Path to the Inner Vista

"Eight million Star Coins?" Breathing grew ragged among the group. Xiong Meng and Xia Yao received only three hundred thousand Star Coins a year in development funds, and even Qin Yang and Bai Chen received just a million. Eight million? That was an astronomical sum of wealth. "This is what Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are all about!" "Snagging just one is almost equal to ten years of regular work for many an Advanced Martial Artist," Xiong Meng could not resist muttering in a low rumble. "No wonder so many people risk their lives." Everyone nodded in agreement. Back on Blue Star, decent jobs were hard to come by for intermediate and advanced martial artists; landing an annual salary of one or two million was already quite an achievement. What was more, martial arts pursued the true self, contending against the heavens for destiny, with power rooted entirely within oneself. Martial artists were fiercely proud to the bone; how many Advanced Martial Artists could stomach taking lectures from ordinary people or enduring repetitive, day-to-day labor? Thus, coming to the Primordial Star to wage their lives was the path of choice for many formidable martial artists. Not only did they stand a chance of obtaining breathtakingly valuable Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, but by racking up massive coefficient scores, they could also elevate their rank and secure a lavish retirement down the line. Gu Qing and Wang Xundao, for example, were far more like partners than simple superior and subordinate. "Fang Yu, we managed to get the Star Jade and survive basically all because of you, so you take the lion's share," Bai Chen said in a low voice. "You hold onto it for now. As for the exact split, we'll talk once we're back at the space base." "All right." Fang Yu did not decline. By the unwritten rules of martial artists, harvest matched contribution. It was only natural that he took the largest cut this time; there was no need for false modesty or empty pleasantries. "By the way." "Fang Yu, how's your recovery?" Bai Chen asked softly, prompting the others to look over as well. They all remembered clearly. Less than an hour ago, after that terrifying battle against the wolf king and the wolf pack, Fang Yu had been on the verge of total collapse, nearly slumping paralyzed to the dirt. At the time, they had assumed he was gravely wounded. Yet after consuming some high-energy rations and medicine, Fang Yu was already moving freely. "Walking is no problem, but the drain was too severe. I can't burst with Dark Force again in the short term," Fang Yu replied, mingling truth with falsehood. He had not actually been injured in the fight against the wolves. Releasing bursts of Dark Force had indeed taken a heavy toll, however. Had he been any other Intermediate Martial Artist, he would likely be unable to unleash another Dark Force burst for an entire day; forcing it would damage the foundation of his muscles, bones, and internal organs, inflicting irreversible harm. Yet under the effects of his innate divine ability, Devour, his physical recovery speed was astonishing. Massive amounts of food and medicine were transformed into essence, which then became qi and blood. With his physical control honed to the limit of Entering the Minute, that essence permeated every sinew and bone throughout his body. He had already regained a measure of combat capability and could manage a few small bursts of Dark Force. Still, there was no need to reveal too much to Bai Chen and the others. The more he said, the more he would have to explain. "That's good, then." Bai Chen breathed a sigh of relief at his words and said in an undertone, "Fang Yu, let's hurry back to the space base to avoid any more complications." "Understood." The members of the Scarlet Flame Squad rested for another short while. Then, with Xiong Meng and Qin Yang taking turns carrying Xia Yao on their backs, they continued steering clear of water sources and rushed toward the space base. Along the march. Fang Yu appeared relaxed, but internally he was running the Vault of Stars Pillar Stance without pause. When ordinary practitioners trained in martial arts without reaching sufficient mastery, they required focused intent and specific physical postures to achieve the effects of stake stance training. Yet at Fang Yu's level, matters were entirely different. First, by riding a dramatic surge in spiritual force, he had pushed his physical technique to the limit of Entering the Minute. Then, through a bloody life-and-death struggle, he had undergone a metamorphosis to master the Entering the Minute secret technique, attaining a realm bordering on the unfathomable. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, he could make his sinews, bones, and spine surge like a great dragon, running the stake stance to vibrate his marrow and organs, steadily elevating his Life Level. *No wonder.* *In ancient martial arts, whenever masters hit a bottleneck, they would always issue challenges for a life-and-death battle to shatter the so-called threshold between life and death,* Fang Yu mused inwardly. *And ever since the dawn of the New Calendar, martial arts doctrine has continually encouraged practitioners to engage in actual combat on the Primordial Star—slaughtering dire beasts and staking their lives against alien powerhouses.* *Nothing in human existence matters more than life and death.* *Seeking life and fleeing death is life's most primal instinct, and for its sake, one can unleash the fiercest emotional and mental resonance... Walking along the precipice of death tempers and baptizes the spirit far better than tens of thousands of training sessions in a martial arts hall,* Fang Yu realized. Without the desperate pressure of being besieged by that pack of wolves, and without the resolve to throw his life on the line to save his comrades, he could never have mastered the secret technique so quickly. Through normal cultivation, it would have taken at least several months more. Even so, Fang Yu understood that walking along the brink of death meant one could truly perish at any moment. Unless absolutely necessary, unless trapped at a bottleneck and driven to despair, one should avoid deliberately courting such danger. Fang Yu had cultivated for years. This had been the closest he had ever come to death. ... *The Entering the Minute secret technique!* *It is the seamless harmony of body, mind, and weapon. The weapon is the exterior; intent extends outward, and then gathers back within. Inside and outside hold no fundamental distinction... My control over my own body seems to have climbed another notch compared to before.* Keeping a small fraction of his awareness alert to the outside world, Fang Yu focused the bulk of his attention inward. He listened intently to his entire body. The rush of flowing blood sounded like a surging river; the peristalsis of his stomach and intestines clattered like colliding metal; the friction of bone and sinew roared like the collapse of heaven and earth... Every minute sound within his body reverberated like a great bronze bell, as though bestowing upon him a new pair of eyes and ears. *Whoosh! Whoosh!* Fang Yu attempted to push a step further, seeking to perceive the subtle nuances within his qi and blood down to the finest hair. He gathered his spirit at his heart to transform it into eyes, only to instantly feel an invisible mental oppression. Everything inside his body that had just been crystal clear blurred once more. *Still not enough.* *Just shy.* Fang Yu sighed inwardly. With a single thought, he completely relinquished his bid for perfect physical perception, allowing his spirit to settle into tranquility. What he had just attempted was none other than "transforming spirit into eyes." Transforming into eyes. To put it simply, it meant tempering one's spirit to the absolute peak until it became akin to a "discerning eye." With it, one could observe the most delicate shifts within the body, exert absolute control over the movements of one's qi and blood, and even tap into latent physical potential down to the cellular level, unleashing bursts of power reaching three times, four times, or even more of one's base strength!! How terrifying would that be! That was the Inner Vista realm of technique. It was also Fang Yu's current pursuit. By mastering the Entering the Minute secret technique and bridging the external weapon to the inner body, he was merely a single step away from the Inner Vista... Yet that step was extraordinarily arduous, having barred countless martial arts masters throughout the ages. Fang Yu had only been testing the waters just now. Failure was entirely within reason. He was not in the least bit discouraged. *In just a few short months, I went from the Great Accomplishment of Entering the Minute to the Entering the Minute secret technique, and now I stand at the threshold of the Inner Vista. My progress is already astonishingly rapid,* Fang Yu thought calmly. *All I need to do is continue nourishing my body, nourishing my qi, and nourishing my spirit, and the rest will fall into place naturally.* Train the body. Temper the spirit. Until at last the spirit surged, the flesh flourished, and the union of body and soul naturally gave birth to that pair of discerning eyes. ... In the blink of an eye, half an hour slipped by. As Fang Yu and the others pressed forward, drawing ever closer to the space base, they once again entered a stretch of mountain forest near Mount Daling. Suddenly— "Hm?" Fang Yu felt a prickle of intuition and came to an abrupt halt, his gaze locked straight ahead. "Trouble?" Seeing this, Bai Chen, Xiong Meng, and the others fanned out instantly. Qin Yang darted to the side, longbow already in hand and a sharp arrow nocked to the string, primed to strike at a moment's notice. "Haha!" "No wonder you managed to kill the Fire-Eyed Wolf King. I really did underestimate you—to think you could sense my presence from so far away." A voice rang out suddenly. "Are you really just a junior college student?" *Whoosh!* A figure emerged from the shadowy thicket. With a few swift flashes, he closed the distance between himself and Fang Yu's group, a playful, mocking smirk playing across his face. "Fang Yu." "Xia Tao." "It's you." Bai Chen, Qin Yang, Xia Yao, and Xiong Meng all bristled with fury. None of them had expected that, on the verge of returning to the space base, they would run into Xia Tao once again.