Chapter 72: Fifteen Trillion Merits

"Shi Ying does not possess the Divine Elephant bloodline—how, then, did he succeed in cultivating to the second layer?"

Frowning as he gazed at the second layer of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art, Lu Sheng quickly pondered this problem.

Shi Ying possessed a strength exceeding sixty thousand catties, roughly equal to the might of five elephants. According to the teachings of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art, such power could only be attained at the fifth layer.

Clearly, he had found some way to bypass the bloodline restrictions of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art!

"The White Jade Treasure Elephant!"

"It must be that fourth-tier White Jade Treasure Elephant!"

"Shi Ying formed a sharing pact with the beast, obtaining a trace of its essence—"

"Thus, even without the Divine Elephant bloodline, he mastered the Divine Elephant Mighty Art!"

Recalling how he had so easily slain the White Jade Treasure Elephant with the Heavenly Annihilation Array, Lu Sheng swiftly deduced the truth—

Within Shi Ying’s body, there must be the origin of the White Jade Treasure Elephant, standing in for the bloodline and enabling the cultivation of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art.

"So-called Divine Elephant bloodline does not refer solely to the bloodline of the Divine Elephants that can leap beyond the River of Fate—"

"It encompasses all elephant bloodlines!"

"The founder of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art believed that every elephant bloodline in the world ultimately traces back to the Divine Elephant."

"Moreover, depending on the concentration of bloodline, the strength acquired from cultivating the Divine Elephant Mighty Art varies!"

---

At the Martial Master level, those who train in the Divine Elephant Mighty Art gain the strength of one elephant upon reaching the first layer—equal in might to an ordinary martial master.

With the Divine Elephant bloodline, after further tempering, one can reach the second layer, wielding the strength of two elephants—more than double the power of a typical martial master.

For most, this is the limit. But for a rare few with exceptionally strong bloodlines—

They can further temper their bodies and attain the third layer, wielding the strength of three elephants.

This is the pinnacle of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art at the Martial Master stage.

Compared to the highest level martial masters, who may possess up to thirty thousand catties of strength, those who reach the second or third layer of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art can already match them in pure might.

Furthermore, at the Grand Martial Master stage, the Divine Elephant Mighty Art still offers three more layers, allowing one to gain up to three additional elephants’ strength.

Take Shi Ying, for example—after attaining the fifth layer of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art and possessing the strength of five elephants, his power surpassed even ordinary Martial Lords.

Little wonder that soon after becoming a Grand Martial Master, he quickly ascended the Earth Ranking, becoming one of the foremost figures beneath the Martial Lord level!

However, the lower the cultivation, the more pronounced the advantage of bloodline becomes. Once one reaches the Martial Lord stage, the advantage of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art wanes.

---

First, because at the Martial Lord stage, strength alone is no longer the decisive factor in cultivation or combat.

Second, because Martial Lords, after reaching the level of communion with the heavens and earth, constantly absorb vital energy to temper their bodies.

No matter how weak their strength before, upon reaching Martial Lord perfection, most will possess around one hundred thousand catties of strength—

And this is a level of power only those with the Divine Elephant bloodline at the eighth layer of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art can achieve.

In other words, unless one’s bloodline is sufficiently pure to reach the ninth layer—

A cultivator of this art will lose any advantage in strength compared to other Martial Lords!

For a technique whose foundation is raw power, this is an unacceptable outcome.

Though the Divine Elephant Mighty Art includes ninth and tenth layers at the Martial Lord level, granting the strength of nine and ten elephants respectively,

These layers demand an exceedingly potent bloodline.

Beyond the tenth layer, only those who have refined the true blood of the Divine Elephant can continue—

Even in ancient times, few ever reached that stage.

For this reason, the foundational methods of the Divine Elephant Mighty Art—being easy to enter and impressively powerful—have long been widespread in the Western Regions.

Its higher-level methods, however, have gradually faded into obscurity.

The reason lies not only in the dwindling numbers with the Divine Elephant bloodline but also in the increasing difficulty of cultivation and the diminishing advantages at advanced stages.

Compared with the various arts that have constantly been refined and innovated over the past millennium, this time-honored tradition—

Has long since fallen behind the present era!

---

"Shi Ying has no Divine Elephant bloodline; he must have obtained a trace of the White Jade Treasure Elephant’s essence after acquiring its innate ability—"

"With this essence, he succeeded in mastering the Divine Elephant Mighty Art!"

Lu Sheng contemplated.

No matter how miraculous, bloodline is ultimately a part of the body's origin; with the right methods, it can naturally be substituted.

It appeared Shi Ying, under the guidance of the Heart Fox King, not only formed a pact with the White Jade Treasure Elephant to obtain a trace of its essence,

But also used some special means to activate it, thereby replacing the Divine Elephant bloodline required to cultivate the art.

His rapid progress to the fifth layer, acquiring the strength of five elephants, was most likely due to absorbing the essence of that fourth-tier White Jade Treasure Elephant.

"So this is largely the secret behind Shi Ying’s strength!"

---

"However, though I can deduce the method, I cannot imitate it."

"After all, Shi Ying received the Heart Fox King’s aid to acquire the White Jade Treasure Elephant’s innate ability and a trace of its origin."

"I lack such fortunate circumstances—"

"Nor could I act so!"

Lu Sheng reflected.

Although he could extract the White Jade Treasure Elephant’s origin from its corpse and expend merit to fuse it into himself,

His own Innate Wish-fulfilling Dao Body contains a primordial essence far more potent and profound, granting the potential to emulate the origins of all beings.

To forcibly fuse another essence and risk damaging his own primordial Dao source is not something Lu Sheng would ever consider.

When he reaches the appropriate cultivation, he will naturally manifest the Divine Elephant’s origin and master the Divine Elephant Mighty Art!

---

"Although the Divine Elephant Mighty Art has its unique strengths for cultivating physical power, it cannot compare to the Hunyuan Art left by Emperor Jing."

"Moreover, this technique was derived from the Dao resonance within the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Diagram—"

"I can fully integrate this resonance with the Mighty Force Technique to create my own version!"

"Perhaps even evolve the Mighty Force Technique into a true divine power!"

As for the true strength of the Divine Elephant, Lu Sheng could not say.

Yet, since it could transcend the River of Fate, its abilities must have been extraordinary—

Whatever he derived from it would certainly qualify as a divine power in its own right.

With this in mind, Lu Sheng decided to bypass the Divine Elephant Mighty Art and first attempt to merge the Mighty Force Technique with the patterns from the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Diagram.

He asked within his mind,

"Ruyi, how much merit would it cost to extract the power-related Dao resonance from the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Diagram and merge it into the Mighty Force Technique?"

Perhaps the calculation was complex, for Ruyi did not answer at once.

After a long wait, Lu Sheng finally received the reply he sought:

"Fifteen trillion, sixty-two billion, three hundred forty-six million, eight hundred seven thousand, two hundred merit points!"