The moment Zhou Yi entered Lanruo Temple,
Yan Chixia was startled awake.
Having only just entered the Innate Realm, Zhou Yi could not yet perfectly control his aura. He was like a walking humanoid furnace.
Demonic monsters and ghosts could not approach him; chimeras and ghouls would turn to ash.
"Senior Brother, I'm back!"
With a thought from Zhou Yi, the Purple Lightning Sword rose into the air, its overwhelming aura pressing down upon the monk's quarters.
Boom!
Over a hundred three-inch True Yuan Flying Swords instantly blasted the doors of the monk's quarters into fragments, like a torrential rain of swords.
"How was this still the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture?!"
Zhou Yi's face was filled with shock. He had merely comprehended the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture to perfection, allowing him to wield sword qi as he pleased.
Yet in just two short years, Yan Chixia had created something new from the old, transforming Purple Sun Sword Qi into Purple Sun Sword Rain.
Every True Yuan Flying Sword possessed the power to instantly kill a Peak of Houtian expert. With a single thought, he could unleash dozens or even hundreds of them.
"Haha, Junior Brother, your progress has been astonishing. I cannot fall behind either. Though this sword qi scripture is merely one part of True Person Ziyang's inheritance, one could see the whole leopard from a single spot. The wonders of sword qi manipulation are truly boundless!"
Yan Chixia flew out atop the Xuanyuan Sword. He looked no different from before, except for the Big Wine Gourd now hanging from his back.
"Junior Brother has entered the Innate Realm, and I have also mastered the art of sword qi. Let us go slay that old demon together and rid the people of harm!"
"Senior Brother, do not rush. I already have a foolproof plan. That tree demon has cultivated for a thousand years, and her strength is terrifying. However, although plant spirits possess long lifespans, they also have enormous weaknesses."
At this point, Zhou Yi transmitted his voice with True Essence. "Unless the tree demon abandons her original body, she will ultimately fear fire. In a few days, we will set the mountain ablaze first and strip the old demon of half her strength!"
Yan Chixia had faced off against Tree Demon Granny for a long time, so waiting another ten days or half a month made no difference to him. "As Junior Brother says. It just so happens that I have something to tell you as well."
The two found another set of monk's quarters. Yan Chixia placed Talismans over the doors and windows to prevent sound from leaking out and block Divine Sense from spying on them.
"Junior Brother, I previously told you that our sect was located at Kunlun, the ancestral court of Daoism, and was therefore called the Kunlun Sect. That was not actually true."
As Yan Chixia said this, his face reddened. He was bold and uninhibited by nature, careless about minor details, yet he had never deceived anyone before.
With Yan Chixia's strength, there were not many people in the world worth deceiving.
Zhou Yi asked in confusion, "Then where did Senior Brother say his lineage came from?"
"It has some connection to Kunlun. Back then, after I completed the Minor Circulation, I remained unable to enter the Innate Realm. While traveling the world, I passed through Kunlun Mountain and encountered an avalanche. Then I fell into a Cave Mansion left behind by a predecessor..."
Yan Chixia recounted how he had encountered danger and how he had obtained the cultivation manuals left by that senior.
Zhou Yi was dumbfounded. This was practically the template of a true protagonist.
Compared to Ning Caichen, who had ultimately become nothing more than a high-ranking official with a happy family and children, Yan Chixia seemed far more like a Child of Destiny.
Born an orphan, he had endured hardship in childhood. By chance, he obtained an ordinary martial art manual from the martial world, then rose unstoppably. At twenty-five, he had opened all Eight Extraordinary Meridians and completed the Minor Circulation.
Afterward, he traveled the world and encountered danger while passing through Kunlun Mountain. Even Innate Grandmasters could perish without a burial place in an avalanche, yet Yan Chixia had survived and fallen into the Cave Mansion of a Qi Practitioner from a thousand years ago.
"After a thousand years, eighty or ninety percent of the books in the Cave Mansion had turned to ash. Only a Qi Practitioner's cultivation insights, a Sword Control Technique, and a Xuanyuan Sword remained. After I completed my cultivation, I called myself a member of the Kunlun Sect. In truth, I was only a later student who inherited the blessings left behind by a predecessor."
After finishing, Yan Chixia said, "The reason I told you to break through to the Innate Realm through martial arts was that the predecessor's inheritance contained no true Qi Refining Method at all."
Yan Chixia took out a roll of Bamboo Slips. The writing on it was vastly different from that of the present day, with far more complex strokes.
"These are the predecessor's cultivation insights. They are profoundly mysterious. As long as you read them with Divine Sense, you will immediately understand their meaning."
Zhou Yi's heart stirred. Was this not similar to the Jade Slips said to record cultivation techniques for immortal cultivators?
His Divine Sense left his body and settled upon the Bamboo Slips. A set of Qi cultivation insights appeared within his Divine Sense.
"Those who absorb breath become divine and do not die, enduring forever to attain the Dao... Gather essence and focus the spirit, command qi as it circles... Refine the spirit to enter the Dao, ride the wind and dance... Create something from nothing, the form of ten thousand spirits..."
"...Respectfully written by True Person Taiyuan, rogue cultivator of Kunlun, as his lifespan came to an end."
In an instant, Zhou Yi had read through it once and already understood how precious these Bamboo Slips were. They were not the slightest bit inferior to a Qi Refining Method.
Drawing upon his lifetime of cultivation experience, True Person Taiyuan had pointed directly to the essence of Qi cultivation at the very beginning—Breath Absorption!
He then divided Breath Absorption into several stages. First, one condensed the mind and spirit to command qi; next, one merged the spirit with heaven and earth to fly by controlling qi. As for the final step, creating something from nothing, even Zhou Yi could not fully understand it.
True Person Taiyuan's cultivation notes directly showed Zhou Yi the path of his future cultivation. Even without a Qi Refining Method, he could continue feeling his way forward.
"Senior Brother's kindness will never be forgotten. Whether the Kunlun Sect existed before or not, from this day onward, Chixiao shall be the Kunlun Sect's Vice Sect Master."
Yan Chixia waved his hand indifferently. "I have no interest in such worldly matters, and you should not take them to heart either. Cultivation must come first. True Person Taiyuan possessed heaven-shaking cultivation, yet when his lifespan was exhausted, he still failed to attain immortality. Our talent cannot compare to that predecessor's, so we should devote ourselves even more to cultivation."
"There was another reason I was willing to teach you the Sword Control Technique."
Yan Chixia took a Crystal Compass from his robes. Its surface was divided into five colors—green, red, yellow, white, and black. After he infused it with spiritual energy, the needle pointed to the number one position in the yellow section.
"I tested you with the Spiritual Root Compass. You possess an Earth Spiritual Root. Drawing spiritual energy into your body and breaking through to the Innate Realm is ten times easier for you than for ordinary people."
Zhou Yi's heart stirred as he asked, "Are there many people with Spiritual Roots?"
"Of course not. Since obtaining this testing compass from the predecessor's Cave Mansion, I have encountered fewer than ten people with Spiritual Roots. Unfortunately, possessing a Spiritual Root does not necessarily mean one is suited to martial cultivation, and I had no Qi Refining Method. That is why you are the only one—someone who has both a Spiritual Root and the ability to break through to the Innate Realm through martial arts."
"What kind of Spiritual Root does Senior Brother have?"
Yan Chixia said in an apparently casual tone, "Nothing special. Just a Fifth-Grade Gold Spiritual Root!"
Zhou Yi was one hundred percent certain that he had seen pride in Yan Chixia's eyes.
He had deliberately displayed the Spiritual Root Compass. Could it be that he was showing off? Given Yan Chixia's free-spirited and uninhibited nature, it was entirely possible!
Yan Chixia seemed to see through Zhou Yi's thoughts and coughed. "Senior Brother is not showing off. I just want you to know that even a genius like me works hard, so you should devote yourself to cultivation all the more!"
"Thank you for Senior Brother's guidance!"
Zhou Yi became even more certain that Yan Chixia was showing off.
For the next half month, Zhou Yi lived in Lanruo Temple.
Having broken through to the Innate Realm, even if he could not defeat the Thousand-Year Tree Demon, he would have no trouble protecting himself with Yan Chixia present.
Ever since Nie Xiaoqian had failed to seduce him with her zither music on the first night, she had never appeared again. The ghosts on Black Mountain had also suddenly become scarce. Occasionally, wandering souls watched from afar, but they did not dare come close.
Having only just entered the Innate Realm, Zhou Yi had many questions to ask.
Yan Chixia had cultivated qi for a long time. Though he lacked a sect inheritance, he possessed abundant experience.
Every day, when dawn was about to break and Purple Mist from the East arrived, one could meditate and cultivate qi, breathing in the Purple Mist between heaven and earth. Not only did this accelerate cultivation, it also tempered the body.
The Purple Mist contained an extremely mysterious power. It did not belong to the Five Elements Spiritual Energy, yet it could increase one's cultivation.
It also strengthened the foundation, nourished the spirit, and tempered the physique. Its uses were truly endless.
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