Breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm

At the end of the seventeenth year, with the help of the simplified Purple Cloud Divine Skill, you took less than a month to consecutively open the fourth, fifth, and sixth of the Twelve Meridian Channels.

You could open one of the Twelve Meridian Channels every few days. That speed was far too abnormal.

And when you opened the fourth Twelve Meridian Channel, you officially broke through to the mid Houtian Realm.

When you opened the sixth Twelve Meridian Channel, your strength leaped to the peak of the mid Houtian Realm.

"This is how one cultivates in the Houtian Realm? As long as I keep opening my Twelve Meridian Channels..."

Looking at the words that had just appeared in the subtitles before him, Zheng Qian's eyes flashed with understanding as he muttered softly.

He finally knew how the Houtian Realm was cultivated.

According to the simulation's calculations, opening three of the Twelve Meridian Channels meant reaching the peak of the early Houtian Realm. Opening the fourth allowed one to break through to the mid Houtian Realm, while opening six meant reaching the mid-realm peak. Then, opening seven should allow one to break through to the late Houtian Realm.

By that logic, opening ten should mean reaching the peak of the Houtian Realm.

Of course, the farther one progressed, the harder it would certainly become.

In the second month of the eighteenth year, after nearly two months of arduous cultivation, you consecutively opened the remaining six Twelve Meridian Channels with the help of the simplified Purple Cloud Divine Skill, completely opening all twelve channels within your body.

As you had guessed, your cultivation reached the peak of the Houtian Realm when you opened the tenth Twelve Meridian Channel, directly placing you among the first-rate martial artists of the jianghu.

As your cultivation rose, cultivating the Houtian martial arts you had learned also became twice as effective with half the effort. In just a few short months, you had mastered them all to the entry level.

That same year, your master accepted Lau Der-no as a disciple and made him the second senior brother among all of you. As a result, you went from being the fourth disciple to the fifth disciple.

"Yue Buqun still accepted Lau Der-no? I thought that after learning about the martial arts in the cave on Siguo Cliff, he wouldn't keep this spy around..."

Looking at the latest subtitles that had appeared before him, Zheng Qian muttered in a low voice, somewhat surprised.

But after giving it some thought, he understood.

Although Yue Buqun had learned about the cave on Siguo Cliff ahead of time, mastering all the martial arts within it would still take time.

And what the Mount Hua Sect lacked most right now was time.

After all, several decades ago, the Mount Hua Sect had been the Five Peaks Alliance Leader at the height of its power. Although it had now declined until only a few members remained, the Songshan Sect's new alliance leader would not simply lower its guard against them.

Therefore, even if Yue Buqun knew Lau Der-no's identity, he still had to accept him. He intended to use Lau Der-no to feed the Songshan Sect false intelligence and thereby buy the Mount Hua Sect time to develop.

In the third month of the eighteenth year, with all twelve of your Twelve Meridian Channels fully opened, you officially began condensing the internal force within your body into Innate True Qi.

The day you could transform all the internal force in your body into Innate True Qi would be the day you officially broke through to the Xiantian Realm.

In the nineteenth year, after nearly a year of cultivation, you successfully transformed ninety-five percent of the internal force in your body into Innate True Qi. You were only one final step away from completing the transformation.

Given your cultivation speed, you should actually have completed the transformation long ago.

But six months earlier, your master, Yue Buqun, had begun teaching you and your senior apprentice brother, Linghu Chong, all the sword techniques of the Five Great Sword Sects from the cave on Siguo Cliff, along with the corresponding methods to counter them.

Even though you practiced the sword for only half a day each day, it greatly affected the progress of your breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm.

However, although this extended the time it took you to break through, it also caused your swordsmanship to advance by leaps and bounds.

In just half a year, all the many sword techniques you had learned reached the minor mastery level.

This naturally was not because your talent for swordsmanship was exceptionally high. Rather, the Innate True Qi you had condensed had been continuously improving your body.

This not only made your body more coordinated, but also greatly enhanced your memory and the speed at which your mind operated.

What you did not know was that not everyone could obtain such an enhancement. Only Innate True Qi condensed before the body fully matured at the age of twenty-five could continuously improve a cultivator's body, memory, and mental processing speed.

"There's actually such a benefit? The waters here really run deep."

Looking at the content that had just appeared in the subtitles before him, Zheng Qian's eyes lit up. This was the first time he had learned of such a hidden fact.

However, even knowing this in advance was useless, because Innate True Qi was not something as common as cabbages. It was not something one could condense simply by wanting to.

In the fifth month of the nineteenth year, you finally transformed all the internal force in your body into Innate True Qi. You then used it to open the Ren Meridian, one of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians within your body, officially breaking through to the Xiantian Realm.

With the breakthrough, you experienced the first cleansing and remolding of your meridians in your life. This not only greatly increased your lifespan, but also substantially improved your aptitude for martial arts.

In the sixth month of the nineteenth year, after stabilizing your Xiantian Realm cultivation, you officially began cultivating the Xiantian section of the Purple Cloud Divine Skill.

From the Xiantian section, you learned that the primary cultivation method of the Xiantian Realm was to accumulate Innate True Qi and open all eight of the body's Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

The early Xiantian Realm required opening the Ren and Du Meridians. The mid Xiantian Realm required opening the Chong and Dai Meridians. The late Xiantian Realm required opening the Yin and Yang Qiao Meridians. The Xiantian Peak required opening the Yin and Yang Wei Meridians.

Each of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians was extremely hidden, fragile, and winding. Without guidance from the corresponding cultivation method, reckless cultivation could cause meridian damage and a decline in strength at best, or ruptured meridians and qi deviation at worst.

Yet such great risks came with equally great rewards. Opening each of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians would increase the quantity, quality, and recovery speed of the Innate True Qi within a cultivator's body.

"Opening the Eight Extraordinary Meridians? Is this how one cultivates in the Xiantian Realm?"

Looking at the latest content that had appeared in the subtitles before him, Zheng Qian muttered curiously.

However, he was only curious for a moment before once again watching attentively.

What disappointed you somewhat was that the Purple Cloud Divine Skill only recorded methods for locating and opening six of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians: the Ren Meridian, Du Meridian, Chong Meridian, Dai Meridian, Yin Qiao Meridian, and Yang Qiao Meridian.

It also imposed extremely strict requirements on the quantity and quality of one's True Qi when opening the different meridians.

However, for you, who had cultivated the Purple Cloud Divine Skill to the Perfection Level, this posed no difficulty at all.

In the twentieth year, after half a year of arduous cultivation, you finally accumulated a sufficient quantity of Purple Cloud True Qi and successfully opened the Du Meridian, one of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Your strength consequently reached the peak of the early Xiantian Realm.

In addition, cultivating those Houtian-level martial arts with a Xiantian Realm cultivation was like receiving divine aid. In just half a year, you cultivated all of them to the mastery level.

However, these martial arts did not significantly increase your strength. At most, they could be considered the icing on the cake—better than nothing.