Immortal Ascension Tower 24 AVATAR OF THE WAY

"Brother is... going to pass down what?" Xiao Wu stared wide-eyed. Then, she seemed to recall something and shook her head smilingly, "Brother Hao surely enjoys joking around! Once again, you're leaving me dumbfounded! How could brother possibly know the one technique that my clan has guarded for centuries? Let alone you, even my royal fath–ahem, the Clan Master does not know the scripture in its entirety!"

Towards Xiao Wu's skepticism, Cheng Hao only chuckled and nodded nonchalantly, "Of course I know about it... In fact, what I am going to hand to you is actually an improved version of that legendary secret scripture!" The golden-eyed youth's eyes gleamed, "For now though, it is time for a second lesson on the art of cultivation!"

"Tell me, little sister... why are Martial Ways considered so special by cultivators from all Planes of Existence?"

Xiao Wu smiled:

Such basic knowledge of course, as the Xiao Clan Young Mistress, I indeed know a lot about it!

Thinking this, she immediately replied without breaking a sweat, "The roles of Martial Ways aren't limited to aiding cultivators in meditation alone. Sure, the huge help during breakthrough and the increase in cultivation speed is just as important, but the place where Martial Ways truly shine is in battle! The huge pressure it emits on a cultivator's surroundings for example is by itself a powerful support or even offensive skill capable of crossing stages! And that is without taking into account the passive Spiritual Energy recovery rate the user receives from simply wielding it, plus a myriad of other possible abilities that vary depending on the kind of Martial Way..."

As the girl talked, she and the golden-eyed child sat back at the table. There, they poured themselves a second cup of tea. When Xiao Wu was finished with her illustration, Cheng Hao had smiled and then emitted an approving whistle, "What a perfect textbook answer! And I'm sure that, if I were to inquire further on similar subjects, you'd also excel! You truly did study a lot on cultivation-related matters, I wonder whether I should praise you for your effort, or pity you for being forced to memorize all this kind of stuff..." Xiao Wu's eyes lit up at Cheng Hao's remark and quietly accepted the praise.

"Still, most of those myriad abilities you mentioned require the Martial Way to be summoned at will outside of the wielder's body to work. Not really our case, is it? And yet, I made ourselves basically seal our Martial Ways in our Pseudo Core..." Cheng Hao's whole countenance grew mysterious as he smiled enigmatically, "Now, knowing that this would greatly impair our Martial's Way abilities... why would I still do it then?"

At that, Xiao Wu's expression changed as she began searching her memories for an answer... without finding any that seemed plausible. Meanwhile, the youth sipped his tea, smiling enigmatically. Leaning back on his chair, he would occasionally glance amusedly at the girl's pondering expression. Finally, Xiao Wu could only sigh helplessly and ask, "Why would Brother Hao do that? I have no idea, none at all! Can brother please shed some light on this matter?"

Cheng Hao smiled.

"Well, it's not that you are at fault on this... Except for me and a very few others I taught myself, even fewer should know about this technique! And those who do know about it... well, it's very highly unlikely that they would ever really find the need to make use of it. Still it's strange that a Xiao Clan's Young Mistress would be unaware of it: the name of this technique is called... Martial Avatar!"

Seeing Xiao Wu's confused expression, Cheng Hao proceeded to explain, "The Martial Avatar is a very special and unique characteristic of a Martial Way. It allows cultivators to use a part of their Martial Way's might without actually having to summon it outside of your consciousness!"

"By reaching a high enough cultivation, most cultivators would gain the ability to create objects with Qi. Martial Ways are also mainly composed of Qi, however unlike simple constructs or treasures, the structure of a Martial Way also follows the laws and understanding of the cultivator's Qi! This is the reason simply looking at a Martial Way during meditation can help somewhat aiding one's enlightenment of said Qi... You're basically looking at the laws of that same Qi themselves! What this means however, is that a Martial Way is none other than... a special kind of Qi construct built following certain guidelines!"

The golden eyed youth smiled, "And if so, if you had access to those guidelines, then why should you not also be able to replicate your Martial Way as a Qi construct? Although the constructs would only retain a very small percentage of the original's might... even the smallest of bonuses is more than enough to lay waste amongst those who do not have a Martial Way or some kind of heaven-defying treasure up their sleeves!"

Cheng Hao grew thoughtful for a bit. The small pause allowed Xiao Wu to organize the newly acquired information, resulting in her reaching a completely new understanding of the ways Martial Ways worked! Meanwhile, the golden-eyed youth had once again opened his mouth to speak, "Do you remember that weird tower that surrounded me before? That was a manifestation, a Martial Avatar, of my Martial Way! Try remembering the pressure and your impression of it..."

Xiao Wu scoured through her memories... Yes. She remembered the ridiculous pressure that made it hard to even breathe! She remembered the oppressive feeling the tower had given off, so overbearing that it was as if, with just a single thought, she could be blown away! The purple-haired girl nodded nervously.

"From your expression, it seems you have quite the impression of it, ah... Well, I guess that's also partly my fault: back there, I had momentarily lost control and let it rampage wildly for a slight bit, I apologize if it scared you. However, that should be enough for you to be convinced of the potential of a Martial Avatar! The quality of a Martial Avatar can be upgraded as one's control over Qi rises, so as long as you train diligently, the power it can exhibit will steadily catch up to the one of your Martial Way!" The youth smiled.

Then, Cheng Hao stretched out his left palm and the air trembled as a strand of Qi formed and swirled gently around his fingers. Following a bright flash of golden light, the small yet domineering Immortal Ascension Tower's Martial Avatar appeared once again! Xiao Wu felt the familiar pressure brush in waves against her small figure. She felt like a paper boat floating down a fierce river, as if she could capsize at any second!

"This strength, at our level, it would be weird to find someone capable of actually standing up to it! Also, you can feel it don't you? This pressure that is now weighing down on us and wearing us down simply by being there… Even without summoning its real body, a Martial Avatar alone should be enough to deal with the average fellows in the early stages of the Mortal Realm!"

"Also..." Cheng Hao grinned fiercely as he raised his other hand. Xiao Wu stared wide-eyed as a second stream of golden Qi gathered above Cheng Hao's left palm... As the outline of a golden tower formed, shockingly, the pressure weighing down upon the youth's surroundings... doubled!

"Why stick to a single Martial Avatar... When you can make two!!!"" Cheng Hao was laughing wildly as a second, Immortal Ascension Tower Avatar condensed above his extended left hand.

Martial Avatars... How many years had it been since he had last had that conversation with anybody else? He remembered Xiao Lan listening intently, without missing a single word, his green eyes stuck on his - Xu Ling's - figure. Being the Young Master of the Xiao Clan did not come without benefits. The right to a Martial Way in accordance to the youth's Sensed Qi was a given. Although he had been banished from the Clan, he still held ownership of three of the Xiao Clan's Martial Ways due to his triple attributed Qi. Xu Ling's teachings regarding the current cultivation system's flaws had long since been spread across the Nine Heavens, but only a few people had chosen to undertake the risk of following the ramblings of a youth. These 'few people', of course, also included Xiao Lan!

The Pseudo-Core at the Inferior Stage, the Qi Sea at the Basic Stage, the Twin Vortexes at the Sung Stage, and the Eight-Looped Starfall at the Reverend Stage... following Xu Ling's instructions step by step, Xiao Lan had done them all! Despite his seemingly disability as a wielder of a variant of an ancient Qi, a variant that did not allow him to follow standard cultivating scriptures, the at the time fifteen-or-so-year-old Xiao Lan had found in Xu Ling and his teachings a master and an idol! Cue a few decades, and after leaving the clan, joining Xu Ling's forces and proceeding to save the Evil Saint himself from countless near-death situations, that idol eventually turned into a brother! And as a dear brother, Xu Ling had never withheld any information from Xiao Lan. Even a secret technique such as the Martial Avatar that the Evil Saint had only figured after countless sleepless nights and shedding tears of blood, Xu Ling had still taught Xiao Lan without any hesitation! Of course, neither of them would have ever thought that Xiao Lan's passion for Martial Ways and Martial Avatars would actually bring him to revolve his very fighting style around them both!

As a golden hurricane led waste upon his surroundings, the pressure sending the few pieces of furniture in the small hut flying, Cheng Hao's eyes narrowed reminiscently and he sighed. With a pained expression he looked at Xiao Wu and withdrew the two Martial Avatars. Seeing the familiar purple hair, albeit with a few blue strands mixed in, and the green eyes shining like emeralds, he couldn't help but feel his heartstrings being pulled: amongst the many followers of Xu Ling, Xiao Lan had always been the most kind-hearted and likeable, to the point the place the green-eyed youth held in Cheng Hao's heart even outclassed Blindlight's! The golden-eyed child sighed and fell back in his chair. Then, he seemed to recall something as he casually asked, "Seeing that you have never seen this technique before, does it mean nobody ever showed you the way your ancestor fought his battles?"

Xiao Wu, whom had yet to recover from the shock, answered absent-mindedly, "Showed me? You mean, like, sharing their memories? Not really... very few people in the Clan had the chance to fight alongside Ancestor Lan, and most of them have either been in closed-door cultivation ever since the battle one thousand years ago... or have passed away..."

Cheng Hao's heart grew heavier after hearing those words, but then he shook his head: at the moment, grieving would not help. He would grieve in the future, after having achieved his goals.

"Anyways, no, I've never had the chance to see Ancestor Lan at work. Why? Was it important? Because I doubt I'll ever have a chance to anytime soon, seeing as how neither of us are a thousand years old and thus cannot possibly have such an old memory..." Xiao Wu chuckled bitterly. Then, her delicate brows rose, followed by her emerald-like eyes widening as she saw Cheng Hao's amused grin...
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