Ada tak terhitung ras di alam semesta, lebih banyak dari yang bisa Lex ketahui. Di antara mereka, pasti banyak yang sangat kuat, mungkin bahkan lebih dari naga. Ras Celestial salah satu contohnya.
Kalau dilihat sekilas, naga lahir sebagai Earth Immortal, tapi Celestial lahir di tingkat Celestial Immortal. Dibandingkan begitu, mereka jauh lebih kuat, dan pengaruhnya memang tak terbantahkan. Lex tahu ini karena sedikit informasi yang diberikan Rhinocentaur sering menyebut mereka dan istana Celestial mereka.
Tapi walau mereka sangat kuat, Lex tak tahu ciri khas apa pun tentang mereka selain mereka mirip manusia. Sama halnya, ras-ras kuat lain yang ia tahu semua punya kekuatan luar biasa, seperti para devil yang tak terbantahkan mengendalikan demon, tapi tak ada ras yang terkenal seperti naga.
Siapa yang tak tahu keserakahan mereka yang tak pernah puas? Siapa yang tak tahu kekuatan mereka yang tak terbantahkan? Siapa yang tak gemetar saat mereka mengerahkan Might mereka? Serupa dengan semua itu, ketenaran napas naga juga tak tertandingi. Itu serangan paling kuat mereka, jadi tak ada bandingannya, dan tak bisa ditahan.
Walau Lex hanya memakai Glyph, dan mencipta ulang versi terlemah dari api naga, dan hampir tak bisa dianggap alat latihan untuk naga sungguhan, dalam realm Nascent bahkan ini punya daya rusak yang menghancurkan.
Bukan cuma setiap pertahanan Pohon menguap saat bersentuhan dengan api merah itu, bahkan energi yang dipakai membuat teknik-teknik itu jadi kacau dan mengamuk, lepas dari kendali Pohon, dan membuatnya mengalami penyimpangan kultivasi kecil.
Tapi sebelum ia sempat merasakan efeknya, atau bahkan sebelum ia menyadari ada yang salah dengan kultivasinya, Pohon itu bersentuhan dengan api.
Kerusakannya tidak terbatas pada jiwanya sama sekali, seluruh tubuhnya tiba-tiba terbakar, seolah seseorang memakai penyembur api untuk membakar tangki minyak mentah! Ledakan yang dihasilkan begitu besar sampai insting Lex akhirnya merasakan bahaya, dan ia langsung memindahkan batalion itu menjauh.
Lex, bagaimanapun, tetap tinggal karena ia harus memastikan pohon itu tidak kabur, belum lagi ia yakin dengan pertahanannya sendiri. Namun kebijaksanaan keputusan itu langsung dipertanyakan hampir seketika.
Pohon Surga, seluruh tubuhnya yang menjulang ke langit dan seterusnya, bermandikan api kuning dan keemasan, tapi itu bukan api naga. Bukan, itu hanya akibat panas dari api naga. Atmosfer itu sendiri, bersama pohon, spontan terbakar saat bersentuhan dengan aliran merah itu karena panasnya yang luar biasa.
Saat api naga akhirnya mencapai Pohon itu, seolah semua yang disentuhnya adalah kayu bakar, dan itu pun direndam dalam cairan yang sangat mudah terbakar. Pohon itu meledak.
Ada kilatan cahaya putih begitu terang sampai, sejenak, menghapus semua warna lain. Di seluruh realm tak ada apa pun selain cahaya putih. Lalu datanglah ledakannya.
Walau Lex sudah memindahkan semua pekerja menjauh, ia langsung tahu bahwa kehancuran akibat api naga akan mencapai mereka ke mana pun mereka berada. Jangankan mereka, kesucian seluruh benua pun terancam.
Sebenarnya, itu salah. Tak ada risiko. Sudah pasti seluruh benua akan terhapus dari eksistensi. Mungkin Lex meremehkan kekuatan api naga, atau Pohon Surga memang kayu bakar yang sangat baik. Bagaimanapun, begitu kilatan putih menghantamnya, pikiran Lex masuk ke overdrive dan ia tahu kalau ia tidak melakukan sesuatu untuk menahan ledakan ini, konsekuensinya akan mengerikan.
Waktu seolah melambat bagi Lex saat semua pengetahuan yang ia kumpulkan sejak memulai perjalanan kultivasinya menyatu, dan berubah menjadi sesuatu yang lebih.
Di bawah cahaya putih pemusnahan, Lex mengenang hari-hari awalnya. Marlo bilang pertahanan terbaik adalah serangan - bunuh musuh sebelum mereka bisa melukaimu. Regal Embrace bilang pertahanan terbaik adalah jadi begitu kuat sampai tak ada yang bisa menggoresnya - cuma berdiri di sana dan lihat mereka berjuang menggores kulitmu. Pengalaman mengajarinya bahwa tak peduli seberapa tinggi pertahanannya, terlalu banyak musuh yang jauh melampaui levelnya jadi ia tak bisa hanya mengandalkannya - bahkan kalau ia kultivator Foundation terkuat di seluruh eksistensi, Earth Immortal bisa menghancurkannya seperti kutu.
Array memakai energi alam semesta untuk menopang diri. Teknik spiritual memakai energi kultivator untuk melahirkan fenomena menakjubkan. Formasi memakai item dan harta dalam susunan tertentu untuk menghasilkan efek tertentu di wilayah tertentu. Semuanya luar biasa, tapi tak ada yang menciptakan sesuatu yang baru - mereka cuma mereplikasi hal-hal yang sudah ada di alam semesta.
Semua eksistensi, karenanya, ditentukan oleh hukum yang terkait dengannya.
Talk to the hand salah satu teknik yang ia pelajari, dan itu menciptakan penghalang di depan tangannya. Evisceration salah satu serangan favoritnya, tapi itu memakai mata. Apa bedanya memakai tangan dan memakai mata untuk menghasilkan hasil eksternal?
Ia punya banyak keadaan pikiran yang memungkinkannya berpikir dengan berbagai cara, seperti Flow, Overdrive dan Berserk, tapi pada akhirnya tetap pikirannya yang melakukan semua pemikiran itu, jadi kenapa ia butuh begitu banyak teknik?
Impervious Hands adalah teknik yang awalnya ia pelajari karena pertahanannya luar biasa tinggi, tapi praktisnya ia terus memakainya karena menawarkan begitu banyak manfaat lain.
Ia mempelajari Inferno Blade karena ingin serangan baru dan melatih niat pedangnya, tapi kenyataannya sekarang ia memakainya untuk mengukur apakah ia siap menjadi Immortal atau tidak.
Tidak ada yang pernah lugas. Segalanya punya manfaat jelas, tapi lebih dari itu, mereka punya manfaat tersembunyi yang hanya bisa dibuka oleh mereka yang cukup pintar atau beruntung untuk menyadarinya.
Semua pikiran ini dan jutaan lainnya mengalir di pikiran Lex dalam sepersekian detik, dan ia memakai semuanya untuk, untuk pertama kalinya, menciptakan tekniknya sendiri.
There were countless races in the universe, more than Lex could ever know. Of them, there were surely many who were monstrously powerful, perhaps even more so than dragons. The Celestial race was one such example.
If looked at only using face value, then dragons were born as Earth Immortals, but Celestials were born in the Celestial Immortal level. By that comparison, they were much more powerful, and indeed their influence was unquestionable. Lex knew this because the small bits of information the Rhinocentaurs provided often mentioned them and their Celestial court.
But while they were incredibly powerful, Lex knew no distinguishing features about them save that they looked very similar to humans. Similarly, the other powerful races he knew all had incredible powers, such as the devils unquestionable control over demons, but no race seemed to be as well known as the dragons.
Who did not know about their insatiable greed? Who did not know about their unquestionable strength? Who did not cower when they brought their Might to bear? Similar to all those things, the fame of dragon's breath was also unsurpassed. It was their most powerful attack, and thus, it was incomparable, and could not be suppressed.
Even though Lex was merely using a Glyph, and was recreating the weakest version of dragon fire, and could barely be considered a training aid for actual dragons, within the Nascent realm even this contained devastating destructive capabilities.
Not only did every single one of the Trees defenses vaporize upon coming into contact with the crimson flames, even the energy used to create those techniques became chaotic and berserk, breaking free of the Tree's control, and causing it to suffer a minor cultivation deviation.
But before it could even feel the effects of such a thing, or rather, before it would even register that something had gone amiss with its cultivation, the Tree came into contact with the flames.
The damage was not limited to its soul at all as its entire body burst into flames so suddenly, it was as if someone used a flamethrower to light a tanker of crude oil on fire! The resulting explosion was so massive that Lex's instincts finally tingled a sense of danger, and he immediately teleported the battalion away.
Lex, however, remained since he had to ensure that the tree did not escape, not to mention he was confident in his own defense. Yet the wisdom of such a decision came into question almost immediately.
The Tree of Heaven, its entire body which rose up into the heavens and beyond, was bathed in yellow and golden flames, but those were not dragon fire. No, that was just the consequence of the heat of dragon fire. The atmosphere itself, alongside the tree, and spontaneously combusted when it came into contact with that crimson torrent due to its immense heat.
When the dragon fire finally reached the Tree, it was as if all that it touched was kindling, and that too soaked in highly combustible liquid. The Tree exploded.
There was a flash of white light so bright that, for a brief moment, it erased all other colors. In the entire realm there was nothing else save for the white light. Then came the blast.
Even though Lex had teleported all the workers away, he knew immediately that the resulting devastation of the dragon fire would reach them no matter where they were. Let alone them, the sanctity of the entire continent was at risk.
Actually, that was incorrect. There was no risk. It was certain that the entire continent was about to be wiped from existence. Perhaps Lex had underestimated the might of dragon fire, or the Tree of Heaven just made for excellent firewood. Regardless, as soon as the flash of white hit him, Lex's mind went into overdrive and he knew that if he didn't do something to contain this blast the consequences would be dire.
Time seemed to slow down for Lex as all the knowledge he had accumulated since he began his cultivation journey came together, and turned into something more.
Under the white light of annihilation, Lex recalled his earliest days. Marlo had said the best defense was offense - kill the enemy before they could harm you. Regal Embrace said the best defense was being so ridiculously tough that nothing could scratch him - just stand there and watch them struggle to scratch your skin. Experience told him that no matter how high his defense was, there were too many enemies who existed far beyond his level so he could not just rely on it - even if he was the toughest Foundation cultivator in all existence, an Earth Immortal could squish him like a big.
Arrays used the energy of the universe to sustain themselves. Spiritual techniques used the energy of the cultivator to give birth to astonishing phenomena. Formations used items and treasures in specific arrangements to bring about certain effects in a specific region. All of them were incredible, but none of them created something new - they were just replicating things that already existed in the universe.
All existence, then, was dictated by their associated laws.
Talk to the hand was one of the techniques he learned, and it created a barrier in front of his hand. Evisceration was one of his favorite attacks, but it used the eyes. What was the difference between using hands and using eyes to bring about an external result?
He had many states of mind which allowed him to think in various ways, such as Flow, Overdrive and Berserk, but at the end of the way it was still his mind doing all that thinking, so why did he need so many techniques?
Impervious Hands was a technique he originally learnt because its defense was ridiculously high, but practically he kept using it because it offered so many other benefits.
He learned Inferno Blade because he wanted new attacks and to train his sword intent, but in actuality he was now using it to gauge whether he was ready to become an Immortal or not.
Nothing was ever straightforward. Everything had obvious benefits, but more than that, they had hidden benefits that only those smart or lucky enough to realize them could unlock.
All these thoughts and millions more ran through Lex's mind in a fraction of a second, and he used all of them to, for the first time ever, create his own technique.
Komentar Chapter (0)
Login buat ikut berkomentar.
Belum ada komentar di chapter ini. Jadi yang pertama!