Imperial Cultivation

32: Chapter 30: The Supreme Heaven

32 -30: The Supreme Heaven

The courtyard was swept clean and empty, with only an elderly couple serving as gatekeepers and no other servants.

Chu Zhiyuan arrived at the study in the backyard of the mansion.

The books in the study remained, mostly miscellaneous records, with few concerning martial arts.

The previous owner probably didn’t practice martial arts.

Apart from the carved desk, there was also a cloud pattern carved arhat bed against the east wall for naps.

Chu Zhiyuan sat cross-legged on the arhat bed, closed his eyes, and his Super Sense spread out, covering the Thick Earth Hall, keeping an eye on Feng Zhihao.

The lanterns in the backyard of the Thick Earth Hall were extinguished, and the cold moonlight fell.

Feng Zhihao, bare-bodied, moved through the small martial arts training ground, leaving a trail of afterimages.

The cold wind swirled around him, emitting steaming white vapor.

As he moved, he continuously stretched out his palms, sometimes swiftly, sometimes slowly, in sudden and strange directions, making it difficult to defend against.

It vaguely seemed like a snake moving swiftly, its tongue flicking out.

The structure of a snake is different from humans, often capable of actions that humans cannot, and performing those actions in human form seems bizarre and unimaginable.

This is the power of this hand skill: incredibly fast and strange.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

He knew Feng Zhihao was extremely depressed.

This hand skill was both fast and strange, hard to defend against, yet every time he tried to display it, he was interrupted, unable to unleash its power.

He surmised that being suppressed and frustrated for so long made Feng Zhihao incredibly angry and resentful of his own incompetence, and only this kind of self-abusive hard practice could alleviate it somewhat.

Chu Zhiyuan made a private comparison.

The Near and Far Steps and Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique pushed power to the extreme, akin to a one-time deal, which goes against martial arts common sense.

A martial artist often uses seventy percent of their strength, retaining thirty percent for adaptability, and would not stake everything unless in dire circumstances.

Others used seventy percent of their strength, while he used a full hundred, so others at the same realm could hardly match him.

Let alone Feng Zhihao, who was just at the Second Layer, even those at the same Third Layer were no match for him.

Techniques that can rival the Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique and Near and Far Steps are rare, not to mention he also had the Earth Origin Technique as a complement.

Feng Zhihao practiced bitterly under the moon and in the cold wind, repeating the moves over and over until exhaustion forced him to retreat into a warm quiet room.

He removed a painting of mountains and rivers, revealing the Earth Venerate Diagram, and sat with difficulty on the opposite bed, crossing his knees and slowly calming his breath.

After the self-abusive rigorous cultivation, his mind found temporary peace, making it the best time to practice.

The room was as warm as spring, and he sat there bare-bodied, forming seals with his hands, his lips forming the shape of the word “Zhen.”

Feng Zhihao’s gaze rested on the word “Zhen” on the Earth Venerate Diagram.

Super Sense accurately sensed that his gaze was not only on the character “Zhen,” but also on the mountain beside it.

If not for the Super Sense, even watching Feng Zhihao cultivate with one’s own eyes wouldn’t fully reveal the scope of his gaze.

Feng Zhihao changed handprints, his lips forming the shape of the word “Zhu,” his gaze falling on the character, as well as the blue sky beside it.

Chu Zhiyuan carefully perceived while contemplating.

This was a combination of mind, mouth, and intent; the Earth Venerate Diagram was akin to a visualization.

He had learned from Chu Qingfeng about the royal cultivation path: the Small Purple Sun Technique for foundation, the Great Purple Sun Technique for Qi cultivation, and the Purple Sun Scripture for spirit cultivation.

Reaching the Grandmaster Realm required practicing the Purple Sun Scripture, which included the Purple Sun Visualization.

He once speculated that the picture hanging in Mingwu Hall was probably the Purple Sun Visualization, which would appear on someone like Chu Qingfeng when one reached Great Grandmaster level and entered the Purple Sun Realm.

According to the cultivation sequence of the Purple Sun Scripture, one shouldn’t start with spirit cultivation; it’s essential to first refine essence, then cultivate Qi, and finally cultivate spirit.

The Small Purple Sun Technique is for refining essence, the Great Purple Sun Technique for Qi cultivation, and the Purple Sun Scripture for spirit; then the visualization practice comes.

Breaking this order and jumping straight to spirit cultivation might be a shortcut, accelerating one’s advancement in cultivation but would deplete the Primordial Spirit, and the foundation would be unstable, greatly increasing the difficulty of becoming a Great Grandmaster.

It was already difficult to become a Great Grandmaster, and increasing the difficulty almost cut off the path to it.

To become a Great Grandmaster, one must replenish the depleted Primordial Spirit; without sufficient replenishment, the Divine Glint of a Great Grandmaster couldn’t emerge, leaving many stuck in the Grandmaster Realm.

He stood up and paced with his hands behind his back.

Could the Emperor Earth Scripture not be practiced?

If that Phoenix pattern could enhance his spiritual power, wouldn’t it be enhancing his Primordial Spirit?

In the end, he decided not to act rashly.

This involved becoming a Great Grandmaster, and he couldn’t risk damaging his Primordial Spirit for the sake of quick results.

But if I don’t practice the Emperor Earth Scripture, how will I know if it follows the Incense Fire Path?

The Court absolutely doesn’t allow the Incense Fire Path.

So, the next morning, he went to Mingwu Hall again to consult Chu Qingfeng on the relationship between Primordial Spirit and spiritual power.

He then searched through martial arts secret manuals and notes in the west wing of Mingwu Hall and went to Tongtian Pavilion to look for discussions on Primordial Spirit.

After spending an entire day, he finally concluded that the Phoenix pattern could enhance his Primordial Spirit, and an increase in spiritual power was also an enhancement of the Primordial Spirit.

——

The bright moon hung askew, illuminating thousands of lights in Yujing City.

Inside the quiet room of a mansion beside Phoenix Street, Chu Zhiyuan made hand seals identical to those Feng Zhihao used in the backyard of the Thick Earth Hall.

While forming the seals, he silently chanted those nine words, observing the characters and patterns in the picture.

After forming seals nine times, an odd sensation emerged as if he had become the Earth Venerate in the diagram.

Simultaneously, the Earth Venerate Divine Statue in the main hall of the Thick Earth Hall suddenly shone, a light shot to him, while a smaller light shot to Feng Zhihao.

The sizes of the light beams differed, with the one directed at him as large as a fist, and the one towards Feng Zhihao as small as a fingernail.

He estimated it was due to the difference in the Primordial Spirit or spiritual power.

The light fell into the Laogong points on his palms, transforming into a white-yellowish, gentle, and mellow aura.

After several times, Chu Zhiyuan smiled.

He didn’t believe that all disciples of the Thick Earth Sect could receive this secret transmission; the power of the Earth Venerate Divine Statue should not be so abundant; it needed to be gathered and accumulated.

A series of lights dashed over, and after the Laogong points on his palms felt swollen and painful and automatically entered Yongquan, saturating the Yongquan until it couldn’t accept more, he stopped.

This Emperor Earth Scripture surprisingly didn’t use the Dantian as a place of residence but the Laogong of the hands and the Yongquan of the feet.

The Laogong of both hands is Emperor Heaven, the Yongquan of both feet is Earth.

In a flash of movement, he appeared in the courtyard, constantly thrusting the Qingying Sword, the Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique being performed over and over.

After fifty-five slashes, he finally exhausted himself, but his meridians did not feel as though they would shatter; activating the Earth Origin Technique, he continued to execute the Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique.

After more than a hundred slashes, his meridians were painfully on the verge of splitting, so he sheathed the Qingying Sword.

Using the Dragon Transformation Technique to guide the power of those four beams through his meridians, his meridians rapidly recovered, with immediate effect.

He went through the process once more, forming seals, chanting, and visualizing, as beams of light from the Earth Venerate Divine Statue showered down, filling his hands and feet with the warm, mellow aura.

After yet another hundred and more slashes of the Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique, his meridians were damaged.

This time, instead of using the Dragon Transformation Technique, he directly infused the four beams’ power into the meridians, coursing along the path of the Grand Circulation, nourishing the meridians.

The meridians swiftly recovered, but compared to using the Dragon Transformation Technique, the recovery speed was about five times slower, a world of difference.

The Dragon Transformation Technique combined with the power of the Emperor Earth Scripture had divine healing!

But is this the Power of Incense?

After a while, he sat cross-legged on the couch and activated the Jade Lock Gold Barrier Skill.

This time, he consolidated nine Binding Dragon Ropes in one breath.

In the past, he dared not form so many Binding Dragon Ropes, but now with the power of the Emperor Earth Scripture, he was bolder.

…

A quarter of an hour later, he opened his eyes, his gaze shining sharply before returning to clarity.

The Fourth Layer had been broken through, and his cultivation stepped into the Innate Fifth Layer Realm.

His meridians threatened to shatter, urgently activating the Dragon Transformation Technique with the power of the Emperor Earth Scripture, they recovered within one cup of tea’s time.

The efficiency was astounding.

Unfortunately, this power could only be used to heal meridians, unlike the Dragon Transformation Technique, which strengthens them.

One was healing, the other was body refinement; two paths.

With the power of the Emperor Earth Scripture, he dared to take risks.

Thus, once again he performed the Jade Lock Gold Barrier Skill, preparing to break through the Fifth Layer of the Jade Tower.

When consolidating the eighth Binding Dragon Rope, he sensed a warning.

The True Qi after the breakthrough far surpassed before, and his meridians could only bear seven Binding Dragon Ropes; even the Emperor Earth Scripture couldn’t change that.

So, he didn’t consolidate more Binding Dragon Ropes, only using seven to strike the Jade Tower.

The result was an unsurprising failure.

His meridians once more ached as though they would fall apart, quickly restored by the Emperor Earth Scripture driving the Dragon Transformation Technique.

He shook his head in resignation.

Ultimately, it was the Dragon Transformation Technique at the core, still needing to train the meridians, where the Emperor Earth Scripture couldn’t be relied upon, instead leaning on small Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill and other Spiritual Medicines.

Feng Zhihao had already fallen asleep, yet his brows were tightly knit.

Over these days, Feng Zhihao’s anger and dissatisfaction hadn’t diminished, even growing fiercer, driving him to practice desperately.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

The young man was too competitive, needing to be polished well.