Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 553: Chapter 553: The Time Has Come

A thrill went through Xu Yunfan.

’It’s working!’

Although the message on his Attribute Panel warned that comprehension would be difficult, he knew that as long as he persisted, mastering the basics was only a matter of time.

He hadn’t even truly started cultivating this Secret Technique yet, but from a few crude applications, he could already sense its formidable power.

He then put down the leather scroll and picked up the jet-black Jade Scroll that held the *Sun and Moon Profound Pivot*.

As his Divine Sense entered it, a majestic will of cycling Yin and Yang and the alternating sun and moon washed over him, boundless and pure. The mighty True Intent began to...

’You have begun comprehending the *Sun and Moon Profound Pivot*. This is a grand and noble art that tempers the foundations of one’s physical body and Divine Soul. Your perception is sharp. Skill Level +3.’

「On the summit of Divine Sky Peak, within the Quiet Chamber.」

At times, Xu Yunfan would close his eyes in comprehension, rubbing his fingertips together. Sparks flew in the empty air as a strange, celestial-eroding, netherworldly light coiled between his fingers.

At other times, his body’s Qi Mechanism would erupt. A faint, golden-jade luster flowed beneath his skin. By day, a phantom of the scorching sun seemed to shine down on him; by night, the stars and moon bathed him in their glow.

The roar of the Divine Sky Thunderbolt gradually blended in, creating a peculiar resonance.

Furthermore, the dense Cloud Qi accumulated within his *Profound Capital Eight Sceneries Celestial Refining Creation Cloud Scripture* was constantly being mobilized. It poured into his physical body, providing an endless stream of pure energy to support the *Sun and Moon Profound Pivot*. At the same time, it continuously refined the subtle structures and transformations of the Cloud Runes.

The *Sun and Moon Profound Pivot* tempered the body by drawing on the power of the sun and moon, and the *Profound Capital Eight Sceneries Cloud Qi* happened to be capable of absorbing Sun and Moon Essence.

After all, Artifact Refining required more than just Magical Power; it also drew upon various Zodiac Powers, with Sun and Moon Essence naturally being among them.

Under the control of his Dao Foundation and Attribute Panel, the four top-tier True Skills and Secret Techniques advanced in tandem, operating in an astonishingly complementary and mutually reinforcing manner.

On his status panel, not only were the Skill Levels for the *Celestial-Eroding Netherworld Talisman* and the *Sun and Moon Profound Pivot* slowly ticking upward, but the Skill Level value in parentheses after the *Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture* was also climbing toward 1,000 points at a slow but steady pace.

As for his *Profound Capital Eight Sceneries Celestial Refining Creation Cloud Scripture*, it had already reached the Great Success stage. Reaching the Perfection level required five thousand Skill Level points; it would be a long while before he could max it out.

...

*You have gained some insight while comprehending the Celestial-Eroding Netherworld Talisman. Skill Level +2.*

*You visualized the sun and moon and drew upon the essence of the great sun to temper your body. Skill Level for the Sun and Moon Profound Pivot +1.*

*The Profound Capital Cloud Qi in your body nourishes your muscles and bones, accelerating the circulation of the Sun and Moon Profound Pivot. Skill Level +1.*

*...*

*Your Divine Sky Nine Heavens Profound Vault Undying True Scripture’s Dao Foundation has stabilized, triggering a wisp of Divine Sky True Intent. Skill Level +2.*

The notifications on his Attribute Panel flickered continuously.

The only price he paid was several months of secluded Cultivation.

Pushed along by the Skill Level increases on his Attribute Panel, Xu Yunfan’s intangible connection to the Divine Sky Dao Fruit hanging high above the Nine Heavens grew clearer, bit by bit, silent and unseen.

One day, after finishing his Cultivation, Xu Yunfan’s Heart and Spirit stirred. Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, he quietly activated a subtle thread of thought.

Far away in the Divine Martial Realm, Clone Han Stone was deeply immersed in comprehending the *Wansheng Sword Technique*.

An almost imperceptible "moment of epiphany," seeming to originate from the very depths of his Sword Heart’s Spiritual Sense, quietly descended upon him, jolting him awake from his Meditation.

With a full head of white hair and a wizened face, Han Shi abruptly lifted his head. A spark he hadn’t felt in ages, along with an irrepressible excitement, lit up his murky eyes.

He had long since tempered his Sword Intent to the realm of the Heart Sword. His will was as pure and sharp as one who had achieved Sword Heart Clarity. In terms of Sword Dao alone, his realm was comparable to that of a Cultivator at Qi Cultivation Great Perfection.

Because time flowed slightly faster in the Divine Martial Realm than in the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, he could rely on his Sword Intent alone to be invincible among peers of the same level.

However, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in the Divine Martial Realm was as sparse as in a desert. Despite his advanced Realm, the True Essence accumulated in his body was a pathetic trickle. He possessed the comprehension but lacked the power to ascend to greater heights.

Yet, this century of confinement in a land devoid of spiritual energy had acted as the cruelest of whetstones, honing his will and Sword Intent to an even greater purity and clarity.

Every wisp of fading Essence Qi, every moment of agony as his lifespan neared its end, had been forged into the cold glint on his sword’s edge.

"Space is trembling!"

Han Shi’s withered fingers clenched instinctively as he sensed the subtle, yet undeniably real, warping ripples throughout the entire Divine Martial Realm.

’The hundred-year cycle is here again. The Heaven and Earth Qi Mechanism is in turmoil. The Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm must have completed a cycle, causing a rift to open.

It’s an exit. If I can find it, I can finally leave this godforsaken place.’

’This realm is practically in a Dharma Decline Era. Even if the Spiritual Qi were to recover, it would take three or four hundred years. By then, I’ll be nothing but a pile of bones.’

He hesitated no longer. His emaciated frame erupted with a strength that belied his appearance. He shot to his feet from the stone platform where he sat, his posture as straight and unyielding as a sword.

He had toiled in this place for nearly a hundred years. His hair was white, and his life was almost at its end.

If he couldn’t find a chance to escape and discover the path to Foundation Establishment, he feared he would truly turn to dust in this desolate realm, his century of cultivating the Sword Dao all for naught.

Following the faint, esoteric pull born from the spatial tremors, Han Shi transformed into a dim but fierce streak of sword light. Pushing against the realm’s invisible, sluggish pressure, he sped across the desolate landscape.

After speeding for dozens of miles, a dark fissure appeared in the deep void ahead. Like a ghastly wound, it flickered in and out of sight amidst the ripples in space.

"I’ve found it! The heavens haven’t abandoned me!"

Han Shi’s expression lit up at the sight, his beard trembling with excitement.

It was just as he’d thought. Once every hundred years, the Divine Martial Realm would experience brief, intense spatial tremors caused by the pull of the Qi Mechanism from its parent realm, the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm.

This fissure was his only window to life and hope.

At this life-or-death juncture, there was no room for hesitation.

He let out a low roar, one suppressed for nearly a century, and fearlessly poured all his remaining power into the sword light beneath his feet. Like a moth drawn to a flame, he plunged headfirst into the twisting, shifting black fissure.

POP!

It felt like passing through a thick, tough membrane. An intense sensation of being torn apart by space instantly enveloped him.

The next moment, he was hit by a wave of indescribable, suffocatingly dense Vitality. It carried Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi so pure that every pore on his body seemed to moan in response. Like a torrent that had been building for ten thousand years, it instantly and completely submerged him.

"Ngh!"

A low groan, somewhere between pain and ecstasy, escaped Han Shi’s throat.

His body, which had been like a dry well, suddenly became the greediest of sponges, instinctively and frantically absorbing the surging Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

His meridians revived. His parched Dantian Qi Sea greedily devoured the energy. His decaying flesh trembled under the deluge of Pure Spiritual Qi, overwhelmed and ecstatic all at once.

He didn’t know how long the frenzy of Spiritual Qi lasted before he finally slowed his rapacious absorption.

He stood suspended in the void, feeling an unprecedented sense of immense power and abundant life flowing through him. The powerful thrill of having escaped death surged through his Heart and Spirit.

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