Chapter 130: Astral Primordial Art

"Lu Sheng, why haven't you left yet? The gathering at the Hundred Flower Garden is about to start!"

Rushing headlong into the Martial Repository upon seeing Lu Sheng still buried in organizing martial arts manuals, Luo Liheng shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Hurry up, get yourself dressed and come with me to the Hundred Flower Garden—"

"Today's gathering is mostly on account of you!"

Catching the brush in Lu Sheng's hand, Luo Liheng pulled him along, forcing him to get ready!

"Ah!"

Releasing the brush seized by Luo Liheng, Lu Sheng remained completely unhurried, saying:

"Pack all of these up and send them to your grandfather. Let him and my teacher review them and forward them to the Emperor as soon as possible."

"I hope they can finish reviewing these before tomorrow's grand ceremony—"

"I want to secure a rank-three official position at the same time I become the Prince of Jinyang!"

With that, Lu Sheng stretched lazily and went to wash up himself.

Over the past two days, he had put a tremendous amount of effort into these martial arts techniques!

"These... are all martial arts manuals you've compiled?"

Looking at the thick stacks of books piled high on the desk, Luo Liheng asked in sheer disbelief.

Two days ago, Lu Sheng had indeed told him that he intended to compile at least a hundred martial arts disciplines to secure a rank-three official position for himself.

However, although Luo Liheng had heard it, he simply took it as a joke.

To his surprise, two days later, Lu Sheng seemed to have actually finished them all.

"Could it be that true geniuses are truly this miraculous?"

Filled with doubt, Luo Liheng picked up the book on the very top and flipped it open to read:

*"The Primal Golden Armor Art focuses heavily on physical cultivation, fused from body-tempering techniques such as the Primal Art and the Golden Armor Art."*

*"The first tier of this cultivation method can reach the Martial Master realm and can be considered Lower Earth-grade; the second tier can reach the peak of the Martial Master realm and contains the method to break through to the Great Martial Master realm, which can be considered Middle Earth-grade; the third tier can reach the peak of the Great Martial Master realm, which can be considered Upper Earth-grade; the fourth tier can reach the limit of the Great Martial Master realm and contains the method to break through to the Martial Ancestor realm, which can be considered—"*

*"Top Earth-grade!"*

Staring blankly at this preface, Luo Liheng recalled the suggestion he had made to Lu Sheng two days ago.

Back then, when Lu Sheng stated he would compile two hundred Upper and Top Earth-grade cultivation methods in order to be promoted to a rank-three official, Luo Liheng didn't believe it in his heart, but casually remarked that Top Earth-grade cultivation methods could easily be divided into different tiers, simultaneously serving as lower, middle, and upper grades.

That way, Lu Sheng would only need to compile one hundred Top Earth-grade cultivation methods to attain a third-rank position.

He had merely mentioned those words off the cuff, never imagining that Lu Sheng would actually put them into practice.

Moreover, judging by the wetness of the ink on the page, he could tell that Lu Sheng had genuinely compiled all these martial arts within these short two days.

***

"How is anyone supposed to believe something like this?"

"Besides, the Golden Armor Art was created by the First Emperor of Qin—"

"To fuse the two together, could Lu Sheng possibly pull it off?"

The Golden Armor Art reigned supreme in body cultivation, while the Primal Art reigned supreme in qi cultivation; both were among the most supreme techniques in the entire world. For an ordinary person, comprehending just one of them thoroughly in a lifetime was already a rare feat, yet Lu Sheng, at the tender age of eighteen, had already fused the two into one.

Such a feat, let alone Luo Liheng, would be utterly unbelievable to anyone else in the world!

"Yet, how good this cultivation method is, I am no longer in any position to evaluate. In fact—"

"I don't even have the qualification to read it!"

Although he didn't know whether Lu Sheng was just messing around, after reading the preface, Luo Liheng knew that evaluating the quality of this cultivation method was already far beyond his capabilities. He didn't even possess the clearance to proofread and review it.

After all, the Primal Art passed down by the Lu clan of Great Jing, and the Golden Armor Art passed down by the Qin clan of Yongzhou, belonged to the category of absolute state secrets for ordinary people, even at their foundational levels—

Unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life locked inside the Martial Repository, he was not allowed to read them!

Therefore, Luo Liheng put down the book and picked up another:

*"The Void-Primal Art, fusing the techniques of the Void Art and the Primal Art, is similarly divided into four tiers, reaching the Top Earth-grade."*

*"Another one I'm not allowed to look at!"*

Sighing, Luo Liheng looked down at the rest: the Rivers-and-Mountains Primal Art, the Long-River Primal Art, the Setting-Sun Primal Art, the Great-Sun Primal Art, the Vast-Sea Primal Art, the Bright-Moon Primal Art... Each and every one of these cultivation methods had a preface identical to that of the Primal Golden Armor Art, all of them being Top Earth-grade!

"You rascal Lu Sheng, knowing full well I can't read them, you still put these right before my eyes—"

"What are you playing at? Are you trying to make me spend the rest of my life trapped in the Martial Repository?"

The more he looked, the more indignant he felt, and Luo Liheng complained aloud.

Whether it was the Primal Art, the Golden Armor Art, the Void Art, or the Long-River Art, Setting-Sun Art, Vast-Sea Art, and Bright-Moon Art... all of them were painstakingly gathered by the Great Jing imperial court from various other factions.

Without official permission, outsiders who read these martial arts manuals, even if they managed to escape punishment, would never be allowed to walk out of this place again.

However, even though he knew these principles and had never intended to stay in the Martial Repository forever, upon seeing these world-renowned cultivation methods, Luo Liheng still found his heart itching uncontrollably, driving him to the verge of madness—

"So many peerless martial arts contents placed right here, this is practically luring me into committing a crime!"

Thus, upon seeing the seventh book, Luo Liheng exercised immense willpower and forced himself to stop reading any further!

However, before he could even pat himself on the back for his clever restraint, a casual remark from Lu Sheng shattered his newly made resolution into smithereens:

"Read the eighth book. This one was created by fusing the Astral-Net Art."

"In my capacity as a future rank-three compiler, I grant you permission to read this one!"

Before Lu Sheng could even finish speaking, upon hearing the three words "Astral-Net Art," Luo Liheng already flipped open the eighth book that was resting in his hands and began to read—

The Astral-Net Art was the heritage technique of the Luo clan of Yuezhou. The cultivation method Luo Liheng himself practiced at this very moment was none other than this one.

At that moment, upon seeing the Astral-Net Primal Art created by Lu Sheng, the shock in Luo Liheng's heart was simply beyond description:

"This... this..."

"The Astral-Net Art can even be used this way!"

"My family's Astral-Net Art actually blends seamlessly with the Primal Art."

As a heritage passed down through his ancestors and practiced by himself for over a decade, although Luo Liheng's own realm was still low, he could easily discern that the Astral-Net Primal Art completely encompassed the Astral-Net cultivation methods below the Martial Ancestor realm.

And its fusion with the Primal Art was entirely without the slightest obstruction or friction.

"How can this be?"

"Could it be that the Primal Art inherently contained the Astral-Net Art all along?"

The founder of the Astral-Net Art—in other words, Luo Liheng's ancestor—had become a Grand Master under the guidance of the Emperor of Jing and was counted among the founding contributors of the dynasty.

Although he had never heard of any connection between the Primal Art and the Astral-Net Art before, if anyone were to tell him right now that the Primal Art created by the Emperor of Jing already incorporated the methods of the Astral-Net Art, he would not doubt it in the least—

After all, this explanation was far easier for Luo Liheng to swallow than the notion that Lu Sheng had integrated the Astral-Net Art into the Primal Art himself on the spot!

"Could it really be that some people are born with innate knowledge, able to master any martial art the moment they lay eyes on it?"

"Perhaps I should help Lu Sheng test it out and see if there are any flaws or omissions in this cultivation method—"

"Surely, this should also count as part of my duties as a reviewer, right?"

With his heart fluttering like dancing grass, merely looking at this cultivation method had sparked countless insights into the applications of the Astral-Net Art within him.

He could even sense that as long as he practiced this cultivation method and converted his Astral-Net profound qi into Astral-Net Primal profound qi—

His personal cultivation realm could advance by leaps and bounds once more!

"I'll just test it a little!"

"Hmph, I am merely conducting an experiment for the new cultivation method!"

"Even if Grandfather finds out, he shouldn't blame me!"

Without pondering much longer, Luo Liheng could no longer hold back. Sweeping all other thoughts from his mind, he sat cross-legged right on the floor and began to cultivate.