Three Months Later

Three Months Later

Ye Yun sat atop the Iceheart Lotus Platform, cultivating as he continuously refined the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. At a certain moment, his aura suddenly grew markedly stronger.

Yes, he had made a small breakthrough. Five days had passed since the last full-moon night. With the Iceheart Lotus Platform's assistance, he had just opened the second meridian within his body.

This showed just how powerful the Iceheart Lotus Platform's support was. He was now fully confident that he could raise his cultivation to the Qi Refining Realm Fifth Layer in roughly three months.

What did that mean? An ordinary disciple with average talent would need at least three years to accomplish it. Even Ye Yun could only break through so quickly with the help of the Ice Profound Force, with its compatibility score of thirteen, and the Iceheart Lotus Platform.

Over the past few days, Ye Yun had found time to study the Void Meditation Formula, which had a compatibility score of as high as fifteen with him. Yet he discovered that the Void Meditation Formula was far from as simple as he had imagined. Even with fifteen-point compatibility and the Iceheart Lotus Platform's support, he still had not managed to reach the introductory stage after four days of cultivation.

It was not hard to imagine just how difficult the Void Meditation Formula was to cultivate. He guessed that no one in the entire Purple Extreme Sect had cultivated it to the introductory stage. Otherwise, they would not have described it as such a tasteless, useless thing.

Ye Yun's intuition told him that today, he would definitely cultivate the Void Meditation Formula to the introductory stage. Then he would be able to see what secrets this formula truly concealed.

Sitting atop the Iceheart Lotus Platform, Ye Yun circulated the cultivation method of the Void Meditation Formula. All manner of insights regarding it surfaced in his mind. Gradually, Ye Yun's understanding of the Void Meditation Formula deepened, and he slowly entered the state written in its general outline: "My heart transforms into nothingness; I am nothingness."

Ye Yun felt as though his consciousness had become an observer within his own body. It was an incredibly wondrous realm. He felt that he could seemingly imitate every martial art he had ever seen. If someone attacked him now, his body would counterattack the enemy based on its own combat experience.

Generally speaking, whenever one attacked, one would subconsciously think it through in one's mind. But this was a completely unconscious counterattack. Such counterattacks were faster and more decisive. It was an extraordinarily powerful state.

Regrettably, this state lasted less than five minutes before he withdrew from it.

After emerging from that state, Ye Yun felt as though more than half his physical strength had been consumed. It seemed that maintaining that state consumed an enormous amount of stamina. However, as his cultivation rose, his physical strength would increase as well, and the duration for which he could maintain that state would grow longer.

Ye Yun felt that this martial art was not truly called the Void Meditation Formula. Void Meditation Formula was merely a name given to it by the Purple Extreme Sect's elders.

His guess was correct. When this martial art had first been obtained, the original manual had no name. Yet it had needed to be entered into the records, so an elder had briefly cultivated it and felt that its effect was to keep the mind empty and ethereal. Thus, he named it the Void Meditation Formula.

Ye Yun carefully contemplated the state he had just entered. Gradually, a name for it rose in his heart, ready to burst forth.

Following the words in the martial art's general outline, he took the characters "self" and "nothingness" from it. Ye Yun gave this martial art a new name: the Selfless Realm.

The Selfless Realm was already so powerful upon merely reaching the introductory stage. If he cultivated it to minor accomplishment, major accomplishment, or even perfection, how powerful would its effects become?

In his heart, Ye Yun had already listed the Selfless Realm among the martial arts he would focus on cultivating.

The Purple Extreme Sect was especially lively today. Watching people stream back and forth, Ye Yun was filled with emotion. Before he knew it, a year had passed. Today was precisely the day of the annual Outer Disciple Grand Competition.

On this day last year, he had lost to Iron Mountain and unexpectedly obtained the special ability to see compatibility scores with cultivation methods. That had changed his fate. Over the past year, earth-shaking changes had taken place in him, and all the people and things around him had changed beyond recognition.

If he had not obtained this special ability, he might have been like those outer disciples today, struggling and striving in the competition merely to leave a good impression in the sect elders' eyes. His life might have stalled at the Body Tempering Realm or the Qi Refining Realm, and he would have lived out his days in plain mediocrity.

But not now. His martial path lay beneath his own feet. So long as he advanced step by step, one day he would make this entire world hear his name and let out a voice of his own.

Three months had now passed since the last full-moon night. During these three months, with the Iceheart Lotus Platform's aid, his cultivation had reached the peak of the Fourth Heaven of the Qi Refining Realm. He was only a step away from breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm Fifth Layer.

His attainments in martial arts had also improved tremendously. Both the Treading Snow Without Trace movement technique and the Profound Yin Twelve Swords had reached the realm of major accomplishment and were not far from perfection. The Nine Yin Cold Claw and Ice Profound Force had both reached minor accomplishment as well. The true qi of the Ice Profound Force at minor accomplishment had become even colder, and the power of its icy force had grown stronger.

However, one matter left Ye Yun deeply frustrated. Despite spending so much time cultivating the Selfless Realm, it still remained at the introductory stage. He had merely increased its duration by a few minutes.

Cultivating the Selfless Realm made him feel as though he had fused with heaven and earth, yet he could not make head or tail of it. Ye Yun had a bellyful of bitterness, but he could only endure it and continue cultivating. He felt that if he could raise the Selfless Realm's level, it would be of enormous help to him.

Originally, Ye Yun had planned to continue his bitter cultivation in one go until he broke through to the Qi Refining Realm Fifth Layer. But one matter forced him to interrupt it.

To better temper their inner disciples, the elders of the Purple Extreme Sect had established a rule. Every two months, inner disciples had to collect a mission from the Mission Hall and complete it within the prescribed time. Newly promoted inner disciples had a three-month grace period. Ye Yun's grace period had just ended, so he had to go to the Mission Hall to accept a mission.

It was also on his way to the Mission Hall that Ye Yun realized today was the annual competition for outer disciples.

Before long, Ye Yun arrived at the Mission Hall located at the foot of Great Sun Peak.

Upon entering the Mission Hall, he immediately saw the jade bi in the center of the hall. This jade bi was called the Image-Recording Jade Bi, and it could retain whatever information one wished to leave behind.

Ye Yun looked toward the mission information on the jade bi. Several dozen densely packed mission listings appeared before his eyes.

"Level-one mission: Escort the Giant Cauldron Merchant Association to Blackwater City. Mission reward: one thousand taels of gold."

"Level-two mission: Travel to Blazing Flame City and kill Tian Guang, the flower-plucking thief. Mission reward: five thousand taels of gold and one Qi-Enhancing Pill."

"Level-three mission: Wipe out the bandits of Clearwind Stronghold. Mission reward: fifty thousand taels of gold."

The Purple Extreme Sect's missions were divided into three levels. Level-one missions corresponded to inner disciples from the First to Fourth Heaven of the Qi Refining Realm. Level-two missions corresponded to inner disciples from the Fifth to Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm, while level-three missions corresponded to inner disciples above the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm.

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(End of Chapter)