Chapter 572: Chapter 571: Taking a Different Path
Even though she was unsure of Shi Xiaole’s actual strength, Xia Yunxi knew from him easily slaying the seven top experts of Yingzhou, and intimidating a group of people outside the cave, that his abilities were far superior than she had initially assumed.
The Divine Barrier Realm, it was a threshold he would have to face sooner or later.
As for the method of casting a middle-grade Spiritual Weapon, its practical significance did not seem that great.
The present environment greatly differed from the ancient times. Many valuable resources had disappeared, making the difficulty of casting a Spiritual Weapon more than ten times greater than before.
Moreover, according to the hints from the casting method in her mind, in order to cast a middle-grade Spiritual Weapon, aside from the materials involved, the requirements for the caster themselves were even higher. Finding someone who would meet these prerequisites, even among millions of people, might be close to impossible.
Xia Yunxi did not know that these two pieces of news were like rainfall to Shi Xiaole, coming just at the right time. He promptly asked for the details.
"According to the Nine-Colored Granny, the key to breaking through to the Divine Barrier Realm is to fuse Vigorous Air with True Intent, creating a more unique kind of Vigorous Air, which then becomes one’s own Martial Path," she said.
"Have you noticed," she continued, "that regardless of how many True Intents a master of the Divine Barrier Realm comprehended before, they would always end up with only one when they stepped into the realm. And it is no longer referred to as True Intent, but Dao!"
The words of Xia Yunxi had left Shi Xiaole in profound thought.
He had noticed this question while reading historical records before, but being young, even if he had doubts, it would be hard to find a fusion method in the short term. Thus, he asked: "Can you share with me the method of fusion described by the Nine-Colored Granny?"
Shi Xiaole was not a stubborn or obstinate person. Since resources were available at hand, it would be foolish not to utilize them.
Xia Yunxi seemed quite appreciative of his attitude. She chuckled and explained the specific fusion method. Afterwards, she also told him the method of casting a mid-level Spiritual Weapon, as Shi Xiaole had requested.
"Don’t get me wrong," She said. "The reason I didn’t tell you about the Nine-Colored Granny’s martial arts, was simply because she left a warning that it was not supposed to be disseminated, unless it was passed on to my disciples."
Afraid that Shi Xiaole might harbor resentment, Xia Yunxi elaborated on this point, all the while observing his reaction stealthily.
Shi Xiaole laughed: "Well, how about I become your disciple?"
Xia Yunxi chuckled, blinking her eyes: "Sure, why not? You can start by performing three kowtows and calling out ’Master’."
...
Lei Jiaxin and Li Jiuding were getting worried waiting in the dark. Fortunately, as dusk approached, they finally saw Shi Xiaole and Xia Yunxi emerging from the cave.
The group of four immediately left the Rainbow Mountain Range, walking and talking all the while. There were some people secretly tailing them, but after being warned by Shi Xiaole, they were terrified and scattered in all directions.
Having received the heritage of the Nine-Colored Granny, Xia Yunxi planned to retreat and cultivate. She was not a pretentious person, and readily agreed to head to Wuling Villa.
Lei Jiaxin and Li Jiuding were also invited by Shi Xiaole. Curious and excited, they naturally chose to follow along.
The four of them traveled quickly and two months later, they returned to Wuling Villa.
Shi Xiaole immediately commenced closed-door cultivation.
...
"The task of transforming Vigorous Air into individual strands and then merging with the essence of True Intent is a massive undertaking," Shi Xiaole mused in the secret chamber.
He at least understood now why there were so few masters at the Divine Border Realm in the world.
First, the method of breakthrough was hard to find.
Second, even if one found the method of breakthrough, the content would scare a lot of people to death.
For example, the Nine-Colored Granny spent nearly a hundred years painstakingly dividing the Vigorous Air into countless parts on the unit of strands and thoroughly integrating Vigorous Air with True Intent to complete an astonishing transformation.
This process not only took time, but also tested one’s perseverance and control. If just one strand of divided Vigorous Air went out of balance, it would affect the whole and lead to nullification of all previous efforts.
Among the friends Nine-Colored Granny knew, several of them spent more than a hundred years, and just when they were about to break through, negligence at the last moment caused all their previous efforts to be in vain, leading to lifelong regret!
Of course, this was not the only method of breaking through. Some might take only ten or tens of years, but the difference between the quality of the breakthrough methods determined the strength and the future potential of a Divine Barrier Realm master to a great extent.
Inferior methods of breakthrough might take less time and effort, but correspondingly, the foundation after breakthrough might not be solid. The gap would be astonishingly huge when compared to the Divine Barrier Realm masters who used superior methods!
"I wonder what breakthrough method the Martial Emperor used?" Shi Xiaole couldn’t help admiring the Martial Emperor.
It was said that shortly after his breakthrough into the Divine Border Realm, he swept three named masters of the same realm. Then, he progressed rapidly, leaving all the geniuses of his era behind.
It was obvious that his breakthrough method must be top-notch among all. Regardless of whether it was inherited or self-created, the fact that he achieved all this at the age of twenty-seven indicated that his innate talent was terrifying to the point of despair!
"The breakthrough method of Nine-Colored Granny should be pretty good. I don’t necessarily have to learn it all, but I can learn a thing or two."
Shi Xiaole was not considering whether he could break through to the Divine Border Realm. Instead, he was thinking about how to break through to the Divine Border Realm faster and more efficiently.
Before that, he had to learn from as many masters as possible, acquire many breakthrough methods, then distill the best practices, and find the one most suitable for him.
Closing his eyes, Shi Xiaole began to transform Vigorous Air into strands.
It was not because he wanted to break through right now, but on the way back, he accidentally found that this process could strengthen his mental power and control.
About a month later, roughly fifty percent of his Vigorous Air had been transformed into strands. If the Nine-Colored Granny knew about it, she would have been scared to death by his speed.
Including the two months spent on the road, Shi Xiaole spent a total of three months to differentiate half of his Vigorous Air. Going at this speed, he would need only sixty months, or five years, to completely differentiate all of his Vigorous Air!
Shi Xiaole had two theories as to why this was happening so quickly.
First, his Vigorous Air contained no impurities.
Second, his spiritual power had already reached the level of the Divine Barrier Realm.
If his assumptions were correct, these would be the two key fundamentals in all breakthrough methods.
Shi Xiaole attempted to stir up a strand of Wind True Intent essence and merge it with a shred of Vigorous Air.
Snap!
The Wind True Intent and Vigorous Air shattered simultaneously, closely followed by the half-transformed Vigorous Air silk, which instantly reverted back to its rich and thick state.
Shi Xiaole’s face darkened.
However, in the next moment, he suddenly paused, as he discovered that the shattered strand of Wind True Intent appeared to be purer than before!
He immediately transformed a strand of Vigorous Air silk and again tried to merge it with the Wind True Intent. The process was identical to his previous attempt, and the result stunned him.
Yes, the purity level of the Wind True Intent had increased.
"Could the Vigorous Air represents the physical body, while the True Intent symbolizes the spirit, and since they both belong to the human body, they are interrelated?"
Normally, to elevate the level of True Intent, one would need to gain enlightenment or focus on the spiritual direction. However, the incident proved that focusing on the physical aspect could also improve True Intent.
This challenged Shi Xiaole’s existing understanding.
"Spirituality and physicality are the two sides of the universe. Could it be that there is no clear boundary between these two forces, and they can even assimilate each other?"
The vastness and mystery of the universe were beyond human comprehension. Shi Xiaole’s current understanding was limited to the level of Shuntian Capital, which was thousands of miles away from grasping the universe.
But he knew that he had discovered a near-cheating method to enhance True Intent, a technique known only to him. This was probably related to his Vigorous Air’s absolute purity and his exceptional spiritual power.
Days passed by.
Shi Xiaole spent every moment differentiating Vigorous Air, then merging and colliding it with True Intent.
Although the slight enhancement of each strand of True Intent might not seem important, accumulation caused qualitative change. After purifying half of his Wind True Intent, a thunderous sound resonated in his mind.
His Wind True Intent had reached 80%.
Perhaps it was due to practice, or perhaps it was due to talent. Initially, Shi Xiaole could only collide one strand of True Intent with one strand of Vigorous Air, but as time passed, he was able to manipulate two groups simultaneously, and then three groups, four groups, and finally six groups, which was his limit.
This meant the speed of purifying True Intent was six times faster than before.
Time flew by swiftly.
Another half a month had passed.
Whoosh!
The violent wind on his body surface scraped off half of the ten-feet stone wall. Shi Xiaole’s Wind True Intent successfully reached 90%.
"To elevate my Wind True Intent to the peak of 90%, I would need to refine it several times, which will take longer than previous stages. But now, I’ve discovered the method."
Shi Xiaole was delighted not just because he found the method, but also because of his rapid rise in strength.
When his Wind True Intent was around 70%, he could suppress most top Lords and rank among the top ten in Shuntian Capital. Now that it was 90%, he himself could not even measure how much his strength had increased.
Not to mention, the long term differentiation of Vigorous Air had led his spiritual power and control skill to improve slightly, effectively increasing his hidden strength.
...
The boundless sea was bathed in the setting sun’s glow, glistening with fish scales.
Due to its proximity to the dock, many ships were gathered here. But unlike the usual hustle and bustle, all the people on the ships today stood fixated, staring at a drifting bamboo raft.
On the bamboo raft stood a woman.
Clad in a pure white dress, her face covered with a white gauze, she held a bamboo flute in her hand. Her visage couldn’t be seen clearly, but anyone who saw her would inevitably get enthralled by her unparalleled posture and temperament.
"Mo Rou, are you really set on doing this?"
Behind the woman in white, several middle-aged men stood. One of them, wearing a troubled expression, asked.
"Exorcising the Devil Path is our duty. Since I, Mo Rou, happened to pass by, knowing that the witch is here, how can I ignore the matter?"
If Shui Lingping’s voice could be compared to a pot of fine wine, intoxicatingly tempting, then this woman’s voice was like sweet tea steeped with flower petals, pleasing to the ears and leaving a special sense of elegant fragrance.
Plop.
Many strong men nearby, on various boats, suddenly fell to the ground, their legs giving out.
"With Mo Rou’s skills and wisdom, she might truly be able to handle that witch right here in Xuanwu State. If that happens, it will surely deal a severe blow to the morale of the Devil Path."
Another bearded middle-aged man, full of confidence in the woman in white, laughed heartily.
