The two left the Martial Arts Pavilion and returned once again to the Dragon Abyss Pavilion's Pocket World Blessed Land, an immense and primitively powerful comprehensive training ground.
Just upon entering, they heard deafening shouts and the explosive sounds of energy clashes.
Chu Kuanglan was bare-chested, his bronzed upper body glistening in the light as he hefted a black boulder the size of a small car near a lava trench, standing in a horse stance. His muscles knotted like cast steel, perspiration evaporating into white smoke from the heat before it even seeped from his pores, letting out a low roar, evidently honing some extremely domineering Hard Skills.
Lu Jiuyuan was in the evasion training zone, filled with high-speed moving, sharp-barbed alloy walls. His figure was ghostly, the slender Battle Blade in his hand drawing arcs of cold light. Precisely parrying, deflecting, and even using counterforce to accelerate his dodges, his blade leaving sparks as it scraped against the barbs.
Wei Banmeng, meanwhile, was practicing with her Profound Qilin Double Blades on the ancient green stone martial platform in the center.
The blade lights intersected like two black strands, chilled air dispersing. Sometimes they surged like twin dragons heading to sea, majestic and imposing; at other times, they twisted like entangling serpents, cunning and unpredictable, freezing the air with fragmented ice crystals wherever the blades passed.
Seeing Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei enter, Wei Banmeng just finished her blade movements and stood, her breath long and steady.
She raised a hand to wipe away the fine sweat beads on her forehead, her cool eyes glanced over, nodding in greeting.
Chu Kuanglan and Lu Jiuyuan also paused, waving their hands toward them.
"How about it? Have you chosen your body technique?"
Wei Banmeng walked over, her breathing quickly returning to normal.
"Yes, the Startled Swan Shadow-Stepping Technique," Fang Qingyu replied concisely.
Wei Banmeng didn't ask more, as if Fang Qingyu's choice wasn't unexpected to her.
As if recalling something, she took a small, specially designed tactical pouch from her waist and handed a palm-sized, unmarked leather notebook to Fang Qingyu.
"Here." Her voice remained clear and cold, "It's a collection of some instances of 'Source Tides' occurrence and some simple records of capture processes. Although it's not complete or entirely accurate, it should give you a more intuitive understanding."
"Thank you!"
Fang Qingyu's eyes lit up; this information came just at the right time.
He immediately accepted the notebook, not rushing to train in the new body technique, but sitting on a flat green stone at the edge of the martial platform and began to read carefully.
Jiang Wei also leaned closer, standing on tiptoe to peer over.
The handwriting in the notebook was elegant and forceful, the organisation clear.
Indeed, as Fang Qingyu had previously guessed, Source Tides were similar to an 'Anomalous Fire' existence.
However, unlike an 'Anomalous Fire', which exists long-term at a fixed celestial location.
They are more like phenomena born when the extreme violent natural forces of the 'Abyss' reach a critical point, briefly created by the collision and fusion of highly condensed Rule Fragments and primal Energy.
Wei Banmeng's recorded examples confirmed this:
Example one: In the southwest part of the 'Abyss', an area known as the 'Thousand Blades Storm Valley', when dozens of destructive tornadoes reaching sky and earth simultaneously formed and collided fiercely, at the core where the storm energy was most chaotic and violent, there briefly emerged a 'Void Rending Wind' Source Tide containing the ultimate cutting and tearing True Intent.
But it lasted less than three minutes.
As the storm weakened, the Source Tide vanished without a trace.
Example two: In the depths of the 'Eternal Ice Field' in the northern 'Abyss', an unprecedented 'Extreme Cold Blizzard' swept across the land, the temperature suddenly dropping to where space itself seemed frozen.
At the blizzard's center, an 'Absolute Zero Singularity' appeared like a mini black hole, emitting the freezing 'Eternal Silence Cold Tide' source quality.
However, when the blizzard ceased, the singularity also disintegrated.
The capture process was even perilous.
The notebook mentioned that the location of the Source Tide's appearance must be the core of the extreme weather, where the energy is most violent and the rules are most chaotic—the 'Death Domain'!
To approach and capture, you must not only withstand the terrifying natural forces' tearing, but also watch out for the powerful Life Ghosts or other participants drawn by the Source Tide's allure.
The capture methods were varied: some forcibly contained it with specially made containers, some used personal power to assimilate and draw it in, some even used arrays to temporarily trap it, but without exception, all were extremely difficult, with high failure rates.
Fang Qingyu quietly closed the notebook, his face showing not much surprise, but rather a sense of "as expected".
This matched his earlier conjecture based on Jiang Wei's 'Anomalous Fire' analogy.
"Finished reading?" Wei Banmeng's voice came.
"Yes." Fang Qingyu handed the notebook back to her, "It's pretty much as I thought, fleeting, born of extremes, capturing them is perilous."
Wei Banmeng took back the notebook, a bitter smile appearing on her cool face: "Indeed. So, finding it is hard, capturing it even harder." She paused, looking at Fang Qingyu, her gaze questioning: "What kind of Source Tide does your Dragon Sparrow need?"
Fang Qingyu didn't hide: "Thunder. The purest and most violent Thunder Source Material."
Wei Banmeng nodded, unsurprised, as the Dragon Sparrow Calamity Slash inherently carried a strong Thunder Attribute. She continued: "My Profound Qilin Double Blades... need 'Dark'."
"Dark?" Fang Qingyu's eyes narrowed, "Any Source Tides related to 'Dark'?"
"Yes," Wei Banmeng confirmed, "Extinction, devouring, shadow, concealment... any Source Material containing the Original True Intent of 'Dark' can serve as a catalyst for the Profound Qilins' evolution. This kind of Source Material usually appears in the deepest night, the Abyss that devours all light, or the core of rifts that distort light."
Fang Qingyu nodded thoughtfully.
Darkness... that's actually home ground for him!
The Candlebearer ability allows him to operate effortlessly in dark environments, with enhanced sensing, concealment, and even partial control abilities.
When the time comes to delve into the core of darkness to capture Source Material, he would have a natural advantage over others.
"Alright." Fang Qingyu agreed decisively, "I'll do my best. My Thunder, please also keep an eye out for that."
"Okay." Wei Banmeng's response was equally direct and strong, her eyes reflecting a hint of trust and expectation.
The strength Fang Qingyu displayed at the Songdu Pit filled her with confidence.
Having reached a consensus, Fang Qingyu no longer delayed.
His gaze swept over the training ground, finally locking onto the area dedicated to body technique training with high-speed moving targets.
He needed to quickly master the Startled Swan Shadow-Stepping Technique, and perfect the Thunder Instant Cloud Trace.
Then combine them!
To see if he could touch the threshold of True Intent in body techniques.
As for the materials needed for several kinds of Hard Skills, with Wei Banmeng helping him liquidate the gains from the underground Trial Ground yesterday, the funds were already in place.
They had been ordered, just not yet delivered.
Taking a deep breath.
Fang Qingyu's figure flickered, instantly transforming into a blurred afterimage.
Carrying a sharp aura that occasionally leaked a wisp of the Dark Gold Thunder Fire essence, he shot towards the target range!
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