48: Chapter 48 The Path a Sword Cultivator May Comprehend 48: Chapter 48 The Path a Sword Cultivator May Comprehend The Primordial Energy of the Purple Yuan Pill dispersed, and Xie Xuanyi successfully broke through the barrier.
A faint golden glow enveloped his body.
The sounds of wind and thunder roared through the 108 major orifices!
The previously pierced right shoulder by Jia Liu had healed…
and the Gu blood that had spread throughout his body was completely eradicated, turning into nothingness!
This was the power of the Undying Spring!
Xie Xuanyi stretched out his hands, feeling the surging strength of his blood and Qi like a flood dragon within him, yet he slightly furrowed his brows.
“After being nourished by the Undying Spring, my path of cultivation seems to have become a bit different?”
In the First Realm of Qi Refinement, others simply absorb Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.
He, however, needed golden Primordial Qi.
Now that he had reached the Second Realm…
Normally, the Second Realm is called “Foundation Establishment” in the Daoist sects, while the Sword Palace calls it “Divine Sense.” The difference in terminology arises because the direction of subsequent cultivation differs.
The Second Realm in the Sword Palace mainly involves cultivating the Divine Soul in order to later control one’s Lifebound Flying Sword, while the Daoist “Foundation Establishment” prepares one for eventually becoming a true immortal by condensing a mature Dao Fruit to simulate the formation of a Nascent Soul.
Hence, the Third Realm is known as “Qi Control” in Daoism and “Artifact Control” in the Sword Palace, which sound similar but differ significantly.
But by the Fourth Realm, “Grotto Heaven”—the cultivation philosophies of the two great sects again become extremely similar.
Daoism achieves a Grotto Heaven at this stage through cultivating a “Dao Fruit Seed,” thus this realm is also known as “Core Formation,” and once the Grotto Heaven in the Dantian of a Daoist Cultivator matures, it naturally results in the formation of a “Nascent Soul.”
In the Da Sui Sword Palace, the Fourth Realm involves constructing a “Sword Qi Cave Heaven” using one’s Lifebound Flying Sword.
In the initial stage of this realm, Sword Cultivators must expend a great deal of spiritual essence to nourish their Lifebound Flying Swords.
Later, it’s the entire Sword Qi Cave Heaven that nurtures the Sword Cultivator in return.
“Logically, this so-called Second Realm only requires one to condense the Divine Soul and continually establish a connection with one’s lifebound object…”
Xie Xuanyi murmured, “With my current accumulation of Divine Soul power, I should be able to easily surpass this Second Realm.”
He slowly raised his hand.
A large rock on the summit of Little Desolate Mountain gradually levitated.
He clenched his fist.
With a bang, the large rock exploded, and the dozens of stone fragments that resulted also neatly hovered in the air.
This had actually surpassed the capabilities of the Divine Sense Realm.
It could be said that this was a technique only possible in the Artifact Control Realm.
However, Xie Xuanyi didn’t feel the seamless and profound connection of the Divine Soul that he had when he first broke through to the Second Realm years ago.
“Is it because I have already passed through the Divine Sense Realm once?”
Xie Xuanyi fell into contemplation.
No one had ever come back to life after death, but he was an exception.
the unreasonably irrational act of slaying demons in Yuzhu Town occurred.
A Qi Refining Master, displaying Artifact Control techniques, unleashed power far surpassing that of the First Realm.
Although Xie Xuanyi no longer had Primordial Energy, his Divine Soul remained, and the foundation of his Artifact Control techniques was still profound.
This allowed him to “ignore” the fundamental rules of cultivation.
Though in the First Realm, he was still able to use Artifact Control techniques.
This was possible through the power of the Divine Soul!
Suddenly, Xie Xuanyi realized something.
Over the years, he had been a purely dedicated Sword Cultivator…
The mental methods, breathing techniques, and combat arts he practiced were all from the Da Sui Sword Palace.
There are millions of paths in this world.
Sword Cultivation is merely one of them.
Although Xie Xuanyi had walked far on this path, he did not understand the ways of other cultivations.
“Could it be that the reason I was trapped in the Qi Refining Realm before was because… I subconsciously used the ways of a Sword Cultivator to overcome this unusual First Realm?”
Xie Xuanyi had heard that the disciples from the Buddhist sects in Nanli underwent extremely arduous cultivation in the First Realm.
Normal cultivation often requires ten years, or even longer, of hard practice!
But disciples of the Buddhist sect could manifest the highest and most superior combat power in the first realm, with vigor as robust as an ox and skin tough as iron.
Whether it be the Taoist or sword cultivators, in the first realm, they all pursued rapid resonance with heaven and earth to advance to the next level.
However, Buddhist disciples were different, their second realm, following “Copper Skin,” was to pursue “Iron Bone.”
And then they would achieve “Vajra.”
Whether it was the Taoist sect or the Sword Palace, both needed to refine their lifebound objects.
But Buddhist disciples could physically withstand treasures.
Now, Xie Xuanyi had successfully broken through.
He thought carefully.
This so-called “Golden Primordial Energy” actually resembled a Buddhist cultivation method, which is a very extreme method of overcoming limitations.
No matter how unique the talent or how sensitive the perception of Primordial Energy, it was useless!
If one wanted to condense this Golden Primordial Energy, they would need to put in arduous effort—
“The Undying Spring has changed my body.”
Xie Xuanyi murmured softly, “At the same time, it also changed my cultivation method.”
Many years ago, he wanted to cultivate both sword methods of the Da Sui Sword Palace.
But because his physique was inadequate, he was forced to give up.
Now, after being nurtured by the Undying Spring, Xie Xuanyi glimpsed a glimmer he had never seen before.
He lowered his head and “introspected” again.
The droplet formed and entwined by countless strands of Golden Primordial Energy hung in the position of the Dantian.
The spot for Chen Ke was empty.
“After reaching the peak of Qi Control, to establish a Sword Qi Cave Heaven…this is the path of a sword cultivator,” he realized suddenly and whispered softly, “The reason I didn’t feel the profound sensation of breaking through the Divine Sense realm back then is because I have already walked this path.
Now, my Divine Soul Power has long surpassed the ‘Divine Sense Realm.'”
Not to mention the Divine Sense Realm.
If conditions allowed, Xie Xuanyi could control hundreds of flying swords, a Divine Soul Power that would crush the Artifact Control Realm.
Although the path of sword cultivation didn’t solely focus on Divine Soul…
In the first three realms, Xie Xuanyi’s robust Divine Soul could dominate almost uncontested.
If he only followed the path of sword cultivation, he would progress very quickly.
What if he doesn’t follow the path of sword cultivation?
Xie Xuanyi suddenly realized that he now had many new possibilities.
Although he had transcended the second realm, he was still in the midst of the second realm.
“The cultivation method of nourishing acupuncture points with Golden Primordial Energy is somewhat like the Buddhist and Taoist combined ‘Body Refinement Path,'” he pondered and examined his body silently, “Does this mean that I can pursue another Dao besides sword cultivation?”
This thought made Xie Xuanyi’s heart tremble.
His intuition told him.
If he could retrieve Chen Ke and hang it beside the Undying Spring, then his own Sword Qi Cave Heaven, which he had once traversed, could soon be rebuilt…
This was indeed the “Sword Dao” he had once walked, and now, living another life, he could pick it up again without much effort.
However, the legendary miraculous uses of the Undying Spring seem to be more than just “saving lives.”
“The first realm requires ignition of the main acupuncture points, totaling one hundred and eight.”
“But if I continue to let the Golden Primordial Energy flow throughout my body, filling every meridian…”
Xie Xuanyi’s eyes lit up with excitement: “Isn’t this the Buddhist ‘Body Refinement Path’?”
In his mind, countless thoughts fluttered.
Back then in the Da Sui Sword Palace, the master’s sigh echoed in his mind for the third time.
[“The Dao that a sword cultivator can comprehend is not necessarily only the Sword Dao!”]