Traveling across the globe for the first time

Chapter 1083 Returning to Origin Technique

The Southern Emperor, though outwardly fierce, said weakly, "So what if I lose some of my memories after being revived!"
I am the guardian of this place, and its core. If I am completely gone, the gate will collapse as well.

Don't underestimate the power of a level collapse.

This small world can extract our essence and form a projection of considerable power, so its level cannot be too low.

The power unleashed during its collapse is absolutely devastating.

Otherwise, we would have already taken control of this little world.

Why would I let you come here seeking opportunities to learn the ultimate techniques of the emperor?
Ha ha!

"I am but a projection; to drag a prodigy like you down with me is worth it!"

Although the Southern Emperor had only recently recovered, he had a very clear understanding of things.

Indeed, the power of the collapse of the barrier is something even emperors cannot withstand, which is why they only dare to send clones to make some plans, and dare not enter in their true form.

When these old guys get despicable, they can make you grit your teeth in hatred; they can lie low for tens of thousands of years, plotting in the shadows.

But at crucial moments, they also have the courage to perish together with others, there is no doubt about that. They can fight their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood and finally become emperors, they definitely have that kind of courage.

However, this did not frighten Zhang Haoran. He sneered and said, "Heh!"
You want to drag me down with you? You're not qualified!

Even if this place collapses, I won't die.

Look what this is!

He flipped his hand and took out a simple, ancient-looking small tripod.

The small cauldron spun rapidly above my palm, creating ripples in the air.

He said proudly, "This is a top-tier spatial artifact!"

Although I can't stop this space from collapsing, I can still open a spatial passage to send me back to the previous level.

These thirteen levels are the cornerstones that maintain the stability of this small world. Even if they collapse, they will recover quickly and will not truly disappear.

Laozi could have waited until this place was restored before returning to learn the Returning to Origin Technique from the newly appeared Southern Emperor.

"As long as I have these coordinates, I can come and go as many times as I want."

Actually, he was just trying to scare the Southern Emperor. He had learned from the Northern Emperor that returning to a checkpoint that had already been passed would result in punishment.

The specific punishment is still unknown; it might be a severe beating from the Great Dao, or it might be direct expulsion.

If it were the former punishment, it would be fine. The Great Dao Thunder here is nothing special, and he can withstand it completely. He might even be able to take the opportunity to cultivate the Undying Body.

If he were to be expelled directly, his losses would be too great. He had not yet learned the Returning Origin Technique, nor the method of the Overlord Emperor for forging the Jade Bone a second time. He did not want to leave the boundary.

Now we can only gamble once, betting that the Southern Emperor has just regained his senses and will not be willing to disappear, especially since we cannot take him down with us.

Even if you lose the bet, it doesn't matter. There's still a spatial passage inside the Wanyuan Palace. We can just try again. There's still a chance!

Zhang Haoran can afford to lose, but the Southern Emperor cannot.

Upon seeing the small cauldron, his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in horror, "This is... the Myriad Realms Cauldron!"

"How did this divine artifact end up in your hands?"

The Southern Emperor's exclusive artifact, the Desolate Hammer, also possesses some spatial attributes, but that artifact focuses more on attack.

The Desolate Hammer is a blunt weapon-type divine weapon weighing 90,000 jin, which causes spatial tremors when it is used.

Because of this exclusive artifact, the Southern Emperor also had some understanding of spatial power, which is why he said those words earlier, believing that the opponent would inevitably perish if the barrier collapsed.

The Southern Emperor was merely a projection. He felt it was a fair sacrifice to perish together with a peerless genius, which is why he remained unthreatened.

However, now that they possess a top-tier spatial artifact, that's a different story. The Myriad Realms Cauldron's function is to suppress and connect.

Just as Zhang Haoran said, he could have used the Myriad Realms Cauldron to suppress the space when it collapsed, temporarily stabilizing the space and taking the opportunity to open a passage back to the previous level to hide for a while, and then come back when this level was restored.

At that time, another projection of the Southern Emperor will appear here, and he can come back to learn the Returning Origin Technique.

The newly appeared projection has no memory, no thoughts, and is a tool that completely follows the rules. As long as you pass the level according to the rules, you can get rewards. It is not difficult to learn the Return to Origin Technique.

If he couldn't take the other person down with him, then he would have died in vain, and he was not willing to accept that.

The Southern Emperor quickly sorted out his thoughts and recognized reality. He knew he could not persist any longer and had to compromise.

"you win!"

His voice was a little hoarse as he said, "I really don't know what the main body did in the outside world to make you so murderous towards the emperor, not even willing to let go of a projection."

This is clearly still a ploy to elicit information, an attempt to find out the true state of affairs in the Three Realms.

Zhang Haoran remained silent, smiling, not wanting this old silver coin to know so much.

These old guys are all very cunning. They can deduce a lot from just a little bit of information. If they knew the true situation of the Three Realms, they might cause some trouble. Since the other party has already compromised, we can't afford to create any more problems.

Let's master the Returning to Origin Technique first.

The Southern Emperor also saw through his attitude and did not continue to ask questions. He returned to the previous futon, sat down cross-legged, and prepared to circulate the Returning to Origin Technique.

Although he has compromised, his pride as an emperor remains.

He said calmly, "My Returning to Origin Technique is probably second only to the Eastern Emperor in the Three Realms."

The deviation should be minimal for the Eastern Emperor's power returning to its origin; the next best is myself.

The Southern Emperor's unique characteristics are the least obvious, but he is not a waste either. If he were truly a waste, he would not have been able to cultivate to the level of an emperor.

His Returning to Origin Technique can be said to be the most top-tier cultivation method in the Three Realms. It is not for increasing combat power, but for enabling martial artists to develop in a more balanced way.

Zhang Haoran nodded. He was well aware of the powerful effects of the Southern Emperor's Return to Origin Technique; otherwise, he wouldn't have risked turning against the other party to threaten them.

Seeing that he only nodded and did not ask for details, the Southern Emperor felt a little resentful and took the initiative to explain like a salesman: "The so-called Returning to Origin Technique is a way of balance."

When martial artists are training, their qi and blood and mental energy will inevitably deviate.

The Return to Origin Technique can balance this deviation, thereby generating a more powerful Force.

Given your current state, you're likely sacrificing your vital energy to enhance your mental strength.

Zhang Haoran nodded again, but this time his brows were furrowed tightly.

To be honest, he doesn't need to improve his mental strength. His mental strength has been tempered by the sword soul, making it far stronger than that of ordinary martial artists, which is why it seems so little.

In battle, the main factor is who can unleash the strongest burst of energy; mental strength can only play a supporting role.

Of course, there are also powerful individuals who make good use of their mental strength, such as the Destroyer Emperor, but that is not the mainstream.

He now wants to improve his Qi and blood rather than his mental strength. It would definitely not work if he had to sacrifice his Qi and blood to improve his mental strength.

Zhang Haoran immediately asked, "Balancing qi and blood and mental energy also depends on the intensity, right?"
"If the strength of one's mental energy is high enough, then even if it's slightly less, can it still be converted into vital energy?" "Of course!"

When the Southern Emperor's research field was mentioned, he swept away his previous dejected look and regained his proud expression, saying seriously: "Qi and blood, spiritual power, and combat power are the same; you can't just look at the numbers."

It's not that one million calories of Qi and blood necessarily means stronger than eight thousand Hertz of mental power; it depends on the strength of both parties.

The Returning to Origin Technique balances not only quantity, but also energy levels, that is, the total energy.

If your mental strength is stronger, it can naturally be transformed into qi and blood.

The Southern Emperor changed the subject, saying with a gloating expression, "However, I can sense that your blood and qi are very strong. You haven't even forged your jade bones yet, but you've already undergone three qualitative changes. You should have reached the double ninth level when you were at the eighth rank. You really are a genius."

Although your mental strength is not weak, it is only at the same level as your Qi and blood.

If you use the Returning to Origin Technique, it should still convert your Qi and blood into spiritual power.

"So, young friend, are you still willing to learn the Returning to Origin Technique?"

After hearing these words, Zhang Haoran frowned even more. He had no intention of converting his blood and qi into spiritual power.

Seeing this scene, the Southern Emperor felt an indescribable sense of joy.

"You dare to threaten me? Even if you learned the Returning Origin Technique now, it wouldn't be of any use!"
Are you willing to transform your vital energy into spiritual power?

For martial artists, vital energy and blood are more important, as they represent strength.

Each breakthrough in cultivation level is determined by the flow of Qi and blood, rather than spiritual power.

Especially after reaching the eighth level, as long as your Qi and blood are strong enough to break through the void gate, even if your spiritual power is weak, you can still break through.

The reverse is not true; no matter how strong your mental power is, you cannot break through the void gate.

The Void Gate is formed by the laws of heaven and earth and is not afraid of spiritual attacks.

Among the thirteen powerful figures of the Nine Emperors and Four Sovereigns, only the Emperor of Destruction followed the path of spiritual power, and his strength was only ranked in the middle. This shows that martial artists should still focus on their qi and blood.

Zhang Haoran ignored the Southern Emperor's gloating and began to examine himself. This projection was too weak; it couldn't see through his current state at all.
In fact, his mental strength is higher than his blood energy, since his mental strength has been constantly tempered by sword intent and compressed at a very high rate, otherwise it wouldn't only be 15 Hz.

His current base Qi and Blood is 3000 million. If he were to use the Returning Origin Technique, as the Southern Emperor said, it would convert Qi and Blood into spiritual power. Conservatively speaking, he would have to reduce his Qi and Blood to 2500 million and raise his spiritual power to 20 Hertz to achieve balance.

However, Zhang Haoran was prepared for this and had not consumed a large amount of spiritual essence.

The spiritual power of the three clones has not yet been withdrawn.

If I withdraw the clone's mental energy now, I can immediately reach 200,000 Hz.

The clone's spiritual power is the same as the original body's, requiring no conversion and incurring no loss; it's essentially a backup energy source.

Most importantly, once mental strength breaks through 200,000 Hz, it will undergo another qualitative change.

The mental strength only underwent a qualitative change when breaking through to the pinnacle, and still has great potential.

This time it should reach full strength, meaning the power will double.

At that time, his mental strength was equivalent to 40 Hz, which was significantly higher than his blood and qi. When he used the Returning Origin Technique, he could convert his mental strength into blood and qi.

He possesses over a thousand spiritual essences, which he can replenish at any time if his spiritual power is insufficient.

Zhang Haoran felt relaxed, as long as he knew that the Returning Origin Technique wasn't just about quantity.

However, he maintained a worried expression on the surface, thinking to himself, "You want to see me make a fool of myself, huh? Well, just wait and see how you'll be humiliated!"

Seeing that his expression was getting worse and worse, the Southern Emperor was afraid that he would give up and think that the Returning Origin Technique was useless, so he would simply not learn it and destroy him and the pass together.

So he quickly said, "Although the Returning Origin Technique will cause a certain degree of decline in the strength of the dominant force."

However, the decline is not proportional.

The decrease was minimal, far less than the increase in mental strength.

In his judgment, Zhang Haoran was definitely going to transform his blood and qi into spiritual power.

To avoid incurring his wrath, he continued, "The power of my Returning to Origin Technique lies in..."

The first time you practice, the best results are achieved.

It is possible for a strange state to occur where one force does not decline, while the other force reaches a state of equilibrium.

At this point, the Southern Emperor said with a smug look, "Back then, even the other emperors found it amazing, and several supreme emperors also wanted to learn it..."

He suddenly stopped there, feeling a bit smug and having said too much, almost revealing the shortcomings of the Returning Origin Technique.

However, even if he didn't say it, Zhang Haoran knew that such a powerful technique couldn't possibly be without any limitations.

He knew that the Returning to Origin Technique did indeed possess such wondrous power, but whether it could trigger the best effect depended on luck.

Zhang Haoran said seriously, "I know this technique must have flaws, otherwise the Nine Emperors and Four Sovereigns of yesteryear would have all practiced it."

Especially those few supreme emperors, they should have already attained the Dao and become emperors.

My question is, how significant is this restriction?
If my mental strength reaches 200,000 Hz and undergoes another qualitative change, will the Returning to Origin Technique still be effective?

"no problem!"

The Southern Emperor replied just as earnestly, “As long as you haven’t attained enlightenment, my Returning to Origin Technique will be effective, and without any discount. It won’t consume too much of your Qi and blood during the first use.”

Proving the Way is not a transformation in power, but a sublimation.

The four supreme emperors of that time were no less powerful than us.

Extreme Dao Emperors like Zhan Tiandi and Dou Tiandi, whose strength surpasses even the vast majority of emperors.

After attaining enlightenment, the increase in strength is not obvious; it is a leap in the level of life.

To give a simple example, three Supreme Heavenly Emperors perished in a great battle back then, but what about the Emperors? Even the weakest Spirit Emperor did not fall.

Why is that?
It's not that the emperors are stronger, but rather that they are harder to kill. The Dao Fruits that fall into the Origin Land can merge with the laws, giving the emperors more ways to protect themselves.

The Supreme Heavenly Emperor did not condense a Dao Fruit; he was simply powerful in terms of raw strength.

Another very important point is lifespan!

After reaching the Emperor level, the lifespan of the Supreme Heavenly Emperor does not increase much. In essence, he is still at the same level as you, only with greater power. He has not undergone a life leap.

Sometimes, it's not just about strength; one's level of understanding and experience is also crucial.

This is actually easy to understand. A powerful seventh-grade grandmaster might be able to kill an eighth-grade golden-body expert, but he would definitely not survive.

Before forging a golden body, no matter how powerful a martial artist is, they are still just a mortal with a physical body, and their lifespan is far shorter than that of a golden body expert. The two are not considered to be on the same level of life.

(End of this chapter)