Chapter 236 - 128: Our Ancestral Master, a 10-Direction Celestial Pillar? The First Scroll of the Feathered Transformation is Complete, My Body Refined Like Glazed Glass

Chapter 236: Chapter 128: Our Ancestral Master, a 10-Direction Celestial Pillar? The First Scroll of the Feathered Transformation is Complete, My Body Refined Like Glazed Glass

"Master, are we going back to Anning County now?"

Ji Xiu held the black box containing the Earth Treasure, the Thunderstruck Tribulation Wood, gently rubbing and tracing the charred patterns on its surface with his fingers. He could feel the thick Spiritual Essence hidden within.

The world’s Great Pills and Treasure Medicines are divided into Three Vehicles and Nine Grades.

For example, Mountain Herbs and Medicines that could supplement a Powerful Martial Artist’s cultivation could be acquired through careful nurturing. For well-established Grand Lineages and Schools, especially with the aid of Qi Dao techniques to accelerate growth, producing herbs that were a hundred or even a thousand years old was entirely possible.

Alternatively, one could find a place like the Earth Dragon Cave. Such places, having been suffused with Outer Dao Qi, were rich in Spirit Breath, allowing for a day of growth to equal a month.

The mountain herbs and Spiritual Materials growing there would sprout up in large batches after just a few years, or a decade at most...

Seventh Grade hundred-year-old King Ginseng, thousand-year-old Earth Dragon Root...

These mountain herbs, which were greatly beneficial to those at the Skin Refining stage and could bolster one’s External Skills, were rare. Still, they could at least be found on the market with set prices.

That’s why it is said that for a Powerful Martial Artist, the stages of Bone Marrow, Bone Tempering, and Skin Refining can be overcome one by one. As long as they have the support of a Secret Technique, follow the process diligently, and have some talent, they can break through each barrier over a few decades.

But it was different for Qi Cultivation Grandmasters.

To split open the Qi Sea, one must cultivate a Qi Dao True Skill.

And ninety-nine percent of the Qi Dao True Skills in the world, regardless of their grade, relied on the same principle. They required one to birth a wisp of Innate Qi, which then cleaved through the primordial chaos within and filled the void to form a sea. This was what allowed a Martial Artist to advance to the rank of Grandmaster. Only then could they truly unleash the ’essence’ of their Secret Martial Arts and even study Martial Arts of a higher Tier.

Where does the Qi come from?

Aside from generational prodigies who also cultivate their Divine Soul—those who can spend their days sifting through the thirty-six thousand nine hundred types of chaotic Spirit Breaths to pluck the single wisp that matches their Qi Dao True Skill, absorbing it and achieving their goal through sheer persistence, like water dripping through stone—everyone else needs the aid of an Earth Treasure.

Or a Hidden Spirit Land built upon one.

This, right here, was the greatest obstacle that stopped ninety-nine percent of the world’s Skin Refining Martial Artists from making the Ultimate Leap!

First, a Qi Dao True Skill.

Second, the Spirit Breath from an Earth Treasure.

Third, one must still succeed in Opening the Sea of Qi, a process which less than one in ten survived!

And that was just the beginning.

After that, every step of cultivating the Qi Sea relied on the aid of Spirit Grade Great Pills and Treasure Medicines. Otherwise, one’s progress would be slow, making it difficult to ever reach the Leakless state or witness the Dragon and Tiger Scene in one’s lifetime.

There was no getting around this fundamental requirement at every crucial step.

That’s why a complete Earth Treasure was so rare that it was practically priceless; even if you had the money, you couldn’t find one for sale!

Looking at this small, fractured stalk of Thunderstruck Tribulation Wood, Ji Xiu could hardly hide his excitement.

[Glazed Scroll: (67/1000)]

Ever since he obtained the Glazed Scroll of the Feathered Immortal Robe from Duan Chenzhou, his once meteoric cultivation progress had gradually slowed down.

The reason was simple: he had reached the Skin Refining stage, and its three gates—Jade Skin, Outer Gang, and Immortal Robe—were incredibly difficult to pass!

Putting Outer Gang and Immortal Robe aside for now.

Just to reach the Jade Skin stage alone required one to shed their outer toes, grow new teeth, achieve the states of Tears Turn into Pearls and Fallen and Ascending Smoke, and then molt three times!

Without an Earth Treasure, cultivation progress would inevitably stagnate.

But now...

None of that was a problem anymore.

Feeling the lingering lightning coiling around this charred wood, emitting a resonance of endless life, it perfectly matched the essence of the Glazed Scroll for the Jade Skin stage of the Feathered Immortal Robe.

If he consumed it, Ji Xiu would surely be able to, in a short period of time, be like a withered tree undergoing the baptism of a Thunder Tribulation—molting several times and being completely rejuvenated!

’Although this ugly piece of wood looks pretty damn hard to swallow...’

’But for the sake of cultivation, what did a bit of unpleasantness matter?’

Ever since getting a glimpse of the Prefecture City, Ji Xiu had become keenly aware of his insufficient cultivation, and only one thought occupied his mind.

’If I can also become a Grandmaster,’

’even in this magnificent fortress-city on the sea—a city of several million households that constantly braves the surging waves, its Eight Dock resting on the water’s surface...’

’I’d be considered a truly powerful figure, someone who has made their mark, right!?’

’I’ve heard Cai Ling’Er, Ye Ningzhi, and Di Yuan of the Post House—all of them Grand Lineage Members—say that the Thirty-Six Professions of Jiangyin Prefecture cover every trade imaginable.’

’But when it comes to mountain and sea herbs, they rely entirely on imports and whatever they can gather from fishermen. The supply is scarce because few are willing to risk their lives venturing deep into the mountains or the sea for the good of their profession.’

’And if I can one day establish a firm foothold here...’

’I’ll have to, on my Master’s behalf, completely upend the Fishing Trade and the Medicine Shops. I’ll take control of the entire Earth Dragon Cave and the East Canghai...’

’and become the true Dragon Head of the trade, the one who calls the shots!’

Clenching his fist, ambition surged wildly within Ji Xiu.

Seeing the raw ambition in his disciple’s eyes and heart,

Duan Chenzhou held up a hand to calm him.

"Disciple, I know you’re eager, but... don’t get ahead of yourself."

"Didn’t you once say you wanted to learn my Vein Secret Martial Art?"

’The Celestial Blade Secret Martial Art!’

’The Crescent Celestial Saber?’

Ji Xiu’s eyes lit up at his words. Though he was excited, the temptation of becoming a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster—now possible after obtaining Ye Longxiang’s Head—was far greater than that of learning a Secret Martial Dao.

But for someone who possessed the Primordial Daoist Talisman, there was no such thing as too many skills.

So, he immediately asked:

"Master, you mean... you’re going to teach me our school’s Secret Martial Dao?"

In response, Duan Chenzhou gazed out at the dozens of islands of varying sizes that surrounded Jiangyin Prefecture—the homes of various Schools. His eyes settled on the one in the very center, which sat like the moon surrounded by a sea of stars.

"Your Ancestral Master, Wang Xuanyang, once drafted a Secret Martial Art called the Crescent Celestial Saber."

"But,"

"Kid."

"Do you know what lies beyond the Secret Martial Dao?"

’Beyond the Secret Martial Dao?’

Ji Xiu’s heart suddenly leaped into his throat, and his breath hitched.

Entering Force Martial Arts are the gateway for a Martial Artist.