Realizer of Death : The Reaper

"This is?" Tenku looked at Wang Haotian and asked. Even though he could already guess what book it was, he still had to ask to be sure.

"As you can read from the cover, that book is the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra. It was a practice from the Wang family and one of the Sovereign Cultivation Set." Wang Haotian replied.

"Sovereign Cultivation set? Didn't you tell me it only has three practices? Then why is there a fourth now?" Tenku looked at Wang Haotian and then Wang Hongli questionably. He pretended to be confused after hearing about it.

"I didn't tell the truth at that time, brat. The Sovereign Cultivation Set did have four books, but one was forbidden to practice because it was too difficult and dangerous. Not a single disciple of the Wang family had managed to learn it until now. Because of that, I'm telling you that the Sovereign Cultivation Set only has three books." Wang Haotian explained.

Tenku frowned when he heard Wang Haotian's words. What his master said was the same as what he knew from the Gu family and Wang Jun.

"If this practice is forbidden, why are you giving it to me as a gift? Didn't you say it was very difficult to learn and dangerous?" Tenku added another question. He wanted to know why the Wang family patriarch gave him the fourth book.

"That is..." Wang Haotian intended to answer Tenku's question, but Wang Hongli interrupted him.

"Let me explain that to him." Wang Hongli walked over to them.

"Alright." Wang Haotian looked at Wang Hongli and nodded.

"First, I apologize for misjudging you when we first met. Originally I was reluctant to let you participate in the martial arts competition because I felt that your cultivation base was low and your battle experience was lacking. You must know that this competition is very important to the Wang family, so we can't just randomly register someone.

But then you gradually showed your power and surprised us in your matches. Moreover, you also managed to learn the three practices from the Wang family." Wang Hongli stopped his words and looked at Tenku intently. Then he continued his explanation.

"After knowing about it, I suddenly thought of something. If there's anyone who can cultivate the fourth book of the Sovereign Cultivation Set, it's you. I discussed this matter with your master and third elder. When they heard this, they immediately agreed.

If it's you, then you should be able to cultivate the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra. I wonder if the stories I heard from my ancestors are true." Wang Hongli said his true purpose was to give the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra to Tenku.

He wanted to confirm the truth of his ancestor's words with his eyes. Was a cultivator able to gain extraordinary powers after cultivating those four books, or were those stories nonsense? He would find out after Tenku practiced the book.

"Are you sure you are not mistaken in giving this book to me, patriarch? I did manage to learn the three practices from the Wang family, but it was something I could do by luck. Isn't this practice very difficult and dangerous? I'm afraid that with my level of understanding, I won't be able to live up to your expectations." Tenku said.

Even though he wanted to learn the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra, Tenku doubted that he could practice after discovering that none of the Wang family's disciples could do it.

"You don't need to be humble in front of me. I am very familiar with the three practices of the Wang family and know the requirements for learning them. One of the books required a very high level of comprehension, but you managed to learn it.

It shows that your intelligence far surpasses other young cultivators. So I'm sure that you can practice it. This time I will not go wrong with my judgment." Wang Hongli said confidently.

Tenku fell silent when he heard his words. What Wang Hongli said did make sense. No one could learn the fourth book if he couldn't practice it.

He knew Wang Hongli wanted to confirm the truth about the Sovereign Cultivation Set. If Tenku gained extraordinary power after successfully practicing the four books, Wang Hongli would put much effort into learning them. Tenku was sure that such great power would make him jealous.

Wang Hongli might become another Gu Tianba. But Tenku doesn't care about that as long as he can get stronger. He can destroy his opponent and whatever their conspiracy with absolute power.

"Alright. I will accept this book and try to train it. I hope that I can learn it and not disappoint the patriarch as well as my master. But before that, can you explain a little about this book? Why is this practice so difficult and dangerous and makes it forbidden for the disciples of the Wang family?" Tenku asked seriously.

"If you saw the words on the cover, you should know about the book already. It is a practice to increase spiritual power. Do you know what spiritual power is?" Wang Hongli looked at Tenku and asked. He had to make sure that the boy knew what he was going to practice.

"Spiritual power? I only know that it has to do with the soul. Other than that, I don't know anymore." Tenku replied.

"You are right. Spiritual strength is closely related to the soul. Normally, a human has the quantity and quality of spiritual power since birth and can change the amount as they age. But it will be slow and insignificant. The greater the amount of spiritual power they had, the sharper their senses would be.

They would feel terrible pain if they tried to increase it forcibly, and their souls might be injured. It is very dangerous for a cultivator." Wang Hongli stopped his words and returned to his seat. He drank the tea on the table to clear his throat and then continued his explanation.

"When a practitioner's soul is injured, they cannot use Qi properly, and their body will weaken. Moreover, their cultivation base would have no progress and even decline with time until it disappeared completely and became an ordinary people.

Worst of all, they would lose consciousness and fall into a coma for a long time before the wounds on their souls healed. Because of this, the Wang family's ancestors thought this practice was extremely difficult and dangerous. How? Are you sure you can train it?" Wang Hongli smiled and drank his tea again.

Tenku did not directly answer Wang Hongli's question. He opened the book in his hands and turned the pages slowly. After that, Tenku closed it and looked at Wang Hongli.

"I'll try to train it. No, I can train it, patriarch!" Tenku said in determination.

Wang Hongli and Wang Haotian looked at each other and smiled.

"Good! Good! It's a copybook. So you can take it with you. Then you can return to your room now. " Wang Hongli laughed in satisfaction when he heard Tenku's words. He hoped that boy could practice the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra.

"Thank you, patriarch! In that case, I will take my leave now." Tenku clasped his hands and bowed to Wang Hongli and Wang Haotian. Then he quickly left the hall. After Tenku disappeared, Wang Hongli's face turned serious.

"Do you think he will be able to train it successfully?" Wang Hongli looked at Wang Haotian and asked.

"Of course, because he is my disciple." Wang Haotian answered without hesitation and grinned.

***

After Tenku returned to his room, he quickly sat cross-legged on his bed as he couldn't wait to practice the fourth book of the Sovereign Cultivation Set. When he read the book's first few pages, Tenku quickly understood the essence of the practice. The Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra was similar to the Tyrant King Body Tempering Art.

The Tyrant King Body Tempering Art was tempering a cultivator's body parts beyond the limits. In contrast, the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra forged was the soul, and the pain was many times more terrifying than the body tempering.

Tenku closed his eyes and started tempering his spiritual power. He could see dozens of light particles within his consciousness. Tenku quickly realized that it showed the amount of spiritual power he had. Although the quantity is not small, it is also not extraordinary. Tenku's spiritual power was only slightly more than the average cultivator of his age.

He began condensing his spiritual power and breaking it into smaller and more numerous particles than before, according to the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra instructions.

Once the particles are broken into small pieces, they will regenerate and become new independent particles. In this way, the amount of spiritual power will increase a lot. But doing it directly is not as easy as what is written in the book. Tenku suddenly stopped the practice and fell due to terrible pain in his head.

"Aaaaaaaarrggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!" Tenku roared in pain and rolled on his bed. Luckily, he had activated an array in his room to prevent outside distractions as the practice required extraordinary concentration.

"I can't lose to this pain!" Tenku gritted his teeth and tried to stabilize himself. After that, he repeats the practice.

Tenku compressed his spiritual power again and broke it into smaller particles. He repeated the process hundreds of times, and his practice finally paid off. Even so, the training was very painful for Tenku. His face was pale, sweat covering his entire body from the terrible pain.

After three hours, he finally stopped his practice because he no longer had the strength to continue. If he forced himself, it would injure his soul. Tenku could feel that his spiritual power had multiplied tens of times in just a short time. At first, there were only a dozen particles, and now it had turned into a pond.

Tenku opened his eyes, and a spiritual wave swept through the Wang family residence. He could see what the Wang family's disciples were doing, including Wang Ruyue and Wang Zeming. It showed that his senses had become sharper, and he had attained divine consciousness.

"According to this book, my spiritual power is now at the Pool stage." Tenku said with satisfaction and retract his divine consciousness. He didn't want his spiritual power to interfere with the cultivation of the Wang family's disciples.

The Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra divides a cultivator's spiritual power level into five stages:

Pool

River

Lake

Sea

Ocean

Tenku wanted to check what else he could do with spiritual power in the Pool stage, but he suddenly had a trance, and his eyes shone brightly. His body floated, and thousands of words appeared in his mind.

He tried to read it, but he was shaking violently after knowing that it was a powerful technique. It was so terrifying that he almost couldn't believe it if he didn't check it a few times. Then Tenku subconsciously uttered the technique's name.

"Heaven and Earth Ultimate Inversion."