Chapter 188: The Mighty Kunlun Mountains
Chapter 188: The Mighty Kunlun Mountains
Guided by Old Shaman Shan Yan, Gao Jing held the Legacy Stone with both hands.
He pressed it against his forehead.
The stone felt like pure crystal, clear and flawless with a smooth surface. When Gao Jing sent a touch of Totemic Power into it, the stone suddenly burst with pure white light.
The light completely enveloped him.
It felt like his mind instantly traveled through endless space and time, arriving in an indescribable place!
Countless pieces of information poured into Gao Jing’s thoughts.
It was as if someone mumbled in his ear, a voice sounding ancient from billions of years ago.
Carrying a wild, primal feel—powerful, mysterious, and ethereal!
Gao Jing focused all his attention, straining to understand what the voice was saying.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make out a single word. He could only receive it passively.
He didn’t know how much time passed.
It felt as long as a century, yet perhaps only a moment. The Shan Yue Spirit Refining Art, a profound text of exactly three thousand, five hundred, and seventy-nine words, appeared within his mind.
Every character shone with brilliant golden light!
Even though it was his first contact with this Legacy technique, it seemed as if it had long been carved deeply within his memory, hidden away until this very moment when it was finally awakened.
The most amazing thing was, the Shan Yue Spirit Refining Art was a hundred times more profound than the Records of the Great Wilderness Combat or Primer of Totems. Yet, Gao Jing could read it effortlessly.
When his mind “gazed” upon any particular phrase within the Art, he understood its meaning instantly, without thought!
This meant Gao Jing had fully mastered this secret Legacy technique!
The Shan Yue Spirit Refining Art cultivated the spirit, and spirit power was the cornerstone of a Shaman’s spellcasting.
Without powerful spirit force, a Shaman could not cast mighty spells. Therefore, a method for cultivating the spirit was crucial.
Actually, ever since obtaining the Bronze Anchor, Gao Jing had figured out some basic ways of using spirit energy. Using the Storage Space to store and retrieve items had required conscious control through spirit force already. Every time he stored or retrieved something, it had been practice, a training for his spirit. Using Witch Artifacts also required spirit control.
But all these uses were elementary, the lowest level, requiring little skill.
The Shan Yue Spirit Refining Art was totally different!
It was like opening a door to a whole new world for Gao Jing, letting him peek into an entirely new Domain!
The first step of cultivating the Art, and also the most important step, was to visualize a mountain, making it materialize within his mind!
This mountain could be any mountain he had ever seen, regardless of size or height.
Memories from the Legacy Stone informed Gao Jing that all past cultivators of the Shan Yue Spirit Refining Art had visualized the Ancestor Mountain.
The Ancestor Mountain wasn’t the largest or tallest mountain range in the Great Wilderness; it might not even rank among the top hundred.
But it was the shared birthplace of humanity! It was from the Ancestor Mountain that humanity’s ancestors first emerged, stepping out into the vast Wilderness.
With this memory to guide him, Gao Jing could have chosen the Ancestor Mountain as his spirit visualization target.
But he did not.
Because the Ancestor Mountain was a spiritual totem for the Great Wilderness Giants.
Not his.
He felt no connection to this mountain, no spark of resonance at all!
This didn’t meet the requirement set by the Art.
Gao Jing started searching his own memory.
Mount Huang, Mount Hua, Mount Tai, Mount Everest…
Famous mountains and great ranges from his Primary World appeared one by one in his thoughts.
He had never physically visited Mount Hua, Mount Tai, or Mount Everest. But, still, every mountain he knew met the Art’s requirements for visualization.
The only question was, which mountain should he choose to visualize?
He understood that the choice he made right now, to a large degree, decided what height he could ultimately reach in his cultivation of the Shan Yue Spirit Refining Art!
There was no room for carelessness.
After careful consideration, he eliminated Mount Tai and Mount Everest.
He chose the Kunlun Mountains!
The Kunlun Mountains, also known as Kunlun Xu or the Jade Mountain, are the great mountain system of central Asia and the spine of western Great Xia.
Stretching about 2,500 kilometers in all its majesty, averaging 5,500 to 6,000 meters in height, and spanning 130 to 200 kilometers wide (narrower to the west, broader to the east), they cover more than 500,000 square kilometers total!
Through the history of Great Xia, the Kunlun Mountains held the eminent title “Primogenitor of Ten Thousand Mountains.” Ancient people called them the “Origin of Great Xia’s Dragon Vein.”
This status was strikingly similar to the significance the Ancestor Mountain held for the Great Wilderness Humans!
Additionally, Gao Jing had once watched a documentary about the Kunlun Mountains, an experience that left him truly awestruck.
His recollection of the Kunlun was sharper than those of Mount Tai or Everest.
Once the decision was made, Gao Jing calmed his mind. Following the method detailed in the Shan Yue Spirit Refining Art, he began visualizing the Kunlun Mountains.
More memories surfaced.
Every single frame from that Kunlun Mountains documentary appeared clearly in his mind.
Not one second was missing or wrong!
It felt like he was watching the entire film again, and his spirit slowly sank into the vision.
Gradually, a majestic mountain began to take solid form within his thoughts.
The Kunlun Divine Mountain!
Though this spirit-mountain was nearly transparent, like light and smoke brought together, fragile enough to vanish at any moment, it already showed hints of its towering, magnificent spirit.
As it finally solidified, firmly suspended within his mind-space, Gao Jing shuddered involuntarily.
His eyes snapped open!
He discovered he was still in the wooden house atop the Shaman’s table. The Legacy Stone he had held had turned into dust scattered on the table.
Shan Yan sat on a chair beside the wooden table, puffing on his pipe.
Gao Jing was immediately aware: his spirit had never felt this strong and sharp before.
His perceptive ability had multiplied! The world around him seemed to have shed a layer of gauze.
Everything looked clearer, more real!
He couldn’t easily describe the feeling. It was like someone nearsighted putting on properly measured glasses for the very first time.
“You succeeded.”
Shan Yan put down his pipe and smiled, saying, “This is good.”
Using the Legacy Stone was not 100% successful.
Because sealed inside were the strong person’s spirit memories. If the user’s will was not tough enough to handle the spirit shock and memory filling, they could not learn this legacy secret art.
Gao Jing did not waste this super precious Legacy Stone, making the Elder Shaman very pleased.
Gao Jing thanked again, “Thank you.”
Shan Yan nodded and said, “Practice it well.”
“I will!”
Gao Jing let out a long breath.
Suddenly, he felt something was wrong and asked, “Shaman Chief, how long have I been here?”
Shan Yan replied, “Nearly a day already.”
A day!
Gao Jing was a bit shocked.
He thought it was only a few hours at most. He had not expected to be practicing here for a whole day!
“By the way,”
Shan Yan asked, “Do you have any thoughts on the second Essence Totem?”
The Shan Yue Refining Spirit Art was a mind practice method. It mainly laid the strongest base for moving to become a Shaman later on.
In the short run, it could not directly boost Gao Jing’s power.
But now Gao Jing had risen to a High-tier Totem Warrior. He could carve a second Essence Totem.
That meant gaining a new Totem Combat Art!
Coming back to his senses, Gao Jing thought and asked, “Shaman Chief, what suggestions do you have?”
Having an elder like him was a real treasure.
Not asking this ready treasure Elder Shaman would be pretty foolish.
Plus, he felt Shan Yan had words to say.
“If I were to give advice,”
Shan Yan said, “I would not suggest you pick Flame Hammer, Crimson Fist, or Prairie Burn. Instead, carve another Flame Blade!”
His idea totally surprised Gao Jing.
But Gao Jing did not fuss or panic; he stayed calm and asked, “Another Flame Blade?”
“Yes!”
This Elder Shaman’s view was: since you planned to become a Battle Shaman in the future and just learned the Shan Yue Refining Spirit Art, there was no need to study a new Totem Combat Art for now.
People don’t have endless time and energy.
As the saying goes, biting off too much means you can’t chew it well—being okay at many things is worse than being great at one.
The new totem could be carved on Gao Jing’s left arm. That way, he could summon Flame Blades with both hands—one left and one right—at the same time.
So it would make Gao Jing’s fighting ways more mixed up.
And he could use the time to dig deeper and practice that Totem Combat Art hard.
Having more Totem Combat Arts was not always better.
Being super skilled at one made you stronger!
The same Totem Combat Art, used by Totem Warriors of the same level, could show hugely different might.
“Good!”
Gao Jing said without thinking, “Then I’ll carve another Flame Blade.”
He believed Old Shaman Shan Yan would never trick him.