Volume 4, Chapter 139 – Classification of Pool Methods

Just then, Xiang Xian, Li Sheng, and Wang Ran also came over carrying their trays and took their seats. Bai Xiang temporarily cut off the conversation, then asked the same question again after the three of them had sat down.

The matter of the Void Tribulation affecting lifespan likely touched on secrets of a more sensitive sort. If Zhu Qingluo really had once held the post of Hall Master of the Rebirth Hall, as Bai Xiang suspected, then she certainly knew more. The reason she had deliberately said those things was probably just to fish for a reaction, to stir Bai Xiang’s curiosity.

So Bai Xiang had no intention of discussing that topic in public. What she asked about instead was only the methods of divine pools.

That was important too. Bai Xiang herself had a rough understanding because she had obtained quite a few memories from Venerable-ranked figures, but Bai Zhuqing and the others still lacked sufficient understanding of this.

Li Sheng and the others, in particular, knew almost nothing in this area.

They were about to go up onto the stage and compete, and it was impossible that they would not run into Venerable-ranked figures in the gaps between bouts. Naturally, the sooner they broadened their horizons, the better.

“Pool methods are just those same few tricks,” Zhu Qingluo said, giving Bai Xiang a deep look but not exposing her intentions. She continued, “They mainly fall into five types: the Gain Path, the Weapon Path, the Devious Path, the Soul Path, and the Domain Path.”

“The Gain Path refers to ‘strengthening oneself by fixing certain rules of cognition in place.’ Its defining feature is self-benefit. Whether it’s locking in a certain memory-state to temporarily increase one’s combat ability, or absorbing an enemy’s cultivation or momentum, all of that falls into this category.”

“The Weapon Path should be the easiest to understand. Sword paths, blade paths, spear paths, all of them are classified under this heading.”

“The advantage of Weapon Path pool methods is that they require no preparation. As long as your talent is high enough, you can enter one casually. Many top-tier geniuses are proud and arrogant, so they choose to cultivate a Weapon Path pool method on the side to increase their combat power.”

“But the drawbacks are also obvious. If your talent isn’t enough, then you simply can’t enter no matter what you do. And once you cultivate a Weapon Path pool method, you have to pay a price. That price is that the cultivator must contribute their own power and let it flow into that pool method as well.”

To make it easier for everyone to understand, Zhu Qingluo gave an example.

“Say I want to cultivate the blade path right now.” She made a little gesture with her hand. “Suppose my talent with the blade is extremely high, and I enter the path with ease. Then in that very instant, I’ll gain a great deal of insight into blade techniques from that pool method. That is the pool method’s own power of enhancement toward that path.”

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“That enhancing effect is jointly provided by every person who cultivates the blade path. From that point forward, every time I gain some new insight on that path, a portion of that insight will be split off and sent to the blade-path Venerable Lord occupying the pool seat. That is also a form of restraint and control.”

So that was why she said geniuses who cultivated the Weapon Path were proud and arrogant.

Bai Zhuqing felt as if she understood a little.

With a threshold and price like that, if she had a choice, she would probably keep her distance.

But there were also some people who believed they could absolutely rely on their talent and brilliance to defeat every other competitor on that road, even overthrow the person occupying the pool seat and become the new Weapon Path Venerable Lord themselves. In that case, of course they wouldn’t care. If I cultivate it, then I cultivate it!

Li Sheng and the others, meanwhile, were listening with hidden frowns.

The reason was simple: they had all remembered their former selves being constrained by the sword-path divine pool.

Looking at it this way, the Court controlled the experts of the nine lineages through more than just those two poisonous pills…

“Senior, please tell us about the Devious Path,” Xiang Xian asked Zhu Qingluo very politely.

She was extremely interested in this information. Much of it was material even Bai Xiang had never told her. She now truly believed Zhu Qingluo was one of those hidden masters from beyond the world.

“The Devious Path is a mixed bag,” Zhu Qingluo said with a smile. “The Gain Path and the Devious Path mirror each other. The former benefits oneself, while the latter harms others. Any method that harms others can be classified under this heading. If you ever get a chance to face a Venerable, you absolutely must first figure out what type their pool method is.”

Because that really was important. In battle, things could change in an instant. If you realize one second too late that your momentum has been plundered, or one second too late what aspect of you your opponent’s pool method is affecting, then a crushing defeat may well be waiting for you.

“The Soul Path is rare, so I’ll skip over it,” Zhu Qingluo said, her tone gradually turning more serious. “The key thing is the Domain Path. That can be called the crystallization of pool methods.”

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“‘A Domain Path is an alien domain.’ What that means is that once a Domain Path divine pool is running at full power, the heaven and earth across a huge area may be transformed into an alien domain and rearranged according to its pool method.”

“For example, Yang Chen, the Dao Child of this generation of the Qianyuan Sect. His title is Immortal Venerable Yitian, and his pool method is the fixing of an exquisite game of chess in place. Once it is unfolded, the mountains, rivers, plants, trees, and even sentient beings who fall within it all have to shift position according to that pool method and be manipulated by him.”

“Another example is Chang Hongyuan of Zhengtian Dao, that same ‘century-long second place’ who has always been kept beneath Yang Chen. His title is Immortal Venerable Luoyuan. Once his pool method is activated, it cannot be shut off. It is like a moving abyss, continuously absorbing Tianyuan energy.”

“Besides those, there are also Domain Paths based on seasons and solar terms. Those are actually considered comparatively easy. As long as you thoroughly understand the rules contained in a small world, and use the seasonal changes hidden within it as a reference, then cultivating one is relatively easier.”

“That is more or less what the Domain Path is. It is the crystallization of many complex rules gathered together. You can only create one after understanding pool methods to a certain level, and perhaps only after condensing pools multiple times. Its power is far from ordinary.”

For all that complicated explanation, wasn’t it basically just some kind of domain-type ability?

Watching Zhu Qingluo lavish praise on the Domain Path, Bai Xiang inwardly shook her head.

Still, this information was indeed more detailed than what she had in her own memories.

She could not help comparing it against the Venerable-ranked figures she had encountered before, classifying their pool methods according to these categories.

For instance, Cui Yuanhao’s pool method, extreme cold begets flame, ought to count as the Gain Path.

Meng Qiaosheng’s pool method was unclear, but he had definitely cultivated the Weapon Path.

Shen Quan’s pool method might have been the Soul Path. Zhu Qingluo was unwilling to say much about that, likely because Soul Path cultivators were genuinely scarce.

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The Devious Path covered the widest range. For example, when those demonfolk stirred up chaos in Maozhou before, that “head shop” could be counted under the Devious Path.

Relatively speaking, anything that worked through large-scale hallucinations, cognitive tampering, or twisted thoughts in order to weaken the enemy, while not giving a very obvious boost to oneself, could be counted as the Devious Path.

Then I should be the natural bane of this sort.

Bai Xiang evaluated her own abilities and felt that her soul-abilities were truly the nemesis of this type of pool method.

As for the Domain Path, by Zhu Qingluo’s description, it was a “hybrid of rules,” extremely complicated.

For example, she said Yang Chen’s pool method was a chessboard, the fixing in place of an exquisite game of chess within his cognition, so that he could “take all living beings as pieces and play a game against heaven and earth.”

Everyone who fell into that chess game would be under his control. They would either submit or be forced to fight other “pieces” upon the board. Bai Xiang estimated that there was probably some Devious Path mixed into that as well.

Couldn’t my Forbidden-Method Tribulation Lotus also pass itself off as a Domain Path…

She sank into thought.

Once the Forbidden-Method Tribulation Lotus was deployed, all sound waves were directly extinguished. Within its range, only Bai Xiang herself could make a sound, and every Dao-Void cultivation had to be suppressed to the extreme. No demonic power or demonic aura could be used at all.

Then there were the later tribulation-lotus thunder pestles, which also looked very much like a standard Domain Path.

Its only weakness was endurance. It depended too heavily on prying at the energy of heaven and earth. Once the local Tianyuan was drained dry, it would have no choice but to disperse, and she would have to wait for Tianyuan to gather again before opening it once more.

While Bai Xiang was there pondering Dao methods and sword arts, the others at her side had become much more familiar with Zhu Qingluo and had begun asking her questions in an orderly fashion.

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That made Zhu Qingluo absolutely delighted.

Listen to that, listen to that.

One “Senior” after another. Weren’t they far more polite than Bai Xiang?

In her good mood, she simply opened up and said a great many more things.

“Some pool methods are easy to enter, but you should understand that if they’re easy for you to enter, then they’re easy for others too. You need to be prepared to compete with many people for the pool seat.”

“Of course, unless you have no ambition and only plan to muddle your way into the Venerable ranks and wait to die. In that case, it really doesn’t matter. You can just grab any divine pool and play around with it.”

“If you run into a Soul Path cultivator, stay far away. They may be rare, but they’re dangerous.”

“No, why would you think that? What is Purple Soul Monastery, exactly? Tricks from a minor sect like that don’t even qualify to be called the Soul Path. If you find them troublesome, that just means your own training wasn’t good enough.”

After a whole morning like this, Zhu Qingluo had received respect, while Bai Xiang and the others had gained a great deal of detailed information about pool methods. Everyone was very satisfied.

Time passed just like that on the journey.

Very soon, when the dawn light spilled down again one morning, a Dao city appeared on the horizon before them.

That was their destination on this trip: Tongyun Circuit, one of the three circuits of Jingzhou.