Cultivating with Top Enlightenment Chapter 893 - 380: Crisis (Part 2)

"This brat... When did he secretly pick up my techniques?"

Black flames danced wildly, and under a microscopic view, they consisted of separate characters identical to those in his Hundred Character Divine Techniques.

For instance, the character for ’flame,’ the character for ’fire,’ the character for ’wind,’ the character for ’stickiness,’ and more...

Beyond holding their unique Power of Rules, every character also captured a divine essence along with the Great Way...

In their fusion, the Saint Ancestor’s avatar distinctly perceived that these characters remained unpolished, their Great Way Will merging awkwardly, plainly revealing Ning Qi’s recent mastery.

Having existed for eons and witnessed countless geniuses, the Saint Ancestor never imagined anyone could steal his techniques mid-battle so swiftly and effectively!

The Saint Ancestor was certain that given more time, Ning Qi’s black flame would elevate dramatically.

It might even rival his own Hundred Character Divine Techniques!

Could this fellow really not be a reincarnated Immortal?

Doubt crept into the Saint Ancestor’s mind, for even he couldn’t replicate Ning Qi’s feat.

He knew for sure that no one in the two Spirit Realms—not him, not the Mountain Ancestor or Sea Ancestor, nor the realms’ Wills—could grasp such insights in mere moments like Ning Qi.

Though the two Spirit Realms birthed endless paths and all creation as natural worlds, this stemmed from pure instinct rather than deliberate study.

When he once subdued the freshly awakened Vast Realm Will and steered it correctly, he experienced this truth firsthand.

Thus...

The Saint Ancestor gazed at the black flame devouring his Hundred Character Divine Techniques, torn between laughter and tears.

His Hundred Character Divine Techniques arose from a lifetime of voracious reading since youth, delving deep into calligraphy treasures, absorbing their spiritual essences, and weaving in myriad cultural tales to forge today’s power.

But what of Ning Qi?

How young was Ning Qi? No amount of dedicated study over those years could yield such rapid command of this divine art.

Yet here, before the Saint Ancestor’s very eyes, Ning Qi performed an astonishing spectacle.

The black flame swirled mockingly at the Saint Ancestor’s avatar.

From the controlled Hundred Character Divine Techniques, a single ’cut’ character burst forth!

Once unleashed, the ’cut’ character lacked blade or substance, yet it sliced sharper than any worldly edge.

The ’cut’ character morphed into a torrent of blade and sword radiance, unleashing eighteen weapon arts that hammered relentlessly at the black flame.

Swish, swish, swish!

Ning Qi, sensing all movements, had ditched other assaults long ago, directing his black flame solely against the Saint Ancestor.

With a mere thought, Ning Qi reshaped the black flame’s characters into a swarm of ’cut’ characters.

One versus many.

Their collision bounded across space in a bizarre, almost humorous display.

However, the peril within defied ordinary understanding.

Less a duel of characters, it was a profound contest of universal comprehension.

The Saint Ancestor, with millennia of life devoted to books, calligraphy, and art, boasted unmatched depth across the two Spirit Realms.

Yet Ning Qi’s edge was his unparalleled perception!

Facing the ’cut’ character that encompassed all sharpness to dismantle the black flame, Ning Qi countered by turning his black flame into matching ’cut’ characters.

Though a lone character might not topple the Saint Ancestor, Ning Qi brimmed with confidence using a horde of them.

Their duel had shifted from explosive power to hushed ferocity, amplifying its deadliness.

Each character fused their Power of Heart and Mind, rendering control of this illusory-real technique exquisitely demanding.

Swish, swish, swish!

Now, the Saint Ancestor cast aside all else, immersing fully in the fight with Ning Qi.

This rare style of battle was one he had craved for ages.

Though Ning Qi lagged far in ’character’ expertise, his bold, unpredictable tactics clashed against the Saint Ancestor’s rigid precision.

It boiled down to a pure willpower showdown!

As moments dragged on, cultivators at their level should defy exhaustion.

But atop both now rose faint white vapor, like steam from scalding brew, proving they strained at their limits.

At first, the Saint Ancestor effortlessly cleaved Ning Qi’s crude replicas of the ’cut’ characters, destroying dozens or even hundreds with ease, yet slowly, he realized he couldn’t anymore.

It seemed that each ’cut’ character he left untouched deepened Ning Qi’s comprehension further.

A trace of alarm flickered in the Saint Ancestor, though he kept his cool.

In this fighting style, retreat was impossible for either side, as pulling back would block any further advances. The slightest pause would hand the foe a fatal chance.

Besides, unlike true clashes of divine techniques, this turned into an odd duel of their individual Daos, demanding relentless forward momentum with zero backing off.

Swish, swish, swish!

One after another, the illusory characters got slashed, plummeting into the emptiness.

Over time, the Saint Ancestor struggled more and more to destroy Ning Qi’s ’cut’ characters; what started as clearing ten or a hundred now dwindled to barely a handful as Ning Qi’s mastery skyrocketed.

Finally, to the Saint Ancestor’s shock, just one intensely compressed ’cut’ character hovered right in front of him!

Sometime earlier, the Saint Ancestor’s Hundred Character Divine Techniques had vanished, while Ning Qi dropped all his other strikes.

Rather than a fierce battle, the pair engaged in a tactical game of wits.

During the exchange, Ning Qi swiftly drew in the essence of this divine technique from the Saint Ancestor, powering up right in the heat of combat.

In the end, unnoticed even by the Saint Ancestor’s avatar itself, beads of cold sweat formed on his brow.

Clang!

A sharp, resonant clang rang out as the two ’cut’ characters exploded together mid-air.

Both Ning Qi and the Saint Ancestor’s avatars retreated at once, shaking their heads like they were snapping out of a deep trance.

The Saint Ancestor’s avatar fixed his gaze on Ning Qi floating in the void before him.

"No wonder you grow so fast. Now I finally understand."

After this deadly showdown, Ning Qi’s eyes sparkled with newfound sharpness and clarity.

"Old man, don’t stop now. Continue!"

The Saint Ancestor’s avatar gulped hard.

Upon closely checking his condition, damn, battling Ning Qi had drained seventy percent of his spiritual power.

The avatar’s strength wasn’t boundless; entering the warfare realm, he had capped its power on purpose.

He had planned to deploy the avatar to bolster the Vast Realm’s defenses with extra forces, but Ning Qi had single-handedly depleted almost everything.

"Enough. If I keep battling this kid, I’ll have to summon a second avatar."

He declared abruptly.

"You don’t want to fight me anymore?"

The Saint Ancestor eyed Ning Qi intently. Truth be told, he yearned to continue clashing with Ning Qi—such a powerful young genius was a rarity in his long life.

Across the Vast Realm, he had projected countless avatars, roaming the world and even taking the Vast Realm Will as his disciple.

With that in mind, the Saint Ancestor burned with a strong urge to instruct!

Meeting someone like Ning Qi thrilled him beyond measure, reigniting passion in his endless monotonous years, far more than Ning Qi realized.

Yet, as the Saint Ancestor in the warfare realm, pressing duties awaited him!

Suddenly, the Saint Ancestor’s avatar jabbed at the void.

Ning Qi blinked in surprise, seeing the Saint Ancestor not launching a divine technique but sketching a trigram right there in the emptiness.

"Brat, do you know why I sent this avatar?"

Ning Qi answered, "Of course, because I wiped out almost a thousand Harmonization cultivators from your Vast Realm. You came to restock them and restore the balance between realms."

A faint smile crossed the Saint Ancestor’s avatar. "You’ve only got half of it right."

He gestured at the trigram in front of him. "Before arriving, I cast a trigram. It foretold you could be my ally, not foe..."

Ning Qi kept his face impassive.

"Old man, at your age, a Saint Ancestor, and you still buy into this?"

"Whether you believe it doesn’t concern me, but I do!"

The Saint Ancestor’s avatar’s face grew serious as he told Ning Qi, "If I’m right, you’re purposely steering the balance between the two realms, right?"

Ning Qi: "..."

For the first time, Ning Qi sensed a real threat of his secrets being exposed.

Could this old man truly see through him completely?