Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Chapter 81: Chapter 74: Wild Ambition

When the Grand Elder saw Li Chang’an pick up the cyan-gold sword, his first reaction was that he was hallucinating. After all, the weapon had sat in the Library Pavilion for nearly a thousand years, and no one had ever been able to lift it.

’How is it that now, before Li Chang’an, it’s acting like an ordinary sword that can be picked up at will?’

Yet no matter how he tried to snap himself out of it, the scene before him remained unchanged. His eyes went wide as he blurted out, “Well?”

Li Chang’an sat cross-legged on the floor for a moment.

He had indeed sensed a faint, hazy figure within the blade. But something was wrong. Not only did he fail to sense the so-called Land Immortal inheritance, but he instead detected a life fluctuation that he found quite unsettling.

Pulling his thoughts back, Li Chang’an shook his head. “I didn’t sense any inheritance.”

Hearing this, the gray-robed Grand Elder looked slightly disappointed, but he still offered a word of comfort. “This item has a spirit. Perhaps it needs to fully acknowledge you before the inheritance can be unlocked…”

He paused, his tone softening considerably. “At the very least, this Cyan Gold Divine Sword is a priceless weapon. Over a thousand years ago, the Founding Emperor used it to kill a Grandmaster!”

Li Chang’an didn’t quite agree with him but didn’t argue. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to put it away.

There were only three treasures on the sixth floor. Li Chang’an had already examined two, leaving only the cultivation technique recorded on the ancient bamboo slips on the table.

Seeing his gaze shift to the technique, the gray-robed old man explained again, “This is the very foundation of our Great Derivation. It is a path of light that leads directly to the Grandmaster Realm. For all these years, every exceptionally talented disciple of the Dayan Imperial Family has achieved their immortal accomplishments by cultivating this very technique!”

Li Chang’an nodded and, without ceremony, bent down, picked up the bamboo slips, and began to read them carefully.

The name of the cultivation technique on the bamboo slips was the *Fixed Star Observation Method*. By using specific techniques and breathing frequencies, one could visualize an enormous fixed star in their mind.

By communing with heaven and earth through this star, one could achieve a terrifyingly fast cultivation speed.

The principle behind the *Fixed Star Observation Method* was remarkably similar to the *Star Forging Body Technique* that Li Chang’an had comprehended while gazing at the starry sky.

The *Star Forging Body Technique*, however, primarily focused on cleansing the impurities from the physical body, making it as pure and vast as the stars, which greatly increased the amount of energy the body could store.

The *Fixed Star Observation Method*, on the other hand, was geared toward training the body and spirit by visualizing a massive star. Once mastered to the stage of Great Success, not only would the body become as sturdy as metal, but the spirit would also be able to stand unshaken under the star’s immense pressure.

It had to be said that the creator of this cultivation technique was an undisputed genius.

Their vision had transcended the mundane things of the earth, allowing their Divine Soul to commune directly with heaven and earth, using the visualization of a colossal star in the cosmos to shape their very being.

Such vision and spirit were extremely rare even in the Main World, let alone in a mere dynastic Martial Arts World.

After reading for a while, Li Chang’an quickly comprehended the technique.

He then began to cultivate according to the pathways of the *Fixed Star Observation Method*. Soon, an enormous star that seemed to stretch beyond the horizon appeared in his mind.

The star’s surface burned at an extremely high temperature and was covered in all sorts of craters, each one looking as if it had existed for an eternity, filled with a suffocating sense of ancient, profound weight.

When Li Chang’an began to observe this star with his entire being, he felt as if he were being seared by a formless, intangible energy. A deep, piercing pain wracked both his spirit and body.

’Hmm, this is actually kind of interesting!’

While his entire body felt like it was on fire, Li Chang’an could clearly feel his physical body and spirit slowly undergoing a transformation.

After all, in any world, a cultivation technique that could train the body and spirit simultaneously was a priceless treasure.

He hadn’t expected the Dayan Imperial Family to have so many good things.

’Then again, it makes sense. Without a few aces up their sleeve, how could the Great Derivation have stood for a thousand years, always under the covetous watch of countless Jianghu Martial Artists, yet never fallen?’

’But this speed… it still seems too slow!’

Li Chang’an closed his eyes, carefully sensing the transformation of his body and soul.

For a normal person, this was definitely a considerable speed. With diligent practice, their future achievements would be limitless.

But in Li Chang’an’s eyes, this efficiency was somewhat lacking.

After all, he already possessed the Heaven and Earth Chaos Technique, which had a terrifyingly high cultivation efficiency. And while this *Fixed Star Observation Method* was also commendable, there was still a significant gap when compared to his Heaven and Earth Chaos Technique.

Thinking of this, Li Chang’an no longer hesitated. He closed his eyes and began to deconstruct the *Fixed Star Observation Method*, integrating all its strengths and advantages into his own technique!

[With your Heaven-defying Comprehension, you have gained insight by studying the *Star Forging Body Technique* and the *Fixed Star Observation Method*. You have fused them with the *Heaven and Earth Chaos Technique* to create the *Heaven and Earth Chaos Technique: Milky Way Chapter*!]

A moment later, after forging the techniques into one, Li Chang’an began to try circulating the improved Milky Way Chapter of the Heaven and Earth Chaos Technique.

In an instant, a star sea resembling a waterfall hanging in the sky appeared in Li Chang’an’s spiritual world. It not only cleansed and tempered his physical body at every moment, making it increasingly tough and pure, but also took into account the refinement of his spirit, making his Spiritual Power even more indestructible.

The overall efficiency of his cultivation had increased dramatically!

After circulating it for several cycles, Li Chang’an stopped cultivating. When he stood up, he discovered a searing aura surging throughout his body. His muscles, bones, and even his Divine Soul had been strengthened to a certain degree.

Li Chang’an clenched his fists, feeling quite pleased. He turned to the gray-robed old man, who had long since fallen silent, and asked, “Old Ancestor, is there anything else?”

The old man snapped out of his reverie at the sound of his voice and shook his head. “All the treasures in the Library Pavilion have been seen!”

Li Chang’an nodded. He wasn’t particularly disappointed; the gains he had made were already things he wouldn’t have dared to dream of in his previous life.

The two left the sixth floor and returned to the fifth.

The remaining three Elders were still craning their necks in anticipation. Seeing that neither of them looked happy nor sad, they assumed Li Chang’an had also failed to comprehend the Puppet Creation Skill and the potential Land Immortal inheritance within the Cyan Gold Treasure Sword, and they couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

However, the three of them were tactful enough not to ask directly. Instead, they planned to wait until Li Chang’an left before going to the Grand Elder to probe for information indirectly.

The old man stepped forward and looked at Li Chang’an, who was now almost as tall as his shoulders. He sighed. “You should have seen all the treasures in the Library Pavilion now. There’s nothing left here to hold your interest. What are your plans next?!”

Ever since entering the Library Pavilion at the age of one and a half, Li Chang’an had almost never left the old man’s side.

After spending so many years together day and night, the old man’s feelings for Li Chang’an had become quite complex—part junior, part grandson.

Now, seeing him become so dazzlingly brilliant, even more so than a Grandmaster like himself, the old man didn’t know whether to feel desolate or overjoyed.

Seeing everyone staring at him with complicated expressions,

Li Chang’an stroked his chin and thought for a good while before answering, “There are no more cultivation techniques in the Imperial Family’s Library Pavilion for me to reference, so I’ll go to the Jianghu. I’ve heard that many of the top sects in the Jianghu have equally ancient legacies, with some even tracing back thousands of years. They must have a large number of scriptures and classics, right?!”

He paused, a slightly eager look on his face. “Also, I’ve heard that the Four Top Sects possess Divine Objects that can deepen one’s connection with heaven and earth when breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm. I’m quite interested in those as well. I wonder if they’d be willing to generously part with one for me!”

The world’s techniques, the Four Sects’ Divine Objects…

’Is any of that something you can just covet?’

Hearing his answer, the atmosphere fell into a strange silence. The Royal Family Elders looked at each other, utterly dumbfounded.

Never mind anything else, if Li Chang’an’s brazen words got out, the storm it would stir up in the Jianghu would probably be enough to tear the sky apart.

Although the Dayan Imperial Family’s combined strength was greater than any one of the Four Top Sects, they currently only had a single Grandmaster.

This was not enough to establish absolute dominance over the Jianghu.

Forget about collecting all the world’s cultivation techniques; just the thought of Li Chang’an coveting the Divine Objects of the Four Top Sects was enough to make them unite and deliver a heavy blow to the Dayan Imperial Family.

If they didn’t know that Li Chang’an was exceptionally skilled and was merely speaking with the innocence of a child, the Elders would probably be trying to make him face reality right now.

The silence in the room dragged on for a long time.

Finally, the old man managed an awkward but polite smile. “Your ideas… they certainly have a lot of spirit. If you can break through to the Grandmaster Realm, perhaps you really could achieve some of them!”

His words were already as tactful as they could be.

He said that if Li Chang’an could break through to the Grandmaster Realm, he *might* be able to do it.

But in reality, even if Li Chang’an did become a Grandmaster, and even with the Imperial Family having the Primordial Ancestor as another Grandmaster, achieving the ambitions Li Chang’an had just voiced would still be a wild fantasy.

With Li Chang’an’s current standards, he would certainly look down on the ordinary Third-class Techniques of the Jianghu Sects.

The ones that would catch his eye would be, at a minimum, the Second-class or even First-class Sect’s Ultimate Techniques.

And these ultimate techniques were almost all the Core Techniques of the major sects.

For Li Chang’an to try and “borrow” the Core Techniques of the various sects would be seen by the outside world as an attempt to shake the very foundation of their existence.

Forget actually trying to do such a thing—if he even dared to reveal the slightest hint of such an idea, the entire Jianghu would instantly erupt.

The Dayan Imperial Court could forget about ever having another one of its decrees carried out in the provinces.

And as for the Divine Objects of the Four Major Sects, that went without saying.

The signature Divine Objects of the Four Top Sects were: the Buddhist Sect’s Bodhi Fruit, the Taoist Sect’s Qingxue Lotus, the Celestial Sect’s Desire Grass, and the Earth Sect’s Sacred Heart Fruit.

These items were also the foundation of the Four Top Sects. Each one was a masterpiece of nature’s creation, requiring hundreds of years of careful cultivation to mature just once.

For Li Chang’an to want to seize a Dao Fruit that took hundreds of years to mature was tantamount to declaring a war to the death with all Four Major Sects simultaneously. Unless a Land Immortal appeared again, the Four Major Sects would never yield.

…