“That technique is only known to Elders and certain others with the right bloodline to master it. Right now, no one can catalyze the thorns. Only the Patriarch has a Cultivation base sufficient enough to do so.” She slapped her bag of holding to produce a dried up seed.
“This is one of eight seeds. The Elders all have one, and the rest are with the Patriarch. None of us were ever able to succeed.”
“Catalyze?” said Meng Hao, his eyes glittering. He was about to continue when suddenly a boom filled the air, and the city wall shook. Meng Hao’s face flickered. He grabbed Hanxue Shan, retreating again. Off in the distance, a huge group of Black Lands Cultivators was approaching.
As the city wall crumbled, miserable screams filled the air. Meng Hao continued to retreat with Hanxue Shan in tow. His voice urgent, he said, “Tell me that catalysis technique. I’m an alchemist, and I already have my own catalysis techniques; perhaps because of that, I will be able to understand yours.”
Hanxue Shan gaped at him for a moment. Under normal circumstances, she would never reveal a secret Clan technique. Even Soul Search would be useless; the technique was a legacy magic that was branded into her very blood. However, after thinking for the space of a few breaths, she made her decision. When the Frigid Snow Clan had existed in the Western Desert, at the height of their power, this was the secret technique used by generations of their Grand Dragoneers! Her voice soft, she began to explain it to Meng Hao.
The secret technique was not very long, only about a thousand characters in length. As the words entered Meng Hao’s ears, his heart began to shake. It was as if all of the sights and sounds of the battle around him vanished. The only thing left were the thousand characters that made up the secret technique!
“….cause Time to sink, the ebb and flow of the moon, grasp the will of the shining sun, all living things contain the will of eternal life….” Hanxue Shan softly spoke the words that could cause a frenzied commotion if they were revealed in the Western Desert. In fact, when the rebel clan member Hanxue Zong was spared by his father, all memories of this secret technique were erased from his mind. That was one of his reasons for coming back to settle his old score and eradicate the Frigid Snow Clan. There was no way for him to reacquire the technique other than to have a Clan member personally tell him!
Meng Hao’s mind reeled. He closed his eyes, allowing the various passages of the technique to resonate in his head. He suddenly thought of the Violet Fate Sect’s catalysis arts, as well as the Time refining jade page from which he had been able to figure out the Time magic.
Of those two different mnemonics, the catalysis technique was the first layer. The secret Time magic was the second layer. And now… Meng Hao’s mind spun. After hearing the secret technique of the Frigid Snow Clan, he realized that it was the third layer!
Secret Dragoneer technique!
Any of the techniques alone could provide moderate success. But if anyone was able to acquire all three, then the knowledge could be used to mutually increase the effectiveness and power of the others by a vast amount.
Because he knew the secret catalysis method and also understood the secret Time magic, when he heard the Dragoneer technique, he understood it instantly, and it was branded onto his mind.