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*****
Having clarified the essence of the virtual acupoints, Su Wen now had a clear direction for developing the third tier of his cultivation technique, and his progress was remarkably swift.
In fact, among the many high-level cultivation techniques he had read within the Boundless Palace, there were already numerous techniques regarding the utilization of virtual acupoints. The higher the tier of the technique, the greater the need for virtual acupoints. This was because from the second stage of Heavenly Energy--the Heavenly God Energy stage--a Heavenly Jewel Master's cultivation became inseparable from the spiritual attribute.
Even if a cultivator did not inherently possess the spiritual attribute, there would still be some spiritual component within their Heavenly Energy to some extent.
The influence of virtual acupoints on Heavenly Energy was subtle and subconscious, playing a crucial role in a Heavenly Jewel Master's advancement to Heavenly Void Energy and eventually Heavenly Dao Energy.
If the study of physical acupoints was the focus of the vast majority of Heavenly Jewel Masters at the Heavenly Essence Energy stage--who used their sheer numbers to thoroughly research most physical acupoint techniques--then the study of virtual acupoints was the focus of high-level Heavenly Jewel Masters. While high-level Heavenly Jewel Masters were fewer in number, they were far more proficient. In terms of research value, one could easily match two or three ordinary masters, and a master at the Heavenly Dao Energy stage could even match dozens or hundreds of ordinary Heavenly Jewel Masters.
By drawing on numerous cultivation techniques, Su Wen quickly grasped the usage of virtual acupoints.
The third tier of his cultivation technique was also rapidly reaching completion.
Unfortunately, only half a month had passed, and Su Wen had not yet completely perfected it.
At this point, he had no choice but to come out of seclusion.
This was because the finals of the Heavenly Jewel Tournament were about to be decided.
At the same time, the envoys from the four Great Sacred Lands were returning.
Indeed, for the sake of constructing the Academy, these envoys had not even stayed on Heavenly Jewel Island to watch the finals of the tournament. Instead, they had rushed back to their respective Sacred Lands the moment the terms of cooperation were settled.
Traveling back and forth across half the continent in half a month was an incredibly exaggerated speed.
Even for a Heavenly Emperor, achieving such speed required using secret techniques to stimulate their energy and traveling at absolute full capacity.
Back then, when Su Wen took Tang Xian from the Heavenly Bow Empire to the border of the Zhongtian Empire, it had taken them a full month, and traveling from the border of the Zhongtian Empire to Heavenly Jewel Island took another month.
Of course, a factor in that was that they weren't traveling at maximum speed, but the primary reason was the frequent stops.
Su Wen needed to travel and experience the continent. Although his official journey had not yet truly begun, since there was no urgency, he didn't mind taking in the sights of the Boundless Continent along the way from the Heavenly Bow Empire to the Zhongtian Empire.
During the second half of the journey, Shangguan Tianyue and Tang Xian had stopped even more frequently to repair their relationship, naturally consuming much more time.
Strictly speaking, if he had truly traveled at full speed without making any stops along the way, it would have taken Su Wen no more than ten days to get from the Heavenly Bow Empire to Heavenly Jewel Island.
As for truly pushing his body to its absolute limits and bursting forward with everything he had?
Five days would be more than enough.
However, the distance from the four Great Sacred Lands to Heavenly Jewel Island was even greater.
After all, the five Great Sacred Lands had chosen the five most unique geographic locations on the Boundless Continent. The Boundless Palace occupied the center, while the other four Sacred Lands were situated at the four corners of the continent.
This meant that traveling from any of the Sacred Lands to Zhongtian City essentially required crossing half the continent.
A round trip was equivalent to crossing an entire continent.
Even for a Heavenly Emperor, it was quite exhausting.
Yet, this was of no concern to the four envoys.
No, to be precise, there were now eight envoys.
The four Great Sacred Lands had each sent an additional powerhouse.
The Passion Valley had simply swapped out their representatives. Yun Ruoyu did not return; instead, a married couple came in her place. The husband and wife mastered a combined attack technique, and the power they could unleash by cooperating far exceeded the combined strength of two ordinary Heavenly Emperors.
The Blood Red Hell had sent an additional elderly man, a high-level Heavenly Emperor, which meant he was at the seventh tier of Heavenly Dao Energy!
The Heavenly Demon Sect had also deployed a high-level Heavenly Emperor powerhouse, who was likewise entirely shrouded in a black robe, making their identity difficult to discern.
As for the Snow God Mountain, this time Tiger King Xue Aoying arrived alongside another figure--Lion King Gushite.
Lion King Gushite was also a high-level Heavenly Emperor powerhouse and the patriarch of the Lion Men tribe. Of course, what made him familiar to Su Wen was his other identity: he was the father of the Lion-heart Prince, Gu Yingbing. And Prince Gu Yingbing happened to be the one betrothed to Tian'er, the only daughter of Xue Aotian, the Lord of Snow God Mountain.
Only two tribes had the hope of inheriting the position of the Lord of Snow God Mountain: the kings of the Sacred Heavenly Ice Tiger tribe and the Sacred Earthly Divine Lion tribe. It was only because the Lords of the past few generations had all come from the Sacred Heavenly Ice Tiger tribe that the Sacred Earthly Divine Lion tribe appeared somewhat less prominent.
In reality, however, the reputation of the Sacred Earthly Divine Lion was by no means low. It was just that people had gradually forgotten their right to inherit the leadership of Snow God Mountain.
Between the two great tribes, whichever one inherited the position of the Lord of Snow God Mountain, the other would inherit the position of ruler of the Myriad Beast Empire.
It had always been this way.
Of the two great tribes, the direct bloodline of the Sacred Heavenly Ice Tiger inherited three attributes--Divine, Light, and Water. The direct bloodline of the Sacred Earthly Divine Lion inherited Divine, Light, and Fire. From this, one could see how uniquely blessed by heaven they were, and likewise, how close the relationship between the two tribes was.
Of course, the Saint attribute would only appear on an Alexandrite Cat's Eye, so those three attributes were merely the ones guaranteed to be inherited. On top of that foundation, the direct bloodline of both tribes could also awaken one additional attribute.
Only a select few could awaken the other Saint attribute: Spirit.
Tian'er was the one who had awakened two Saint attributes.
Gu Yingbing also seemed to have awakened the spiritual attribute.
Noticing Su Wen's gaze, Lion King Gushite narrowed his eyes slightly.
He sensed that Su Wen seemed to have something else he wanted to say to him. He noted this in his heart, intending to inquire about it once they finished discussing official business.
Seeing the shift in the Lion King's expression, Su Wen stopped dropping hints and got straight to the point.
"Everyone, you have presumably returned to your respective Sacred Lands and verified the Skill Storing Encyclopedia. There shouldn't be any changes to the terms of our cooperation, correct?"
In reality, how could there not be changes?
Negotiating initial terms, returning to their respective Sacred Lands to hold meetings, and then coming back would inevitably result in them pushing for better conditions.
This was human nature.
It was unavoidable.
Sending additional personnel was also a way to apply pressure.
However, with Long Shiya present to hold down the fort, coupled with the three Shangguan brothers unconsciously favoring Su Wen's side, even though the terms had shifted slightly, the impact on Su Wen was negligible.
"Master Wen, our Sacred Lands have already begun constructing the Academies, and we have ordered the major cities of our subordinate empires to do the same. We expect everything to be fully established within a month," the man from Passion Valley spoke up.
Su Wen nodded.
Even though the terms had been altered, the four Great Sacred Lands had already recognized this cooperation and had begun the construction work early on.
"Everyone, here is the deposit."
With a wave of his hand, Su Wen distributed the Skill Storing Encyclopedias he had prepared beforehand to the eight powerhouses.
"For our future cooperation, my Academy will provide a certain quota of Skill Storing Encyclopedias to the five Great Sacred Lands every year. However, I actually hope the five Great Sacred Lands will use other methods to exchange for my Skill Storing Encyclopedias. For instance, any information or theories that are beneficial to the development of the Heavenly Jewel Master community will be gladly accepted."
Su Wen looked at the eight envoys, his gaze also sweeping past the three Shangguan brothers.
"With that, I, Su Wen, would like to thank you all in advance."