Sovereign of the Three Realms

The third obelisk required a high amount of technical knowledge. Simply put, it was a test of observation skills. A third party would have a clearer view of the fight and see things in more detail. ‘Those closely involved cannot see as clearly as an onlooker’ was a saying that best described the situation.

However, exchanges were over in a split second. Failing to grasp the complexity of the moves within such a short amount of time was normal. Finding a critical moment was relatively easy, especially when one could watch the image again and again from the view of a third party. However, finding all three critical moments was at another level of difficulty. Finding the first one was relatively easy, but the second one was twice as difficult. Finding all three, however, ramped up the difficulty by several multitudes. Those who used up more time in the previous two obelisks would definitely be short of time in the third one. This would limit their performance to a certain extent. The test wasn’t too difficult for Jiang Chen, though. After all, his power of observation was even stronger than Emperor Peafowl himself.

However, his power was shackled by his cultivation level to a certain extent. This time, he was no longer restrained by such as he could repeat the scene as many times as he wanted. He could simply rewind the scene if he failed to understand something. The two cultivators in the image seemed to be mid-level emperor realm cultivators. A battle of this magnitude wasn’t exactly heaven defying for a person of Jiang Chen’s stature.

He immediately noticed a critical moment in his first viewing. He watched it again to find the second one. However, he failed to notice the third one, even after watching for the third and fourth time. The established rules of the Veluriyam Obelisk were incredibly strict. There was definitely three critical moments if it gave the participants a task to find three. 

Jiang Chen wasn’t discouraged. He stopped watching the image and closed in meditation. He simulated the battle in his mind and repeated it over and over again. He began by studying the battle from the point of view of one of the cultivators. Then, he switched to the other cultivator and did the same thing. He was able to gain many insights by fully immersing himself into the mindset of the two cultivators. 

Two days later, he finally found the third critical moment after picking every detail apart and analyzing everything. Tsk tsk. The last critical moment was hidden so incredibly well. I would never have found it unless I picked it apart and analyzed it bit by bit. Jiang Chen was secretly glad that he had taken great pains to pick the fight apart, and had used the correct method to do. The third obelisk is extremely difficult. If It took me two days, then Brother Ji will probably need six or seven to fully comprehend the fight. I can only pray that he will do well in the previous two obelisks so that he will have enough time in the third one.

Analyzing a full battle between experts had benefited Jiang Chen greatly. He didn’t just gain insight on how battles were conducted between emperor realm cultivators. He’d learned to analyze battles by putting himself in the shoes of others. Nothing could benefit him more than an actual battle, but it was still good experience. He was about to turn in the answer with his consciousness after he found all three critical moments. However, he ultimately decided not to.

It had only been three days since the start of this fifteen day test. He was worried that he would bring too much attention to himself if he completed all three obelisk tests right now. Jiang Chen wasn’t necessarily afraid of someone, but the tree that stood out the most in the forest was more likely to be fallen by the gale. He decided to wait awhile before he proceeded. One day of cultivation in this secret quadrant was equivalent to ten days in the outside world. Now was a good time to cultivate.

He’d gained much insight in martial dao ever since he broke through the eighth level sage realm. He was now closer to the emperor realm than ever before. Since he succeeded in summoning the Lord of the Golden Seal in the previous battle, he could now add the lord’s attack to his arsenal of moves. The lord was incredibly destructive. It was absolutely a worthy addition to Jiang Chen’s box of trump cards.

The lord had revealed incredible strength and might during the fight with Gao Zhan, but Jiang Chen knew that that wasn’t the limits of its potential yet. There was still a great deal of untapped potential in both the Lord of the Golden Seal and the magnetic golden mountain. Jiang Chen made refining the magnetic golden mountain his priority. He wanted to comprehend the profound mysteries behind metallic power and metal attribute. Comprehending the origin power of metal was of utmost importance to him. Metal represented the power of sharpness and destruction. It contained the power to cut and sever everything. 

The Lord of the Golden Seal was made up of an amalgamation of powerful metallic essences. Its entire existence was contradictory. it relied on the magnetic golden mountain for its own existence, yet it always seemed to yearn for freedom and independence from the mountain. Jiang Chen had made the lord a promise that he would one day release it when he finally gained the ability to do so. There were two ways for the lord to gain freedom. 

For the first way, the lord would have to fully refine the magnetic golden mountain and digest its components. The mountain would then merge with it and become part of its body. The other method was to borrow the power from another powerful metal attribute treasure or formation to release it from the shackles of the magnetic golden mountain. In other words, Jiang Chen would have to borrow an outside power to destroy the chains between the lord and the mountain, and extract it from the mountain, freeing it.

Of course, Jiang Chen required a condition before he promised to help it. Once freed, it would have to serve by his side for ten thousand years in gratitude. He had put significant effort and constant diligence into refining the magnetic golden mountain. Jiang Chen had constantly cultivating the magnetic power and the magnetic storms. It was an art that he constantly used in battle. These two abilities grew in tandem with Jiang Chen’s cultivation level. He didn’t use metallic monsters and Lord of the Golden Seal often. The monsters were made for group battles, but Jiang Chen didn’t often run into an opportunity to call upon them. 

Previously, his cultivation level hadn’t been high enough to summon the Lord of the Golden Seal. There simply wasn’t much reason to summon it by force, only to find out that it had only achieved a low level of awakening. Jiang Chen had also put utmost effort into refining the Evil Golden Eye. It was truly a heaven defying art. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to utilize its full potential yet. Once the Evil Golden Eye is refined to the limit, I can penetrate a person’s consciousness even if his eyes are closed. It will only takes a single glance to petrify a person’s mind and body. Right now, I can’t even even invade a person’s mind without direct eye contact. At the end of the day, the art’s true might is still limited by my cultivation level. I will have to reach the great emperor realm for the eye to reach its terrorizing potential.

Refining the Evil Golden Eye wasn’t an overnight job. One needed to gradually refine and improve upon the art. Moreover, one also had to ensure full compatibility with one’s physical abilities and conscious might. The current level of Jiang Chen’s conscious might could instantly kill those with a lower cultivation level than him. Geniuses of the same cultivation level could be instantly killed as well if they weren’t careful. In fact, those with higher cultivation levels could find themselves petrified by the Evil Golden Eye if they dropped their guard. However, the effectiveness of the Evil Golden Eye was greatly reduced against cultivators with a powerful consciousness and geniuses who cultivated eye techniques. 

I guess I still need to raise my cultivation level so can that I can improve the level of my conscious and its penetrative strength. Maybe I can pair the Evil Golden Eye with a spine-chilling image to improve its effects? The Evil Golden Eye was an art that worked best against opponents that were dominated from all sides. The effect of the eye technique was greatly reduced when up against another eye technique. However, if an image attack or a powerful technique was used in tandem with the eye technique, it would greatly improve its potency. There was no limit to the refinement of eye techniques.

The art of eye techniques is as deep as the ocean. A powerful eye technique doesn’t merely deal physical or mental attacks. It can also be used to read the opponent’s mind and hear their deepest, darkest thoughts. One can find out if the opponent is lying, has evil intentions, speaks empty words, bears a hidden grudge, or hides a true identity. One can even unmask the true identity of someone corrupted by evil. All truths are brought to light under a powerful eye technique. Eye technique cultivators were celebrated individuals in his previous life. He couldn’t resist being fascinated by their power. Eye techniques were ever changing. People were often astonished by how many variation there was in their tricks and attacks. Of course, they hadn’t gained their ever changing abilities in just one night. The Evil Golden Eye had a great potential when used in tandem with the magnetic golden mountain. He was absolutely going to use this rare opportunity to improve his own eye technique’s cultivation.

The God’s Eye had already begun to merge with Evil Golden Eye. This had improved his eye techniques immensely. There was actually another art that Jiang Chen hadn’t unearthed yet, the Magnetic Dao Armor. As its name would suggest, it was a magnetic art that protected the body with strong, magnetic armor. This magnetic armor could deflect powerful attacks of varying strength.  

The Magnetic Dao Armor wasn’t too useful for him as he already cultivated the Nine Transformation of Demons and Gods, and possessed the Demon and God Golden Body. Moreover, he could already manipulate magnetic energy at will. However, it was the best way to protect a group of comrades in a group battle. The armor could only last for an hour. It was roughly as effective as a defensive talisman. The Imperial Advent Defensive Talisman that he used last time also lasted around that amount of time.