Chapter 331: The Terrifying Vertical Eye
Back home, Tyrone had already found his answer. He didn’t have interest for the Ascetic School, nor did he have any special reverence for the gods. He wanted to choose the path of the Natural School.
Joyce had left a letter detailing where to go for initiation into each of the three schools. For the Natural School , Joyce recommended that Tyrone go to the warrior’s holy land on the Western Continent: Nataye City.
The Andolf Natural Style in Nataye City was the most balanced and moderate of all the Natural factions. As long as the awakened Heart Fire wasn’t born of pure malice or evil thoughts, one had a chance to be accepted into the Andolf Natural Style.
Tyrone wasn’t looking to commit evil. He simply wanted freedom—to achieve the greatest possible self-liberation without hindering others.
This was his hope, and his parents’ hope as well. Carrying these expectations, Tyrone left Tuyi City and embarked on the journey to Nataye City.
Shortly after Tyrone departed, his father Kent took Tyrone’s mother and his two younger siblings out of Tuyi City, moving back to their small fishing village. The timing was perfect—Baroness Elaine Tuyi was finally getting married. Her father would never allow her to bring a paramour along into her new marriage.
Leaving Tyrone’s affairs aside for a moment, ever since Ace manifested the Eye of Truth on the surface of the Pocket World, the powerhouses of the entire world had felt a bone-deep chill running down their spines.
The Saints of the Eastern Continent entered the Divine Kingdom through dreams several times, finally declaring that this was God’s surveillance over all creation. They proclaimed the great “Monitoring Eye” to be sacred and decided to make a pilgrimage to the Elemental Storm Canyon.
Meanwhile, the powerhouses of the Western Continent —beings who had reached the level of Level 1 Life , equivalent to a Demigod within the Pocket World —also discovered this terrifying Monitoring Eye.
They, too, delved into the inner layers of the world. Eventually, they received a revelation from the World’s Subconscious, leading them to believe this eye represented God’s fear of humanity—an attempt to restrict them.
The powerhouses of the Western Continent formed a crusade army, determined to destroy the hair-raising, terrifying vertical eye.
The two forces met at the Elemental Storm Canyon, sparking a massive war. Over a dozen “Demigods” and “Saints” fell in battle. Several Demigods unleashed their strongest attacks against the terrifying vertical eye, but their strikes passed right through it as if hitting a phantom, causing zero harm.
Ace watched their performance with amusement. As they fought and died, over a dozen large chunks of World Origin fell, flashing briefly before disappearing.
At the same time, the auras and destinies of thousands of geniuses surged to varying degrees. The gaze of the Monitoring Eye shifted, locking eyes with Tyrone, who was on his way to Nataye City.
Tyrone suddenly felt a warmth wash over his entire body. His inner self seemed to clarify, and a sudden stroke of insight hit him. In that split second, his Heart Fire ignited.
“My heart, my pursuit, my Heart Fire… it is the Unhindered Self Heart Fire!”
Boom!
The Blood Qi in Tyrone’s chest ignited instantly. The flame he called the Unhindered Self Heart Fire blazed furiously. It looked like colored glass, semi-transparent and refracting a kaleidoscope of colors—it was beautiful.
His aura transformed. His power climbed rapidly, and even his movement speed increased. Although the share of origin he received wasn’t large, it came from over a dozen “Demigods”. Even a tiny fragment was enough to grant Tyrone a massive boost in strength.
He seemed to sense something and looked toward the Elemental Storm Canyon.
The world itself seemed to weep. A desolate sorrow filled the air as waves of rain drifted down. Tyrone felt moisture on his face. He touched it—it was bright red blood.
Joyce stood outside Nataye City, watching the blood rain fall. With a cold expression, he murmured, “Blood rain from the heavens. Demigods have fallen. The chaos is growing.”
The Monitoring Eye ruthlessly observed these “Demigods” and “Saints”, analyzing their cultivation methods and peeping at their paths.
In the inner layer of the Pocket World , inside the Divine Kingdom within the “Source,” the cowlick on Ace’s head bobbed slightly, runes flickering in his eyes.
“As expected of the people favored by the World’s Subconscious. Even as Pseudo-Sons of Destiny, they possess massive luck and natural status. As a collective, they can forge paths I haven’t even researched yet.
“Blood Qi to Heart Fire , then Heart Reflection , Visualization , and Spirit Illumination… this set of cultivation methods achieves true transcendence. It gives a mortal the possibility of cultivating into a Level 1 Life.
“Such a precious path… it’s mine now. And it will become my most powerful weapon to arm the mortals of the Prime Material Plane against the Divine Descendants.”
Ace already had a plan. He would support a group of mortals with no magic talent, establish a secret organization, and have them semi-openly oppose the Divine Descendants , replacing Wizards as the primary target.
The most critical part of this plan was a cultivation method that led directly to the supernatural. With that problem solved, the rest was just execution.
This conflict became known as the First Battle of the Canyon. The people of both the Eastern and Western Continents finally realized that even Spirit Illumination experts couldn’t harm a hair on a True God’s head. For a time, faith in the Supreme God Ai surged.
One month flew by in the Pocket World. Tyrone arrived at Nataye City, the holy land of warrior cultivation, covered in the dust of his journey.
After revealing the strength of his Heart Fire realm, Tyrone entered the city. Everywhere he looked, people were sparring, discussing martial arts, or debating cultivation methods and Heart Fire skills.
Generally, sparring happened outdoors—there were plenty of public arenas. Discussions, however, required a certain state of mind and the mastery of the “Heart-Linking Method.”
The so-called Heart-Linking Method was a special skill that allowed two warriors at the Heart Fire realm or above to communicate directly via their minds through their flames.
Relying on his decent realm and the money he’d earned from several sparring matches, Tyrone successfully bought the manual for the Heart-Linking Method.
“I never imagined there were so many Heart Fire skills in the world. It’s a shame there are only a handful that a Heart Fire warrior can actually learn.”
The Heart-Linking Method was the most basic skill. Without it, you couldn’t learn other public or secret Heart Fire skills or cultivation methods, making progress difficult.
After fifty years of explosive development, the broad concept of “Warrior Cultivation” had formed a unique characteristic: “One Heart, Two Wings”—with the Cultivation Method as the core, and Heart Fire Skills and Martial Arts as the wings.
After asking around, Tyrone had a clear picture of the requirements to join the Andolf Natural Style.
First, achieve the Heart Fire realm using the Natural Style paradigm—excluding flames born of malice or evil. The Andolf Natural Style used the Heart-Linking Method to judge the nature of one’s fire.
Second, practice the Basic Andolf Natural Style Cultivation Method and reach a specific Heart Fire intensity.
Third, achieve a rating of “Good” or higher in the Andolf Entrance Exam, held every three years.
The exam was divided into three stages: a written test on warrior general knowledge, an assessment of cultivation methods, and a team competition. Thanks to Joyce , Tyrone had a solid foundation in general knowledge, but he had nothing when it came to specific cultivation methods, skills, or martial arts.
“The grand exam is in six months. I have to learn the basic cultivation method first, plus a few self-defense skills and martial arts techniques… but I’m broke!”
Tyrone muttered anxiously to himself. He had never won a sparring match against someone in the same realm; he’d only earned the money for the Heart-Linking Method by acting as a human punching bag. He couldn’t go on like this. Only by winning—and keeping a winning streak—could he earn enough money!
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