novelraw Chapter 1651 - 1650 - Differences
Chapter 1651 - 1650 - Differences
Lind could feel the vast difference in power from the Apprentice Tier to the Journeyman Tier. The names also made far more sense to him now.
An Apprentice Tier was literally all about the internal path to that point. The cultivator had struggled, explored, and consolidated their internal path and had to fuse it with the Mystery energy to condense core concepts into a physical form to use as the new foundation of their power in the Divine Realm.
As such, meditation, internal resolutions, and inspiration on everything they had learned could lead to explosive growth in that Tier. All the tools were there but the cultivator had to sift through it and refine what was best for them in their dantian.
It was the same thing as a person that took on a trade job and grasped the fundamentals of their profession. Previous education and experiences added to understanding how to build that new knowledge base for their new job.
A Journeyman Tier, on the other hand, had a far more difficult road ahead. They had to now walk on their own and grasp the external world around them! Heaven, Earth, and Qi had seemed so simple but now he understood it was the current versions in the Divine Lands!
While he had seen a bit, it was a thimble compared to the vast lands of the Divine Lands. He was worried on one hand but happy on the other as he also realized a few things.
He doubted he had to go from one edge of the world to the other literally but the variety of experiences was limited. He had encountered the unique kingdom of kraken and leviathan but that was still not in depth.
He had no real context aside from words which were not enough by far. The Bastard also cut off his chances to form organic alliances in many powers.
Minor or backwater powers were still of use for his exploration but Mysteries were clearly tied to higher quality areas by far. Lind would only find parallels he was already familiar with the lower the quality of area he visited.
It was the same aspect where beasts went from animals growing larger or having elemental power added to them to true legendary races appearing in huge numbers as they did in the Heaven Realm and Celestial Fields.
The very land changed as well. Dryads were an example that the closer he got to the Divine Lands, the more varied such beings became as well.
He also was faced with the changes in the Twins' Inheritance.
Before, it was a mix of foundational Divine Realm lessons and elixir mastery. He had passed both but now he felt humbled even after confirming his increased strength.
The current trial seemed wholly separate from either of them but it did seem to incline closely to the Journeyman Tier.
[Once again, you will have 3 days to ascend the mountain. Flying is not possible below that white flag and further, any attempt to cheat will be punished harshly.] Lind was part of a group but unlike the other trials, they felt real to him.
How were they there? He was himself but no one recognized him. What was going on?
The suppression he felt on flight was much lighter but he now could separate what was applied to his draconic ability vs his cultivation techniques.
His draconic flight was actually not that heavily restricted anymore. It would still be a strain, but far less than before. Cultivation techniques on the other hand were simply a joke. It was clear he had to rework his basic and other techniques as he had his Arts and elixir skills.
It gave him a stark contrast to focus on his other aspects. Cultivators pick up a lot of passive techniques to improve strength, speed, and any manner of natural ability to go beyond their limits.
Lind had transformed into a dragon so his limits as a human were discarded but beasts did follow similar patterns. In his case, he had focused on endurance and regenerative techniques.
The former came in handy not just for battle but all aspects of cultivation. The latter was self explanatory. He already had insane regenerative ability so enhancing it made him extremely difficult to kill.
The key factor was mitigating the price. Regeneration consumed huge amounts of stamina and energy so the skills he honed were to help replenish those sources quickly.
Now, after his rise to the Journeyman Tier, those passive techniques were not compatible anymore. The list of things he had to do grew longer but the group were led to the foot of the mountain.
The people in charge all wore golden robes emblazoned with the sigil of 2 identical faces pointed outward. The left side had a vial in flames in front of it while the other had what was a crystal also held in flames.
The Twins clearly had followers but unlike the people of all races around Lind, they felt more like the phantoms of the past worlds he had encountered before. They had been real people once but were now more like avatars made to run the Inheritance.
The current trial felt more like an entrance test for a sect than anything else. The mountain was clearly used often as the side rising sharply up into the clouds was littered with traps and other obstacles that were not natural.
Lind understood the restriction of flight but he wanted to test something and raised his hand.
A look of irritation flared on the man leading them but as if receiving a sudden instruction, the face blanked.
[Speak.] The tone changed. It now lacked the flavor of life it had before and his dark brown eyes were devoid of even the spark of illusory life as well.
"I just want to confirm, is flying the only restriction?" Now the crowd around him looked annoyed but a brief flicker on the golden robed man showed he had struck a chord.
[As we said, flight is forbidden below the white flag.] Lind nodded but others seemed to glare at him as if he was wasting their time.
He moved towards the back of the pack and no one stopped him. The towering trees around the pass were ancient, far more than anything he had yet to encounter.
It showed that even the few places he had been had been touched in some way by a beast or cultivator to change the landscape.
A flare went up and people began to sprint. The first few meters were just chaos but several began attacking each other. There had been nothing in the rules about it and they were confirmed by no consequences falling on them.
Lind calmly let them get a head start as the golden robed overseers began to glare at him. It seemed they expected him to cheat but there was no need.
Power began to flow into his body as his muscles bulged. He did not transform, there was no longer any need.
His Mysteries flared in his dantian and transformed his internal structure to be more optimized for his current strategy. Several figures became startled as they felt all the elemental energy vanish from the base of the mountain!
The soil below Lind suddenly shattered and burst into the air as an emerald streak seared through the sky.
All froze as he left all behind yet no penalty came as all suddenly recalled his question.
Flying was restricted but not flight! A key distinction!
With an example, some tried to mimic him only to turn pale! There was hardly any energy left!
Lind had sucked it all in like a sponge!
His Mysteries were still highly intensive but where once it exhausted him, now he could command external flows to supplement himself!
It was still new so his efficiency was abysmal. He had far to go to master his new skills yet he could only smile as he sailed far above the white flag and the restriction fell away.
His draconic flight took over with ease and he never touched the ground!
The instant he was flying, however, as his instincts screamed of danger!
The sky tore open as spears, arrows, and other weapons launched precisely at his flight path! It was like he was surrounded by experts on all sides!
His eyes narrowed as their power was not beneath him at all!
It was too precise to be a coincidence. Lind dodged as best he could but the numbers just kept increasing!
Blood began to fly when he realized another oddity. It was literally every weapon he had ever heard of as well as some that were not familiar but likely based on non-humanoid bodies.
He then noticed others were getting to the same area but they were not attacked by weapons. Instead some were facing small elemental storms, Laws given form, and various other things.
He barely could spare the effort but it gave him the final clue.
"So, this is not just about ascending the mountain for traps but zeroing in on our weaknesses." Lind had Battle Aura but he realized it was pathetically weak. Compared to his usual level.
Why? Unlike his other skills or Arts, it was based on his own foundation not his understanding.
It was only as he saw the alien weapons that he grasped the issue. Just as the Apprentice Tier was solely focused on himself, his new Storm Arts stepped beyond and revealed that the Journeyman Tier was about balance inside and out.
He could no longer rely on human, beast, and demon standards as the Divine Lands had far more races.
His Battle Aura had to evolve with his new understanding and somehow the mountain trial revealed that.
He smiled wide as his aura shifted. Emerald counterparts suddenly appeared to fill the sky and caused all to freeze as a horrifying aura pressed on them but the weapons fighting him did not care!
Lind began to feel the strain and his new desperate battle began!