Greatly Increased Strength, Stepping into the Innate Realm

This really is a transmigrator's perk—it wasn't just my imagination earlier. Does this mean I can actually cultivate now!

A flicker of joy flashed in Ye Jing's eyes, his heart brimming with silent cheers.

When he'd heard Hu Jie mention the sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm earlier, Ye Jing had felt it was no different from the end of the world.

But with the system's help, everything had changed.

Even if someone managed to rise against the heavens during the sixth cataclysm and stir up rivers of blood across Dali, Ye Jing wasn't the least bit rattled.

As long as he stayed put in the Hanlin Academy compiling historical records for thirty years, he refused to believe anyone could outpace him with his cheats.

What thrilled Ye Jing even more was that with the system's aid, he could cultivate to an extremely high realm.

The higher one's martial cultivation, the longer their lifespan.

Rumor had it that Dali's first Emperor Li had reached the realm of a God of Heaven and Earth, with a lifespan of five hundred years.

If that had been in his past life, someone who could live five hundred years would have been caught and sliced up for research long ago.

Ye Jing closed his eyes, carefully sensing the changes the system had brought.

Slowly, an image formed in his mind.

It was a scene of Sword Saint Zhu Yang, bloodied and dying, locked in battle with seven foreign Peak of Humanity experts.

Outside Heaven's Gate Pass, one man, one sword, clad in white robes, stood suspended in the air.

Blood trickled from the corner of Zhu Yang's mouth, yet he remained peerlessly elegant, the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation blooming with their most extreme radiance in his hands.

Sword intent raged, darkening heaven and earth; wherever the sword light swept, it annihilated all life.

Ye Jing saw every single change of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation with crystal clarity—the trajectory of each strike, the Dao resonance within the sword—all of it seemed branded deep into his sea of consciousness.

Finally, Ye Jing fully comprehended all the mysteries of the [Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation].

Ye Jing opened his eyes, a trace of shock spilling from them. He hadn't expected to master every secret of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation in such a short time.

Though the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation had only thirteen forms, they contained countless variations. Even a natural-born sword prodigy like Zhu Yang had needed a full twenty years to finally perfect the technique.

Sword Saint Zhu Yang had fallen in battle, but the Sword Sect still stood unshaken in Dali.

For three hundred years, the Sword Sect had produced talent after talent, countless great sword masters, yet not one had ever fully grasped the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation.

This system was truly heaven-defying, letting him completely master this ultimate technique that no one in the Sword Sect had understood for three centuries, all in the blink of an eye.

Too bad his cultivation was still too low to unleash the true power of the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation.

Without hesitation, Ye Jing immediately began to cultivate.

Having comprehended all the mysteries of the [Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation] and boosted by the system's Heaven-Defying Comprehension, Ye Jing found cultivation as easy as a fish in water, effortless.

Heaven and earth spiritual energy surged into his body, passing through his limbs and meridians before converging into his lower dantian. In the span of just one incense stick's burn, the spiritual energy had completed a full Great Circulation within him.

A flicker of shock crossed Ye Jing's eyes. He hadn't expected that with Heaven-Defying Comprehension, his cultivation speed would be so fast—completing one Great Circulation took only the time of an incense stick.

The so-called Qi Refining Realm meant refining heaven and earth spiritual energy, drawing it into the body, cycling it through one Great Circulation, and finally gathering it in the lower dantian.

With each Great Circulation completed, the spiritual energy in the dantian increased by a fraction. Once the dantian was fully saturated, one could break through to the Innate Realm.

In other words, in the Qi Refining Realm, the faster you refined spiritual energy, the faster your cultivation speed.

The original owner had been too slow at refining spiritual energy—it took him several days just to complete one Great Circulation. Even after more than a decade of bitter training, he was still only a rookie at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

Now, completing one Great Circulation of spiritual energy in his body took only the time of an incense stick. The difference was like heaven and earth.

Based on Ye Jing's estimation, at this rate, he would only need one night to fill his dantian to capacity and reach the perfect tenth layer of Qi Refining.

Not daring to waste a moment, Ye Jing immediately resumed cultivation.

There was no choice. The sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm was imminent, and with the system's help now, Ye Jing had to seize every second to boost his strength.

Otherwise, when the sixth cataclysm truly arrived, an ant like him—with neither power nor backing—might just be annihilated in the residual shockwaves of some great expert's battle.

After an afternoon of cultivation, the spiritual energy in Ye Jing's dantian was a full thirty percent more abundant than before.

He had already reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining and was closing in on the seventh.

Ye Jing emerged from his cultivation trance, sensed the changes within his body, and a trace of shock flickered in his eyes.

In just one afternoon, his cultivation had risen by a full layer, nearly two layers' worth. This cultivation speed was truly terrifying!

He glanced at the sky; it was already dusk. Ye Jing compiled Sword Saint Zhu Yang's life into a biography. The historical records had only covered Zhu Yang's deeds with a few brushstrokes, a simple description.

But Ye Jing had personally witnessed that great battle, so he lavished praise on Sword Saint Zhu Yang, the nation's pillar.

After finishing the writing, he tidied the books on his desk, then left the Hanlin Academy to head home.

The Ye Manor wasn't far from the academy—only an hour's walk.

Back home, Ye Jing ate dinner and immediately threw himself back into cultivation without pause.

With the afternoon's practice under his belt, Ye Jing cultivated even more smoothly. The speed at which spiritual energy completed one Great Circulation in his body had increased.

The spiritual energy in his lower dantian visibly filled up.

Late at night, the bright moon hung high.

Ye Jing sensed that the spiritual energy in his dantian was now full, to the point where it couldn't increase any further, and only then did he emerge from his meditative state.

Already reached the peak of Qi Refining?

From the fifth layer of Qi Refining to the peak in a single afternoon and night—even the prodigies of the great sects and major schools couldn't achieve such a cultivation speed.

Ye Jing did not grow complacent. Though a day of bitter training had brought a massive leap in strength compared to before, mere Qi Refining peak was, in the grand scheme of the entire Dali, nothing more than a slightly larger ant.

If the sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm arrived and the world's shackles loosened, experts would emerge in droves, and this Qi Refining peak would become even more insignificant.

Regulating his breath, Ye Jing prepared to push through in one go and break into the Innate Realm.

The Martial Arts of Dali were divided into five realms: Qi Refining, Innate, Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, Martial Saint of Humanity, and the legendary God of Heaven and Earth.

Some unofficial histories recorded that during the first Heaven and Earth Cataclysm, there had been an overwhelming powerhouse even stronger than the God of Heaven and Earth, but the records were too ancient to verify.

In the Dali of today, however, the God of Heaven and Earth had not appeared for five hundred years. The Martial Saint of Humanity stood as the Peak of Humanity, and the Innate Realm was already the backbone of the nation.

If he could break through to the Innate Realm, he would barely have a sliver of self-preservation.

To break into the Innate Realm, one had to continuously condense the spiritual energy in the dantian until it coalesced into a single spiritual pellet—that was success.

Adjusting his spirit, energy, and mind to their peak, Ye Jing sat cross-legged and began refining the spiritual energy in his dantian.

Time passed slowly. The morning light faintly emerged, a rooster crowed, and Ye Jing opened his eyes once more. The deep joy in his gaze could not be concealed.

He had reached the Innate Realm! Such was the power of Heaven-Defying Comprehension!

In just one day, Ye Jing had broken through from a rookie at the fifth layer of Qi Refining to the Innate Realm. If this cultivation speed were to spread, who knew how many covetous eyes it would draw.

No, this secret must be hidden. He absolutely could not reveal his true strength.

After breaking into the Innate Realm, Ye Jing did not grow the least bit arrogant. Instead, he became even more determined to stay in the Hanlin Academy.