This really was a transmigrator's perk. That hadn't been an illusion just now. Did it mean I could cultivate?!
A flicker of joy passed through Ye Jing's eyes, and his heart filled with cheers.
When he'd heard Hu Jie mention the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm, Ye Jing had felt as though the end of the world had arrived.
But with the system's help, everything was different.
Even if someone could rise against the heavens during the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm and unleash a bloody storm across Dali, Ye Jing wouldn't panic in the least.
As long as he dutifully stayed in the Hanlin Academy compiling historical records for thirty years, he didn't believe anyone could outdo him with his cheat.
But what made Ye Jing even happier was that with the system's help, he could cultivate to an incredibly high realm.
The higher one's Martial Arts cultivation, the longer one's Lifespan.
It was said that the first Emperor Li of Dali had reached the realm of a God of Heaven and Earth, with a Lifespan of five hundred years.
If someone could live for five hundred years in his previous life, they'd have been hauled off and cut open for research long ago.
Ye Jing closed his eyes and carefully sensed the changes the system had brought.
An image slowly appeared in Ye Jing's mind.
It showed Sword Saint Zhu Yang battling seven Peak of Humanity experts from a foreign nation before he died in a pool of blood.
Beyond Heaven's Gate Pass, one man and one sword stood suspended in midair, dressed all in white.
Blood trickled from Zhu Yang's lips, yet he remained peerlessly graceful. The Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation blazed in his hands with their utmost brilliance.
Sword intent ran rampant, shrouding the sky and blotting out the sun. Wherever the swordlight swept, it annihilated all life.
Ye Jing saw every variation of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation with perfect clarity: the path of each stroke, the Dao resonance within the sword. It all seemed to be branded deep in his sea of consciousness.
At last, Ye Jing fully comprehended every profound principle of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation.
Ye Jing opened his eyes, shock showing in them. He hadn't expected to master every profound principle of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation in such a short time.
Though the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation consisted of only thirteen forms, they contained countless variations. Even Zhu Yang, a born genius of the Sword Dao, had spent a full twenty years perfecting the art.
Though Sword Saint Zhu Yang had died in a pool of blood, the Sword Sect still stood firm in Dali.
Over the past three hundred years, the Sword Sect had produced one brilliant swordsman after another. Countless Sword Dao prodigies had emerged, yet not one had managed to fathom the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation.
The system truly defied the heavens. It had let him completely master a supreme art that no one in the Sword Sect had understood for three hundred years, all in this short time.
It was a pity his cultivation was still too low to unleash the true power of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation.
Without another thought, Ye Jing immediately began cultivating.
Having comprehended every profound principle of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation, and with the system's blessing granting him Heaven-Defying Comprehension, Ye Jing found cultivation as easy as a fish in water.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth poured into his body, flowing through every limb and bone before finally gathering in the dantian in his abdomen. In the time it took for one incense stick to burn, it had completed a Greater Celestial Circuit.
A look of astonishment flashed in Ye Jing's eyes. He hadn't expected cultivation to become so fast after his comprehension defied the heavens. It took only one incense stick to complete a Greater Celestial Circuit.
The Qi Refining Realm involved refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, drawing it into the body, circulating it through a Greater Celestial Circuit, and finally gathering it in the dantian.
With each Greater Celestial Circuit, the spiritual energy in the dantian increased. Once it was full, one could break through to the Innate Realm.
In other words, in the Qi Refining Realm, the faster you refined spiritual energy, the faster you cultivated.
The original owner had been too slow at refining spiritual energy. It took several days just to circulate it through one Greater Celestial Circuit. Even after more than ten years of painstaking cultivation, he had remained a rookie at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
Now, it took him only one incense stick to circulate spiritual energy through a Greater Celestial Circuit. The difference between the two was like heaven and earth.
By Ye Jing's estimate, at this rate, he would need only one night to fill his dantian and reach perfection at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer.
Daring not to waste a moment, Ye Jing immediately continued cultivating.
There was no helping it. The Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm was about to arrive. Now that he had the system's help, Ye Jing had to seize every moment to increase his strength.
Otherwise, when the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm truly came, a so-called ant like him, with neither strength nor backing, might be annihilated outright by the shockwaves of some great expert's battle.
After an afternoon of cultivation, the spiritual energy in Ye Jing's dantian was more than thirty percent fuller than before.
He'd already reached the Qi Refining Sixth Layer and was nearly at the Seventh!
Ye Jing emerged from meditation and sensed the changes in his body. A look of shock flashed in his eyes.
In a mere afternoon, his cultivation had risen by one layer and was nearly two layers higher. This cultivation speed was truly astonishing!
He glanced at the sky. Dusk had already fallen. Ye Jing compiled Sword Saint Zhu Yang's life into a biography. The history books described Sword Saint Zhu Yang's deeds only in broad strokes, with a few understated lines.
But Ye Jing had witnessed that battle with his own eyes. He sang the praises of Sword Saint Zhu Yang, a pillar of the nation, in bold strokes.
After finishing the biography, he tidied the books on his desk and left the Hanlin Academy, ready to go home.
Ye Manor wasn't far from the Hanlin Academy; the journey took only an hour.
Once home, Ye Jing ate supper, then immediately resumed cultivating.
After his afternoon of cultivation, Ye Jing found it even easier to practice. Spiritual energy now circulated through his body even faster.
The spiritual energy in his dantian filled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Deep into the night, the bright moon hung high.
Ye Jing sensed that the spiritual energy in his dantian was full, with no room for any more, and only then emerged from meditation.
Had he really reached perfection in the Qi Refining Realm so quickly?
In just one afternoon and one evening, he'd broken through from the Qi Refining Fifth Layer to perfection in the Qi Refining Realm. Even the prodigies of the great sects couldn't cultivate this fast.
Ye Jing didn't let it go to his head. After one day of painstaking cultivation, his strength had made a tremendous leap, but even perfection in the Qi Refining Realm made him no more than a somewhat bigger ant in all of Dali.
When the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm arrived and the Heaven and Earth Shackles loosened, powerful experts would emerge in droves. Perfection in the Qi Refining Realm would mean even less then.
After regulating his breathing, Ye Jing prepared to press on and break through to the Innate Realm.
The Martial Arts of Dali had five realms: Qi Refining, Innate, Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, Martial Saint of Humanity, and the legendary God of Heaven and Earth.
Unofficial histories claimed that during the First Heaven and Earth Cataclysm, a Peerless Powerhouse stronger than a God of Heaven and Earth had once appeared. But too much time had passed, and the claim could not be verified.
In Dali today, however, no God of Heaven and Earth had appeared for five hundred years. The Martial Saint of Humanity stood at the Peak of Humanity, while those in the Innate Realm were already pillars of Dali.
If he could break through to the Innate Realm, he'd at least have a sliver of strength to protect himself.
To break through to the Innate Realm, he had to keep condensing the spiritual energy in his dantian until it formed a spiritual pill.
Once his body, energy, and spirit were in peak condition, Ye Jing sat cross-legged and began condensing the spiritual energy in his dantian.
Time passed. Dawn's first light appeared, and the rooster crowed. Ye Jing opened his eyes once more, unable to hide the delight in them.
He'd reached the Innate Realm! This was the power of Heaven-Defying Comprehension!
In just one day, Ye Jing had gone from a rookie at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer to the Innate Realm. If word got out about such cultivation speed, he couldn't imagine how many people would covet him.
No, he had to keep this secret hidden. He absolutely couldn't let anyone discover his true strength.
After breaking through to the Innate Realm, Ye Jing wasn't the least bit conceited. Instead, his resolve to stay at the Hanlin Academy grew even firmer.
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