Perfect Saber Intent, Qi Zhaoyue's Explanation (the images for 26 and 27 are continuous; recommended to enjoy together)
Lotus Grotto-Heaven.
All was silent, and a bright moon hung high.
At the center of the white jade plaza stood Xu Changsheng, his eyes gently closed, breathing rhythmically as his chest rose and fell.
The evening breeze swept past, lifting a corner of his robes.
The ordinary length of green bamboo tucked at his waist hummed crisply like a saber, faint strands of silvery-white Saber Qi winding, flowing, and gathering around it.
Xu Changsheng was building his saber momentum.
Clang!
At last, the length of green bamboo could no longer bear the burden. Dense cracks appeared across it, and it let out an exceedingly sharp saber cry.
Suddenly, Xu Changsheng opened his eyes in the dark night.
His eyes were silver, silvery-white saber light spilling from their corners, as though silver flames burned within them.
"Mountains and rivers, neither forgotten; Moon Slaying, the moon's half-glow."
Xu Changsheng murmured softly. His voice was quiet, yet carried a resolve to cleave gold and sever jade, to forge ahead without retreat. "Lone Star Moon Slaying, eleventh form—Moon Slaying!"
He gave a low roar, and the instant his words fell-
Xu Changsheng drew his "saber" in a thousandth of a second.
A streak of silvery-white saber light, like a moon blade tearing through the night, slashed toward the bright moon overhead.
Clang!!!
Wherever the saber light passed, the air erupted in piercing booms.
A faint, pitch-black spatial fissure appeared starkly in the sky.
The edges of the fissure constantly devoured the surrounding light, as though, at this moment, even the bright moon hanging high in the nine heavens had truly been split in two by this world-shaking slash.
The instant the saber light flew out, the green bamboo saber in Xu Changsheng's hand shattered completely, turning into a skyful of pale green dust that dispersed between heaven and earth with the breeze.
"Huff, huff, huff-"
He dropped to one knee, one hand braced against the cold white jade floor. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his chest heaved violently.
Yet Xu Changsheng's eyes shone with incomparable excitement.
"With the Divine Yang Sacred Physique, this supreme martial physique, I really am..."
"A martial genius!"
Xu Changsheng murmured excitedly.
"Without relying on the system, purely through my own deductions..."
Just now, Xu Changsheng had finally deduced the Lone Star Slashes the Moon * Saber Instruction to a nearly perfect level.
Although Xu Changsheng had continued his deductions upward from the pinnacle Ye Luoxue had reached, this was still a level she had never attained despite more than ten years of bitter practice.
"This feels great!"
Xu Changsheng gave a quiet shout, then lay back on the white jade plaza without caring about his appearance. Watching the black crescent-shaped spatial fissure slowly dissipate overhead, he curled his lips into a thoughtful smile.
"As expected, space in a grotto-heaven world is easier to cleave apart than in the outside world."
"It seems that, in the future, the Paper Man Technique won't be my only option..."
"Perhaps I can also cut open this cage, these shackles, with a single slash?"
"But at the very least, my cultivation can't be too far below Qi Zhaoyue's. Otherwise, even if I get out, she'll just capture me and bring me back. By then, I'm afraid finding another chance to escape will be even harder..."
Xu Changsheng shook his head. After all, it was far too early to think about this.
"I was just wondering how I could give Ye Luoxue a surprise, with all the trouble she's taken to organize the various books I need!"
"After all, if you want a horse to run, feeding it grass is enough;
but if you want the horse to show a little more enthusiasm, simply feeding it grass won't quite do."
"Now, it seems..."
"I could teach her this perfected Lone Star Moon-Slaying Saber Intent."
Xu Changsheng frowned, pondering briefly. "But..."
"Teaching it to her directly doesn't seem workable. After all, I can't explain how I know the Lone Star Slashes the Moon * Saber Instruction, and why I'm even more proficient in this saber art than its original owner."
But soon, Xu Changsheng's eyes lit up. "If I can't teach her directly, what if I have her demonstrate this saber instruction in front of me, then 'casually' offer a few pointers?"
"That would make perfect sense."
"And Qi Zhaoyue wouldn't care in the slightest, either."
"After all, everyone sees me as an ordinary person without a shred of cultivation. No matter how thoroughly an ordinary person understands a saber instruction, without cultivation, they're no different from a mortal martial artist..."
"Even if your techniques reach the heavens, you can't break through the defenses of a mere First Realm Skin Refining Realm cultivator."
"Mm, that settles it." Xu Changsheng nodded in satisfaction. "I hope Ye Luoxue keeps up the good work and brings me a few more useful books next time."
Xu Changsheng had indeed gained a great deal from reading the books Ye Luoxue had brought this time.
Not only had he figured out the wondrous effects of Ye Luoxue's Military School * Blood God Physique, but he had also found many vague records concerning the Sun and Moon Shining Together Innate Dao Physique.
Most importantly...
Xu Changsheng had finally gained a clear understanding of this world's specific cultivation realms, from beginning to end.
Cultivators of the White Jade World began with the most fundamental First Realm Skin Refining Realm, followed by Bone Refining, Blood Refining, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Grotto-Heaven.
Although the Grotto-Heaven Realm was only the sixth realm, it was rather special.
Cultivators who reached this realm could open up an independent grotto-heaven within their bodies...
That was how this Lotus Grotto-Heaven had come into being.
"But..." A bold conjecture suddenly occurred to Xu Changsheng. "This world actually has four worlds in total..."
"Could the White Jade World be a grotto-heaven someone cultivated?"
"Gasp!"
A slight chill ran down Xu Changsheng's spine. "If my guess is true, just thinking about it is enough to make your hair stand on end."
"But..."
"It's most likely impossible."
After all, Qi Zhaoyue was already a great Eleventh Realm cultivator, yet Lotus Grotto-Heaven was only the size of a single city.
By contrast, the White Jade World contained three thousand Dao provinces.
What realm would someone have to reach to open up such an immense world-sized grotto-heaven?
Xu Changsheng cast this utterly absurd thought to the back of his mind and thought no more about it.
He continued recalling the realms he had read about in the books...
After the Sixth Realm Grotto-Heaven Realm came Seventh Realm Golden Core, Eighth Realm Nascent Soul, Ninth Realm Dragon Gate, Tenth Realm Dao Enlightenment, Eleventh-Realm Celestial Person, Twelfth Realm Dao Severing, and Thirteenth Realm Dao Integration.
Finally came the fourteenth realm, its name unknown.
And the fifteenth realm spoken of in rumors throughout the world.
"Ah, I'm only at the Second Realm: Bone Refining Realm right now. I'm still a hundred and eight thousand li from the fourteenth realm. Why think so much?"
"Raising my cultivation is the royal road!"
Xu Changsheng pushed himself up from the ground and returned to the Hall of Longevity to bathe and prepare for bed.
But just then...
A silvery-white light suddenly lit up the sky above Lotus Grotto-Heaven.
The familiar silver heavenly gate appeared out of thin air in the firmament.
Then the heavenly gate slowly rotated and opened.
Qi Zhaoyue, dressed in a long black gown adorned with flecks of gold, and Zhu Xiaoliang, wearing plain white Daoist robes, appeared in Lotus Grotto-Heaven one after the other.
"Senior Sister, this is..."
Her large eyes clear, Zhu Xiaoliang looked around curiously at everything.
"Your grotto-heaven?"
"Didn't you say you were taking me to a secret realm to improve my cultivation?"
Zhu Xiaoliang turned her head and looked at Qi Zhaoyue in confusion. "Why did you bring me into your grotto-heaven?"
"The way to improve your cultivation is right here in my grotto-heaven..."
Qi Zhaoyue spoke calmly, her tone betraying no emotion, but her long legs involuntarily weakened a little.
Her earlobes, white as solid jade, flushed red.