Entering the Innate Realm

Xie Jinghan gently stroked the Thunderclap Sword, recalling the weapon ranking system of this world.

In this martial world, weapons were divided into five ranks. From lowest to highest, they were Common Iron, Named Weapon, Treasure Weapon, Divine Weapon, and Ancient Divine Weapon.

Weapons of different ranks possessed vastly different might.

Common Iron was the most basic standard weaponry in the martial world, forged by blacksmiths through a thousand hammerings and hundred refinements. Though hard in texture, it had nothing exceptional about it and was quite suitable for low- to mid-tier Postnatal martial artists. The unnamed sword Xie Jinghan had once carried had been a thousand-forged weapon of excellent quality.

Named Weapons were the pinnacle of mundane arms, forged by the foremost master craftsmen of the age after pouring their heart and soul into the task. Their materials were superb and their forging methods exquisite, their sharpness and toughness far surpassing ordinary Common Iron. They could withstand the explosive True Qi of Innate Realm martial artists, greatly amplifying the power of techniques and the ability to break enemy moves. They were exceptionally precious top-tier weapons.

Treasure Weapons were forged primarily from worldly rarities such as meteoric mystic iron, millennium iron essence, and spiritual materials of heaven and earth, tempered into form with spiritual flames and profound secret arts. Such weapons possessed an innate spiritual charm. They could contain Innate True Qi and even higher-grade true essence, resonate with a martial artist's mind, nurture the sword, and cultivate intent. They were the exclusive weapons of Grandmaster-level experts.

As for Divine Weapons and Ancient Divine Weapons, Xie Jinghan knew little. He only knew that Divine Weapons gave birth to innate intelligence, possessed mysterious abilities, and could choose their own masters. Ancient Divine Weapons, meanwhile, had been passed down from antiquity and contained peerless power. Extremely few remained in this world, almost to the point of extinction. Whenever even one appeared, it would stir the winds and clouds across the entire martial world, enough to shake the martial landscape of every faction. They were the true supreme treasures of this world.

Beneath the parasol tree, Xie Jinghan sat upright atop the Bluestone Platform, casting aside distracting thoughts and calming his mind.

He focused on cultivating the Sword Intent Realm.

He merged his mental perception into the sword's very texture, observing the cold gleam of its edge and sensing its weight, sharpness, chill, and solitude. He condensed his mind, then nourished sword intent with his thoughts and tempered the sword's resonance with his soul.

The cultivation of the Sword Intent Realm began with observing the sword's edge and listening to its cry, gradually reaching Clear Swordheart.

Man was the sword; the sword was the man. Man and sword became one.

With the resonance and support of the heirloom Treasure Weapon, the Thunderclap Sword, Xie Jinghan's speed of comprehending sword intent far surpassed the past. Each day, he observed the sword, listened to the sword, and condensed his mind, gaining several hundred points of proficiency in the Sword-Drawing Technique Intent. His attainments in the sword path advanced day by day.

Not only did his swordsmanship advance by leaps and bounds, he also operated the Postnatal Breathing Method without pause day and night, repeatedly washing his meridians with inner force, tempering his sinews and bones, and polishing the foundations of his martial path. The inner force throughout his body stacked layer upon layer, growing fuller by the day. All twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians had been opened. He was only one step away from Postnatal Perfection.

With a thought, Xie Jinghan silently summoned the Martial Arts Proficiency Panel, and his cultivation progress came clearly into view.

[Name: Xie Jinghan]

[Martial Cultivation: Postnatal Perfection]

[Sword Dao Realm: Sword Intent Realm]

[Cultivation Methods and Martial Skills:]

[Xie Household Basic Breathing Method: 1'000/1'000 (Perfect)]

[Postnatal Breathing Method: 9'999/10'000 (Comprehending)]

[Sword-Drawing Technique: 1'000'000/1'000'000 (Perfect)]

[Sword-Drawing Technique Intent: 10,186/2,000,000 (Comprehending)]

A gentle breeze drifted through the courtyard, and parasol leaves rustled softly.

Xie Jinghan sat upright on the Bluestone Platform, wholeheartedly operating the Postnatal Breathing Method. His inner force circulated slowly, cycling through his polished and unimpeded meridians, accumulating cultivation as the proficiency of the Postnatal Breathing Method gradually rose.

[Postnatal Breathing Method: 10'000/10'000 (Perfect)]

The inner force throughout his body had reached flawless completion. With one further step, he could ascend into the Innate Realm.

The Innate Realm was the second great realm of martial cultivation. A martial artist had to break through the shackles of the mystic gate, open the barrier between man and heaven and earth, draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body, and transform Postnatal inner force into purer Innate True Qi.

Yet at this very step, countless heroes and great figures had come to a halt since ancient times!

The instant his Postnatal cultivation reached complete perfection, Xie Jinghan's sea of consciousness suddenly surged!

Countless obscure and profound insights into martial arts, methods for breaking through the apertures, and principles of inner and outer generation poured into his mind like surging tides.

As the vast insights washed through his sea of consciousness, the trajectory of inner force within his body quietly changed.

At a certain moment, drawn by an invisible Dao mechanism, the rolling Postnatal inner force surged together in full, rushing toward a mysterious place within his body.

Once, twice, three times...

After countless impacts, the mysterious place was finally broken through, and a thread of ultimate radiance flashed forth.

The mystic gate opened!

His mind suddenly beheld heaven and earth!

Then, threads of pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth poured into his body.

In an instant, like oil poured onto a blazing fire, the inner force within his body began to condense, transform, and reshape itself.

Xie Jinghan concentrated his mind and held fast to the One, doing all he could to maintain the circulation of the heavenly cycle.

On the first cycle, his meridians broadened and stretched inch by inch.

On the second cycle, his sinews and bones trembled and rumbled.

The heavenly cycles repeated, and the transformation continued to deepen.

As time passed, an invisible aura around him burst forth with a roar, violently sweeping through the entire secluded courtyard. The branches and leaves of the parasol tree shook wildly, its dense foliage rustling like a gale sweeping past.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth from all directions gathered around him.

His martial realm was steadily rising toward the Innate Realm!

After a full eighty-one heavenly cycles, all his Postnatal inner force finally transformed into pure Innate True Qi.

Xie Jinghan had successfully entered the Innate martial realm!

The raging force filling the air slowly dispersed, the parasol branches and leaves returned to stillness, and Innate True Qi lay dormant within his dantian.

He slowly opened his eyes. They were clear and pure, untouched by mortal dust.

After breaking through to the Innate Realm, Xie Jinghan's entire bearing had been renewed. His aura was restrained without a trace. Though he still appeared calm and indifferent, his body, meridians, and mind had undergone a complete transformation and ascension.

Washed by Innate True Qi, his flesh, sinews, and bones had become tougher than refined steel. From then on, a hundred illnesses could not invade him, and his body was free of impurity.

The meridians throughout his body had widened severalfold, and True Qi flowed through them in an unending stream, endlessly renewing itself.

Washed by the invisible Dao mechanism, his mind had grown even more condensed, and his composure and resolve far exceeded what they had once been.

Xie Jinghan summoned the proficiency panel once more, and his new cultivation progress appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Xie Jinghan]

[Martial Cultivation: First Stage of the Innate Realm]

[Sword Dao Realm: Sword Intent Realm]

[Cultivation Methods and Martial Skills:]

[Xie Household Basic Breathing Method: 1'000/1'000 (Perfect)]

[Postnatal Breathing Method: 10'000/10'000 (Perfect)]

[Innate Breathing Method: 1/2'000'000 (Comprehending)]

[Sword-Drawing Technique: 1'000'000/1'000'000 (Perfect)]

[Sword-Drawing Technique Intent: 10'286/2'000'000 (Comprehending)]

Seeing First Stage of the Innate Realm listed under martial cultivation on the panel, the usually composed and self-controlled Xie Jinghan unexpectedly threw back his head and laughed aloud.

The Innate shackles that had trapped countless heroes and great figures had yielded naturally for him, his realm broken through in a single day.

There had never been any luck on the martial path.

The Innate cultivation he possessed today had all been earned through three years of bitter cultivation, day and night, bit by bit.

Xie Jinghan closed his eyes and focused once more. Seated atop the Bluestone Platform, he circulated Innate True Qi and continued stabilizing his Innate Realm.