Chapter 138: Borrow Another Millennium, And I Will Become A Martial Saint
Seeker’s Courtyard.
A gentle breeze swept through, carrying the exotic fragrance of the Enlightenment Tea Tree, making Ning Qi feel even more at ease. In the distance, the White Ape was diligently cultivating. Ever since that day when it shone brightly during the assessment, it had been cultivating even more assiduously.
Although cultivation was not for showing off in front of others, appropriately showcasing oneself could indeed make cultivation more motivating.
Ning Qi was flipping through the classics in his hand.
He read books very quickly and could tell at a glance whether they were useful to him. If there were some essential parts that he could assimilate, he would pause slightly, but even so, it wouldn’t take much time.
From time to time, he would wave his hand, and a classic would float over.
In the distance, there was a small mountain of books.
This was Ning Qi’s reading volume for today.
Once he finished, the White Ape would go to the Scripture Depository to fetch a new batch for Ning Qi.
Ning Qi was immersed in his reading.
“Sword Hero’s Travelogue? This is the account of a Heavenly Human Realm swordsman from Sword Asking Pavilion’s travels across Great Yan for sixty years. Heading west into the desert, he encountered a massive storm that blotted out the sky and devoured light and shadows. Only then did he witness the might of Heaven and Earth and realize he was but an ant…”
He carefully contemplated it, and through those detailed descriptions, it felt as if he were there himself.
For the people of Sword Asking Pavilion, this was perhaps just some special experience of a predecessor. They wouldn’t even glance twice at such classics, at most treating them as casual reads for disciples in their leisure time, skimming through them.
This batch of classics mostly consisted of travelogues and autobiographies, which Sword Asking Pavilion did not value highly. This time, they had packaged them all together and sent them over without much copying.
But for Ning Qi, this was an excellent way to enrich his foundation, allowing him to indirectly experience the myriad phenomena of Heaven and Earth, with substantial gains.
He extracted the essence from them, continuously absorbing nourishment for growth.
Now, he only needed to spend some time each day on Spirit Tempering. Cultivation had become even easier than his previous breakthrough from Jade Liquid Realm to Core Elixir Realm, leaving him more time for enlightenment and creating techniques.
“Out-to-Sea Observations…”
“Exotic Beast Conjectures…”
One classic after another was scanned through.
Suddenly.
Ning Qi’s gaze paused on the one in his hand.
“River Chronicle.”
Interest surged in his eyes.
Previously, when he entered the Sword Tower, he learned that the Sword Intent comprehended by Sword Asking Pavilion’s Patriarch was River Sword Intent. Later, he looked into it further and found that this astonishingly talented Patriarch had even changed his name to Wu Jianghe.
“Is this his autobiography?”
Ning Qi opened it.
He immediately knew his guess was correct.
His interest grew even stronger.
He flipped through page by page, reading carefully, only to find that this autobiography recorded only parts of Wu Jianghe’s life trajectory.
“From an unremarkable start when he first stepped into the Martial Way, to gradually rising after initially condensing River Sword Intent, this classic records some of Wu Jianghe’s experiences during this period, but mostly trivial daily matters and some life reflections, appearing somewhat immature. As for insights on Sword Dao, there are hardly any. No wonder Sword Asking Pavilion classified it among this pile that no one asks about.”
Ning Qi estimated that over the years, some people in Sword Asking Pavilion might not even remember this autobiography.
“However, it actually shows that Wu Jianghe was someone who achieved greatness late in life. Though some daily matters are trivial, it’s not hard to discern certain good habits from them. Sword Asking Pavilion truly has no eye for treasure.”
Ning Qi shook his head slightly.
Even though this classic contained no Sword Dao insights, if someone were willing to study it carefully, they could still gain something. It was a waste of this Sword Asking Pavilion Patriarch’s efforts. From this, it was clear that Sword Asking Pavilion had become extremely impetuous. Even without provoking True Martial Sect, they would eventually provoke other experts.
He continued reading.
Suddenly, his gaze paused.
He had flipped to the last page.
“If there are descendants, whether from Sword Asking Pavilion or not, it is fate.”
Ning Qi frowned slightly, not because of the content, but because he detected an extremely subtle fluctuation between the lines. He focused his perception fully, and the fluctuation became increasingly obvious. In his eyes, this River Chronicle seemed to change form.
He straightened his body.
Strands of Heaven and Earth Power condensed around him, his Divine Intent surging. Even the White Ape looked over in astonishment.
Ning Qi’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Gang Qi gathered in his palm, transforming into a mass of flame.
He then enveloped this River Chronicle with it.
In an instant.
The yellowed pages turned to ashes, but among the ashes, it was not empty. Several pages gleaming with silver light appeared, making Ning Qi’s lips curve into a smile.
His senses had been correct!
“This River Chronicle has a secret. Peering into this secret is not easy; even ordinary Heavenly Human Realm experts probably couldn’t do it. It would require a peerless expert at Heavenly Human Perfection Realm. Even Gu Changhe might fall short. Of course, even he could sense something unusual through the last sentence, but he wouldn’t have the temperament to read such a boring book.”
Perhaps some Sword Asking Pavilion disciples had flipped through it before, but they lacked the qualification to see its true face.
By a twist of fate, it had fallen into Ning Qi’s hands.
Ning Qi shook the silver pages in his hand and looked at them expectantly.
The first sentence jolted his spirit.
“Regret! Regret! Regret! If I could borrow another millennium from the heavens, what would I have to fear in achieving the pinnacle of Martial Saint Realm?”
A strong sense of unwillingness was revealed.
Even a peerless expert at Heavenly Human Perfection could only live for eight hundred years.
“There is no Martial Saint Method left in the world. For us to recreate the Martial Saint Method on our own is exceedingly difficult—not unlike retracing the path of our predecessors.”
“Yet our predecessors blazed the trail generation after generation, expending time on the scale of ten thousand years to open the Martial Saint Realm. How could we succeed in a mere few hundred years? Only an unprecedented prodigy would have a sliver of hope!”
“I have contemplated the Martial Saint Realm for five hundred years and have finally gained some insight.”
“I specially leave this page as a reference for descendants.”
“Remember, if the world is still ruled by Great Yan, the one who obtains this page must not make it known, do not study it with others, and be extremely cautious of Great Yan Martial Saint!!!”
Ning Qi read the information left behind.
His heart was far from calm.
He had originally only hoped to find some descriptions of the Martial Saint Realm among Sword Asking Pavilion’s many classics, but he never expected to uncover such astonishing news.
He couldn’t help but recall the intelligence he had obtained from King Zhenbei before.
“There is no Martial Saint Method left in the world? Wu Jianghe’s warning—could it be that Great Yan Martial Saint truly erased the Martial Saint Method? Someone does not want Martial Saints to emerge?”
“Not studying it with others because if Great Yan Martial Saint finds out, he would nip it in the bud?”
“Then why not simply kill all Heavenly Human Perfection experts? Wouldn’t that cut off the possibility of others advancing to Martial Saint Realm at the source? Could it be fear that acting too obviously would cause chaos?”
Ning Qi’s eyes darkened.
In a single thought, many ideas flashed through his mind.
Back then, after receiving King Zhenbei’s intelligence, he and Dragon Mountain Daoist thought erasing the Martial Saint Method was not done by Great Yan Martial Saint. But now, the page left by Wu Jianghe made Ning Qi hesitate again.
“It seems there is inevitably an invisible hand controlling everything behind the scenes.”
“I originally thought that once I achieve Heavenly Human Realm one day, I could start addressing the Demonic Sect and Southern Border. But now it seems Heavenly Human Realm is not enough. I may need to become stronger, up to Heavenly Human Perfection Realm, or even glimpse the Martial Saint Realm!”
Ning Qi had already regarded Great Yan Martial Saint as a hypothetical enemy.
His current strength was already sufficient. When he killed Heart-Seeking Sword before, he hadn’t even used twenty percent of his power. With this reference, he felt no one in Heavenly Human Realm could be his opponent anymore. He could perhaps claim to be Heavenly Human Realm Invincible.
Once he advanced to Heavenly Human Realm, he felt he might have a chance against a Martial Saint.
But that was just what he felt.
He had no concept of how strong a Martial Saint truly was, and Great Yan Martial Saint had lived so long—he was probably not an ordinary Martial Saint.
Since that was the case, before he had absolute strength, he still could not expose himself.
Ning Qi took a deep breath.
He understood a principle: the unknown is the most terrifying.
“The most important thing next is to figure out exactly how strong a Martial Saint is. The world is vast; it’s impossible for not even a trace to be left. No matter how much they erase, they can’t eliminate it completely. Only by knowing the intensity of a Martial Saint can I compare it to myself and have sufficient confidence.”
“If I truly can’t figure it out, then I’ll just cultivate all the way to Martial Saint! At that time, be it Great Yan Martial Saint, Demonic Sect, Southern Border, or any demons and monsters—I’ll slap them all dead!”
Ning Qi rarely showed such ferocity, perhaps because the information he learned made him somewhat irritable.
He took a deep breath, adjusting his emotions.
“But there’s no need to be too tense. The top ten on the Heavenly Human Ranking are nine out of ten at Heavenly Human Perfection Realm, plus some hidden old monsters, and they’re still alive. It shows the situation might not be that severe.”
Ning Qi continued reading downward.
After Wu Jianghe’s warning, it was the proper insights on the Martial Saint Realm.
This Sword Asking Pavilion Patriarch was also a heaven-sent genius. Five hundred years of contemplation naturally yielded results.
After reading, a flash of spiritual insight passed through Ning Qi’s eyes.
“Heavenly Human Perfection is the perfection of the Three Flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. The key to stepping into Martial Saint that Wu Jianghe comprehended is to refine Heaven and Earth Power for one’s own use!”
“The reason Heavenly Human Realm has such powerful combat power is because it can resonate with Heaven and Earth Power. But Wu Jianghe felt this was actually separated by a layer of gauze. Using an analogy, it’s like using guns and cannons from a previous life to smash people? It’s not bad, but far from touching the essence.”
“If one could refine Heaven and Earth Power into the body, forming a mystical power like Gang Qi, that would be truly unleashing the power of Heaven and Earth, which is truly unleashing the ‘power of guns and cannons’?”
Ning Qi instantly associated many things.
Back then, from Zhuang Chen, he obtained Azure Edge Sword Saint’s inheritance, which had a note.
Incorporate Heaven and Earth Power for Own Use.
At that time, Ning Qi had many guesses about the path to advancing to Martial Saint Realm.
Now, Wu Jianghe’s deductions matched this closely.
It seemed this was indeed the correct path, though correctly identified, the difficulties to overcome were numerous.
“But refining Heaven and Earth Power into a force freely controllable like Gang Qi is not easy. Wu Jianghe spent five hundred years and only had some clues. He guessed it was related to the Three Flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit and made some attempts, but all failed.”
“However, this experience is indeed very valuable, allowing one to avoid many detours. Presumably, the human race predecessors back then also passed it down generation by generation to open the Martial Saint Realm.”
“Unfortunately, it’s even harder now than back then, with suspicions of a great hand controlling everything to prevent the emergence of Martial Saint Realm.”
For ordinary people, even once-in-a-century or millennium peerless geniuses, it would lead to despair.
But Ning Qi’s mind had completely calmed.
His heaven-defying comprehension gave him confidence.
Given him some time—not even much—and the Martial Saint Realm would be within easy reach.
Wu Jianghe’s centuries of effort might be achievable for him in months.
Ning Qi carefully put away the silver pages.
This was one of the few accurate secrets and records about the Martial Saint Realm he had obtained. When he stepped into that realm in the future, it would become his aid.
He exhaled lightly.
He temporarily did not plan to continue reading the classics and needed some time to digest.
He closed his eyes to rest his mind, points of spiritual insight emerging in his thoughts as he began contemplating a recent idea.
How to make Gang Qi persist after leaving his body, so it could serve as a trump card for his senior brothers, protecting their safety.
This was inspiration recently found from classics obtained from Formless Sect and Sword Asking Pavilion.
For others.
Creating techniques was very difficult and maddening, requiring deep contemplation.
But for Ning Qi, it was very enjoyable.
His way of resting was to create techniques.
…
Time passed slowly.
True Martial Mountain grew increasingly lively. As True Martial Sword Stele and Myriad Dao Tower gained renown across the world, many martial artists came admirers, even invigorating the martial atmosphere in Qingzhou.
And the foremost affected.
Were True Martial City and its surroundings.
Many martial artists settled in True Martial City, causing the average strength of martial artists there to skyrocket. True Martial City expanded again, already becoming another martial center in Qingzhou, gradually showing no inferiority to the state city.
It was foreseeable.
As long as True Martial Sword Stele and Myriad Dao Tower existed.
True Martial City surpassing Qingzhou City was only a matter of time.
True Martial Sect’s congregation was naturally very pleased about this.
After all, Great Yan Dynasty had already granted True Martial Sect ownership of True Martial City, which would become True Martial Sect’s solid foundation.
Within the city.
Carriages and horses flowed like water.
True Martial Disciples, led by Protectors and Elders, were stationed at the four corners of the city to prevent conflicts. With more martial artists, such things were inevitable, but fortunately, with Heavenly Sword True Person’s prestige, they were mostly restrained.
Jiang Baishan coughed lightly and said to Song Cheng beside him:
“Seventh Junior Brother, you take them. I have some matters to handle.”
Song Cheng was taken aback, then realized something and winked at Jiang Baishan with a cheeky grin:
“Leave it to me. Fifth Senior Brother, take your time, no rush.”
Jiang Baishan glared at him irritably, then vanished into the distance with a few leaps.
Song Cheng chuckled. He knew what Jiang Baishan was off to do.
He led the disciples on patrol by himself, in a great mood. The thing he looked forward to most recently was the True Martial Peach Gathering.
“Five days until the Peach Gathering. Little Nine said the Enlightenment Tea Tree has matured this year—lucky us!” he thought delightedly.
