"I seem to be unable to open this scroll!" Bexia had exchanged for the Agility Skill "Lotus Steps" from the middle-aged man, but the prohibitions on it were too strong for him to break. He thought that his cheap teacher, Bor, might be able to open it.
"Master, I can open it!" Christine played with the scroll in her hand and said, not because she had such powerful mental strength to decipher it, but because the inherited soul Divinity within her had that ability.
"You can open it?!" Bexia laughed. How could he forget about this? Christine possessed the Divinity of the soul, and although the fusion time may have been short and she hadn't developed any abilities yet, it was still a Divinity! Moreover, it was a Divinity that had mastered the essence of the soul. If she couldn't solve this prohibition, then it wouldn't be acceptable.
"Just wait a moment, Master!" Christine playfully whispered in Bexia's ear and then pressed the scroll against her forehead, closing her eyes.
Bexia continued to walk leisurely for a few more minutes, when suddenly Christine behind him twitched. The scroll left her forehead, and with a radiant look, she said, "The original owner of this scroll was so powerful. Even though it was just a small amount of mental strength, it almost overwhelmed me!"
"What do you mean overwhelmed? Can't you say something nice?" Bexia bumped her playfully.
"I just derived a little bit of information about the scroll's previous owner from those residual mental energies. Do you want to know, Master?" Christine appeared as if she was presenting a treasure, and Bexia smiled.
"Then go ahead and tell me!"
"Due to only having fragmented memories, I only know that the creator of this martial technique was called the 'Sacred Saint of Quiet Lotus'. This Scroll of Step by Step Lotus was created during her ascension to the sacred saint!" Christine's tone shifted as she handed the scroll to Bexia. "Master, do you know what a sacred saint is? It is an existence beyond sovereigns!"
After hearing Christine's words, Bexia halted his steps after a few steps. He snapped his attention back and finally caught the implied meaning in Christine's words. A sacred saint was an existence that surpassed sovereigns, and this was exactly what set him apart from others. Because on the surface, sovereigns were not the limit of cultivation.
But then he thought, even if he knew, what would change? He was only a small intermediate at the moment, unaware of when he would become a champion, let alone a sovereign, a title that hadn't appeared on the continent for a long time.
As for this sacred saint! Bexia could only chuckle. At most, he now just knew that there were sacred saints beyond sovereigns, but what did that represent? Bexia had no clue.
"Is there any other information?" Bexia asked curiously.
"No, there isn't. The information carried by mental energy is already limited, and after such a long time, it's already difficult to even know who the other person was!" Christine shook her head, indicating that she had done her best.
"Hah!" Christine let out a sigh. Bexia thought she was exhausted from opening the scroll, so he asked, "What's wrong?"
"I have a bit of indigestion. The mental strength of this sacred saint is so powerful. Although it's scarce, the quality is incredibly high, and I couldn't absorb it all at once!" Christine honestly replied.
"Are you saying that you have consumed the spiritual power in this scroll?" Bexia recalled what she had just said.
"More or less!" Christine replied. "And it's not just scrolls like this one. I can gradually digest any spiritual imprint from items like spatial rings or weapons and equipment, as long as they don't have direct control over the spiritual power."
"You sound like a termite!" Bexia teased.
"Then let me be the first to devour your spiritual power, my master!" Christine said with a grin. She opened her mouth, revealing two tiny fangs, and lightly bit Bexia's neck. After she bit down, however, she extended her tongue and started licking, prompting Bexia to retrieve her back into the imprint space.
Of course, this was also because Christine needed to digest the power, and the most natural way to do that was through sleep.
Putting away the "Step by Step Lotus," leaving Bexia alone in boredom. Going back to the mansion would only be more boring, so she reluctantly continued walking, hoping to find something interesting to pass the time.
The marketplace was filled with vendors calling out their products, and Bexia occasionally stopped to take a look. If there was something she liked, she would buy it since many of these things were rarely seen outside the grand gathering that took place every fifty years.
It was already getting dark when Bexia leisurely returned to the mansion. After dealing with her hunger, she sat on the bed and took out the movement technique "Step by Step Lotus" she had obtained during the day.
From Christine's explanation, Bexia could tell that this technique surpassed the level of a Sovereign. Such a level of martial technique was unheard of. When Bexia opened the scroll, there was only a lotus pattern inside.
Of course, this didn't mean the item was fake. On the contrary, advanced scrolls were no longer simply illustrations but included more advanced spiritual and even soul imprints. The former involved using one's own spiritual power to inscribe the content onto the object, allowing others to read with their own spiritual power. This method had the advantage of being able to record more information and provide more detailed information.
As for soul imprints, they were even more advanced than spiritual imprints and came with a much greater cost. For the same scroll, using spiritual power to inscribe might feel a bit challenging for a short period of time, but using soul power would at least weaken them for over a month.
Although soul imprints had a high cost, their effectiveness far surpassed that of spiritual imprints. They were more detailed and could even include mental images, making it easier for users to learn. Furthermore, soul imprints lasted much longer than spiritual imprints.
When Bexia immersed her spiritual power into the scroll, there was a loud explosion in her mind, and suddenly, she found herself in a mountainous and desolate place. A black crack tore open the sky, and a massive amount of fire erupted from it, rushing towards a figure on top of the mountain peak...
All of this represented that the technique recorded in this scroll was imprinted using the soul, and what Bexia was witnessing was likely the scene of the "Phantom Lotus Saint" breaking through their understanding!
Even though it was only a visual scene, Bexia could still sense the terrifying power of the flames, which was many times stronger than the heavenly punishment she had experienced before!
