Realm-Hopping Martial Master-Chapter 480 - 287: The Sleeping Artifact Spirit! Become an Immortal! Become an Immortal!
"Seeking the path truly requires enduring solitude."
Only fifteen days had passed in the outside world, but within the mysterious Great Hall, Jiang Shu had cultivated for a full fifteen years. In those fifteen years, he had cultivated several important Divine Skills to Perfection and achieved Break Limit. The Cultivation Technique "Azure Sky and Blue Sea Technique" had also reached the limit of small success.
By his side, the Cloud Winged Flying Crocodile continuously inhaled and exhaled Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from various types of Primordial Crystals. Jiang Shu would also occasionally toss it Elixirs he refined for its Cultivation. Compared to humans, Demon Beasts possess a much longer lifespan; some Inner Core Realm Demon Beasts can even easily live for thousands of years. Their lifespan is far longer than that of Nirvana Realm Monarchs. This kind of secret sanctuary, controlling the flow of time, was actually most suitable for their Cultivation.
"Master."
Seeing Jiang Shu suddenly stand up, the Cloud Winged Flying Crocodile immediately ceased its Cultivation, its gaze towards Jiang Shu full of respect. Upon arriving in this mysterious Great Hall, it had immediately sensed the terrifying Heaven-Severing and Earth-Barring environment. Not a trace of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi remained. It knew that whether Cultivators or Demon Beasts, if they did not have substantial flesh to consume, they needed to ingest Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to fulfill their bodily needs. Once deprived of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi for an extended period, the Primordial Power and demonic power within would be exhausted. Their vitality, like a spring without a source, could no longer be continuously generated. Not only would one’s Realm fail to advance, it would actually decline.
Extended Cultivation was not to be feared; what was fearsome was the lack of room for advancement. This Heaven-Severing and Earth-Barring state, coupled with the terrifying time flow of one year inside to one day outside, meant any Nirvana Realm Monarch or Transformed Great Demon would perish within.
But it always firmly believed its master had a way out! This master of its, acquired so readily, possessed too many mysteries. An endless supply of various Cultivation resources. Another realm for Cultivation. Such means, even Nirvana Realm Monarchs did not possess!
"You continue your Cultivation. I’ll examine this stone gate and see what secrets it holds."
Jiang Shu gestured with his hand. Over these fifteen years, besides cultivating, he had taken every opportunity to approach the stone gate. His spiritual power, which initially kept him a hundred paces away, now allowed him to be only ninety paces distant. With each step forward, he could vaguely capture fragments of insight—some resembling Divine Skills or Cultivation Techniques, but more often, they seemed like elucidations on the Great Dao.
He sat before the stone gate, his spiritual power tirelessly probing, gradually comprehending the application of various Techniques from the patterns on the gate. The origins of this Great Hall were mysterious. At the very least, it was definitely left by a Mixed Cave Realm Daoist Venerable. In the Cang Mang Domain, a Mixed Cave Realm Daoist Venerable was capable of establishing a Sect no less powerful than the Eight Great Sects, one that could stand for over ten thousand years. In the Great Hall of such a mighty being, every tile and pillar could potentially contain elucidations of the Great Dao, let alone the stone gate that was evidently of crucial importance within.
From the Furnace Fire Realm to the Nirvana Realm, Cultivators cultivate Divine Skills. Only a rare few geniuses of the Nirvana Realm can come into contact with Dao Skills. What they cultivate are no longer Divine Skills or Cultivation Techniques, but the myriad aspects of the Great Dao itself. If I can comprehend something in this mysterious Great Hall, perhaps my future Cultivation path will be free of barriers, allowing me to advance all the way to the Realm of Wanxiang. These fifteen years, I’ve mainly focused on cultivating Divine Skills and polishing my Primordial Power, which is why I’ve only advanced ten paces. From now on, I can dedicate all my time to comprehending the stone gate.
As these thoughts settled in his mind, Jiang Shu became almost wholly immersed in comprehending the stone gate.
The mysterious Great Hall stood, ancient and eternal. Countless Nirvana Realm experts had done the same as Jiang Shu. Their understanding of the Dao and of Cultivation likely surpassed Jiang Shu’s many times over. But without exception, all had perished within this mysterious Great Hall. This was because comprehending the Great Dao depends not only on Talent but even more so on temperament. The more one knew of the Heaven-Severing and Earth-Barring nature of this place and its abnormal time flow, the more urgent their heart would become. How many could truly focus on comprehension when facing life and death? Not to mention, comprehension didn’t guarantee a way out; it was merely a possibility.
Jiang Shu’s heart was as still as water. In an instant, a hundred years passed. For ordinary mortals, a century is a cycle of life and death. But for Jiang Shu, it was merely a thoroughly fulfilling session of seclusion.
In that hundred years, his spiritual power, under the pressure from the stone gate, advanced another step, reaching a point just fifty paces away from the gate. The various fragments of insight emanating from the stone gate increasingly approached the Great Dao. Jiang Shu often had epiphanies; his Primordial Power steadily accumulated, and his spiritual power underwent a transformation. His Cultivation level had long reached the Late Stage of the Primordial Pill Realm.
More important than the increase in his Cultivation was that, having listened to a part of the voice of the Great Dao, his understanding of Divine Skills had thoroughly surpassed that of ordinary True Men of the Primordial Pill Realm. Even if he were given a Heavenly Rank Divine Power, he could completely comprehend it and reach entry-level understanding within a year. Earth Rank Divine Powers that Inner Sect Disciples in some Sects took years to achieve Great Success in, he might master in only a few months.
During his more than one hundred years in the mysterious Great Hall, he had laid an extremely solid foundation. Various Techniques he had previously not fully grasped were now all comprehensively understood and integrated. More importantly, his state of mind, within the mysterious Great Hall, had been elevated immeasurably. The mysterious Great Hall was a place of solitude, of loneliness, a place where one truly forgot everything. Especially when comprehending the stone gate, his state perfectly matched the description of the Sitting and Forgetting Realm: "Discard the limbs, eschew cleverness, leave form and knowledge behind, converge with the Great Thoroughfare."
