Chapter 903: Chapter 903: The Importance of the Power of the Five Elements
"Emperor Realm Third Heaven?"
This fresh term really piqued Liu Zixuan’s curiosity, and he hurriedly asked, "Is that considered a name for a realm?"
"Yes and no."
Old Qing asked with deep meaning, "Zixuan, you should know what the Heaven and Earth Elements are, right?"
"Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. And from these Five Elements extend tens of thousands of things; even the sun, moon, and stars can be counted within the Five Elements." Liu Zixuan replied.
"Correct. The Heaven and Earth Elements are mostly collectively called the Five Elements, and these Five Elements encompass all things under Heaven and Earth. You must know, when all things under Heaven and Earth reach the extreme, they are existences beyond human reach. Just take the stars in the sky—what top expert can blast one apart with a single punch?"
Old Qing said with a smile, "So if one can fuse the Power of the Five Elements into the meridians, one will definitely be able to unleash great power. This is where the gap between the Acquired Emperor Realm and the Innate Emperor Realm lies!"
What Old Qing said, Liu Zixuan naturally understood. Back then, in the big mountain behind Lingxiu Village, when he had a fierce battle with the Blood Luminous Flood Dragon, it was because Liu Zixuan comprehended the Power of the Stars that he completely defeated it. You can see just how terrifying the comprehension of the Five Elements is!
That Blood Luminous Flood Dragon probably had the strength of a Half-Step Emperor Realm, yet when facing the Power of the Five Elements, it still lost!
Bear in mind, at that time Liu Zixuan was only at the Peak of the Imperial Realm. A level-crossing battle at this tier is not something just anyone can pull off.
"But the Power of the Five Elements encompasses all things. Although it’s within arm’s reach, it’s not easy to control!"
Old Qing smiled wryly. "Take the Profound Sword Sect’s Sword Dao for example. The sword can also be considered one type of ’metal’ within the Five Elements. Relying on this special attribute, they use the sword to enter the Dao and break through to the Emperor Realm—that’s equivalent to directly skipping over the Acquired Emperor Realm and reaching the First Heaven of the Innate Emperor Realm!"
"I’ve heard people mention that before. The Acquired Emperor Realm and the Innate Emperor Realm aren’t even on the same level. Any expert of the Innate Emperor Realm can completely crush an Acquired Emperor Realm expert!"
"That’s not entirely true." Old Qing shook his head. "Most Emperor Realm Martial Artists of the Acquired Emperor Realm haven’t comprehended the Power of the Five Elements, but some have comprehended powers beyond the Five Elements, so they’re very formidable as well!"
"Beyond the Five Elements? What other powers are there?" Liu Zixuan asked, puzzled.
"The Five Elements are only the most basic Heaven and Earth Elements. Beyond the Five Elements there are many more. For example, the Power of the Dragon Veins, the Power of Darkness, and the Blood Refining Power cultivated by Martial Artists of Western nations, and so on. If any one of these is cultivated to the extreme, it’s no weaker than an Innate Emperor Realm Martial Artist."
Old Qing laughed. "Of course, the ones I mentioned are things you can’t really touch yet. Wait until you truly break through to the Emperor Realm first."
"The Power of the Dragon Veins you mentioned—is that the power of those Hidden Dragon Veins and Bright Dragon Veins in the Star Sea?" Liu Zixuan suddenly asked.
"Oh? You know about that too?" Old Qing asked in surprise.
Liu Zixuan more than just knew about it—within his Sea of Consciousness, a strand of the Power of the Dragon Veins existed. He just hadn’t realized the Power of the Dragon Veins was actually this strong; before, he had only treated it as a power source to draw upon.
Hearing this now, Liu Zixuan felt that he’d gained another trump card!
Old Qing smiled and said, "The Power of the Dragon Veins is the most ethereal existence among all powers, and also the strongest existence. Only those with truly great fortune can obtain the Power of the Dragon Veins. To tell you the truth, this old man has lived so long and never seen a single person who possessed such a transcendent power!"
As for the matter of the Power of the Dragon Veins, Liu Zixuan didn’t continue asking. After all, it was too obscure and profound. He then pulled the topic back: "You just said, using the sword to enter the Dao counts as First Heaven of the Innate Emperor Realm. In that case, if someone comprehends all the Five Elements, shouldn’t that be called the Fifth Heaven?"
Old Qing snorted with laughter. "It’s not how you’re imagining it. First Heaven means you’ve just come into contact with the Power of the Five Elements, that you’ve comprehended one of them. Second Heaven is when you’ve comprehended three of them."
"Three? So by that logic, the Second Heaven is the hardest one?" Liu Zixuan asked.
"Strictly speaking, it’s the hardest one to break through."
Old Qing smiled. "If you comprehend three of the five—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—that’s equivalent to having touched the threshold of all five, because these Five Elements mutually generate and mutually restrain one another."
"That I know: metal generates water, water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal. As for mutual restraint: metal restrains wood, wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, fire restrains metal."
"Exactly. So once you fully master three, it’s equivalent to having touched the threshold of all five. Thus, First Heaven is touching the threshold of one of the Five Elements, while Second Heaven is having touched the threshold of all five. As for the Third Heaven, that is the profound meaning of Tai Chi!"
Old Qing shifted the topic. "The Innate Emperor Realm Third Heaven is the fusion of the Five Elements into one."
Fusing the Five Elements into one...
Liu Zixuan softly repeated this line several times, and suddenly recalled something the Willow Association’s Patriarch had said back then: he’d once said that the mysterious realm above the Innate Emperor Realm didn’t reveal any aura at all and was as transcendent and detached as an ordinary person.
Thinking of this, he abruptly raised his head. "Then reaching the Third Heaven would be equivalent to reaching that mysterious realm, wouldn’t it?"
"Hahaha!" Old Qing laughed. "Smart. When the Five Elements are fused into one, there will no longer be any Martial Artist aura on this expert’s body. They’ll be just like an ordinary person. The Five Elements become one, which is the same principle as returning to the Dao as one. Once you return to oneness, naturally it becomes void. At that realm, everything about a person will change, and the most prominent part is their lifespan!"
"Can they attain immortality then?" Liu Zixuan asked.
"You’ve watched too many movies." Old Qing shot Liu Zixuan a glare. "At that realm, at most, one’s lifespan is extended by a hundred years or so. There’s no way to become truly immortal. But realms are endless—who knows whether the realms above that can achieve immortality?"
"Alright, you’re only at Half-Step Emperor Realm right now. Telling you all this will only disturb your state of mind. All you need to remember is to do everything you can to comprehend the Power of the Five Elements and strive to leap directly into the First Heaven of the Emperor Realm. As long as you don’t run into those extremely monstrous existences, those Acquired Emperor Realm Martial Artists will not be your match!"
Liu Zixuan nodded. "Right, you also just said that elements beyond the Five Elements can only be comprehended by a very few people. The world is so big—how could I just happen to run into them?"
"Judging from the current situation of the Star Sea Martial Realm, there probably won’t be such monsters." Old Qing said with a smile.
Even so, if Liu Zixuan really did run into one, he wouldn’t be very afraid. Don’t forget, Liu Zixuan possessed the Power of the Dragon Veins. Put bluntly, he was one of those monstrous freaks Old Qing was talking about!
He then asked, "Then Sword Venerable Ling Xiao used the sword to enter the Dao—based on his strength, which Heaven would he count as now?"
"Him..." Old Qing narrowed his eyes a bit. "Aren’t you going to spar with him tomorrow? You can just go find out for yourself!"
