Martial Peak

Two days later, Yang Kai opened his eyes and a profound light flashed across their depths.

A moment later, a hint of confusion appeared on his face.

He was somewhat puzzled by the current condition.

After returning to High Heaven Pavilion and walking through all its familiar paths, he had suddenly fallen into a strange state. Initially, Yang Kai had thought he was experiencing a breakthrough and had simply allowed nature to take its course, but after waking up, he discovered that he had not advanced to the Saint Realm at all.

He was still a Third Order Transcendent, but the True Qi that was flowing through his body seemed somewhat different from before.

Closing his eyes and examining himself with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai discovered that the True Qi in his meridians had increased in purity and density. If his previous True Qi was akin to water in a river, his current True Qi now showed subtle signs of crystallization.

When it was not in use, it no longer flowed freely, but once Yang Kai pushed it, it was not only stronger, it also contained a greater destructive force with it.

The Yang Liquid stored in his dantian also seemed to be undergoing a change, becoming more akin to dazzling golden jewels rather than drops of molten gold.

Yang Kai was confused and didn’t know what was happening to him.

After thoroughly investigating his physical condition, Yang Kai couldn’t find anything wrong with himself. On the contrary, he felt quite refreshed, as if the strange change in his True Qi not only wasn’t harmful to him but had instead brought him great benefits.

At the very least, Yang Kai instinctually felt he had become stronger.

Sending out a Divine Sense Message, it was not long before Li Rong and Han Fei flew over and entered the secluded cave, both of them saluting politely as they asked, “What is Master’s command?”

These past two days, Li Rong and Han Fei were treated as guests in the High Heaven Pavilion and they occasionally helped with the cleanup effort around the Sect. Both of them noticed that Yang Kai had entered a state of meditative cultivation and naturally did not come to disturb him until Yang Kai took the initiative to summon them over.

“I have some questions to ask you both,” Yang Kai signalled to them to sit down.

The two women smiled, even Han Fei was showing a warm look quite in contrast to her normally ice-cold temperament.

In their impression, Yang Kai seemed almost omnipotent, but this time he had actually called them to ask their advice, surprising them.

The two sat down and Li Rong asked, “Is there anything Master is unclear about regarding his cultivation?”

“En,” Yang Kai nodded, relaxing his defences, “Use your Divine Senses to examine the True Qi in my body to see if there is anything wrong with it.”

“Something wrong with it?” Han Fei was shocked.

“Very well, excuse us,” Li Rong didn’t speak any nonsense and began sweeping Yang Kai with her powerful Divine Sense.

After a moment, her beautiful eyes lit up as she muttered, “True Qi Sanctification?”

Han Fei also showed a pleasant expression as she smiled happily towards Yang Kai and said, “Congratulations Master, with Master’s cultivation speed, I’m afraid it won’t be long before you officially break through to the Saint Realm.”

“En, since you’ve already reached the point of True Qi Sanctification, and considering the pace at which Master’s cultivation advances, I would estimate that within two to three years you will become a Saint. If there are some opportunities or epiphanies along the way, that time will only be shorter.”

“Stop!” Yang Kai reached out his hand and knit his brow, staring blankly at the two women for a moment before asking, “First explain to me, what is this True Qi Sanctification you’re talking about? Why are you so sure that I am not far from reaching the Saint Realm?”

Li Rong and Han Fei shot an astonished glance at each other upon hearing these questions, but soon the two of them burst into laughter, their voices resounding like delicate silver bells in the secluded cave.

Yang Kai instantly felt uncomfortable.

Li Rong’s laughter was extremely carefree while even Han Fei, who always wore an icy expression, was doubled over, the two of them clearly finding this whole situation incredibly funny, and clearly he was the cause.

Yet Yang Kai, as the butt of this joke, actually knew nothing.

“Have the two of you laughed enough yet?” Yang Kai glared at them.

Noticing that Yang Kai seemed to be becoming angry out of shame, Li Rong and Han Fei hurriedly restrained their laughter, but the two of them still couldn’t help covering their mouths with their hands as their shoulders trembled lightly.

Yang Kai could only rub his forehead, feeling quite helpless.

Sometime later, Li Rong and Han Fei finally composed themselves and the former asked, “Master, have you ever received any formal instruction regarding cultivation?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because if someone had given you formal instruction, you should know what True Qi Sanctification is and understand that it is a checkpoint on the path to the Saint Realm.”

“A checkpoint before reaching the Saint Realm?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested, “Go on.”

Li Rong and Han Fei, one after another, began to explain.

“In this world, there are a lot of Transcendent Realm cultivators, but of these many Transcendents, those who can successfully break through to the Saint Realm probably number less than one percent. Why are there so many Transcendents who fail to grasp the mysteries of the Saint Realm? The main reason is their inability to achieve True Qi Sanctification.”

“A cultivator, from when they first begin to cultivate until they reach the Saint Realm, must walk step by step and experience many breakthroughs, each one more difficult than the last. It can be said that every breaking through to each new Great Realm results in a kind of rebirth where one receives both internal and external baptisms. However, over this entire process of growth, a cultivator will also experience two fundamental changes in their internal strength.”

“One time is when they break through from the Separation and Reunion Boundary to the True Element Boundary, when the Yuan Qi in their meridians is transformed into True Qi. The great difference in power between these two types of Qi, I believe Master is quite well aware of.”

Yang Kai lightly nodded.

Before the Peak Separation and Reunion Boundary, Yuan Qi was what flowed through a cultivator’s meridians, but after they broke through to the True Element Boundary, it was replaced by True Qi.

The two Qis were fundamentally different. Disregarding the change in realm and only examining it from the perspective of pure power, when Yuan Qi transformed into True Qi, a cultivator’s combat potential would dramatically increase.

“The second great change occurs when one breaks through from the Transcendent Realm to the Saint Realm!” Li Rong declared in a spirited tone, “Because the energy which flows through a Saint Realm master’s body is not True Qi.”

“Not True Qi?” Yang Kai’s brow rose, somewhat unable to process what he was hearing.

No one had ever told him anything regarding this matter.

“Yes, what flows through a Saint Realm master’s meridians is Saint Qi, and its strength is incomparable to that of True Qi.”

Yang Kai was shocked and could not speak for a long time.

Han Fei thought about it for a moment before continuing, “For example, a block of Low-Rank Crystal Stone contains significantly less energy a block of Top -Rank Crystal Stone of equivalent volume, but the amount of energy in a block of Saint Crystal is incomparable to a block of Top-Rank Crystal Stone of equal size. Yuan Qi is like Low-Rank Crystal Stone, True Qi like Top-Rank Crystal Stone, and Saint Qi like Saint Crystal.”

Such a basic fact was something Yang Kai actually knew nothing about.

“Because Master has had some kind of opportunity, the True Qi in your body has begun to transform into Saint Qi. When this transformation is complete, Master will only have to fully comprehend the mysteries of the Saint Realm and he will be able to smoothly break through,” Li Rong looked at him with excitement, feeling sincerely happy about his rapid growth.

“Before now, hasn’t anyone ever spoken about this matter to Master?” Han Fei asked in amazement.

The reason they had never mentioned anything about the True Qi Sanctification process to Yang Kai was because they had assumed he was aware of it already, as that was common sense. Never had they anticipate he was actually completely ignorant about it.

“It’s only to be expected that no one has told Master about this,” Li Rong smiled, “Master’s rate of growth is simply too fast! The Elders around him probably did not anticipate he would already be experiencing True Qi Sanctification and were simply planning on mentioning it to him at some point in the future. At the very least, the Holy Land’s Great Elder would have eventually explained about this process to you.”

Yang Kai gently nodded; after learning about his current situation and understanding it was not a misdemeanor, he finally relaxed.

“What should I do now?” Yang Kai asked hesitantly.

“There’s nothing to do, just go about your life as before,” Li Rong smiled and replied.

“Is there any way to speed up the progress of this True Qi Sanctification?” Yang Kai knit his brow, “I remember when it was time to convert my Yuan Qi to True Qi, there were certain medicines that could be used as auxiliaries to improve the purity and refinement rate of my True Qi.”

“That was because your foundation was yet to be fully established, so it was possible to improve and increase the conversation rate, but True Qi Sanctification takes place after one’s foundation has already been established, so there is no way to speed it up. One can only let nature take its course.”

“I understand,” Yang Kai sighed lightly but still felt quite excited in his heart.

After his True Qi was completely converted into Saint Qi, and he fully comprehended the mysteries of the Saint Realm, he would be able to step into that realm.

Yang Kai wasn’t concerned at all about comprehending these mysteries; for others, this might be a difficult task, but for him, it was nothing.

He had absorbed so many Saint Realm cultivators’ perceptions and insights into the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, transforming them into his own strength, so breaking through to the Saint Realm would not be an issue for him.

Now he just had to wait for the Qi in his body to finish transforming, so the time it would take for him to reach the next Great Realm would probably be much shorter than what Li Rong estimated.

After spending a moment lost in his own thoughts, Yang Kai collected himself and set aside the matter of the Saint Realm, stood up and asked, “What is the situation in High Heaven Pavilion?”

“Things have mostly been settled,” Li Rong replied.

“Good, then we should set out,” Yang Kai said, leaping out of his secluded cave and flying up.

He had planned to travel to the Central Capital immediately after securing High Heaven Pavilion, but this unexpected opportunity had delayed him two days.

High Heaven Pavilion was now fully occupied with the disciples and Elders from all of the Three Sects gathered here. Su Mu was only temporarily place people around the Sect’s grounds, forcing many of them to simply sit outside, taking the sky as their blankets and the ground as their beds.

Inside the main hall, Su Mu and the Pavilion Elders sat around a large table along with Hu Man of Blood Battle Gang, the Hu Sisters, Xiao Ruo Han of Storm Hall and Fang Zi Ji.

When Yang Kai arrived, they seemed to be discussing something.

The moment he entered the room, all eyes landed on Yang Kai, expectant and excited looks upon all their faces.

“Brother-in-law, are you going to the Central Capital?” Su Mu asked.

“En,” Yang Kai nodded.

“Then I wish you a swift victory and triumphant return!” Su Mu declared.

Yang Kai stared at him with a look of surprise.

Su Mu just grinned back at him, “We have self-knowledge. We’d be nothing but a burden to you if we went, but brother-in-law, you have to teach those dogs an unforgettable lesson, you mustn’t show any mercy.”

Yang Kai smiled and nodded sincerely, “Relax, I’ll make sure not a single one of them returns alive!”

Saying so, he turned around and shouted, “Shi Kun!”

“Reporting!” Shi Kun appeared.

“You stay here and help me take care of this place. If anyone dares try to invade, directly report to them the Holy Land’s name. I’d like to see if anyone dares challenge my Holy Land.”

“Yes!”

PewPewLazerGun: Sanctification, Fancy Word!