Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

In each sect, there were actually some individuals from other sects implanted within. They couldn’t be called spies, but sometimes they were the first to know when something happened.

In the hearts of each sect, they also knew who these people from other sects were, an unspoken understanding because everyone did the same.

So when the news of Chen Fei’s breakthrough to the Aperture Tempering realm spread among the inner disciples, naturally, people from other sects gradually became aware of it too.

The birth of the Aperture Tempering realm was a big event for any sect. Even dominant forces like the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect attached great importance when a Aperture Tempering realm cultivator appeared among their disciples.

The Primordial Sword Sect was no exception, let alone Chen Fei’s breakthrough, which took just a little over a year from becoming a true disciple to that moment.

This speed had left many other true disciples within the sect behind. If every true disciple had a breakthrough speed like Chen Fei’s, the Primordial Sword Sect would have thrived without a doubt.

Of course, this was purely wishful thinking because even the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect couldn’t produce an Aperture Tempering realm cultivator every year. Despite having many true disciples, the top ten true disciples almost always outshone the first disciples of other sects.

But when it came to the Aperture Tempering realm, it was still a rare occurrence, even for a powerful sect like the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. The time interval for each birth of an Aperture Tempering realm cultivator could span several years.

If luck was bad, it might have stretched to six or seven years.

However, such situations were rare. In recent decades, the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had become increasingly powerful, thanks to the Spirit Tree, top-tier experts, and profound martial techniques.

For other sects, it had become more difficult to produce Aperture Tempering realm cultivators in recent years. For example, the former top true disciple of the Primordial Sword Sect, Miao Daoxin, had reached the pinnacle of the Visceral Tempering realm for many years, but he still didn’t have the confidence to break through.

So, Chen Fei’s sudden breakthrough to the Aperture Tempering realm had filled everyone in the Primordial Sword Sect with excitement.

Although everyone had initially believed that Chen Fei could break through to the Aperture Tempering realm within a few years, it didn’t count until it actually happened.

Because in history, many promising disciples failed to break through in the end. Sometimes, due to their profound foundations, their breakthroughs would also cause more severe damage to their apertures.

Sometimes, they couldn’t even repair their apertures and lost the opportunity for another breakthrough. On the other hand, those with less profound backgrounds had a chance to repair their apertures and try to break through again.

Clearly, having a deep foundation should increase the chances of a breakthrough, but sometimes, having too deep of a foundation seemed to become an underlying concern.

The path of martial arts is sometimes so elusive. Step by step, it’s not just mere talk but a real journey that every martial artist experiences.

The members of the Primordial Sword Sect were elated, while other sects looked on with envy. Someone with Chen Fei’s talent would undoubtedly not have a slow cultivation speed in the Aperture Tempering realm.

Not to mention the later stages of the Aperture Tempering realm, in a few decades, Chen Fei should have no problem reaching the mid-level. Such combat strength held significant meaning for the entire Primordial Sword Sect.

Inside the main hall of the Primordial Sword Sect, Qu Qingsheng and other elders all looked at Chen Fei with smiles on their faces. This was a formal meeting, considering that Chen Fei wasn’t very familiar with many of the sect’s elders.

“Are there any positions within the sect that you’re interested in?”

Qu Qingsheng asked with a smile. With Chen Fei’s breakthrough to the Aperture Tempering realm, he had naturally moved beyond the position of a true disciple and could now hold positions within the sect.

It was a kind of promotion in status and a sign of respect from the sect. Otherwise, remaining in the disciple’s position would have been somewhat inappropriate.

Taking up a position within the sect would also create a deeper connection between Chen Fei and the Primordial Sword Sect.

The sect would provide resources each month to meet some basic cultivation needs, similar to what true disciples received. This was aimed at helping to save time and make progress in cultivation.

“I will follow the arrangement,” Chen Fei replied with a respectful gesture.

Before coming, Feng Xiupu had already informed him about some matters, including the option of taking up positions within the sect. Most of these positions were relatively low in authority, as the positions with real power were already held by other elders.

Chen Fei had no intention of seeking these positions. He wasn’t fond of managing such matters and would rather spend more time on cultivation to elevate his own realm.

In this world, ultimately, strength was what mattered. If your strength was sufficient, many things you didn’t desire would automatically come to you.

“Very well!”

Qu Qingsheng nodded and offered some words of encouragement. Then, he took out a box from his sleeve and handed it to Chen Fei.

Chen Fei’s expression brightened. Finally, it was time for the gift-giving, a customary practice when a cultivator breaks through to the Aperture Tempering realm.

Breaking through to the Aperture Tempering realm and reaching a lifespan of two hundred years is undoubtedly a cause for celebration. According to the traditions of the Primordial Sword Sect, everyone would offer a gift to Chen Fei as a gesture of congratulations.

When it comes to Aperture Tempering realm cultivators, it’s only natural that the gifts would differ from what is given to Visceral Tempering realm cultivators. In this case, the gifts consisted entirely of spiritual materials. These spiritual materials could assist a newly born Aperture Tempering realm cultivator in swiftly solidifying their realm and advancing their cultivation by a bit.

In the hall, there were more than twenty people, all the Aperture Tempering realm cultivators of the Primordial Sword Sect, except for the elders who were in seclusion.

Each of them approached Chen Fei, exchanged a few words, and then handed over their gifts. After about an hour, Chen Fei left the hall with a smile on his face.

Anyone in his shoes would have the same expression, considering the wealth he had just received.

The sect had arranged a new courtyard for him, not far from Feng Xiupu’s, making it convenient for Chen Fei to find him if needed.

Now, inside a secret chamber in his courtyard, Chen Fei opened each box and examined the specific spiritual materials.

The majority were spiritual herbs that, when consumed directly, could enhance a Aperture Tempering realm cultivator’s cultivation. However, nobody did this because spiritual herbs were not easy to come by.

To maximize their value, they needed to be refined into pills.

Apart from the herbs, there were also some precious metals and stones.

Evidently, they knew that Chen Fei didn’t have a spiritual sword yet, so these metals and stones could serve as auxiliary materials to help his semi-spiritual weapon undergo a successful transformation.

Chen Fei’s face lit up with a smile as he categorized the herbs. He then stored them in his spatial grid, leaving only the metals and stones on the ground.

He planned to personally refine the spiritual herbs to maximize their value. If he converted all these herbs into pills and consumed them, Chen Fei could at least open a second aperture.

However, he couldn’t rush this process because he hadn’t learned any new alchemical techniques yet.

Chen Fei raised his right hand, and the Qianyuan Sword, which had been sheathed, automatically unsheathed itself and floated in front of him. Chen Fei’s core soul energy vibrated as he followed the principles of the Sword Essence Technique, guiding the metals and stones on the ground to make contact with the Qianyuan Sword and resonate with it.

The Qianyuan Sword emitted a faint sword light, and tiny, invisible energy threads floated from the metals and stones on the ground, gradually entering the Qianyuan Sword.

“Ka-ka-ka!”

The Qianyuan Sword emitted a subtle twisting sound, and at the same time, the spiritual materials began to shrink slightly, with some powder falling to the ground.

The main body of the Qianyuan Sword was already formed. To transform it into a spiritual sword, it needed to absorb spiritual energy from other spiritual materials to enhance both its quality and spirituality.

This was a relatively lengthy process. Chen Fei had to reach the pinnacle of the Sword Essence Technique and possess the Gold Sky Stone to have confidence that he could upgrade the Qianyuan Sword to the level of a spiritual weapon within a year.

For other newly promoted Aperture Tempering realm cultivators in the sect, even if they had sufficient materials, if their mastery of the Sword Essence Technique was lacking, this process could take much longer.

Another factor was their core soul energy, as it needed to sustain the process for an extended period.

According to the Primordial Sword Sect’s records, for most people, it took more than three years to transform a semi-spiritual weapon into a spiritual weapon, and this was already considered a very fast pace.

For example, Chen Fei’s master, Feng Xiupu, had taken more than four years to complete the final upgrade of his Green Ridge Sword.

However, it was worth it. With the Green Ridge Sword, Feng Xiupu had a significant boost in combat power, which was crucial when his apertures were damaged, causing his cultivation to drop to the Visceral Tempering realm.

Moreover, thanks to the nurturing of the Green Ridge Sword’s spirituality, his apertures had not withered even after such a long period of injury, preserving the possibility of recovery.

In the evening, a disciple steward brought a bottle of spiritual pills and a piece of elemental stone. This was the monthly resource allocation that the sect provided to Aperture Tempering realm cultivators.

The pills were called Spirit Snow Pills and were made from spiritual herbs. They were particularly beneficial for Aperture Tempering realm cultivators, especially those in the early stages of this realm.

According to Feng Xiupu, if one could continuously consume Spirit Snow Pills, it would noticeably shorten the time needed to open up apertures. However, these pills were not cheap, as any pill made from spiritual materials tended to be expensive.

The elemental stone Chen Fei held in his hand was a low-grade elemental stone, which could only purchase one Spirit Snow Pill. Elemental stones could also be used for direct cultivation, although their effects were slightly inferior to pills.

However, elemental stones had multiple uses beyond cultivation and were quite versatile among cultivators above the Visceral Tempering realm.

In terms of value, one of these stones was worth thirty thousand taels of silver. However, it was often challenging to exchange thirty thousand taels of silver for an elemental stone, as it was a significant premium.

The specific premium depended on the market conditions at the time.

Sometimes, you might need forty thousand taels of silver to get one elemental stone, while on other occasions, you could directly exchange it for around thirty-one thousand taels.

Elemental stones could only be used by cultivators who could manipulate elemental energy, but that didn’t mean silver had no value to these cultivators.

In this world, regular people still made up the majority, and money held significant importance. Cultivators weren’t ascetics living in seclusion but coexisted with regular people.

The Primordial Sword Sect’s monthly provision of a Spirit Snow Pill and an elemental stone was worth sixty thousand taels in total. Chen Fei used to earn a little over thirty thousand taels a month from alchemy.

Due to the changes in his cultivation, if he didn’t seek further improvement and just took it easy, he would earn even more than before. This was the tremendous transformation that came with a change in cultivation realm.

Chen Fei didn’t immediately consume the Spirit Snow Pill. Instead, he held the elemental stone and went to his secret chamber to try using it for cultivation to see how it felt.

As soon as he sat down and closed his eyes, Chen Fei suddenly noticed that there were new reminders flashing on his panel. The frequency was extremely rapid, similar to when he was reminded to pay one or two taels of silver to simplify the Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique.

“Elemental Stone found.. Would you like to store it?”