Cultivating with His Life on the Line

Opening his eyes, he decided to properly thank the master in blue, only to discover that he had somehow already returned to his body.

Xia Yu bowed respectfully to the Sacred Bone Slip inside the jade box.

Then he closed his eyes and continued comprehending the Mystic Heaven Art and the Mystic Heaven Finger.

Several days later, he slowly opened his eyes. He had circulated the Mystic Heaven Art and the Mystic Heaven Finger through his body many times.

As for their power, he would have to wait until he went outside to test them.

Looking at the other Sacred Bone Slips, Xia Yu refrained from opening any more.

He understood that biting off too much would leave him unable to chew it.

He could study the many cultivation arts in the books outside to broaden his horizons and deepen his theoretical knowledge.

But every legacy within the Sacred Bone Slips was exceptionally precious. Obtaining the Mystic Heaven Art and the Mystic Heaven Finger was already enough.

Quality mattered, not quantity!

Xia Yu activated the teleportation array and stepped out.

The moment he emerged, he saw his master, Su Deyu.

"Master." Xia Yu was somewhat surprised.

In truth, he did not know that Su Deyu had arrived the moment he entered the teleportation array.

Su Deyu had arranged for him to see the Sacred Bone Slips in the first place.

"Mm. What legacy did you receive?"

"The Mystic Heaven Art and the Mystic Heaven Finger."

Su Deyu froze briefly, then said in surprise, "I never imagined you would gain his approval."

"Master, was he very powerful?"

"Of course. He was Finger Saint Zangtiange, a figure whose fame once resounded even across the Central Divine Continent. Legend has it that one finger of his could break the heavens. They said no one could withstand a single strike of his finger."

"Master, he said his true body was gone. How did he die?" Xia Yu asked.

"He reached the end of his lifespan."

Xia Yu nodded.

On the path of cultivation, people ultimately sought only two things: invincibility and eternal life.

Invincibility was still possible, but eternal life was utterly impossible.

Without becoming a Great Emperor, one's lifespan would never exceed ten thousand years.

Even a Great Emperor would live no more than a hundred thousand years.

No one knew what lay above the Great Emperor realm.

After all, even the legendary Great Emperors had not appeared for a very, very long time.

At least, in every book in the Dao-Seeking Academy, Great Emperors existed only in legend.

After leaving the Book Repository, Xia Yu went to see Xia Yao. Her condition was still relatively stable.

Despite reading every book in the Book Repository, Xia Yu had not actually found a way to treat Xia Yao.

He could only confirm one thing: Xia Yao did indeed possess a special constitution.

As for a solution, his options were limited to finding a cultivation art suited to her constitution.

Or finding someone with a powerful enough cultivation base to forcibly extract the source of power within her body.

Neither option was currently feasible.

Xia Yu knew that he probably could not resolve his sister's problem within the Great Xia Dynasty.

His only path was to grow stronger quickly and travel to the more prosperous regions of the Eastern Polar Wasteland.

Perhaps even to the Divine Continent.

After chatting with Xia Yao for a while, Xia Yu went straight into seclusion.

He needed to thoroughly digest the books he had read in the Book Repository.

More importantly, he needed to practice the Mystic Heaven Art and the Mystic Heaven Finger.

At the summit of Wendao Mountain.

Beneath a towering tree, a figure sat quietly cross-legged.

Vast quantities of heaven and earth spiritual energy poured into him from all around in an endless stream.

One day... two days...

Half a month later...

Xia Yu opened his eyes. He had gone through the knowledge from tens of thousands of books in his mind, from beginning to end.

If he had merely memorized it before, he had now fully digested it.

Sensing the heaven and earth spiritual energy the Heaven-Incinerating Furnace had absorbed over the past half month, Xia Yu sighed inwardly.

The origin force in his eighth small world was pitifully scarce. It was not even ten percent full.

Without a mountain of Spirit Stones or any treasures, relying entirely on absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy was far too slow.

In fact, Xia Yu knew that his absorption was not slow. His absorption rate was already astonishing.

Unfortunately, activating a small world required so much heaven and earth spiritual energy that his progress seemed slow.

Xia Yu slowly closed his eyes. This time, he would cultivate the Mystic Heaven Art and the Mystic Heaven Finger.

Following the method of the Mystic Heaven Art, Xia Yu began circulating it through his body little by little.

Under the guidance of the Mystic Heaven Art, tiny amounts of origin force began moving through his body.

Finally, that spiritual power was compressed into his heart.

Once the first strand of origin force settled, the origin force behind it abruptly accelerated and slammed into it.

In an instant, that strand of origin force shrank slightly under the impact.

Xia Yu felt his heart shudder violently, and a piercing pain immediately shot through it.

Pain!

At that moment, Xia Yu finally understood why cultivating the Mystic Heaven Art required a strong constitution. Otherwise, this single impact could injure his heart.

Too many such impacts could make his heart burst.

Suddenly, an idea surfaced in Xia Yu's mind.

Could I make a small world the endpoint of the Mystic Heaven Art?

If I could, it would save me so much trouble.

He acted the moment the thought struck him.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xia Yu circulated the Mystic Heaven Art again.

As the Mystic Heaven Art circulated, the first strand of origin force within his body flowed into his first small world.

Then more origin force surged toward it.

Boom...

A muffled sound rang out.

Xia Yu's body shuddered repeatedly. The force of the vibrations made him feel as though every bone in his body had broken.

In his mind, it was as though countless great drums were beating at once.

In an instant, blood streamed from all seven of his facial orifices.

Yet a smile appeared on Xia Yu's face.

Su Deyu, who had been watching Xia Yu cultivate all along, saw this and was startled.

Had he not possessed such a steady temperament, he would have rushed over immediately.

Why was he bleeding from all seven orifices while cultivating? Was this how the Mystic Heaven Art was practiced?

Taking a deep breath, he remained hidden.

It would be bad if he disturbed Xia Yu.

Xia Yu did not wipe away the blood flowing from his seven orifices. He was in excellent spirits.

It worked!

And it worked spectacularly.

That strand of origin force had only been compressed by about a tenth inside his heart.

Yet inside the small world, it had been compressed by half. This...

It was simply an unexpected windfall.

Most importantly, Xia Yu also discovered that those vibrations had brought about changes in his body.

He had thought his body, strengthened by the origin force from his small worlds, had reached saturation and could grow no stronger.

But just now, he discovered that his body had improved yet again.

My body is stronger!

An unexpected delight!

The Mystic Heaven Art could not have been more suitable for him.

Without hesitation, Xia Yu immediately activated the Mystic Heaven Art. He would compress all the origin force in his seven small worlds.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Muffled thuds rang out from within Xia Yu's body.

Xia Yu's body kept vibrating.

But to Su Deyu, he looked as though he were having an epileptic fit, trembling uncontrollably.

Not only that, blood seeped from Xia Yu's seven orifices from time to time.

Eventually, foul blood seeped from every pore of his body.

At that moment, Su Deyu's heart rose into his throat.

Was this cultivation, or was he gambling with his life?