“Shadow Blighting Pearl? Probably just an object native to a mortal world – there isn’t any special property within it, nothing that would be to your interest.”
Xilong’s comment was dismissive and perhaps even disdainful, and An Fei suspected that she even heard the faint clacking of claws echoing with a tinge of disappointment.
The young girl quickly glanced towards the bitterly fighting Xu Lingxin and the cultivators of the Haunted Buddhist Sect, and found that her own interest had waned significantly as well.
Oh… basically fighting over scraps that the Violet Jade Pavilion left behind?
“The effects of their martial arts techniques nullify each other, forcing cultivators at the so-called Spirit Building Realm to fight as though they were mortal combatants?” she softly mused.
“Xilong… is this what you meant by the overdraft phenomenon?”
The heavenly dragon assessed the battle with a single look, and uttered a soft assent with slight reluctance. Xilong tapped its claws together, forcing its archaic brain to constantly dilute the concepts to a level An Fei could tolerate.
“It is indeed a rough… example of overdraft,” the dragon begrudgingly commented.
“However, though they aren’t capable of utilizing any additional martial arts techniques, both parties have preserved sufficient reserves to incorporate a few attacks of spiritual essence here and there. Compared to what you would face, this is nothing!”
The young girl rubbed at her nose with a rueful smile, making no reply to the heavenly dragon’s snort of disagreement towards her choices in martial arts technique.
When she recalled Xilong’s painful lecture on <Calligraphy>’s catastrophic consumption of resources, An Fei felt shivers trailed down her spine.
Both Xu Lingxin of the Morning Star Temple and the cultivators of the Haunted Buddhist Sect were utilizing “sustained phenomenon” martial arts techniques as per the Sanctum’s classifications, and to An Fei’s knowledge, were considered slightly “better than average” for mortal worlds.
Sustained phenomenon martial arts techniques referred to techniques intended towards inducing a semi-passive phenomenon whose manifestation could be sustained for a set period of time. Depending on its nature, such martial arts techniques could generate phenomena lasting as short as several minutes to as long as several hours.
They were relatively easy to utilize, as the only aspect of control held by the cultivator was the initial mnemonic that triggered its activation. Practicing such sustained phenomenon martial arts techniques, however, was a different story altogether.
When activating such martial arts techniques, the mnemonic operated in a fashion not unlike that of cultivation techniques in that they briefly hypnotized the cultivator into willing the spiritual essence to travel throughout their body in predetermined paths.
The cultivator only needed to chant the mnemonic to place their mind into the required mental state, and the martial arts technique manifested of its own accord.
Practicing, required the cultivator to continually reassess the specific advantages and disadvantages brought by the technique, as well as the changes on their body and surrounding environment. Not only did they have to learn the optimal procedure in hypnotizing themselves while minimizing the risk, advanced knowledge of tactics were required for sustained phenomenon martial arts techniques to not drive the cultivator to their deaths.
Mnemonics took time to chant, and if they hadn’t practiced a suitable procedure that successfully induced themselves into the necessary mental state, the cultivator was wasting precious time that could have spared their life from harm.
They had a significant risk and were difficult to practice and master, but many cultivators dared to pit their efforts at obtaining even a single sustained phenomenon martial arts technique.
The danger of the necessary period of blankness was evident with each step, but the benefits were far to tantalizing.
…simply because whatever phenomenon manifested was sustained – sustained, wherein battles between cultivators lasted at most a few minutes should they not be repressing their abilities.
The general time limit for fights were covered by the most basic of sustained phenomenon martial arts techniques, causing their effectiveness to skyrocket. Coupled with their relative ease in implementation in combat, many cultivators didn’t shy away from the accompanying dangers.
If a phenomenon was induced that inevitably weakened the opponent’s abilities, then a life-or-death battle’s difficulty would decrease by a significant margin.
If the manifested phenomenon was one that directly countered the attributes of the opponent’s spiritual essence… then a fight could no longer be a fight.
…it would, at most, be reduced to a practice spar against defenseless dummies…
Ping!
Xu Lingxin shivered as she parried an incoming blow towards her left shoulder, and lowered her body into a low crouch as she swung her leg in a fierce sweep. Her heart bitter at the sore sensation of emptiness permeating her entire body, the shrine maiden stared at the equally pallid countenances of Chang Jungyoon and the cultivators of the Haunted Buddhist Sect.
However powerful they may be, it was inevitable that such divine abilities would possess a natural flaw, and for sustained phenomenon martial arts techniques, it was the danger of overdraft.
Each martial arts technique required a horrendous amount of information to be computed, gauging the conditions and parameters necessary to generate the desired phenomenon in their surrounding environment.
Through the use of mnemonics and spiritual essence, cultivators could avoid the painful task of having to sift through the astronomical amount of information themselves, but the limitations remained.
Since spiritual essence substituted the process of computing the required information, the maximum amount of spiritual essence a cultivator could utilize at a single point in time was limited. If the cultivator attempted to chain multiple martial arts techniques at once, the necessary information required to process would increase exponentially, and it was uncertain whether they could substitute it wholly with spiritual essence.
Once that maximum capacity was reached, then the cultivator’s capable of processing information stalled. Quite literally, and painfully at that.
Since they had delegated the task of processing the information necessary to generate the phenomena endeared by martial arts techniques to spiritual essence, control over the ability to stop processing it was lost as well. As such, although the maximum capacity was reached, the spiritual essence would extend into the next interval, forcing the cultivator to be unable to do anything…
Of course, the martial arts technique would eventually generate its desired phenomena. However, during the entire period of time – from start to finish – it was an understatement to declare them utterly defenseless.
“Give up, Xu Lingxin!” Chang Jungyoon panted as he leaned his body onto his sword.
“Our martial arts techniques nullify each other, and none of us are capable of sparing any spiritual essence. Since this is now essentially a mortal’s melee, you will never win!”
The cultivators of the Haunted Buddhist Sect held equally miserable countenances, but within their shrewd eyes shone the breathtaking gasp of victory.
Yet again, hints of shame and embarrassment proudly displayed their arrogant heads, and their tattered clothes and wounds were direct evidence.
Each of them could utilize the sect’s <Depravity>, but because of the opposing nature between the Haunted Buddhist Sect and the Morning Star Temple, all advantages obtained were nullified. And yet, they had no choice but to expend unnecessary spiritual essence on the martial arts technique, for the Morning Star Temple’s <Purification> would ruin their physiques otherwise.
“Stalling seven by one may be possible given your talent in cultivating. However, can you truly defeat us all?”
It was a brutal zero-sum game, and their only reason for victory was that of a sheer numerical advantage in manpower.
“Drop the Shadow Blighting Pearl and leave, and we won’t pursue this matter! The Haunted Buddhist Sect has this much reputation, at the minimum!”
Chang Jungyoon knew this fact, as did Xu Lingxin. As such, he didn’t hesitate in calling for an armistice.
The six cultivators besides him had fallen into a state of overflow from wielding the <Depravity> martial arts technique, but both Chang Jungyoon and Xu Lingxin could barely squeeze some spiritual essence through. Since there was a possibility that the shrine maiden would challenge overflow to launch a dreadful, final strike, he didn’t push her.
…not to mention, his greed couldn’t cover for the deaths of six cultivators of the Spirit Building Sect – the Haunted Buddhist Sect would never let him go if he returned with such a loss.
“Drop the Shadow Blighting Pearl… at the sacrifice of hundreds of mortals?”
Xu Lingxin grimaced as exhaustion fought to overtake her body. The shrine maiden swore in her heart to settle the matter at a later date and reached into her pockets, only for her countenance to warp in panic and fear.
It’s gone!?
The Shadow Blighting Pearl had disappeared!? Just where did it –
“What are you doing!? Put that back, will you?”
“Why should I?” Xilong teased with a grin, and its claws waved the black pearl in the air.
“Look, upon second thought, the design is rather interesting, albeit severely crude. Perhaps we could use this as a temporary container for your soul?”
“You said that it wasn’t even useful back then, and you change your words now?” An Fei stomped her feet in frustration.
“Changing your words at every step, just what are you trying… trying to do here…”
The young girl’s words naturally came to a halt as she noticed eight pairs of eyes staring in her direction. One was fixated upon her countenance and floundered in confusion, and seven others were overflowing with malice towards a certain black pearl hovering around her head, clasped securely in the claws of a heavenly dragon.
“Mortal girl – hand the Shadow Blighting Pearl over this instant!”
