At the moment, Zhang Xuan’s zhenqi cultivation had already reached Great Sage 1-dan Introspective Convalescence realm consummation. He had already browsed through the books filled with the insights of the predecessors regarding their breakthroughs in the Great Sage realm from the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan. However, the path that each cultivator had to take would eventually diverge, so naturally, the method through which each of them achieved a breakthrough was different.
He could use their insights as a reference to give him some direction, but he could not blindly copy from them.
For this reason, even though he had already browsed through many books, he was still unable to find an appropriate method for him to further advance his cultivation.
Having slain dozens of Sempiternal realm experts, there was a sizeable collection of cultivation technique manuals and books detailing the insights that they had regarding their breakthrough. Even though their cultivation techniques and breakthrough methods were significantly different from those of humans, considering how a breakthrough to Great Sage had resulted in his meridian network assuming a form similar to that of the Otherworldly Demons… Could their cultivation techniques be effective on him too?
After all, Otherworldly Demons were a higher level of existence than humans. There could be some benefits to emulating their cultivation techniques.
Zhang Xuan took out all of the books in the storage rings, and all in all, they numbered several thousand. With a quick glance, he collected all of them into the Library of Heaven’s Path.
“Compile!”
He swiftly fused them together with the books that he had collected back the Jiang Clan, the Luo Clan, and so on.
Weng!
A brand-new book materialized in the Library of Heaven’s Path.
With a tap, the knowledge within the book flowed in Zhang Xuan’s mind, and he slowly closed his eyes.
The method used by the Otherworldly Demons to achieve a breakthrough to Aureate Body realm was much more complex than that of humans. It demanded the Otherworldly Demons to tap into the power of the crimson moon to augment their Zhenqi of Slaughter so as to temper their body. Essentially, it was not a method that humans could use at all. The cultivation technique that he had compiled was not usable.
In other words, his previous assumptions did not hold.
Nevertheless, even though a Heaven’s Path Divine Art manual was not formed, it did give him some inspiration as to how he could further advance his cultivation.
“By purifying their bloodlines, those of the Beast Tribe are able to raise their cultivation further. After humans achieve a breakthrough to Great Sage, their meridians start to develop in a manner that bears some resemblance to that of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe… In essence, advancing one’s cultivation could be said to be raising one’s level of existence!
“My body has already been tempered by the Empyrean Heavenly Flame, resulting in my body being far stronger than normal Aureate Body realm cultivators. So, the bottleneck is lies not in my physical body but my meridians. As long as I improve my meridians a little more, I should be able to achieve a breakthrough!” Zhang Xuan mumbled as a glint flashed across his eyes.
With his body and Primordial Spirit tempered by the Empyrean Heavenly Flame, he was much more formidable than the ordinary Aureate Body realm cultivators. Since that was the case, there was unlikely to be much for him to improve in his physical body and Primordial Spirit anymore.
In other words, as long as he improved his meridian network and raised his level of existence, he should be able to easily advance his cultivation to higher realms!
He did not need any cultivation techniques at all!
Let me give it a try! Zhang Xuan thought as he sat down on the floor.
Absorbing the spiritual energy from the cultivation resources he had collected, he circulated his zhenqi throughout his body three times and raised his condition to the peak.
Back then, in order to reconstruct Zhao Ya’s meridians, he had derived a new and improved meridian network. Swiftly going through the new meridian network in his mind, he began to slowly reshape the meridians in his body accordingly.
Meridians were the very foundations of a cultivator. He dared not alter those that were connected to his dantian and organs in case something went wrong, so he started out by altering those linked to his limbs.
Even if ordinary cultivators knew that altering their meridians would allow them to advance their cultivation, they would still be unable to do it. This was because their meridians were a natural part of their body, and the process of altering them could easily lead to unexpected complications.
However, having cultivated Kong shi’s superior breakthrough method, Zhang Xuan’s body had been tempered by the Empyrean Heavenly Flame, thus raising the resilience of his body far beyond that of his peers. This allowed him to endure the strain of moving his meridians.
Using the same method as before, he began moving his meridians slowly.
…
After some time…
Hong long!
A burst of killing intent burst forth from the depths of his body, and in an instant, it seemed as if he had become an Otherworldly Demon himself.
This phenomenon was similar to what happened when he reconstructed Zhao Ya’s meridians. He did not intentionally alter the attribute of the latter’s zhenqi. Instead, the emanation of the Otherworldly Demons’ killing intent seemed to be a natural process of evolution.
At this moment, even if he did not rely on the disguise amulet, Wu Shu and the others would still have been unable to discern him apart from other Otherworldly Demons.
It works…
If one compared meridians to a watercourse, he would just be an ordinary stream at the moment. If he wanted to become a true raging river, the riverbed had to be deepened, the width of the water channel had to be widened, and the meanders along the watercourse had to be reduced. Only then would water be able to flow efficiently through the watercourse.
The more Zhang Xuan altered his meridians, the greater the strength within his body became. His aura swiftly grew stronger and stronger.
The Aureate Body realm seemed out of touch to him a moment ago, but right now, it was already something completely within reach.
It did not take long for him to finish altering the meridians in his limbs.
After that was done, Zhang Xuan did not rush into the next step. Instead, he chose to take a rest so as to replenish his depleted zhenqi and condition his state back to the peak before continuing.
At this moment, his meridians had become much wider, allowing zhenqi to flow unobstructed through them. If he attempted to channel his zhenqi with all his might, it would form a raging current reminiscent of the charge of thousands of cavalry troops.
There were mainly minor meridians in the limbs, so it was much easier to alter them. However, the same could not be said for the meridians surrounding one’s dantian and internal organs. They intersected one another with the utmost complexity, and the slightest mistake could cause a reversal in one’s zhenqi, possibly resulting in paralysis or even one’s cultivation going berserk.
Not daring to rush into it, Zhang Xuan warily moved each meridian bit by bit with strict accordance to the steps.
While he was attempting a breakthrough to the Aureate Body realm, back on the Master Teacher Continent, the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters found itself with a group of guests.
They were none other than Luo Ganzhen and Jiang Fangyou.
Entering the main hall, they swiftly took their seats.
“Is the reason behind your arrival concerning the crisis in the Subterranean Galleries?” Ren Qingyuan looked at his two guests and got straight to the point.
“Indeed. It seems like the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters have noticed that something is amiss as well. Ren shi, I would like to request you to share the details of what you know with me so that we can compare the intelligence we have received!” Jiang Fangyou clasped his fist.
“Un!” Ren Qingyuan nodded. “Just a day ago, the Otherworldly Demons in our Master Teacher Pavilion’s Subterranean Gallery were still incomparably ferocious, seeming as if they wouldn’t rest until they breached our defenses. Yet, just this afternoon, most of their soldiers suddenly retreated, leaving behind only a small rearguard to defend the area. I thought that it was bait to draw our forces in, so we chose to stand our ground and bade our time. However, even after such a long time, there was still no movements from their side. When we dispatched our scouts to investigate the matter, we realized that most of them have retreated back behind the seal! Did the same situation happen in the Subterranean Galleries that you are standing guard over?”
“Indeed! We encountered the same peculiarity in our respective Subterranean Galleries. The Otherworldly Demons on our side abruptly returned to the otherworldly battlefield as well. I’m not too sure what they are up to at the moment, but I have a bad feeling about it!” Luo Ganzhen said grimly. “Brother Fangyou, if I’m not mistaken, the reason you urgently gathered us is because you know something about this matter, right?”
The reason they had all gathered in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters at this crucial period of time was due to a request made by Jiang Fangyou.
“I do know something about this matter, and the reason I gathered all of you here so urgently is to discuss the matter!”
As he spoke, Jiang Fangyou took a sweeping glance at his surroundings. Only after seeing the multiple layers of seal placed over the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, which prevented crucial information from leaking out, did he heave a slight sigh of relief.
Seeing how severe Jiang Fangyou’s attitude was, the faces of Ren shi and the others turned grim as well.
“I believe that the Master Teacher Pavilion is aware that ever since the fall of the Otherworldly Demon Emperor whose strength was so great that he could oppose even Kong shi directly, the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe has been under the control of three apex experts!” Jiang Fangyou said.
“Un. They are Sovereign Chen Yong, Sovereign Chen Xing, and Sovereign Chen Ling, right? Sovereign Chen Yong takes on the leading role whereas Sovereign Chen Xing and Sovereign Chen Ling assume auxiliary roles… However, the three of them have never been on close terms, and they are extremely wary of one another. It’s due to their disharmony with one another that they have never been able to launch a decisive assault on mankind, or else even the Master Teacher Pavilion would have been troubled fending them off!” Ren shi nodded.
This was extremely confidential intelligence, but there was no way that the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters could have been oblivious to it.
“Indeed. Those three Sovereigns had been keeping each other in check all this while. However, earlier this afternoon, I received news that Sovereign Chen Xing and Sovereign Chen Ling have proclaimed an alliance with one another!” Jiang Fangyou’s face darkened.
