Chapter 11: One Day in the Bitter Sea, Truly a Peerless Genius

"You can slowly gain insight later. For now, I'll tell you what the Bitter Sea is."

"There are countless methods in the world, but all paths lead to the same destination; none fail to open the path to immortality." Elder Wu Qingfeng continued, speaking of the beginning of cultivation.

All things in the world pass with the years; some endure forever through the ages, while others are like a cicada's cry for a single lifetime, and mayflies born in the morning and dead by evening vanish in the blink of an eye, a life hurriedly passing.

All things have a place of origin, and the human body's place of origin is below the navel, called the Life Wheel, the fundamental repository of the body's Life Essence Qi.

Commoners use the Life Wheel to beget children, Daoists to beget the body; cultivators who wish to tread the path of immortality begin with the Life Wheel.

Throughout a mortal's life, the Life Wheel continually dries up; time is like a carving knife, leaving a mark on it every year, like tree rings. After a hundred years, the Life Wheel is covered in the scars of time, and that is when the Life Wheel shatters, marking the end of a mortal's life.

The Bitter Sea submerges the Life Wheel and gnaws at it along with time, hence the saying of crossing the Bitter Sea. Cultivation begins with creation within the Bitter Sea, forging the Divine Bridge to the Other Shore, crossing to the end of the Bitter Sea.

Time slowly passed, and Elder Wu Qingfeng spoke a great deal, from the essence of cultivation to the common knowledge of the cultivation world; the three absorbed it like sponges. Finally, Elder Wu Qingfeng produced a scripture claimed to be the most powerful basic method in the world—the "Dao Classic."

The Dao Classic, named after the Dao; to dare take such a name says enough. This is the scripture of the Great Dao, a supreme art.

And now, Jiang Xuan has obtained the Beginning Chapter of the Dao Classic.

Next, the old man explained the scripture to the three of them.

The Life Wheel Sea Chapter of the Dao Classic contains little content, only a few thousand words, but the principles contained within are extremely profound. At the beginning of cultivation, without guidance, relying solely on one's own comprehension, even a peerless Heaven's Pride would likely gain nothing.

As Jiang Xuan listened to Elder Wu Qingfeng's explanation of the Dao Classic, he found that many principles in the Dao Classic were similar to the true meanings of some martial arts manuals, and even some classic chapters on Earth contained many overlapping principles.

During this time, the three raised questions about what they didn't understand, and Elder Wu Qingfeng answered them one by one.

The more they listened, the more shocked they became. The boy named Jiang Xuan's initial questions were relatively shallow, but gradually the questions he raised even required him to think before answering; in the end, some questions even brought him new insights.

Such comprehension could not be called anything but terrifying.

This is a genius surpassing Wei Wei!

Until evening, when Elder Wu Qingfeng finished explaining the Beginning Chapter of the Dao Classic, instructed the three to carefully contemplate it, then rode a rainbow light and flew away.

Jiang Xuan spent three days reviewing Elder Wu Qingfeng's previous explanation and contemplating the content of the Dao Classic, feeling he could begin the first step of cultivation: guiding essence qi and impacting the Bitter Sea.

Jiang Xuan sat cross-legged, attempting to sense the Life Wheel using the sensing method recorded in the Dao Classic.

"The Life Wheel is located below the navel, that is, the dantian. Both the Zhetian Dharma Wheel Sea Realm and the North Ming Divine Skill cultivate this place. The difference is that Zhetian senses the Life Wheel and then guides Life Essence Qi to impact the Bitter Sea, while the North Ming Divine Skill focuses on absorbing the essence of heaven and earth through the body's meridians and storing it in the dantian."

Through the sensing method and inner vision, Jiang Xuan soon sensed the Life Wheel. At the location of the Life Wheel, a mass of purple True Qi swirled, that which had been cultivated through practicing the North Ming Divine Skill.

"Impact the Bitter Sea? It's not that difficult."

After sensing the Life Wheel, Jiang Xuan used the impacting method from the Dao Classic to quickly open the Bitter Sea. During the process of opening the Bitter Sea, purple North Ming True Qi swirled, a thread merging into the Bitter Sea until it disappeared.

"Compared to the Zhetian Method, the North Ming Divine Skill is still too low-level. Turning North Ming True Qi into provisions for expanding the Bitter Sea is a good thing."

"Among the Myriad Realms there are countless cultivation methods; there must be martial arts side worlds with extremely high upper limits, but for now, there is no doubt that practicing the Zhetian Method is the best choice."

Thus, Jiang Xuan circulated the North Ming Divine Skill, and even more majestic True Qi rushed into the Bitter Sea, thread after thread.

The North Ming True Qi completely disappeared. One day after opening the Bitter Sea, Jiang Xuan reached the peak of the Bitter Sea Realm, only one step away from breaking through to the Mingquan Realm.

Circulating the Dao Classic, a divine mark like water waves, like an iron chain, shot out from below his navel and landed on a two-meter-high boulder, splitting the boulder in two like tofu, the cut surface smooth and flat.

Forging divine marks in the Bitter Sea is a sign of having gone very far in this realm.

Within the Cave Heaven, there are no lack of disciples who have cultivated in the Bitter Sea Realm for years but still have not forged divine marks. Such a Bitter Sea Realm, compared to mortals, is merely more vigorous in life force, with no corresponding attack methods, and might even be defeated by someone born with divine strength.

Now, Jiang Xuan stood at the peak of this realm.

Feeling the fullness of the Bitter Sea within his body, Jiang Xuan looked forward to the subsequent cultivation with great anticipation.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo heard the commotion outside the thatched cottage and hurriedly came out.

"Damn, Jiang Ge, you've opened the Bitter Sea? Is there any need for people to live anymore?" Pang Bo looked at the large boulder; the cut surface was polished like a master's work, smooth as a mirror, and he was extremely shocked.

"Jiang Xuan, is this a divine mark?" Ye Fan looked more deeply; this was not a method one could have just upon entering the Bitter Sea Realm, very similar to the divine mark attack method recorded in the Dao Classic.

Their old classmate, in just one day had cultivated to the profound realm of the Bitter Sea; with the appearance of a divine mark, those who had not entered this realm could not resist it at all, completely distinguishing them from mortals.

Ye Fan thought about how to dodge if such an attack came at him.

Close-quarters combat? Stay away from the divine mark attack range?

He shook his head, driving these absurd thoughts from his mind. When at Leiyin Temple, he had seen Jiang Xuan climb onto a boulder ten or twenty meters away in just a few breaths, so fast that afterimages appeared; when releasing divine marks, they certainly did not stand still in place.

There was only a dead end!

Actually, when releasing divine marks, one could not only move quickly, but could still control them after release, forming various methods, such as condensing them into a blade shape to use blade techniques, or condensing them into a bell shape to imitate the Golden Bell Cover for body protection. Although True Qi merged into the Bitter Sea and was exhausted, attack methods could be applied by analogy.

Jiang Xuan was not limited to simply releasing divine mark attacks; he was testing and verifying various ideas. For a while, divine marks danced across the sky, setting him off as if a god had descended to the mortal world.

Seeing this, Pang Bo's look of shock grew even stronger.

"I once had some opportunities, all of which have now been converted into provisions for the Bitter Sea. Forging divine marks is only natural; subsequent cultivation may have to slow down."

Jiang Xuan was speaking the truth. The North Ming True Qi of Grandmaster level was no less effective than dozens of bottles of Hundred Herbs Liquid, all converted into the power to expand the Bitter Sea. To maintain the same pace in subsequent cultivation, naturally more resources would be needed.

"Jiang Ge, once rich and noble, do not forget me." Pang Bo looked at Jiang Xuan with an expression full of deep affection.

Ye Fan:.

Jiang Xuan:.

(Chapter End)