From Zhou Wen’s careful observations, he found that the Dragon-Patterned Snakes were only acting on instinct. They were very different from the enlightenment he got from the stances of the dragons. However, for some reason, Zhou Wen found them somewhat similar.
As he killed the Dragon-Patterned Snake that approached Jiang Yan, he wondered why. Zhou Wen thought for a while before his eyes suddenly lit up as though he understood something.
A snake cultivates for a thousand years and transcends the tribulations to become a wyrm and a wyrm cultivates another thousand years to transcend the tribulations to become a dragon. The Dragon Transformation Art is about transforming a snake into a dragon. That means it’s not a dragon, so it naturally still retains a snake-like nature. I had forcefully imitated a dragon’s stance with Dragon Transformation Art, so it didn’t succeed. I always felt that my movement technique was lacking something. So this is what is lacking. Zhou Wen suddenly understood the problem of his movement technique.
Since he knew where the problem was, he now had to resolve it. It was not like before when he had no clue where to start.
To truly remove the influence of a snake and become the stance of a true dragon, I can only touch on the fundamentals. I need to make Dragon Transformation Art shed its mortality until it reaches the Dragon Transformation realm. As Zhou Wen engaged in battle with the snakes, he constantly used Dragon Transformation Art and kept trying to figure out the truth behind it.
There were two ways to raise a Primordial Energy Skill’s rank: One was to use Primordial Energy Skill Crystals to raise it. As long as the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal had a high rank, the absorption could directly raise the rank and reach Rank 9.
Another method was to increase one’s familiarity and insight regarding the Primordial Energy Skill to raise the rank to a max of Rank 10. Doing so was very difficult and slow. Apart from a few people like Lance, who was extremely talented and could comprehend the truth behind a Primordial Energy Skill until it reached Rank 10, the average person needed a lot of time to study and gain insight into it. It was much slower than using Primordial Energy Skill Crystals.
Dragon Transformation Art had a very low drop rate. To hope for a Rank 9 Dragon Transformation Art to drop would take ages Zhou Wen didn’t have the time to wait. Furthermore, what he needed wasn’t only Rank 9, but an extraordinary Rank 10. Only by doing so could he truly match up to a dragon’s stance, allowing him to take on the stance of a true dragon.
As Zhou Wen observed the Dragon-Patterned Snake’s actions, stance, and habits, he recalled the stances of the nine black dragons and made comparisons. Gradually, he understood the differences between dragons and snakes.
Zhou Wen discovered that there were indeed many similarities between a dragon and a snake’s movement. It was no wonder snakes were called baby dragons in the East District. However, even though they were so similar, when humans saw a dragon, they would never mistake them for snakes. Apart from the differences in size, the most important difference between the two was the sublimity.
Zhou Wen constantly felt the difference between the sublimity of a snake and a dragon. It was a feeling that was impossible to describe using words. It could only be sensed with the heart and soul.
With the insight Zhou Weng gleaned, the way he moved didn’t change much. However, there was a slight difference in his movements. Every move seemed to have a flair to it.
Jiang Yan was focused on reading the tablet text, furrowing his eyebrows from time to time as if he was confused. Other times, he would reveal a look of enlightenment, appearing exhilarated.
However, not long after, Jiang Yan’s eyebrows furrowed deeper and tighter until they finally relaxed.
As Jiang Yan read the tablet text, he muttered to himself, “The Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces is representative of Chinese calligraphy from the Northern Wei dynasty-a classic piece of work from the Wei dynasty. It is forceful with its vertical and horizontal strokes, sharp like the edge of a blade. However, it’s not as squarish as a regular script. The words written on the top half and bottom half are in different scripts, and the sublimity in it is most difficult to grasp. Just changing the thickness of the stroke changes the script. To figure out something from the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces and turn it into a technique is just too difficult. Just missing out part of the sublimity would make it lack greatly.”
Jiang Yan thought about it but was unable to accurately grasp its sublimity.
Feeling a little impetuous, Jiang Yan knew that he couldn’t continue. Otherwise, with this mentality, he couldn’t reach a pure state of mind even if he had gained some insights.
Jiang Yan retracted his gaze and planned on resting for a while. He could read the tablet text again when his mind completely calmed down. If he couldn’t calm down, there was no harm in coming some other day.
He turned around and sat on a rock beside him. He took out the tea set that he had brought along with him. There was even a small brass charcoal furnace.
When he lit the charcoal furnace and heated the water, he brewed two cups of tea. Just as he was about to get Zhou Wen to drink it with him, his gaze landed on Zhou Wen and he couldn’t move his eyes away. He even forgot to take back his hand that was pouring tea. The tea in the teapot had overflowed the teacup, but Jiang Yan didn’t notice anything and just watched Zhou Wen’s fight with the Dragon-Patterned Snakes.
Instead of saying that Zhou Wen was fighting the Dragon-Patterned Snakes, it was more like a solo dance. His movement technique was vigorous and extraordinary with an indescribable sublimity to it.
Jiang Yan watched as he suddenly threw down the teapot in his hand, and ran to a stone wall. He reached out his finger and drew it across the stone wall.
His finger was like a blade as it tore through the wall. He wrote one word after another on it; the words looked like works from the Wei dynasty, but they were different.
Every stroke was like a knife’s slice, but they didn’t appear exceedingly sharp. They were straight and carefree.
“A thousand-year-long path for snakes, ten thousand years for a wyrm. The moment they show themselves, they would be flying dragons in the sky.” When Jiang Yan finished writing the last word, Zhou Wen happened to let out a long cry as his body flew through the air, rising to the heavens like a dragon. His entire body seemed to have undergone a certain transformation.
The surrounding Dragon-Patterned Snakes retreated as though they were trembling. For a moment, no snake dared to attack Zhou Wen
again.
Although he didn’t take a look at the in-game information, Zhou Wen was certain that his Dragon Transformation Art had already broken through and reached Rank 10. That feeling was indescribable.
“Junior, thanks to you, I managed to grasp something today,” Jiang Yan said with a smile.
Zhou Wen turned his head and saw the words Jiang Yan had carved on the wall. Although he wasn’t a connoisseur of calligraphy, he found them exuding a sense of familiarity. On careful thought, he understood that the words contained the insights of the movement technique he had just figured out.
“These words...” Zhou Wen asked with an odd expression as he looked at the words.
“This was what I wrote from observing your movement technique and the words on the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces. It’s rather interesting. In the future, I’ll use it as my foundation and match it with the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces to come up with a technique. Half the credit is yours. Why don’t you give it a name?” said Jiang Yan.
“I’m not good with names. It’s best you name it.” Zhou Wen shook his head.
“There’s the word ‘dragon’ in Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces. Your movement technique has the bearing of a dragon, so it’s naturally necessary to have a dragon character. Together with our names, let’s call it ‘Dragon Wenyan.” As Jiang Yan spoke, he reached out and wiped away the characters carved on the stone wall.