Chapter 0896: Heart of the Enlightened Lake

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Li Luo began cultivating right after Li Jingzhe left.

He did not work on the Myriad Resonances Dragon Fang Sword Formation in the first five days. Instead, he concentrated on cultivating the dozens of Pseudo Duke Arts to start off.

The rate at which he mastered them had far exceeded his expectations.

With the Heart of the Enlightened Lake, everything just seemed to fall into place when Li Luo tried to cultivate them. All the difficulties and challenges that always surfaced during cultivation seemed to be readily resolved as soon as he focused on them. Of course, this was partially due to the fact that Pseudo Duke Arts were simply not as complex. There was a clear distinction between the two. If what he had been trying to cultivate was a Duke Art, it wouldn't have happened so quickly and smoothly.

Moreover, the Pseudo Duke Arts from Li Jingzhe had been carefully chosen. Their resonance affinities were a good match with him, making the process of learning them naturally easier.

The Heart of the Enlightened Lake was simply too domineering. With it, even a cultivator with average comprehension abilities would become a god. And Li Luo wasn't just average—he possessed immense talent when it came to learning resonance arts, perhaps to the point of being unrivaled. With the two combined, the results were mind-boggling.

This was why Li Luo had taken merely five days to accomplish what would normally have taken a year.

After which, he had basically attained a preliminary understanding of all of the Pseudo Duke Arts. At this point, he no longer attempted to push himself to reach a greater state of completion, instead calming himself down and focusing on the most important task at hand.

The Myriad Resonances Dragon Fang Sword Formation!

This would be the hardest Duke Art he had ever attempted to cultivate. An Embryonic Transcendent Duke Art was something that was rarely seen even in the unfathomable and massive inner divine continents.

If it became public knowledge that Li Luo was learning it, it would undoubtedly cause endless amounts of Dukes to stare at it red-eyed and full of envy. Although the training requirements were harsh, it would still possess an unstoppable allure for them. If one were to successfully cultivate it, they would easily be able to stand tall and proud above their peers.

Additionally, if one day they were able to take a step forward and turn it into an actual Transcendent Duke Art, they would become known as a revered Transcendent Duke, one who had the ability to fight against Kings! Li Luo's mental state gradually attained a sense of calm and regained a sense of clarity. At the same time, obscure and ancient information poured into his mind, showing him how the Myriad Resonances Dragon Fang Sword Formation was cultivated.

The Cosmic Sword Intent he had attained was merely the first step. The second was of even greater importance—he had to condense the embryonic forms of the Dragon Fang Swords.

Only when the sword formation was established with the Dragon Fang Swords in place would this art be considered complete.

As a result, there were several difficulties. Each step was like ascending to the skies, a daunting prospect.

However, Li Luo was long prepared. And he had the assistance of the Heart of the Enlightened Lake, so he was not discouraged. With a thought, the strands of Cosmic Sword Intent came to life, and he attempted to use his mental state to control them. Countless strands of sword intent radiated in every direction, all whilst moving in complicated and random trajectories, giving them an elusive quality.

Condensing a sword formation was no easy task. The first strand of sword intent was only kept in place for a few minutes before he made a mistake, directly causing it to collapse and become useless.

However, failure did not deter Li Luo. He took control of the second strand of sword intent and continued with his task.

Although he had a good number of strands of sword intent stocked up, even he could barely withstand the extravagant rate of consumption.

Thus, Li Luo retracted his mental state and reentered a state of extreme concentration. He blocked out all of his senses and only focused upon the complicated sword formation within his mind, doing his best to advance and condense it.

Time passed by quietly.

And five days flew by.

After uncountable numbers of failures, an extremely basic form of the complex sword formation began to be slowly perfected. The presence of the sword formation caused one to hear a pristine and clear resonating of the swords. The moment the sword energy was activated, it emanated terrifying fluctuations that even caused Li Luo to feel a sense of fear.

"It looks like I'm about ninety percent of the way there..." Li Luo solemnly observed the complicated sword formation. With the tireless efforts spent over the last five days, he had almost completed the next step. He had felt a little dismayed at his constant failures over the past few days as the difficulty of this Duke Art had far surpassed anything he had ever expected. Without the assistance of the Heart of the Enlightened Lake, he might not even have reached this stage after half a year of painstaking cultivation!

The condensation of the sword array also required one to fuse different sorts of resonant power together. Regardless, Li Luo already understood from the name of the art that this was required. However, it was only during the cultivation process that he finally realized that this art would simply be impossible to execute if not for that!

Thus, it was definitely the hardest Duke Art that Li Luo had attempted to cultivate to date.

"No wonder Grandpa wanted to bring me here. I suppose he already expected all this." Li Luo sighed. Now he fully understood why Embryonic Transcendent Duke Arts were so well renowned—some of it had to do with how terrifyingly difficult the cultivation process was.

After which, three strands of Cosmic Sword Intent appeared with a thought from him, entering the formation and beginning the final step.

This was both an important and difficult step. The sword intent had to be distributed throughout the formation like tentacles, and it had to connect through to the various nodes that had already been constructed prior.

At this critical juncture, Li Luo's heart remained unfazed and steadfast. With the assistance of the Heart of the Enlightened Lake, his mental state was pristine and clear when the countless strands of sword intent flew within the formation like stars shooting through the sky. There was a hint of order within it despite the chaotic movements.

One strand of sword intent after another took their place within the formation as it was gradually perfected.

In the end, no mishaps or surprises arose at this crucial step.

Everything was under Li Luo's cool control, completing the formation seamlessly.

It was at this point that the complex sword formation began to resonate, erupting with a hum that seemed to contain the very essence of a sword. The strands of sword intent continuously vibrated and radiated frightening amounts of sword energy. However, all of it remained contained within the sword formation, without a single bit dissipating.

Li Luo could also feel the formation’s terrifying power, and he realized that any energy sent into it would be immediately destroyed by the domineering sword intent.

He was dazed when he imagined the possibilities that this entailed. If any external energy tried to enter his body in the future and could not be easily resolved, he would simply route it into the sword formation and utilize its sheer power to demolish it! Even though he had yet to add in the Dragon Fang Swords, this would already serve as a form of protection for him.

"Embryonic Transcendent Duke Arts are truly amazing." Li Luo sighed in his heart.

The Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner was no slouch when it came to Duke Arts. If it was brought to completion, it would be a Destiny-grade Duke Art. This was something that even Heavenly Emperor powers would consider to be at the top. Yet when compared to the Myriad Resonances Dragon Fang Sword Formation, there was quite a gap between the two.

“Phew.”

Li Luo opened his eyes and glanced towards the burning lotus bud. There was barely half of it left, and it continued to emanate a green smoke that contained traces of gold light. The smoke curled around his body and penetrated his nostrils.

It also possessed restorative properties that targeted one's mental state. Li Luo's mind was fatigued by the process of condensing the sword formation, and yet all of it was quickly washed away with the miraculous smoke.

"I've got about five days remaining." Li Luo sucked in a deep breath. He had to make full use of the Heart of the Enlightened Lake and refine the first Dragon Fang Sword.

Now that he came to it, he had to decide what element he would use.

He very quickly came to an answer. He would have to pick the resonance he had the strongest affinity to. That way, it would improve his chances of success.

With a wry smile, he closed his eyes once again.

Next up, the Water Dragon Fang Sword. This was the first acquired resonance he had obtained, and he was most proficient at it.