"People have five viscera; water pressure bears down on three of them."
"Open the kidneys and liver above, and the heart apertures below."
"Connect the Divine Court... link the four limbs... still as the ocean, moving to overturn heaven and earth, alone supreme beneath the heavens..."
[You have learned the first volume of the Sea-Covering Supreme Art (0/100)]
The Divine Apertures in the human body were countless, like treasures bestowed by heaven.
Among them, the torso contained the most Divine Apertures. They were the most powerful, the most broadly useful, and the most mysterious.
The torso housed the heart, the source of life; the lungs, which drew in and absorbed energy from the outside world; the kidneys, where the body's essence resided; and the stomach, which absorbed and digested food...
Countless organs were distributed throughout the torso.
That was why the torso held the most Divine Apertures.
In Divine Aperture True Martial Arts, most practitioners opened the Divine Apertures of one or two organs, transforming and strengthening them.
The slightly more formidable could open the Divine Apertures of two or three organs.
Of these, the heart's Divine Apertures were the hardest to open and cultivate, and the most likely to cause trouble.
"The heart's Divine Apertures rank among the top three in the torso, but first in danger."
"More than four hundred Divine Apertures are scattered throughout the heart. Once they're all opened, a Martial Warrior's overall bodily functions improve greatly, wounds heal faster, Lifespan increases somewhat, and they can fight for a long time without tiring."
Upon reaching Fourth Grade, practitioners would generally begin opening the Divine Apertures of their torso's organs.
And anyone who cultivated the Divine Apertures of an organ in the torso until they were fully open would gain terrifying strength capable of crushing a Third Grade practitioner.
Take the heart, for example.
Open the heart's Divine Apertures and, to put it simply, when fighting a Third Grade opponent, they could fight for a whole day, while you, a mere Third Grade, might not last even half a day.
Open the kidneys' Divine Apertures and your potential would surge. You could unlock the essence hidden within them, unleash terrifying power for a short time, and kill your opponent with a single move.
Open the stomach's Divine Apertures and you could eat three oxen a day across five meals, digesting even dirt, wood, stones, and grains. The more you ate, the more abundant your qi and blood would be, and the faster you'd cultivate. No secret martial art would be beyond your reach.
Open the liver's Divine Apertures and your bodily functions would grow stronger. Ordinary poisons would have no effect at all. The poison in the Wind Spirit Fruit, for instance, barely affected Fourth Grade experts. They could eat it directly, expel the poison, and absorb its essence.
"The Sea-Covering Supreme Art can open the heart's apertures, as well as those of the kidneys and liver..."
"These organs all have exceptionally powerful Divine Apertures."
"The first volume has five levels and can only open the kidneys and liver. The second volume can open the heart... The heart has over four hundred Divine Apertures, while the kidneys and liver each have two hundred, for a total of eight hundred."
"Too bad I don't have the second volume. Once I open the Divine Apertures of the kidneys and liver, I can break through to Fourth Grade."
The torso held the major organs, but many smaller organs had fewer Divine Apertures and were attached to these five main organs.
The complete Sea-Covering Supreme Art could open more than eight hundred Divine Apertures. That was just what people said outside.
He had experienced it for himself.
A thousand Divine Apertures made a Fifth Grade Grandmaster. By his calculations, if Mu Ye could cultivate the Sea-Covering Supreme Art to completion, he'd have nearly a thousand Divine Apertures.
Even Fourth Grade experts rarely opened the Divine Apertures of every organ. It was far too difficult, and the necessary conditions were too demanding.
Usually, opening the apertures of one or two major organs was already impressive.
The Sea-Covering Supreme Art was extremely difficult to cultivate in Sword and Blade Demon Sealing.
"Beyond the incantation and diagrams, it mainly comes down to the conditions."
"The Sea-Covering Supreme Art has to be cultivated in deep water. You rely on the powerful water pressure and practice special moves to open the Divine Apertures throughout your torso. To cultivate faster, you also have to smear Medicinal Paste made from ground Metasequoia Herb over your body..."
"Tsk..."
Not only did it require a special environment, it also required special resources.
The Divine Apertures of the torso weren't something just anyone could cultivate. Without a certain foundation, it was impossible—unless you were exceptionally gifted.
Most people started with the four limbs.
Metasequoia Herb was an aquatic medicinal plant, quite rare and rather expensive. It was hard to find even in Taiping City.
"Shen Tianxing cultivated for decades and only got the Sea-Covering Supreme Art to Third Grade..."
It was hard to imagine how many resources and how much time that had taken.
Mu Ye tried cultivating it directly, but found the results dismal—slower even than when he'd first practiced Crimson Flame Fist.
Even when he switched to the Wandering Thief, who still had the Lingzhi BUFF, it took three hours to gain just one point.
At this rate, how long would it take to grind it out in the game?
So Mu Ye left the city and headed to the Chishui River, where he jumped in to cultivate.
The Chishui River was a great river, over a hundred meters deep at its deepest point. It had the right environment, but it was dangerous, since demons lurked in the water...
Mu Ye had practiced for only an hour. Just as his proficiency was about to increase, a demon attacked him underwater. He died.
"That's way too dangerous..."
Mu Ye decided to put it off for a while. This really wasn't suitable for cultivating in the game, at least.
He could try it in the Cultivation World.
"First, I'll unlock the second stage, then unlock a few other characters to try them out."
"With my current strength, the second stage recommends Second Grade. Won't I cut through them like melons and vegetables?"
Thinking this, Mu Ye returned to the game interface and bought the second stage from the shop.
[You have unlocked the second chapter of Sword and Blade Demon Sealing, 'Seven Absolutes Imperial Map'.] [An ancient legend has circulated in Taiping City. During the Prince of Northern Liang's rebellion, Emperor Zhengyang was defeated by the Prince of Northern Liang and fled all the way to Taiping City. Unwilling to accept his defeat, he sought the Seven Absolutes Imperial Map, passed down since ancient times by the Tianqi Dynasty.] [The map recorded the location of the treasure amassed by the founding emperor to prevent the dynasty's decline—a treasure that could allow the dynasty to rise again.] [However, as the dynasty declined, the map that could restore the empire had long since vanished amid the many wars.] [After exhausting every effort, Emperor Zhengyang finally found a lead to the map: it was in the lair of a Seven Absolutes Demon.] [Yet, to the very end, Emperor Zhengyang never obtained the map. Even the Seven Absolutes Demon vanished without a trace.] [And so, word of the Seven Absolutes Imperial Map spread... Whoever could kill that Seven Absolutes Demon would obtain the map...]
Mu Ye read the second stage's description, deep in thought.
[Seek out information about the Seven Absolutes Demon in Taiping City and defeat it (time limit: sixty days)] [Begin the second chapter?]
Unexpectedly, this second chapter was connected to the Prince of Northern Liang.
The Demon Sealer's mission still seemed to be slaying demons and exorcising evil.
It was just that a lot of backstory was involved.
"Time limit: sixty days?"
"Interesting..."
Based on what Mu Ye had learned about the world of Sword and Blade Demon Sealing in recent days, he'd found that time passed in the game's free exploration mode.
It passed every day, at the same rate as in the Cultivation World. Even if he reloaded a save, he was limited to playing through that day.
But once a main story stage began, time would only move forward again after he completely cleared it in True Mode.
Otherwise, it would stay stuck in a loop.
Just like the Tutorial Stage before, which had taken Mu Ye several days to clear completely.
"Does the sixty-day limit mean sixty days in the game?"
"What happens if the time runs out?"
"Could it be... that something major will happen in Taiping City after sixty days? Or will that Seven Absolutes Demon show up on its own?"
Before you continue