Chapter 3543 — The Defective Heart Method Chant

After all, cultivators cultivated true qi—was that not precisely the Qi Refining stage? What they could not accept was that their once proud strength would likely count for nothing at all once they reached Cloud Terrace Island.

Would there be many experts there? Or… were experts like Lord Libationer Nantian merely the few? They dared not ask such questions rashly; Wei Zhao had served as their cautionary tale, and now no one dared speak out of turn.

"Next, according to the rules of past assemblies, I shall distribute to you the heart method chants for true cultivation!" At Lord Libationer Nantian's words, everyone in the meeting room abruptly began to breathe hard.

Heart method chants for true cultivation? Did that not mean they could cultivate this chant and break through to become Heavenly Dao experts—the so-called true cultivation Foundation Establishment experts?

If that were truly so, then… could they skip Cloud Terrace Island and cultivate right here in the mortal world?

Wei Zhao was stirred as well. He had not expected that breaking through to the Heavenly Dao really did have a heart method chant behind it!

Watching the crowd below all aflutter, Lord Libationer Nantian suddenly gave a cold laugh. "I have not finished speaking. You need not celebrate too early!"

"Huh?" Their joy had lasted less than a minute before Lord Libationer Nantian's dampening words struck them.

"This heart method chant can indeed break one through to the Heavenly Dao, but it is a fragment—not a complete heart method!" Lord Libationer Nantian said. "As is well known, every cultivator may cultivate only one heart method chant. Should one wish to cultivate another, at best all one's strength is ruined, at worst one suffers qi deviation! And when you step from cultivator into the ranks of true cultivators, there is one—and only one—chance to choose your heart method anew! If you find your present heart method lacking, you may switch to another, and you may switch to this true cultivation heart method handed down from the ancient era. But this chant is flawed: it can only carry you through to the Foundation Establishment stage. To advance further, to reach my level—that it cannot do! Doubt me not—this heart method is a mere sham. Should a cultivator at or above Foundation Establishment force himself to practice it, he will suffer qi deviation and become a fool. We have an example on Cloud Terrace Island: the former deputy island master of the mid-tier island, Tianxing Dao—a man of standing—practiced this worthless method back then, and now he has become a complete idiot! You are welcome to follow in his footsteps!"

At these words, everyone fell silent, shivering with dread! Even the deputy island master of Cloud Terrace Island's mid-tier island had cultivated himself into an idiot? Then this heart method truly was worthless trash! Those who had harbored thoughts of giving it a try now abandoned the notion entirely.

Though the crowd had no notion what the mid-tier island of Cloud Terrace Island was, the title of deputy island master was frightening enough.

"Then may I ask, Senior Nantian—our heart method chants all stop at the Heavenly Tier Great Perfection, with no further method to follow. We have no choice but to switch chants! Our own heart methods may serve us well enough, but there is no way to continue with them." At this point, Zhong Yongliang spoke up to ask.

"Indeed, a good question!" Lord Libationer Nantian nodded. "Once you arrive on Cloud Terrace Island, you will have one opportunity to obtain the continuation of your original heart method. Your chants may seem secrets to you, but on Cloud Terrace Island they are no secret at all! Apart from a few obscure ones—such as the Chrysanthemum Treasure Manual that some of you practice—all the rest can be found! But even a divine art like the Chrysanthemum Treasure Manual should be cultivable further, provided one understands the method for assaulting the Heavenly Dao."

"So that is how it is. Thank you, Senior Nantian, for resolving our doubts!" Zhong Yongliang nodded.

"Very well, Xuanchen, distribute the breakthrough heart methods!" Lord Libationer Nantian said. "This thing is a mere formality—a rule of a thousand years' standing. Still, I advise you to throw it away outright. Otherwise, heh heh, you will only ruin yourselves. Do not blame me for failing to warn you!"

"Yes!" Ancestor Xuanchen nodded and handed a stack of printed heart method chants to Kang Jingming beside him, instructing him to pass them out.

Kang Jingming distributed the heart method chants one by one, then returned to his original seat.

Most of the trial participants tore them up without even a glance—they too feared that one look would tempt them into cultivating and bring on qi deviation! A few did glance at them before discarding them, unable to restrain their curiosity.

Still, almost everyone either tore them up, tossed them aside, or left them untouched on the table. Only Wei Zhao picked up the heart method chant and began reading it with keen interest.

"Art of Creation Battle Formula?" Wei Zhao glanced at the chant—it was a most magnificent heart method! What startled Wei Zhao was that the style of the writing between the lines was faintly akin to the fourth layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Formula, Seizing Heaven—yet the content was entirely different.

So Wei Zhao could not resist studying it closely.

"Some people, thinking themselves so clever, fancy themselves mighty or powerful? I have already said this heart method is trash—and yet some cannot resist reading it?" Seeing Wei Zhao actually poring over it, Lord Libationer Nantian grew somewhat irritated. Was this bastard treating his words as so much wind past the ear?

"Calm yourself, Senior Nantian. This Wei Zhao is hailed as the foremost posturing loose cultivator—let him read if he wishes!" Kang Jingming would have been delighted to see Wei Zhao suffer qi deviation and die. "There is a saying: he who seeks death shall find it. If he courts death himself, what can we do? Every man makes his own choice!"

"Hm. But since the chants have been given to you, whether you read them is your own choice. If you wish to cultivate them, this seat has no authority over you," Lord Libationer Nantian said with a nod, his tone indifferent.

"Hm, I think it is not bad." Wei Zhao took out his phone and flipped to the fourth layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Formula he had photographed earlier—the Seizing Heaven chapter—and began comparing and studying them.

The fourth layer had stated that it could not be used until one broke through to the Heavenly Dao, so Wei Zhao had not dared practice it. The lesson of his last qi deviation had been severe enough!

Wei Zhao had a good memory. After one read of the Seizing Heaven chapter of the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Formula, he set to studying the Art of Creation Battle Formula, casually locking his phone screen and laying it on the table.

However, Zhong Yongliang at his side had sharp eyes. He sat not far from Wei Zhao and saw him studying something there, as if comparing it against something. Did Wei Zhao's phone hold something valuable? Most likely! This Wei Zhao was a fellow whose hidden cards never ran out—Zhong Yongliang had suffered at his hands many times, and each time Wei Zhao had emerged utterly victorious. It was not mere luck, so Zhong Yongliang reckoned Wei Zhao must have something good in hand once again!