Chapter 273: Chapter 189: Speculation on the Birth of Relics, Seclusion to Break Through_2
"Anything’s fine. But I actually had a small favor to ask of you, Martial Saint Wang,"
Jiang Shu smiled, not really caring about the spoils inside the ruins.
*That fighter aircraft, at most, would raise the technology level of Freedom Country’s manufacturing. Even if there were cultivation materials here, just how much could there be?*
*Would any of it really help me?*
*Now, with the ’Crystal Meditation Method’ in my grasp, just cultivating that technique to break the limit would get me into the Fetal Breathing stage.*
*If it wasn’t from the Alpha-level Heaven and Earth Secret Realm ruins, I probably wouldn’t even look at it twice.*
"But go ahead and say it,"
Wang Yan waved his hand, and the six Great Grandmasters, who had slaughtered all the Fourth Rank Genetic War Generals, walked over. Near the aircraft, they each began to search for treasures that hadn’t yet come to light.
The birth of a ruin was like an earthquake shaking ancient tombs to the surface.
*What comes out might only be a tiny fraction.*
*Most of it was still hidden deeper inside.*
*It would take huge amounts of time and manpower to keep excavating.*
*That’s why, whether it was Freedom Country or Xia Country, they didn’t just send their top fighting forces—there was more to it than that.*
"The environment here is perfect for cultivation. I’m going to train here for a while. As for word about me, could you please pass it on to my parents, Martial Saint Wang? If Xia Country ever has need of me, you can send a Great Grandmaster to find me here,"
At this, Jiang Shu paused, then continued, "Gang Force and Energy Force are both part of the Hua Force system. I believe my talent is good enough that I’ll hit no bottlenecks. But trying to go from Gang Force to breaking through the void, to reach ’see the spirit unbroken under the gods’—that step may be harder than I imagined,"
"Battle has always been the best path to breakthrough,"
"So, the favor I wanted to ask was: if there’s another stable Alpha-level Heaven and Earth Secret Realm passage in Xia Country, I ask that the military show some restraint—don’t just blow up all the Sixth Rank Mutant Beasts with missiles,"
"I still want to get in there myself and really fight them head-on,"
Jiang Shu’s words came out casual, as if he were joking.
*But the Great Grandmasters up ahead all paused in shock.*
*Even Wang Yan spaced out for a split second.*
*The more years I cultivated, the more I saw how unbridgeable these realm gaps were.*
*Bright Force and Dark Force—you could bridge those through skill, fighting above your rank.*
*But when it came to Gang Force versus Sixth Rank Mutant Beasts—*
*—that gap outclassed even the difference between a Fourth Rank Genetic War General and myself.*
"Actually... you could probably just wait for the Fetal Breathing Technique, it should arrive soon,"
Wang Yan hesitated a moment before deciding to speak. Even if Jiang Shu didn’t join Xia Country, even if the higher-ups objected, he’d still argue for it—how could a Martial Arts genius be allowed to take such risks?
*If he fell in the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm just for a breakthrough...*
*It would be Xia Country’s loss.*
*A loss for Martial Arts itself.*
"Everyone walks their own martial path,"
Jiang Shu shook his head.
*Waiting for Xia Country to hand over the Fetal Breathing Technique still wouldn’t be faster than grinding ’Crystal Meditation Method’ to break the limit.*
*But either way, it’d cost him a ton of time.*
*And right now, all he wanted was to raise his strength as fast as possible.*
*Fight Sixth Rank Mutant Beasts with Acupoint Passage Realm power,*
*Get the Thunder Eagle Essence Blood,*
*Master the Ancient Forbidden Technique—Thunder Peng Netherworld Wings,*
*Return to the Da Jing Dynasty!*
*Enter Qianyuan City, get on the Dragon Tiger List!*
*Break the realm in a single leap and get ready for the Grand War of the Hundred Kingdoms.*
*That was the road he truly wanted.*
"Everyone has their own path in Martial Arts..."
As a Martial Saint, Wang Yan naturally knew even more about Jiang Shu’s life.
*If, back when he was in Bright Force, his duel with Shang Jibei on the brink of breaking through counted as fighting above his weight class, then—*
*—The battle at Westlake with Shang Siguo was still just a clash at the same level.*
*But in the battle at Fusang, taking down the Fusang Sword God while only at Hua Force—now that could definitely be called an epic cross-realm battle that’d go down in martial history.*
*Ever since Jiang Shu started learning Martial Arts, he’d been battling, one right after another, never stopping.*
*In contrast—*
*Even with my iron-clad mental discipline, I suddenly felt lost. Ever since I’d come onto the scene, I’d barely fought anyone, and when I did, it was always at the same level. Once I found my future path, I plunged entirely into Spiritual Cultivation, never imagining I could break through via combat.*
*Maybe that’s why it took me nearly a hundred years to reach Gang Force.*
*And Jiang Shu only needed all of three years.*
*It’s temperament, not talent.*
Wang Yan lapsed into silence, finally nodding and leaving just one sentence,
"All right."
...
Working alongside Wang Yan and the others, they dug around the ruins a bit more.
Jiang Shu watched them leave, then wandered through the Beta-level Heaven and Earth Secret Realm alone, looking for the perfect cultivation spot.
*It was probably due to the stabilized passage—he could feel the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi here was flowing outward now.*
*Mutant Beasts were showing up less and less as well.*
At the center,
Jiang Shu fought a Fifth Rank Mutant Beast. The void trembled, formless Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi shot in from all sides, and the Primordial Power in his body surged madly.
Blood-soaked battle!
The air boomed apart, the ground cracked open like a string of mini-quakes.
On the twenty-eighth round, four treasure sabers pierced the Mutant Beast’s four limbs. Jiang Shu gripped the Earth-element treasure saber; it was like an emperor taking the throne, saber force falling from the sky like a storm.
"Bang."
*Feast on beast meat, sit in the center.*
Jiang Shu carved out a cave and went into seclusion to cultivate.
’Vermilion Palace Thunder Technique—Acupoint Cultivation Chapter’: Great Success (158/1000)
"The improved Forbidden Technique within the Acupoint Passage Realm, it’s really helping me less and less. All two hundred acupoints open at once, but even under the Forbidden Technique, my combat power barely went up,"
"And besides, without powerful top-grade or even Supreme martial arts, fighting Fifth Rank Mutant Beasts with ordinary skills is already pushing it. At my current level, facing even an injured Sixth Rank Mutant Beast, I couldn’t do a thing,"
"Looks like once I’ve mastered the Thunder Peng Netherworld Wings, I’ll have to hit Qianyuan City, auction—or snatch—some truly power-boosting martial arts. Otherwise, when I fight all those geniuses in the Hundred-Kingdoms War, I’ll definitely be at a disadvantage,"
Sitting cross-legged, Jiang Shu focused his mind, step by step dropping into deep meditation.
In the secret realm, time slipped by, the passage of years unknown.
*Yuan Qi kept fanning out into the outside world, thinning from saturated density to just a tenth of what it once was.*
*Some Heaven and Earth Treasure Medicine even started to wither, starved of Yuan Qi.*
*Mutant Beasts, one after another, abandoned the secret realm.*
The whole secret realm went completely silent.
*Only the wind remained, now and then tumbling rocks down the mountainside.*
*Outside the secret realm, Siam’s regime had split three ways.*
*The main passage to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm was nothing but ruined wasteland now—no one came anymore.*
*It was like the world had forgotten about this place.*
Right then, a surge of incredible Primordial Power burst from the cave where Jiang Shu was training.
His wide-open eyes snapped up; his whole body blurred into a flash, stepped onto the Array Plate of the Small Five Elements Saber Formation—and actually shot into the sky!
Remember: this was under ten times normal gravity.
Jiang Shu looked out over the mountains and rivers below. In his body, every acupoint seemed to hide an ocean, power surging as if he couldn’t contain it, drawing Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from all around.
The nearby breeze churned into volleys of Gang Wind.
In the howling Yuan Qi, he estimated the time passed—indescribable joy clawed at his chest, almost ripping it open.*
’Vermilion Palace Thunder Technique—Acupoint Cultivation Chapter’: Perfection (1/1000)
After one hundred and eight days in seclusion, he had opened all three hundred acupoints throughout his body!
*Cultivating the Acupoint Passage Realm got harder and harder the further one went.*
*Every acupoint could stall a genius for days, even months.*
*But for Jiang Shu, it was nearly an acupoint a day.*
*His progress was lightning-fast.*
*Any genius on Da Jing Dynasty’s Little Dragon Tiger List who witnessed this would’ve been stunned speechless.*
*Even those on the Dragon Tiger List would need to step aside.*
*If he’d just mastered some truly lethal top-grade skills, he’d dare challenge the Da Jing Dragon Tiger List right now!*
*Test the mettle of the kingdom’s best talents.*
Jiang Shu gazed out toward the secret realm passage.
Five sabers soared out one by one, and he stepped into the air on the blades.
Thunder Peng Netherworld Wings!
*Been waiting so long for this.*
*This time, I won’t fail!*
Year 2030 of the Xuanxing Calendar, January 18th.
Bitter cold wind whipped up as snow fell hard from the sky.
Jiang Shu walked out from the Beta-level Heaven and Earth Secret Realm.
He was now just one step from breaking through the void, to see the spirit unbroken beneath the gods.