The words inscribed upon the dark robe flickered for a few moments before fading back into obscurity. Chen Chuan looked back over his shoulder; the fissure remained open behind him.
He grasped the Xuejun Saber floating beside him, turned, and stepped forward. The nearly thirty-meter-tall spiritual visage outside him dissolved into billowing mist that swirled around his body, and then he strode out through the fissure.
With a sweep of the Xuejun Saber, the fissure snapped shut behind him, and the dazzling radiance receded from his surroundings. Stepping out of the cavern, he stood atop the Jade Peak. The mountain wind swept up his long hair and crane cloak, fluttering in tandem with the diffuse, drifting cloud-mist.
Outside, the bead-like curtain of rain continued to fall. The surging river churned with a rumbling roar that reached the peak like distant thunder. The empowering ritual remained in motion, and the ground before the cave entrance was already blanketed with jade-bamboo blossoms resembling white jade. Their delicate, elegant fragrance lingered around the summit, making this place feel all the more like an immortal mountain secluded from the mortal world.
He closed his eyes and sensed his state for a moment. Even with the fissure closed, he could still feel that distant presence. That was because the spark of his Spiritual Fire had taken root within that Heavenly Pass, merging into one with it. A fierce, ceaseless reaction seemed to unfold there every second, supplying him with steady, unending support through their spiritual link.
This was "lighting the purple lamp." That swathe of purple qi was a piece of the world beyond, truly burning without end and inexhaustible.
According to what the Xuanist had said, even during a Period of Cold Silence, this tether would never be severed—to say nothing of the current Period of Flux, which would only provide him with more.
Having reached this step, his mutated tissue had undergone a massive metamorphosis, breaking through a limit to enter a brand-new phase of growth. His strength had made a leaping advance compared to before.
Mutated tissue grew through these successive layers of metamorphosis. In the past, breaking past each limit brought a monumental shift. And now, past the Fourth Limit, traversing this single intermediate stage could still usher in such a tremendous surge. This demonstrated that the higher one ascended, the harder the path became; it also indicated that every step upward widened the gap between oneself and the previous level.
Thus, even within the very same limit, the disparity in strength between different tiers could be immense.
At this moment, he could clearly feel a vast, majestic power coursing within his body, utterly beyond what he had commanded before.
Were he to face that yaogui from back then with his current strength, he could likely obliterate it with a single punch.
In particular, following this breakthrough, the most direct external manifestation was that his spiritual visage could now generate Spiritual Fire on its own. Moreover, his physical body could also draw upon this Spiritual Fire. The sheer increase in total reserves went without saying in terms of combat power, and with such abundant strength, his tactical options would become far more varied.
As for the greatest internal difference brought by the realm of Longevity View, it was the ability to keep his condition perpetually at its absolute peak. Even without clashing against formidable foes or receiving sufficient external stimulation, he could remain in this state without the slightest regression.
This was because, upon reaching this realm, the mutated tissue formed a special kind of memory. It could firmly remember and maintain what his body required, rather than depending solely on absorbing external energy.
He probed it and immediately realized that this memory was governed by the fighter's own willpower. As long as one maintained an unyielding fighting spirit and believed in the depths of their heart that they needed these capabilities, that memory would endure indefinitely.
Yet if that will collapsed, or if one lost the desire to fight, the memory would naturally alter, even causing strength to decline. Thus, it depended entirely on the individual.
Of course, most importantly, attaining this realm brought another brand-new transformation: his body's reliance on external sustenance diminished.
This did not mean he no longer needed energy, only that the required intake was substantially reduced. From the looks of it, ordinary food could now truly serve merely as food; it offered little aid to the growth of his mutated tissue, at best providing some variety of flavor. Unless he consumed ingredients capable of further stimulating mutated tissue—creatures providing such nourishment were scarce, likely found only in the vicinity of the Ring of Worlds.
Meanwhile, for the energy needed to sustain normal activities, as long as he practiced his cultivation, he could draw it steadily across the spiritual tether from the realm beyond, replenishing his needs. This ensured that even in extreme environments bereft of nutrients or energy sources, a martial artist in the realm of Longevity View could still maintain formidable combat power.
However, because each person possessed different mental capacities, reached different tiers of the Heavenly Passes, and anchored their spirits in different manners, the potency of the energy absorbed varied considerably.
Among these factors, perhaps the greatest and most widespread peril facing a martial artist was that this communion was subject to constant taint and mutation.
To his thinking, lacking absolute resilience, any martial artist would exercise extreme caution. In ordinary times, if feasible, they would likely prefer supplementing themselves with nutrient-rich foods and high-energy rations to keep the risk low.
In combat, of course, such reservations were out of the question. But as those taints accumulated over time, subtly altering a martial artist, falling onto the path of aberrant mutation became almost inevitable. How many could guarantee their integrity over the course of centuries?
Even without striving to increase their strength, merely to maintain their condition, they had to commune with the other side day in and day out. In convergence zones and fissures, such contamination became all the easier. Most martial artists likely could not escape such an end, which was why those figures from the past were virtually nowhere to be seen today.
Fortunately, he possessed his second self. Beyond that, he had mastered the secret transmission of the Purist Faction, which appeared to grant an exceptional advantage in this regard.
At this thought, he fell into contemplation. He did not know whether mastering the Purist Faction's esoteric methods to their deepest extent could fundamentally avert this outcome, but it clearly reduced the taint of mutation. It made complete sense why the Purists were so formidable.
Chen Chuan raised his hand. An exceptionally dense cluster of platinum Spiritual Fire immediately rose above his palm. With a flick of his finger, the sphere of light shot away in an instant, detonating high in the distant sky into a burst of brilliance that seemed to brighten and dim the heavens for a fleeting second.
He could feel the expended energy replenishing at once. If controlled properly in battle, he could virtually keep his power peaked throughout.
He absorbed far more energy than ordinary martial artists, existing on an entirely different level. Yet given his exceptional physical constitution, an identical action consumed far more power than it would for others. Consequently, setting aside the intensity of combat he displayed, his internal sensation remained largely consistent with that of other martial artists.
Yet perhaps because he had laid claim to that particular Heavenly Pass, the difference was that the energy supplied to him came not only from the spiritual tether, but also from within his own flesh.
Looking inward, he observed that many strands of mutated tissue had grown denser, taking on fibrous and helical structures that emitted a faint, subtle glow.
With a shift of his intent, the mutated tissue instantly trembled. In an instant, a faint purple qi radiated outward, appearing almost as though it were burning. Concurrently, a potent surge of power welled up from deep within his body.
Closing his eyes, he carefully savored this strength. This was precisely what he desired. The Taibai Contemplation actually leaned toward practitioners of the Visage of the Divine, making it exceptionally effective for spiritual cultivation or related matters.
Yet he walked the path of the Visage of Man, placing equal importance on the physical form. He could not allow the spirit to dominate and completely overwhelm the flesh; a balance had to be preserved. After completing this metamorphosis, as he planted the seed of Spiritual Fire within the Heavenly Pass, that swathe of purple qi seemed to take root in his body as well. The two pulled upon and supplemented each other, ensuring that neither fell out of harmony.
Once translated into the physical realm, this force naturally took on a material form. He could clearly perceive that it was actually a brand-new kind of mutated tissue, only finer and more profound, operating on principles completely distinct from ordinary mutated tissue.
Normally, this power remained dormant unless he awakened it, allowing it to serve as an alternate reservoir of energy. It could sustain him through prolonged combat, preserving his fighting strength even if his spiritual tether were severed.
Glancing at the time, he saw that this stage of cultivation had consumed nearly another month. It was already late June.
In his memory, New Year's felt like yesterday, yet in the blink of an eye, the year had already reached its midpoint.
This period of cultivation had lasted longer than any previous retreat. Now that he had achieved success, it was time to head back. He missed his family, his old friends, and his classmates, and he wondered what the situation was like in Center City.
He tidied up, washed, and changed into a fresh uniform before descending into the cavern. Using the method described upon the dark robe, he brought the ritual to a halt, then returned the robe to its original place.
He had only borrowed it temporarily and had no intention of taking it away. He had committed all the layout methods of its esoteric ritual to memory, which was more than enough.
Emerging from the cavern, he raised both hands and bowed forward in a solemn cupped-fist salute. Regardless of whether this was a repayment granted by that Xuanist, the relics left by the predecessors of the Xuan Cult had provided him with genuine, substantial aid. He felt deeply grateful, and he would likely return here in the future.
Returning above, he donned his peaked cap, took the Xuejun Saber in hand, and gazed out toward the distant sky. As the force field around him expanded outward, he slowly drifted upward from the ground. Having oriented himself, a flash of light burst forth, and he took to the sky.
Chaoming, who had been wheeling through the air, let out a sharp cry. Flapping its wings twice toward the streak of light, it produced a resounding sonic boom and trailed closely behind him.
For the journey back, Chen Chuan simply propelled himself with his force field without pushing for high speed, incurring virtually zero expenditure. Half a day later, he spotted the sentry post situated at the edge of the hunting grounds and descended toward it.
Chapter 1012