After hearing Elder Lion's words,
The Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield and the Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash were strikingly similar—anyone could see that the two must share some kind of connection.
If the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield was an incomplete volume, could the complete version be related to the Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash? Or perhaps both the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield and the Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash were incomplete fragments, and only by combining them would one obtain the full version?
"I never imagined the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield had such a history, but I still want to try," Chu Feng said.
"Young friend Chu Feng, I advise you to reconsider. Even if you master the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield, it won't have much practical use. Rather than wasting all that time, you'd be better off cultivating a martial art more suited to you." Elder Lion advised patiently—he genuinely had Chu Feng's best interests at heart and feared the young man would follow in the footsteps of those predecessors who had failed.
"Elder Lion, I appreciate your concern, but I truly want to give it a try. I hope Elder Lion will grant me this."
Chu Feng firmly believed that the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield and the Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash were connected in some way, so he naturally would not pass up this opportunity.
The power of a Heaven-tier Forbidden Martial Art was something anyone would want, and Chu Feng was no exception.
"Sigh, very well then. I won't stand in your way." Seeing Chu Feng's resolve, Elder Lion let out a sigh, but moments later he picked up the martial art manual. He didn't hand it over directly, though.
First, he set up a special unlocking array and applied it to the manual, breaking through the hidden barrier upon its surface. Only after that did he pass it to Chu Feng.
Chu Feng accepted the forbidden martial art. With a thought, a torrent of information began flowing from the forbidden manual into his mind.
"This martial art..." However, once the entirety of the forbidden martial art's contents had entered Chu Feng's mind, even he furrowed his brow slightly.
He had discovered that the cultivation method for this forbidden martial art was truly peculiar. It seemed to genuinely be missing something. In any case, its difficulty far exceeded that of the Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash—it was without question the hardest forbidden martial art Chu Feng had ever encountered.
That explained why generation after generation of predecessors at the Azure Wood Mountain had failed to cultivate it, and even those who had succeeded had burned through enormous amounts of time and energy.
Even for Chu Feng, cultivating this martial art would demand considerable effort and time. It was genuinely difficult.
"Chu Feng, this martial art is truly hard to master. But since you insist, I won't try to stop you. I can, however, give you a tip that may help."
"The truth is, so many predecessors over the years have attempted this martial art and distilled a method for it. This martial art is actually connected to something within our Azure Wood Mountain. To cultivate it, you must go through that very thing—and you've already had contact with it before," Elder Lion said.
"I've had contact with it? This junior is slow-witted and doesn't know what Elder is referring to. Could you please clarify?" Chu Feng genuinely could not recall ever encountering anything related to the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield.
"The Cangming Herb," Elder Lion said.
"The Cangming Herb?" Chu Feng was startled.
He certainly knew of the Cangming Herb. He had even wondered at one point whether the Cangming Herb might share some special connection with his Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash, given how similar their names were.
But after careful study, Chu Feng had found nothing unusual about the Cangming Herb at all—let alone any link to the Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash.
"In your eyes, the Cangming Herb must seem like an ordinary herb."
"But that's not the case. The Cangming Herb contains Cangming Qi. This Cangming Qi is excellent for refining pills and can even be used in crafting weapons. However, the Cangming Qi can only be revealed after a refinement process—without refinement, it's completely undetectable."
"Aren't you close with
"Thank you for the tip, Elder Lion. You've truly been of enormous help." Chu Feng's gratitude was sincere—had Elder Lion not pointed it out, he would never have guessed that the Cangming Herb was connected to the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield.
And in that moment, Chu Feng became even more certain that the Earth Forbidden Cangming Shield and his Earth Forbidden Cangming Slash must share a profound connection.
Because if nothing else, Cangming Qi was something Chu Feng knew all too well.