By then, a single thought could determine the life and death of all spirits, a single word could establish the order of Heaven and Earth. Without needing to cast any Divine Techniques, with just a wisp of his will and a single Bell Ringing, he could rewrite the Laws of Heaven and Earth, reverse Yin Yang and the Five Elements, seal the workings of the Ten Thousand Laws, and alter the Four Seasons Celestial Time.
Even destroying the old world, creating a new one, and remaking the universe would be as simple as lifting a hand.
’This ultimate form of the Eternal Golden Bell... is somewhat similar to the Donghuang Bell from the legends of the Primordial Chaos.’
Of course, Donghuang Taiyi’s Donghuang Bell was an Innate Supreme Treasure that had existed since the dawn of creation, born as the foremost of the Three Realms Divine Artifacts.
Jiang Xuan’s Eternal Golden Bell wasn’t even a Divine Technique yet, just an incomplete Divine Power Seed. It was billions upon billions... of miles away from the might of that Innate Supreme Treasure.
’Most of the Spells I’ve comprehended so far are related to Celestial Time and the Four Seasons, so the Talisman Inscriptions on the Eternal Golden Bell are related to that as well.’
’Besides, even with the Power of Heavenly Time and Four Seasons, I still might not be able to completely usurp an enemy’s Technique.’
Jiang Xuan’s Eternal Golden Bell was, after all, not a complete Divine Technique.
What’s more, even with a complete Divine Technique, the success of the usurpation would depend on whether the Dao Rhyme and Divine Will contained within the enemy’s Technique were stronger than Jiang Xuan’s Power of Domination.
A duel between Cultivators was never decided by one person’s Dao Practice alone.
There was a reason why, in the later stages of cultivation, one had to delve deep into Dao and Will when practicing the myriad Techniques of the mortal world. Magic that lacked one’s own infused Dao Rhyme and Divine Will was like the naturally occurring water and fire of the world. Any Cultivator with a slightly deeper Dao Practice could easily usurp it by leveraging their understanding of the elements.
However, once a spell was imprinted with a cultivator’s unique Dao Rhyme and Divine Will, the situation became completely different.
An enemy could, of course, still forcibly usurp it, but they would first have to completely grind away the Dao and Rhyme, the Spirit and Will, contained within the spell. The difficulty in doing so was easily a hundred times greater.
’My Eternal Golden Bell just increases my Power of Domination over Techniques by one major Realm. It’s not invincible.’
’Still, an increase of one whole Realm is terrifying enough.’
In a battle between masters, the slightest gap can mean the difference between life and death.
With the Eternal Golden Bell, Jiang Xuan was effectively an entire Realm ahead of his opponents in any confrontation involving Techniques. This meant any Cultivator on a similar level who lacked a special trump card would be utterly powerless against him.
...
The advancement of the Second Spirit Core Sea of Qi only brought Jiang Xuan a single Trait, but he was quite satisfied with this.
When it came to Magic and Divine Techniques, quality was more important than quantity.
When the Eternal Golden Bell was raised to its peak, with this Divine Bell alone, Jiang Xuan could become the sole avatar of the Great Dao of the Eternal World, achieving permanence, pacifying the mortal realm, surviving a million calamities, and coexisting with the Dao itself.
Thus, Jiang Xuan had no complaints about the Divine Power Seed enhancing the Eternal Golden Bell.
Every bit of enhancement brought Jiang Xuan one step closer to the Great Dao of the Eternal World.
Jiang Xuan’s only slight regret was that after a month and three days of secluded cultivation, he had no choice but to emerge today.
’Sigh, and I was planning to continue my secluded Cultivation right up until the day before the Hundred-Day Exam began.’
It wasn’t the outside world’s rumors, nor the fact that he’d finished reading the Daoist Collection in the Scripture Pavilion, nor a lack of Spiritual Cuisine that forced Jiang Xuan to end his seclusion.
He had to leave the Scripture Pavilion because of his Profession System.
Over the past month, using the Feast Ceremony, Jiang Xuan had completely refined the Golden Marrow Spirit Liquid.
As a result, both his Gourmet profession and his Feast Ceremony had reached the level of Perfection.
This also meant his Gourmet profession was ready for a class change.
However, he hadn’t come out this time for the Gourmet profession’s class change quest.
’Kitchen Apprentice is a Basic profession, and Gourmet is the first class change. A subsequent change would be the second one. Based on my calculations, a second class change in the Celestial Vault Immortal Realm is equivalent to this world’s Dao Foundation Realm.’
The Profession System had no hard-and-fast rule stating "You cannot change class before reaching the Dao Foundation."
The real reason Jiang Xuan put the Gourmet class change on hold was that its quest was simply too difficult.
He currently had two Golden Legend Level class change options before him: Dragon Banquet and Nuoshu Witch Chef.
[Advancement Profession: Dragon Banquet (Golden Legend)]
[Class Change Quest:
①: Raise Gourmet profession to Perfection
②: Raise Feast Ceremony to Perfection
③: Taste nine types of Treasure Level Spiritual Cuisine]
So far, the quest was fairly standard. But what came next gave Jiang Xuan a major headache.
[④: Find and hunt a draconic creature whose bloodline has reached the rank of Flood Dragon;
⑤: Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn after the Flood Dragon’s death, temper your Flesh Body with its Dragon Blood;
⑥: Using the Feast Ceremony, devour the Dragon Heart, Dragon Liver, Dragon Gallbladder, and all other essential parts of the dragon’s body;
⑦: Offer the dragon’s head as a sacrifice...
⑧: ...]
The corner of Jiang Xuan’s mouth twitched as he read the long list of tasks.
Flood Dragons were never weak. Any that grew to maturity in good health could basically reach the Tier of a Purple Mansion Golden Core.
An existence like that could obliterate the current Jiang Xuan with a single sneeze.
Of course, a juvenile Flood Dragon might only have a Cultivation level at the Dao Foundation Realm or even the Spirit Core Stage.
But the Flood Dragon clan was fiercely protective of its own—completely unlike those Evil Dragons of the west. Anyone who dared to hunt their young would face a relentless, to-the-death pursuit from the entire clan.
All in all, the path to the Dragon Banquet class change was currently impossible for Jiang Xuan.
The other class change option, [Nuoshu Witch Chef], was by no means any less difficult.
It didn’t require Jiang Xuan to hunt a Flood Dragon, bathe in its Dragon Blood within an incense stick’s time of its death, devour its Dragon Heart and Dragon Liver, and then sacrifice its head.
But its requirements were, in a way, even more stringent.
[Task Requirement ④: Use treasured herbs or rare beasts containing Spirituality or a faint divinity as ingredients to cook a meal of Perfect grade]
In the Immortal Martial World, treasured herbs containing Spirituality or divinity were Spirit Treasure Level One items—the same level as the additional prize the Shenxiao Sect was offering to the first-place winner of the Hundred-Day Exam.
Jiang Xuan had no way of obtaining such a supreme treasure right now. Even if Four Seasons Valley were to pour all its resources into the search, they might only find a few, if any.
Thus, Jiang Xuan could only put the Gourmet class change quest aside for now and planned to reconsider after the Hundred-Day Exam.
’Come to think of it, the difficulty of these quests is related to my choice of Golden Legend professions. If I settled for the Purple Treasures tier, I’d probably have a chance of completing them with Four Seasons Valley’s resources.’
That said, Jiang Xuan had no intention of lowering the Grade of his profession.
In the past, his status had been low, his resources scarce, and his sense of security almost nonexistent. He’d had to do everything he could to raise his strength quickly.
Even if a better option existed, he wouldn’t have wasted time waiting for it—just like with his Qi Cultivator class change, he hadn’t stubbornly pursued the Golden Legend profession "Shenxiao Sect ? Saint Heir," instead choosing the easier-to-complete Purple Treasure, "Qi Cultivator ? Observing the Heavens."
But now, perfectly safe within Four Seasons Valley, he had the luxury of time to pursue the most ultimate form of power.
’Besides, the profession I’m preparing to advance this time is also a Golden Legend.’
At this thought, Jiang Xuan’s gaze fell upon [Clear Heart Swordsman] on his professional panel.
This was the second profession Jiang Xuan had acquired, and it was also his first *main* profession.
After nearly two months of arduous cultivation, day and night, it too had reached Perfection and met the requirements for a class change.
What lifted Jiang Xuan’s spirits was the sight of two Golden Legend professions on the Clear Heart Swordsman’s advancement path, both shimmering with a brilliant golden light.