The Secret of the Innate Realm

Acquired and Innate were the two great realms of martial cultivation.

Each of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians produced its own remarkable effects when opened, but they all remained within the Acquired Realm, with only limited increases in strength.

The Martial Innate Realm was known as the Grandmaster Realm. One could establish sects and found ancestors, standing as far above the Acquired Realm as heaven was from earth.

Many secret martial manuals described how, after all Eight Extraordinary Meridians were opened, one's internal Minor Circulation would sense the great circulation of heaven and earth, allowing one to naturally advance into an Innate Grandmaster.

With all eight meridians open and the internal Minor Circulation flowing, one could be called half a step into the Innate Realm. That was Zhou Yi's current realm.

"Sense it, naturally..."

Such an absurdly idealistic and crude description left Zhou Yi utterly confused.

He had opened the Eight Extraordinary Meridians more than two months ago. Not to mention sensing heaven and earth, he did not even know how one was supposed to sense them.

Minor Circulation experts were exceedingly rare in the martial world. Every one of them was a renowned hero or formidable figure. Innate Grandmasters were even rarer, with perhaps only one appearing every few decades. Thus, almost no one in the martial world knew the exact method for breaking through to the Innate Grandmaster Realm.

Ancient martial sects with millennia of history, such as Wudang and Shaolin, might possess scriptures explaining the secrets of the Innate Realm.

Even if Zhou Yi joined Wudang or Shaolin, he would likely need to undergo examinations for eight or ten years before having a chance to access such secret manuals.

The shortcoming of those at the bottom of the martial world was their low inheritance ceiling. With no one to guide them along the path of martial arts, they could only grope their way forward alone.

With good luck, they might figure it out in eight or ten years. With bad luck, they might spend their entire lives fumbling about, only to remain trapped within their internal Minor Circulation until death.

Yan Chixia cultivated both Buddha Dao and Daoism. He was a true cultivator of the immortal path, starting a level above martial artists.

From such a lofty vantage point, he surely understood Zhou Yi's predicament.

How could Zhou Yi easily let such an opportunity pass? He widened his eyes and stared fixedly at Yan Chixia.

Even martial artists could sense killing intent during cultivation, let alone someone of the immortal path like Yan Chixia.

Sure enough, after being stared at for a while, Yan Chixia said impatiently, "What are you looking at? Are you going to let me sleep or not?"

"Senior Brother, tell me—why can't I sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy?"

Pestered to the point of impatience, Yan Chixia formed a hand seal and flicked a talisman onto Zhou Yi's forehead with a whoosh.

Body-Fixing Talisman!

Seeing that Zhou Yi had finally become obedient, Yan Chixia shifted into a more comfortable position and went back to sleep.

After drinking to his heart's content and sleeping soundly, he woke to find that it was already evening.

The Body-Fixing Talisman restrained Zhou Yi's physical body. Unlike Internal Force sealing acupoints and blocking meridians, it used a profound qi to seal every meridian throughout his body.

Zhou Yi cultivated the Thrusting Vessel Method, but it was completely ineffective against the Body-Fixing Talisman. He remained immobilized for the entire afternoon.

After Yan Chixia woke up, he chuckled a few times, then drank wine and ate meat. Only after he was full and satisfied did he wave a hand and retrieve the talisman.

"Behaving yourself now?"

Zhou Yi assumed the Primordial Chaos Stance. With every breath, his abdomen roared like tigers and thunder, and the exhaustion throughout his body vanished in an instant.

"Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound. Your foundation is quite good. No wonder you opened all eight meridians at such a young age."

Yan Chixia assumed that Zhou Yi had practiced martial arts since childhood. To possess such cultivation and strength after barely more than ten years already marked him as exceptionally gifted.

Zhou Yi cupped his fists. "Senior Brother, I have been trapped in the Acquired Realm for quite some time and cannot grasp the threshold of the Innate Realm at all. Please offer me some guidance. This junior runs Immortal's Brew. From now on, I will provide all the fine wine and delicacies you could want, and I will also do my utmost to gather any Spirit Medicine needed for immortal cultivation and qi refinement."

"I immobilized you for an entire afternoon, yet you still haven't figured it out. What a blockhead. Such a waste of your foundation."

Yan Chixia said, "On the path of cultivation, whether Daoist or Buddhist, one can only communicate with the outer heaven and earth after Essence, Qi, and Spirit have all reached perfection. Your essence and qi are abundant and complete, but your cultivation of the soul is lacking far too much."

"When essence and qi are full while the soul is weak, yang fire flourishes and the Yin Spirit remains unsettled, making one prone to erratic joy and anger."

"Daoists call this stage the Heart Movement Stage, while Buddhists call it the Illusion Stage. In truth, it simply means your cultivation of temperament is insufficient, preventing Essence, Qi, and Spirit from becoming complete as one."

"Go home now. Cultivate your heart and temperament, restrain your anger and cease killing, meditate every day, and if you are lucky, you can perfect your Essence, Qi, and Spirit in ten years. Then sensing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy will come naturally and easily."

Zhou Yi listened intently to Yan Chixia's teachings, not daring to miss a single word. The secret of the Innate Realm sounded extraordinarily simple coming from Yan Chixia's mouth, yet among the major martial sects, it would be a secret scripture used to uphold the sect.

"Ten years... is there a faster way?"

Zhou Yi only asked casually. Even if it took ten years, it was not particularly long.

Many heroes renowned throughout a region remained trapped at the peak of the Acquired Realm. They knew nothing of the secrets of the Innate Realm or the theory of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. It was entirely normal for them to remain lost for a lifetime.

"Of course there is."

To Zhou Yi's surprise, Yan Chixia said, "I have two paths here, but I can't tell you for nothing."

Zhou Yi's expression turned solemn. "Senior Brother, your guidance in martial arts is already a tremendous kindness. If there is anything you need done, simply command me. Even if I must risk my life, this junior will accomplish it."

Yan Chixia nodded approvingly. "Since you know of the Thousand-Year Tree Demon, you should also know that it has harmed countless people over the past thousand years. I wish to eliminate it, but my strength alone is limited. At best, I can only fight it to a draw."

"After you break through to the Innate Realm, you must join me in killing the tree demon."

Zhou Yi agreed without the slightest hesitation. "Demon Slaying and Exorcism are the duty of us Kunlun disciples."

According to the original course of history, Yan Chixia had succeeded in slaying the demon alone. With an additional Innate Grandmaster, how could anything go wrong?

"Aside from meditating and contemplating on your own, there are two shortcuts for cultivating one's temperament."

"The first path is the safest and most reliable: copy the works of Daoist sages, transcribe and organize them into a Daoist canon. Five years will be enough to reach completion."

"The second path carries a degree of danger. Seek out experts across the land and spar with them. Win or lose, keep fighting. Life-and-death combat is the best way to temper one's temperament. This path requires only three years."

Yan Chixia asked, "Which do you choose?"

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Yi said, "I had already planned to see the experts of the world. The second path happens to suit me. Besides, the tree demon brings disaster upon an entire region. Every extra day it lives, more people will die. How can we let it live another five years?"

"Good. You have ambition. Return the Sword Control Technique to me."

"Hm?"

"I'm afraid you'll get beaten to death and someone else will learn it."

"..."

Zhou Yi very much wanted to show Yan Chixia his attribute panel.

In palm techniques, fist techniques, saber and sword techniques, and lightness skills, at least two had reached completion.

In External Forging, he had forged his spine, hands and feet, and skull. His entire body was seamless.

His internal forging of the five viscera, six bowels, stomach, intestines, and meridians made them several times tougher than those of ordinary people.

Only his internal cultivation was somewhat lacking. Though his technique had reached completion, he had not practiced it for long enough. Still, the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture was enough to crush ninety-nine percent of martial arts in the martial world.

"Senior Brother, the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture was left behind after Xiahou the Swordsman died. Why did he not enter the Innate Realm?"

"Xiahou the Swordsman could be considered a hero of his era, but he was too competitive. He forcibly broke through the Ren and Du Meridians and damaged his meridians. It was already fortunate that he managed to preserve his cultivation."

Zhou Yi suddenly understood. He had always wondered how Xiahou the Swordsman, hailed as the greatest swordsman under heaven, could fail to become a Grandmaster.

The Eight Extraordinary Meridians were extremely fragile. Zhou Yi had seemingly broken through them with ease, but for others, every single meridian presented a tremendous obstacle.

Opening one meridian took years. The Ren and Du Meridians, in particular, might remain impossible to open for an entire lifetime.

The Ren Meridian governed all yin meridians in the body, while the Du Meridian supervised all yang meridians. Together, they were known as the Two Bridges of Heaven and Earth. Once damaged, a person would be utterly crippled.

"Why did Senior Brother only fight Xiahou the Swordsman to a draw? Once you used the Sword Control Technique, could martial artists fly?"

"When Xiahou the Swordsman and I competed in swordsmanship, how could I use spells? It was only because the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture was so formidable. I was a whole major realm above Xiahou, yet I could only maintain an undefeated position!"

As Yan Chixia spoke, he took out the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture and studied it carefully.