The annual Archfiends Summit was just days away. Chen Ming thought he should use this chance to show where he stood compared to the other five Archfiends in the Six Kings Alliance.
Six Kings Alliance was very useful to Chen Ming. With Yan Mountain deep in its territory and the other five Archfiends surrounding it, his disciple would be completely protected. And while they were also close to the Myriad Mountains, he would just join the others into repelling any attack.
Or at least the strength to make the attacker fall back.
If, suppose, those five were improving slowly, Chen Ming would be tough enough to hold his own for a while, while delivering to others the Bones of the Taotie.
Chen Ming peaked at his merits, over eight thousand. It was still far from the intended thirty thousand but at least it was enough for a round of upgrades.
Chen Ming thought,
Comprehend Heavenly Four Elements Array.
Ding! Heavenly Four Elements Array and Earthen Four Elements Array can be combined into Eight Extremes Array. It requires 2000 merits to comprehend the first stage of controlling the combined version. Continue?
Eh? This was also possible? This Eight Extreme Swords Array isn’t simple.
Comprehend after combining them!
Moments later, Chen Ming could control Eight Extremes Array but he still needed four other cultivation methods at the same stage as Fire Crow Art. Heavenly Four Elements Array required star, lightning, cloud and metal attribute cultivation methods.
This world was divided into twelve Daos. The land supplemented myriads of creatures and the heavens were riddled with uncertainty. The Earth, governing over life had the wood element at its origin, while Heavens, governing death, had destruction at its origin. Between life and death, the eight extremes came to be. From the Earth came the four elements of earth, wind, water, and fire while from Heavens came the four elements of star, cloud, metal, and lightning. The metal element didn’t refer only to its material aspect but also its deadly character, pointing at Heavens’ destructive nature. Cloud element was the most mysterious Dao among the four belonging to Heavens, filled with endless changes. All cultivators who used illusion type magical arts or practiced divination had a cloud element cultivation method. Lightning represented Heavenly tribulation, while metal was the most deadly element. Thus, the two came to be known as the most tyrannical elements. The eight extremes along with life and death established the ten Daos, while outside of them was time and space.
These were the twelve Daos.
As for why there were three thousand Grand Daos, this was something Chen Ming wasn’t able to understand, for now.
The star cultivation method wasn’t hard to get since Flying Immortal Sect’s Sect Leader’s Heavenly Flaming Star Art was of this element. For the lightning element, he had the Heavenly Thunder Nine Changes Art from the Endless Swords Sect. The metal cultivation method would be hard to find, but he reckons Archfiend Azure Lion’s treasury should have one.
But regarding cloud cultivation method, Chen Ming had no way of getting one, since those who trained in it were all mystics, with weird and diverse abilities.
For all his life, Chen Ming has never even seen one such mystic.
Eh? I seem to have encountered my fair share of mystics, the ones who show off and cheats people.
The problem was how to make the distinction between a true and a fake mystic. Everyone knew that a true mystic liked to show off his stuff, and even more so when he was a cultivator.
To differentiate them you needed to put them to death. When the fake one was put to death, he would die. But a true mystic was difficult to trap, as he knew how to divine and avoid calamities.
Eight Extremes Array wasn’t as mild as Earthen Four Elements Array, a bit of pressure here and a tad annoying there. The Eight Extremes Array had the Heavenly Four Elements Array in the mix, truly tyrannical. It could harmonize the eight extremes into the Eight Extremes Array, and when used at full power its might was comparable to that of heaven.
This kid, Li Suyi, is living a second life, he might know where I could find a true mystic.
With his mindset, Chen Ming looked for Li Suyi,
Little third, do you know where I can find a diviner?
Li Suyi had some doubt at Chen Ming’s question but soon dispelled it. A mysterious figure like Chen Ming had his own secrets. He began to recall Ling Xian’s book, History on Border Development. Ling Xian became A Grand Sovereign at the time and sighed when he retold of the event when he was but twelve, meeting a wandering Daoist, who called himself Old Meishan. He had a worn-out Daoist robe, with plum blossoms drawn on it and said something to Ling Xian, who had crippled cultivation at the time. He told him to wait outside the entrance to Jade Void Temple’s secret domain and he would one day meet with the opportunity to rebuild his Dao Palace. Ling Xian was at the end of his rope then and believed him. So after it came to pass, Ling Xian wasn’t sure if he was a diviner. But Old Meishan took advantage of this favor, and when the land sank into Ghost Immortal’s chaos, he had Ling Xian help him to escape along with the other four. And now, Li Suyi reckons this Old Meishan was still in Southern Border, at Ling Xian’s home, searching for Ling Xian.
Master, you should go take a look around Ling Xian’s home. See if a man calling himself Old Meishan is wandering around. He might be a diviner.
Despite not needing to directly ask Li Suyi of his past life, he got what he needed.
To be able to use the array encompassing the eight extremes, Chen Ming could even fight a Divine Palace Archfiend. It was a power that would make him soar. He had no time to lose, so he looked for Ling Xian,
Little second, you’ve been staying on Yan Mountain for quite some time. Master decided to visit your home, to ask your parents if they are pleased with the arrangements I made for you.
What’s he playing at, visiting my home? But Master is anything but normal.
So even with this strange request, Ling Xian had no choice but to agree.
With everything in order, Chen Ming jumped on his fiend cloud and Ling Xian on his flying sword. A mere day later the two were already at Ling Xian’s home. With Ling Xian rise his clan also profited, holding great influence.
Under Ling Xian’s guidance, they landed before a large gate. The guards were so scared, they bolted to report to Ling clan,
Clan Head, Sir Archfiend is here, Sir Archfiend is here!
Loud ruckus echoed from within the house and in the next moment, the Clan Head, Ling Xian’s father walked out the gate, bowing towards Chen Ming,
Clan Head Ling Jue welcomes Sir Archfiend!
Ling Jue didn’t dare to show anything but respect. The Six Kings Alliance was the Overlord over Southern Border, and all King ranks unaffiliated with it were wiped out. And his son, was Southern Border’s general manager, giving the Ling clan the chance to rise with him. But everything was a grace from Chen Ming.
Please come inside Sir Archfiend, as I send for dishes to be made!
After tasting exotic delicacies, Chen Ming went down to business,
Ling Jue, I need you to do something.
Sir Archfiend needs only to ask, and I shall give you my entire fortune!
Chen Ming smiled,
There’s no need to go that far. I need your help to find someone. He calls himself Old Meishan, a diviner. He wears a worn-out Daoist robe with plum blossoms on it. Don’t cause too much ruckus in your search, and you need not concern yourself with capturing him. I only want to know his whereabouts.
If it’s only looking for someone, I will bring Sir Archfiend the result tomorrow!
