Urban Martial Saint

Shijia enthusiastically descended to chat with Ye Qing, surprising many people as much as Aolingyun. This interaction made those who initially wanted to withdraw from the World Alliance reconsider their intentions. If nothing else, the relationship between Shijia and Ye Qing itself made the World Alliance worth staying in.

After all, Ye Qing has the special support of two super apex masters, Shijia and Fu Qingping. Observing their attitude towards Ye Qing, if the World Alliance encounters any issues, these two would definitely not stand idly by. In other words, the World Alliance virtually has two super apex masters overseeing it. From this relationship alone, the World Alliance possesses strong attraction. After all, the Wanyan family has a super apex master, the Sword Saint Sect has a super apex master, and they are extremely vulnerable if they don’t seek the protection of a super apex master.

Ye Qing, seeing the expressions of everyone, vaguely guessed what they were thinking. So he too chatted with Shijia for a while, presenting the appearance of having a really good relationship, which could elevate his authority as the alliance hierarch. In fact, internally he was constantly lamenting, as Shijia’s incessant, enthusiastic chatter surely indicated something fishy. This old monk, what scheme is he plotting now? Ye Qing felt a sense of unease in his heart.

Shijia didn’t say directly, chatting with Ye Qing briefly before going over to greet two of his junior disciples. Fu Qingping, who had just descended, was invited by several old friends to talk about his insights on breaking through to the pinnacle. These people were contemporaries of Fu Qingping, having good relationships with him, and now treated him with extreme respect, akin to a teacher.

Fu Qingping was easygoing, and did not refuse the invitation from his old friends. He began to openly explain the realm of beyond peerless master to everyone. In fact, while he spoke of this realm, he did not mention the Innate Nine Diagrams. His ability to reach beyond the pinnacle was due to the Innate Nine Diagrams. Without it, even if everyone understood the realm of beyond the pinnacle, it would be exceedingly difficult to attain it.

Fu Qingping’s explanation of beyond the pinnacle captivated everyone, including the pinnacle masters from the Seven Steering Committees of the Hong Alliance and the Twelve Green Halls. Many of them have reached a bottleneck, unable to break through the shackles of the pinnacle, hence unable to advance further. They have been unable to break through these shackles, and Fu Qingping’s explanation represented significant allure. Indeed, no pinnacle master could resist such temptation.

Ye Qing’s martial arts have been abolished, so he lacks any concept of martial arts realms. However, with nothing else to do, he also sat nearby and listened to a few sentences of Fu Qingping’s explanation.

At this moment, The Immortal Lord had already left the mountain unnoticed by everyone, and nobody knew where he went. Yet, no one was paying attention, since he had been defeated and no longer held any worth for adoration.

After Fu Qingping had explained a segment about the realm beyond the pinnacle, an old man in the crowd eagerly asked, ”Brother Fu, I saw a white sword shadow hovering next to you just now. What exactly is that?”

This comment immediately resonated with the majority. Truth be told, the theories Fu Qingping had just explained meant little to them. Without being at that realm, they couldn’t comprehend such things. But the terrifying power of the white sword shadow piqued everyone’s curiosity, making them especially interested in this question.

”This is the key point of my explanation,” Fu Qingping paused briefly and said loudly, ”As everyone knows, when inner strength is cultivated to a certain level, one can open the body’s meridians, and can emit internal energy externally — this realm is called Internal Energy Release. In this realm, only one out of a hundred martial artists can achieve it. As one’s power increases, most of the body’s meridians are opened, only the governor and conception vessels remain unpassed — this realm is known as top-level master. And pinnacle masters are those who unseal even the governor and conception vessels, making all meridians unobstructed. At this time, one’s strength reaches its peak. While further cultivation won’t increase power anymore, it becomes the human extreme — this realm is called Pinnacle!”

Everyone nodded in agreement. The three realms Fu Qingping described were well known to the crowd. In truth, transitioning from Internal Energy Release to top-level master is a major gate. One out of a hundred martial artists reaches Internal Energy Release. Out of ten thousand such masters, only one achieves top-level. Then, from top-level to pinnacle, while still arduous, becomes slightly easier. Perhaps one in a hundred pinnacle masters becomes a pinnacle master. It’s not that reaching pinnacle is easy, but generally those capable of reaching top-level are not lacking in talent, hence progressing further is not too difficult. The greatest difficulty lies beyond pinnacle, in breaking through the shackles of the pinnacle, which is the primary focus of everyone’s concern.

”The first three realms are all marked by the enhancement of inner strength. So, is the fourth, beyond the pinnacle, also governed by inner strength enhancement?” Fu Qingping looked at everyone and said, ”Previously, when I battled The Immortal Lord for the first time, he said something to me. He asked, ’Do you think reaching the realm beyond pinnacle is simply a matter of strengthening power?’ At the time, I didn’t quite understand, but now, I finally do.”

Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately held their breath, listening attentively. They understood that what Fu Qingping was about to reveal would be the crux of the realm beyond pinnacle.

Fu Qingping said, ”In fact, the realm of pinnacle sees human strength at its peak. Even reaching beyond pinnacle, power does not increase!”

”Impossible,” someone in the crowd immediately exclaimed.

”Just now your displayed strength was impressively unfathomable, overwhelmingly stronger than ours. Isn’t that the power of beyond pinnacle?”

”Indeed! Your strength surpasses ours overwhelmingly, how could it be the same strength as ours?”

Everyone was incredibly skeptical of Fu Qingping’s words, unable to believe that the tremendous power they witnessed in Fu and The Immortal Lord wasn’t wildly different from their own.

”This is the truth,” Fu Qingping said, ”Beyond the pinnacle realm, the key isn’t power enhancement, but the change in power. The transformation of attributes, the change of origins, and even the appearance of power!”

This left the crowd even more perplexed, unable to grasp the meaning behind attributes, origins, and appearance changes in power.

Seeing their puzzled expressions, Fu Qingping casually waved his hand, and a white sword shadow immediately appeared around him, hovering and turning like a pet.

Upon witnessing the white sword shadow, the crowd gasped again. Earlier on the mountainside, they saw the sword shadow but couldn’t discern it from afar. Now up-close, they could almost feel the formidable presence of the power and the sharp sword qi emanating from the shadow, suffocating their breaths. They wouldn’t doubt it; if Fu Qingping wielded the white sword shadow to strike them, even combined forces couldn’t withstand its blow!

”This is the change of power!” Fu Qingping gently danced the white sword shadow in the air, ”Specifically, it’s that power can separate from the body and materialize!”

”Separate from the body?”

”Materialize?”

The crowd was utterly stunned, glancing at the white sword shadow then at Fu Qingping, still unable to grasp it fully.

Fu Qingping explained, ”The previous three realms, whether Internal Energy Release, top-level master, or pinnacle master — power remains within the body, circulating within the meridians. Though you might utilize external elements to manifest it, ultimately it can’t stray far and bears numerous limitations, achieving the desired effect is difficult. Imagine you strike a palm hit five meters away — that’s already not easy. To reach ten meters, perhaps your cultivation technique is peculiar to reach this realm. But what about fifteen meters, twenty meters? Ultimately, power has a point of exhaustion, how far can you truly manage?”

”Moreover, the farther your power hits, the more dispersed it becomes, eventually reducing to less than one percent of its initial hitting strength. Injuring enemies becomes nearly impossible at that point. That kind of threat can’t even scare someone, let alone harm them. Additionally, if the opponent dodges, your power can’t change direction to follow, it’ll be wasted, hitting emptiness — highly inflexible control. The realm beyond pinnacle brings changes to power. Firstly, power can detach from the body, undergo material transformation, forming specific entities such as my white sword shadow or The Immortal Lord’s two long snakes.”

”Once power separates from the body and materializes, it remains under human control. For instance, targeting an individual, you can command the white sword shadow to charge at them. If they evade, you can maneuver the sword shadow to chase them. Whether they flee hundreds of meters, kilometers, even miles away, you can still pursue with the sword shadow. Of course, exceedingly far distances are unsafe, since you can’t see the distant situation, in this populous society, countless people might be involuntarily injured along the way. So pursuing someone from such a distance is truly unwise.”