Chen Chuan arrived in the private meditation room on the upper floor of the villa. After settling into a seat, he brewed a cup of hot tea and began carefully studying the cultivation method he had acquired.
The text was thoroughly detailed, complete with annotations and supplements from the old era, followed by an index of reference materials. Because he had paid the appropriate platform coins, he could look up and browse the full text of any indexed materials available on the platform.
From the look of it, the platform coins were truly valuable.
He spent an entire afternoon reading through the main cultivation manual. Nor did he skip the cited reference materials, flipping through them document by document. This took considerably longer—just reading through these took two full days—yet the reward was a far clearer, more intuitive grasp of how to pursue his cultivation.
The method before his eyes had undoubtedly been crafted by a master. It blended ancient and modern cultivation methods seamlessly, discarding unnecessary elaboration and sectarian jargon in favor of plain, accessible language while remaining thorough and precise. One could understand it at a single glance.
To cultivate to the realm of the Longevity View, the foremost requirement was naturally accumulating energy, alongside possessing a sufficiently robust physical body and spirit. Without these, one could not bear even greater power.
The two grand styles he had cultivated previously could be said to have laid the groundwork for this. After mastering both styles, his mutated tissue had undergone two successive metamorphoses, further expanding a foundation that was already exceptionally powerful.
Although this also made advancement somewhat harder—reaching certain realms might prove more difficult for him than for ordinary martial artists—he found this entirely acceptable.
Judging by the manual, after breaking through, a martial artist had to first consolidate themselves, allowing their internal qi to flow freely and settle. Once the limit-breaking metamorphosis was fully completed, and assuming one constantly accumulated internal energy, the next step was to stabilize one's internal power. In the past, this stage was known as "Subduing the Dragon and Tiger."
According to the technique, before reaching the Longevity View, a martial artist's physical condition was still influenced by their supply of energy and nutrition. As a result, their qi would experience fluctuations and instability, which in turn affected both combat and cultivation.
The very first thing to do was overcome and smooth out this hurdle.
Chen Chuan indeed felt this sensation. His qi possessed a wavelike rise and fall, particularly during combat. Specifically, with every breath he took, his strength would surge higher for a moment, only to recede the next, making it difficult to maintain a steady baseline.
In combat, this did exert some influence, though it could be regulated through conscious breathing—or he could simply harness these fluctuations to unleash power.
This phenomenon was extraordinarily pronounced in him, whereas in others it seemed relatively faint. Yet that was precisely because his own strength was immense, far exceeding that of ordinary martial artists. This was not something someone at a lower tier of power could sense; rather, it was a dilemma exclusive to those at a higher state.
Just as a trickling stream could never compare to a surging, churning river.
To regulate and overcome this, the manual listed several shortcut methods. Chen Chuan glanced over them and saw that they could still be broadly categorized into old and new methods.
Among the old traditional methods, the simplest was obtaining the mutated tissue of a Melded Lands creature known as the "Kuipi." Behind the white patch on its brow was an adhering membrane; by consuming it alongside certain ancient medicinal formulas, one could achieve balance.
In the past, the Xuan Cult had bred such creatures, and even now, certain schools with deep heritages still captured them for their disciples. If he chose this method, the platform could arrange the exchange directly for him without requiring any extra platform coins.
The downside was that its effectiveness relied entirely on the specimen's inherent quality—it came down to luck. If one failed, he might need two, or even more. Furthermore, the stronger the martial artist, the less noticeable the effect was likely to be.
Alternatively, one could achieve this by ingesting a certain medicinal broth from the old state religion. The disadvantage was that these broths had all been concocted during the old era; outside the former imperial house, virtually no one possessed the precise formula anymore, so how effective it would be remained difficult to say.
There was, however, a fairly dependable route: two sets of methods listed in the text. One belonged to the Xuan Cult, known as the "Ten-Thousand Longevity Golden Formula," and the other belonged to the Chan Cult, called the "Heart-Calming Lotus Incantation." Practicing either could stabilize one's qi, along with providing other subtle benefits.
Yet during the old era, both cults placed great emphasis on karmic affinity and innate aptitude. Without these, one could not even step through the doorway. Thus, based purely on monetary value, these two were actually the cheapest among all the options.
Beyond these, the methods turned rather bizarre—such as utilizing a unique esoteric ritual to assist cultivation, or sitting overnight before an ancient, wondrous boulder. There was even an urban legend known as the "Human Skin Mirror": as long as one stepped inside and stayed for a night, then tore off one's own outer skin, one could stabilize oneself.
However, these methods leaned toward extreme, unorthodox approaches. Not only were they inherently unstable, but they could also bring about strange aftereffects; they were choices reserved for those who had run out of all other options.
The new techniques relied entirely on modern biotechnology. One achieved stabilization by staying in a specialized environment while receiving injections of a certain drug over an extended period. Providing such an environment came at no small cost, and it required signing supplementary agreements with corporations and the government.
On the whole, the results were more stable than the old-era methods, but the martial artist's personal information and physiological data risked falling into the hands of certain factions.
After examining everything closely, Chen Chuan felt that the best approach was still to subdue it through his own power. He could, however, try practicing those two methods from the Xuan Cult and the Chan Cult. After all, some of the arts he had cultivated earlier were derived from the Xuan Cult's "Taibai Contemplation"; even if he failed to master them, he could use them as points of reference.
In truth, between the guidance of that primary cultivation technique and the vast catalog of reference materials, it was already well worth four platform coins even without looking at anything else.
Though he had not yet begun training, he felt a surge of strong confidence. Passing this hurdle would not take him much time—perhaps ten days to half a month would suffice.
The true crux lay in what came after. Once the qi was subdued, the next step was "Bridging the Heavenly Bridge." Passing that stage would allow him to break through to the Longevity View realm.
That step required condensing an "external visage." The key to the Fourth Limit lay in the words: "Preserve the True Form, Gather the Spiritual Visage." The external visage was not merely used for combat; its primary purpose was the martial artist's own cultivation.
According to the manual's descriptions and his own understanding, the external visage could adapt to the environment of the world on the other side to the greatest possible extent, thereby "nurturing the true essence, feeding back into the self."
The benefit was that the deeper one's cultivation progressed, the more solid and formidable the external visage became. Even with the Visage of Man, one could rely upon it to battle enemies towering over a dozen meters tall, wielding even greater strength while fearing no injury.
Having fought against the yaogui, Chen Chuan was well aware of the advantages of sheer size. Although he had relied on his speed to disengage and gain a slight upper hand that day, doing so would not have been nearly so simple had the yaogui been in peak condition.
Furthermore, the external visage that Fenghe Shou had manifested during their clash back then was likely of this level. It was just that Fenghe Shou had not yet reached the Longevity View realm, failing to complete the metamorphosis that could truly widen the gap, and his foundation could not compare to Chen Chuan's. Hence, the combat power he demonstrated had not been particularly strong.
Thus, one's foundation was the root of everything. Once Chen Chuan condensed an external visage, his combat power would clearly leap up another tier.
Of course, for him, that was the next stage. For now, he needed to subdue the dragon-and-tiger qi as quickly as possible. He promptly signed the non-disclosure agreement via his boundary credential and requested both the Ten-Thousand Longevity Golden Formula and the Chan Cult's Heart-Calming Lotus Incantation.
Reading further, he saw that these two arts required corresponding talismans, scriptures, and visualization objects. These would be mailed separately and would arrive by tomorrow. In that case, he could begin the next phase of his cultivation by the day after tomorrow at the earliest.
***
Meanwhile, within the tunnels of the Lower City, Speaker Quan sat inside an armored vehicle, surrounded by armed operatives whose heads and faces were concealed.
He stared at the luminous vegetation in the tunnel. Over the past few days, he had already been transferred between several locations, remaining on the move almost constantly with hardly a moment's rest. He had even spent his sleep inside vehicles, and by now, he had no idea where he was.
A thick-bearded, middle-aged man in the front seat turned around and said, "Rest assured, Speaker Quan. We will certainly guarantee your safety."
Speaker Quan said, "Those above have likely sealed off all the entrances and exits, haven't they? If I am not mistaken, the Government Affairs Hall will soon enter the Lower City with great fanfare to conduct a search. How do you plan to handle them?"
The middle-aged man smiled nonchalantly. "Even if the Government Affairs Hall can block the exits, they cannot station suitable personnel at every single point. From where I stand, the place is full of gaps.
"Besides, the Lower City is just as vast as the surface districts of Center City. How many men can they send down? How can they possibly conduct a search? Given ten days or half a month, they probably couldn't even sweep a single zone—and that's assuming they don't clash with the Lower City's gang members."
Speaker Quan nodded. "I see. It seems you have thought this through carefully from the beginning."
The middle-aged man chuckled. "Naturally. Coming to the Lower City was no desperate, haphazard choice. We can guarantee your safety."
Speaker Quan asked, "Then where are we heading?"
The middle-aged man did not answer directly, saying only, "You will know once we arrive, Mr. Speaker. Regardless, we can ensure your safety."
Speaker Quan spoke in an amiable tone. "Very well. I shall follow your arrangements."
The armored vehicle drove for more than an hour, the ambient light sources gradually growing sparse. Advanced in age, Speaker Quan grew drowsy. Before long, the vehicle suddenly braked and came to a stop. A voice sounded by his ear: "Mr. Speaker, we have arrived."
Speaker Quan opened his clouded eyes and stepped out with the support of a logistics operative. Before he could take in his surroundings, an excited young man rushed forward, shouting loudly toward him, "Dad!"
Speaker Quan looked surprised. "Why are you here?" The person before him was none other than his favorite youngest son—the only one who had barely listened to his advice and left Center City.
The middle-aged man walked over, explaining with a smile, "Oh, it was like this: we found your son in a fringe city. Since the outside isn't safe, we simply brought him here under our protection. That way, Speaker Quan will have someone close to look after you. We are only outsiders after all, aren't we?"
"That's right, Dad! They've been very good to me," the young man said happily, looking utterly guileless. "They said they could rescue you and reunite our family, so I came along with them."
Speaker Quan gave the middle-aged man a profound look, then said slowly, "Then I truly must thank you all."
The middle-aged man smiled. "No thanks are necessary. Moving forward, we will need your full cooperation, Speaker Quan. Once the international investigation team arrives, that will be your time to step forward once more."
Chapter 923