Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 88: Chapter 86: Obtaining the Secret Technique

He positioned himself exactly like the mural; his posture was absolutely more precise than anyone else’s.

With Super Sensing Illumination, he meticulously compared his posture with the mural, refining details to achieve exact resemblance.

If he were practicing image by image, progressing through the nine realms, keeping such a posture for long would eventually show some changes.

Ordinary people can’t sense such changes, but they would be evident to his super sense.

Since the super sense detected no change, it indicated incorrect practice.

Thus, he decided to try a different training method.

He stood up and struck the first pose, switched to the second form after one breath, then the third, followed by the fourth form.

In one breath, he practiced up to the ninth form, then started from the first form again in a continuous loop.

After three rounds, he felt a cool sensation in his Ren Meridian and smiled.

Finally, he had discovered the method to practice!

A wisp of cool sensation drifted through his Ren Meridian, clearing his throat and calming his heart, as if all worldly worries had vanished.

This cool sensation was very distinct from the aura of the Great Purple Sun Technique, clearly existing in the Ren Meridian but seemingly in two separate meridians.

He initially deduced: the nine-form cycle, drawing moonlight into the body, was the method of the Qionghua Nine Chapters.

This cool sensation differed from True Qi and Gang Qi, being pure and clear, between the two in nature.

Pure like Gang Qi, yet far less domineering and aggressive, softer like True Qi.

Chu Zhiyuan stood under the moon, slowly contemplating.

The moonlight bathed the courtyard.

His handsome face resembled mutton fat jade.

His eyes, deep in thought, twinkled like cold stars.

This aura was much stronger than the Small Purple Sun Method; could it be a more powerful entry-level mental method?

But the Small Purple Sun Method was the peak entry-level mental method in the world; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been chosen as the fundamental martial arts of the Da Jing Royal Family.

Yet, the pure aura absorbed by the Qionghua Nine Chapters was indeed superior to that of the Small Purple Sun Method.

However, the level of a mental method can’t be determined purely by the aura’s purity; there are other factors, such as entry difficulty and upper limits.

The Small Purple Sun Method is the entry level of the Purple Sun Scripture, with paths leading to the Great Purple Sun Technique and Purple Sun Scripture, culminating in Grandmaster Perfection.

Practicing the Purple Sun Scripture can lead to the perfection of spirit, making it easier to achieve Great Grandmaster status.

Therefore, while the power of the Small Purple Sun Method might be less than that of the Qionghua Nine Chapters, its potential is far greater.

He soon came out of his thoughts and resumed practicing under the moonlight, generating strands of clear aura until the meridians could absorb no more.

This was the limit reached.

He found it odd—was there only a way to absorb moonlight, not transform it?

Thus, it was only half a cultivation technique.

Then, inspiration hit him, and he began with the ninth image, followed by the eighth, seventh, down to the first image.

As the order changed, the clear aura filling the Ren Meridian began circulating within his body, becoming increasingly pure.

It transformed from spring water to ice water, three times as pure.

Eventually, it converged in the Dantian.

In the Dantian, misty purple energy formed a whirlpool like a nebula.

As the icy aura entered, it was like a drop of water falling into a boiling oil pot.

The Dantian trembled instantly.

A phrase surfaced in his mind: Water and fire are incompatible!

He drew his sword and thrust forward, his figure flickering.

The Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique and Near and Far Steps rapidly consumed True Qi, quickly draining the misty purple energy in the Dantian.

Without the misty purple energy, only the cold aura remained, restoring tranquility in the Dantian, with the vortex formed by the cold aura slowly rotating.

The Qingying Sword slowly returned to its sheath.

He exhaled a long breath, standing under the moonlight in thought.

The aura from the upright diagram and the Great Purple Sun Technique were like separate well waters, while the aura from the Reverse Nine Diagram was incompatible with the Great Purple Sun Technique.

The two could not be practiced together.

He leaped onto the artificial hill and picked up the two Flying Knives and the Heavenly Hidden Pendant.

The cold aura in the Dantian, like bees drawn to fragrance, rushed out and flowed into the Flying Knives without his urging.

Chu Zhiyuan placed the Heavenly Hidden Pendant down, holding a Flying Knife in each hand.

As the cold aura poured in, the knives rapidly transformed.

One began to turn black, the other white.

When the chill within him vanished completely, one knife was half-black, the other half-white.

Chu Zhiyuan activated the Earth Origin Technique.

The Earth Origin Technique, like a water pump, extracted Primordial Energy from the earth, transforming it into cold energy which was continuously infused into the two knives.

He smiled at the corners of his mouth.

Truly worthy of the Earth Origin Technique!

He had always underestimated the Earth Origin Technique, yet it was so wondrous!

With the True Qi seed from the Qionghua Nine Chapters in the Dantian, the Earth Origin Technique could draw this True Qi from the earth; it was truly marvelous.

Continued cold aura made one knife jet-black as ink, the other pure white as snow.

As the color of the two knives changed, their weight also lightened, like holding two feathers, seemingly capable of being blown away by the wind with a release.

The black knife and white knife, like Black and White Impermanence, stirred a nameless killing intent in him, making him eager to kill.

Under super sense, the two knives emitted an invisible aura, influencing his emotions.

Simultaneously, he faintly sensed a thread of attraction.

An extremely weak thread of attraction.

Like two poles of a magnet, though separated, the attraction was faint and hard to detect, but it couldn’t escape the super sense.

He suddenly realized, gently merging the two knives together.

Tip to tip, handle to handle, seamlessly aligned, without the slightest difference.

"Ding..." A gentle sound of a jade plate suddenly rang near his ear.

An epiphany struck him.

A mnemonic appeared instantly in his mind—a Heart Inquiry Saber Skill.

Looking down, the black and white knives had vanished.

Vanished into thin air.

They had become invisible.

They merged into the void, and without holding them, their existence would be undetectable.

He lightly swung them, the blades felt agile and fluid, like an extension of his fingers, perfectly integrated with him.

Naturally, he felt they could strike wherever he pointed.

Though the knives were invisible, they couldn’t escape super sense.

Under super sense, they clearly shimmered with a peculiar aura, which fused them with the void.

He flicked his wrist.

"Bang!" A small stone shattered at the base of a distant wall.

A transparent flying knife appeared nearby, like a slice of ice.

Chu Zhiyuan flashed over, picked up the transparent flying knife, split it lightly into two knives.

The knives reverted to their original form, as thin as cicada wings, like carved from white jade, seeming unsharpened.

Chu Zhiyuan exhausted the aura of the Qionghua Nine Chapters, then activated the Great Purple Sun Technique, using it to perform the Heart Inquiry Saber Skill.

Under the peculiar aura, both Heart Inquiry Blades became invisible.

He couldn’t help but smile.

The Qionghua Nine Chapters was merely a prelude, leading to the Heart Inquiry Saber Skill, while to wield the Heart Inquiry Blade, the Qionghua Nine Chapters wasn’t necessary.

So, what was the relationship between the Qionghua Nine Chapters and the Heart Inquiry Blade?

Could it be that the Heart Inquiry Blade also originated from Yao Yue Palace?

His gaze shifted to the Heavenly Hidden Pendant, what about this piece of jade then?

He tried afterwards.

Unfortunately, the Heavenly Hidden Pendant remained motionless, seemingly thoroughly defunct.

Chu Zhiyuan put them away, beginning to toy with the Heart Inquiry Blades.

He finally understood the origin of the name Heart Inquiry Blade.

Similar to the Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique, it channeled the spirit into a single strike.

If he didn’t kill the enemy, he himself would die.

The enemy’s life or death, his life or death, all lay in that one blade strike.

Whether to live or die required querying one’s heart first.

Otherwise, once the blade was struck, regret would be too late.

The power of this blade lay in wielding it with divine power, augmented by spiritual power, allowing it to break Gang Qi.

Using this blade wore on the soul, hindering the ascent to Great Grandmaster status.

However, it didn’t matter to him, with the Heavenly Yuan Technique at hand, capable of replenishing spiritual depletion anytime.

The blade could break Gang Qi, equivalent to a Breaking Gang Divine Weapon.

Such Breaking Gang Divine Weapons were scarce.

At least worth the merit of the Fifth Grade!

This Cheng Tianfeng had truly an abundance of excellent items, though it was a pity the jade pendant was ruined, with no immediate way of restoration.

He held both Heart Inquiry Blades, sitting back down to appreciate them.

After an hour, he began absorbing the Flying Dragon Bone, continuing until dawn.

Intimidated by the killing intent of that gaunt elderly man, his cultivation efforts intensified.