Three Grandmaster Cultivation Methods

The wind and snow fell, blanketing the mountains and rivers, and soon covered the body of Old Man Cangjian.

The ice and snow froze the blood, the brilliant red congealing within the crystal white, like red plum blossoms braving the snow, blooming on a white canvas.

The death of Old Man Cangjian shocked everyone.

The disciples and elders of Shangqing Palace witnessed this battle, and each one was in disbelief.

"Old Man Cangjian was famous throughout the world hundreds of years ago, his swordsmanship sharp and unparalleled. People speculated he could become a Grandmaster, yet he died here."

"Who is this senior? A Great Grandmaster fighting against a Venerable, crossing a major realm. Unbelievable."

"I know this senior. He's the keeper of Shangqing Palace's Scripture Repository Pavilion. I saw him when I went to consult texts there before."

"What? Wasn't that an old man on his last legs? How could he be such a terrifying senior?"

"When I exchanged points for cultivation techniques from the Scripture Repository Pavilion, I saw this senior. He was full of decay then, his body frail, with little time left. I never expected him to be this terrifying."

"That was years ago. A few months ago, when I went to the Scripture Repository Pavilion, the senior had shed that decay and was like this."

"How many terrifying existences has Shangqing Palace hidden? First, the Sect Master lived incognito for decades and then astonished everyone. Now, a senior is willing to be a mere gatekeeper in the Scripture Repository Pavilion, hiding his true strength. It's too frightening."

The disciples of Shangqing Palace chattered excitedly, their faces flushed, having personally witnessed this earth-shattering battle.

A Great Grandmaster fighting against a Venerable.

This Great Grandmaster was also a senior of their Shangqing Palace, willing to live in obscurity and remain detached from worldly affairs. If Old Man Cangjian hadn't challenged their sect, he probably wouldn't have intervened.

"Alright, alright, don't get too excited. This senior is the Sect Master's elder brother. He's been in Shangqing Palace for nearly a hundred years, with a very high seniority, but he's naturally indifferent. Don't upset the senior." An elder of Shangqing Palace stepped forward and shouted, trying to calm the disciples' excited emotions.

At this moment, the disciples realized that the old man guarding the Scripture Repository Pavilion was actually the Sect Master's elder brother.

No wonder he possessed such terrifying strength.

Li Jiusheng heard the disciples' discussions and shook his head helplessly. The Scripture Repository Pavilion would likely be disturbed from now on.

Cough!

Li Jiusheng coughed lightly, spitting out a mouthful of blood. A flush appeared on his face, and his internal organs throbbed with intense pain.

Fighting a Venerable as a Great Grandmaster, though successful, had pushed Li Jiusheng to his absolute limit. He was severely injured, but during the heat of battle, he hadn't paid it any mind.

Now that the battle was over and the enemy defeated, Li Jiusheng's adrenaline subsided, and he finally felt how terrible his condition was.

"Venerable peak, as expected of a Venerable peak. If Old Man Cangjian wasn't old, and if he hadn't been arrogant at the start and abandoned his most proficient swordsmanship, giving me an opportunity to close the distance, I would have died by his sword long ago." Li Jiusheng silently recalled and assessed his battle.

"However, I gained a lot from this battle. The swordsmanship displayed by Old Man Cangjian is the direction I should pursue." Li Jiusheng felt fortunate. He could now meticulously recall this battle and gain further insights into the Sword Dao.

Cough!

He coughed again, spitting blood into his palm. Li Jiusheng circulated his True Qi, vaporizing the bloodstains, then turned around. His internal cultivation techniques continuously circulated, healing his body.

Just then, a cold glint emerged from the snow, approaching Li Jiusheng silently. Only when it was close did he feel his hair stand on end, his heart warning him. His Primordial spirit tensed, and his body instinctively dodged to the side.

Swish!

As the cold glint flashed, sword energy grazed Li Jiusheng's arm, drawing two streams of blood before shooting directly into the mountain gate of Shangqing Palace, destroying it with a resounding crash.

Stones flew, dust obscured the sky, and snowflakes swirled.

That sword strike was so fast, so insidious, so powerful.

"An assassin!" Li Jiusheng's heart tightened. He gathered the meager energy left within him and used his movement techniques, constantly shifting. He felt targeted by something terrifying.

"Very formidable. This is definitely an assassin of Venerable level or higher, specializing in assassination."

"It's the Human World. They've sent people too."

"Not good, here it comes again!"

Li Jiusheng's heart pounded. The assassin hidden in the shadows, failing the first strike, quickly launched another.

He was like a reflection in the wilderness, a companion to the snowflakes, his body never appearing, yet his sword strikes fell silently, aiming directly for Li Jiusheng's heart.

Thwack!

The sword tip pierced flesh. Li Jiusheng's body instantly tensed, erupting with powerful Blood Essence, which surged outward, destroying the sword energy.

This action aggravated his previous injuries, causing Li Jiusheng to spit out a mouthful of blood and collapse into the snow. A sharp pain coursed through his chest. That sword strike had penetrated deeply, coming within a hair's breadth of his heart.

"You're quite hard to kill." A faint sigh echoed from the wilderness, like a ghost drifting between heaven and earth. The attacker's location was indistinguishable, and their figure invisible.

The disciples and elders of Shangqing Palace were terrified by this scene. Several Great Grandmaster elders rushed out to save Li Jiusheng.

However, six shadowy figures emerged within Shangqing Palace, repelling these Great Grandmasters.

Li Jiusheng sensed what was happening behind him, his pupils constricting. He said in a deep voice, "You people of the Human World are truly persistent."

"Your Sect Master, Li Qingshan, killed six Venerables of the Human World. This debt will be repaid starting with you today." Voices echoed from all directions in the wilderness, sounding male, female, old, and young, mixed together, incredibly grating. Simultaneously, a cold glint erupted as the assassin from the Human World finally appeared.

Clad in white and wearing a dark gold mask, they held a short sword and arrived instantly, aiming to stab Li Jiusheng's heart.

Li Jiusheng looked on in despair.

At this moment, he was far from his peak and unable to contend with the opponent.

"Am I going to die here?" Li Jiusheng's brow furrowed, but a hint of despair flickered in his eyes. With his current severely injured state, he could think of no solution.

"No one can save you," the assassin from the Human World said coldly.

BOOM!!!

However, at this very moment, a vast aura erupted, instantly enveloping heaven and earth. It spread from the golden-roofed main hall, immense and boundless like an abyss or the sea, covering the entire Shangqing Palace.

Thump. The assassins from the Human World were instantly suppressed, falling to their knees and trembling.

The imposing aura descending from the sky was ceaseless, like dozens or hundreds of great mountains, thump, thump, thump, continuously crashing down.

"Ancestor Realm aura!" the assassin king from the Human World exclaimed in shock, raising his head and looking at the golden roof of Shangqing Palace's main hall with disbelief, his voice trembling.

Li Jiusheng watched with joy and laughed heartily. His junior brother had finally broken through.

Inside Shangqing Palace, with a bang, all six Venerable Realm assassins were sent flying by the aura and died on the spot.

From the golden-roofed main hall, a middle-aged swordsman with an ethereal, immortal-like demeanor walked out slowly. He trod on the void, wisps of sword energy swirling around him, making him appear like an immortal sword descending to the mortal world.

"Senior brother, you've worked hard. Leave the rest to me." The middle-aged swordsman took a step forward, and the world seemed to shrink into a single line. He arrived beside Li Jiusheng, cupped his hands, and said.

Li Jiusheng nodded gently, ignoring everyone else. He sat down on the spot, circulating his energy to heal his injuries.

With Li Qingshan breaking through to the Venerable Realm and entering the Ancestor Realm, all his worries vanished.

He could now heal his injuries with peace of mind.

Li Qingshan looked at the heavily injured Li Jiusheng, his expression growing colder. This was his most beloved senior brother, and the assassins from the Human World dared to assassinate him.

"Don't kill me! I can give you many things. We in the Human World also have Ancestors," the assassin king from the Human World said hastily, sensing the coldness emanating from Li Qingshan.

He wasn't afraid of death, but he didn't want to die.

He had lived in the shadows his entire life, assassinating countless targets, and had risen to the rank of assassin king in the Human World. The next step was becoming an Ancestor.

To him, the world was vast, and dying here would be too regrettable.

He had thought this assassination would be easy, but he never expected to encounter a newly ascended Ancestor.

As fellow peak Venerables, the assassin king had no fear. But crossing that threshold created a difference as vast as heaven and earth between them.

"I'll be waiting for an Ancestor from the Human World to find me. Unfortunately, you won't live to see it," Li Qingshan said coldly. He lightly drew his index finger, and the void suddenly split open, creating a rift. He then proceeded to slice the assassin king into several pieces.

As the year turned cold, snow sealed the mountains.

In the tea room of the Scripture Repository Pavilion, Li Jiusheng sat cross-legged, his legs tucked against his abdomen. Blood Essence flowed like rivers within his body, washing over his injuries. With each inhale and exhale, Spiritual Energy surged in like a tide, being absorbed into his body to fill the damaged areas, stimulating the growth of flesh and blood, and restoring his internal organs to their original state.

The great battle had passed three days ago.

For these three days, Li Jiusheng had cultivated day and night in the Scripture Repository Pavilion, practicing all sorts of techniques. At the peak of his practice, the formless power scattered from the techniques repaired the scars on his body.

After a long while, Li Jiusheng slowly opened his eyes.

"My injuries have been completely healed. This was truly a close call, but it also allowed me to gauge my combat strength," Li Jiusheng said with emotion.

In terms of physical body alone, he was not inferior to a peak Venerable. However, when it came to Dao Rhyme and techniques, he was far inferior.

Fortunately, Li Jiusheng possessed two great phenomena that could compensate for this deficiency. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to defeat Old Man Cangjian.

"In the final moments, my two great phenomena resonated with the mountains and rivers under pressure, slowly merging and erupting with power that shattered Old Man Cangjian's body. That was the key to my victory," Li Jiusheng re-examined himself and realized he had neglected his two great phenomena in the past.

The power of a phenomenon could allow him to transcend realms and disregard hundreds of years of the opponent's cultivation lead.

"I need to cultivate more diligently from now on. If there's an opportunity, I'll try to comprehend more phenomena and see if they can be merged," Li Jiusheng set a goal for himself.

"However, this great battle has caused my recently broken-through realm to become somewhat unstable. I need to cultivate well from now on and strive to break through to the Great Grandmaster Realm and enter the Venerable Realm as soon as possible," Li Jiusheng thought silently.

"Are your injuries completely healed?" The little fox, who had been sleeping soundly beside Li Jiusheng, opened her eyes. Seeing Li Jiusheng awake, she asked with surprise.

For these three days, Li Jiusheng had been healing and meditating. The little fox, worried about his safety, had stayed by his side without leaving.

Li Jiusheng dotingly pulled the little fox into his embrace and said, "Don't worry, my injuries have completely healed."

"That's great. I saw everything that day. That old man wasn't your match, but the person who ambushed you afterward was too despicable. If your junior brother hadn't broken through to the Ancestor Realm, the consequences would have been unimaginable. It was too dangerous." The little fox tightly gripped Li Jiusheng's collar, extremely worried about him. Recalling the scene at that time, she was still a little scared.

"Don't worry, now that we've passed this hurdle, there won't be any more trouble," Li Jiusheng said confidently.

With Li Qingshan's breakthrough to the Venerable Realm and entry into the Ancestor Realm, Shangqing Palace now had a pillar of support. The targeting from Luochuan Sect and the Human World was child's play, not worth mentioning.

With Li Qingshan holding the fort in front, Li Jiusheng could focus on cultivating behind the scenes.

Give him some more time, and he would enter the Venerable Realm. At that time, as long as there were no other Ancestors, he would be invincible.

"Senior brother is right. Now that we've passed this hurdle, we can focus on cultivating with peace of mind. With me here, you will definitely be safe," a hearty laugh came from outside the tea room at this moment.

Li Qingshan appeared, dressed in a purple Daoist robe, wearing a lotus crown, and holding a whisk, walking slowly.

A true Daoist immortal!

After breaking through to the Ancestor Realm, Li Qingshan's aura had changed significantly, becoming even more ethereal. Previously, his body flowed with sword intent, but now he had embraced everything, storing it within his heart and returning to a state of simplicity.

"Have you finished dealing with the matters of Shangqing Palace these past three days?" Li Jiusheng stood up, poured Li Qingshan a cup of tea, and asked curiously.

Li Qingshan took the tea, drank it in one gulp, and nodded. "Everything is finished. Shangqing Palace has reopened its gates. News of my breakthrough to the Venerable Realm and entry into the Ancestor Realm has spread far and wide. The assassin organization from the Human World sent a grand gift to seek peace. As for Luochuan Sect, which is ninety thousand miles away, there has been no news, as if nothing happened."

"I'm afraid Luochuan Sect is panicking from the inside out right now. No one expected you to break through to the Ancestor Realm so quickly. Although Luochuan Sect has Emperor Wu of Zhou, he has been injured repeatedly and can no longer make any significant waves," Li Jiusheng said with a hearty laugh.

Having an Ancestor presiding over a sect made its standing much firmer.

"With my breakthrough to the Ancestor Realm, major sects have sent people to offer congratulations. Next, Shangqing Palace will hold a grand ceremony for Ancestors, inviting guests from all directions. I also need to get acquainted with some established Ancestors. Luochuan Sect is too far away for now, so we'll deal with them later," Li Qingshan said slowly.

"It's fine. The Luochuan Sect now is like a grasshopper in autumn, it won't last long. Everything is up to Shangqing Palace. As long as they don't disturb my cultivation, that's all that matters," Li Jiusheng said. This great battle had exposed his identity, and he worried his peaceful days would be disrupted.

"Senior Brother, please rest assured. I've already instructed our disciples not to disturb you. Those who wish to consult books in the Scripture Repository Pavilion can go there themselves," Li Qingshan had also anticipated this.

Li Jiusheng nodded. "That's excellent. Otherwise, I would have to find another place to live in seclusion."

Li Qingshan smiled and couldn't help but sigh. "Senior Brother, your feat of using your Great Grandmaster cultivation to strike down a Venerable this time was truly astonishing. Although I've issued a gag order, some news still leaked out. However, as far as I know, people outside generally don't believe it, thinking it's false information. A mid-stage Great Grandmaster striking down a peak Venerable – even storytellers wouldn't come up with something like this. It's simply too absurd."

"Yes, even I didn't expect it before I acted," Li Jiusheng replied.

"Senior Brother, aren't you curious about what kind of grand gift the Human World has sent to beg for Shangqing Palace's forgiveness?" Li Qingshan said mysteriously.

Li Jiusheng glanced at him, curious. "Tell me."

"The Human World has sent three Grandmaster techniques this time. Two of them are from the Outer Domain, which can be considered extremely precious. Coincidentally, I've brought them all. Please, Senior Brother, take a look." After speaking, Li Qingshan took out three paper-thin scrolls from his sleeve and placed them before Li Jiusheng.