Chapter Twenty-Seven: Elements of Martial Arts Cultivation

Autumn Mountain City, in a certain inn.

“Sigh, Hai, tell me, where exactly is Blade Mountain? There’s neither rhyme nor reason to it—how are we supposed to find such a place?” Zhou Yi sat at the table with Song Hai, eating as he spoke with a furrowed brow.

It had been more than four years since they entered the sect. Both had assumed that for a long time to come, they would remain inside the secret manual, but unexpectedly, just recently—

Their thrifty senior brother summoned them, rattling off a torrent of words.

In the end, Zhou Yi summarized it: after so many years of cultivation, they had achieved some results, their skills reaching a certain level. By now, if they stayed any longer in the upper-grade secret realm, it would only waste their talent!

Then he told them: besides upper, middle, and lower grades, there exists a grade above them all—supreme grade. With their current cultivation, the upper-grade secret realm still has effects, but it would be a waste; the supreme-grade secret realm is where they should go!

The two listened with excitement, and just as they were about to ask where this supreme-grade secret realm was, their senior brother revealed a harsh truth!

At Reliant Blade Gate, the highest grade is only upper; there is no supreme-grade secret realm!

Before they could feel disappointed, he added, legend has it that in the outside world, there exists a supreme-grade secret realm—Blade Mountain!

Then he sent them off to search for it themselves.

“That’s right. No clues, just a name. How are we supposed to find it? Isn’t this just toying with us?” Song Hai wore the same troubled expression.

“Hey, have you heard?” came a voice.

“Heard what?”

“Autumn Leaf Lingzhi!”

“What?”

“Autumn Leaf Lingzhi—it’s a rare treasure, said to grant sixty years’ worth of cultivation power if obtained. Where is it?”

“I don’t know where it was, but I know where it will be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Legend has it, a group discovered Autumn Leaf Lingzhi in the wild, but couldn’t split the spoils evenly, so they fought. The one who ended up with the Lingzhi escaped!”

“Escaped?”

“That’s right. Rumor has it, he fled toward Autumn Mountain City!”

“Autumn Mountain City? Isn’t that right here?”

“No wonder—no wonder the city has seen more and more people lately. I thought something was going on. So this is why!”

“What else did you think?”

The conversation they overheard instantly stunned Zhou Yi and Song Hai, who had been so gloomy. After a moment, excitement filled their faces. They exchanged a glance, grabbed a jar of wine, and walked over to the speaker, setting the jar on the table.

“Sorry to interrupt. Brother, just now you mentioned Autumn Leaf Lingzhi—what is that? The two of us are quite curious.”

The speaker was a burly, bearded middle-aged man, flanked by two companions. The words had been aimed at them.

Their sudden approach left the trio displeased at first, but when Zhou Yi placed the wine jar on the table, their expressions softened.

“Ten-year Apricot Flower Village—good wine, generous brothers!” The bearded man sniffed; his face changed, for he was a lover of fine drink and knew instantly what it was. Ten-year Apricot Flower Village—ten taels of silver a jar, not cheap.

“As long as you like it, brother!” Zhou Yi replied with a shy smile.

“Much appreciated!” The bearded man, recognizing the wine, prompted the other two to relax as well. They smiled at Zhou Yi and Song Hai, inviting them to sit.

“You mean you don’t know about Autumn Leaf Lingzhi?” Once they were seated, the bearded man asked in confusion.

“No, we don’t!” Zhou Yi smiled.

“Judging by your appearance, you’re martial artists, yet you know nothing of Autumn Leaf Lingzhi? That’s truly odd!” His gaze lingered on the tiger-head blades at their sides in surprise.

Song Hai remained silent, and Zhou Yi smiled modestly.

“Well, let me tell you then!” The bearded man drained his bowl, wiped his beard, and began loudly.

“The way of martial arts is to gather external energy to strengthen one’s own, to grow and increase it. That external energy is spiritual energy, the primordial energy of heaven and earth!”

“As everyone knows, there is plenty of spiritual energy in the world, but the amount one can absorb is not so great!”

“Martial cultivation centers on cycles—small cycle is thirty-six, large cycle seventy-two, grand cycle one hundred and eight!”

“Each person, depending on talent, manages a different number of cycles with each practice. Acquired cultivators do small cycles, innate do large, and celestial do grand cycles!”

“With every completed cycle, one absorbs a thread of spiritual energy and primordial energy from the outside world, which is the very foundation for strengthening internal power!”

“The quality of martial arts determines how much energy is absorbed per cycle.”

“The quality of talent determines how many cycles one can complete per day. The best can finish ten a day. Acquired is three hundred and sixty, innate seven hundred and twenty, celestial one thousand and eighty!”

“For the weak, sometimes not even one cycle; some can only manage thirty, twenty, or even just five cycles!”

“Compare five to three hundred and sixty—that’s over sixty times the difference. So you see how crucial talent is!”

“Besides talent, the grade of martial arts is also vital. For example, a third-rate technique adds one unit of energy per cycle, second-rate adds two, first-rate five, and a peerless technique ten!”

“Thus, in martial arts, talent and skill are both indispensable!”

Hearing this, Zhou Yi and Song Hai exchanged a glance—ten cycles? In the secret realm, they’d never had such a limitation. Typically, when their internal power ran out, they immediately practiced again. Counting it up, half their day was spent training with the blade, half cultivating internal power. They easily completed far more than ten cycles a day—even hundreds!

As for their martial arts, they didn’t know exactly where the Reliant Mountain Blade technique and heart method ranked, but it shouldn’t be low. After all, it was the sect’s signature art.

“Oh, right!” As the two exchanged looks, the bearded man slapped his forehead as if remembering something, and added, “Besides talent and skill, there’s another crucial factor: environment!”

“Environment?”

Not only Zhou Yi and Song Hai, but even the other two at the table perked up, listening intently—they seemed unaware.

“Exactly. A good environment, rich in spiritual energy and primordial force, makes cultivation twice as effective!”

“Are you talking about the secret realm?” Zhou Yi exchanged another glance with Song Hai, then asked with a blink.

“You know?” The bearded man’s eyes lit up as he looked at the two.

“Heard of it.”

“Heard of it.”

The bearded man gazed at them deeply, as if he understood something, but didn’t press further.