I stood at the giant tree that was barely concealed by the formation, letting its majesty wash over me despite the urgency. Always running around and fighting, it was easy to forget the majesty of the world I found myself in.
A world in which I was supposed to live calmly, in a carefree manner after being punished by a weird deity. Instead, somehow, I ended up as the protector of billions of people, a choice I made, one that I needed to truly fulfill.
I took a deep breath as I looked up, observing the immaculate, overwhelming presence of the tree, threatening to suffocate my enemies as its height had risen high enough to be measured by miles rather than yards.
Even then, it required multiple miles rather than fractions.
Honestly, the size it reached had surprised me, but it looked like its roots had wrapped gently around the spirit vein, but it was still providing the necessary Qi to my formations, so I took that as a positive sign. Everything I knew about the spiritual plant mastery suggested that it wasn't supposed to grow that far, but it did.
My guess, it had something to do with the Providence I continued to devour, letting the tree grow without the restriction of the heavens, probably helped by the martial arts side now that it had an avenue to counter-attack.
"This is going to suck," I muttered even as I took a deep breath, enjoying the sight of the branches stretched above me, a living tapestry of emerald hues that hid a devastating power. It wasn't the prospect of the breakthrough that scared me. After watching Elsana and Lannayin's breakthrough, I was confident I could reach the peak of the Spiritual Infusion realm without the slightest issue.
No, what scared me was what would come after. I was already a part of the battle between two mysterious sources of Providence, that much was clear. But, adapting to ancient martial arts was a step too far.
I could have easily erased it if it was merely reaching the Connate realm. Unfortunately, in terms of the power it provided, the Connate realm was nothing against a force of cultivators that included multiple Golden Core members. Not even the Blood Essence realm was enough.
No, I needed to reach Spiritual Infusion. And, I didn't know if, once reaching that realm, I could turn back. I had seen the way Elsana and Lannayin had been bound to the essence of the mountain irrevocably.
And, despite its ancient roots, the strength of the volcano that had been starved for Providence for centuries was nothing compared to my tree, fed by the resonance from hundreds of thousands of Blood Essence Realm martial artists.
If the records I had read back in the mountain were even halfway accurate, even the greatest martial arts sect hadn't tried something that grand. Maybe Everdawn Empire was the exception, as everything I had learned implied that they were strong enough to make the cultivators use external methods, but maybe not.
Either way, I was doing something scary, something with circumstances that were impossible to foresee. But, it was better than letting billions die.
"It's time for a breakthrough," I muttered even as I plopped a concentrated essence pill into my mouth, a special formula I had designed to release the energy it contained slowly to help me breakthrough, which gave me the confidence breakthrough several steps at once.
I closed my eyes as I put my hand on the tree, a gentle breeze rustling through the tree giving me the answers. It was the heart, the essence of the Forest Dance, a concept that I knew intimately considering I was the one that designed it from scratch.
"The first form," I muttered even as I delivered a gentle palm strike against the air, a soft, deflection strike that helped me to mobilize the Essence correctly. A presence bloomed in my chest.
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The essence of true Forest Dance.
I was familiar with the essence externally considering the army of martial artists I had raised, but experiencing it firsthand was completely different. I doubted that an ordinary martial artist would notice the difference, but for me, the difference was like night and day.
If the old essence was a can of warm, flat coke, the ancient martial arts was a masterful wine. Instead of a flat, single-tone feeling, it was a living, breathing force. I could feel the echo of the giant tree in its presence, giving me an unmatched strength.
But, it was just the beginning.
I touched the essence as I channeled toward my muscles, opening the first set of acupuncture points, all of them at once. For an ordinary martial artist, it was a long and laborious process, but not only I had my talent enhanced, but also my knowledge of essence was truly unmatched. One move was enough to bring me to Muscle Reinforcement.
As I reached that, I could feel a providence link with the tree. It was weak, but present. Curious, I activated the System to draw some Qi. It pulled some Providence, but the connection between me and thee was untouched.
Another sign of permanency.
I sighed as I closed my eyes, allowing my senses to attune to the natural energies around me. Once I felt the energy in my chest grow enough, I used another palm attack. Skin Refinement. Then, I turned inward, and another Palm brought me to Bone Forging.
I let out a breath, and eight gates in my body opened at once, bringing me to the peak of the Connate realm. I crouched down for a moment, letting the pill fill my body with essence to the brim as I considered the move I had just made.
Opening each gate was a dangerous affair, which was why, Connate realm martial artists were hard to find without alchemist assistance. Anyone else trying to do the same would have killed themselves.
But, as much as I wanted to enjoy that momentary success, I didn't have time. Not when the giant shadow of the ship continued to appear in the sky.
Once my energy recovered to the peak, I stood again, and this time, I ran through a full kata, each move channeling my essence inward. Previously, I could feel the essence, but it was an object that was separate from me, limited to my meridians.
Each move infused it deeply into my blood, allowing me to reach the Blood Essence Realm.
The change was wondrous. For the last few months, using formations to enhance my senses to make sure I was not in danger had turned into a habit, but for the first time, it was unnecessary. As the forest essence filled my blood, my senses sharpened; I could hear the distant call of a bird, and the subtle movements of creatures hidden in the underbrush.
The improvement was wondrous. I had a feeling that, unlike the other Blood Essence realm martial artists, I could actually fight against Foundation Establishment cultivators and defeat them even without using the cultivator skills.
"Now, the fun part," I muttered as I flicked the silver needles, and they landed on every single acupuncture point I had, ready Qi to help me progress through the minor realms of Blood Essence.
Blood Essence realm was an interesting step. At its core, it required the constant usage of the martial essence, each repeat transforming the body further until it was even better aligned to the spiritual pillar, which was necessary to not burn inside out while trying to reach the Spiritual Infusion realm.
With a wave of my hand, I created a formation to handle the infusion process, as I couldn't handle it in real time.
The reason was simple. Pain.
What I was doing was worse than operating without a painkiller. By trying to condense the process that should take days and weeks even with the most careful alchemist's assistance to merely a minute, I had created the perfect torture.
But, I squeezed my lips and took the pain. It was my arrogance that I could have an army of Burning Ice Spiritual Infusion martial artists to support me that made me delay that much.
The pain was bad, but it was far from the worst price one had to pay for such arrogance, so I just took it. And, it wasn't pointless. As I guided the forest's essence to weave itself into every fiber of my being, a warm surge coursed through me, the power I commanded increasing exponentially.
Once the formation stopped working, I stayed on my feet. The pain had been bad, but the strength that followed was hard to comprehend. Yes, from a pure devastation perspective, I had commanded greater forces, but having that as a part of my body was something different.
I was at the peak of Blood Essence, with a power that surpassed every other martial artist I had seen at my fingertips. Suddenly, I was confident that I could defend Markas without stepping into Spiritual Infusion.
Fate disagreed, and not in its usual, impossible-to-detect ways. Suddenly, a sense of power rose from the land, and slammed against me, and three words rang in my mind, but this time, they were far more distinct.
INVADERS. IMPROVE. DESTROY.