Five Xiantian Realms

"Master, is Martial Saint a realm above the Xiantian?"

Li Gan asked curiously.

His knowledge of the levels of martial arts was limited to the Xiantian Realm.

"Of course not. Martial Saints still belong to the Xiantian level."

Zhou Buping shook his head. "I'll explain the Xiantian martial arts realms to you."

"Master, let's go inside before we talk."

Li Gan hurriedly said.

"Mm."

Zhou Buping nodded.

The master and disciple went inside.

Li Gan lit the oil lamp.

In its dim glow, Zhou Buping explained the Xiantian level to Li Gan.

"Unlike the Postnatal Realm Ninth Layer, Xiantian describes the degree to which the human body can communicate with Heaven and Earth. The five different degrees of communication are known as the Five Xiantian Realms."

Zhou Buping explained.

"The Five Xiantian Realms? Some books I've read only mention three."

Li Gan was astonished.

"The books you read didn't list all five Xiantian Realms."

Zhou Buping shook his head. "All cultivation in the Xiantian Realm is aimed at communicating with Heaven and Earth. The first three realms are True Qi, True Origin, and True Dan. They represent the development of one's inner potential and serve as the foundation. The final two realms are when one truly begins to explore—and even influence—Heaven and Earth."

Li Gan listened attentively.

These seemingly basic martial arts principles were beyond one's reach until they attained a certain level.

"The fourth Xiantian Realm is called Heavenly Being, meaning 'one from Heaven.' At this level, one can fly through the air and roam the skies, freed from the bonds of the earth. Heavenly Beings have a far greater understanding of Heaven and Earth. Most importantly, they can live up to three hundred years. Even Martial Grandmasters who have condensed a True Dan, belonging to the first three Xiantian Realms, can live at most two hundred years."

Zhou Buping continued.

"Then is Martial Saint the fifth realm?"

Li Gan couldn't help asking.

"That's right. A Martial Saint is a saint among martial artists. It's said that those who reach this level have opened the door to truly influencing Heaven and Earth. Unfortunately, I don't know what abilities that entails. But Martial Saints are said to live for more than five hundred years."

Zhou Buping nodded.

Li Gan finally had a basic understanding of the Five Xiantian Realms. "Master, what realm are you in?"

"I was once in the early True Dan Realm."

Zhou Buping's voice carried a hint of wistfulness.

He said "once" because his Qi Sea had been damaged, and his Cultivation Base had fallen.

"Then does our Divine Sword Sect have any Heavenly Beings?"

Li Gan asked curiously.

"That, I don't know."

Zhou Buping shook his head.

"Even you don't know, Master?"

Li Gan was very surprised.

"I don't handle the sect's affairs, and I'm not a Power-holding Elder in the Elder Hall. How would I know the sect's highest secrets?" Zhou Buping smiled. "But I have a guess. Most likely, we do. The Divine Sword Sect has a Sword Envoy of senior rank who has long been missing, yet they haven't chosen a new Sword Envoy from among the True Disciples. He may well still be alive, since the lifespan limit for a Heavenly Being is close to three hundred years."

"You've just broken through to the Xiantian Realm, so you need to consolidate your cultivation. I'll head back to bed."

Zhou Buping saw that Li Gan still wanted to ask more, so he waved a hand, rose, and headed out of the Bell Tower.

He walked with his hands clasped behind his back, his steps light. Clearly, he was in a good mood.

"True Qi, True Origin, True Dan, Heavenly Being, Martial Saint. My path in martial arts has only just begun."

Li Gan sighed.

Dong!

As the Mao Bell rang, a new day began.

Because of the season, the eastern sky was already growing pale, even though it was still the Mao hour.

Mist shrouded the world.

The damp morning breeze blew.

Li Gan took up his stance and began cultivating the Heartless Sword Art.

The Heartless Sword Art was a high-level technique. It could be cultivated not only in the Postnatal Realm but also in the Xiantian Realm, with no reduction in its effectiveness.

Heaven and Earth Origin Qi converged and flowed into his body, joining with his blood and spirit before being refined into True Qi.

He stopped only after his Xiantian True Qi had completed one Greater Celestial Circuit.

Wonderful!

Li Gan could feel his Xiantian True Qi had grown a little.

The Immaculate Sword Body not only absorbed Heaven and Earth Origin Qi with exceptional efficiency, it also refined it into True Qi with ease.

Needless to say, this was one of the Immaculate Sword Body's benefits.

From what he knew, the cultivation speed of an Xiantian Martial Artist depended mainly on two things.

One was the efficiency with which they absorbed Heaven and Earth Origin Qi.

The other was the efficiency with which Heaven and Earth Origin Qi fused with their blood and spirit.

Both depended on one's natural aptitude and comprehension.

With the Sacrificial Tool Chen Bell to assist him, Li Gan's comprehension was unquestionably among the best.

As for his natural aptitude, he had already cultivated the Immaculate Sword Body, so there was no need to say more.

He now understood the essence of being without leaks.

It meant that the entire body could draw in and release Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, while one's blood could fuse with it completely. None of the Origin Qi or one's own blood was wasted during cultivation.

That made the speed of cultivation utterly terrifying.

Thinking of this, Li Gan focused his mind and summoned the System Interface to check the latest information.

Host: Li Gan.

Cultivation Base: Xiantian True Qi (Early Stage 2/100).

Sacrificial Tool: Chen Bell (Law 2315/10000).

Martial Arts: Sword Piercing Fist (Perfected), Heartless Sword Art (Perfected), Immaculate Sword Body (Perfected).

Martial Intent: Heartless Sword Intent (Illusion 19/100).

Secret Techniques: Myriad Transformation Sword Qi, Blood Burning Technique.

"Huh, my cultivation progress has increased by one point?"

Li Gan was surprised.

Just one Greater Celestial Circuit had increased his progress by a point. The efficiency was terrifying.

As expected of Perfect Xiantian.

This wasn't the Postnatal Realm, but the Xiantian level, where cultivation was surely dozens of times more difficult.

And yet, one session of cultivation still increased his progress by a point.

By that reckoning, he only needed to practice the Heartless Sword Art a hundred times to advance to the middle stage of the Xiantian True Qi Realm.

The question now was, how many times could he practice in a day?

Over the next few days, Li Gan tried various approaches and determined that under normal circumstances, he could practice about three times a day. Otherwise, his blood and qi couldn't keep up.

He tried taking Blood Vitality Pills.

They worked very well.

His Immaculate Sword Body could absorb their medicinal effects quickly.

Most importantly, after each pill, his body could immediately expel its toxins.

Li Gan finally understood why it was called Perfect Xiantian.

The Immaculate Sword Body was immune to pill toxins.

After taking Blood Vitality Pills, he could manage about two extra practice sessions a day.

The reason he could only add two sessions, rather than practicing without limit, was simple.

His spirit couldn't keep up.

Although the Chen Bell itself had the effect of restoring his spirit, after cultivating repeatedly, his spirit became extraordinarily fatigued. Even the bell could barely alleviate it.

He consulted his master, Zhou Buping, about this.

His master explained that it involved the resilience of the spirit. One had to balance exertion with rest; pushing too far would do more harm than good. If he went beyond his limits in cultivation, his spirit would be damaged.

Even medicinal pills like Spirit Nourishing Pills didn't truly restore one's spirit. They only eased spiritual fatigue and prevented the spirit from being damaged to some extent.

The only way to improve spiritual resilience was to strengthen one's Martial Intent.

Li Gan could cultivate five times a day, gaining five points of progress. That was already astonishing.

That was because he had just entered the Xiantian Realm, yet had already comprehended his Sword Intent to the Illusion stage.

Unfortunately, after reaching the Illusion stage, cultivating the Heartless Sword Intent became much more difficult.

For now, he had no way to advance his Sword Intent further in a short time.

Still, he was very satisfied with his current cultivation speed.

Even if he could only cultivate five times a day, gaining five points of progress meant he could advance to the middle stage of the Xiantian True Qi Realm in less than a month.

That cultivation speed was practically heaven-defying.