Using Grass as a Ruler

The Merit Points from the Punish Evil System currently had only one use: exchanging for Enlightenment Time.

And Enlightenment Time was divided into several tiers.

The first tier was Awakening Time: 100 Merit Points per second. It illuminated one's actions and perceptions, allowing rapid discovery of past shortcomings and their correction.

Once the accumulated usage of Awakening Time reached a certain threshold, Merit Points could be used to exchange for the second tier.

The second tier was Awakening Time, 1000 Merit Points per second.

Manifestation of All Laws—that was true awakening!

If using Awakening Time felt like having the correct answers to compare against, then using Awakening Time was like having a teacher break those answers down, explain them in depth, and point out a clear path forward. It allowed a cultivator to quickly bridge the gap from nothing to something.

The effect of Awakening Time was utterly astonishing!

Take Shen Zhui's previous training in "Nine Layers of Iron Ruler"—two years of practice, plus the insights gained during Awakening Time, and he still couldn't reach the Great Accomplishment Realm.

Yet when he exchanged for twenty seconds of Awakening Time, he achieved Unity of Man and Weapon.

Of course, a man who eats seven steamed buns to be full can't credit only the seventh bun.

The accumulation of Ruler Technique insights during Awakening Time also played its part.

"38,500 Merit Points, exchanged for Awakening Time, gives 385 seconds.

Exchanged for Awakening Time, that's 38.5 seconds—not a small amount." Shen Zhui thought to himself.

Shen Zhui had originally planned to use Awakening Time to break through the final barrier of Flowing Cloud Steps to the Great Accomplishment Realm.

But unexpectedly, the earlier ambush outside the city had pushed his movement technique to the Great Accomplishment Realm in the midst of life and death, saving him a great deal of Merit Points.

"Now that I've broken through to the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm and the Great Return Pill is finished, my cultivation can't advance any further in the short term."

Shen Zhui got up from the bed, pulled out a few straws from under the mattress, and toyed with them in his palm.

"Although both the Ruler Technique and movement technique have reached the Great Accomplishment Realm, with so many Merit Points in hand, I can still try to improve them a bit. But I need to think carefully about how to use these Merit Points."

He twisted and folded the straws seven or eight times, bundling them into the shape of a wooden rod.

He swung it a couple of times and nodded. At his level of Unity of Man and Weapon, as long as he was training and comprehending, there wasn't much difference between a tree branch and a real weapon.

"The movement technique just broke through to the Great Accomplishment Realm. Even if I exchange all my Merit Points for Awakening Time now, it's unlikely to reach the Perfection Realm. The Ruler Technique, though—there's still a sliver of hope."

Shen Zhui pondered and quickly made a decision.

First, he would split the Merit Points into two parts. Twenty thousand would be reserved for exchanging Awakening Time.

The remaining Merit Points would be used to exchange for Awakening Time, slowly accumulating.

"Let's start by exchanging forty seconds of Awakening Time."

With a thought, the Merit Points were deducted.

"Exchange successful. Awakening Time countdown begins: 39, 38, 37..."

Hum~

A wondrous feeling descended.

It was like a drowning person suddenly surfacing, gasping for air.

Even though he had experienced this feeling many times before, Shen Zhui still found it incredibly wonderful.

Shua shua shua~

Shen Zhui immersed himself in Awakening Time, using the straw rod as a ruler to practice "Nine Layers of Iron Ruler."

"Nine Layers of Iron Ruler" had a set of diagrams recording eighteen forms of Ruler Technique, meant to help practitioners comprehend the art.

Shen Zhui had long memorized these forms. Now, using the straw rod as a weapon, he felt something different.

"Hoo~"

The straw rod whipped up layers of afterimages. As Shen Zhui's body moved and swung, the rod's physical form soon became indistinguishable, as if his hand held nothing at all.

Sunlight streamed through the window. The shadow of the rod and the shadow of the man overlapped, merging into one.

Shen Zhui naturally achieved the Great Accomplishment Realm of Unity of Man and Weapon.

Insights arose in his heart. Former doubts were resolved, but new questions immediately emerged, adjustments made...

"Awakening Time has ended."

The system prompt sounded, but Shen Zhui didn't stop. He continued practicing for a while before finally halting.

"Unity of Heaven and Man... what exactly does it take to reach Unity of Heaven and Man..."

He glanced at the somewhat battered straw rod in his hand, tossed it aside, frowned, and closed his eyes to recall the feeling just now.

The sensation of leaving Enlightenment Time was unpleasant—like a man just rescued from drowning being thrown back into the water, a feeling of suffocation.

Before long, Shen Zhui opened his eyes and sat back down.

"Although I feel some progress, I have no clue how to train the hint of 'momentum' in the Ruler Technique to the point where it can draw upon the Power of Heaven and Earth..."

But this kind of progress wasn't vertical, straight toward the Perfection Realm—it was horizontal.

"Whether in books or from Captain Wang, they all say that to reach the 'Unity of Heaven and Man' realm, you need to fulfill two conditions: complete control of power and the ability to draw on the Power of Heaven and Earth."

"But how do you achieve those two conditions?"

The books and the Xiantian Master Wang Long, whom he'd once consulted, never mentioned it.

Not because they were unwilling to teach, but because it couldn't be taught.

The Major Accomplishment Realm's 'Unity of Man and Weapon' carried a trace of 'momentum'—like Sword Momentum, Blade Momentum, and so on.

The feeling each person cultivated was vastly different.

With the same technique, one person's Blade Momentum might be domineering, while another's was gentle... a thousand variations!

This meant direct guidance was fundamentally impossible!

The Perfection Realm's 'Unity of Heaven and Man' required merging this 'momentum' with Heaven and Earth, drawing on the Power of Heaven and Earth.

It was even more profound and obscure than the Major Accomplishment Realm, so there was even less to say about it.

"The master leads you through the door, but cultivation depends on the individual..." Shen Zhui sighed. No matter the Martial Skill, even the most skilled master could only guide you to the Minor Accomplishment realm, infinitely close to Major Accomplishment.

Beyond that, while guidance still had some use, it mainly came down to personal aptitude.

As for the Perfection Realm, you could only rely on yourself.

It was like learning to swim—someone could explain every posture and key point clearly, yet many still couldn't grasp it.

Let alone this kind of martial realm that defied verbal transmission.

"Could it be that because I just broke through, my control over power is no longer perfect, so I don't even have a clue?"

Shen Zhui thought it was very likely.

So-called perfect control of power... required a martial artist to control every shred of their strength with extreme precision and finesse. Only then could it be considered power perfection.

Shen Zhui had actually been able to achieve perfect power control long ago.

Mastering the Ruler Technique to Major Accomplishment already demanded extremely high control over force.

But he had just broken through to the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm, and his strength would have a small burst of growth. He might need an adaptation period to restore it to perfect control.

Thinking it over, Shen Zhui picked up a small pebble from the ground and tossed it toward the gap in the iron door.

"Clang~"

The pebble didn't pass through the gap; instead, it veered off and hit the door panel above.

"Just as I thought." Shen Zhui smiled and shook his head.

If his control over power wasn't fine enough to even aim accurately, then there was no point talking about anything else.

Earlier, he'd thought it was because the weapon in his hand was too light, but he'd overlooked this point.

"Looks like I need to get used to the increase in my physical strength first."

Fortunately, the cell assigned to him wasn't too small, giving Shen Zhui enough room to move.

Without using Enlightenment Time, Shen Zhui began training his power control in the cell...

Day after day passed. On the tenth day, Shen Zhui's power control reached perfection.

Then he folded grass into a ruler and kept practicing.

Combined with Awakening Time, he summarized and improved the shortcomings in the "Nine Layers of Iron Ruler."

Soon, a subtle, mysterious quality began to emerge in Shen Zhui's Ruler Technique.

Though it was still far from the Unity of Heaven and Man realm... at least Shen Zhui felt he was on the right track.

Focusing solely on this hard training every day, without needing To carry out a mission or think about anything else, he felt he was making good progress.

Inch by inch, he drew closer to the Unity of Heaven and Man realm.

Even his movement technique, "Flowing Cloud Steps," had seen a breakthrough.

Shen Zhui estimated that, within no more than two minor realms, he should have reached an eighty percent evasion rate.

On the twentieth day, as Shen Zhui kept exchanging for Awakening Time, his Merit Points consumption had dropped to just over twenty thousand.

The room was also filled with ruined grass from practice. What had once been a clean and tidy space was now a mess.

But Shen Zhui held back his impulse and didn't exchange for Enlightenment Time, continuing to digest what he'd already gained.

These twenty days were the most intense period of Awakening Time exchanges he'd ever had, and the most dedicated he'd been to training the Ruler Technique.

Since he couldn't go anywhere anyway, it had actually steadied his Mindset.

He devoted himself wholeheartedly to this for another five days. On the evening of the twenty-fifth day, while practicing, Shen Zhui suddenly felt a stir in his heart.

He finally decided to exchange for 'Enlightenment Time.'

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Ps: The iron ruler isn't a modern ruler; it's similar to a sword, except the hilt has two upward-extending cylindrical protrusions on the left and right, like a fork's shape.