Breakthrough Failure

Aside from the four hundred Points he had left from opening a new simulated life, he still had ninety remaining.

Over the past month, Jiang Yuan had also encountered two strange entities.

He had gained sixty Points.

Jiang Yuan now had one hundred and fifty usable Points.

For the time being, however, they were of no use.

Over the past month, Jiang Yuan had used one Martial Arts Enlightenment Card to raise his Minor Success Spirit Snake Movement Technique to Major Success.

Jiang Yuan's weakness in movement techniques had been thoroughly remedied.

As for the other two cards, Jiang Yuan had tried to advance his Tiger Roar Saber Technique, but failed. It seemed that advancing a martial art from perfected Major Success to Sublime Mastery required more than two Martial Arts Enlightenment Cards.

Still, his comprehension of saber techniques had risen greatly, as though he had vaguely touched that layer of barrier.

Jiang Yuan's mastered martial arts were now: Major Success Severing Gate Saber, Major Success Ten Directions Fist, Major Success Savage Ox Fist, Major Success Spirit Snake Movement Technique, Major Success Finger Flicking Art, Major Success Tiger Roar Saber Technique, Sublime Mastery Phoenix Cry Sword Technique, Major Success Dragon's Roar Spear Technique.

As well as the Thousand Absolute Electric Sword he had learned from Beichuan Wan.

Many of these were martial arts that could only reach Major Success after one attained the Internal Force Realm and gained further control over one's body. Yet Jiang Yuan had reached Major Success while still in the Blood Qi Realm.

He had even cultivated "intent" in his swordsmanship.

If others found out, their jaws would likely drop to the ground.

For a martial art to reach the realm of Sublime Mastery, it not only placed many demands on the martial art itself, but even greater demands on the martial artist.

Even among Internal Force experts, those who cultivated a martial art to Sublime Mastery were few and far between.

Even with Martial Arts Enlightenment Cards, Jiang Yuan needed more than two of them, making the cost considerable.

Yet Jiang Yuan possessed a shortcut—the [Martial Emperor's Sword Talisman]. Only by relying on the talisman's energy could his swordsmanship reach Sublime Mastery.

[Target Sword Technique: Thousand Absolute Electric Sword]

[Current Realm: Minor Success]

[Required for Next Realm: 30% Energy]

Information transmitted by the sword talisman appeared in his mind. Jiang Yuan sighed softly. He still did not have enough energy.

After comprehending the Phoenix Cry Sword Technique, Jiang Yuan had only 78.5 energy left. This time, merely completing it had consumed 18.5 energy, while upgrading the entry-level Thousand Absolute Electric Sword to Minor Success had consumed 15 energy.

That was already on the same level as the energy needed to comprehend the Phoenix Cry Sword Technique to Major Success.

Jiang Yuan also knew that Beichuan Wan had not possessed Major Success swordsmanship back then, but merely Minor Success swordsmanship. Yet Minor Success Thousand Absolute Electric Sword alone had been able to contend against Jiang Yuan's Major Success Phoenix Cry Sword Technique, and had nearly forced out Jiang Yuan's sword intent.

This sword technique was truly extraordinary.

But the more formidable the sword technique, the more energy it consumed from the sword talisman. Jiang Yuan now had only 45 energy left in the talisman.

The next step to Major Success required 30% energy, and the enemy-defense function also required 30% energy. There simply was not enough.

In the end, Jiang Yuan chose to save the energy for the enemy-defense function. That was his strongest trump card.

That was all for martial arts.

As for his cultivation...

Jiang Yuan felt the vast Blood Qi within him.

He was only one final thread away from reaching a point where there was no path forward. At that point, he could only knock open the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate and shatter the limits of the human body.

However...

Jiang Yuan looked at the Sin Heart required to activate [Past Life Simulation], and his brows gradually furrowed.

Sin Heart... what exactly was it? Over the past month, Jiang Yuan had taken missions outside partly because he wanted to search for a Sin Heart. Yet whether in books or through inquiries everywhere, he had found not the slightest trace of information about it.

It gave Jiang Yuan quite a headache.

The simulator, this cheat-like advantage, was undoubtedly Jiang Yuan's fastest means of increasing his strength.

But now, the simulator could not temporarily open the Fourth Life, leaving Jiang Yuan somewhat frustrated.

Jiang Yuan shook his head. Even without the simulator, he could still cultivate. He would travel as he went and seek as he went.

He picked up a piece of prepared meat from beside him and stuffed it straight into his mouth.

This was high-grade Exotic Beast meat, a cultivation resource Jiang Yuan had bought at great expense.

The Exotic Beast meat entered his mouth, was chewed by Jiang Yuan's developed jaw muscles, then swallowed. It was continuously digested in his stomach, after which Blood Qi flowed from his stomach throughout his entire body.

Jiang Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground and cultivated quietly. The muscles on his body slowly expanded and contracted, Blood Qi radiating outward. His breath was long and vast, like an ancient colossal beast.

His Blood Qi slowly grew stronger...

*

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*

Three figures slowly rose into the air, blood-red, viscous Internal Force like tentacles lashing toward the surrounding void.

The vast power seemed capable of shattering space.

Behind the three figures stood several scattered figures dressed in black robes.

"The Zhenyuan Escort Agency is conducting an escort mission. Those uninvolved, please leave."

A calm voice sounded, carrying a pressure like Divine Might.

The three figures stood in a triangular formation.

At the front stood a refined, thin middle-aged man with a mustache. Behind him were a burly man like an iron tower and giant bear, and a dashing, handsome middle-aged man.

These three all possessed formidable Blood Force cultivation.

They were none other than the Zhenyuan Escort Agency's three chief escorts.

If anyone had been present, they would have been shocked not only by the strength of three Blood Force experts, but by the fact that the three chief escorts had actually joined forces to escort a shipment.

What kind of goods were these... no, what kind of people were behind them?

"Leave them behind, and the three of you may go!"

Before them stood two Blood Force experts with equally powerful Blood Qi, along with dozens of Hua Jin Martial Artists.

It was clearly a great faction moving out in full force.

"Hm? Interesting. Could it be that you truly do not know what Wenzhao and the others of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency have relied on to stand firm in this world for so long?"

"Or do you think our strength has declined?"

"Hahahaha! Boring, boring, truly boring. Don't delay this old man from drinking!"

The three spoke one sentence each, their tones all different. As soon as the final words fell, endless blood-red waves surged from the handsome middle-aged man.

In an instant, they filled the entire sky.

Three streaks of light constantly turned within the blood-red waves. The two Blood Force experts tried to act, only to suddenly freeze in place.

"What..." The pupils of the two Blood Force experts contracted sharply. Astonishment had only just appeared on their faces when, in the next moment, they were swallowed by the blood-red waves.

The hundreds of Internal Force experts behind them were also instantly swallowed, without the slightest sound remaining.

The next moment, the blood-red waves filling the sky surged back, all of them pouring into the acupoints around the final man's body.

As for the enemies from before, not a trace of them remained.

"Suifeng, you have been a little out of control lately. You cannot make another move from here on." Wenzhao at the front remained expressionless as he spoke calmly, yet his tone allowed no doubt.

"Hahaha, easy enough. With my two elder brothers here, it will not matter even if I do not act."

Zhang Suifeng, the handsome middle-aged man, smiled. At some point, the wine gourd at his waist had already reached his lips.

"Qingtian, the road ahead will depend on you and me..."

"With you and me here, vast though the world may be, what is there to fear?" Beichuan Qingtian laughed boldly, then suddenly looked toward the forest at the side.

With a grasp of his hand, a gigantic blood-red hand was born from the void, actually dragging a lizard-like colossal beast three zhang tall from the woods.

The colossal beast fell to the ground in bewilderment, making the earth tremble faintly several times. Yet it did not dare show the slightest disrespect, trembling as it prostrated itself on the ground.

"Let us use this beast as a mount... It will suffice as temporary transportation."

"Wenzhao, it has been a month. Over at Haiyuan City..."

"I set up a blood puppet."

"Good."

"Hahahaha, come, come, you two, drink!"

"..."

*

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Blood Qi surged, smashing fiercely against that layer of barrier.

Blood Qi several times more immense than that of an ordinary person flowed through Jiang Yuan's body.

Jiang Yuan's formidable physical constitution fully supported that massive, boundless Blood Qi.

Jiang Yuan somewhat skillfully drove his Blood Qi toward the barrier.

He was clearly attempting to break through the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate.

Jiang Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, his clothes already torn into scraps. Muscles like granite bulged across his body, and Jiang Yuan had actually become a hulking man.

He resembled Beichuan Qingtian by about thirty percent.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan's brows were tightly furrowed. It seemed he had encountered some difficulty while breaking through the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate.

Blood Qi flowed as Jiang Yuan's flesh emitted immense heat, scorching the wooden floor around him until it was faintly charred.

"How is this possible?! I was completely prepared this time, so why..."

"My Blood Qi is incomparably vast, I possess four cultivation-enhancing talents, I have some understanding of Internal Force, and I even have the experience of breaking through to Hua Jin in the First Life. How could this be..."

"I failed..."

These thoughts flashed through Jiang Yuan's mind. Blood Qi surged upward, his face flushing red as he spat a mouthful of incomparably scorching blood.

A long-lost feeling of weakness emerged...