The Legend of Min Hong

Chapter 76: Learning the Ancient Path (2)

Min Hong remembered what his grandfather, Min Tian had always told him. "Always put it at the back of your mind that, there will always be a higher existence or realm to the one which you know exists."

With this thought always in mind, it prevented Min Hong from ever underestimating others and to have an open mind. To him, this would ensure that he rarely get surprised or caught off-guard, no matter the situation he found himself.

So, even though Little Wu and majority of the experts from his ancient world believed that the Dao Realm was a myth, Min Hong became determined to cultivate to the highest peak and find out for himself if it was truly a myth or not.

But since that time was still ages away from now, he decided not to dwell on the matter again. Thus, he proceeded with his next question.

"So, what else can you tell me about the mental and soul cultivation path?" Min Hong asked still sitting within the energy gathering formation whilst sending all of the ancient aura he absorbed to the outside world for his companions to absorb.

"The first thing I would say about that would be a warning; Unless it is a life and death situation, never offend any cultivator who major in such cultivation path. They are truly very dangerous set of people and extremely difficult to battle against." Little Wu spoke deeply solemnly.

"Let's take your earlier encounter with that little girl earlier. Though you are only in the third plane of the mental path, you could already influence her to bow in your presence. If both of you were to battle, how do you expect such a person to even summon the courage to even fight you?"

"Some truly talented experts in that cultivation path are capable of planting strong inner demons within their opponents, and most times the opponent won't even notice it. Furthermore, their attacks are mental and attacks one's soul directly, as a result, their attacks are really difficult to defend against."

"They can put their opponents in a very deep and strong loop of illusion, where the opponent would most likely think they have won the battle, whereas they are even yet to begin." Little Wu's expression became really grave at this point.

"You seem to really know much about experts on this cultivation path. Have you ever met one or battled one before?" Min Hong could also sense the changes within Little Wu's expression and body language.

"Yes, I have! She is the youngest and the most talented member of my generation. Furthermore, she is the youngest guardian commander of our universe. Her name is Sun Tan."

"The first time we had a duel, she put me under a deep illusion, where to me, we had already battled at a stalemate for several hours without pause. Then the strange thing was that I lost the same amount of energy, and accumulated the same amount of fatigue, within the illusion also in reality."

"So, before we even began the battle, I had mysteriously exhausted myself without even moving an inch. So, when she finally released me from the illusion, I had to admit defeat and forfeit the duel. It was the most humiliating duel I had ever fought."

"I became the topic of ridicule and jeering for about three solid years while she used me as a stepping stone not only for popularity but to become the commander of an elite guardian army." Little Wu sighed deeply in self-ridicule at this memory.

"After that duel, I devoted myself to developing resistance against expert who uses such techniques and major in such cultivation path. But the problem is that, you can never become fully immune to it, only if the expert has a way lower cultivation strength compared to you."

"Furthermore, since only an instant is needed to determine the outcome of a battle, if you fall into their illusion, even for a tenth of a breath, you will recover only to see that you have lost the duel."

"In fact, there was an elder in our clan that put his enemy in an illusion for sixty solid years. Whilst the unfortunate fellow had become a sovereign ruler within the illusion, he was imprisoned at the elder's backyard for the whole time."

"It was only when the elder felt satisfied with his punishment, was he released from the illusion. Then when the expert finally realized what happened, he lost all his desire to cultivate and will to live that he instantly committed suicide out of shame." Little Wu explained.

Min Hong thought about everything and nodded in apprehension. After all, he had also been a victim to such situation.

Though he was a little bit self-aware when Min Qing used her bewitching aura on him, he was still reasonably affected by it for a brief moment. But when he fell for that of the scarlet seed, which was the Yao Demon, he wasn't aware in any way.

In fact, if it wasn't for Little Wu's voice that jolted him out of his illusion, he might as well fall victim to the scarlet seed's illusion and would have probably been possessed by now.

"Then asides from that, their attacks could directly damage one's mind and soul, running such person mad and as a result bringing an end to such person's cultivation journey."

"The reason why you were lucky during you Qi deviation, was because I was here to prevent your mind and soul from being affected. Otherwise, you would have become mentally obsolete." Little Wu explained.

"I really haven't thanked you for that. I really appreciate your help, and I wish I would be able to repay the favor in the future." Min Hong sincerely apologized and thanked Little Wu.

"You don't need to say that. After all, I am also doing this for my own survival and wellbeing. I only did what was necessary to ensure my survival and escape from this dimension." Little Wu replied honestly.

"Either ways, I still have to thank you for helping out. You have saved my life either on purpose or not, and due to that, I promise to do my utmost best to forge a physical body for you as soon as possible." Min Hong reaffirmed his vow at this point.

It was only at this moment that he realized just how much peril he was in and how much peril he would have been if the Qi Deviation process had continued uninterrupted.

He might have not only lost his entire family; he would have most likely lost himself also.

"Moving onthose who also cultivate the Soul Path are just as dangerous as those of the Mental Path. While the mental path attacks with illusions and the likes, the soul path attacks the soul."

"They would attack the soul and kill it directly, rendering the body of their opponents mindless, just like an empty shell or container. Furthermore, they are very skilled puppeteers and experts who are puppet masters are one of the most feared beings across all universes."

"Since they are more attuned with the soul path, after destroying an expert's soul, they can split their own soul and use a fragment of it to control the experts body." Little Wu's voice once again turned solemn.

"So, if a soul cultivator in the Mortal Realm finds a way to destroy the soul of a Spirit Realm cultivator, and then split his soul to control the body of the Spirit Realm cultivator. In the future, when they want to do battle, they can easily control the Spirit Realm expert's body to do battle."

"Moreover, since only the Spirit Realm expert's soul was destroyed, that means his cultivation base still exists. As a result, the opponent of the soul cultivator would be battling two experts; one in the Mortal Realm and another in the Spirit Realm."

"Furthermore, since they don't go out flaunting their strengths, it is usually very hard to determine how many puppets is in a soul cultivator's arsenal, including the strength of each individual puppet. That is why they are a very troublesome foe to have."

"I have once witnessed a battle where each side had only had cultivators in the spirit realm. On one side, their trump card was a Divine Realm expert in the Celestial stage, while the other side had a Divine Realm Soul cultivator in the Immortal stage"

"When they both revealed their trump cards and the battle intensified, the soul cultivator knew he could not battle the Celestial stage head on, so he used a bloodline technique. It was a mass attack soul technique."

"The moment he initiated the attack, over hundred thousand enemies had their soul extinguished. He then raised the phantom souls of his dead allies and put their ghosts into the bodies of these empty cultivators."

"Instantly, his army gained an extra hundred thousand spirit realm experts. He then controlled them and swarmed the opposing Celestial stage cultivator. No matter how strong the Celestial stage expert might have been, he was still overwhelmed by sheer numbers of the spirit realm cultivators."

"That is how scary soul cultivators can be. They are weapons of mass destruction. An entire ancient sect had also been crippled by just a single soul cultivator. He bid his time and turned the sect members into puppets one at a time."

"After about 20 years, half of the sect had already been turned into puppets. Then an overnight ambush was all the soul cultivator needed to lay waste to the entire sect."

"That is how scary these people can be, which is why I wanted you to strengthen your soul and mind with the ancient aura, so you would not be at a huge disadvantage if you end up facing such experts." Little Wu finished.

"Wow!" Min Hong was shocked silly and even fanatically awestruck by the overbearing nature of such power.

He could imagine having an entire army of puppets in the Celestial Realm. Hundreds of millions of them, he would most likely be the strongest being in existence.

"Haha! Don't get too excited Heaven always make sure everything balances out, which is why every strong thing would always have weaknesses too. For the soul cultivators, they usually end up having weak Body or Qi cultivation." Little Wu ridiculed.

"So, should they battle an opponent who possesses an artifact or had eaten an ancient fruit which protects their soul from such attacks, the soul cultivators would be rendered useless and killed in less than two breaths."

"Thus, as overbearing and troublesome as their techniques might be, it is just the same case with their weakness. But even so, artifacts and fruits of such nature are rarely seen. In fact, most of them would always be the prized assets of different sects or clans."

"Moreover, anyone who would have access to such artifacts and fruits or plants would definitely be a very important person in whichever sect or clan he might belong. Except for others who had a lucky encounter with them and some can also be found in inheritances." Little Wu explained.

"So, is there any such artifact, fruit or plant within this inheritance?" Min Hong asked.

"Most likely, but I think you are still too weak and it would take a really long time before you possess the strength to pass the test that gives such rewards. So, you shouldn't rely on the inheritance rewards, rather you should strive to possess extreme power." Little Wu charged Min Hong.

"ThanksI have made my decisions and set a new goal for myself" Min Hong raised his head and looked into Little Wu's eyes as a stifling aura of determination radiated from every fiber of his being.

"What is it?" Little Wu paid extreme attention to Min Hong when he sensed the aura radiating from him. He looked intently and focused on the seal surrounding the true 'Eye of Myriad Universe' as if expecting something.

"I am going to cultivate in the 'Ancient Way' of the Four Paths of cultivation." Min Hong clenched his fists as every fiber of his being radiated strong belief and determination.

The moment he spoke, they true 'Eye of Myriad Universe' trembled in response as its rippling aura increased in intensity. It began to emit homing sounds like it was calling out to something.

Min Hong was stunned at the sight, and before he could recover, the clone 'Eye of Myriad Universe' within him glowed in response to that homing sound as bright golden light shot out of Min Hong's eyes and slammed into the ancient seal around the true 'Eye of Myriad Universe' blasting the energy barrier into smithereens.

"Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!" Little Wu laughed uproariously and joyfully as he watched the event unfold. In fact, tears were nearly streaming down the corners of his eyes as his expression suddenly added an emotional tinge to it.

"Good! Good!" he repeated joyfully. "Little Punk, you are indeed very lucky" he continued to laugh and speak as tears rolled down the corners of his eye.

Meanwhile, after the bright golden light shot out Min Hong's clone 'Eye of Myriad Universe' and the energy surrounding the true one was blasted away.

The true 'Eye of Myriad Universe' became a straight golden line as he darted towards Min Hong at a breakneck speed.

Min Hong squinted in fright. He knew the eye wouldn't hurt him, but the sheer speed at which it moved frightened him superbly.

But contrary to his expectations, when the eye reached an armlength away from him it stopped instantly.

Min Hong opened his eyes and looked at the shut golden eye hovering in front of him, radiating an aura like that of a baby hungry to enter his mother's embrace. Min Hong then extended his hand and poked it.

The moment that happened, his finger split open as several drops of blood leaked out. The true 'Eye of Myriad Universe" then absorbed the blood as it began to vibrate in one spot.

The intensity of the vibrations increased rapidly as the homing sound it emitted began to increase in volume. This continued for about five breaths until the vibration and sound reached the peak.

Boom!