Chapter Fifty-Eight: Schemes and Revelation

A sinister martial art!

This was Liu Tian’s assessment of the secret martial art that Heavenly Dao was currently practicing. The Heavenly Martial Slaughter Path, which revolves around murderous intent and overwhelming will, already bordered on the absurd—it could amplify fighting power by up to three hundred percent depending on one’s mental state. Yet, from Liu Tian’s observation, the so-called secret spiritual art that Heavenly Dao was cultivating now was even more outrageous.

Heavenly Dao had previously explained that this technique involved dividing his mental state, viewing the world from different perspectives to accelerate his spiritual progression. But this martial art was far more than that! It was not merely about splitting the mind—it was about reshaping a whole new personality. After all, considering the world from another person’s viewpoint is far quicker than simply shifting your own.

Moreover, based on the earlier emergence of the Great White Shark and the surge in Heavenly Dao’s aura after bursting through the earth, it seemed that these personalities could even devour one another. The victor would consume everything of the vanquished!

Yet, since these personalities were crafted, the original self was intimately familiar with them; under normal circumstances, there should be no risk of being overthrown. But how precise can one truly be in sculpting a personality? The state displayed by the Great White Shark was clearly forged from Heavenly Dao’s wildest, most unhinged moments.

Now, after nearly a decade of living in peace, Heavenly Dao had degenerated into a meek little goldfish—could he really defeat the Great White Shark under ordinary circumstances? Liu Tian even suspected that, had he not nearly beaten the Great White Shark to death himself, perhaps Heavenly Dao would have been devoured instead.

If that happened, a breakthrough might still occur, perhaps even in the Heavenly Martial Slaughter Path, but the result would be Heavenly Dao’s demise and the Great White Shark’s resurrection.

A genuine, ruthless creature, living only for power and destruction, would be born.

That would surely spell disaster!

No matter how murderous and domineering the Heavenly Martial Slaughter Path was, it still rested upon the practitioner's own character. But this sinister martial art of Heavenly Dao’s had the true potential to kill its cultivator.

Thus, after the battle, within the remnants of a shattered house, as the two tended to each other’s wounds, Liu Tian finally spoke: “Master, hand that martial art over to me!”

Knowing it was dangerous and had powerful side effects, yet also possessed absolute effectiveness, he naturally wished to understand it.

If not for practice, at least he couldn’t remain ignorant.

And, to take it a step further, should Heavenly Dao ever completely fall, Liu Tian’s knowledge of this martial art might offer a chance to rescue him.

Faced with Liu Tian’s intense interest in this sinister technique, and fully aware of its dangers, what would Heavenly Dao do?

“That book is in the small room behind you. It’s called Transforming Demon Sovereign’s Self-Mastery. All the other martial arts you’ll need to practice are there as well!” Heavenly Dao replied without hesitation. After all, he had witnessed Liu Tian, within half a year, master the Thirteen Guardians Golden Bell Shield—formed from thirteen martial arts—starting from scratch to the martial artist level, and then, almost instantly, breaking through to become a fighter.

That Transforming Demon Sovereign’s Self-Mastery, which involved splitting personalities and their mutual devouring, was indeed sinister, but in Heavenly Dao’s eyes, Liu Tian was even more so.

After all, Transforming Demon Sovereign’s Self-Mastery only altered the mind, but Liu Tian achieved breakthroughs in both spirit and flesh in an instant.

“That martial art is dangerous—just look at it, whether you choose to cultivate it is up to you,” Heavenly Dao sighed. Liu Tian had unconsciously reached such a height; he no longer intended to force him to follow any path, but out of care, he still offered a warning: “That martial art’s cultivation has no end; in theory, you can endlessly split off new personalities, with no limit to their number.”

“If you truly intend to practice it, start from weakness to strength, from few to many—don’t try to swallow everything at once.”

“I’ll just look, I’ll just look. I have no interest in playing games with my own personality,” Liu Tian chuckled, walking to the side as he responded. “By the way, Master, I notice you look completely different now than when we fought. Is there any martial art that can control my current size? A three-meter giant body is powerful, but it draws too much attention in the streets.”

“I used to achieve this effect by practicing multiple martial arts, but you needn’t do so. When it comes to body control, no martial art surpasses Kabul Serpent Combat Technique,” Heavenly Dao said. “Originally, this technique had only one successor, but later that person sold the martial art to Blue Dream Corporation in pursuit of the best genetic modification. Your second senior brother gave it to me too this time. To control your body size at our level down to normal human standards, you only need to reach the martial artist realm in this technique. However, at low levels, it conflicts with the Thirteen Guardians Golden Bell Shield; integrating them may take some time—it won’t happen overnight…”

He paused mid-sentence, watching Liu Tian, who had already compressed his body back to normal size, and was momentarily speechless.

“Tian’er, you truly are a monster…” Heavenly Dao, who had always been called a monster himself, now bestowed that title upon another for the first time.

Source Point 7-7=0.

Kabul Serpent Combat Technique—Level 3 Muscle Control (Level 3), Body Softening (Level 3).

“I mastered it just by glancing at it!” Liu Tian laughed. “Perhaps this is the fruit of my efforts…”

“By the way, Master, I have a suggestion: how about we take control of the Tulip Kingdom?” Though Queen Eliza was still alive and Princess Lily of the Rose had not been completely cornered, the source point reserves, painstakingly preserved, had now returned to zero. Liu Tian, unwilling to endure further and certain of his own overwhelming strength, made his proposal.

Besides, Queen Eliza might be alive now, but she could easily die. Having lived so long, a sudden breath could fail her and she might simply pass away.

…………

That night, ten thousand miles away from the Tulip Kingdom, in the Morningstar Alliance.

On the Lunar Observatory, a wooden tower nearly a hundred meters tall stood atop a mountain platform almost ten thousand meters high.

If not for the innate telekinesis of Heavenly Martial Artists, such a terrifying structure would have been impossible in this era.

The Sacred King of the Moon had been observing the heavens by day and stars by night here for nearly a year.

Relying on the powerful physique granted by being a fighter, the Sacred King of the Moon had barely left the observatory except for necessary meals and changes of clothes.

Using his star-gazing technique, he monitored the world’s movements, searching for the place where the World-Destroying Giant Shark was most likely to appear.

More prismatic pillars had been unearthed among the ruins of the New Continent, but he did not go.

White Second Brother had, by himself, threatened the Red Cloud Empire, but he feigned ignorance.

He had even less interest in the Second Brother’s Way, which was spreading across the world—he left it to his subordinates to report on its influence.

Yet, he was not without gain during these days.

At the very least, he understood one thing: the World-Destroying Giant Shark might not represent a mutated beast, but rather a person.

A person capable of devouring everything. And now, he felt a premonition, an inspiration—that the identity of that person would soon be revealed to him by Heaven.

The Sacred King of the Moon was prepared!

He was ready to carry out Heaven’s will!