Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 143 part 3! Enjoy!
Just a heads-up: I added a twist in the story, which I will keep to myself. But, if you're interested in getting some clues, you can reread chapter 3 since I modified it slightly.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
Wasn't species-specific Aura something Innate to their respective species?
Could a Human possess a Beastly Aura, or a Beast possess a Human Aura?
Was he supposed to observe a Flood Dragon and mimic its movements like in those novels he read in the past?
That sounded like a lot of work, and, frankly, unnecessary to him.
Better use the Visualization Diagram present in the Jade Scroll.
It may not be as good as the real thing, but it should be good enough.
No need to act like the cultivation version of Crocodile Dundee.
Or Flood Dragon Dundee, in his case.
Chuckling at the image of himself wearing a leather hat with Flood Dragon fangs attached all around it, Demian then took out the Martial Art jade Scroll from his Void Ring and used his Soul Sense to study the Diagram once more.
As soon as a sliver of his Soul touched the diagram, an illusion of a gigantic Flood Dragon emitting a fierce Aura appeared, riding the waves, with two sharp fangs on each side of its colossal maw, ready to tear into anyone foolish enough to defy its majesty.
Although the beast was not a True Dragon, as those could only be found in Immortal Realms, a Flood Dragon was still a Dragon, and those with lower-grade bloodlines had to bow before it, placed under its every whim.
A mere thought was enough for the behemoth, with its body hundreds of kilometers long, to turn the sea into a raging flood sufficient to destroy a City as large as Bright Star City, before another thought brought the sea back to its previous serenity.
It was not over, though, as an instant later, the Flood Dragon seemed to merge with the Sea, shifting from one location to the next in less than a blink, as if his body was one with Water.
Ferocious and untraceable, that was the feeling Demian got from the powerful beast.
Interestingly, when he had just started learning this Martial Art, the only thing he could perceive from the diagram was the Flood Dragon's movement and the Forms included with the illusion, with both being indispensable.
After all, a beast was a beast and a human was a human.
Trying to copy without adapting was foolish.
Now that he had already mastered those, however, he sensed something deeper, something beyond mere motions, touching on some sort of mindset, but also not exactly.
Something... Something that resonated with the beast's Essence, pushing the strength of its flesh beyond normal.
Thinking that way, he reread the Art's description before pondering. 'It should be the Force mentioned in the Jade Scroll. From what I read about it in the Scrolls Aunt Eldoria gave me, Force is basically the nascent form of Martial Art Intent, used to stimulate one's body. It seems to be different compared to Elemental Intent, though...'
Lost in contemplation, a few water droplets condensed around him, each then moving to form different shapes, such as lotuses, snakes, etc.
'From Force, to momentum, and finally Intent, Martial Arts starts from the Internal to the External, keeping the power within oneself. It's a completely different approach from Magic since Magic starts and depends on the External World...' He contemplated while playing with the Energy droplets dancing around him.
Shaking his head slightly, he added inwardly. 'No wonder only a few people practice Martial Arts. Humans are already physically weaker than beasts to begin with, and with the magic system not only available but also much easier to master, it's much better to focus on that instead. As for Beasts, since Martial Arts are used by humans to bring their Physiques to the level of the average beasts, what's the use of practicing those? Better focus on nourishing their bloodlines and awakening their inheritance techniques. Only weirdos like Bryn and I would focus on training our bodies so much.'
[A/N: Magic System=Mana System=Elemental Energy System. I changed the name to make it more distinct from the other two Soul and Physique Systems since the three use some kind of Energy.]
Martial Arts...
When he thought about it, it was almost as if it was created for cultivators with different needs, or even from different Worlds.
'I think I read about that kind of situation in some of those old cultivation novels, something about each World having its favored cultivation system and that system becoming mainstream, while the rest were relegated to being auxiliary or niche systems. When I think about it, it's a bit like the current situation of the World I'm in. Aside from Elemental Cultivation, anything related to the Soul and Physique is pretty much secondary, merely there to help perfect the Magic System.'
Tapping his finger against his knee, he added. 'Once the girls and I reach the Immortal Realm, I'll probably find out more about that stuff.'
Most people chose the path of least resistance, whether it be mortals or cultivators, so there was no reason for cultivators in Demian's current world to waste time practicing Martial Arts.
At least, not to a high level.
Knowing the basics was enough.
After all, most people preferred a safe, well-trodden path, which was 'guaranteed' to produce a certain amount of result.
However, it was often by trying new things and taking risks that one could receive the greatest rewards and truly become extraordinary.
That being said, it was also true that, by choosing an unknown path, the chance of success was extremely low, and most of those doing so would fail miserably.
A true conundrum...
In the end, Demian found that everyone he met in the past who could be considered 'successful', though every one of them had a different definition of what success was for them, held on to two things: Trust in their own capability and their own intuitions.
By doing so, even failures could be turned into experience that could later be turned into fodder for success.
Chuckling slightly, Demian thought. 'Truly, no matter whether it was in my previous life or this one, it's always the same thing. Should I choose the known or the unknown path? Safety or risk? I guess the only difference is the stakes. Back then, the worst that could happen was having to crawl back to Mom's. In my current life, though, it's truly a matter of life and death... Then again, with my Perks, anything cultivation-related becomes ridiculously easy to master. At most, some things like Martial Arts might take a bit more time than the rest, but compared to other cultivators, it's still laughably easy.'
Letting out a sigh, he then shoved all those random thoughts to the side and started focusing seriously on comprehending the Flood Dragon Fang 'Force', doing his best to align his mindset to that majestic one-horned snake-like beast.
Time passed quietly, as the previously clear sky started gathering large rain clouds.
As minutes and even hours went by, those clouds' color went from light grey to dark grey before a light drizzle began to fall from the Heavens, blanketing the Mansion with tropical rainwater, something, he learned, was common on Bright Star Island that time of year.
Though the women went back inside the building, Demian still sat cross-legged with his eyes closed under the progressively heavier rain, not the least bothered by the water drenching his training clothes.
Not only was he not bothered, but the massive downpour kept bringing flashes of insight to his mind, though most of it pertained to his Water Intent.
The few insights related to his Martial Art were quick to disappear, slipping through his fingers as soon as he tried to grab them.
Although a bit exasperated, Demian forced himself to stay calm as he was aware of the saying 'haste makes waste'.
Instead, it was better to first let go to better grab it later.
It may sound counterintuitive, but it was something he had seen work many times in the past, though for completely different things.
In the current situation, he noticed that the more he wanted to take hold of that spark of insight, the more elusive it became.
So, it was better to peacefully comprehend his Martial Arts and let those insights gather freely in his mind, naturally bringing them into his metaphorical lap.
Having made his decision, he kept a part of his attention on reviewing the Visualization Diagram, another part on observing his own body, from his skin to his bone marrow, and the rest of it sensing the natural phenomenon around him.
His mind was empty of random thoughts, choosing to observe everything with a child's eyes, with wonder, curiosity, and without any preconception.
Once more, time passed, morning left its place to afternoon, afternoon to evening, and evening to night.
The previous downpour turned into a tropical storm, as the small breeze grew into fierce winds, while mind-shaking thunder and colossal lightning bolts brewed in the enormous clouds before striking the City's Protection Formation repeatedly, creating a cataclysmic scene of raw destruction.
Fortunately, the storm was too weak to shake the Formation.
Or more specifically, it was not that the storm was really weak, but instead it was the Formation that was extraordinarily powerful.
After all, anyone below the Void Seed Rank would be easily obliterated by those lightning bolts, himself included.
Natural phenomena in the Mortal World were already dreadful, from floods to earthquakes or even lightning storms, which often brought injuries, deaths, and destruction.
However, compared to those in the Cultivation World, the former were insignificant.
Take that Lightning storm flaring up in the sky above him, for example.
Even someone like him, strong enough to blow up a few mortal city blocks with one punch, would be vaporized by a single lightning bolt falling on his body, while those Lightning Bolts in the Origin Island may not even be able to tickle him.
And that was just the Lightning part, but the amount of water pouring on their heads would also flood any major city back in the Origin Islands, even destroying some weaker structures with its sheer weight.
Funny how humans and beasts may have grown much stronger, but Nature still found a way to stay above them, still bringing awe and even fear to people's hearts.
'I wonder if I'll ever become stronger than the World I'm currently in... But then, I'll probably find myself in a stronger World like the so-called Immortal Realm, so I doubt it'd matter...' He wondered as his focus was briefly broken by two larger-than-usual Lightning Bolts falling on the Formation with a fierceness that was akin to an Immortal Beast trying to devour the City itself.
Disturbed by the deafening thunder noise, barely muffled by the City's and Mansion's Defensive Formations, his eyelids fluttered open, his deep blue irises reflecting the magnificent spectacle happening above his head.
Feeling small in front of the World's wrath, Demian kept observing the sky, his intuition telling him that there was an opportunity to be taken, though the details were still vague.