Chapter 854 854 - Still Not Enough

At that point, Aiden's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the elderly uncle's words.

Legend has it that the secret to the Ultimate Martial Knight realm is hidden within the Ancient One's Palace!

He asked hurriedly. "Senior, may I ask, how does one unlock the secret and break into the Extreme Martial Knight realm?"

Martial Knight realm was an extremely important step in one's path of martial and how stable their roots were would decide their future accomplishments! Before one would start to break their own mortal shackles it was best to maximize their gains!

The mysterious old man replied. "The peak represents the extreme and if one wants to unlock the last stage, their internal energy would have to be extremely pure without the slightest bit of impurity! I've checked through your spirit energy. It's very pure and that's quite seldom."

Pondering for a moment, Aiden remarked. "Senior, up to this point of my journey, I've rarely consumed any elixirs and even for those that I consume, they were at perfect-grade. I think it should have something to do with that."

Apart from perfect-grade elixirs that were mostly lost to time, every other grade of elixir possessed impurities.

Long term consumption would result in consolidation of those impurities. Although they would not have a significant impact on a martial artist's combat strength, it would impede the possibility of them unlocking their ninth spirit meridian.

"Elixirs are only part of the equation."

The mysterious old man shook his head. "In the world, there are many sects and factions with rich heritages and immense foundations. It's not rare for them to provide perfect-grade elixirs for the paragons in their sects with the most potential. However, even while meditating and absorbing the spiritual energy, there's no way to avoid the existence of impurities."

"While meditating?" Aiden frowned slightly.

The mysterious old man explained. "The mortals consume food which would turn into feces upon digestion, creating impure energy as well as filth in the process. Therefore, at a certain point of their journey, they lose some essence of their purity, their essence gradually becomes tainted."

Aiden nodded at this.

This was normal, nobody could avoid such a matter. Every living being needs some form of nourishment from time to time.

It was said that after shedding one's mortal coil and entering the ranks of the true divine realm stepping through the hurdle of a quasi-divine entity, martial artists could live without consuming food and merely take in dew and the essence of the universe to survive, soaring through the skies and riding the clouds.

In fact, they could even scour the world and explore the four oceans and eight desolates with a single thought.

The mysterious old man continued. "Similar to mortal food, spiritual energy would inevitably contain impurities upon absorption to one's core. That is… unless the person was in possession of an utmost treasure that could help them purify the spiritual energy!"

At that point, he gave a meaningful look at Aiden's right hand.

Suddenly, Aiden gave off a gradual look of realization as he recalled how the world's energy entered his body while he was meditating inside his room at the inn in Ugburg back then.

Back then, spiritual energy slowly, gradually seeped into his body and slowly flowed towards the Primal Core inside his body.

Before entering the Ancient One's Palace, the few Guardian Elders also seemed to be highly interested in his body after witnessing some of its secrets.

If that was true, it would explain many things.

After entering into his Primal Core, the tainted spiritual energy would then be purified by its mysterious origins, incinerating all impurities and allowing him to only take in the purest spiritual energy.

Back then, he had just mastered this world's energy system and was just able to reach the initial stages in his martial journey.

Of course, from the beginning till now, Aiden had never released the true powers of his real origins. He wasn't even sure what would happen if the Ancient One would recognize the scent and energy signature then.

At the battle beneath the Ancient One's Palace, the terror of his heritage had only revealed itself for a brief moment after absorbing the Martial Grandmaster's true essence before returning to normal.

The mysterious old man said with a hint of lament. "Though I am not certain, your body holds secrets that go beyond the understanding of this world. That uncanny strength and indomitable spirit as well as your seemingly limitless stamina are the utmost rare treasure of the world. Whoever or whatever encounter you had that changed your fate… must have exerted a lot of effort."

At this point, Aiden was finally certain that his race was not known to the residents of this world… Which was somewhat surprising to be honest.

"Young man, if you are smart, you should have realized that you must not reveal the truth about your body again after leaving this place. Otherwise, you are definitely bound to die!"

The mysterious old man said with a stern expression, "Even the mighty figures and patriarchs of the mortal races would be tempted to make a move for that body of yours!"

Aiden nodded.

Thankfully, he changed his appearance and hid his identity beneath the Ancient One's Palace.

Otherwise, he would definitely be hunted upon being discovered!

A man's talent would often arouse the greed of others.

"There is also an extremely strict requirement for one's core essence if they want to reach the Extreme Martial Knight realm. Regarding that, you have no issue I presume."

After a brief pause, the mysterious old man looked at Aiden deeply once more, "There are only that few types of utmost, so called Ultimate Treasures in the world. Someone has really spared no expenses in trying to pave your path forward by leaving you with such a secret! Even more that you were gifted not one, but two treasures as it seems!"

"Ah!"

Aiden was shocked.

Before he arrived in this world, the Masked Mistress had also hinted at something. Though at the time he didn't know what it was, nor did he place too much attention to it, being reminded again raised his awareness to the matter.

What could they be both talking about?

What could be the last secret that he didn't know about himself?

Through the mysterious old man's words, it seemed like the second utmost treasure had something to do with his own internal power as well. Something that was assisting during his power ups? Or perhaps a someone…?

Aiden could not help but ask. "What's the second ultimate treasure?"

"Even if I explain it to you, it's no use for you because your martial realm isn't there yet. Perhaps one day in the future, you might be able to see it for yourself." The mysterious old man shook his head.

Aiden did not press on, feeling slightly disappointed.

The mysterious old man continued. "The Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual expends a lot of one's spirit energy and it can only be released with an Extreme Martial Knight realm. Not only that, the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual requires a lot from the physique of a martial artist!"

"Although you're only conjuring the phantom of a divine dragon, it still possesses the true might of a dragon. Extremely terrifying, it overrides all living beings. An ordinary body wouldn't be able to withstand the might of the dragon and even ancient remnant beasts would explode into a blood mist!"

"Since you're someone who does go against the norms of this mortal world, your physique is alarming and is enough to withstand the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual!"

Aiden was not surprised that the mysterious old man could read his background like a book.

However, what surprised Aiden was the mysterious old man's attitude towards the matter.

If the various major sects of this scorched realm were to know what he was doing and what his secrets were, they would definitely regard him as a despicable outcast and kill him.

However, the mysterious old man was indifferent towards the issue.

Waving it off with his hand, the mysterious old man said. "There's less than half a year left. Stay here and cultivate for now. You don't have to force yourself even if you don't succeed. Do not worry, time flows here differently than on the outside."

"Alright."

Aiden nodded and strode to the lakeside without hesitation, sitting down to glance through the page of the manual he had just acquired.

Every single word in the manual possessed a mysterious might. Even with Aiden's powerful eyes, he had to take a rest every now and then.

He could only continue reading after closing his eyes for a short break.

When he was thirsty, Aiden would drink from the lake. When he was hungry, he would catch a fish for food. Other than that, the rest of his time was spent on cultivating the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual.

Just like that, five months passed in the blink of an eye.

​ This day, as it was close to the end of the year in the ancient battlefield, the mysterious old man appeared and was about to inform Aiden who was at the lakeside.

All of a sudden!

A change happened to Aiden's aura!

A terrifying might descended at the lakeside, shocking the masses!