Grasping the Edge of the Dragon's Teachings

Hyeongu knew only too well that he was not special. He possessed no grand bloodline that would allow him to even gaze upon the Yao King realm, nor did he have any other exceptional talents. Thus, if he wished to progress further, he had to look elsewhere—and the heritage of the human race was the very hope he had found by doing so.

"Hyeongu."

"Yes, Lord Dragon."

Lost in thought, Hyeongu snapped his head up at the quiet call.

"If I were to ask you to elevate the spiritual vein of the Seongya Archipelago into a pocket dimension, could you do it?"

"Ah... That is..."

Hyeongu stammered for a moment, caught off guard, but he did not forget what he needed to say.

"I can do it. However, I believe I will need some time. If you could just grant me a little time..."

"There is no rush. There will be plenty of time, so for now, simply keep it in mind."

"Y-Yes, my Lord!"

Hyeongu's heart swelled, burning as hot as his eager voice.

Jekyeong was well aware of Hyeongu's feelings of inadequacy and the recent changes he had shown. It wasn't that Jekyeong had been consciously monitoring him, but Hyeongu's internal turmoil was occasionally so transparent that it would have been harder to ignore than to notice.

Jekyeong understood Hyeongu. The loneliness and sorrow that the untalented felt when surrounded by the gifted was something one could easily comprehend without having to experience it firsthand. Even in the midst of that, the fact that Hyeongu had not given up in despair and had instead carved out his own path was highly commendable.

Jekyeong's mention of the spiritual vein—a project so far in the future that he couldn't even promise a timeline for it yet—was intended not only to have Hyeongu prepare in advance but also to give him a sense of motivation.

'What a pity.'

What if their talents and temperaments had been swapped instead? This was a thought that crossed Jekyeong's mind every time he looked at the father and son, Hyeongu and Bigu. Whenever he saw Bigu, who was lazy and carefree yet saw his cultivation level soar effortlessly, contrasted with Hyeongu, who struggled desperately just to chase after his son's coattails, Jekyeong couldn't help but feel the cold cruelty of the world.

'But perhaps it is precisely because of this struggle that Hyeongu's Dao Heart has been tempered so firmly.'

Looking at it that way, Hyeongu's talent wasn't entirely lacking. After all, a cultivator's talent did not lie solely in the speed of their cultivation's rise. Among the seniors in the Bul-mang-won, there were those who valued the Dao Heart far more than raw cultivation level. While Jekyeong didn't go quite that far, he too was gradually beginning to realize just how crucial the Dao Heart truly was.

For the path of the immortal is an endless race. While speed is important, what matters far more is how steadily and how long one can endure. In that regard, Hyeongu's Dao Heart was exceptionally outstanding among beast cultivators. To constantly watch his own child beside him—whose very existence seemed to render all of Hyeongu's painstaking efforts utterly meaningless—and yet remain unshaken, all while burning with an even greater desire to improve, was a feat not just anyone could achieve.

'Even so...' Jekyeong hoped Hyeongu would reach the late stage of the Great Yao realm as quickly as possible, but he did not believe the turtle could progress any further than that. No matter what anyone said, a beast's cultivation ultimately depended on their bloodline.

One by one, the Golden Core cultivation methods fell into his hands. Consequently, Jekyeong's once-bulging pockets began to grow thin once more. Yet, Jekyeong was not worried. There was still some time left before the gathering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at Manryongjeong, and if push came to shove, he could simply accelerate the excavation of his Grotto-heaven. Just today, he had unearthed a damaged Spirit Treasure from the pitch-black ruins within the pocket dimension.

Qi Condensation used spiritual weapons, Foundation Establishment used Dharma Treasures, Golden Core used Spirit Treasures, and Nascent Soul used Divine Treasures. Looking at it this way, it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easy to assume that these items were simply used according to one's realm, but that was far from the truth. Even in the Foundation Establishment realm, it was rare to find a late-stage cultivator who possessed a high-grade Dharma Treasure, let alone a peak-grade one. What more of the Golden Core realm? From what Jekyeong had heard, it was incredibly rare for early-stage Golden Core cultivators to own a Spirit Treasure; most made do with peak-grade Dharma Treasures out of sheer necessity.

Although what Jekyeong had obtained was a Spirit Treasure so heavily damaged that its usability was highly questionable, a Spirit Treasure was still a Spirit Treasure. Whether he used it as raw material to forge a new one or handed it over to the Spirit Blacksmiths for research, its value would undoubtedly be immense.

'Sangyoza must have been incredibly wealthy.' Come to think of it, the era in which Sangyoza was active was over seven thousand years ago. Considering how the resources of the cultivation world depleted with each passing era, the world during Sangyoza's time must have been vastly more abundant than it was now.

'No wonder everyone loses their minds over ancient secret realms and grotto-heavens.' Sensing the dark, shrouded spaces of the Grotto-heaven through his Divine Sense, Jekyeong felt his anticipation swell. He wanted to find out as quickly as possible what other treasures lay hidden deep within. Yet, as exciting as it was, he still had to attend to his duties.

'Nine Provinces Myth.' Jekyeong examined one of the three Golden Core cultivation methods.

While it might seem flawed for a Golden Core technique to be unable to reach the late stage, such methods were actually far more common than one would think. This usually happened when the cultivation level of the technique's creator was too low, placing a limit on their ability to deduce further stages. Most techniques purchasable with Spirit Stones were of this nature.

'Not bad. Supporting one's spirituality with nine pillars and using that as a stepping stone to raise one's cultivation. It's a simple concept, but simple things are inherently sturdy. The cultivator who created this method must have possessed a straightforward, honest character.' Having roughly analyzed the Nine Provinces Myth, Jekyeong moved on to the next technique.

Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art.

'How unique.' Jekyeong had interacted with various human seniors in the Bul-mang-won, and thanks to that, he knew that human cultivation methods had evolved endlessly over the passage of time. In the beginning, human techniques were extremely simple. They valued nothing but raw, destructive power. Whatever backlash or side effects they carried did not matter. For the humans of that era, defeating the enemies that plagued the world and securing their survival was their most urgent—indeed, their sole—mission.

Once basic survival was finally secured after a long, grueling struggle, only then did humans begin to look elsewhere. They sought rapid advancement, longevity, or other pursuits. Some human cultivators looked upon the mighty entities of the cultivation world with envy and wished to resemble them. The Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art belonged to this very branch. To visualize fire dragons, mimic them, and ultimately become one with them was the ultimate pursuit of such techniques.

While such methods had once been highly popular, it was rare to find anyone practicing them today. Not only did they carry various side effects, but techniques that mimicked a fundamentally different species ultimately had a very low ceiling.

'This isn't bad either.' Jekyeong actually rated the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art higher than the Nine Provinces Myth. There was no other reason; it was simply because this technique was incredibly well-suited for him. The art aimed to mimic and resemble a fire dragon, and as it happened, the path Jekyeong pursued was also the Path of the Fire Dragon. Thus, while this technique would be nothing more than a clumsy imitation if practiced by a human, for him, it served as an excellent path to reference and follow. Could it be called a sort of half-bloodline? It wouldn't guide him automatically like a true bloodline would, but the mere fact that a path was laid out before him was deeply meaningful.

Jekyeong was satisfied. Perhaps the senior who sold him the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art had simply been trying to get rid of dead stock, but to him, the value of this technique was far greater than any other standard Golden Core method.

'Furthermore, this technique has no defined limit. Well, it's probably more accurate to say that even the creator couldn't verify its limits.' The backlash of the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art was simple: the practitioner's mind would gradually turn dragon-like, until they eventually became something that was neither human nor dragon. Jekyeong suspected that the creator of this technique had either met an unfortunate, untimely death, or had been branded a Heretic Cultivator and hunted down. Dragons were revered as divine beasts, but tracing their roots, they were ultimately part of the beast race. For a human to try and become a beast, the outcome could never be good.

After slowly scanning the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art once more, Jekyeong finally turned his gaze to the last technique.

Blazing Fire Investigating Heaven Force.

His initial impression upon skimming this technique was that it was extraordinarily abstruse. It was a cultivation method, yet at the same time, it wasn't. Or rather, it was far from a conventional one.

'Is this a soul-cultivation method?' Rather than the accumulation of cultivation level, this technique pursued a deep comprehension of the Dao. It was the absolute pinnacle of the fire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠path; the merging of one's mental imagery and soul was the ultimate goal of this art. According to the manual, if a cultivator fused their understanding of the fire path into their soul, the soul itself would transform into a flame. This flame could be used for offense and defense as a matter of course, but it also served various auxiliary purposes in cultivation, making its utility virtually limitless. It even claimed at the very end—albeit speculatively—that it would assist in Shattering the Core to Form the Soul, which meant breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm.

Jekyeong found this claim somewhat absurd, yet he couldn't help but admire the sheer novelty of the technique.

'The merging of mental imagery and the soul... No, wouldn't it be more accurate to call it reinforcement rather than a merger?' The core concept was to dissolve one's understanding of the Dao into the soul. To put it more grandly, it was the Unity of Soul and Dao. Once his thoughts reached that point, Jekyeong felt as though he were catching a clumsy, shortcut-aided glimpse of a mountain peak towering impossibly high above. It was similar to practicing the Transformation Secret Art to experience human form in advance, yet this felt infinitely more distant.

'Incredible.' Though the vast cultivation world overflowed with geniuses, there were always those who stood head and shoulders above the rest. Jekyeong believed the creator of this Blazing Fire Investigating Heaven Force was precisely that kind of person. This individual must have been an absolute madman and a genius, all in one. To conceive of something so preposterous and actually bring it to fruition, however crudely, was proof enough.

'It sounds plausible... but I must consider this carefully.' It was different from the Nine Provinces Myth or the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art. Those two techniques had been relatively straightforward to understand at a glance, but the Blazing Fire Investigating Heaven Force felt stranger the more he looked at it, making him hesitant to delve into it rashly. On the other hand, there was no issue with immediately comprehending the Nine Provinces Myth and the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art. The former was a classic human technique, and the latter was perfectly suited to him.

'I hear humans have things called Contemplation Paintings.' It literally meant gaining insights into the Dao by looking at a painting. Naturally, the painting in question had to be created by a cultivator of the path of painting, drawn with a deep exploration and understanding of the subject.

'Come to think of it, doesn't the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art share ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some similarities with a Contemplation Painting?' As Jekyeong repeatedly compared the Nine Provinces Myth and the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art, his attention drifted more and more toward the latter. The more he looked, the more he felt the Fire Dragon Ascending Heaven Art was a perfect fit for him. He wondered if this was how human cultivators felt when they engaged in visualization practice using Contemplation Paintings.

'Visualization... Visualization.' Visualization was a method of cultivation primarily employed by high-level human cultivators. Of course, even Golden Core cultivators did not neglect the accumulation of Dharma Power, but while accumulating power could be made highly efficient through various external resources, comprehension and enlightenment of the Dao depended solely on the cultivator's own comprehension. This was precisely why the path of painting was recognized as one of the mainstream heritages of the human race. The Contemplation Paintings created by masters of painting were of immense help to Golden Core cultivators.

High-quality Contemplation Paintings were as rare as any top-tier cultivation resource, and the masters capable of painting them were universally treated as prominent figures in the cultivation world. Of course, this was also because the path of painting itself was extremely difficult to master, and practicing it while simultaneously advancing one's own cultivation was harder still, leaving the number of true masters exceptionally small.

'Perhaps...' Jekyeong sank into a long silence, contemplating a fire dragon that seemed to writhe vividly within his mind. His thoughts drifted deeper and deeper. What had started as mere curiosity grew increasingly profound the more he pondered this concept of visualization. He realized that the way of visualization bore a striking resemblance to the path of the immortal. After all, wasn't cultivating the immortal path essentially visualizing the Dao itself? This similarity only grew more pronounced the higher one's realm became.