Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

“Promises without integrity, you’re full of empty promises!”

Master Xilian shouted loudly, attempting to trigger a solemn vow in Chen Fei’s consciousness.

This concept of a solemn vow might sound mysterious, but it’s essentially a form of self-restraint. Sometimes, the hardest person to deceive is oneself.

Ordinary individuals might still rely on self-hypnosis to genuinely believe in something. However, for martial artists, especially those in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, their mental strength is already well-developed, making self-hypnosis nearly impossible.

At this moment, Master Xilian’s loud cries were meant to induce self-doubt in Chen Fei, to stir up inner demons and give himself an extra chance at survival.

However, what Master Xilian didn’t know was that Chen Fei wouldn’t doubt himself at all. Even without the system, the solemn vow that had been blocked by his mental projection earlier had already been shattered by the Profound Slaying Sword.

After shouting for a while and seeing Chen Fei’s unwavering composure, Master Xilian’s cries gradually ceased, and his eyes grew colder and more sinister.

He was on the brink of death, and unless something unexpected happened, Master Xilian knew he couldn’t escape this calamity.

Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu, both formidable in their own right, were well within Master Xilian’s capabilities. With the enigmatic powers of the Three Lives Mysterious Flower, Master Xilian could have escaped at any time, but that chance had long since passed.

However, there was Chen Fei present in this situation, whose combat prowess was astonishingly strong. In just a few sword strikes, he had already pushed the power that the seal could unleash to its limits.

What was even more crucial was his ability to easily see through Master Xilian’s concealments, forcing Master Xilian to confront the three of them head-on.

Initially, Master Xilian had managed to deal with several early Combined Aperture Tempering realm attackers by relying on the sheer size of Shangwu City and his elusive footwork.

But now, with Shangwu City breached by the Shadow Abyss Sect and his elusive footwork rendered useless in front of Chen Fei, every strike was met head-on, and Master Xilian had reached his limit.

“Don’t force me. If I die, someone among you will follow me!” Master Xilian shouted sternly.

In his pupils, the representation of humanity’s wisdom dwindled while his evil nature grew stronger. His weakened aura was gradually on the rise.

Erasing all traces of humanity in exchange for the strongest Evil Power. Of course, in doing so, Master Xilian had condemned himself to death as well.

However, as Master Xilian had said, if he died, he would take someone with him.

“You two, set up formations on the outskirts!”

Chen Fei looked up at Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu. Both of them hesitated for a moment, understanding Chen Fei’s intention, and quickly moved away from Master Xilian.

Master Xilian sensed the departure of the two individuals, and the Evil Power within him almost went into chaos. He wanted to take someone with him, and the only options were Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu.

He might not even be able to drag Qin Haishan, so he would have to settle for Tong Zhongqiu, who was the weakest among them. As for Chen Fei, Master Xilian knew he couldn’t take him down with him.

However, now that both of them had moved away, who else could he take?

“Die, die, die!”

Master Xilian erupted completely, slamming his palm onto his own crown, and in a muffled sound, the black Evil Power engulfed him, erasing the remnants of humanity from his eyes.

Slash!

In Chen Fei’s consciousness, the Profound Slaying Sword whistled out, aiming for the center of Master Xilian’s forehead.

The sword light tore through the chaotic Evil Power and found Master Xilian’s consciousness where his humanity resided. Chen Fei didn’t intend to kill Master Xilian’s consciousness but rather expose it to the Evil Power.

Human nature and Evil nature within a person were in constant conflict but also intertwined.

At this moment, Master Xilian wanted his evil nature to take over and unleash all his power, but Chen Fei deliberately let his human nature’s consciousness be exposed, preventing the Evil Power from erupting.

Master Xilian felt the sword light, and he had never imagined that his suicidal technique would be broken like this.

Daring to use a mental technique and diving straight into the Evil Power, what kind of madness was this? Wasn’t he afraid of his own consciousness being tainted by the evilness, with lingering poison that would be hard to cleanse?

Master Xilian himself dared not let his consciousness get too entangled with evil nature. He had to use the wisdom contained in the blood food to cleanse the influence of Evil Power on himself.

Today, someone was doing such a bizarre thing while having the upper hand, and Master Xilian couldn’t comprehend it.

Chen Fei didn’t bother explaining because the exposure of human nature had caused Master Xilian’s rising aura to abruptly stagnate.

As the three strikes of the Qianyuan Sword fell, Master Xilian’s aura dissipated instantly.

“Ah!”

It was as if the voice of a resentful spirit echoed, and the evil nature that had been a nightmare for everyone in this area was slain on the banks of the Heaven’s Passage River.

In Master Xilian’s eyes back then, Chen Fei was nothing more than a slightly different Martial Artist in the mid-Combined Aperture Tempering realm. Yet, today, he had put an end to his life.

If he had known this day would come, Master Xilian would never have let Chen Fei leave the boundaries of Shangwu City alive, no matter what.

But in this world, there are no ‘ifs,’ and there’s no foresight. All that exists is a set of undeniable facts.

Chen Fei’s sword swept through the void, enveloping the remaining wreckage of Master Xilian in a sword formation.

Within the sword formation, the blades clashed, creating a fiery spectacle, and countless screaming black smokes billowed from it.

This refining process lasted for nearly an hour, and then it finally came to an end. The sword formation dissipated, leaving a transparent essence floating in mid-air.

The essence of the human evil was neither entirely human nor entirely cunning, making it highly unique after refinement. The fragments of human consciousness within it had been completely obliterated by the evil nature.

As for the evil nature of the human evil, it was also extremely pure, devoid of other fragments of consciousness, making it significantly different from the usual strangeness encountered.

It was this peculiar combination that, after refining the human evil, yielded such pure essence. It could be either ingested directly for cultivation or used as a special spiritual material for alchemical purposes.

Chen Fei’s fingers moved, and the essence split into three parts, with two of them drifting towards Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu.

“I am grateful for this.” Qin Haishan hesitated for a moment before accepting the essence.

In this battle, from the search to the final kill, almost everything was accomplished by Chen Fei alone. Whether he and Tong Zhongqiu were present or not, the outcome would not have changed significantly.

However, such pure essence was exceptionally rare and had a remarkable effect on cultivation, especially for those with decent cultivation levels.

Qin Haishan aspired to reach the mid-Combined Aperture Tempering realm and found it difficult to part with anything that could enhance his cultivation. “Thank you!” he expressed his gratitude.

Tong Zhongqiu looked at the essence and sighed slightly before accepting it.

He had no intention of further advancing his cultivation, as the limit of his lifespan was set, and no matter how much he increased his cultivation, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

However, Tong Zhongqiu still needed to consider the interests of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. If he took this essence back to the sect, it could at least help someone else in the sect break through to the peak of the Aperture Tempering realm if not the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

Just this consideration alone made Tong Zhongqiu reluctant to refuse the essence.

“You can take a look at the cultivation techniques; there are some errors and omissions in there. You can use it as a reference at most.”

Chen Fei made two copies of the Three Lives Mysterious Flower’s jade slip and handed them to Tong Zhongqiu and Qin Haishan.

Both of them accepted the jade slips and curiously immersed their consciousness into them.

Leaving aside everything else, the martial arts displayed by Master Xilian just now, as well as his concealment techniques, were incredibly tempting.

After a thorough examination, both of them delved deep into the martial arts techniques. It took them half an hour before they gradually came back to their senses.

“The Three Lives Mysterious Flower technique is truly unparalleled in its concept. It’s a pity that it’s damaged now,” Qin Haishan expressed his regret.

The idea of one technique spanning three lifetimes is something most people would never dare to contemplate, but this technique had been practiced in such a manner.

“Even if it’s not damaged, the chances of successfully mastering this technique would be too low,” Tong Zhongqiu shook his head.

“Let’s go.”

Chen Fei studied the jade seal in his hand, and when he saw the two men coming to their senses, he casually put the jade seal away in his sleeve. Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu had no objections to this.

Receiving a portion of the essence and obtaining a partially broken inheritance had already greatly satisfied them. As for the jade seal, they never once thought that Chen Fei should share it with them from beginning to end.

After living for so long, they could still understand such matters.

Chen Fei’s figure flashed and disappeared on the Heaven’s Passage River.

By killing Master Xilian, he had obtained these few items, and there was nothing else. In hindsight, asking for the jade slip of the Three Lives Mysterious Flower was a wise decision; it seemed he had come out ahead.

Although there were errors and omissions hidden within it that made it risky to practice, Chen Fei had the system that allowed him to extract only what was useful to him, making it more than sufficient for his needs.

The only somewhat regrettable aspect was that the information about the Mountain Sea Realm that Master Xilian left in the jade slip was nothing but gibberish, devoid of any reference value whatsoever.

This left Chen Fei’s original plan somewhat in vain because what he had hoped to find the most was the mysteries related to the Mountain Sea Realm.

Chen Fei and his two companions streaked across the sky, and after several hours, they finally arrived in the region where the imperial city had once been located.

Here, they could finally feel that majestic and oppressive aura.

This aura emanated from the damaged spiritual treasure, as if a mountain was pressing down on their hearts.

In the Thousand Feathers Alliance, whether it was the Enlightenment Tower or the Haiyue Cave, although they instilled awe, they didn’t create such an exaggerated feeling of oppression.

Clearly, in recent times, it had been continuously probed by peak Combined Aperture Tempering realm experts, causing its power to be completely revealed without any restraint.

Within a fifty-mile radius, Chen Fei and his companions voluntarily reduced their presence.

At this point, they could sporadically see other Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators.

Most of them were in the early Combined Aperture Tempering realm, but from time to time, there were those in the mid Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

Within thirty miles, the number of early Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators increased, and at the same time, they occasionally spotted mid-Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators.

At this moment, almost all the Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators who could come from within the Thousand Feathers Alliance had gathered around the imperial city.

“There’s a market over there,” Qin Haishan suddenly pointed out in front of them.

“Let’s go take a look,” Chen Fei smiled.

With so many Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators gathered together, the Thousand Feathers Alliance hadn’t seen such a scene in many years. In such a situation, it was only natural for a market to spring up where cultivators of the same level could exchange what they needed.

Previously, they had been concerned about where to gather information, but within the market, it was the most suitable place.

Chen Fei and his companions landed in front of the market, and just as they were about to enter, the elemental energy of the four directions suddenly fluctuated.

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the imperial city, where the spiritual treasure was vibrating.

Many people didn’t find this unusual at all, indicating that such a situation had been happening frequently in recent times.

Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu were curious, while Chen Fei’s expression suddenly became somewhat strange.

Just a moment ago, the Dragon-Elephant Induction Point had trembled.

It was as if it was resonating with something!