White-Robed Chief

Upon entering the void in his mind, he saw an enormous Buddha and a huge Heavenly Demon standing with their backs facing each other while a large round mirror stood between them.

The round mirror was as tall as them and looked dazzling and spotless. Its reflection contained the most minute details and it completely separated the Buddha and the Heavenly Demon.

This enormous Buddha had one body with two faces that made him seem odd and harmonious at the same time. One of the faces looked peaceful while the other had a calm expression, and they were chanting the Great Light Scripture and Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture respectively.

The words from each scripture transformed into white and golden lotuses that drifted out of their mouths and floated around in the air before slowly descending upon the Buddha and toughening his body.

In the meantime, as the Heavenly Demon chanted without stopping the Heavenly Demon Scripture, the scriptural words turned into flaming dark gold lotuses that kept falling gently on the Heavenly Demon to toughen his body as well.

With the large round mirror as their boundary, the Heavenly Demon and the Buddha were no longer attacking each other. Rather, it seemed like it was daytime on one side and nighttime on the other.

He was overjoyed to see this because in this case, his advancement in the Heavenly Demonic Power would also be enhanced.

Gradually, he came to a realization. Now, it made sense why he had felt that he was far away from reaching the next level of his Heavenly Demonic Power and that it was almost impossible to achieve. It was because he had deviated from the essence of cultivation. The basis of the Heavenly Demonic Power was still the Heavenly Demon Scripture, so focusing solely on increasing his inner energy was not the right way to go.

When he entered a meditative state once more, he managed to achieve a deeper level of Zen. It felt as though he had entered a state of ultimate stillness in Heaven and Earth. His mind became a world of its own as it was separated into three parts, which consisted of light, immobility, and darkness.

A sudden inspiration occurred to him and he began to visualize the Concentration Talisman in his mind. With that, runes began to appear in his mind’s void.

At the start of it, his visualization attempts failed as the runes kept fading away as soon as they started to take form.

Nonetheless, he remained calm and patient as he tried to visualize them over and over again. He did not mind failing and focused only on his visualization time after time.

After having cultivated these three scriptures, he noticed a growth in his intelligence and sensibility toward the world.

Whatever the matter might be, as long as he gave it a little thought, he would be able to clearly see the truth behind it as well as its underlying principles and reasons. It was as if the truth was just sitting there and waiting to be discovered by him.

He did not know how much time had passed but at some point, after what felt like both a fleeting moment and an eternity, the runes no longer faded away as before when they appeared in his mind.

After the runes had taken form, delicate golden strands soon appeared in his mind’s void as though they had emanated from his mind. As these golden strands descended upon the heads of the two Buddhas and the Heavenly Demon, their chanting speed increased and the lotuses they produced became bigger and fuller.

Time flew by again without his realization.

Suddenly, he felt his spirit rise, and as the Buddha’s body solidified, the body felt as if it was of his own flesh and blood.

It was as though he was the Buddha and the Buddha was him, and they could no longer be distinguished from one another. This Buddha in his mind had taken on a concrete form and was not an object of visualization any more.

As his eyes slowly fluttered open, he involuntarily opened his mouth and let out a long howl.

His howl started off low and restrained but eventually spread out like the slow and endless rolling waves on the beach.

As his howl grew louder, clearer and more resounding, the clouds in the sky stopped drifting away, as though they had been frozen in place. Meanwhile, the cloudy mists that shrouded the mountain top seemed to have hidden out of fear of his howl.

Beside him, Li Ruolan was staring at him with wide eyes of disbelief.

As he continued to howl, his voice echoed through the entire Small Light Peak and scared off many birds and animals, causing the place to be filled with noise.

When Chu Li shut his mouth, there was an inexplicable sense of satisfaction in his heart that allowed him to feel entirely free from worry. The world seemed different in his eyes now. It was as if Heaven and Earth had come alive.

Soon, he recovered and resumed the identity of Zhao Dahe.

“Miss Ruolan, how long has it been?” he asked with a grin.

Li Ruolan was sitting next to him. Given that the stone bed was only two meters long, they were currently sitting very close to each other. Therefore, he could smell the faint fragrance of her perfume from time to time and see how fair and exquisite Li Ruolan’s charming face was.

“One month,” Li Ruolan replied.

Chu Li raised his eyebrows. “It’s been so long?”

“Congratulations,” Li Ruolan said after breathing a sigh. “How do you feel?”

“My body feels light as a feather. I feel like the wind can blow me away.” Chu Li laughed and got off the stone bed. Then, as he tried to jump lightly, he shot up and hit his head against the ceiling with a loud thud.

An uncontrollable burst of boundless force had surged out from the soles of his feet during that light leap, thus sending him flying to the ceiling.

“Ouch.” He landed while clutching his head.

Li Ruolan pursed her lips into a smile and said, “Congratulations. You’ve successfully cultivated the Divine Light Body and entered the Grandmaster’s Boundary!”

“I’ve achieved the Grandmaster’s Boundary just like that?” Chu Li seemed shocked.

Li Ruolan nodded.

She also found it unbelievable but the truth was right before her eyes. He had never cultivated any advanced heart technique relating to inner energy and yet had managed to release a howl that had resounded through Small Light Peak. Thus, this was a good enough indication that he had entered into the Grandmaster’s Boundary.

“This is way too easy!” Chu Li laughed.

Li Ruolan scoffed and replied, “You better not tell that to anyone else.”

“Am I advancing very fast in my cultivation?” Chu Li asked, proud of himself.

He had completely transformed into Zhao Dahe once again and hidden away his original personality as Chu Li.

“Very fast.” Li Ruolan nodded. “So don’t go around telling people this in case anyone tries to secretly kill you out of envy.”

“They want to kill me? Humph, bring it on then. Let’s see who wins in the end!” Chu Li said scornfully.

Li Ruolan replied, “It may be easy to guard against an open enemy, but it’s hard to guard against a false friend. No matter how strong you are, you still stand alone. I’m going to inform the Saint.”

After she had finished speaking, she glided away.

Chu Li watched happily as her graceful figure vanished before taking a deep breath. A triumphant sense of power pervaded his entire body, and it felt just like when he was circulating the Heavenly Demonic Power. In fact, he felt much greater than that, because he not only had extraordinary strength but also felt light as a feather.

Meanwhile, his mind was clear, and his Omniscient Mirror had been enhanced again. He could now observe everything within his ten-mile radius.

He walked out of the cottage and came to the flower garden outside the cottage.

As he stood in the wind, his white clothing fluttered about.

The strong wind felt like a lover’s caress as it blew at him. He could not tell whether his senses had become slow or the strong wind had really become so gentle.

Fifteen minutes later, the Saint appeared in a flash before Chu Li.

Chu Li gave a fist salute. “My Saint.”

The Saint sized him up and reached out to feel his wrist.

Chu Li felt a strand of refreshing yet scorching force seeping into his body. Then, this strand of force suddenly turned into a cluster of fine filaments that rapidly spread out all over his body like a fishing net being dragged through an ocean.

Chu Li felt secretly amazed at how utterly remarkable this skill was.

The Saint let go of his hand and nodded. “You have indeed achieved the Grandmaster’s Boundary.”

A smile appeared on Chu Li’s face.

“Next, you’ll have to start cultivating our heart technique and martial arts.” The Saint observed him closely. “This will depend on your level of comprehension.”

Chu Li thumped his chest. “Don’t worry, my Saint. I’ll certainly cultivate them well.”

“Mmm, would you like to learn knife techniques or swordsmanship?” the Saint asked.

Chu Li replied, “Knife techniques. Knife techniques seem more enjoyable.”

The Saint nodded and said, “Knife techniques are indeed more enjoyable, but they’re slightly less powerful compared to swordsmanship.”

Chu Li widened his eyes. “Knife techniques are inferior to swordsmanship?”

The Saint explained, “Now that you’ve cultivated the Divine Light Body, you’ll be able to move faster than most people. Swordsmanship can reflect this increase in speed while knife techniques can’t reflect it fully.”

“What does my Saint think I should learn then?” Chu Li asked.

“Swordsmanship,” the Saint replied.

Chu Li quickly nodded. “I’ll listen to my Saint then.”

“However, swordsmanship requires a high comprehension level and a long cultivation period,” the Saint said. “It may take you a year to cultivate swordsmanship while learning knife techniques may only take you a month.”

Chu Li scratched his head and gave it some thought. “I’d still choose swordsmanship!”

“Good.” The Saint nodded in approval.

Such a temperament was suitable for the path of martial arts cultivation. It would be very difficult for a person who was greedy for merit and always looking for shortcuts to achieve a high martial arts cultivation level.