Breakthrough to the Profound Martial Realm

The heavy rain gradually eased. His rain-soaked clothes clung to his body uncomfortably, so Gu Yuanqing withdrew his consciousness first and returned to the house.

After changing clothes and drying his hair, he sat cross-legged on the bed and entered Mountain Observation once more.

The secret chamber lay deep underground. Gu Yuanqing could not go there himself, but that did not hinder him from reading its books.

With the empowerment of Mountain Observation, as long as it was within North Spring Mountain, he could take it all in at a glance.

Big Dipper Sword Technique, Wind and Rain Sword Art, Returning Wind Blowing Snow Sword Technique, Soft Cloud Sword, Soul Chasing Sword Technique, and more—the shelves contained sword techniques above all else.

There were more than thirty Cultivation Methods. Gu Yuanqing skimmed through them and found that nearly every one could cultivate someone to the Profound Martial Realm. There were even as many as five techniques that offered a chance at becoming a Grandmaster.

Besides those, there were nine Movement Techniques, eleven fist arts, fewer saber and spear arts, as well as some cultivation insights and miscellaneous books.

"No wonder it was once a great sect. These secret manuals are its foundation. Even if the Scripture Collection Pavilion was emptied out by the Imperial Court, anyone who obtained these manuals would still have a chance to restore the North Spring Sword Sect. What a pity they were buried so deep underground. If not for me, who knows when they would see daylight again!"

Gu Yuanqing paid no more attention to the old man outside, still busily digging holes, and calmed himself as he studied these secret manuals.

He began with the five Grandmaster cultivation methods. The texts likewise contained many coded phrases and false characters, but fortunately, he found corresponding cultivation insights for three of them.

Once he began reading, he lost track of time. Only when his mind grew exhausted and he could no longer maintain the Mountain Observation state did he stop to rest.

Early the next morning, he first circulated the Heart Zen Unity Art and refined two wisps of spiritual energy before rising to wash up.

At that moment, the old man brought breakfast and took away the bowls and chopsticks from the night before.

Gu Yuanqing could not help glancing at the old man's retreating back as he left, wickedly amusing himself with the thought, If he knew that the thing he had painstakingly been digging for every day had already been found by me, what would he think?

Practicing swordsmanship in the morning had become Gu Yuanqing's habit. Over these past months, his original two sword techniques had long reached a superb and miraculous level. A wooden sword in his hand seemed like a divine weapon.

Yet today, he did not practice those two sword techniques. Instead, he reviewed the sword manuals in the secret chamber. His first choice was naturally the North Spring Sword Sect's sect-defending sword art, the Big Dipper Seven Swords. However, this sword technique required the Northern Darkness Heart Sutra to drive it, so Gu Yuanqing chose to cultivate the Wind and Rain Sword Art instead. This sword art shared many common points with the Cape Cross Sword.

His talent for swordsmanship was outstanding, his Comprehension exceptional, and his memory far stronger than before. It did not take long before this sword art began to take shape in his hands. As he immersed himself in it, the insight from the night before—when he had merged with North Spring Mountain amid the rain—suddenly surged into his heart.

His swordsmanship gradually changed, growing faster and faster. One sword followed another, like a raging storm. Suddenly, sword radiance emerged from his wooden sword, and Sword Qi sliced through the air with the shrill howl of wind and the roar of rain.

The old man, who was chopping firewood, abruptly raised his head toward Gu Yuanqing's courtyard. That was the embryonic form of Sword Intent, and fully formed Sword Intent was one of the keys to pushing open the gates of Grandmastery!

"Gu Yuanqing is merely an Origin Scholar. I saw him practicing swordsmanship some time ago. Though he was quite good, the sword techniques he practiced were ordinary. How could he suddenly condense Sword Intent? Could it be... someone else has come to North Spring Mountain?"

"Ah-ba, ah-ba!" The old woman beside him, who was carrying a pile of firewood aside, patted his shoulder. Once the old man turned his head, she gestured rapidly.

The old man suppressed the curiosity in his heart, made a few gestures in reply, then continued chopping wood.

Half an hour later, Gu Yuanqing stopped, panting heavily. Sweat had long soaked through his clothes, steam rose from his head, and the Vital Energy within him had been depleted.

He felt incomparably exhilarated. Though he did not know that he had just formed the embryonic Sword Intent, he clearly sensed that his realm of swordsmanship had risen considerably. Looking back now at the White Cloud Sword Technique and Cape Cross Sword he had practiced before, he found them riddled with flaws.

It was not that he had practiced incorrectly before, but a shift in understanding brought about by his elevated realm. It was like learning one and two as a child, yet not knowing there were infinitely many decimals between one and two.

He sat in his chair, breathing heavily as he savored the changes in his swordsmanship.

"This was not because I learned a better sword technique, but because of the transformation brought about by the insights of Mountain Observation!"

"Mountain Observation does not merely observe mountains. It observes this world. The Dao follows nature; the cultivation of any Cultivation Method or sword technique is, in truth, learning from this world."

"In the terms of my previous life, Mountain Observation before was merely seeing a mountain as a mountain. But now, I have already touched the threshold of seeing a mountain as not a mountain."

All kinds of insights flowed through his heart, and Gu Yuanqing felt that his very perspective on cultivation had risen another level.

"After resting a while, I'll continue reading the books in that secret chamber. Those cultivation texts may not necessarily be better than the Heart Zen Unity Art, but they can enrich my understanding of cultivation. Every improvement is accumulated day by day."

Time flew by, and several more months passed in the blink of an eye. By his reckoning, Gu Yuanqing had been on this mountain for nearly eight months.

The weather turned colder, and North Spring Mountain lay blanketed in white snow.

The old man was still digging holes everywhere without finding anything, while Gu Yuanqing was already no longer the man he had once been.

Over these past months, the talent and Comprehension empowered by the residence had not changed, but the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy it provided had increased to four wisps per day. This showed that North Spring Mountain's Spirit Imbuing progress had advanced considerably.

By then, he had tempered 394 Acupoints throughout his body. Gu Yuanqing had compiled these from dozens of cultivation manuals, along with various sword arts, fist arts, and Movement Techniques.

In the darkness of night, he sat cross-legged on his bed. His cultivation method circulated, and 365 Acupoints glimmered with light. Vital Energy surged through his meridians, linking the Acupoints together as the Heavenly Cycle Great Formation seemed on the verge of taking shape.

But suddenly, the Vital Energy went out of control, and the formation collapsed. Gu Yuanqing let out a muffled groan as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"Wrong. Still wrong. At least thirteen Acupoints were chosen incorrectly."

The human body contained countless Acupoints; there were 720 major Acupoints alone. The difficult part was not tempering the Acupoints, but forming a formation. Only by using Acupoints as the foundation and Vital Energy as the formation lines could one lay a formation and steadily open the Profound Martial Secret Treasure.

With so many Acupoints, their combinations and transformations numbered in the billions. Even with Gu Yuanqing's peerless Comprehension, he could not find the correct method in a short time.

A wisp of heaven-and-earth Vital Energy entered his body and swiftly repaired his injuries.

After a long while, Gu Yuanqing opened his eyes. He gazed at the cultivation circulation route he had deduced before opening the Profound Martial Secret Treasure and fell into thought. At last, he made a decision.

"So be it. This was supposed to be my final attempt anyway. Trying to deduce a cultivation method for the Divine Martial Secret Treasure using cultivation texts meant to open the Heavenly Martial and Mysterious Martial Secret Treasures truly was too fanciful of me."

"The Great Expansion is fifty, of which forty-nine are in use, while one escapes. My foundation is simply too weak, and the resources at my disposal are too few. Trying to deduce a cultivation method for the Divine Martial Secret Treasure using cultivation texts meant to open the Heavenly Martial and Mysterious Martial Secret Treasures truly was too fanciful of me."

Having made up his mind, Gu Yuanqing made a few more adjustments and guided his Vital Energy through his body. One hundred and eight Acupoints lit up within him. An invisible aura swept outward before returning into his body, and the aura around him became perfectly unified, concealed without revealing itself.

"It is time to open the Profound Martial Secret Treasure."

His consciousness returned to the Crimson Palace. Borrowing the power of the formation, ripples spread through the Crimson Palace. The Profound Martial Secret Treasure, hidden within a mustard seed, immediately revealed its trace and was swiftly locked onto by Gu Yuanqing's consciousness.

His Mental Method changed. The Acupoints throughout his body blazed brilliantly, and invisible Qi, guided by his consciousness, pierced through the Secret Treasure and dragged it from within the mustard seed into the present world!

Bean-sized drops of sweat fell. Gu Yuanqing exhausted all his strength, and his face even twisted somewhat.

Boom! The Secret Treasure fell into the Crimson Palace.

Gu Yuanqing's entire body sank. The bedframe shattered, and he dropped straight to the floor. The ground beneath him caved in as well, as though his body had suddenly become a small mountain.

Gu Yuanqing's consciousness went blank for an instant. The Profound Martial Secret Treasure seemed about to escape his control and return to the mustard seed. Coming back to himself, he hurriedly stabilized the formation. Then his cultivation method changed again, and surging Vital Energy within him poured into the Secret Treasure.

Within the Profound Martial Secret Treasure, it was as though chaos had been split apart by the creation of heaven and earth. Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water emerged.

Who knew how long passed before the Profound Martial Secret Treasure finally stabilized? Only then did Gu Yuanqing relax his mind and begin examining his own Profound Martial Secret Treasure...