Chapter 130 - 114: The Peak You Cannot See, I Will See It for You

Chapter 130: Chapter 114: The Peak You Cannot See, I Will See It for You

"Since yin and yang can coexist in harmony, why do the *Nine Yin Divine Skill* and *Nine Yang True Skill* follow paths where extreme yin births yang, and extreme yang births yin, instead of walking a balanced path together?" Zhang Ji asked Yang Zixiu.

"Water and fire do not mix. It’s not that they cannot be fused, but they require a catalyst to harmonize them. Only then can there be yang within yin, and yin born from yang," Yang Zixiu said slowly.

"What is it?" Zhang Ji asked again.

"The Innate Qi..." Yang Zixiu said.

Zhang Ji was familiar with the concept of Innate Qi.

It described the fetal Inner Breath nurtured within the womb.

This Inner Breath was a great restorative.

It could promote an infant’s development, Recovery, and growth.

A Grandmaster-level martial art from the Southern Dao Sect, called the *Innate Qi Cultivation*, was based on nurturing a breath of Innate Qi to extend one’s life as much as possible.

After cultivating that breath of Innate Qi, one could replenish their cells, heal latent injuries, and reduce bodily wear and tear, thereby extending their lifespan.

"*Innate Qi Cultivation*?" Zhang Ji asked.

"The method this old one cultivates was indeed comprehended and derived from the *Innate Qi Cultivation*," Yang Zixiu said.

"Let me see it. Name your price," Zhang Ji said.

"It is merely a life-preserving technique, nothing worth mentioning. To receive a Saint’s appreciation is this old one’s honor..." Yang Zixiu said.

As he spoke, he shakily tried to get up to retrieve it.

Zhang Ji pressed the little old man back down and said, "Just tell me where it is. I’ll get it."

"I’m embarrassed, Saint... It’s in... this old one’s bedroom, under the wooden pillow..." Yang Zixiu said.

...

Zhang Ji walked out of the main hall and asked Ma Rui for directions.

He then went to Yang Zixiu’s bedroom and found a... tablet computer under his pillow?

"Well now, keeping up with the times!" Zhang Ji said with a raised eyebrow.

It wasn’t password-protected. After opening it, he saw many game apps: tower defense, first-person shooters, competitive MOBAs, and anime-style games. It looked just like a kid’s tablet.

’He couldn’t tell if his disciples or their children had been playing on it, or if the old man himself was just a bit childish.’

In the center of the screen, there was a notepad app, clearly marked with a star.

Zhang Ji opened it and saw that it contained a lot of notes, all recorded in a somewhat disorganized fashion.

From top to bottom, there were over a thousand entries in total.

Zhang Ji randomly clicked on a few to read.

Most of them were notes on his thought process for circulating his energy.

The longer ones were over a thousand words, while the shorter ones were just a few hundred. Some of them cut off halfway through, as if the little old man had either fallen asleep or run out of ideas.

’Looks like I’ll have to take this back and study it slowly,’ Zhang Ji murmured to himself.

Returning to the main hall, Zhang Ji pushed the door open and found Yang Zixiu inside, fast asleep in a cross-legged position.

Ma Rui was about to go and wake Yang Zixiu, but Zhang Ji stopped him.

In Zhang Ji’s eyes, Yang Zixiu was currently demonstrating a profound martial art.

His aura was so faint it was on the verge of disappearing, giving off a sensation that was neither life nor death.

The cycle of decay and growth was slowly unfolding within him.

An old tree was sprouting new shoots. This body would die, but another, new life would be born from it.

’Will that version of him still be him?’

Zhang Ji didn’t quite understand.

He decided he would wait until Yang Zixiu truly lived out his second life, then come back to see for himself.

...

Back at his residence, Zhang Ji began studying Yang Zixiu’s notes.

The thousand-plus notes were all over the place—disorganized, scattershot, and often repetitive.

However, after obtaining the crystal for the *Qi Condensation and Divine Tempering Method*, Zhang Ji’s memory and comprehension had become far stronger than before.

He could use his Spirit to absorb vast amounts of information simultaneously.

He had already used this ability to absorb a massive amount of martial arts knowledge from the Eastern Extreme Country into his mind.

For him, Yang Zixiu’s notes were a trivial matter.

After reading through all thousand-plus notes, Zhang Ji had a general understanding of Yang Zixiu’s thought process.

The single breath of Innate Qi produced by the *Innate Qi Cultivation* was too little; it was only enough to prolong one’s life.

So, he had found a way to cultivate more Innate Qi while simultaneously reducing his own consumption of it.

He remained almost motionless and silent every day, thinking little and eating much... He simulated the state of a plant in winter, entering a near-torpid state to reduce consumption.

This way, the Innate Qi he gathered exceeded his consumption, allowing him to continuously accumulate more of it.

Once he had accumulated enough Innate Qi, it was theoretically possible to extend his life indefinitely.

But Yang Zixiu discovered this was merely a hypothesis.

After the human body combines with postnatal qi, the postnatal body itself is subject to a limited lifespan.

Innate Qi could only delay this outcome.

Unless... one could reforge an Innate Fetal Body and escape the limitations of a postnatal one.

At that point, one would no longer need to breathe postnatal qi. They could simulate the innate state and live on through an internal cycle.

Of course, even then, one would still need to replenish their essence and energy to maintain their bodily functions.

However, this replenished essence and energy would be converted into Innate Qi and then reabsorbed. Although this process would inevitably involve some wear, it could be repaired by using excess Innate Qi through the method of silent meditation.

In this way, the body could remain in a constant innate state, free from wear, and thus become immortal.

’It actually seems feasible,’ Zhang Ji murmured to himself.

At least, according to the theories he currently knew, it was achievable.

In other words, if Yang Zixiu could transform and create an Innate Fetal Body, then achieve an internal cycle, he would be able to break free from the conventional limits of a lifespan.

’Immortality?’

Even Zhang Ji would take such a matter seriously.

After all, it was one of the reasons he had embarked on the path of martial arts.

Speaking of which, the *Celestial Silkworm Rebirth Scripture* was also a technique that could continuously extend one’s life.

By constantly reincarnating, one could live a second, third, and fourth life, and so on.

In theory, it could go on forever.

And yet, the Divine Silkworm Ascendant had still messed up during his tenth life.

Zhang Ji didn’t dare enter the Silk Heaven Sect’s Ruins Realm in the Eastern Extreme Country right now.

The malformed monster—the result of the Divine Silkworm Ascendant’s failed transformation, which had devoured every member of the Silk Heaven Sect—was waiting inside.

An A+-rank boss.

It had a massive health bar and high damage; anyone who fought it was in for a miserable time.

But then again, all these techniques that theoretically granted immortality seemed to overlook one problem.

As time stretched on, the outside world would change, and so would they.

Failure to adapt to the environment would also lead to death.

As the environment and the self changed, the techniques themselves would need to evolve to keep up.

The body would always encounter new viruses and new environments it had never seen before.

If it didn’t evolve antibodies, so-called immortality would end right there.

Therefore, true immortality must involve constantly adapting to new environments and evolving more ways to counteract them.

The world was full of far too many variables. Any immortality achieved through a single, static technique was bound to be rendered obsolete.

As Zhang Ji contemplated this, he used a thought sensor to summarize, compile, and revise Yang Zixiu’s methods on the computer screen, turning them into a new technique.

It totaled over thirty thousand words. Not an excessive length, but it was all pure essence.

’This could be considered a technique for becoming a terrestrial immortal. What should I call it? Since it was born from the *Innate Qi Cultivation*, how about... the *Innate Fetal Body True Skill*?’ Zhang Ji thought aloud.

After picking a name at random, Zhang Ji looked at the Cultivation Technique and felt that this trip had been well worth it.

He now had an idea.

The *Nine Yin Divine Skill*, the *Nine Yang True Skill*, and the *Innate Fetal Body True Skill*—all combined.

With them, he could achieve a balance of yin and yang and cultivate an even more advanced form of Yuan Qi.

But he still needed to test it.

He would have to try cultivating Innate Qi together with the two types of Yuan Qi from the Nine Yin and Nine Yang.

Before that, however, he first needed to master both the Nine Yin and Nine Yang martial arts.

...

「July 15th.」

Led by Zhou Hao, Hudson arrived in the Eastern Extreme Country with the Wind Treasure Pearl.

Two days prior, Zhang Ji had sent Zhou Hao back to the Roman Country, telling him and Hudson to report back to the Wind God’s Ruins Realm, bring the Wind Treasure Pearl back to the Eastern Extreme Country, and place it in the Five Elements Sect to become part of the sect’s foundation.

They had worked quite efficiently, finishing the task so quickly.

「Golden Hook Mountain.」

Zhang Ji returned once more.

Since Zhang Ji overthrew the government, Golden Hook Mountain had returned to the Five Elements Sect’s control.

The Five Elements Sect had created a new position of Vice Sect Leader, temporarily filled by Chen Anhe. The Sect Leader was, of course, still Zhang Ji.

Zhou Hao and Shen Han were automatically promoted to elders.

The disciples of the Five Elements Sect who had previously scattered had now all returned.

The Wind Treasure Pearl was placed inside a newly constructed tower, which was strictly sealed and guarded at all times.

From now on, the Five Elements Sect could be said to have a Ruins Realm as part of its foundation.

Inside the tower, Hudson held the Treasure Pearl against his forehead. After a moment, the pearl began to glow. He placed it inside a specially prepared protective case, and in the next instant, the pearl automatically embedded itself into a crack in the void. Although it still had a physical form, like the lotus platform at the Vajra Sect, what one actually touched was merely a spatial barrier.

The Wind Treasure Pearl hadn’t been reset with a new entry key, meaning anyone who touched it could directly enter the Wind God’s Ruins Realm.

The key mechanism itself wasn’t a very complex device.

The thing was basically just an added activation trigger.

It was the equivalent of putting a lock on it.

Afterward, having received permission from Zhang Ji, Hudson entered the Wind God’s Ruins Realm and brought out a group of people, including his mother.

Before this, Hudson had already given Zoeyna and the others a basic rundown of the modern world.

But this was their first time truly experiencing modern society.

Just like Hudson when he first arrived.

Zoeyna and the others were extremely curious about everything in the outside world.

The various cell phones, cars, drones, and all sorts of electronic devices left them marveling at how unfamiliar the world had become, and they couldn’t help but feel grateful for their decision to cooperate with Zhang Ji.

...

Chen Anhe and her group were the ones to receive Zoeyna. As for Zhang Ji, he returned to the graves of Li Long and the others.

On Zhang Ji’s orders, the three graves hadn’t been significantly rebuilt. Some protective structures were added around them, and proper headstones were formally erected.

Zhang Ji dismissed his attendants and sat alone beside Li Long’s grave.

"Wouldn’t it have been great if you had just held back then? I could even make you the Monarch of the Eastern Extreme Country now... But then again, asking you to hold back was probably never realistic..."

Zhang Ji muttered to himself as he poured a cup of wine for him, then poured one for Gu Shuangshuang and Yan Ruifeng as well.

Since coming to this world, Li Long was definitely one of the few people who had been genuinely good to him.

Li Long was nominally his teacher, but their relationship was more like that of friends, or even confidants.

Li Long had never used his status as a teacher to pressure him, never held anything back when teaching him, and had always been more than generous with resources.

Even when he offended the rich and powerful, Li Long didn’t hesitate to protect him, regardless of the impact on the Sect’s resources.

For once, Zhang Ji didn’t spend the day in his usual high-intensity grind of martial arts training. Instead, he stayed there, muttering to himself for most of the night.

Only when the sun rose in the east did Zhang Ji slowly stand up.

Facing the sun, he strode away.

"Let me go see the peak of martial arts that you never could..."