Join my Patreon to stay 30 chapters ahead of the Webnovel releases:
https://patreon.com/ZeroMoney
You can also read on my website:
tlmasters.xyz
I'd really appreciate your support. Every membership helps keep me motivated to continue translating and releasing chapters consistently.
*****
Long Shiya was slightly shocked in his heart.
Going by this logic, the disciple he hadn't yet had the chance to take in possessed two major Saint Attributes: Time and Evil.
Meanwhile, the daughter of the Snow God Mountain's Lord possessed the other two major Saint Attributes: Divine and Spiritual.
Not only were they complementary, but they were also extremely balanced. If they could cultivate together, perhaps they really could...
"Is the primordial Evil Attribute truly a Saint Attribute? How can one obtain it?" Long Shiya frowned, still finding it somewhat difficult to accept.
After all, the Evil Attribute did exist on the mainland, and it wasn't as if the Heavenly Evil Cult lacked Heavenly Jewel Masters with the Evil Attribute. However, under normal circumstances, the Evil Attribute was merely the closest thing to a Saint Attribute, not a true Saint Attribute itself.
Yet Zhou Weiqiang had suddenly popped up with a primordial Evil Attribute, and a Saint Attribute at that.
If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad, but Su Wen had to go and say that fusing this primordial Evil Attribute with the existing three major Saint Attributes was the key for a Heavenly Jewel Master to break through to the Heavenly Change Tier.
This forced Long Shiya to doubt its authenticity.
"An unpolluted Evil Attribute? Or perhaps a complete Evil Attribute?" Su Wen couldn't give a concrete answer either, but he could offer Long Shiya his own speculation.
"Unpolluted?" Long Shiya frowned, pondering over matters regarding the Evil Attribute.
"Could it be that one cannot undergo a sacrificial conversion?"
Su Wen shook his head.
In the original story, Zhou Weiqing had clearly undergone a sacrificial conversion, yet he was still considered to have the primordial Evil Attribute. Thus, it likely had nothing to do with whether a sacrifice was made.
On the contrary, if a sacrifice truly was required, then whether this Evil Attribute could reach the level of a Saint Attribute might depend on the quality of the sacrifice.
For instance, if one sacrificed a possessor of a Saint Attribute, what level would the Evil Attribute reach?
Of course, Su Wen did not voice this particular speculation. Instead, he explained the theory he had just presented to Long Shiya.
"I mentioned to the Emperor before that true Heavenly Change Tier entities do exist on the Boundless Mainland. At the very least, there is a lifeform that should have reached that level, and that is the Lord of the Netherworld. Legend has it that he is an extraterrestrial creature whose descent upon the Heavenly Jewel Plane was for the sole purpose of devouring it. I suspect that perhaps he damaged the laws governing the Evil Attribute, which is why the Evil Attributes awakened by the Heavenly Jewel Masters of the Boundless Mainland are impure."
"Is that so..." Long Shiya fell silent.
He hadn't expected Su Wen to explain it this way.
Stated like this, it actually seemed quite reasonable?
"If I remember correctly, you should also possess the primordial Evil Attribute." Long Shiya frowned, not understanding why Su Wen didn't just step up himself.
Su Wen shook his head.
If it were as simple as fusing them through dual cultivation, he naturally could have done it. However, there were actually many coincidences involved in this matter.
For example, a complementary relationship existed between the Dark Demonic God Tiger and the Divine Heavenly Spiritual Tiger. One might even have to factor in the laws of the Douluo Continent carried by the Dark Demonic God Tiger's Demonic God Orb, which resulted in an ability similar to a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, allowing them to fuse during cultivation.
Furthermore, the compatibility of this fusion skill reached a full one hundred percent between Zhou Weiqing and Tian'er, which was what allowed their Heavenly Energy to fuse for cultivation.
Merely having two Heavenly Jewel Masters who each possessed one of the two Saint Attributes dual cultivate did not mean they could replicate the results of Zhou Weiqing and Tian'er.
As for Su Wen himself, he already possessed three of the Saint Attributes. He was only one final Divine Attribute away from simultaneously possessing all four major Saint Attributes on his own.
And acquiring the Divine Attribute wouldn't be difficult for him; he only needed to complete the third trial of his Red-Grade Seven Trials.
Having learned of the potential fusion of the four major Saint Attributes, Long Shiya wasted no more time.
He departed Midheaven City and rushed toward the Heavenly Bow Empire without pause. He had to seize the time to firmly secure his disciple.
Su Wen, meanwhile, remained on Heavenly Jewel Island to continue his cultivation.
By now, his cultivation of Heavenly Energy had gotten onto the right track. His overall approach to perfecting the third tier of the Heavenly Jewel Change technique was fully clear, marking a period of rapid progress in his cultivation.
In truth, he didn't actually need to scheme to draw the Lion King away for Zhou Weiqing's sake. With Long Shiya's temper, if his disciple possessed such a grand destiny and truly shared a fateful bond with Tian'er, he would absolutely never allow the Lion King to obstruct them. A single Lion King was truly not worth Su Wen expending advance effort to plot against.
The reason Su Wen had done this was also out of a desire to see whether combining the three existing major Saint Attributes of the mainland would truly yield any effect.
He knew very well that Zhou Weiqing's primordial Evil Attribute was highly likely a pure form of Evil originating from an external world, which was why it produced such a peculiar reaction when combined with the local attributes.
As for whether the Evil Attribute of this world could truly birth a Saint Attribute grade, Su Wen wasn't a historian and didn't know.
At the same time, this could be considered a way to drive a wedge between the Passion Valley and the Snow God Mountain, thereby creating a chaotic environment conducive to the development of the Academy.
As long as the Five Great Sacred Lands did not present a united front against external forces, the pressure on the Academy would be significantly reduced.
With the Snow God Mountain making moves at this time and the other four Sacred Lands uniting to resist them, the Five Great Sacred Lands would be split nearly right down the middle. Once the Academy truly established itself as a Sacred Land, it could use this division to mediate and navigate between them.
The Heavenly Jewel Tournament came to an end.
Su Wen also entered his final secluded cultivation.
Two months later.
The third tier of the cultivation technique was completely perfected in theory.
By this time, the teams that had participated in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament were returning one after another to their respective empires, spreading word of the Academy across the entire Boundless Mainland.
Then, another month passed. News of the cooperation between the Five Great Sacred Lands and the Academy also spread. The five great empires corresponding to the Five Great Sacred Lands had even completed the construction of their Academies.
Only then did the various empires suddenly wake up to reality, realizing they no longer had any room for choice.
Even the grand empires had to admit at this point that accepting the existence of this new power, the Academy, was the only wise move.
After all, if that previously unheard-of Heavenly Emperor Su Wen could manage to settle terms and cooperate with the Five Great Sacred Lands, then he could obviously settle things with their grand empires as well.
As for how things were settled...
Upon learning of the situation, Su Wen conducted direct transactions with the Five Great Sacred Lands. In exchange for a certain number of Consonantal Books paid as compensation, the Five Great Sacred Lands provided guidance to the neighboring empires regarding the construction of the Academies.
Every single Academy had to be overseen by a Consonantal Book, which would serve to reward the outstanding young Heavenly Jewel Masters in the region where the Academy branch was located.
The Five Great Sacred Lands harbored no suspicions regarding this. Following Su Wen's instructions, they placed the extra Consonantal Books delivered by Su Wen into each Academy branch.
The presence of one or two Consonantal Books was not enough to arouse the greed of the Sacred Lands.
Such items could be taken at any time and were not worth compromising the reputational value of the Sacred Lands themselves. Thus, they simply placed them into each Academy branch exactly as Su Wen requested.
A wave of Academy construction swept across the land.
Su Wen, however, continued his cultivation on Heavenly Jewel Island.
Though he had theoretically perfected the third tier of the Heavenly Jewel Change technique, after a full three months of cultivation, he had only barely managed to reach the tenth level of Heavenly Energy.
At this point, Su Wen's cultivation had run entirely out of foundational backup.
It could be said that the foundation he had built from cultivating Soul Power held absolutely no instructional relevance when applied to the cultivation of Heavenly Energy.
By this time, the construction of the Academies was basically complete.
Su Wen emerged from his seclusion.