"The realm of the Heavenly Man, an innate body—this counted as half a step into the Heavenly Man realm.
"I had already crossed the most difficult threshold on the road to the Heavenly Man realm. What remained could be built up through the passage of time alone; sooner or later, I would accumulate enough foundation to advance. And that time would not be long. Compared with Dao Qianqiu, Qingsong, or Kasyapa Venerable, I was already far ahead."
After a long while, Xiang Yang opened his eyes. Though his blade-like gaze had long since dimmed, they still gleamed sharply now, carrying an awe-inspiring spirit and aura.
This was the sign of greatly increased strength.
Clenching his hands—hands that could no longer hold a blade but remained powerful—Xiang Yang suddenly felt that his strength was real and dependable. Even with the Spiritual Energy Flux vastly diminished, he still possessed terrifying destructive power. It was no longer like before, when without spiritual energy, he could scarcely achieve such destruction.
"The acquired realm lays the foundations of martial arts. The innate realm is the stage of understanding Heaven and Earth. The Heavenly Man realm is an attempt to completely unite the power of Heaven and Earth with the power of man himself, no longer bound by Heaven and Earth.
"Then proving the Dao means drawing every usable power into oneself, no longer relying on Heaven and Earth, achieving the independence of the lesser self. It is a true leap."
Xiang Yang murmured to himself. His eyes held inquiry, confusion, and relief.
His martial arts had advanced, yet he was not wildly overjoyed. He merely calmly understood his current state, analyzed and organized it, and comprehended the martial cultivation of the Heavenly Man realm and realms beyond it.
This was not the first time he