Consecutively converging the two prohibitions of the Taibai Luminous Godly Ban was something An Jing himself had not anticipated.
In terms of talent and perceptiveness, it was without a doubt that An Jing was top-notch. Not only the Sword Spirit, even the Demon Sect acknowledged this aspect greatly.
He did not need anyone else’s help—all An Jing needed was a scripture and he could very likely teach himself divine techniques.
Yet, even with such talent, achieving consecutive breakthroughs on a high-level Dao Scripture law such as the Taibai Luminous Godly Ban seemed incredibly unbelievable.
But, it happened—during his cultivation, An Jing felt his mind clear up and inspiration follow continuously, a flood of spiritual insights and enlightenment gushing forth like a spring.
Every thought seemed right, every practice went smoothly.
"Is this the Heavenly Mandate? Could it be that terrifying?!"
At first, An Jing was a bit confident, thinking perhaps his talent had finally culminated, but as time went on, even he began to doubt, "I haven’t done anything special recently. Why do I feel like Huo Qing, who changes others’ destinies, has this incessant sense of fate?"
An Jing thought of the Children of Calamity.
"Little Gu, Cang? Or perhaps, Xiaobai and others..."
Frequently teased by his friends for naming like nicknaming a pet, An Jing muttered to himself, and he also thought of Huo Qing and Nian Quan: "The former hasn’t had the chance to impart the cultivation method, but the latter, most likely, has already entered the gate."
"Their destinies... changed this much?"
For a while, An Jing did not know what his friends were currently doing.
However, regardless of that, he was now unstoppable!
Looking back, An Jing examined the progress of his cultivation.
After breaking through to Inner Breath like Tide, the Qi transformed from spiritual objects flowed into An Jing’s dantian and veins like rivers converging into the sea, rapidly elevating his already at-the-limit Inner Breath, ultimately filling his whole body.
It was only then that An Jing realized the major difference between Inner Breath as Vast as River and Inner Breath like Tide.
In the River-like Realm, if one wanted to erupt with Inner Breath, it required mental focus, breathing adjustment, and skilled techniques to push the river forth, eventually running as fierce as the Yangtze River, powerful enough to cut steel, shatter rocks, and break gold.
The Tide-like Realm, however, was different.
An Jing’s family Martial Scripture, as well as a majority of the lower-tier scriptures, stated, "The human body is like a water tank, and Inner Breath is the water within it."
That wasn’t quite right.
The ancestors and most authors of the lower-tier scriptures, with their not particularly high talents and blurry perceptions, thus described it somewhat superficially.
In An Jing’s perception, the human body was truly a combination of the Five Lakes and Four Seas—an entire small world.
Limbs, organs, sinews, flesh and blood, skulls and spines—each one was a small pond, a little lake.
Breaking through from martial disciple to Inner Breath was a process of leveraging the Yin and Yang Dual Cultivation Method to pry open the innate qi and continually excavate small ponds within the human body.
Each of those movements alone using only part of the Dual Cultivation Method could only uncover a portion of the ponds, hence why they were flawed and needed gradual supplementation.
The meridians were the channels connecting these ponds.
As thin as silk, it was the trickling streams over the riverbed, indeed connecting many ponds, yet incapable of bursting forth with power. A punch thrown would still only carry the power of a single punch, albeit much heavier than that of an ordinary person.
As vast as River, it was the river’s water rushing forth, where the martial artist could mobilize the water from all ponds to erupt, transforming the flow into the mighty Yangtze River.
An Jing had been practicing martial arts since childhood and had the support of resources, employing the Yin and Yang Dual Cultivation Method. Right from the beginning, he opened up all the ponds, and his Inner Breath surged, directly reaching the River-like Realm.
Thus, when he threw a punch, it was no longer just the power of one punch, but the power of all muscles, flesh and blood, organs, and Divine Sense from the entire body!
Just as An Jing could forge his spirit, he was able to cut out a sword that split the air, breaking boulders; the power of a martial artist in the River-like Realm had begun to exceed the limits of ordinary people, capable of various transcendent feats.
As for the ultimate Tide-like Realm... it’s not talking about an actual tide.
But rather an undercurrent.
At that moment, his Inner Breath was so overwhelming and vast that it had exceeded the boundaries of the riverbed, spilling out of the limits, beginning to connect all the ’ponds’ in his body, merging thousands of rivers and hundreds of streams into one, transforming thousands of ponds and hundreds of lakes into one ocean!
And in this seemingly calm sea of Inner Breath... there lay an immensely surging undercurrent!
Just as the sea might appear calm, internally, it is teeming with numerous terrifying undercurrents; such is the case with Inner Breath like Tide as well.
While Inner Breath as Vast as River requires grand movements to harness its full power, Inner Breath like Tide can release full force effortlessly and covertly, also transforming Bright Strength into Hidden Strength and even Transformative Strength!
Moreover, as the sea of Inner Breath fills the whole body, the martial artist’s mobilization of Inner Breath is no longer confined to the meridians but can burst forth from anywhere in the body, even from the tips of their hair.
Of course, the meridians still play a role, serving as channels that speed up the transmission of Inner Breath. If one wishes to release the greatest force most rapidly, they must still rely on these established riverbeds.
This is Inner Breath like Tide... the undercurrent beneath the calm sea surface, a characteristic undisturbed on the surface, only fully understood once surpassed.
"The Great Dao lies in the name."
At this moment, An Jing greatly admired the founder of the Method of Stillness in Martial Arts; the realms they established were extremely realistic, with descriptions devoid of any falsehood. Only through genuine martial arts practice could one understand the metaphors hidden in these names.
And once the metaphor is understood, one could grasp the true depth of this realm!
Even a martial artist studying the most rudimentary scriptures could, upon comprehending the secrets within the realm names, potentially elevate their techniques beyond the limitation of the scriptures, composing an even more advanced new form of cultivation!
Although it heavily depends on talent, it indeed provides a way for martial artists without a prestigious lineage to enhance their heritage and status.
With the Metallic Spirituality of the Golden-haired Bear and the insights from breaking through to Inner Breath like Tide, An Jing didn’t hesitate to start the process of forming the Second Prohibition.
That process was also smoother than An Jing could ever imagine.
His First Prohibition was already stable, and the Jade Cutting Steel and Subdue Evil Sword Fiend used as a foundation were top-notch Spiritual Objects, laying an extremely solid base. The formation of the Second Prohibition was naturally a success.
The searing Gold Fiend was refined and polished by An Jing’s Essence Qi, ultimately transformed into a series of exceedingly robust Magic Prohibitions, interconnected deep within his flesh and blood.
Because An Jing had broken through to Inner Breath like Tide, his body surged with Essence Qi. Before the night was even half over, An Jing had completely assimilated all of the Golden-haired Bear’s Paw Spirit Mechanism with his own Essence Qi and forged it using the Taibai Forbidden Seed, transforming it into the second Divine Prohibition branded within his body.
"To form with intent," this also matched the transformation properties of ’gold.’
Slightly opening his eyes, An Jing raised his hand. At his wrist, a white Magic Prohibition emerged, layered upon itself, appearing as if woven into a layer of white gold bracers.
As the Spirit Mechanism inhaled and exhaled, the young man’s arms seemed to have been cast from metal, incredibly sturdy, containing immense strength.