Chapter 669: Reaching Knowing Destiny in a Snap of the Fingers

"So-called cultivation is the act of containing one's intent within the Snow Mountain Qi Sea at the chest and lower abdomen. There are seventeen Qi apertures around the Snow Mountain Qi Sea; by using the Mind Power stored within these apertures to resonate with Heaven and Earth, one lets Heaven and Earth know your intent and mine. Like the holes in a flute or xiao, one creates marvelous music in response to the wind."

"Whether a person's Qi apertures are open or blocked is formed in the womb, brought from the Innate state; no matter how one cultivates later, it cannot be changed. Therefore, there is a saying in the Dao Sect: so-called cultivation is merely retrieving the gift that Haotian has bestowed upon us."

Within the Sword Pavilion, Sword Saint Liu Bai is explaining the path of cultivation of this world to Yu Liancheng.

"Cultivation is divided into five realms: Initial Perception, Perception, Unwavering, Cave Profound, and Knowing Destiny."

"Initial Perception refers to the practitioner releasing their intent from the Snow Mountain Qi Sea to realize where the breath of Heaven and Earth resides. When I first attained Initial Perception years ago, I once perceived the surging Huanghe."

"In the second realm, 'Perception,' a practitioner at this stage can touch the Yuan Qi drifting and flowing between Heaven and Earth, coexist with it harmoniously, and even engage in some exchanges or contact through perception."

"The third realm, 'Unwavering,' means the practitioner can now initially understand the laws of the flow of Yuan Qi between Heaven and Earth and utilize them; the so-called Sword Masters and Talisman Masters in the mouths of the world generally refer to this type."

"The fourth realm is 'Cave Profound.' A practitioner who enters this realm can merge their consciousness with the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi. For the practitioner, this means they can directly attack enemies through their own consciousness. After cultivating in this realm for a long time, one might be able to perform some exceptionally mysterious feats."

"The fifth realm is Knowing Destiny—knowing the destiny of Heaven. A practitioner who enters this realm no longer merely understands the laws of the flow of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi from the surface, but masters the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi from the essence, understands the connection between Haotian and all things in nature, and realizes the origin of the world. Those who enter this realm are the ones who have truly attained the Dao."

"Above the five realms, there are still various mysteries, but those who can break through the five realms are all Daxingzhe with extraordinary talent."

"Among them, those who bear the radiance and grace of Haotian and can wield divine power are called 'Heavenly Revelation.' Those who can travel between Heaven and Earth and traverse ten thousand miles in a single thought are called 'No Distance.'"

Liu Bai is a Daxingzhe at the Knowing Destiny Peak, and to him, anything above the five realms is merely a matter of heart and intent.

Coupled with the fact that he founded the Sword Pavilion and taught dozens of disciples, he is very experienced in teaching cultivation.

Now, Liu Bai is explaining the secrets of the five realms with the simplest language.

Even an ordinary person who does not understand cultivation could understand most of it, let alone an existence like Yu Liancheng.

However, Liu Bai's gaze is quite strange.

With the strength this person has displayed, he should have long since reached above the five realms; why would he still need someone at the Knowing Destiny Peak like him to explain the path of cultivation?

More importantly, back at the Rose Courtyard, the other party clearly said, "If you want to learn, I will teach you."

But upon arriving at the Sword Pavilion, why did it reverse, becoming him teaching the other party the path of cultivation?

On the other side, Yu Liancheng has already sensed the location of his Snow Mountain Qi Sea.

As for the seventeen apertures in his body, they are similar to the extraordinary meridians; to him, they are even more clearly visible.

As the saying goes, stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one.

For a peerless powerhouse like Yu Liancheng, mastering one method means mastering all.

When he saw the practitioners of this world, he already had a vague concept of the cultivation methods of this world. And after Liu Bai's explanation, it became even clearer.

After some attempts, Yu Liancheng discovered that the seventeen apertures in his own body were already unobstructed.

Immediately following, he began Initial Perception.

When visualizing for Initial Perception, due to different talents, the results of the visualization are also different; some see a basin of water or a pond. Liu Bai visualized a surging, endless great river. As for Ning Que, the protagonist of the original story, because he held Sang Sang—who was transformed from a part of Haotian's rules—in his arms during visualization, he visualized a vast ocean.

As for Yu Liancheng, perhaps because he is not a person of this world, he visualized nothing, or perhaps what he visualized was a void to begin with?

"Initial Perception?"

The Sword Saint Liu Bai on the side looked at Yu Liancheng with a sense of realization.

It seems the other party has only just taken the first step of cultivation now?

But how should his previous performance be counted?

Could it be that he is not a powerhouse who has surpassed the five realms, or even surpassed Heavenly Revelation and No Distance?

Or perhaps, he is walking another unknown cultivation system?

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Liu Bai was shocked to discover that the other party had already crossed from "Initial Perception" into the "Perception" realm.

His heart gave a slight jolt, but he immediately felt relieved.

With the other party's peerless cultivation and high-level perspective, going from "Initial Perception" to "Perception" should not be difficult.

However, after only ten or so breaths, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi flowed toward the other party crazily again.

Before long, he had already entered "Unwavering" from "Perception."

Moreover, this progress showed no sign of stopping at all.

His realm was constantly rising: Unwavering low-grade, Unwavering mid-grade, Unwavering high-grade, and then he reached the Cave Profound Realm without the slightest obstruction.

Cave Profound Realm.

In the secular dynasties, this realm is already an existence above ten thousand people, and one would be treated with the highest respect in any country. Even in the Xiling Divine Palace, which has the most practitioners, one could easily land a position as a Department Head, enjoying worldly glory and wealth, with treatment far better than that of some small-country monarchs.

And after stepping into the Cave Profound Realm, Yu Liancheng's cultivation speed slowed down. But it was still rising step by step, with endless Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi surging into his body.

Of course, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi only entered and did not exit his body; to anyone, this is the most orthodox Demon cultivation method.

Soon, the Cave Profound Realm was completely stabilized.

Then came Cave Profound low-grade, Cave Profound mid-grade...

The speed of advancement became slower, but this slowness was in contrast to the previous speed. If compared to other practitioners, it was simply unimaginably and incredibly fast.

As for the Sword Saint Liu Bai on the side, he was almost becoming numb.

There are Four Unknowable Places in the world.

The so-called Unknowable Places are mysterious regions outside the secular world; very few people can enter these places.

And these Four Unknowable Places also represent the highest orthodoxy of the four major cultivation sects respectively.

They are the "Second Floor" of the Academy of Datang, the "Zhishou Temple" behind the Haotian Dao Sect, the "Hanging Temple," a holy land of the Buddhist, and the "Demon Sect Mountain Gate," which has been hidden for many years.

Liu Bai is the number one powerhouse in the secular world, at the Knowing Destiny Peak, but in these Unknowable Places, there are supreme powerhouses above the five realms.

Zhishou Temple.

One of the Four Unknowable Places in the world, the holy land for Dao Sect practitioners.

The Dao Sect has ruled the world for countless years; the so-called Xiling Divine Palace is merely a branch and a subordinate institution.

In the Zhishou Temple, there are countless cultivation methods, and even more so, the Seven Volumes of Heavenly Books, which are rumored to record the Heavenly Dao and possess countless mysteries.

Many years ago, a monk named Lianshensanshier read the Heavenly Books, after which he became the most respected Caijuedashengonguan in the history of the Haotian Dao. Liu Bai also once entered the temple to read books, and later, he became the number one powerhouse in the world...

However, this Buzhi Zhidi that countless cultivators yearn for appears, on the surface, to be nothing more than a simple and crude Haotian Taoist Temple.

Deep within the Haotian Taoist Temple, there is a secluded lakeside, with seven thatched cottages built around the shore.

Unlike the simple and even shabby appearance of the Haotian Taoist Temple, although these seven cottages are thatched with straw, they give one a feeling of extreme luxury and solemnity, as if every blade of straw were as yellow and white as gold and jade, remaining as fresh as new despite having weathered countless years of wind and rain.

Inside the first thatched cottage, a very thick and large tome is placed quietly on a sandalwood desk by the window; its cover is as black as congealed blood, or perhaps like black blood stone that takes billions of years to form, with the character "Sun" written upon it.

The Sun volume of the seven volumes of the Heavenly Book.

A book that records the powerful figures of the world.

The Sun volume has already been opened.

The one who opened the Sun volume is a middle-aged Taoist.

The first page of the tome is completely blank, like snow.

Following that, there are a few names on the second page, with Liu Bai at the very top—the world's number one powerhouse, Liu Bai.

At the very top of the page for Liu Bai, his ink is the most full and intense, especially the vertical stroke of the character "Liu," which seems like a Divine Sword that pierces through the heavens and the earth, almost ready to break out of the page.

Besides Liu Bai, there are names such as the Demon Sect Walker "Tang," the world's number one Divine Talisman Master "Yan Se," the Academy's second disciple "Junmo," and the Buddhist World Walker "Qinian."

Seeing that everything remained unchanged, the middle-aged Taoist was about to close the Sun volume when he suddenly felt a change in the Heavenly Book; his brows rose, and he reached out to flip to the third page, which records the powerhouses of the Cave Profound Realm. Although those in the Cave Profound Realm are rare, their numbers are not small when considering the entire world.

The middle-aged Taoist only glanced at this page before noticing a name.

——Yu Liancheng.

The reason he could notice these three characters is, firstly, because they carry an ethereal quality, as high and lofty as the heavens, only to be looked up to. The surrounding names seem to move aside with a sense of sentience, not daring to obstruct its path, let alone tower above it.

Secondly, these three characters are actually rising continuously; in a short time, they rose from the bottom to the middle, and from the middle to the top. Finally, they even broke through the page and disappeared.

The middle-aged Taoist is able to guard the Zhishou Temple because he is also an expert who has broken the Five Realms.

What he has seen and heard in his life is beyond what an ordinary person could imagine. Yet, this scene just now still left him feeling incredulous.

How can there be someone in the world whose cultivation speed is so fast? "Unstoppable" is not enough to describe it.

After a brief moment of shock, the middle-aged Taoist hurriedly flipped to the second page, and sure enough, he saw the three characters "Yu Liancheng" again.

These three characters are at the very bottom of the page, but just like before, they are rising upward continuously, though the speed is more than a notch slower than it was on the "Cave Profound Realm" page.

But one thing is certain.

This name is rising upward.

Every name on the second page belongs to a Daxingzhe, each qualified to establish a sect.

But in less than half an hour, the name "Yu Liancheng" surpassed almost all the other names, becoming level with the two characters "Liu Bai" at the top, and even rising a head above them.

Gradually, the ink marks of the three characters "Yu Liancheng" became increasingly faint, as if they might disappear at any moment.

The Sun volume corresponds to Haotian and is a collection of rules; as long as one is a cultivator in the human world, they will be recorded in the register. If a name on it disappears, there are only two explanations.

One is that the person has died.

Two is that the person has transcended the shackles of the Five Realms and is no longer perceived by the heavens and the earth.

The middle-aged Taoist's breathing became slightly rapid; he had a premonition that this person was about to transcend the Five Realms and leap out of the Sun volume of the Heavenly Book.

The three characters "Yu Liancheng" indeed jumped out of the Sun volume, but they did not disappear; instead, they floated into mid-air and suddenly transformed into a faint ink-wash human figure.

"You are watching me, right!?"

Perhaps due to a lack of ink, this ink-wash figure appeared particularly crude, outlining only a simple silhouette, yet it possessed both form and spirit.

It is only a pity that the eyes lacked pupils, making them appear particularly lifeless.

The middle-aged Taoist could not help but take two steps back.

He is already an expert who has transcended the Five Realms, but this scene before him was truly too inconceivable.

"Prying is not a good habit."

The ink-wash figure pointed its fingers like a sword and reached slowly toward the middle-aged Taoist: "Let me give you a little lesson."

Boom!

A huge roaring sound erupted from within the thatched cottage, and the entire cottage began to shake; the straw that looked like gold and jade fell to the ground one by one, its luster rapidly dimming. By the time it actually hit the ground, it had turned into mere bundles of ordinary straw.

At the same time, streaks of talismans emerged from around the thatched cottage, with flashes of Jinguang, making the tottering cottage stable once again.

Inside the thatched cottage, the middle-aged Taoist's face was slightly pale; he withdrew his palm and saw a smear of ink on it, as if doodled by a child.

But only the middle-aged Taoist himself could feel an extremely terrifying Sword Intent from this ink mark, one that penetrated to the bone marrow and was intensely painful.

"Who exactly is this guy named Yu Liancheng? Could it be that he has not only transcended the Five Realms but also surpassed the realms of Heavenly Revelation and Wuju?"

The middle-aged Taoist's face was pale, his brows tightly furrowed.

He had a premonition that this guy might come to the Zhishou Temple before long.

In the Sword Pavilion.

The Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi all around surged toward Yu Liancheng like a tidal wave, while the acupoints in his body opened wide; the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi entered his acupoints as if entering a black hole or abyss, with no fear of being exploded to death by the excess Yuan Qi.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and looked at the incredulous Sword Saint Liu Bai, smiling slightly: "Don't be too surprised, I am still only at Knowing Destiny Peak right now, the same realm as you."

However, even so, the shock in Liu Bai's heart did not diminish in the slightest.

If one were to speak of the fastest cultivation speed in the world, it was not he, the Sword Saint Liu Bai, but the Great Teacher of the Academy known as Li Manman.

It is rumored that the Great Teacher attained enlightenment at thirteen and only reached the realm of No Confusion at thirty, yet he was able to enter the Cave Profound Realm in three months, and on the evening of the day he entered the Cave Profound Realm, he watched the evening clouds and entered Knowing Destiny.

Then, in three days, he broke the Five Realms and reached Wuju.

Even Fuzi praised: "Hearing the Dao in the morning, one may die in the evening; I cannot compare to him!"

But compared to the person before him, Li Manman was far too slow.

From enlightenment to Knowing Destiny Peak, it had taken only a little over half an hour.

Moreover, the feeling Yu Liancheng gave him was that he could transcend the Five Realms at any time and any place.

This cultivation speed was truly too inconceivable; even knowing that the other party was already a supreme powerhouse of the world, he could not help but be shocked by it.

Yu Liancheng cast his gaze toward the west and muttered to himself, "Xiling Divine Palace, Zhishou Temple."

……

PS: It seems I haven't been able to comment for the last three days; I can only see my own comments.