Chapter 2167 - 2164: Meridian Map?

Chapter 2167: Chapter 2164: Meridian Map?

"Senior Zhuge, I have a question. You both like to compare against each other. Aren’t you afraid Senior Ling might learn the Refining Technique first?" Lin Tian was a bit puzzled seeing Zhuge Cai Zhe so at ease.

Zhuge Cai Zhe laughed, quite openly: "Old Man Ling will definitely learn it before I do."

"Oh, this is the first time I’ve heard you praise each other like this, Senior." Lin Tian was very surprised; he thought Old Man Zhuge would have countered Old Man Ling as usual.

"We are used to it; a day without some bickering feels dull. In fact, both Old Man Ling and I are treading different paths in pursuit of our own ultimate goal. The paths are different, but the final Dao is the same."

"But it’s a pity that we seem to sense a deep malice from the heavens towards cultivators, as if there’s an invisible shackle that confines practitioners to Innate Perfection."

"Old Man Ling and I have tried various methods but still cannot penetrate that barrier." Zhuge Cai Zhe sighed with emotion.

Heavens’ malice? Lin Tian was puzzled. As he was not an Ancient Martial practitioner, he couldn’t understand this notion. Or perhaps, as a zombie beyond the Five Elements and the Six Paths, his power was unrestricted, so he never felt this constraint.

Lin Tian was curious why Ancient Martial Artists couldn’t break through Innate Perfection.

"I heard from Aunt Wang and Aunt Ling that there might’ve been someone in the Ancient Hidden Stream who broke through the shackles of Innate Perfection. Why don’t you seek answers in that direction?" Remembering Ling Zishan’s words, Lin Tian couldn’t help but ask.

"Heh..." Zhuge Cai Zhe showed a helpless smile and shook his head, saying, "Even if someone from the Ancient Hidden Stream has broken through, we couldn’t find them because we don’t even know where their sect is. And more importantly, to maintain their transcendental status, the Ancient Hidden Stream wouldn’t tell us their breakthrough method even if they found one."

Lin Tian felt relieved, realizing what Zhuge Cai Zhe said could be true. But this couldn’t be blamed on the Ancient Hidden Stream because if any family mastered the breakthrough method, it wouldn’t share it with others.

The Ling Family, the Yuwen Family, the Wang Family, or the Qingshuang Pavilion would do the same, let alone the Situ family.

Between sects and families, even cultivation techniques cannot be shared, let alone the method to break through Innate Perfection. This is reality, and reality is often harsh.

"Senior Zhuge, I’ll head back to my room first." Lin Tian didn’t ask any more questions and politely retreated to his room.

Back in his room, Lin Tian didn’t start his nightly cultivation immediately, as Zhuge Cai Zhe’s words stirred quite a wave in his heart.

The Miss is also an Ancient Martial Artist. With her talent, achieving Innate Perfection is very likely, but she will eventually face the same problem as Ling Xuesong.

If she fails to break through the shackles of Innate Perfection, she would ultimately be like an ordinary person, facing death eventually. After passing into the Huangquan, drinking the Mengpo Soup, and entering reincarnation, although her soul remains, she would no longer be the Miss she was.

"Master, if that time truly comes, would you turn her into an immortal zombie?" the Sword Spirit curiously asked.

"I don’t know. Perhaps once she knows I’m a zombie, she would immediately sever ties with me, and we couldn’t even be friends anymore." Lin Tian said indifferently, looking at the cold moon outside, his gaze flickering like smoke clouds.

"Thinking too much is useless, what’s more important is the present." Lin Tian withdrew his gaze and returned to his usual carefreeness.

Lin Tian stretched out his hand, a Crescent Blade appeared in his palm. As he moved his hand away, something miraculous happened—the Crescent Blade floated mid-air, without falling.

"Simple control is no problem for me, but I can’t form combat strength. Such Sword Control Technique is indeed far from sufficient." Lin Tian frowned slightly, recalling Old Man Ling’s words: "Little Ya, you are most sensitive to energy and a Sword Spirit of the Heavenly Tribulation Sword; why can’t you control the sword either?"

"What’s so hard to understand? Though I, Your Excellency, am a Sword Spirit with human consciousness, my spiritual power is far weaker than human cultivators. Also, my true form isn’t strong; controlling a leap is doable, but flying through the air would be difficult for me." The Sword Spirit said matter-of-factly.

It seemed that using the Sword Spirit for Sword Control is also not feasible, Lin Tian shook his head.

"Master, do you remember, in the Netherworld Blood Sea City fortress, when you fought the evil spirits, you controlled the Crescent Blade in mid-air, with it covered in violet flames, forming some combat strength; I’m considering, Old Man Ling’s words might have truth in them."

"But to instantly control the surrounding fire attribute energy, Master surely couldn’t achieve that. Why not first learn like Tang Xuan Su, using your own energy to control the sword? Though less powerful, it at least provides some combat strength."

"Then over time, you might truly reach Old Man Ling’s level." The Sword Spirit explained seriously for once.

Surprisingly, after hearing all that, Lin Tian felt a lot clearer. Previously, when the fire element hadn’t advanced, relying on it to control a flying sword was unrealistic.

But after the trip to the Netherworld where the fire element advanced, control over fire improved significantly, making it worth trying to control a flying sword; this theory aligns with Ling Xuesong’s thinking.

Moreover, Lin Tian thought even deeper. When he was with the Xu Family, Ancestor Xu used the so-called "Domain," is Nu Ba’s "Crimson Land for a Thousand Miles" an even more advanced domain?

Of course, with Lin Tian’s current power, he could perform moves similar to "Crimson Land for a Thousand Miles," but they hardly reached a "thousand miles," and the power was undoubtedly far from enough.

Lin Tian refocused on something even more important, taking out a piece of beast hide from his pocket; it was the leather Fatty Huang used to wrap the "Deep Sea Cold Iron."

Lin Tian had acquired this piece of leather in the morning, but he was either troubled by Situ Ruoling or accompanying beauties or discussing with the two old men, leaving no time to examine it.

Now at night, with no one around, it’s the perfect opportunity to verify.

"Master, it seems you’ve struck it rich." The Sword Spirit was somewhat excited too.

"You can sense it?" Lin Tian asked curiously.

"Nope." The Sword Spirit answered straightforwardly.

Lin Tian naturally gave it a disdainful glance before taking out the previous piece of beast hide from his backpack. Under the moonlight, he laid the two pieces of hide neatly side by side and waited quietly.

A few seconds passed, and the hides suddenly glowed red. Seeing these lights, Lin Tian’s hanging heart finally settled, and he got excited.

Only hides belonging together show such anomalies. As expected, once the red light dissipated, the two hides merged into one, with no trace visible at the junction.

Meanwhile, the newly joined portion slowly revealed patterns; as all patterns became visible, Lin Tian was taken aback, as there was only one large diagram, a humanoid outline.

Within the humanoid outline, many lines were drawn, like human meridians, but after carefully comparing it to a human meridian chart, none matched up.