For water-fire cultivation methods, Qi Ping currently had two references available: the Dual Element Water-Fire Art and the Extreme Ice-Fire Art.
Both were secret-tier Foundation Establishment techniques, but they still fell quite short compared to the Golden Blaze Art.
As for spells, he also had two: the Ice-Fire Domain and the Flame Stream.
Qi Ping planned to use these techniques and spells as a foundation to create an even stronger water-fire cultivation method uniquely his own.
With prior experience in creating techniques and spells under his belt, he felt fairly confident about this endeavor. After all, the Golden Blaze Art he was currently cultivating had long since been improved by him, with both its foundation and power elevated to a higher tier.
And creating techniques wasn’t as impossibly difficult as one might imagine—otherwise, how could the cultivation world have so many techniques and spells available for practice?
In fact, quite a number of cultivators in the world actively created their own techniques and spells. Many senior figures from sects and clans would devise methods for their juniors—some good, some bad. Some did it to help the younger generation cultivate more effectively, while others had ulterior motives, intending to turn them into human-shaped elixirs.
At its core, creating a technique was simply about forming a complete logical loop of insights within a given realm. The strength of the technique depended on how these insights were combined—things like the harmony of water and fire, the cycle of the five elements, and so on.
But in reality, not many cultivators chose to walk the path of technique creation.
There were two main reasons for this.
First, creating truly powerful techniques was incredibly difficult. Rather than cultivating a mediocre self-made technique, it was far more practical to practice a proven, powerful one.
Second, most people had limited comprehension. Just mastering a technique to perfection was already a monumental challenge. If they had any extra time, they’d rather spend it pushing toward the next cultivation realm.
That said, there were indeed examples of cultivators who rose to prominence through creating their own spells. Qi Ping had come across quite a few in various texts and records.
Most of these individuals were rogue cultivators with astonishing comprehension. Armed with nothing but junk techniques gathered from various sources, they managed to create spells and methods that later shook the world!
Take the famously powerful Firecloud Dao Lord, for example—a classic case.
Throughout his entire life, he never joined any sect. Relying solely on techniques he’d purchased or seized from defeated enemies, he developed the world-renowned Firecloud True Scripture.
And in Firecloud Dao Lord’s hands, the Firecloud True Scripture proved even more formidable than the profound techniques passed down through major sects for hundreds of thousands of years!
This wasn’t necessarily because the Firecloud True Scripture was more esoteric than those sect-defining techniques, but rather because it had been constantly refined by Firecloud Dao Lord himself from the very start of his cultivation journey. It was the technique and spells best suited to him—every insight and rule within it had been integrated to a degree others could hardly imagine. This was something that those who spent their entire lives practicing others’ techniques could never match.
That was why Firecloud Dao Lord was widely regarded as one of the cultivators most likely to touch the realm of immortality.
The chances of someone like Firecloud Dao Lord breaking through to immortality were far higher than those who never created or explored their own methods.
Moreover, Qi Ping now possessed not only a powerful divine soul and remarkable comprehension but also a vast collection of cultivation knowledge, techniques, and spells acquired through conquest. In terms of conditions for creating spells, he was already standing on a very high ground.
What’s more, he had one compelling reason to create his own techniques: the sheer number of flawed cultivation methods he’d encountered. Those flawed techniques often appeared indistinguishable from ordinary ones on the surface, except they could be used to forcibly enslave and devour the cultivator. As such, Qi Ping couldn’t reliably tell which techniques were truly safe.
Given all these factors, if Qi Ping still chose not to walk the path of technique creation, he’d be squandering his advantages while gambling on the risk of becoming a “human-shaped elixir.”
After careful deliberation, Qi Ping made his decision: he would create a water-fire cultivation method perfectly suited to himself, and use it to break through to the Golden Core stage first.
“During this period, I’ll focus primarily on comprehending the Dual Element Water-Fire Art, Extreme Ice-Fire Art, Ice-Fire Domain, and Flame Stream. I’ll also study other fire-attribute techniques and spells as supplementary material.”
“Once I’ve fully integrated these four methods, I can go out and collect the spoils from the defeat of the Immortal Alliance’s affiliated forces seven years ago. Maybe I can find some water-fire fusion techniques, spells, and cultivation knowledge among them as well!”
After making his decision, Qi Ping immersed himself in studying these four techniques and spells.
The harmony of water and fire was just a sub-category of the harmony of the five elements. The latter was more than ten times as difficult and complex. If he couldn’t even achieve water-fire harmony, then the five-element fusion was entirely out of the question. The path of five-element fusion was terrifyingly powerful, but its cultivation difficulty was equally horrifying.
This was precisely why, despite knowing how strong the five-element fusion path was, so few cultivators chose to walk it.
Without enough talent and comprehension, pursuing the five-element path was nothing short of cutting off one’s own future!
There were plenty of cases where cultivators died of old age before even grasping the true meaning of the five elements.
This was also why Qi Ping, despite having decent comprehension, dared not touch the five-element path until he’d gathered all five powerful elemental talents—it was simply too difficult!
“Fortunately, with my [Water Marsh True Lord] and [Golden Blaze Body] talents, the comprehension process has been going very smoothly!”
With his divine soul, comprehension, and talents all working in tandem, Qi Ping’s progress advanced rapidly.
Just as he was about to complete his comprehension in one go and then send his Tree-Person avatar out to collect the spoils of war, something interrupted his momentum.
But it wasn’t bad news.
It turned out that Little Spirit Fox and Hundred-Eyed Flower Spirit, during their training that day, had simultaneously touched the threshold of transformation!
At that moment, both of them had their eyes tightly shut, waves of unusual power radiating from their bodies as their spiritual energy and bloodline force surged wildly!
Upon discovering this, Qi Ping immediately set aside his comprehension work and rushed to their side!
Over the years, Little Spirit Fox and Little Flower Spirit had faithfully followed the training plan Qi Ping had set for them, continuously developing and awakening their bloodline powers without a moment’s slack.
Little Spirit Fox had consumed plenty of honey and spiritual fruits over the years, while Little Flower Spirit had the added benefit of absorbing power from [Plant Growth].
After all this time building up, the moment of harvest had finally arrived!
Qi Ping was genuinely delighted to see this. Their breakthroughs and transformations were within his expectations, but the fact that they were undergoing bloodline transformations simultaneously was something he hadn’t anticipated.
For these two little ones who played together every day, it was quite a fortunate coincidence.
And their simultaneous transformation also meant that Qi Ping’s two shared talents were about to evolve at the same time!
