Although Xu Yan had entered the martial path, his days remained as usual. He cooked when it was time to cook and fed the chickens when it was time to feed them. Li Xuan, too, seemed as leisurely and carefree as ever.
Behind the scenes, however, he was scratching his head and racking his brains, pondering how to cobble together a cultivation framework for the Innate Realm, how to fabricate its theories, and even its cultivation formulas.
Beyond the Innate Realm, he also needed some idea of the cultivation paths that came afterward.
That way, he could lay a theoretical foundation for randomly making up realms and cultivation methods in the future.
If the cultivation method he invented was not mysterious enough, and Li Xuan's cultivation did not become powerful enough, its conception would not be profound enough to make Xu Yan, that monster, delve deeply into enlightenment.
But if he made it too mysterious and detached from the framework, he feared it would be impossible to connect it to what came before. Even worse, Xu Yan might fail to comprehend it and get stuck in the Qi and Blood Realm, unable to continue cultivating!
"Damn it, this is way too difficult!"
Li Xuan sighed inwardly.
Once pressure weighed on his heart, he could no longer let his imagination run wild. When making things up, he found himself constrained at every turn.
If he just let himself make things up recklessly, he feared Xu Yan would fail to comprehend them and become stuck in the Qi and Blood Realm. In the end, he would be the one to suffer.
While Li Xuan was secretly fretting over fabricating the Innate Realm cultivation method,
Xu Yan had also been scratching his head over comprehending the four-line cultivation formula these past few days, yet he had made no progress at all and was tormented by worry.
"This cultivation formula is so simple. If I can't even comprehend the profound principles within it, Master will surely be disappointed.
"So what if I've tempered a Jade Bone? If I can't comprehend the cultivation formula, how can I continue along the martial path?
"The martial path has no end. If I can't even comprehend such a simple cultivation formula, how can I cultivate to even stronger and deeper martial realms?"
Xu Yan furrowed his brows and pondered hard.
Suddenly, he thought of something his master had said.
"Master said to do my best. Even if I can't comprehend it, that won't delay my cultivation...
"I've been devoting my entire mind to the cultivation formula and exhausting my spirit, while neglecting my cultivation instead.
"Master was actually telling me not to become too immersed in it. I must seek insight through cultivation in order to understand its profound principles..."
After this bout of overthinking, Xu Yan's eyes lit up.
He immediately gathered his mind and began cultivating, carefully experiencing the circulation of his Vital Energy and its slow strengthening. His mind was free of distractions, wholly focused on cultivation.
Only, during the intervals of cultivation, the four-line cultivation formula would occasionally rise to the surface of his mind.
As he cultivated, Xu Yan gradually gained a trace of insight. "A thousand streams and ten thousand waters become one great river... Every time I cultivate, my Vital Energy grows stronger and increases in quantity. Bit by bit, drop by drop—isn't that just like a thousand streams and ten thousand waters?
"Ten thousand miles of rushing currents pour into the great ocean... The profound principle is to gather Vital Energy and turn it into something like a great ocean... No, the body itself is like a great ocean, containing Vital Energy.
"Raging waves roll up a thousand layers of waves; Vital Energy can shake ten thousand mountains—the Vital Energy must not be placid. It must be like a torrent, like raging waves. Only then can it stimulate Vital Energy more powerfully and strengthen the body more effectively.
"Vital Energy can shake ten thousand mountains. Could its meaning be—bones are mountains, and Vital Energy shakes the mountains...?"
A flash of inspiration suddenly burst through Xu Yan's mind. He felt that the artistic conception of the four-line cultivation formula had already surfaced within his heart.
At this moment, he faintly understood. He had comprehended the martial principles hidden within it.
"Vital Energy gathers like a torrent, like raging waves, striking the Jade Bone... The entire body becomes one great ocean..."
Xu Yan sank into enlightenment. The Vital Energy within his body gradually became like a torrent, while layer upon layer of Vital Energy continuously battered the bones throughout his body.
"I understand!"
At a certain moment, Xu Yan's heart surged with excitement. In an instant, he understood the martial principles concealed within the four-line cultivation formula.
He drew a deep breath. His bones trembled, and rumbling sounds arose throughout his body, as though thunder were roaring within him.
The sound was not loud, as if it resounded only inside his body.
At a certain moment, wisps of Vital Energy continuously emerged, circulating throughout his body in a new manner. His bone marrow flowed like rivers, and Vital Energy was produced without pause, growing faster and more abundant.
At the same time, the Vital Energy throughout his body was like a torrent, constantly circulating. From time to time, it battered his bones. When the Vital Energy struck them, it rolled back and surged through his entire body.
Through these repeated backflows of Vital Energy, his physical body was strengthened, while the Vital Energy was refined and its power grew stronger.
The aura of Vital Energy coiled around his body. With every breath Xu Yan took, his chest and abdomen rumbled, his Vital Energy boiled, and his scorching aura surged like flames.
After cultivating for a while using this newly comprehended method, Xu Yan immediately sensed his own improvement.
It was an all-around improvement. His physical body was growing stronger, and his Vital Energy was growing stronger.
"Master's cultivation formula is truly profound. As expected, cultivating after comprehending the formula is completely different from cultivating without comprehending it.
"After comprehending the cultivation formula, my improvement is faster, and my Vital Energy has also become much more powerful."
Xu Yan was intensely excited.
"I've finally comprehended the cultivation formula. I won't disappoint Master!"
His heart soared with exhilaration.
Li Xuan was in the middle of fabricating the cultivation method for the Innate Realm, focusing mainly on its theoretical framework and how it would connect with the Qi and Blood Realm.
The first thing he had already settled was that the Innate Realm cultivated true qi!
All one's Vital Energy would transform into Innate True Qi. To transform it into Innate True Qi, however, a process was required. The very first step was to open the Heaven and Earth Bridge!
"Once the Heaven and Earth Bridge is opened, Vital Energy circulates through the body and transforms into Innate True Qi... Only after opening the Heaven and Earth Bridge can one absorb the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and transform it into true qi...
"Those who are innate swallow and exhale the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, control qi to soar through the air, and cross a hundred miles in an instant. They are no longer ordinary mortals..."
The more Li Xuan pondered, the more he felt that this fabricated theory seemed incredibly real. The theory was flawless, and the framework was rock-solid.
All that remained was for his foolish disciple Xu Yan to comprehend it.
There was only one problem.
Li Xuan raised his head to look at the sky and muttered inwardly, "Does this world even have Spiritual Qi? If it doesn't, wouldn't all this be pointless?
"The air here is so good, so sweet and fragrant. There ought to be Spiritual Qi, right?"
Whether Spiritual Qi existed or not, the Innate Realm would involve swallowing and exhaling the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, refining it into Innate True Qi, returning from acquired to innate, and casting off the mortal womb.
"I've made the second realm this lofty. Once someone cultivates it, they'll already be very powerful. For the realms that come afterward, I'll have to keep fabricating them in increasingly mysterious directions, or they won't be powerful enough."
Li Xuan sighed inwardly. Fabricating cultivation methods really was no easy task.
Still, after several days of pondering, he had finally cobbled together the cultivation method for the Innate Realm.
In theory, it could connect with the Qi and Blood Realm.
As for whether it would work, everything depended on Xu Yan.
"There's no need to pass it on to Xu Yan just yet. He has only newly entered the Qi and Blood Realm. In any case, I have to let him familiarize himself with the Qi and Blood Realm first.
"Otherwise, he hasn't even comprehended the Qi and Blood Realm cultivation formula, yet he's already starting to comprehend the Innate Realm cultivation method. If his mind can't make the turn, wouldn't that be counterproductive?"
Li Xuan thought it over and decided to slow down. He needn't wait until Xu Yan reached the peak of the Qi and Blood Realm, but surely Xu Yan should at least comprehend the four-line cultivation formula first, right?
"I wonder whether my foolish disciple has gained anything by now. The four-line cultivation formula still isn't mysterious enough. It's too vague. I'll make a better one next time."
Li Xuan secretly summed up his experience. The next time he fabricated a cultivation formula, he had to make it more mysterious, give it a richer artistic conception, and make it connect somewhat with the realm being cultivated.
It could not be too vague.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to comprehend.
Before you continue