Chapter 6

Bang!

Lin Xuan clenched his fist, and the air immediately erupted with a sharp blast.

Feeling it carefully, Lin Xuan sensed that he now possessed at least a thousand jin of strength—something ordinary people could scarcely imagine.

Was that not why they said immortals and mortals were separated by a chasm? Though this was merely the first minor realm of the four great realms, the difference was already stark.

"What a pity. Relying on my own cultivation, my progress is slower than a turtle's crawl. This Useless Body of Ten Thousand Years really is useless beyond compare."

Fortunately, he had the Soul Suppressing Pagoda. Otherwise, even Lin Xuan himself would have felt that he might as well return to Clearwater Town and keep butchering pigs.

"With Xiao Yu'er's talent, she should have successfully forged her body by now. Before long, she'll probably break through the Mortal Realm and step into the Transcendent Realm, right?"

Afterward, Lin Xuan thought this with a trace of envy.

But he quickly suppressed those thoughts, rose to his feet, and left the resting room, beginning to slowly adjust to his surging strength.

The sky soon darkened.

"Tomorrow, I'll go claim a martial skill. I wonder how true immortal-path offensive arts differ from the Six Forms of Pig Butchering I devised myself."

In the Divine Firmament Holy Land, disciples of any rank could claim one martial skill for free as long as they reached the Body Forging Realm.

This was the foundation of a great immortal sect. In other smaller sects, one would never obtain a martial skill without some contribution points. After all, a cultivator's combat power could only be brought fully into play through martial skills.

In the Azure Cloud Realm, martial skills were divided into four major ranks: Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Heaven. Each rank was further split into four grades according to power: low, middle, high, and supreme.

The place to claim martial skills was the outer sect Martial Arts Pavilion. So long as the Pavilion Elder examined one's cultivation and confirmed that one had entered the early stage of the Body Forging Realm, one could claim one.

All of this was knowledge included within the jade slip.

A night passed in an instant!

The next day, Lin Xuan rose early, found the dining hall and ate breakfast before heading to the outer sect Martial Pavilion.

The Pavilion Elder cast Lin Xuan an indifferent glance, and an overbearing aura immediately enveloped him.

The next moment, Lin Xuan felt a force rush into his body before swiftly withdrawing.

At the same time, the Disciple Token at his waist was seized by the other man, who seemed to be sensing something from it.

"Early Body Forging Realm. No martial skill claimed. You may enter. Servants are only permitted on the first floor, where all martial skills are low-grade Yellow rank."

After speaking, the Pavilion Elder directly closed his eyes to rest. The Disciple Token then flew back into Lin Xuan's hand.

"Thank you, Elder!"

Lin Xuan gave a slight bow, then entered the Martial Arts Pavilion.

The outer sect Martial Arts Pavilion had three floors, and all outer sect disciples and servants came here.

Other than the first free martial skill, any subsequent ones had to be exchanged with sect contribution.

The Disciple Token could record much information and was a mandatory pass for Holy Land disciples.

Upon entering the first floor of the Martial Pavilion, Lin Xuan saw rows upon rows of shelves, every one packed with densely arranged jade slips.

Beside every jade slip was an explanation of the martial skill contained within.

Lin Xuan skimmed through them one by one before finally taking down a martial skill called Tiger's Roar Fist.

Tiger's Roar Fist, a low-grade Yellow-rank martial skill. Once cultivated to great mastery, each punch could erupt with the roar of a tiger, shaking the opponent's mind.

Holding the jade slip, Lin Xuan sought out the Pavilion Elder once more.

The Pavilion Elder casually formed a hand seal and sent it into the jade slip, then said, "The jade slip may transmit the martial skill technique once. Afterward, it will shatter on its own and cannot be passed on to others."

"Yes. Thank you for the reminder, Elder."

Lin Xuan answered and soon took his leave.

Returning to the servant resting area, Lin Xuan entered his private room and pressed the jade slip directly to his forehead. A vast amount of information immediately flooded into his mind.

Martial skills were far more straightforward than cultivation techniques, but due to his talent, Lin Xuan's comprehension still did not go smoothly.

"It still has to be the Soul Suppressing Pagoda!"

With a sigh, Lin Xuan's consciousness instantly sank into the Soul Suppressing Pagoda.

Myriad Ages in an Instant!

Lin Xuan spent a month thoroughly grasping Tiger's Roar Fist before officially beginning to cultivate it.

In the first year, Tiger's Roar Fist progressed exceptionally slowly, barely reaching the threshold.

In the second year, Tiger's Roar Fist finally entered the introductory stage. Lin Xuan felt that a single punch from him could instantly blast a cow to death.

By the fourth year, Tiger's Roar Fist had advanced greatly.

By the sixth year, Tiger's Roar Fist had finally, with great difficulty, entered the proficient realm.

At this point, twenty-three years remained stored on the first floor.

Lin Xuan stopped. He felt that to enter the minor mastery realm, he would need at least another four or five years.

Now that Myriad Ages in an Instant had no source from which to forcibly seize time, Lin Xuan did not dare squander it recklessly.

Afterward, he took out his Pig Slaughtering Blade and began practicing the pig-slaughtering blade technique he had devised.

After spending another year, Lin Xuan advanced his pig-slaughtering blade technique somewhat, bringing it into complete alignment with his current physical strength.

Only twenty-two years remained stored in Myriad Ages in an Instant.

"As expected, it can't compare to a Yellow-rank martial skill. It can only be considered a lowly mundane art. But in battle, with the advantage of a weapon, it can still achieve an unexpected killing blow."

With a silent sigh, Lin Xuan's consciousness withdrew from the Soul Suppressing Pagoda's virtual space.

The instant his consciousness completely returned to his body, Lin Xuan's body changed as well.

Both the pig-slaughtering blade technique and Tiger's Roar Fist had already formed muscle memory.

"The Soul Suppressing Pagoda... I wonder what kind of treasure it is. Its effects are simply heaven-defying."

"What a pity that my physique is too useless. Without a great quantity of cultivation resources, I can't use resources to rapidly raise my realm."

Having officially set foot on the immortal path, Lin Xuan had also come to understand the hardships of this road.

Even having the Soul Suppressing Pagoda was not enough. With his useless physique, he needed to consume ten times, even a hundred times, the resources of others just to barely keep pace with their progress.

Had he not already spent decades tempering his body to a level far beyond ordinary people, even stepping into the Mortal Realm would have been difficult.

Two days flashed by.

These three days were the easiest days for the Holy Land's newly admitted disciples. All of them studied cultivation techniques, consumed pills, and strengthened themselves.

Yet easy days always passed swiftly.

Early that morning, all servants headed to Servant Plaza. Beginning today, servant duties would be assigned; the Holy Land did not keep idlers.

Meanwhile, in the outer sect area, the door of a resting room opened, and Zhang Tao strode out in high spirits.

A powerful aura radiated from his body, while the blood throughout him surged madly.

After three days, he had finally entered the early stage of the Body Forging Realm with the help of a Body Forging Pill.

"Lin Xuan, your day of death has come."

"Once I cut you down on the Life and Death Arena, even Yu Bing won't be able to say anything. If you must blame someone, blame yourself for being inferior in skill."

Zhang Tao was incomparably confident. After entering the Body Forging Realm, he could clearly feel that he was no longer a mortal.

He felt that he could now kill a cow with one punch, no longer someone ordinary mortals could compare with.

At the same time, outer sect Elder Xu Qin found Liu Ruyan...