After the Xuanist departed, Chen Chuan took a few paces across the grotto, turning over and savoring the technique left behind.
In truth, the concept of "Bridging the Heavenly Bridge" originally stemmed from the Xuan Cult. Across the world, various modern schools and arts were all more or less influenced by the ancient religions of the past. For instance, the techniques provided by Wansong Company themselves incorporated elements derived from the Xuan Cult and even the Chan Cult.
Originally, had he been able to refer to the authentic method of the Taibai Contemplation, he could have modified it accordingly to better suit himself.
However, Teacher Xue had told him long ago that the complete Taibai Contemplation had long since been lost. Even if someone found the original text, without proper guidance they would hardly be able to understand it.
To prevent outsiders from prying and to flaunt their own mystique, secret religious canons typically employed an abundance of obscure, convoluted cant, interspersed with a great deal of extraneous material unrelated to cultivation. Such texts were even said to have spawned numerous splinter factions simply due to divergent interpretations. If even members of the Xuan Cult were confounded by their own texts, outsiders stood no chance.
Yet the technique this Xuanist had imparted was completely different. There was virtually nothing concealed or obfuscated; it focused straightforwardly on the stages of cultivation. It told you what to do and what each stage would entail. Everything centered on the crucial junctures, clear and concise, with almost every unnecessary or cumbersome element excised.
If anything, judging purely by the text, even the flavor of the Xuan Cult wasn't very pronounced anymore.
He was not a man of the Xuan Cult and could not say whether these were indeed formulas from the Taibai Contemplation. But as a martial artist, a single glance told him that it shared the same lineage as the Lingming Reflection method he had previously practiced. Cultivating according to this method would indeed benefit him.
He considered it for a moment.
Since that was the case, he would give it a try.
Yet there was one caveat: the method was roughly divided into three stages. Although some specific steps could be tweaked slightly in his view, every single stage demanded completion in one unbroken breath during practice. Not only did it require a substantial amount of time, but it could not be interrupted midway. Furthermore, repeated attempts were best avoided—success had to be achieved in a single go.
In that case, he needed to make preparations. Only sufficient energy could sustain such extended cultivation.
Fortunately, this was the Confluence, where energy was the last thing in short supply.
His mind made up, he called out to Chaoming and stepped out of the grotto. Descending from the peak, he began hunting in the surrounding area.
Over the next three days, he hunted down a fair number of Confluence creatures. After consuming them, he accumulated vast amounts of nutritional energy within his mutated tissue. Feeling that it was enough, he finally returned atop Jade Peak.
To ensure complete safety, he specifically took out the pivot stone left behind by Protector You and meticulously set up an esoteric ritual around the cave dwelling.
Once everything appeared in order, he had Chaoming remain on guard beside the cave entrance, while he climbed onto the stone bed to begin the first stage of cultivation.
The first step was self-adjustment—much like a warm-up before combat, helping him transition smoothly into the subsequent state of cultivation.
The method provided by Wansong also included such steps, though there were differences between the two, mainly in direction and emphasis. Since he was going to employ the Xuan Cult's method next, he naturally used its approach as his guide.
In truth, cultivation methods were not necessarily better just because they were older, nor was there any truth to the notion that the modern era was inferior to the ancient past. In this new era, innovative methods abounded; what mattered was whether they were more suited to oneself.
Looking over this technique, he saw that compared to Wansong's, it focused more on working with external elements. Some of its approaches were rather radical, representing a line of thought he had never encountered before. In particular, this technique did not view taint as something that had to be wholly rejected; instead, it regarded taint as an external elixir that could serve as an aid.
This held some logic. To a certain extent, taint could indeed accelerate and elevate the speed and volume at which a cultivator absorbed external energy. This was because these tainted entities were living things themselves; while the cultivator absorbed energy, the taint was simultaneously trying to usurp the cultivator. If it presented an immediate, overt threat right from the start, the cultivator would instantly repel it, thwarting its purpose.
Thus, taint often began by conferring benefits and advantages upon the cultivator, leading them to embrace it gladly at the outset. Even knowing something was wrong, they would be loath to cast it out. But by the time the real problem manifested, the two had already merged into one, making it far too late to undo.
The Xuan Cult's method, on the other hand, turned this dynamic on its head: *I let you enter first and let you assist me, and then, right on the precipice of ruin, I eliminate you through sheer willpower.* Furthermore, this balance had to be maintained at every moment throughout the entire cultivation process so that the taint could continuously provide assistance.
This was far easier said than done. The difficulty was unimaginably high, requiring the practitioner to possess once-in-a-million talent and an unshakeable, rock-solid foundation. It was like sprinting along the edge of a precipitous cliff: a single misstep meant plunging into the abyss. If one failed, not only would cultivation remain incomplete, but one would be consumed by the taint. By all accounts, it was not meant for ordinary practitioners.
By contrast, the method provided by Wansong Company prioritized stability above all else, repeatedly stressing that not a single trace of taint should be allowed into oneself, thereby cutting off the hazard at its source. This also revealed the mindset of those who compiled the method: their primary goal was to ensure the cultivator came to no harm. They may well have known the potential benefits of taint, yet withheld that option, even if it meant the practitioner might ultimately fail to achieve mastery.
Comparing the two, one could hardly say which was superior or inferior; it simply depended on what one needed to safeguard.
Chen Chuan felt the Xuan Cult's method was better suited to his current situation, as he had no need to worry about the problem of taint at all. Previously, he had not known about this trick; now that he did, he naturally intended to turn it to his advantage.
He could even be more radical, letting in greater amounts of taint and relying on his second self to bear it whenever it exceeded his threshold.
In fact, having reached his present level, he was confident that even without relying on his second self, he could accomplish it entirely on his own.
Not through technique, but by relying on his unprecedented foundation, he could brute-force his way through.
It was a slight pity that he had no other methods on hand, such as those of the Chan Cult; otherwise, he could have gained even more points of reference. Still, that was merely a passing thought. What he had was already sufficient for his purposes, and there was no need to be greedy for perfection.
Once his breathing and aura were fully adjusted and his preparations complete, he picked up the Xuejun Saber. With a downward slash of blade light, he tore open a massive fissure in the air, set the saber aside, and stepped inside.
Submerging himself into the radiant glow of the opposite realm, the center of his brow flashed, and the Spiritual Visage naturally emerged outside his body.
The Spiritual Visage was originally the primary medium for absorbing energy—an intermediary bridge. Only after energy was guided and refined through the Spiritual Visage could it be absorbed by mutated tissue. However, the Spiritual Visage had its own capacity limit for absorbing energy; if pushed too far, it would become unstable.
The Xuan Cult's method posited that so long as one possessed a solid foundation, one could let loose without restraint. By accepting the taint, the taint itself would naturally help stabilize the Spiritual Visage—in reality, the taint was even more eager than the cultivator.
In this way, one could instead absorb energy from outside far beyond normal limits.
Having reviewed the reasoning and logic behind it, he knew this was indeed feasible, provided that one could hold one's ground.
With a thought, he expanded the Spiritual Visage fully and began drawing in power without restraint. In an instant, the energy of this realm surged forth like a flood released from an open sluice gate, pouring continuously into the Spiritual Visage and sinking into his body.
This likewise brought the taint along with it. In that moment, like a potent draught administered in full force, wisps of light immediately spilled from his eyes.
Hovering above, the Spiritual Visage was originally poised between the ethereal and the corporeal. Under his unrestrained absorption, it instantly destabilized, wavering like misty vapor. Yet after a few moments, exactly as described in the method, he felt the taint trace upward and barely hold the Spiritual Visage steady. In an instant, multicolored light shimmered across the entire form of the Spiritual Visage, an awe-inspiring and brilliant sight.
Chen Chuan had anticipated that he would have to manage this taint while simultaneously commencing the cultivation prescribed by the method. But then he discovered an unexpected circumstance: even without any deliberate control on his part, the moment his mutated tissue came into contact with the taint, it resolved it on its own, without requiring any conscious thought from him.
This was—
With only a brief check, he immediately understood.
It was the effect of the Grand Firmament Forms and the Grand Radiant Light Forms.
The techniques of the Purist Faction were best suited for dealing with foreign taint and defilement. Having mastered both forms, his body possessed the ability to purify itself. Even without actively resolving it, his body spontaneously cleansed and eradicated anything that might harm it. Furthermore, because this automatic response had a slight buffer period, it did not hinder him from borrowing the power of the taint. It formed a perfect match and complement to the Xuan Cult's radical method—an outcome even better than he had anticipated.
With this, he no longer needed to worry about extraneous matters and could go all out. Settling his mind, he slowly submerged himself into the practice.
From late February through to mid-April, taking roughly a month and a half, he smoothly completed the first stage. Next, he could proceed to the second.
This step involved using the foundation laid previously to rapidly break through to a certain height, firmly establishing oneself there before consolidating the rest from an elevated vantage point.
In contrast, the method provided by Wansong Company accumulated greatness from small increments, emphasizing gradual progression. It contained many highly practical techniques and thoroughly explained numerous crucial junctures. These were things the Xuan Cult's method never mentioned and that did not exist in the past—they were discovered and developed only after the arrival of the new era.
If the ancient method excelled through audacious risk, the modern art triumphed through meticulous practicality. Nor had it stagnated; it continued to advance, growing ever more adaptable to a wider populace.
Chen Chuan pondered this and decided there was no need to be so aggressive in this stage. Others had no choice but to take reckless risks because they could not make the breakthrough otherwise, but he was capable of advancing steadily step by step. Wansong's method was actually better suited here.
Having reached this conclusion, he stood up and descended Jade Peak. He spent another few days accumulating more nutritional energy, then returned to the mountain and began the next step of his cultivation.
Chapter 1008