Chapter 93

Chapter 94: Inner Realm and Spirit Crystals, Xu Yan Has Another Enlightenment

Outside Yunshan County, Xu Yan was sparring with Xie Lingfeng, Meng Chong, and Hu Shan, while Li Xuan sat on a chair, looking at the cultivation techniques written by Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan.

"The Inner Realm martial arts are indeed powerful; one must not underestimate the Grandmasters."

Li Xuan sighed inwardly as he read the techniques.

To him, whether it was Xue Wuxin, Xie Lingfeng, or Hu Shan, they all seemed very weak.

Compared to Xu Yan, they were far inferior.

However, Xu Yan, with his Jade Bone foundation, had transcended to the Dragon Ascending Mountain and River Spirit Bone when he broke through to the Innate Realm, and had also comprehended the Sword Intent.

He had clearly understood the true meaning of the Dragon Subduing Palm.

His overall strength was naturally not comparable to that of a Grandmaster like Xie Lingfeng.

But to think that the Inner Realm martial arts were weak would be a biased view.

Of course, at present, there was no doubt that the martial arts system he had created was superior to the Inner Realm martial arts.

However, one could not conclude that the Inner Realm martial arts were weak and had no redeeming qualities.

"A Copper Bone foundation martial artist like Shi Er might not be able to defeat Xie Lingfeng after breaking through to the Innate Realm."

Xu Yan silently evaluated.

With the techniques as a reference and knowing Xie Lingfeng's specific strength, it was easy to make an assessment.

"Xie Lingfeng's talent is indeed very high, and he is among the top in the younger generation of the Inner Realm. Shi Er falling short is not surprising, but he would not lose to Hu Shan, and might even surpass him."

Li Xuan estimated the gap between the two in his mind.

Overall, the martial arts he had created were stronger and had more potential, especially in terms of the martial arts foundation, which was far superior to the Inner Realm martial arts.

It sounded more mystical as well.

No wonder Xie Lingfeng would think that he was practicing a pseudo-martial art.

"From this comparison, my martial arts are clearly superior. I wonder if the Inner Realm martial arts truly reach their peak at the Grandmaster level?"

Li Xuan looked at the techniques in his hand.

The Grandmaster level was already the peak.

Of course, it was not impossible that Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan had not yet encountered techniques beyond the Grandmaster level.

"I feel that the Grandmaster level is not the peak. It must be that Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan have not yet encountered the secrets beyond the Grandmaster level."

Li Xuan took out the ancient leather book.

Although he could not understand it, Li Xuan was certain that this ancient leather book was not ordinary and involved a very high level.

With his current strength, he could not comprehend it.

Each time he looked at the ancient leather book, it seemed to give him a different feeling, and the patterns he saw seemed to change.

He could only conclude that his cultivation realm was still too low to see through its secrets.

"The ancient leather book came from the treasure vault of the Wu Kingdom's imperial palace, a relic left behind, indicating that the borderlands once had strong individuals."

The inability to cultivate in the borderlands stemmed from the extinction of the world's spiritual energy. When this extinction occurred was unknown and untraceable.

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan were also unaware.

"Within the same world, why is the world's spiritual energy active in the Inner Realm but extinct in the borderlands? Could it be that the spiritual energy is shrinking, and as time passes, the Inner Realm near the borderlands will also experience the extinction of the world's spiritual energy?"

Li Xuan had a puzzled look on his face.

To cultivate in the Inner Realm, one must have the world's spiritual energy. Only with the world's spiritual energy can one sense the spiritual energy, and only then can it be refined into the body.

"What is the world's spiritual energy like?"

Li Xuan had never left the borderlands. After breaking through to the Innate Realm, he could sense the existence of the world's spiritual energy, but he had never sensed the world's spiritual energy itself.

"My martial arts can be cultivated regardless of the existence of the world's spiritual energy, indicating that the world's spiritual energy is not a necessity for cultivation."

Li Xuan continued to flip through the ancient leather book.

Xu Yan and the others returned from their sparring session, and Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan again sought Li Xuan's guidance in martial arts.

They wanted to seize this rare opportunity to receive guidance from a high-level practitioner.

Li Xuan had already read through their techniques, and providing guidance was not difficult for him with his Innate Realm strength.

The focus of his guidance was on refining true qi.

Without refining true qi, everything was in vain.

"Do you know about Tai Cang?"

Li Xuan looked at Xie Lingfeng and asked.

Xie Lingfeng was taken aback, "Tai Cang?"

He shook his head, "I have never heard of it."

Li Xuan nodded silently. Xie Lingfeng had never heard of Tai Cang, and the ancient leather book had not been widely circulated.

He twirled the jade ruyi in his hand and said, "I will not disturb your peace, Senior."

Li Xuan nodded.

Xu Yan was entertaining Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan, and naturally asked about the Inner Realm. Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan began to introduce the Inner Realm and the cultivation of Inner Realm martial arts.

Li Xuan listened silently.

As Xie Lingfeng introduced, he gained a deeper understanding of the cultivation of Inner Realm martial arts.

"In the Inner Realm, martial arts cultivation starts from the Ninth Rank, and can be assisted by medicinal agents and medicinal baths... If one can buy spirit medicines, the effect of cultivation will be even better.

"According to Xie Lingfeng, medicinal agents and baths should not be overused. Each dose should be taken at least seven days apart to fully refine the residual medicinal energy.

"Otherwise, it will accumulate in the body and be detrimental to martial arts cultivation.

"However, spirit medicines do not have these drawbacks. They contain pure spirit energy, which is easy to refine and does not leave any residue, but spirit medicines are rare and generally unaffordable for ordinary martial artists."

Li Xuan discovered that the Inner Realm did not have alchemy. There were alchemists, but they did not know how to refine pills.

Spirit medicines were simply boiled and consumed, with different medicines having different effects, and there was no method to combine and refine them into pills.

"Since the Inner Realm has no alchemy, I can create a method for refining pills. If successful, it will definitely be a great boon for martial artists."

Li Xuan was very excited.

"Grandmasters and above directly consume spirit medicines for cultivation, but ordinary spirit medicines have little effect on Grandmasters, who mainly rely on their own cultivation.

"Or they can cultivate using spirit crystals to increase the speed of refining martial arts inner qi, but spirit crystals are rare and can only temporarily increase the speed of refining martial arts inner qi, so they are not usually used for cultivation.

"Most of the time, spirit crystals are used to speed up the recovery of inner qi after intense battles."

Xie Lingfeng talked about the cultivation of Grandmasters.

"Spirit crystals?"

Xu Yan had a curious look on his face.

"Here are the spirit crystals!"

Xie Lingfeng took out five spirit crystals.

Xu Yan picked up a spirit crystal and could sense the spiritual energy it contained, which was much gentler compared to the world's spiritual energy he could sense.

A single spirit crystal contained a moderate amount of spiritual energy.

"Spirit crystals are naturally formed by the world, and are relatively rare. In the Inner Realm, they are used as a martial arts currency to purchase spirit medicines, treasures, and other items, and only spirit crystals can be used for transactions."

Xie Lingfeng explained, knowing that Xu Yan did not understand the source of spirit crystals: "The formation of spirit crystals is similar to the jade mines in the borderlands, but the spirit crystal mines in the Inner Realm are transformed from jade mines. Jade mines nurture the world's spiritual energy, and over time, they transform into spirit crystals.

"Large spirit crystal mines are entirely made of spirit crystals, while most spirit crystals are mixed in jade mines because only part of the jade mine has transformed into spirit crystals.

"Jade mines are very valuable in the Inner Realm because most jade mines contain some spirit crystals."

Xu Yan and Meng Chong, like inexperienced country boys, had a look of realization. It was indeed so.

They could not help but feel a sense of longing for the Inner Realm.

The Inner Realm, with its flourishing martial arts, was much more interesting than the borderlands.

"These few spirit crystals, I will give to Brother Xu."

Xie Lingfeng said with a smile.

"I won't be polite then."

Xu Yan happily put them away.

Seeing this, Hu Shan also took out five spirit crystals and gave them to Meng Chong.

"Thank you, thank you!"

Meng Chong was overjoyed.

"One spirit crystal is worth ten thousand taels of gold in the Inner Realm, but spirit crystals can be exchanged for gold, while gold cannot be easily exchanged for spirit crystals. Generally, no one would really use spirit crystals to exchange for gold.

"Things that can be bought with spirit crystals cannot necessarily be bought with gold."

Xie Lingfeng continued to explain the uses of spirit crystals.

Li Xuan sighed, thinking that his disciple had suddenly become richer than himself.

No, that's not right!

His disciple was already richer than him.

"The Inner Realm is interesting. The borderlands are like a backward small town, while the Inner Realm is a bustling metropolis. Once you go to the Inner Realm, you probably won't want to return to the borderlands, right?"

Li Xuan thought to himself.

He must go to the Inner Realm, but when to go was not urgent.

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan stayed in Yunshan County, sparring with Xu Yan and Meng Chong every day and pondering the techniques for refining true qi. Xu Yan also gave them guidance.

He was an Innate Realm martial artist and was very familiar with refining qi and blood into true qi.

The techniques for refining true qi that Li Xuan had passed to Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan, he was also very familiar with and could understand their true meaning.

However, Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan were unable to refine true qi, and they were very disheartened.

"Go ask the Master."

Xu Yan pondered and said.

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan nodded, and they could only seek guidance from a senior practitioner.

After listening to their account, Li Xuan instantly understood the problem.

World's spiritual energy!

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan were Inner Realm martial artists, and to cultivate, they needed the world's spiritual energy. To purify and refine martial arts inner qi into true qi, they needed the world's spiritual energy.

Since they were cultivating Inner Realm martial arts and did not have a world bridge in their bodies, they could not sense the world's spiritual energy in the borderlands, and thus could not cultivate.

They could not purify martial arts inner qi and refine it into true qi.

The techniques Li Xuan had passed to Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan were flawless.

After understanding the reason, Li Xuan said, "Inner Realm martial arts require the world's spiritual energy. To purify and refine true qi, you need spiritual energy. Naturally, you two cannot refine true qi."

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan were enlightened, and their hearts, which had been in suspense, finally settled.

"Thank you, Senior, for your guidance!"

Since they could not cultivate in the borderlands, it was time to return to the Inner Realm.

Their purpose in coming to the borderlands was to kill Xue Wuxin.

"Brother Xie, when are you leaving?"

Xu Yan naturally understood this.

Xie Lingfeng's gaze was resolute, "Martial arts cultivation cannot be neglected for a day. Brother Xu, I will return to the Inner Realm tomorrow."

"Good! One day, I will visit you in the Inner Realm!"

Xu Yan nodded.

"Brother Xu, if you come to the Inner Realm and encounter any problems, just mention my name. My name, Xie Lingfeng, has some influence in the Inner Realm!"

Xie Lingfeng said sincerely.

Xu Yan's eyes lit up, and he said joyfully, "Really?"

"Of course!"

Xie Lingfeng patted his chest proudly, "I, Xie Lingfeng of Sword Venerable Cliff, am well-known in the Inner Realm."

"Good!"

Xu Yan was overjoyed and asked, "Can I mention your name for any matter?"

Xie Lingfeng nodded, "Certainly, for any matter. If you encounter any difficulties or problems, just mention my name!"

"Good! I understand!"

Xu Yan nodded solemnly.

"What about me?"

Meng Chong asked.

"Brother Meng, you can also mention my name!"

Xie Lingfeng patted his chest.

"Is mentioning your name so effective in the Inner Realm?"

Meng Chong was surprised.

"Of course!"

Xie Lingfeng finally regained a bit of his pride.

"I, Xie Lingfeng, am a renowned and prestigious figure in the Inner Realm."

Meng Chong nodded and said, "If I encounter any problems, I won't be polite and will definitely mention your name."

Hu Shan thought for a moment and said, "Actually, you can also mention my name. I have a reputation in the Inner Realm that is not inferior to Young Master's."

Hu Shan, a Grandmaster of Sword Venerable Cliff, was also a renowned martial artist in the Inner Realm.

"No problem!"

Meng Chong nodded.

Li Xuan looked at Xie Lingfeng and then at Hu Shan, feeling a bit strange. Could he mention their names if he encountered problems in the Inner Realm?

He had a hunch that these two would be in trouble!

His disciple's way of thinking was sometimes different from that of ordinary people.

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan bid farewell and left. Before returning to the Inner Realm, they planned to return to the capital of Qi Kingdom.

According to Xie Lingfeng, Emperor Qi was a decent person who allowed him to use his concubines to cultivate his mind. Before leaving, he had to thank him.

Xu Yan agreed, thinking that Emperor Qi was indeed a good person. He had used the concubines of the Qi Empress to cultivate his mind and lay the foundation for his clear sword heart.

After seeing Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan off, Xu Yan and Meng Chong continued to ponder the Eight Trigrams.

Life returned to its usual routine.

Li Xuan read the ancient leather book every day and, using the Inner Realm martial arts techniques as a reference, further perfected the techniques beyond the Innate Realm.

Meng Chong had already entered the qi and blood stage, and the physical martial arts techniques of the Innate Realm should also be perfected.

Xu Yan had already broken through to the Innate Realm, and although he was just at the beginning, he could be taught the techniques beyond the Innate Realm.

Once Xu Yan comprehended them in advance, the feedback from the golden finger would come early, allowing him to break through to a higher realm.

Shi Er was already in the