Opening the Eighth Spiritual Aperture

He had seen Hundred Aperture Grass before. It was jade-green and shaped like a lantern, but the spiritual herb before him gleamed like a pearl, golden and resplendent.

"This is the Hundred Aperture Grass King. Its medicinal efficacy is twice that of ordinary Hundred Aperture Grass. Sell it to me for fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones. How about it?"

The elder could not help asking.

"I'm not selling it!"

Lu Ren shook his head. He had enough time; all he lacked was Hundred Aperture Grass to open his eighth Spiritual Aperture.

What was more, this was the Grass King!

"Not selling?"

The elder was slightly startled. Could it be that Lu Ren knew the true value of the Hundred Aperture Grass King?

"Not selling!"

Lu Ren shook his head and snatched the Hundred Aperture Grass back.

"Lu Ren, how about this? I'll add another fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones. You have a Scrap Bloodline, so even the Grass King is useless to you!"

The elder held up one finger and smiled.

This Hundred Aperture Grass King could earn him a handsome profit, so naturally, he was unwilling to give it up.

"Elder, since I can't enter the Spirit Stream Realm anyway, I naturally want to try opening the eighth Spiritual Aperture!"

Lu Ren put away the Hundred Aperture Grass and swiftly returned to his cultivation courtyard.

After returning to the courtyard, Lu Ren entered the Pagoda Space and began his arduous cultivation.

This time, he had prepared twenty-five Spirit Stones, enough for fifty years of cultivation. He intended to use that time to break through the limit, open the eighth Spiritual Aperture, then use the Spirit Burst Secret Art to merge the eighth Spiritual Aperture.

Breaking through the limit and opening the eighth Spiritual Aperture was extremely difficult. The lower one's Bloodline talent, the longer it took.

Many geniuses with Fifth-grade or even Sixth-grade Bloodlines had no intention of opening the eighth Spiritual Aperture because it consumed too much time. Spending one year might still be acceptable, but spending two or even three years to open the eighth Spiritual Aperture was hardly worth the loss.

On the path of cultivation, every second had to be fought for. In two or three years, many geniuses of the same age might have already entered the Cloud River Realm and cultivated numerous powerful martial techniques.

But Lu Ren was different. He had nothing in abundance except time.

"To open the eighth Spiritual Aperture, I must sense its exact location. For every martial artist, the location of the eighth Spiritual Aperture is different!"

Lu Ren sat cross-legged and began sensing the location of his eighth Spiritual Aperture.

This process was the hardest to endure. Once he sensed it, he could consume the Hundred Aperture Grass and successfully open it.

One year!

Two years!

Three years!

Ten years!

Over those ten years, Lu Ren sensed every cell and every scrap of flesh within his body, yet he still could not determine the location of the eighth Spiritual Aperture.

However, Lu Ren was not anxious. After so many years of arduous cultivation, he had long developed a calm and unhurried temperament.

Finally, in the thirtieth year, Lu Ren sensed a point at a spot on his right shoulder blade.

That point seemed to possess a special resonance, drawing upon the other seven Spiritual Apertures within his body.

Lu Ren was ecstatic. He chewed up the Hundred Aperture Grass King and swallowed it directly.

The juice of the Hundred Aperture Grass was somewhat bitter and astringent. Lu Ren raised a brow, then swallowed all of it.

After savoring the aftertaste for a moment, Lu Ren closed his eyes and focused, quietly sensing the changes.

At first, there was no change, but soon a current of heat surged forth. That current seemed to be an extremely strange power.

The heat gathered in his abdomen and attempted to guide itself toward the location of the eighth Spiritual Aperture.

Before long, a scorching sensation flooded through him.

Delight appeared on Lu Ren's face. He had finally broken through the limit and opened the eighth Spiritual Aperture.

Thirty years of arduous cultivation had finally allowed him to break through the limit and open the eighth Spiritual Aperture.

Lu Ren was exceedingly excited. He then spent another twenty years cultivating the Spirit Burst Secret Art, merging the spiritual energy of the eighth Spiritual Aperture into his energy vortex as well.

At that moment, when his spiritual energy erupted, he could unleash sixteen thousand jin of force.

Lu Ren emerged from the Nameless Treasure Pagoda and freely unleashed his strength in the courtyard, feeling incomparably exhilarated.

"Wonderful!"

Lu Ren laughed loudly and said, "I want Low-grade Spirit Stones—enough Low-grade Spirit Stones. Opening eighteen Spiritual Apertures will be no trouble at all!"

Over the next few days, Lu Ren lived the life of an outer disciple in the outer sect. From time to time, he attended the elders' lectures, though they were all about the Cloud River Realm. This made Lu Ren yearn for the Cloud River Realm even more, and he could hardly wait to charge into the Spirit Stream Realm.

"Disciples, do any of you have further questions?"

On the plaza, the lecturing elder asked the several dozen outer disciples seated there.

"Elder!"

Lu Ren stood up, cupped his hands, and asked, "Exactly how many Spiritual Apertures can a martial artist open?"

"This..."

The elder was stumped by Lu Ren's question. Then he smiled and said, "As far as I know, Elder Yun has opened eleven Spiritual Apertures, making her the most formidable in our Jiangyun Kingdom. However, I once read in an ancient text that a martial artist's limit is eighteen Spiritual Apertures!"

"Eighteen Spiritual Apertures!"

"Can anyone truly open eighteen Spiritual Apertures? The Saintess has only opened eleven. Each one afterward is twice as difficult as the last, unless someone never breaks through to the Spirit Stream Realm for their entire life!"

Many outer disciples immediately began discussing it.

"Even if one never breaks through for an entire lifetime, opening eighteen Spiritual Apertures is nearly impossible. A martial artist's lifespan is limited. Even a hundred years would not be enough to open eighteen Spiritual Apertures!"

The elder smiled, then flew away directly.

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

Suddenly, peals of bells rang from Tianzi Mountain's summit, their sound shaking the land for a hundred li.

"Four bell chimes—many missions have been posted. Let's hurry over!"

"This time, I hope we can take on some good missions and earn some contributions!"

The group of disciples who had just been attending the lecture immediately hurried toward another summit of Tianzi Mountain.

"Missions?"

Lu Ren raised a brow and followed the crowd over.

Now that he wanted to open more apertures, he needed to earn a great number of Spirit Stones. Taking missions was the most direct method.

At that moment, more than a hundred disciples from all directions were heading toward the Contribution Hall.

Upon entering the depths of the Contribution Hall, Lu Ren felt that it was incomparably spacious. Massive azure pillars stood throughout the hall, so thick that four or five people would need to link arms to encircle one. All kinds of Exotic Beasts were carved upon them.

Sheets of parchment hung from the pillars.

At that moment, countless outer disciples were gathered around the pillars, discussing among themselves.

"Junior Brother Lu Ren, you became an outer disciple?"

A woman walked in from outside the hall. When she saw a familiar figure, surprise appeared on her face.

Hearing a familiar voice, Lu Ren turned around and was equally astonished. "Senior Sister Qin Yu, you became an outer disciple too?"

The newcomer was none other than Qin Yu, the genius ranked first among the entry disciples.

Qin Yu wore a Qingyun robe at that moment, making her look even more valiant and heroic.

Qin Yu smiled. "After I opened the eighth Spiritual Aperture, I advanced to the Spirit Stream Realm and became an outer disciple directly!"

Qin Yu possessed a Sixth-grade Bloodline, so her strength was beyond doubt. She had no need to participate in the outer sect assessment.

Lu Ren smiled. "I defeated a disciple from the Imperial Dao Sect at the sparring exchange tournament, so the sect made an exception and allowed me to become an outer disciple!"

"So that's how it is. You became an outer disciple before even entering the Spirit Stream Realm. I'm afraid this is unprecedented!"

Qin Yu smiled faintly, then said, "Junior Brother Lu Ren, you are only an Aperture Opening Realm martial artist. Coming to accept outer sect missions seems rather risky, doesn't it?"

Outer sect missions required at least the strength of the first level of the Spirit Stream Realm.

Even martial artists who had opened ten or eleven Spiritual Apertures were far from being a match for a first-level Spirit Stream Realm martial artist.

Lu Ren coming to accept outer sect missions was tantamount to courting death!