Chapter 18: Cultivation in the Grandmaster Realm

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Lin Heng had no objections to the proposal for a Grandmaster Ceremony.

Just like the apprenticeship ceremony held when he was seven, this ceremony was primarily meant to provide the sect with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

It would allow everyone to clearly see that the vast cultivation resources the sect had invested in Lin Heng had borne unprecedented fruit: he had reached the Grandmaster Realm at the age of ten.

Such an achievement would win everyone’s wholehearted support and loyalty, ensuring that they would willingly provide him with further cultivation resources and raise him to a position of prominence.

To live longer and live better—this was precisely what Lin Heng sought to pursue in this simulated life.

At that moment, Xiao Rang smiled and said, “Disciple, let us set the Grandmaster Ceremony for October third, four months from now. That will be your tenth birthday, so we can celebrate both occasions together and make it a double blessing.”

Lin Heng nodded in agreement.

Afterward, Lin Heng was dragged into having a late-night meal with numerous elders.

Although the Grandmaster Ceremony would not take place for another four months, today was still a day worth celebrating. The many Cloud Sword Palace disciples stationed at the mountain gate all received the news that Lin Heng had become a Grandmaster.

Delicacies were brought out, and the celebrations began. Because of Lin Heng’s breakthrough, the entire sect was transformed into a sea of joy.

A ten-year-old Grandmaster allowed every member and disciple of Cloud Sword Palace to see that the sect was flourishing. It was a guarantee of security for them and for their descendants in the many years to come.

Lin Heng’s peerless talent filled everyone with delight.

The following day, the entire sect became busy preparing for the Grandmaster Ceremony.

Preparing and distributing invitations, arranging wine and food, organizing security…

Naturally, none of these trivial matters had anything to do with Lin Heng. After a brief celebration the previous night, he had already devoted himself to a new round of cultivation.

Breaking through the Innate Realm to become a Grandmaster was merely a minor milestone. His next goal was to become a Great Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster Realm had two cultivation objectives. The first was to temper the body into one of sufficient strength; the second was to accumulate an adequately profound inner force.

Because of these two objectives, the Grandmaster Realm was divided into twenty-seven heavens.

The first nine heavens involved the continual transformation of the body. Each transformation represented one heaven.

Once a cultivator reached the ninth heaven of the Grandmaster Realm, he could forge a copper skull and iron arms and attain an indestructible Vajra body. Relying on the physical body alone, he would possess formidable defensive power, becoming nearly impervious to divine weapons, fire, and water.

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After these nine transformations, a martial artist’s meridians and acupoints, in addition to his physical body, would be strengthened and expanded to their utmost limits, allowing them to contain inner force of truly vast proportions.

The remaining eighteen levels of the Grandmaster Realm were devoted to accumulating cultivation power. They corresponded to the eighteen heavens of the Innate Realm, during which acupoints were opened that could store immense quantities of inner force, much like the dantian energy sea.

For every seventy-two acupoints filled to capacity with inner force, one would advance by a single heaven.

As a newly entered Grandmaster, Lin Heng had only filled the energy sea within his dantian with inner force. The more than one thousand other acupoints he had already opened had undergone only preliminary cultivation; the inner force stored within them had not yet reached the overflowing level of his dantian energy sea.

In theory, a martial artist who reached the twenty-seventh heaven of the Grandmaster Realm would possess more than a thousand times the inner power of someone who had just entered the realm.

Only inner power of such vastness could support the kind of combat strength that enabled a single person to stand as an army.

“Disciple, now that you have reached the Grandmaster Realm, you are finally qualified to cultivate this body-protection divine art.”

Just then, Xiao Rang found Lin Heng and intended to teach him an entirely new martial art.

“Ethereal True Astral Force.”

Lin Heng read aloud the name printed on the cover of the manual Xiao Rang handed him.

“Yes. Cultivation in the Grandmaster Realm begins with tempering the physical body. If you use conventional methods, your progress will undoubtedly be very slow. Even with your talent, you might need a full year to advance by a single heaven.

“But when combined with the Cloud Sword True Art, this body-protection divine art is the cultivation method best suited to you at your current stage. Not only will it rapidly strengthen your physique, but once perfected, it will also allow you to cultivate the Ethereal True Astral Force, a protective astral energy.

“This protective astral energy possesses tremendous defensive power. It can also convert an enemy’s force into strength of your own. Any attack of internal force that fails to break through your astral defenses can be transformed into assistance, conserving your own inner power. It is, in every sense, a supreme technique for battles against multiple opponents.”

Xiao Rang explained the effects of the Ethereal True Astral Force, and Lin Heng was deeply tempted.

He carefully read through the body-protection divine art and discovered that it recorded nine methods for transforming and tempering the physique, corresponding to the first nine heavens of the Grandmaster Realm, along with various techniques for circulating energy and redirecting or borrowing force.

Just as Xiao Rang had said, once mastered, it would not only rapidly strengthen the body but also forge an extraordinarily powerful protective astral energy.

After finishing the Ethereal True Astral Force, Lin Heng found that, with the foundation of his cultivation over the past several years, he had no difficulty understanding the technique. After raising a few points he was uncertain about and asking Xiao Rang for clarification, he decided to begin cultivating it.

“Disciple, you can cultivate in the Cold Pool at the rear mountain. Also, the fruits growing on the grove of Yin Plums beside the pool may serve as snacks during your leisure moments.”

Finally, Xiao Rang offered this advice.

“Thank you for your guidance, Master.”

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Lin Heng nodded, picked up the Clear Cloud Sword, and headed straight for the Cold Pool at the rear mountain.

Soon, an ice-blue pool appeared before him. Numerous plum trees grew beside it, exuding a chilling, sinister aura.

When Lin Heng had first arrived at Cloud Sword Palace, his body had been weak and his vital energy frail. A place like the Cold Pool would have done him more harm than good, so Xiao Rang had merely taken him to see it from a distance. He had never actually entered the area.

Now, however, with Lin Heng having reached the Grandmaster Realm, the Cold Pool had become an excellent place to aid his cultivation.

Following Xiao Rang’s instructions, Lin Heng first plucked two plums and ate them. Although they tasted rather good, they were extraordinarily cold and sinister as soon as they entered his mouth. An ordinary person would certainly fall gravely ill after eating them, but for Lin Heng, they now had the effect of tempering his physique.

“It really is an excellent place for cultivation.”

With a laugh, Lin Heng plucked several more plums and ate them.

He then removed his clothes, leaving on only a pair of undergarments, and stepped into the Cold Pool.

In an instant, Lin Heng felt an extreme chill envelop his body.

To resist the cold, his blood and vital energy had to circulate at an accelerated pace. Without him realizing it, his bodily functions were forcibly driven to their peak, compelling his body to evolve and adapt to the frigid environment.

“Let the training begin.”

After taking some time to adjust, Lin Heng gripped the Clear Cloud Sword. Following the energy-circulation and force-exertion methods recorded in the Ethereal True Astral Force, he linked them with the Boundless Ethereal Sword Technique and the inner cultivation method of the Cloud Sword True Art, beginning his body-tempering cultivation.

His blood and vital energy surged through his body, resisting the ice-cold surroundings while washing and tempering his physique.

At the same time, his inner force circulated through his meridians and acupoints, continually refining the natural energy of the world around him, increasing his cultivation power while replenishing the blood and vital energy consumed by his body.

Amid this cultivation, Lin Heng’s physical strength continued to increase, while his inner force grew ever more profound.

Lin Heng estimated his progress. If he continued accumulating power at this pace, he would probably complete his next transformation in roughly half a year and break through to the second heaven of the Grandmaster Realm.

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