of a bloodline-less solution.

“I first need to create an absorption technique that can gather enough Origin Substance to replace the bloodline. I also need a way to utilize the Origin Substance. Crane City’s Zhou Clan has passed this bloodline on for many generations, but they haven’t been able to draw out the full power of their bloodline. If they did, they would be even faster. All in all, the experiment this time was pretty straightforward. I think that I’ll be able to make use of that level of speed pretty soon,” Su Chen muttered to himself inside the courtyard.

“Master’s knowledge on bloodline substitutes seems to be increasing,” Iron Cliff said cheerfully.

“Unfortunately, the technique for charging into the Light Shaking Realm is still coming along slowly,” Su Chen sighed.

“This kind of thing can’t be rushed,” Iron Cliff said to comfort him.

Yes, it indeed couldn’t be rushed.

Su Chen knew that there was no point in trying to rush things. Only by constantly performing research and toiling over it would he eventually break through in the end. He was still young, and reaching the Light Shaking Realm a few decades from now wasn’t too late. Even so, the subject was still valuable for him to diligently study.

As he became more and more learned, his understanding of cultivation also deepened. The problems that had plagued him in the past were not that difficult anymore.

Back then, he had expended so much energy just to make some progress in the Snaking Mist Steps, and his progress even then was quite limited.

Today, he was able to make a breakthrough with a Demonic King Bloodline without too much effort. He was confident that he would be able to come up with a working version of the associated technique within two months.

The was the difference after having built up a foundation.

His foundation from twenty years ago was very different from his foundation twenty years later.

Even so, focusing on improving himself was only going to help him further solidify his foundations.

Su Chen’s thought process was very clear at this point. As such, he kept things simple and set small goals for himself to steadily fortify his foundation.

He knew that his current style of battling had the same strengths and weaknesses: he was a jack of all trades.

He was currently quite accomplished in Ancient Arcana Techniques and had a solid grasp on contemporary Origin Skills. He also had the Primordial Blood Incarnation and the Hemolytic Totem, meaning that he was quite well-rounded. On the other hand, he had some obvious holes in his arsenal — there was no way for him to use everything at the same time, so he could only use them one at a time, preventing him from multiplying the effectiveness of his skills.

If he could improve the compatibility of all his techniques, then even without developing anything new, his strength would likely suddenly soar.

The former Su Chen wasn’t this relaxed, but now he finally had found some free time to consider this path.

Since he wanted to compatibilize them, the first order of business was to decide on a direction.

For instance, should he mainly focus on Ancient Arcana Techniques or contemporary Origin Skills?

Su Chen decided to focus on contemporary Origin Skills as a rough goal.

The reason he had given up on Ancient Arcana Techniques was because they weren’t as compatible with the needs of most humans. Contemporary Origin Skills were sharper and could be unleashed at a ferociously rapid rate. Even though they lacked the flair of Ancient Arcana Techniques, they were often more practical in a battle.

However, Ancient Arcana Techniques had their own unique strengths, and their strong points could be used as supplements to help him continue improving himself.

Apart from this, his own consciousness energy was also steadily increasing. It was probably the right time to start thinking of a way to incorporate that as well.

After determining his future plans, Su Chen knew what his next steps were.

He constantly made calculations in his head and muttered to himself as his hands flickered rapidly and formed multiple strange seals, causing them to glow with a mysterious and profound light.

Suddenly, Su Chen clenched one fist and loosened the other. A small flower of flame blossomed in his hand.

Just at that moment, Gu Qingluo walked in. “Su Chen......”

Su Chen squinted his eyes slightly. He sent one of the fire flowers at Gu Qingluo.

Gu Qingluo chuckled when she saw this. “Weak.”

She flicked at the fire flower with her finger, which was immediately extinguished upon contact.

“What is this?”

“An improved version of the Erupting Firehawk,” Su Chen replied.

“An improved version?” Gu Qingluo laughed. “How come it seems so much weaker now?”

“Because I wasn’t improving on its strength, but rather this.” Su Chen gestured as he spoke. A fire flower appeared in his palm and once again flew towards Gu Qingluo.

Gu Qingluo carelessly defended herself against this one as well, but found that more and more flowers seemed to be shooting out from Su Chen’s hands. Eventually, there were so many of them that they seemed to fill the sky, as if fire were raining down from the heavens. Gu Qingluo was scrambling to defend herself. “Hey, hey, this isn’t right! This is way too different from the Erupting Firehawk...... this isn’t an Ancient Arcana Technique!” she yelled, finally realizing what had changed with his technique.

Yes, this was no longer an Ancient Arcana Technique.

This was a contemporary Origin Skill, one that Su Chen had developed after fully understanding the unique points of the Erupting Firehawk skill.

Its biggest benefit was that the amount of Origin Energy it consumed had been greatly reduced and the formation rate of the flowers was also very rapid. It was entirely possible to unleash hundreds or even thousands of attacks in just a brief period of time.

An instant later, Su Chen growled, “Condense!”

The fire flowers floating through the air suddenly began to aggregate, forming a massive flaming phoenix that floated in the air.

“This is......”

Gu Qingluo was stunned.

She had never seen any Origin Skill that could change forms like this, and this transformation was also filled with killing intent.

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to know yet just how powerful this killing blow was, because a moment later Su Chen caused the flaming phoenix to dissipate without a trace, as if it had never even existed in the first place.

“What...... what was that? How can it transform like that?” Gu Qingluo asked, flabbergasted.

“I don’t know either,” Su Chen replied unexpectedly.

He said, “I just wanted to transcribe the strong points of the Erupting Firehawk technique into the combat style of contemporary Origin Skills. That way, I would be able to exercise my superior consciousness power as well. I didn’t anticipate something like this would happen.”

“Consciousness power? You need consciousness power too?” Gu Qingluo asked, dazed.

“That’s right!” Su Chen nodded. “That final condensation was powered by consciousness energy.”

Humans were far inferior to the Spirit Race in terms of both overall consciousness power and their rate of improvement. Apart from consciousness-type Origin Skills, most did not require the user to have a strong consciousness.

At this moment, however, because of Su Chen’s improvements, the situation had changed drastically.

Su Chen could sense that it was because of his consciousness power that he was able to condense all his energy into a single strike, and it was also the main reason why this effect had come about in the first place.

He didn’t know how powerful this change would be, but for just a moment he had been able to sense the shocking amount of energy hidden within that flaming phoenix. It was because of this that he had dispersed it just as quickly.

He didn’t dare to play around with it. No one would know what the consequences would be.

“That’s not a contemporary Origin Skill,” Gu Qingluo said in a daze.

“You’re right.” Su Chen sighed. “I think we should just call it Theurgical Art.”