Chapter 303 - 288: The Mystery Within the Half-Blade Tip

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Relying on his Tornado Body Technique, Zhaang Ye left Jiang Pingchuan far behind, a surge of exhilaration rising in his heart. His earlier taunts had been incredibly sharp, but since Jiang Pingchuan had targeted him first, Zhaang Ye couldn’t be blamed for dishing out some harsh words in return.

After speeding back to Python City, Zhaang Ye went into seclusion once more and began to improve his talent.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—

The pure True Qi in Zhaang Ye’s body circulated frantically, pushing the medicinal power of the Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill to its limit. The pill’s power could penetrate directly to the bone marrow, expelling impurities from a Martial Artist’s body and improving their talent. As Zhaang Ye circulated his True Qi, the medicinal power quickly seeped into his marrow, and a wave of excruciating pain wracked his body from the inside out.

To maximize the Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill’s medicinal power, one had to endure this agonizing pain; otherwise, its effects would be greatly diminished. Zhaang Ye had used a Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill once before, so he naturally understood this. Ignoring the pain completely, he focused only on circulating his True Qi to purge the impurities from his body.

As the purging power of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill took effect, trickles of fresh blood began to seep from Zhaang Ye’s skin. More and more blood oozed out, slowly turning a dark, blackish color until, finally, his entire body was covered in a layer of grimy, dark blood.

The purging process continued for seven days. After finally consuming the last Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill, Zhaang Ye completed the refinement. When he awoke from his meditative state, he felt that his body had become exceptionally sensitive. Wisps of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi from the void seeped into him, and he felt a much deeper connection to the world.

"Excellent!" Zhaang Ye laughed heartily and rose to his feet.

In those seven days, Zhaang Ye had relied on his pure True Qi to push the medicinal power of seven Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills to its absolute limit, forcibly raising his talent by two grades to become a Third-Grade Talent. Although Third-Grade Talent was still a long way from First-Grade, for Zhaang Ye, this was a massive leap forward.

Leaving the secret chamber, Zhaang Ye ordered a servant to bring several large buckets of water. As he slowly washed the filth from his body, he felt a sense of lightness and ease spread through him, an almost transcendent, otherworldly sensation.

’My talent has finally reached the Third Grade, which is considered high-grade. Next, I need to further improve my Saber Technique and raise my Cultivation to the Martial Arts Ninth Layer!’ Zhaang Ye thought, returning to the secret chamber and silently planning his next steps.

Advancing from the Martial Arts Eighth Layer to the Martial Arts Ninth Layer was an exceptionally difficult task. Out of a thousand masters at the Eighth Layer, there might not be even one who could break through. Cyan Mulberry, for instance, had dozens of Eighth Layer masters, but not a single one had reached the Martial Arts Ninth Layer. The Patriarch of the Cyan Mulberry Zhang Family had been cultivating arduously under the Pseudo Spirit Tree for ages, yet he too had been unable to comprehend the mysteries of Spiritual Power and break through.

However, Zhaang Ye had already comprehended the mysteries of Spiritual Power, so breaking through to the Martial Arts Ninth Layer was just a matter of time and didn’t require much extra effort. What Zhaang Ye was considering now was how to improve his Mountain-Breaking Slash again and unleash even greater power with it.

’I’ve already cultivated Mountain-Breaking Slash to the Great Success Realm. To increase its power further, the only way is to elevate its Realm. Mountain-Breaking Slash was comprehended from a Space Storm. If I can just infuse it with thirty or forty percent of a Space Storm’s Realm, I won’t have to worry even when facing a Top-Grade Combat Skill. But the problem is, this concept of a Realm is profoundly mysterious. How can I possibly elevate it?’ Zhaang Ye wondered, racking his brain.

After a moment of thought, an idea suddenly struck Zhaang Ye. He quickly opened a box and took out the blade tip from within.

This was the very same broken blade tip Zhaang Ye had unexpectedly obtained back in Three Rivers Town. He had been pursued by the Zhou Family’s masters and nearly lost his life over it. However, fortune and misfortune are always intertwined. It was precisely because he was being pursued that he’d risked entering the outer forests of the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range, where he had befriended a Mammoth and obtained a few wisps of Ancient Elephant Power.

’Only someone with Spiritual Power can probe the mysteries of this broken blade tip. Before, I didn’t have Spiritual Power, so even though I carried it with me, I couldn’t comprehend anything from it. Now that I have Spiritual Power, I’m going to see just what secrets this blade tip holds!’ With this thought, Zhaang Ye slowly sent his Spiritual Power probing into the blade tip.

"BOOM!"

The moment Zhaang Ye’s Spiritual Power entered the blade tip, he felt his soul tremble violently as a vast, empty void suddenly appeared before his eyes.

The void was a murky gray, exuding an incredibly oppressive feeling. Beneath this void, Zhaang Ye clearly saw countless mountain ranges collapsing, countless rivers running dry. Even a lake stretching for hundreds of thousands of miles was rapidly evaporating before his very eyes.

Before Zhaang Ye could comprehend what was happening, a fist suddenly appeared in front of him, hurtling right toward him!

Although the fist was only the size of a bowl, in Zhaang Ye’s eyes, it was infinitely large—large enough to fill the heavens and the earth. Wherever it passed, black cracks were torn into the void, which seemed to groan as if it might shatter at any moment.

The moment the fist appeared, Zhaang Ye was overwhelmed by a feeling of utter terror. He wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. He wanted to move, to dodge, but his body was completely frozen. He couldn’t even close his eyes. All he could do was watch, paralyzed, as the fist came crashing down!

The world-filling fist drew closer and closer. Every pore, every hair, every fingernail, and every knuckle on it radiated a world-destroying killing intent. Zhaang Ye had no doubt that such a terrifying punch could shatter a mountain and sunder the very earth. A single hair from that fist would be enough to obliterate him millions of times over!

Just when Zhaang Ye thought his death was certain, he saw a blade.

The moment this blade appeared, it sliced through the murky void. It carried a profoundly mysterious Realm, flickering in and out of sight as it flew. When it first appeared, it was thousands of miles away, but in the blink of an eye, it tore through layer after layer of space to arrive and meet the fist head-on.

The fist and the blade collided, and the entire void shuddered.

In the instant of their collision, Zhaang Ye clearly saw the blade’s tip snap off, flying into the depths of the void and vanishing. Meanwhile, enormous cracks appeared in the space surrounding the fist and the blade. These cracks grew larger and larger, and an indescribable black storm began to pour out, devouring the entire void.

’A Space Storm! It’s a Space Storm!’ The thought had barely formed in Zhaang Ye’s mind when the terrifying black storm swept over and instantly engulfed him...

Back in the secret chamber, Zhaang Ye’s body suddenly convulsed, and he coughed up four mouthfuls of blood. Opening his eyes, he wordlessly swallowed a Top-grade Calming God Pill and began to quietly nourish his Heart Spirit.

「Three days later.」

Zhaang Ye opened his eyes again. Looking down at the blade tip lying in his hand, a flicker of lingering fear crossed his face. He smiled wryly and said, "So, this blade tip doesn’t contain some Secret Skill from Ancient Times after all; it records a world-shaking battle. Both combatants possessed unbelievable power. A single one of their strikes could shatter the void, summon a Space Storm, and destroy the world. Fortunately, my Soul Power is relatively strong, and I had Top-grade Calming God Pills on hand. Otherwise, after witnessing that battle, I would’ve been reduced to a drooling idiot!"

Zhaang Ye’s Spiritual Power had witnessed a world-shaking battle inside the blade tip. Although this battle had taken place only in his spiritual world, it had inflicted enormous trauma on him. After witnessing the world-shaking battle, his soul was immediately and severely wounded. As a consequence, his physical body was also grievously injured, and the True Qi within him was thrown into chaos.

Fortunately, Zhaang Ye had plenty of Top-grade Calming God Pills on hand. With the help of their medicinal power, he managed to significantly heal the wounds to his soul and slowly calm the True Qi in his body, allowing it to return to normal. The crisis had passed, but it would still take Zhaang Ye a long time to make a full recovery.

Although both his soul and body were seriously injured, a glint of excitement flashed in Zhaang Ye’s eyes. The blade strike he had just witnessed in his spiritual world contained infinite mysteries. If he could comprehend even a sliver of that strike, which had crossed thousands of miles in an instant, his Saber Technique would improve tenfold, even a hundredfold!

And that fist, which filled the heavens and the earth, contained the profound mysteries of creation itself. It had shattered the infinite void and even broken that terrifying blade. If Zhaang Ye could comprehend just a fraction of the mysteries within that punch, he could create a world-shaking Fist Technique of his own, one that would allow him to unleash his full power!

Gently stroking the blade tip in his hand, Zhaang Ye’s mind replayed the image of the world-filling fist and the space-tearing blade. The more he thought about it, the more he sensed the infinite mysteries they held. He murmured, "This broken piece in my hand must be the tip of that Broken Blade! I have no idea how, but it actually recorded that great battle! Heh, getting injured was completely worth it. For the remaining ten months, I’m going to focus all my efforts on comprehending the mysteries of that blade strike and take my Mountain-Breaking Slash to the next level!"

Zhaang Ye had known from ancient texts and various legends that the Cultivators of Ancient Times were terrifying. But now, having personally witnessed this world-shaking battle, he finally understood that they were far more terrifying than he had ever imagined. After seeing this battle with his own eyes, not only were his horizons broadened, but the heart of a true expert was also slowly beginning to form within him... (To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please consider supporting it with Recommendation Tickets and monthly passes on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)