Transcending Dreams - D2 - Chapter 48

[Name: Divine Dragon Claw]

[Description: A swipe of the hand that summons a dragon claw made of Qi, which can grab and crush enemies from afar. The claw can also be combined with the user’s Dao, creating unique variations that increase the effectiveness of the skill. Overuse of the skill will cause the user to take on draconic traits.]

[Name: Celestial Lotus Palm]

[Description: A palm strike that creates a large lotus flower made of qi, which can envelop and trap targets inside. The lotus flower can also release a fragrance that can calm the mind and heal the body or a poison that can corrode the soul. Using either fragrance or poison will cause the user to experience the reverse of the targets inside the lotus flower.]

[Name: Divine Phoenix Feather]

[Description: A skill that allows the user to transform into a phoenix, gaining it’s attributes at a variable cost. The phoenix can also heal any wound and regenerate any lost limb, making the user virtually immortal while the skill is active. The overuse of the skill will attract the attention of the Immortal Phoenix, who will seek to claim your soul for its descendants.]

[Name: Heaven Shattering Fist]

[Description: A punch that unleashes a shockwave of pure Qi, capable of shattering mountains and cracking the sky. The shockwave can travel for hundreds of miles, destroying anything in its path.]

[Name: Nine Suns Palm]

[Description: A palm strike that emits up to nine beams of golden light, each representing one of the nine suns in the ancient legend. The beams can pierce through any defense and burn anything they touch, including the very soul of the targets. A heavy price is exacted after each use of this skill, crippling the user to a state equal to the weakest of their cultivation realm until healed.]

He glanced over the information before realizing there might be an issue. The idea of choosing a Heaven-tier martial skill. Elder Yu didn’t say anything about the oddness of having a ‘choice’ without someone to present him with what he picked.

In his case, the system would be giving him the pick, but it’s not like that was common in this world. Either Elder Yu was still rattled about him having the option to have his pick between multiple Heaven-tier martial skills, or things like this happened more often than he thought.

Whatever it was, William had no intention of bringing attention to it unless Elder Yu asked him directly. He would decide how to proceed then.

“Elder Yu, do you have something I could write on?”

She stepped to her desk and pulled out a piece of blank paper and a pen. “This isn’t necessary. You could just tell me the details.”

“It’s better this way,” William picked up the pen and started to write down the details. “Some of the descriptions of what can be done with the skills are unbelievable.”

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“… So it seems,” Elder Yu agreed, picking up the paper after he was finished. Her usually blank expression was anything but that. “Who did you get these from, Disciple Wei?”

She was rereading the paper, finding it more interesting than looking at him, which was fair. William would feel the same. However, the question concerned him.

“From the Shard, Elder Yu.”

“Yes,” she finally looked at him, “but who? I have heard of some of these, but most have been lost to time.”

William fidgeted, not wanting to reveal Sophia was directly involved. However, he also didn’t know if getting away with a lie that was too specific was possible. After all, he knew very little about the Shard compared to Elder Yu.

Lord Paddlington was another option, but revealing the turtle was risky since it could easily lead to its creator, Sophia.

“The Empress was involved.”

Or Elder Yu would figure out where it came from without him having to reveal anything.

“No need to say anything, Disciple Wei. The lucky few who came across the treasures the Empress left behind were usually restricted in speaking of it.”

William took the offered excuse as his truth. “Thank you, Elder Yu. I wasn’t sure how to explain.”

She had returned to reading over what he had written. “The benefit of martial skills at the Heaven-tier is that there is nothing of a higher tier until the immortal realm. They are the peak martial skills a cultivator can learn in this world.”

He nodded, though Elder Yu wasn’t looking at him. He hadn’t been aware that a higher tier could be learned in the immortal realm, but that didn’t matter much since everyone in that realm was forced to ascend. Nothing to worry about until much, much later.

“In a sense, they could be considered an equalizer,” Elder Yu continued. “A talented cultivator can start to learn a Heaven-tier martial skill in the Core Formation realm, and there have been instances where such cultivators fully mastered a Heaven-tier martial skill to kill someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm.”

William’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to have that type of security.

“There is one issue here that can’t be fixed, Disciple Wei. Finding the corresponding lower-tier skills for most of these will be nearly impossible. You will have to take on the task of creating a Human-tier and Earth-tier skill that is perfectly compatible, which is a near impossibility.”

He had forgotten to include that part. “Er, that won’t be an issue. Whichever skill I pick, I will get all the three tiers.”

Elder Yu glanced at him for a moment before she chuckled. “Of course you will. Very well, in that case, the choices here are fairly straightforward. There is one there that I can rule out immediately. Divine Phoenix Feather.”

“Why is that?” William frowned. It was actually one of his favorites. The idea of transforming into a phoenix and becoming immortal for the skill’s duration sounded like the ultimate safety card.

“Anything that attracts the attention of a divine beast is to be avoided. What I dislike the most is how vague the requirements are to draw its attention. What if ‘overuse’ in this context means using it a few times?”

He grimaced before reluctantly agreeing. “… That makes sense.”

“Next, I would suggest that you discard Celestial Lotus Palm. This reeks of the Karma Dao. You will be toeing a fine line to prevent the heavens from punishing you; that is not a metaphor. An imbalance will attract Heavenly Punishment, which will erase your soul.”

William nodded rapidly, throwing that skill out of consideration without hesitation.

“That leaves three,” Elder Yu hummed in thought. “Nine Suns Palm is a well-known martial skill with historical records detailing its advantages and disadvantages. In short, it is a skill that usually ends in pyrrhic victory. However, this skill will also allow you to kill cultivators above you by a major realm.”

“Are the other two skills too weak for that?”

“All Heaven-tier martial skills have the potential to let you fight above your realm. The difference with Nine Suns Palm is that you do not need full mastery over it to do so.”

Elder Yu ruled out Divine Phoenix Feather and Celestial Lotus Palm, then spoke about Nine Suns Palm. He hoped it was the worst of the three that weren’t eliminated because the skill was overpowered in his perspective.

It would be a dream to have two martial skills which were better.