Blade Ghost answered wearily:
"After you entered the River of Time, This Old Man suddenly felt utterly exhausted, then fell into a deep sleep until now."
Xu Taiping was somewhat surprised:
"So it really was because of the River of Time?"
Blade Ghost answered:
"Not necessarily. This Old Man's remnant soul falls into a deep sleep from time to time."
Xu Taiping nodded thoughtfully.
Blade Ghost said unconcernedly:
"No matter. The next time you enter the River of Time, this remnant soul of mine might recover seventy or eighty percent."
To enter the River of Time, Xu Taiping needed to use the power of time gained during a breakthrough. Thus, if he wanted to enter the River of Time in his entirety as he had this time, he would have to wait until he broke through to the Dao Integration Realm and gained the power of time again.
"You just said that to break that Ice Demon's freezing power, the force of your blade strike must equal an all-out attack from a Dao Integration Realm cultivator?"
Blade Ghost now brought the subject back to breaking the freezing power of the Demon God Qingnü.
Xu Taiping nodded and said:
"That was what Demon Emperor Jiao said that day, and today, Abbot Jiaye also found a similar account in an ancient scripture."
Blade Ghost pondered, then asked:
"Though This Old Man cannot remember very clearly now, I vaguely recall that the differences in cultivation and combat strength within the Dao Integration Realm are enormous. I simply wonder whether the Dao Integration Realm Demon Emperor Jiao spoke of meant someone just entering the realm or someone at Great Perfection."
Xu Taiping had learned about this as well.
Like the Transformation Realm, the Dao Integration Realm also had several stages.
Xu Taiping said with