Many Paths, One Point

After breaking through the bottleneck, Hao Nhien did not sense any unusual phenomenon.

The space within the Lightning Domain remained unchanged. Lightning continued racing along the dark purple stone walls, while low thunder still rolled upward in waves from the deeper regions below.

The most obvious change was inside his own body.

Spiritual power at the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment now circulated more smoothly, while the meridians that had endured prolonged pressure had become broader and more resilient than before. Hao Nhien remained seated on the rocky ledge, allowing his cultivation method to complete several additional cycles before slowly opening his eyes.

The moment his spiritual sense spread outward, he immediately noticed that his perception of the surroundings had changed.

Previously, only sufficiently large arcs of lightning could easily draw his attention. Now, countless minute fluctuations appeared within the darker spaces of the Lightning Domain, many of which he had only been able to detect vaguely before. They drifted through the air, clung to the stone walls, slipped between currents of spiritual energy, and flashed in and out of existence with extraordinary speed.

Most were so faint that the naked eye could barely distinguish them.

Yet within Hao Nhien's perception, their positions and directions of movement had become far clearer.

He extended one hand and selected a tiny strand of lightning several feet away.

The spiritual power in his meridians shifted slightly, opening an appropriate route.

The strand immediately deviated from its original path, touched his fingertip, traveled along the pathway he had just created, and exited near his wrist.

Hao Nhien looked at his hand for a long time.

Advancing in cultivation had not given him Lightning, but his sensitivity toward that force had increased significantly. Strands that had once blended almost completely into the environment had now become something he could perceive, select, and borrow.

More importantly, that ability did not need to remain limited to his hands.

Hao Nhien had originally chosen his arms because they were easier to observe and adjust, and mistakes there carried less risk than in more vital areas.

But if he truly wanted to use Lightning in combat, two pathways would never be enough.

He began expanding the scope of his training.

Extending the routes through his shoulders, back, waist, and legs proved far more difficult than working with his arms.

The meridians in those areas were more intricately interconnected, and Hao Nhien could not directly observe his body's reactions as easily. A small deviation while guiding Lightning could send the current into a branch he had never intended to open.

Even so, he was no longer exploring blindly.

The experience gained through countless earlier failures allowed him to quickly recognize when a route was too narrow, where Lightning was most likely to spill into neighboring branches, and how much pressure each area could withstand before he needed to withdraw.

Problems that had once required repeated attempts in his arms could now often be solved after only a few adjustments.

As a result, despite the larger training range and increased complexity, his progress was actually faster than during the initial stage.

Hao Nhien remained cautious.

He expanded gradually from his shoulders down across his back, through his waist, and into both legs. Only after those areas had begun adapting did he connect the separate routes into a wider Lightning-guiding network spread across his body.

The process lasted several days.

Once the new pathways became stable, Hao Nhien discovered another change.

The amount of spiritual energy his meridians could carry had increased significantly.

At first, he assumed it was simply an effect of advancing in cultivation, but after circulating his cultivation method several times, the difference became increasingly obvious.

The meridians that had adapted to repeated contact with Lightning had not only become tougher, but also more open and unobstructed. Spiritual energy from the outside entered his body more easily than before.

He tested another cycle of absorption.

Spiritual energy entered his meridians, circulated through a complete greater cycle, and gathered in his dantian.

The increase was not explosive, but the amount he could absorb within the same period of time was clearly greater.

Hao Nhien thought for a long time before deciding to temporarily stop training with Lightning.

He selected a relatively level section of the rocky ledge, took out the Cosmic Ark, and placed it down.

After checking the surroundings, Hao Nhien entered, closed the entrance, and arranged several dozen mid-grade spirit stones around the cultivation area.

The spiritual energy inside the Cosmic Ark was already dense.

With the additional spirit stones, it grew even richer.

Hao Nhien sat at the center of the gathering formation and began circulating his cultivation method.

The surrounding spiritual energy immediately rushed toward him.

This time, the sensation was completely different.

The meridians that had been reshaped over the past several days seemed to open their capacity simultaneously, allowing spiritual energy to pour into his body at a far greater rate during each greater cycle.

The current flowed throughout his body before converging in the dantian, where it was compressed layer by layer.

Hao Nhien maintained a steady rhythm.

The Body-Soul Fist Art continued operating at a moderate level, helping his body adapt to the increased spiritual energy flowing through it.

The meridian sections that had recently been reshaped continued to stabilize under the new pressure, while the spiritual energy from the spirit stones and the Cosmic Ark continuously replenished the process.

With each greater cycle, Hao Nhien gradually realized that the amount of spiritual power accumulating in his dantian was increasing faster than expected.

His fifth-layer foundation had already been tempered considerably within the Lightning Domain.

Now, with favorable cultivation conditions and an improved meridian system, the bottleneck ahead became increasingly distinct with every cycle.

Hao Nhien did not rush to strike it.

He continued absorbing spiritual energy, allowing the accumulation within his dantian to deepen until his entire circulation system reached its fullest state.

Only when the sensation of saturation appeared did he guide his spiritual power toward the barrier ahead.

The bottleneck trembled.

Hao Nhien stopped there.

He continued circulating through several more greater cycles before trying again.

Each time the spiritual power passed through, the barrier became slightly thinner.

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The process was slow but steady.

When the accumulated spiritual power had been compressed to its limit, Hao Nhien once again guided the entire current forward.

The final barrier was pierced.

Spiritual power surged into the new level, causing his aura to rise before gradually stabilizing.

Sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.

Hao Nhien remained seated and allowed the cultivation method to continue circulating until the realm had fully settled.

Only then did he open his eyes.

This breakthrough brought no unexpected disturbance.

It had come from accumulation, from the meridian system that had just been improved, and from the abundant spiritual energy within the Cosmic Ark.

Hao Nhien gathered the unused spirit stones, stored the Cosmic Ark, and returned to the Lightning Domain.

He did not remain in the same region.

After advancing, his sensitivity toward Lightning had become clearer once again, and Hao Nhien wanted to descend farther to test his new limit.

The Tieu Dao Sword carried him past familiar rocky ledges before continuing downward.

The deeper he went, the denser the lightning became.

Large arcs repeatedly sliced through the darkness, while countless tiny strands were interwoven among them, creating a layer of fluctuations that seemed to cover the entire space.

Hao Nhien stopped in a sufficiently open area and calmed himself.

This time, he no longer counted individual strands.

There were simply too many.

What mattered now was how much his current body could receive and how much of that force he could guide outward.

Hao Nhien gradually opened the meridian routes he had tempered while sensing the countless fine strands of lightning around him.

He did not draw them in immediately.

Instead, he recorded their positions, strengths, and distances, preparing to guide them through his body at the precise moment he released force.

The Body-Soul Fist Art began circulating, and the muscles across his body gradually entered a familiar state of exertion.

Hao Nhien looked toward a large boulder ahead and prepared to test Lightning within his fist art.

He did not open the pathways in advance.

If he did, the Lightning would immediately pass through his body and leave before the fist force had fully formed.

What he needed was for perception, Lightning guidance, and physical release to happen almost within the same instant.

Hao Nhien stepped forward.

Force rose from his feet, traveled through his waist and back, then gathered in his right arm.

Only when his fist was a short distance from the boulder did his spiritual sense lock onto the fine strands around him.

The meridian routes opened simultaneously.

The selected strands immediately entered through the pathways he had tempered, traveled through his right arm, and exited almost within the same beat.

The process was too fast.

Lightning still erupted slightly before the moment of impact, causing most of the electrical force to sweep across the boulder's surface before the fist force truly landed.

Hao Nhien withdrew his hand and tried again.

This time, he delayed the guidance by an extremely small fraction of a beat, only beginning to sense and draw the Lightning once the fist force was almost fully formed.

The result was better.

The fist force struck the boulder just as the lightning nearly erupted with it, but there was still a slight difference in timing.

Hao Nhien continued testing.

Sometimes the Lightning arrived too early.

At other times, his timing was fractionally late, causing the fist force to enter the target before the lightning followed.

By the final attempt, the difference had become almost imperceptible.

The instant his fist struck the stone, physical force and white-purple electricity erupted almost simultaneously.

The boulder was blasted from the ground and thrown more than ten zhang away.

Jagged lines of lightning raced along the cracks created by the fist force, spreading deeper into the stone before the entire boulder shattered in midair.

Hao Nhien remained still and observed for a long time.

He had not yet found the perfect point of coordination.

Lightning moved too quickly, while the fist art possessed its own process of generating force.

To make both powers truly arrive at the same instant would require more precision than he currently possessed.

Even so, he had confirmed one thing.

There was a point at which fist force and Lightning could resonate.

With enough future practice, he believed he could eventually find that moment.

After regulating his condition for several breaths, Hao Nhien drew the Fire Spirit Sword.

Fire-element spiritual power remained active along the blade, while the Lightning pathways were kept in a waiting state.

As Hao Nhien swung the sword and the blade neared the stone outcrop, he locked onto several fine strands of Lightning around him.

They traveled through his arm, entered the hilt, and erupted along the blade at the moment of the strike.

A streak of sword light swept across.

The rock was severed almost immediately at the point of contact.

Fire-element spiritual power clung to the cut, while lightning raced through the section that had just been broken.

Heat and shock acted on the same area at nearly the same time.

The stone around the cut rapidly fractured and crumbled before turning into a layer of glowing-hot powder that fell to the ground.

Hao Nhien lowered the sword.

He did not continue testing.

The result was already enough to prove that his current direction could be developed further.

The fist art could borrow Lightning to increase destructive force.

Sword techniques could also guide Lightning alongside Fire to add another layer of damage.

But all of it was still crude.

Hao Nhien understood that he needed time to absorb the experience, refine the timing, and eventually incorporate these methods into real combat.

He returned to a safer training region and spent the following days stabilizing his cultivation, refining the newly expanded meridian routes, and growing accustomed to his heightened sensitivity.

His sixth-layer spiritual power gradually became steady and deep.

Over time, Hao Nhien also approached the peak of the sixth layer.

When the bottleneck to the seventh layer appeared, the sensation was completely different from the earlier stages.

The barrier was thicker, and the resistance was much more obvious.

Hao Nhien circulated his spiritual power once and touched the bottleneck.

Then he stopped.

An exceptional-grade Realm Advancement Pill still remained in his storage ring.

If he used it now, together with the special environment of the Lightning Domain, his chances of breaking through to the seventh layer would certainly be higher than usual.

He took out the jade bottle and stared at the pill inside for a long time.

The fifth and sixth layers had been crossed within a relatively short period.

His current foundation was solid, but the pace of advancement had still been very fast.

If he forced his way through the seventh layer now, the accumulation he had only recently stabilized might no longer remain as firm as it was.

After a long period of consideration, Hao Nhien slowly closed the bottle and returned it to his storage ring.

Peak sixth layer was already far beyond the goal he had originally set when entering the Lightning Sacrifice Mountain Cave.

More importantly, the greatest gains from this journey were not limited to cultivation.

His sensitivity toward Lightning had changed completely.

His entire body now contained multiple guiding routes instead of pathways concentrated only in his hands.

His meridians had undergone deeper refinement.

His ability to absorb spiritual energy had increased.

And his first practical attempts at incorporating Lightning into both fist and sword techniques had succeeded.

That was enough.

He needed time to digest those changes before advancing any farther.

On the fortieth day, just after dawn, Cat Thanh stood before the Lightning Sacrifice Mountain Cave together with Luu Thanh and two Cat Loi elders.

The jade token rested in his hand.

Forty days had passed.

That was twice the longest period recorded in any account Cat Thanh knew.

One elder looked toward the cliff wall and lowered his voice.

“Could there be a problem with the token?”

Cat Thanh checked it again.

The lightning glow across its surface remained stable.

He remained silent for several breaths before stepping forward.

“I'll go in.”

Luu Thanh nodded.

The two elders behind them also began circulating their spiritual power.

Just before Cat Thanh's hand touched the cave entrance, the cliff wall suddenly trembled.

Everyone stopped.

The lightning-shaped crack across the stone gradually lit up.

A purple arc traveled from top to bottom, and the entire stone gate slowly opened.

Hot air carrying the smell of scorched rock poured outward.

No one spoke.

Every gaze turned toward the darkness within.

Footsteps echoed from deep inside the mountain, gradually growing clearer.

A figure slowly emerged.

Hao Nhien.

His robes had already been replaced with a clean set, his long hair was slightly disheveled, and only a few faint scorch marks remained across his neck and arms.

What Cat Thanh noticed first, however, was his gaze.

Hao Nhien appeared as calm as before, but there was now greater depth and sharpness within his expression.

As he stepped through the entrance, several tiny strands of lightning mixed into the hot air around the cave subtly altered direction toward him.

One brushed past his wrist before dispersing.

Hao Nhien barely noticed.

Cat Thanh saw it clearly.

His pupils contracted slightly.

Several extremely fine strands near the entrance had changed course toward Hao Nhien the instant he stepped outside.

Cat Thanh walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Spiritual power slowly entered.

Only a few breaths later, Cat Thanh's expression changed.

Hao Nhien's meridians were far broader than before, while the meridian walls themselves had become noticeably tougher and more stable.

The spiritual power within them was deeply compressed and carried none of the unstable quality commonly seen in cultivators who advanced too quickly.

His body had changed as well.

His flesh and muscles had not grown much larger, but the internal state was significantly more resilient, as though his entire body had undergone a prolonged process of tempering and compression.

Cat Thanh withdrew his hand and looked at Hao Nhien for another moment.

“Peak sixth layer?”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Yes.”

One of the elders behind him drew in a quiet breath.

Luu Thanh also remained silent, looking Hao Nhien up and down as though trying to confirm that he had not misjudged what he was seeing.

Cat Thanh asked:

“Do you know how long you've been in there?”

Hao Nhien paused and thought for a moment.

“About thirty days?”

No one answered immediately.

Cat Thanh looked at him.

“Forty.”

This time Hao Nhien truly froze.

“Forty days?”

“Yes.”

Cat Thanh glanced at the jade token in his hand.

“The longest period in any record I know is twenty days.”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

He genuinely had not realized that so much time had passed.

Cat Thanh watched him for another moment.

“Are you planning to go back in?”

Hao Nhien shook his head.

“Not this time.”

Cat Thanh answered immediately:

“Good. So you finally know when enough is enough.”

Hao Nhien laughed.

“I've always known.”

Cat Thanh looked at him with an expression that clearly said otherwise.

Behind them, Luu Thanh coughed lightly, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Hao Nhien did not bother explaining.

He turned and looked back toward the cliff wall as it slowly closed.

From deep within the Lightning Sacrifice Mountain Cave, thunder continued rolling outward in long, low waves.