Chapter 190: Difficult Realm Breakthrough After Body Refinement

"My Lord Jianzhu, your immortal grace is peerless, your spirit soars above the clouds."

"Even your painting skills have reached the realm of returning to simplicity; with just a few casual strokes of your slender jade fingers, you have revealed to me the profound essence of the Dao."

"That sharp longsword is so graceful and straight; it must surely be piercing the likes of Shang Xijie, Dou Yuankong, Chu He, and the masters of the external immortal manors of Fengzhou."

"Beautiful, I love looking at it, and I will continue to look."

"Yours truly, with respect."

Understanding it or not aside, coaxing her is never wrong...

In the days that followed, the temperature began to grow increasingly cold.

Every day from dawn until noon, Ding Yao would sit in meditation within the Zen room, performing his sixteenth Dim Illumination, using the spiritual energy leaking from his shattered spiritual essence as fuel to ignite the spiritual fire and continue tempering his body.

This time, however, the bottleneck of his physical body was extremely difficult to break through; it seemed he had reached the next threshold, and the pain caused by each calcination had become incredibly intense.

For several days in a row, the spiritual fire ignited within his body could only dart through his meridians, unable to permeate his flesh.

This is the limitation of cultivation: the higher the physical strength, the more difficult the subsequent calcination becomes.

As for the time from noon to afternoon, he used it to seek the opportunity to break through his realm, living an extremely disciplined life.

A few days later, at high noon with the scorching sun overhead, Ding Yao, having undergone several rounds of spiritual fire body tempering, fell into a state of weakness; his strength was exhausted, his spiritual sense depleted, and he was in urgent need of rest.

Thus, he brewed tea in the courtyard, calmed his Dao heart, and began to ponder that masterpiece by the Jianzhu once more.

Why is it piercing me with a sword? Did she find out that Yuan Caiwei saw the good stuff first?

There has been no reply to his letter until now; it truly is unfathomable.

Seeing the sun begin its descent, Ding Yao wrote a few letters of temporary farewell—to Cao Jingsong, to Xiang Kuangcheng, to Brother Ban and the others—and handed them to the disciples of the Zhangshi Yuan guarding the inner courtyard, before heading toward the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest.

He did not intend to suppress his realm for the sake of the Heavenly Dao Assembly; he decided to enter the Realm of Merging with the Dao as soon as possible to gain higher combat power.

And the first threshold to enter the Realm of Merging with the Dao is to advance from the Middle Realm of Profound Understanding to the Upper Realm of Profound Understanding.

Through his searching over the past few days, he had roughly sensed the opportunity to break through, so he planned to start charging the realm from today.

Ding Yao stepped into the pure white, boundless Purple Bamboo Zen Forest, then sat cross-legged beneath the bamboo, his spiritual sense entering a state of stillness, continuously inhaling and exhaling the vast spiritual energy surrounding the Zen forest, refining it into his body.

With the spiritual energy filling him several times over, gradually, the babbling streams within Ding Yao's body transformed into a rushing river, beginning to surge and roar.

Subsequently, his entire body began to emit bursts of mystical light, continuously spreading from his forehead to the ground, the humming sound faint but constant.

Emptiness, darkness.

This was Ding Yao's only sensation while charging the realm, as if he were being wrapped up, his whole body tightening; but this was not an abnormality, rather a feeling that occurs every time one crosses a minor realm.

However, he soon discovered that this sense of restriction was different from the past.

The sense of restriction in previous breakthroughs was merely a single layer of tight wrapping, but this current restriction felt alive, becoming more intense the more he struggled.

And this intense restriction, in all likelihood, stemmed from the strength of his own physical body.

Cultivation in the Upper Five Realms is actually a process of separating the spiritual sense from the physical body, and the strength of the physical body does indeed place some limitations on the spiritual sense.

It is much like when a caterpillar wants to ascend to a higher dimension of life; it must form a cocoon. Sometimes they can indeed break through the cocoon to become a butterfly, but sometimes they also bind themselves in their own cocoon.

The last time Ding Yao broke through a realm was at Qiling; at that time, he had not yet conceived the idea of using the spiritual energy overflowing from his shattered spiritual essence to temper his body.

So that time, the smoothness of his breakthrough was like a burst of urination—let alone unable to hold it back, he couldn't even pinch it off.

But breaking through this time, he had already performed Dim Illumination many times, and the limitation of body refinement on his spiritual sense was exposed without reservation.

No matter, if there's too much water, add flour; if there's too much flour, add water.

He took a deep breath, continuing to draw spiritual energy into his body, struggling with all his might to break free from the restriction, his entire body's fighting spirit beginning to boil.

And as Ding Yao exerted himself fiercely, sweat beads began to overflow from his forehead, while the mystical light around his body began to splash continuously, and the accompanying buzzing sound gradually expanded, turning into waves of whistling that caused the bamboo leaves overhead to rustle incessantly in the Zen forest.

He had once asked Grandpa Dean how the light-body techniques of those martial arts masters on television were practiced.

Grandpa Dean didn't actually know either, so he fooled him, saying to tie heavy iron blocks to his legs, go running every day, and once he reached his previous level, add more iron blocks and keep running.

When one day you feel it's about enough, take all the iron blocks off, and you will have learned the light-body technique.

He thought it made quite a bit of sense at the time, and now, he still thinks it makes a lot of sense.

The restriction strength of the physical body is so great; it is actually like having tied an immense weight to his body. Well then, he insists on trying to see exactly what kind of Upper Realm of Profound Understanding he can charge into...

He Lingxiu had just finished her Dao cultivation and was now walking along the Zen forest into the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest.

Xiao Hanyan and Shi Junhao were also there, drinking tea and resting.

The two of them were currently charging into the Realm of Responding to Heaven; once they entered the Realm of Responding to Heaven, they would be selected as personal disciples of the Hall Master, a benefit they had gained from accompanying the mission to the demon race.

He Lingxiu sat opposite them and asked, "How is the progress?"

Shi Junhao frowned slightly: "It has been several days since returning from the Snow Region, and I still cannot find the opportunity to break through. It seems I must prepare for the long haul."

Hearing this, He Lingxiu said: "I heard from the elders in the academy that the Realm of Responding to Heaven is all about letting nature take its course and responding to the will of Heaven; you don't need to be too anxious."

Cultivation in the Upper Five Realms is a threshold at every step, especially as one goes higher, it becomes more difficult.

Because the Heavenly Dao is profound, at this stage, if one's enlightenment is insufficient, it is truly not something that can be filled by so-called hard work.

However, Shi Junhao and Xiao Hanyan both had quite good talent and were both outstanding figures in the academy.

Moreover, although the Xiao and Shi families were not thousand-year noble families, they were still flourishing noble families, providing them with the conditions to sit in deep mountains, endure for several springs and autumns, and cultivate the Dao with peace of mind.

However, Shi Junhao did not seem to think so: "I'll just wait for the Heavenly Dao Assembly."

He Lingxiu raised her eyes: "You want to go to the place where the sages attained enlightenment to break through?"

"Correct, breaking through there might be faster."

"The top ten in the battle of the same realm can all enter the place where the sages attained enlightenment; this is not a difficult task for you."

Shi Junhao said upon hearing this: "Since I have decided to participate, I must seek the best ranking. To be honest, I want to enter the very center of the Holy Land."

He Lingxiu opened her mouth: "Then you can only take first place. What does Ding Shijie Xiao think?"

Xiao Hanyan looked at Shi Junhao and smiled lightly: "What you can think of, I naturally have thought of as well."

Shi Junhao was stunned: "So you also harbored the same thoughts as me."

"Even without the promise of being a personal disciple, I would still go to the Sages' Holy Land. Among us cultivators, who can resist such temptation?"

Just at this moment, a whistling sound suddenly erupted from deep within the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest, immediately drawing the attention of the three.

He Lingxiu turned her head to look and saw Ding Yao through the gaps in the bamboo forest.

The mystical light around his body was becoming increasingly magnificent, and the whistling sound produced by the aura circling his body had already reached the tea pavilion.

Judging from the aura, He Lingxiu could determine that he was breaking from the Middle Realm of Profound Understanding into the Upper Realm, but Shi Junhao's subsequent muttering made her slightly stunned.

"Do you think he wants to enter the Realm of Merging with the Dao?"

"?"

He Lingxiu turned to look at him, then smiled lightly: "The Realm of Profound Understanding to the Realm of Merging with the Dao is also a major hurdle. Ding Yao has only been in the Realm of Profound Understanding for a year; it won't be that fast. And even if he enters the Realm of Merging with the Dao, he would only be in the Initial Realm of Merging with the Dao. Brother Shi, are you afraid he will snatch your spot?"

After she finished speaking, she looked at Xiao Hanyan, thinking that her senior sister might also laugh, but unexpectedly, Xiao Hanyan's expression also became slightly solemn.

This scene made her freeze, and she slightly parted her pink lips in confusion.

No, are you all truly worried?

He Lingxiu had never been to the Snow Region, had never faced a Soldier King, and had never seen the 【Forty-Nine Mountains】, having only read the case files.

In her view, Ding Yao had merely blocked a punch from a Soldier King comparable to the Realm of Responding to Heaven; although that was shocking enough, the difference between blocking and winning was like heaven and earth.

After all, after he blocked that punch, the Barbarian Soldier King was unscathed, while he suffered from the force permeating his body, which showed he was still lacking a lot.

Xiao Hanyan and Shi Junhao were already touching the threshold of the Realm of Responding to Heaven; they shouldn't be this worried.

Actually, Xiao Hanyan and Shi Junhao thought the same, but whenever they recalled those 【Forty-Nine Mountains】 on the wilderness, they always felt a tremor.

Knowledge gained from books will always feel shallow, and only those of them who had been there in person could understand how formidable that sword Dao was.

Shi Junhao picked up his teacup: "In terms of combat power conversion, there should be nothing to fear, but... there is always a lingering thought of worry."

Xiao Hanyan nodded: "Perhaps it is his reckless spirit that makes us overestimate his combat power every time."

"Does Ji Shidi really want to enter the Realm of Merging with the Dao as soon as possible?"

"He did indeed mention the matter of the Realm of Merging with the Dao."

On a day when the temperature plummeted and frost hung on the branches, Ban Yangshu and Wen Zhengxin were sitting in Cao Jingsong's courtyard, conversing.

A fragrance of tea overflowed from the teapot heated by charcoal fire, conveying a trace of warmth in this biting winter day, adding a bit of leisure to the cold.

Cao Jingsong had recently been busy with Xiang Fu, Liu Jian'an, and Cong Yi condensing their spiritual essence to reach the perfection of the Lower Three Realms.

After all, they were all beloved disciples who loved to give gifts; although those gifts were eventually pried away by the wicked disciple, the gifts were given nonetheless, so it was only right for a teacher to put in more effort.

However, the cultivation progress of these three was not smooth, which made Cao Jingsong deeply feel the gap between people.

Think back to when Ding Yao broke through two realms in one night; that speed... simply five cows couldn't hold him back. Yet Xiang Fu and the others had been stuck for months on condensing their spiritual essence, and even though they had used some spiritual medicine that Ding Yao couldn't afford back then, there was still no success to be seen.

Wen Zhengxin picked up his teacup, pondered for a long while, and said: "Would it be safer for Ji Shidi to participate in the Heavenly Dao Assembly as a practitioner of the Realm of Profound Understanding?"

"I told him the same, but Ding Yao said this is the privilege of noble family disciples, not something a wild private cultivator like him can have."

"What privilege?"

Cao Jingsong raised his eyes: "The privilege of sitting in deep mountains and cultivating the Dao in peace."

Ban Yangshu took up the conversation after hearing this, looking at Wen Zhengxin: "Ji Shidi means that the noble family disciples in the academy can cultivate the Dao in peace because they have family backgrounds as support, but Ji Shidi does not; he has too much to worry about—the immortal manors of Fengzhou, next year's farming, the distribution of tax offerings, all of which are numerous."

Cao Jingsong nodded: "Ding Yao is preparing to change the crops for Fengzhou's farming, and at the same time attract more cultivators to join in reclaiming large tracts of wasteland. Those immortal manors will inevitably use this opportunity to demand a redistribution of next year's tax offerings. For him, strength is the bargaining chip placed on the table."

Wen Zhengxin frowned slightly: "The path Ji Shidi has chosen is too difficult to walk."

"Fengzhou has been carved up by external immortal manors for thousands of years; someone has to walk this path."

In the days that followed, Cao Jingsong received a letter from Shengjing City, signed with the name Xiang Kuangcheng, asking about Ding Yao's breakthrough situation.

He still owed Ding Yao a meal, and the silver was already prepared, so he was working at the Si Xian Jian from nine to five while waiting.

His relationship with Wei Rui was going quite smoothly; they often met in private, and recently he had been thinking about holding her little hand.

However, Ding Yao's main energy was currently focused on breaking through his realm, unable to meet him, so the scholar Xiang could not seek advice.

He had thought about writing a letter to the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, but felt that putting something like "I want to hold her little hand" on paper seemed even more reckless than saying it with his mouth, so he hoped he would break through his realm quickly.

Besides this, Xiang Kuangcheng often went to the orphanage to look after the orphans.

Huwa was at the age of growing, and every time he saw him, he was a bit taller than the last time, but he was still the same as before, always muttering about his younger sister.

Xiang Kuangcheng felt that he seemed to already know his sister had been harmed, because he only muttered his sister's baby name on weekdays, but never again begged Xiang Kuangcheng to help him look for her.

However, the scholar Xiang had actually never given up, always thinking that even if he could find the body, or the grave, or even just her whereabouts, it would be enough.

But after the Zheng family ancestor failed to ascend, everything seemed to have vanished like smoke, and nothing could be found, as if it were just an interlude without a sequel, only with a relatively large momentum, and even the people who mentioned this matter became fewer.

Having finished sending the letter, Xiang Kuangcheng was sitting on a bamboo chair in the orphanage, pinching a candied hawthorn and pondering for a long time, when he saw Wei Rui walking over gracefully.

"Miss Rui'er? Why have you come here?"

"I came to bring some candied fruits for the children."

Wei Rui lifted the snack box in her hand, pinched one out, pondered for a long while, and then handed it to his mouth: "Just out of the Furong Pavilion, here is one for you..."

Xiang Kuangcheng held his breath and finally opened his mouth gently.

Wei Rui's pretty face turned slightly pink, and she hurriedly found a topic: "By the way, why haven't we seen Young Master Ding for so long?"

Xiang Kuangcheng covered his flushed cheeks: "Ding Yao, you're asking about him? He... who is he?"

"?"

"Oh, I remember now, you mean my sworn brother? He is in seclusion breaking through his realm, and I haven't seen him for half a month..."

Wei Rui blinked: "Does breaking through a realm take so long?"

Xiang Kuangcheng shook his head: "I don't know either."

Does breaking through a realm take so long? This question is actually linked to talent.

And Ding Yao's talent has always been excellent; this is something recognized by both the inner and outer courtyards, and it should never have taken so much time.

Thus, Xiao Hanyan and Shi Junhao also often observed him these past few days, and the worry that had been hidden in their hearts gradually settled down.

Because Ding Yao's performance while breaking through his realm was extremely difficult...

Gradually, people began to understand.

He was restricted by his physical body.

Human cultivation requires enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao, while the spiritual sense is the carrier of the resonance between heaven and man. An excessively powerful physical body will restrict the spiritual sense and simultaneously hinder the resonance between heaven and man; this is the consensus of the Qingyun world, so there are very few people in the current cultivation world who practice body refinement.

There are some messy body refinement methods, and only private cultivators or those who have been stuck in a bottleneck for many years would come into contact with them.

And the fact that Ding Yao practiced body refinement was actually known to quite a few people.

"Although I don't know what kind of body refinement method Ding Yao adopted, no matter what, body refinement is a side path that wastes talent."

"Correct, although body refinement will make combat power between those of the same realm stronger, the drawbacks are also very significant; it completely offsets the closeness to the Heavenly Dao."

"There are some students without talent who waste many years; I would suggest they contact some side paths, but Ding Yao... really shouldn't."

"He is a wild private cultivator, what other way does he have? If it weren't for body refinement, could he have defeated Chu He? Could he have lifted the Forty-Nine Mountains of Lingjian Mountain?"

The time Ding Yao's breakthrough dragged on was extremely long, causing countless discussions in the winter when all things wither, and even the elders were discussing it among themselves, triggering a dual exploration of body refinement and Dao enlightenment.

This is an extremely classic case, worthy of being called once in a century.

Because after a matter becomes a negative consensus, there are very few who will not believe in evil. Someone like Ding Yao, who has talent but is stubborn about body refinement, is simply as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

So, should one practice body refinement or not?

If you say one should, the restrictions he is currently receiving are obvious to all.

If you say one shouldn't, others feel that he, in that state, would very likely not have been able to withstand Chu He's 【Hun Tian Technique】 during the Autumn Battle, nor would he have been able to lift the 【Forty-Nine Mountains】 on the wilderness.

"Actually, I was quite afraid that Ding Yao would break through his realm easily; now I am slightly relieved."

"Oh?"

"Doesn't Brother Pan feel that this rising star makes it a bit difficult for us in the inner courtyard?"

On the mountain road of the Buchan Hall, two figures were coming down the mountain at this time.

One was named Pan Bin, and the other was named Liu Qichen; they were the two who entered the courtyard before Ding Yao and had failed to sense the Heavenly Book, having been stuck at the threshold of the Realm of Merging with the Dao for many years.

Compared to Ding Yao, they were not famous; although they entered the inner courtyard without encountering strong enemies when they entered the courtyard that year, without the assistance of the Heavenly Book, their cultivation speed had always been slow.

When chatting about Ding Yao's breakthrough in the courtyard, they were actually the most awkward; later, hearing that he was having difficulty breaking through because his physical body was too strong, they couldn't help but relax a little.

In the twelfth lunar month, the entire region of the Nine Provinces began to snow, and the world in Shengjing was white, with jade-like fragments that seemed to have been crushed falling from the sky, fluttering and scattering.

The peak of Nishan turned white overnight, and the rustling snow covered the entire capital.

The Heavenly Tian Shuyuan is the closest to the Heavenly Dao among the seven great immortal sects, accustomed to following the four seasons and festivals, and usually does not use immortal methods to drive away the falling snow, so that the eaves of the five great immortal halls in the inner courtyard were hung with crystal-clear icicles, like hanging glaze.

In the morning, inner courtyard disciples came toward the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest.

After all, a day's plan lies in the morning, and the human brain is clearest within the first few moments of waking up in the morning.

Several places for Dao enlightenment had already been cleaned up by the Zhangshi Yuan, and the cushions were also placed neatly.

"Ding Shijie Xiao, have a cup of morning tea?"

"No, I don't have the habit of drinking tea in the morning; I'd better go to enlighten myself on the Dao first."

Xiao Hanyan waved to He Lingxiu, Shi Junhao, Chai Ze, Leng Yingying, and others in the tea pavilion, then went to her position and entered a state of stillness without a word.

Searching for an opportunity is different from daily Dao enlightenment; it does not require long-term persistence, nor does it require supplementation with elixirs and spirit stones.

Sometimes the appearance of an opportunity often resides in a flash of inspiration at a certain moment.

Cultivators at this stage usually do not let themselves enter a state of stillness too deeply, so as not to let their state of mind become too silent and ignore that flash of inspiration at a certain moment.

At this time, Xiao Hanyan's eyes were tightly closed, continuously searching between the Heavenly Dao.

And I don't know how long it had been, when a sound of water suddenly rang in the ears of this candidate for personal disciple, causing her brow to wrinkle slightly.

In recent days, the world seemed to have been frozen by severe cold, the temperature had dropped to the extreme, and flowing water had turned into solid ice; she had not heard such lively water sounds for a long time.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see the accumulated snow on the ground that had not been cleared away quietly melting.

Subsequently, the snow water gathered in the ditches between the bamboo forests, forming trickling streams that meandered forward.

"The temperature has risen..."

Xiao Hanyan thought to herself, subconsciously turning her head to the left, only to see other inner courtyard disciples also casting astonished gazes in the same direction.

In that place, the accumulated snow had already melted into a regular circle, and the snow water was continuously overflowing outward along the terrain.

Subsequently, a pair of brilliant golden eyes slowly opened, and a scorching aura continuously overflowed from the owner of those eyes.

Xiao Hanyan was slightly stunned, feeling a wave of heat rushing toward her...

He Lingxiu, Shi Junhao, and the others had just finished their morning tea and intended to go to enlighten themselves on the Dao.

During this time, the banter did not stop, and some people seemed to be making bets, betting on who, Xiao Hanyan or Shi Junhao, would be the first to break through to the Realm of Responding to Heaven.

However, just as they had walked out of the tea pavilion, their forward footsteps suddenly stopped, and the smiles on their faces began to fade slowly.

Because at this moment, they happened to encounter Ding Yao walking out of the bamboo forest.

His lips were as pale as paper, without a trace of blood, and he nodded gently to the crowd in the tea pavilion, then dragged his slightly heavy footsteps and walked toward the outside of the bamboo forest, his brows and eyes full of exhaustion, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

However, this metaphor was not inappropriate, because the hardship of his breakthrough was truly no less than having survived a serious illness.

And at this time in front of the tea pavilion, the crowd opened their mouths, their expressions revealing a trace of solemnity.

"He has reached the Upper Realm of Profound Understanding..."

"His aura is so strong..."

He Lingxiu and the others looked at his departing back, clearly able to feel his exhaustion.

But more obvious than the exhaustion was the aura like a roaring tiger and a singing dragon emanating from him, like the morning sun bursting forth, whistling incessantly in the chill of winter.

Aura is related to the realm, while spirit is usually related to combat power.

Although this judgment is not very accurate, it actually has a certain reference value.

He Lingxiu was still in the Middle Realm of Merging with the Dao at this time, but facing this kind of aura, she had a feeling that she might not be able to easily defeat him.

(Seeking monthly tickets)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 191 =====