Five Way Heaven - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Ai Hui’s Conjecture

Ai Hui obviously did not know that someone was looking everywhere, trying to find him for vengeance. Even if he knew about it, he wouldn’t have cared. Who the heck had that much free time? Even when Loulan dropped in to pay a visit, he didn’t bother to respond, and he was such a nice sand golem…

He was completely immersed in his studies and cultivation, it was as if he had entered a completely new world. This world was so vast, so rich and colorful. The Induction Ground had a lot of cultivation grounds that couldn’t be found on the surface, and Ai Hui made new discoveries everyday.

In his immersion, he was so happy that he was not weary at all.

There were no places that demanded as much energy as the Savage Territories, that place was one without warmth and did not even have a layer of pretense. However, in the Savage Territories, there were there were no places for him to cultivate. As long as an area had a somewhat dense concentration of elemental energy, it would either be occupied by strong savage beasts or those barbarian tribes.

There was also no time for him to cultivate, he had to march onwards, doing arduous odd jobs that needed to be done. The time in which he had time to sleep everyday were pitifully few because it seemed as if the elementalists didn’t need to sleep at all. Their pace was unusually fast.

There were no Masters that gave him an explanation for this. Those master elementalists who had taught him a few tricks were already unusually friendly. If he came across those who had bad tempers, or those who found him unfavorable, he could not avoid some suffering.

Compared to the Savage Territories, the Induction Ground was paradise.

For a man to accumulate three years of unleashed passion, once it broke out, the extent in which his enthusiasm would release, would far surpass that of a volcanic eruption.

As if he was obsessed, Ai Hui immersed himself in cultivation.

He knew that his aptitude was not good and he did not dare to make his goal too far in the distance, he only wished that he could become an officially registered elementalist. To him, to even have the possibility of achieving this goal of his, he needed to expend far more effort than an ordinary person.

How could he possibly have time to waste?

These four years were four years that could change his destiny, he knew that he would never have a second chance.

Probably due to his ability to adapt that was tempered from the Savage Territories, Ai Hui didn’t take that long to adapt to life in Interpine City. His strategy had gradually changed as well. In the beginning, he used to take every class available, but now he was starting to select his courses.

For someone who always had to clearly understand his situation and was always faced with crucial problems, this was a know-how the ice cold slaughter filled Savage Territories had taught him.

His most immediate problem at the moment was how to open his natal palace.

If he did not open his natal palace within a year, he had to pack his bags and return home.

He had picked a cultivation site for himself, the Metal Suspending Pagoda.

The Metal Suspending Pagoda was outside of the city. It was about seventy five kilometers away from the city. Due to its remote location, perhaps even those Three-leaf Vine Carts that were specialized for transportation would take a while to arrive there. There were very few students who specially would come over to such a remote place, so it was very desolate.

Ai Hui obviously would not ride a Three-leaf Vine Cart. A round trip would cost one thousand, which would hurt his flesh for many days.

To him, seventy five kilometers was merely a warm up. The intensity and tempos of the battles in the Savage Territories were all extraordinarily shocking. Ai Hui was a coolie, so he did not participate in battles. However, he had to catch up to his party, and had to carry their items. The number one thing a coolie had to learn in the Savage Territories was how to run. If they could run, they would be able to catch up to their party. There were no teams who would want a coolie that could not match their pace.

Ai Hui’s body seemed to not look that robust and his steps weren’t that large either, but they were unusually steady, with his upper body not having the slightest of movements.

He did not travel by ways of the main street, instead, he traveled back and forth within the mountain forest, running in a straight line. Like an agile cheetah, he easily passed through the forest.

When he arrived at the Metal Suspending Pagoda, it took him twenty six minutes, five minutes faster than his previous time. Ai Hui revealed a satisfied expression, he liked the feeling of improvement.

A run-down iron pagoda was present before Ai Hui’s eyes, its surroundings inhabited and desolate. The iron pagoda had a total of seven floors, with many of its regions utterly crushed. It’s history could be traced back to the cultivation era. It had been said that it used to be a thing belonging to that of a great cultivation sect’s defense faction. After spiritual energy had dissipated, the sect had collapsed, and this pagoda had underwent many years of time. Utterly run-down to the extreme, yet it still survived.

The reason why the iron pagoda was about to survive until now was because of the thing below it, a metal wind cavity. The gales spewed from the wind cavity contained dense metal elemental energy. Due to the constant erosion of the metal energy, the pagoda that was originally made of wood had gradually changed into metal, becoming an iron tower, which was why it could stand erect to this day. Afterwards, the Induction Ground had made it into a cultivation site, but due to its far out location and also due to the fact that it was nothing special within Interpine City’s many cultivation sites, there weren’t many who would come here.

The Metal Suspending Pagoda actually wasn’t a cultivate site for beginning students, and was actually suited those who had already opened their natal palace.

Ai Hui had other plans.

When he walked up to the front of the pagoda’s door, he could hear the rumbling sounds of the wind come from the inside.

Ai Hui finally knew why there was not a person in sight. Just by hearing the wind sounds, he understood just how strong the force of the wind inside was. He had flipped through many guides of all kinds by Induction Ground seniors that were written from experience and practically none of them had recommended the Metal Suspending Pagoda.

It had been said that the metallic current within the Metal Suspending Pagoda was like an upside down waterfall, was incomparably strong, and when the dense metal energy accumulated within the metallic current blow on the body, it was as though a steel blade had scraped their bones. Its pervading energy just had to be that powerful to the extreme, and was able to enter through the pores into the deepest part of the flesh, which doubled the pain. By comparison, the whirlpool within the hot springs was far more gentle and comfortable. Its effects were not to different, so it was obvious that nobody would come here to ask for trouble.

What urged Ai Hui to come here to ask for trouble was an unremarkable phrase he saw in an Interpine City senior’s experience booklet.

If your endurance is higher than most, you can immediately go to the Metal Suspending Pagoda, effects are not bad.

If it was about compatibility, he did not have much confidence. His aptitude was so lacking that he could not even get a passing grade. But if it was about endurance, he was still a bit confident in that.

In the Savage Territories, he had cultivated a wisp of elemental energy. This sliver of elemental energy was extremely faint, and came from a piece of a savage beast’s flesh given to him as a present from an elementalist. It was after adding the materials he had saved up bit by bit and boiling it into a little elemental stew did he finally cultivate that out.

A savage beast’s flesh and blood contained elemental energy, and it was the closest to the elemental energy cultivated by mankind so it was the most easy to absorb.

This was also the reason why the prices of savage beast meat remained so high, and was also the reason why countless numbers of elementalists entered deep into the Savage Territories, braving dangers to hunt for savage beasts.

This strand of elemental energy was extremely precious, it had saved Ai Hui’s life in many crucial times.

That elementalist used to bluntly tell Ai Hui that his aptitude was bad, and his compatibility with elemental energy was even worse. Only those who were wealthy enough were able to depend on other things to cultivate.

Later on when he was cultivating, Ai Hui realized that it was indeed like what that elementalist had said. After three years, his elemental energy had not increased much. Admittedly, there were many reasons for that: he had very few time to cultivate, low concentration of elemental energy, lack of a guidance system, etc. However, the practically zero increase had also made Ai Hui realize how bad his aptitude really was.

But he didn’t intend to give up. Rather, it was from there that he started to brainstorm.

The only thing he could use as reference were only those worthless sword manuals at that time.

Sword cultivators in the ancient era were practically synonymous with the word talent. If one did not have innate talent, they could not even touch a sect’s door. Especially those famous factions, the appearance of someone like that was extremely grave. However, there were always exceptions. There would inevitably be some sword cultivators whose innate talent were not that great entering the apex of the cultivation world, whose swords were feared under the heavens.

In the distant cultivation era, that was when the ten thousand cultivation worlds had not yet merged. In a little sect called the Voidless Sword Clan, there was sword cultivating disciple named Wei Sheng. He had mediocre talent but his final achievements were very high, and he looked down on his competitors.

Ai Hui had flipped through many sword manuals, and there were several sword cultivators like those.

Ai Hui did not have the least bit of interest in sword cultivation, but there must be a path to success because those people had slaughtered a bloody path through the more gifted sword cultivators. He hoped to find enlightenment from there.

Some aspects of these expert’s deposition were alike. For example, they were tenacious, hardworking, and single-mindedly devoted. These were all worthy of him studying, but it was clearly not that simple. Following his deep research, he discovered another common ground between these experts.

Everything that has advantages would certainly have its disadvantage. When something like their aptitude was not good, if changed to another way of thinking, it wasn’t really a bad thing. In order for those seniors with mediocre aptitudes to slaughter a bloody path, they had found their own way.

Ai Hui felt that his own deduction made a lot of sense, but it wasn’t anything he could use.

Only until he had taken Master Dong’s Introductory Course, were many of his puzzlements opened and explained. For example, his so-called poor aptitude just meant that his connection with elemental energy was lower than other elemental cultivators.

The reason for his poor aptitude was due to the fact that a large majority of elemental energy would dissipate whenever it entered his body, and only a small portion of it would remain.

This was also why his progress was slow.

Aptitude was something one was born with, something incapable of being changed. If an ordinary person were to hear this, it would be no different than being sentenced to the death penalty.

But Ai Hui was not the least bit dispirited, instead, he considered it. Since his affinity with elemental energy was lower than most, then what advantage did his body have?

He believed that he definitely had some advantage. Perhaps this advantage wasn’t that distinct or useful, but he definitely had one.

The heavens couldn’t have possibly closed all his windows.

Something related to cultivation, aside from affinity, what else was there?

When he saw that senior’s phrase in the experience booklet, his eyes brightened. Right, aside from affinity, there was also endurance.

His own physique was not quite intimate with elemental energy. In other words, his body was not sensitive enough to elemental energy. If others felt that this metallic wind was like tearing blades, then he probably would only feel a slight discomfort.

Ai Hui was suddenly enlightened, wasn’t this the “advantage” he had been looking for all along?

Not being sensitive enough to elemental energy did indeed slow his cultivation, but conversely, didn’t it mean that his body was able to bear an elemental attack of a stronger intensity? Ai Hui was not like those confused rookies, he had ample combat experience. As long as you gave him a slight advantage, he was able to fully put it to use.

Ai Hui quickly thought up of another advantage.

If his tolerance level was high, didn’t it mean that he was able to endure a cultivation method with an even higher intensity?

The reason why he came here today, was to verify whether his conjecture was right or wrong.