Secluded Cultivation

On the shores of the East Sea stood a somewhat desolate oceanfront villa. At that moment, however, the villa carried the faint stench of blood. Yuan Shuo cursed, "What rotten luck!" His house was still standing, but it had somehow become a pirate stronghold. By the time he tracked it down, several pirates had been in the middle of discussing how to run for their lives. It wasn't because Yuan Shuo had arrived, but because the East Sea pirates had just suffered devastating losses. Red Beard had been eliminated, and the city-destroying bombs had wiped out hordes of pirates. These few had felt that things were no longer viable here and wanted to find another place to ply their trade. Yuan Shuo had finished them off in a couple of strokes, grumbling in annoyance, "Back then, this place cost me quite a bit of coin. It'd be one thing if it was gone, but having these scum turn it into their den? Filthy luck!" The others couldn't be bothered to respond. To them, money was completely beside the point. Li Hao and the others paid no heed to the bloody smell. Tossing the corpses into the backyard, they immediately settled down to heal their injuries. Once again, a massive heap of divine energy stones emerged. Sword energy surged forth. In an instant, the entire living room swirled with rolling sword energy. Everyone was injured this time. Two of them had broken their seals, and Black Panther was gravely wounded as well. Lacking high-grade divine energy stones, they had to make do with lower-grade ones, shattering and converting them in endless cycles. None of them spared a thought for the turmoil of the outside world. Nor did they care what would become of the Xu family. This standalone villa offered enough isolation that they didn't have to worry about anyone detecting them. More importantly, it had served as a pirate hideout; some people in Dongbin might know that, and ordinary folk would never dare approach a pirate den. In the time that followed, they devoted themselves entirely to cultivation and recovery. Time trickled by, minute by minute. The expenditure was truly enormous. Everyone desperately inhaled and exhaled the sword energy. In the past, the sword energy might not even have kept up with demand, but this time it held up reasonably well. After devouring the earth dragon's armament spirit, the little sword seemed to have grown stronger. As a result, its conversion speed was faster, though the divine energy stones were burning through at a terrifying rate. Yuan Shuo absorbed it ravenously, as did Black Panther. Meanwhile, Hong Yitang and Bright Light Sword, despite having unsealed their locks, consumed less by comparison. Bright Light Sword couldn't resist cracking open an eye to glance at the man and the dog—both were like Taotie beasts, taking everything in without letting anything out, absorbing at a terrifying speed! The Five Animals Breathing Art was inherently adept at absorbing sword energy. Yuan Shuo had only just perfected his fusion of the five forces, leaving his reserves utterly hollow. The grueling battle had drained him completely dry. Now, the sword energy was visibly sucked into him, as if no amount would ever suffice. Four people and one dog were burning through vast reserves. Li Hao was certainly not stingy this time. When he had saved Bright Light Sword before, he had pinched pennies, but now that everyone had come to save him, he naturally showed generosity, shattering divine energy stones as if they were worthless. Since no one called a halt, he kept shattering stones even after their injuries healed. Three thousand, eight thousand, ten thousand, fifteen thousand... Only after burning through a full twenty thousand divine energy stones—by which point Black Panther had regrown its fur, and Hong Yitang and Bright Light Sword had stopped meditating—did Yuan Shuo open his eyes with lingering eagerness. "Alright, that's enough cultivating for now!" Inside the living room, shards of divine energy stones were piled nearly into a mountain. With a wave of his hand, Li Hao swept the fragments away into a storage ring. Nowadays, he possessed so many storage rings that he had lost count. "Teacher, have your injuries fully healed?" Li Hao asked. "If not, I still have a few drops of the Spring of Life." He had brought a full fifteen drops with him when leaving. Along the way, however, he had used eight, leaving only seven. Still, the Spring of Life was extraordinarily useful. In the heat of combat, sword energy was sometimes too slow to replenish vitality or heal wounds. The Spring took effect almost instantly, even if its long-term sustaining power fell short of sword energy. Li Hao couldn't bear to squander the remaining seven drops. "No need for now!" Yuan Shuo shook his head, inwardly cursing, *Foolish boy.* *With these two sitting right here, why mention it? If we take a drop, would you have the face not to offer them one or two? Letting them leech sword energy is one thing, but bragging about the Spring of Life you picked up from god knows where? Pure foolishness.* Hong Yitang and Bright Light Sword saw right through his thoughts. Hong Yitang chuckled and said nothing. Using the Spring of Life didn't matter much to them anyway; they hadn't suffered any severe external wounds. Such a treasure was best saved for critical emergencies—such as regenerating severed limbs by stimulating flesh and bone. For ordinary internal trauma, sword energy worked just fine. Having stabilized their injuries and recovered their strength, they all felt a degree of relief. At this point, even if another Xu Qing showed up, they would be able to fight him off. Only with that assurance could their minds rest easy. Yuan Shuo glanced at Hong Yitang. "Where's Xu Qing's storage ring? You had the nerve to pocket it all for yourself..." Hong Yitang acted as if he hadn't heard a word. He was the one who had lopped off Xu Qing's head, so he had pocketed the ring in passing. Just a reflex. Seeing his silence, Yuan Shuo snorted again. "Li Hao and I fought Xu Qing half to death, and it was only after Sky Sword arrived that you lot managed to finish him off... My disciple acknowledges the favor, but does that mean you get to make off with the spoils too?" Hong Yitang chuckled, and Li Hao laughed along as well. "Teacher, let Senior Uncle Hong keep it. It's not like we struck the killing blow..." Yuan Shuo felt profound despair. *Sure enough!* *This stupid boy used to be so stingy, yet now he doesn't even want the storage ring of a duke!* Li Hao merely figured that it would end up in his hands sooner or later anyway... Well, to be precise, Hong Yitang would eventually trade it for sword energy. What was the rush? His teacher didn't understand the long game. Demanding it directly was far too crude. They had to bleed them dry quietly and subtly before taking it back. Hong Yitang smiled, tossed the storage ring over with a flick of his wrist, and cast a glance at Yuan Shuo. "Brother Yuan, after all these years, you remain just as straightforward, just as blunt, just as..." He stopped just short of saying "shameless." Yet the meaning was unmistakable. Yuan Shuo couldn't be bothered to argue; seeing the ring handed over, he let the matter drop. Li Hao grinned. "Let's not squabble over this for now. Let me take stock of our haul this time. It's massive. I raided the Xu family treasury down to the bare walls, so there's plenty of good stuff. I can't sift through it all alone, so please help me count." As he spoke, he pulled a long necklace of storage rings from beneath his armor. The sight left everyone dumbfounded! The Xu family... had truly been taken to the cleaners this time. Li Hao's harvest had been astronomical. The Xu family treasury had been emptied, four of Red Beard's Rising Light experts had been slain, Xu Xing, General Huang, and the second steward had been executed, and in the end, even Xu Qing had been brought down. If Red Beard was counted among their ranks, the Xu family had lost a full eight Rising Light-level powerhouses. Prior to that, nine had already fallen. In a brief span, the Xu family had lost double digits of Rising Light experts. The sheer devastation was beyond calculation. Of course, this also indirectly proved the profound foundations of the Eastern Overlord. Even now, the clan still retained numerous experts. The two metamorphosis-stage veterans, Generals Tian and Di, were still alive, as were several guest elders. On top of that, there was the newly emerged Sixth Stage Old Duke... If there were still powerhouses within the ancient ruins and additional Rising Light combatants within the army, the Duke's Residence remained formidable. Only an organization of such caliber could suppress the East. Seeing Li Hao produce that long chain of rings, the others were struck speechless. Soon, each of them grabbed several storage rings and began helping him catalogue the spoils. There were simply too many for Li Hao to inventory alone. *** Meanwhile, Li Hao didn't bother with the divine energy stones and common supplies. He focused on the truly valuable items. From the Xu family treasury, the prizes came mainly from the second and third floors. The second floor held over twenty Origin God Armaments. The third floor contained three Earth-grade Origin God Armaments—he had already consumed the Heavenly Gold Lotus—along with a command token and a weapon fragment. The newly revealed fourth floor had yielded a mirror. Those were the treasures from the treasury. Li Hao then searched Xu Xing's storage ring: two Origin God Armaments and, surprisingly, the Spring of Life—not just one drop, but three full drops. It appeared the second young master of the Duke's Residence had quite the personal fortune, though he had died too quickly to use any of it. General Huang, having only recently stepped into the metamorphosis stage, was comparatively destitute. He possessed plenty of divine energy stones, but few true treasures; only a single drop of the Spring of Life was hoarded away like a family heirloom. Experts nurtured by a clan were far less wealthy than wild, independent powerhouses. Whenever clan loyalists secured treasures, they were obligated to surrender them to the Duke's Residence immediately. To see a metamorphosis-stage expert this dirt-poor was a rare sight indeed. Finally, Li Hao turned to the remaining two storage rings: one belonging to Red Beard, the other to Xu Qing. Red Beard had been the leader of the East Sea pirates. A metamorphosis-stage outlaw of his stature would certainly carry an immense hoard of treasures. Such men never hid their wealth in secret caches; pirates invariably kept their finest possessions on their person, trusting no one but themselves. *** As the inventory progressed, Li Hao couldn't help but gasp repeatedly. A moment later, the others also finished tallying their respective shares. A brief calculation left them all gaping. Yuan Shuo spoke first. "Roughly nine hundred and fifty thousand divine energy stones, six Origin God Armaments, one thousand suits of ancient armor, numerous energy-storage rings, and far too much mystical energy to bother counting. There are also over a hundred Blood God Seeds, though they don't look particularly strong—mostly below Three Suns." Nine hundred and fifty thousand! Hong Yitang and Bright Light Sword both drew sharp breaths. In all their years, they had never witnessed such a staggering amount. Li Hao beamed with delight. "On my end, two hundred thousand divine energy stones..." "What?" The others were startled. He had only checked a few storage rings, so how could there be so many? "Xu Qing's ring didn't have many low-grade stones, though it did have some large chunks like the ones Senior Uncle Hong uses, which I haven't counted. The bulk came from Red Beard. I never expected him to be carrying so much." Grinning from ear to ear, Li Hao continued, "Origin God Armaments across various grades total twenty-nine! Nine drops of the Spring of Life... Unfortunately, Xu Qing seems to have burned through his supply, but Red Beard had some." Those were the standard treasures. There were also several unusual curios, such as weapon fragments, command tokens, and mirrors. Red Beard's ring appeared to contain a few similar oddities as well. "One million one hundred and fifty thousand divine energy stones, thirty-five Origin God Armaments, nine drops of the Spring of Life..." The group wore expressions of utter marvel. Even Yuan Shuo couldn't help saying, "You brat have the gall of a dragon, daring to rob the Duke of Dingguo's Residence! A family like that has accumulated wealth for hundreds of years as the overlords of the East... It's no wonder you made off like a bandit. But remember, if not for the swarm of Silver Moon martial masters coming to your aid, you wouldn't have escaped with your life!" "I didn't plan on robbing them," Li Hao said innocently. "I just went to retrieve the other Wind-Chasing Boot... It's a heirloom of the Eight Great Families, and they couldn't use it anyway..." The others couldn't be bothered to indulge his excuse. *Going to take the Wind-Chasing Boot wasn't already preparing to fight the Xu family to the death? Did you think that after holding onto it for centuries, they would just hand it over with a bow? Dream on!* Come to think of it, Li Hao now possessed three relics of the Eight Great Families. Li Hao was also pondering the matter. He held three relics, Battle Heaven City held one, which meant the Red Moon organization held at most four. At first, he had assumed that aside from his sword and his teacher's saber, everything else had been plundered by Red Moon. Now it seemed Red Moon had claimed four at most. The Li family's sword, the Zhang family's saber, the Zhao family's fist, the Liu family's legs, the Wang family's turtle, the Hong family's hammer, the Zhou family's spear, and the Zheng family lagging behind? He could understand the spear, fist, and hammer, but as for what the Zheng family's treasure was, Li Hao had no clue whatsoever. In the folk nursery rhyme, the Zheng family was the most peculiar. The other families had some form of hint, but the Zheng family, who "dragged their feet," offered none at all. At present, the spear, hammer, and fist were likely in Red Moon's hands. As these thoughts crossed his mind, Li Hao remembered what Director Wang of Battle Heaven City had told him: once he gathered the eight armaments, he could go find him, as the director wished to borrow them... Now that he had three, the rest probably couldn't be obtained until Ying Hongyue was dead. Putting those thoughts aside, Li Hao grinned broadly. "We've struck it rich this time. But divine energy stones are only useful when converted into strength; sitting piled up in storage rings, they're nothing more than scrap!" Yet with over a million stones, there was no way they could absorb them all. The capacity to absorb such energy had its limits. Otherwise, the Xu family wouldn't have been foolish enough to let them sit stockpiled in a treasury. For top-tier experts, low-grade divine energy stones offered minimal benefit. Were it not for the ability to convert them into sword energy, absorbing them raw would have yielded negligible results. Yuan Shuo gave a slight nod. "You stirred up immense trouble this time, brat. Furthermore, our trump cards and underlying strength have now been thoroughly scouted. If anyone comes after us next... and our strength remains at this level, we might suffer a catastrophic loss. Even Tyrant Saber and the others, including Sky Sword, might be targeted." Every all-out battle exposed one's hidden depth. Once enemies measured your foundation and factored it into their calculations, they would be fully prepared when striking against Silver Moon. For this reason, major factions rarely clashed head-on nowadays. Even when conflicts arose, peak experts seldom intervened. Most maintained an aura of deterrence! This time, even the strength of Sky Sword—representing Heavenly Sword Mountain, one of the Seven Divine Mountains—had been partially exposed, which might bring him trouble down the line. Li Hao nodded in agreement. Then he smiled. "That's why the urgent priority is to grow stronger, keeping enemies from pinning down our true depth. When they think they have enough to crush us, we catch them off guard and counterattack, whittling them down step by step." *Easier said than done!* Not dwelling on the matter, Li Hao quickly asked, "Teacher, have you made a new breakthrough in the Five Animals Art?" "Yes." Yuan Shuo made no attempt to hide it. He had always possessed an ostentatious streak; he had only kept a low profile in recent years because he had been suppressed. Now that he had broken through, he naturally wouldn't stay modest. He chuckled, "I have reached the peak of the Spirit Nourishing path! Next comes Spirit Harmonization!" At these words, both Hong Yitang and Bright Light Sword couldn't help looking at him. Yuan Shuo chuckled smugly. "Curious, aren't you?" Neither spoke. Yuan Shuo laughed heartily. "It's right to be curious! Don't look down on me just because you're strong right now—the road ahead of you... is broken, isn't it?" Hong Yitang exhaled softly. "Not entirely broken. We have some concepts, but at our current stage, they are difficult to realize." "I know!" Yuan Shuo said with a smirk. "You still haven't solved the issue with the five organs, right? You're still agonizing over whether to snap the supernatural locks, aren't you?" The two nodded. Indeed. This dilemma troubled not only them, but every peak martial master alive. Feeling thoroughly vindicated, Yuan Shuo laughed. "I have managed to sort out a few things. I've studied countless ancient texts, but I've realized that the path outlined in ancient records differs from the path today's human race must walk. The Gates of the Triple Burner, the Indestructible Golden Body, opening the Origin Dao... none of that applies directly today!" "When ancient practitioners reached the pinnacle, they all trod the Origin Dao... But today, circumstances are different and no longer suitable. Our supernatural locks may very well have taken their place." Pausing briefly, Yuan Shuo continued, "At your current stage, the moment you unseal your power, the greatest strain falls upon your five organs. In truth, according to ancient texts, our internal organs should be strong enough to withstand an eruption of power. The reason they cannot withstand it today is that our supernatural locks are too formidable. Once broken... the eruption far exceeds anything recorded in ancient civilization..." Yuan Shuo asked again, "Do you know why the next realm of martial masters is called Spirit Harmonization?" Hong Yitang arched an eyebrow. "That's just a realm you defined yourself. Who says the next stage has to be Spirit Harmonization?" "All paths lead to the same destination—what do you know?" Yuan Shuo retorted unceremoniously. "Right now, the path of martial masters lacks a unified doctrine. I am simply standardizing it first. My way is the orthodox path! Following your methods might carve out a unique, personalized trail, but it cannot unify and guide the path of all martial masters." Hong Yitang chose not to argue further. Li Hao looked at his teacher with curiosity. Had his teacher made significant progress over these past few months? At this moment, he truly needed his teacher's guidance. Seeing his teacher draw out the suspense, Li Hao had no choice but to prompt him: "Teacher, the Spirit Harmonization realm must be tied to the supernatural locks, right? Does it involve fusing momentum into the supernatural locks, using the locks to nurture momentum, merging the two so the locks replace the Origin Dao of the ancient era?" Yuan Shuo paused, glancing at Li Hao in surprise. Li Hao continued, "Teacher's Spirit Nourishing realm is currently walked only by the two of us, requiring the fusion of five forces. But not everyone can fuse five forces. Even I haven't truly managed to fuse them... In that case, what should someone with only a single force do? I wonder if Teacher has read an ancient text called the Five Bridges Construction Method? In the ancient era, it was a technique to connect the five internal organs, constructing the Heavenly-Earthly Bridges..." As Li Hao spoke, a hint of confusion crept into his voice. "I've been thinking: if we can form a closed circuit among the five organs, making them a unified whole, then a single force would actually suffice! There would be no need for five distinct forces, because the organs would already be merged into one... Does this mean the Five Bridges Construction Method is an essential path that all martial masters must consider and attempt? But... how does one actually build bridges between the five organs?" Yuan Shuo raised his brows and stared at Li Hao for several moments. After only a few months apart, his disciple had already begun contemplating his own future and path. One had to remember that Li Hao had advanced at breakneck speed while stirring up trouble wherever he went. Plainly, the boy had been exposed to far broader horizons, which had birthed these ideas. Beside them, Hong Yitang remarked, "Using supernatural locks to replace the bridges of ancient civilization, linking the five supernatural locks into a loop... But supernatural locks are inherently independent... They naturally repel one another... Are we to use momentum to neutralize the conflict between them?" Yuan Shuo felt somewhat deflated. He eyed the pair, and only after a long pause did he grumble, "Fine then. It feels like you two understand this better than I do." Despite the grumble, he nodded. "It seems everyone already holds a rough concept of how to proceed. As for momentum, the quantity doesn't actually matter—one force or five forces, one can transform into five, and five can collapse into one... The only difference lies in raw strength. "Thus, whether you cultivate one force or five forces makes little difference in principle; it only affects combat power, not the realm itself. "The supernatural locks are indeed the key... but snapping them is categorically the wrong path! "Strictly speaking, Hong Yitang, you and Bright Light Sword are already in the stage of Spirit Harmonization, even if it isn't overtly defined yet." He looked toward Hong Yitang, then toward Bright Light Sword. "The Spirit Nourishing stage is about strengthening momentum, using momentum to nourish the supernatural locks, using the locks to fortify the five organs, and letting the organs feed vitality back into the physical body... "Under my classification, you two are currently in the transition between Spirit Nourishing and Spirit Harmonization... which corresponds to what you call the process of saturating supernatural locks. "In truth, you are on the brink of success... You do have some skill after all." Hong Yitang chuckled. *This old fellow just has to act like he's superior, putting on airs at every turn.* "Upon reaching this stage, martial masters all possess momentum!" Yuan Shuo continued. "Just as Li Hao said, whether you have one force or five, it amounts to the same thing in the end. If you can break through the barriers and connect the five organs, even a single force can nourish all five! The crux lies in the problem of connecting the supernatural locks... It is indeed rather tricky... I had been pondering it for quite some time, and only recently did I stumble onto a revelation." He turned his gaze back to Hong Yitang. "All paths converge. At your present stage, you're actually one step ahead. To forge the bridges of the five organs, you must first saturate the supernatural locks!" Their eyes shifted. Li Hao's gaze lit up as Yuan Shuo explained, "Only when the supernatural locks of the five organs are fully saturated can they truly link together to construct the so-called Five Organ Bridges..." Li Hao considered this, then frowned. "But if that's the case, how is a Thousand-Battler martial master with only a single force supposed to cross this chasm? Are they supposed to skip Spirit Nourishing entirely and jump straight into Spirit Harmonization?" Yuan Shuo's theory only applied to the peak martial masters of the present day. Under such an approach, the practitioners caught in the middle would never bridge the divide. After all, very few had reached the heights of Hong Yitang and his peers. Yuan Shuo laughed. "Don't rush! The strong have their methods, and the weak have theirs. Building the Five Organ Bridges also comes down to two approaches. Replacing them with supernatural locks... is the shortcut for the strong to accomplish it in one leap. For weaker practitioners... they shouldn't dream of ascending to heaven in a single stride. They must cultivate step by step. A martial master's fundamental power is inner force. The weak must consider using inner force to construct this bridge, not supernatural locks... Once they succeed in Spirit Nourishing, they can then look into replacing it with supernatural locks... progressing one step at a time." "Can inner force build a bridge?" Li Hao remained doubtful. "When inner force enters the five organs, it is easily swallowed by the supernatural locks. It can't stabilize a permanent channel or bridge." "That's simple," Yuan Shuo said dismissively. "Stabilize it with spiritual intent. Momentum and spiritual intent cannot be absorbed by supernatural locks. As long as it is anchored and solidified, it will hold!" Li Hao fell into deep thought, and Hong Yitang sank into contemplation as well. After a moment, Hong Yitang said, "According to your framework... after Thousand-Battler, there are still several distinct steps. First, one must construct the Five Organ Bridges, followed by Spirit Nourishing, then replacing the bridges with supernatural locks, and finally entering Spirit Harmonization..." Yuan Shuo nodded. "This is the path an ordinary martial master must tread to advance. Achieving Spirit Nourishing in a single leap isn't impossible, but the burden is simply too great for them! Their five organs cannot bear it. We can handle it, but that doesn't mean everyone can." Li Hao and his peers hadn't built internal organ bridges either, yet they had achieved Spirit Nourishing all the same. That was solely because their organs were freakishly resilient; ordinary Thousand-Battlers possessed nothing of the sort. Li Hao pondered for a while longer before asking, "Teacher, why must others saturate the supernatural locks of their four limbs before saturating the locks of their five organs, only then being able to unseal their strength?" Yuan Shuo shook his head. "I'm not entirely certain about that, as I've never attempted it myself. But I suspect it has to do with the intrinsic connections between the supernatural locks." Beside them, Hong Yitang offered an explanation: "Saturating the limbs strengthens the physical body, which in turn feeds back into the five organs. Otherwise, strengthening the organs directly would be too much for them to bear, and the body wouldn't hold up." "But I..." Li Hao wanted to say that he had fortified the locks of his five organs first... but on second thought, his flesh and bones had been strengthened continuously alongside them. Without that, strengthening only the internal organs might indeed have failed. The group engaged in continuous discussion. At this juncture, everyone needed to map out their next step with absolute clarity; it was vital. Martial masters capable of unsealing their locks were all top-tier practitioners. Once unsealed, their combat strength surpassed the Rising Light realm, yet remained somewhat inferior to the Sixth Stage—unless they completely snapped their locks. But once the Sixth Stage fully manifested and enemies stabilized that realm... these top martial masters risked falling behind. The others, including Yuan Shuo, had already reached this threshold. While Li Hao hadn't quite arrived yet, he was fast approaching it. Without a clear path forward, progressing further would be fraught with peril. *** They deliberated for several hours before Yuan Shuo finally concluded, "Spirit Nourishing can be divided into two phases: the first is constructing the Five Organ Bridges, and the second is nurturing momentum. "Spirit Harmonization can likewise be divided into two phases: the first is saturating the supernatural locks, and the second is linking the five locks to merge momentum into them." He added, "Judging purely by martial masters of a single force, Hong Yitang and the others are merely in the first phase of Spirit Harmonization. Yet they can already surpass the Rising Light level. Therefore, Spirit Harmonization as a whole can already contend with both Rising Light and the stage above it. If one steps into the second phase... they might match even more terrifying existences." Hong Yitang chuckled. "Don't go forcing me into your system!" Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes. "Allowing you into my system is an honor! In this era, only I can forge a complete path for the martial dao. Those crooked, unorthodox methods of yours will return to the proper path sooner or later!" Li Hao didn't care about their bickering, merely furrowing his brows slightly. "Since I skipped the phase of constructing the Five Organ Bridges and didn't use inner force to build them, can I only construct them directly after saturating my supernatural locks?" "Why would you skip it?" Yuan Shuo snapped irritably. "Is it hard for you to build the bridges with inner force right now? Are you deliberately looking for trouble? Or do you think you're so exceptionally gifted that you can leap straight to heaven? First fuse your five organs into a unified whole, and then take things slowly afterward... Insisting on skipping ahead—are you worried things aren't difficult enough, inventing obstacles just to show off your talent?" "..." Li Hao was speechless. He had simply assumed he was already past that stage, but hearing his teacher put it like that... well, it did make sense. "So my next step is to build five bridges of inner force to link my organs, and then saturate the supernatural locks..." "Bullshit!" Yuan Shuo barked. "Have you even achieved Spirit Nourishing yet?" Li Hao was taken aback. *Of course I have! How could I not have achieved Spirit Nourishing?!* "Your forces were all forced upward by external means! What kind of Spirit Nourishing is that?" Yuan Shuo said in exasperation. "Relying entirely on external objects to advance is fundamentally flawed! Spirit Nourishing—*nourishing the spirit*—is a process of cultivating and strengthening your momentum. As momentum grows, the organs strengthen! You relied purely on external aids to brute-force your way up. Strictly speaking, you haven't even achieved true Spirit Nourishing! You merely stacked up raw combat power through external pressure... I was only gone for a few months, and you've strayed completely off course! "Nourishing the spirit to lock momentum, locking momentum to nourish the spirit... You've been making a total mess of it." He proceeded to lecture Li Hao: "Spirit Nourishing isn't done like that. Doing it your way makes progressing your momentum excruciatingly difficult, and you will run into catastrophe sooner or later! You haven't grasped the true essence of Spirit Nourishing at all... Why merge momentum into the five organs? Just for fun? "You're literally just playing around... Whether you merge it or not makes virtually no difference. If you strip your momentum away right now... your strength remains essentially the same. You're doing something utterly redundant—claiming to practice Spirit Nourishing in name while merely messing about in reality." Li Hao stared, dumbfounded. *Is it really that bad?* He had considered this issue before, but he had always assumed that once he reached the momentum-fusion stage, his forces would naturally elevate together. "What Teacher means is..." "Take root in the five organs!" Yuan Shuo's brow furrowed. "Your momentum and your five organs have no intrinsic, vital bond! The crux of Spirit Nourishing lies in locking momentum into the organs—not to keep it there as a trinket, but to elevate them together. As the organs strengthen, momentum strengthens! As momentum strengthens, the organs strengthen! "Momentum does not exist in a vacuum. You must trace it back to its source, find its foundation, and anchor it into the supernatural locks. This also serves as preparation for the subsequent Spirit Harmonization; you can't simply jump straight into it! You must tie your momentum directly to your supernatural locks so they grow as one. When that happens, as your supernatural locks strengthen, your momentum will flourish alongside them..." At this point, he cast an irritated glance at Hong Yitang. "You people have reached this level, so there's no way you don't understand this. I was away for a while, and my disciple was knocking around with you lot—didn't a single one of you bother to warn him?" Hong Yitang felt genuinely wronged this time. He said helplessly, "How was I supposed to know how your Spirit Nourishing path works, or whether it matches ours? Li Hao publicly announced that one only needs to merge momentum into the five organs... I assumed your Five Animals Sect possessed some secret technique to raise momentum!" Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes. "I knew he made that public, but I assumed he was intentionally feeding people nonsense. Turns out... he genuinely believed it himself?" Li Hao smiled sheepishly. *Well, yes. Aside from keeping quiet about locking momentum, everything else was what I genuinely believed.* *So... you all thought I was just misleading everyone?* *Why such prejudice against me? Back then, I had just entered White Moon City. I was weak, timid, and cautious—how would I have dared make things up entirely?* Yuan Shuo felt a headache coming on. "Before I left, didn't I tell you: lock momentum to nourish the spirit? The very name of the realm is Spirit Nourishing! How did you end up straying down a blind alley? And here I was thinking you understood, when you didn't understand a single damn thing!" Li Hao could only manage a wry smile. "Teacher, when you left, I was barely a Hundred-Breaker martial master, and I hardly knew anything about momentum. I only comprehended it by sheer coincidence. How was I supposed to understand what you meant?" "..." Yuan Shuo sighed. *Fine, I overestimated you.* "Take good care to sort out your path now!" Yuan Shuo said sternly. "If you keep going like this, you can still gain raw power, but it will all be artificially stacked. There will always be a ceiling. You can't rely on treasures to elevate your momentum forever... Yet the strength of one's momentum is the core foundation of a martial master! Momentum is not merely mental strength—do you understand? Strictly speaking, momentum may very well replace the ancient martial Origin Dao. Without a method to cultivate momentum, you will eventually fall behind... "The Origin Dao effectively vanished in the late ancient martial era. Today, exceedingly few can walk the Origin Dao—either ancient survivors or direct descendants of ancient Origin bloodlines... But walking the Origin Dao means you can never surpass your ancestors... In the end, you will find the road ahead completely blocked. "Some upheaval must have occurred in the ancient era that altered the laws of heaven and earth." He looked squarely at Li Hao. "If you continue on your current trajectory, you might eventually stumble onto the Origin Dao, which means you'll spend your entire life retracing ancient martial tracks. In the end, you might reach your ancestors' level at best... but the odds are slim. Surpassing the master by merely replicating your ancestors' path is virtually impossible." Li Hao scratched his head. "I haven't thought that far ahead yet." "Foolish!" Yuan Shuo scolded. "Even if you might not reach that height, your ambitions must be lofty! If you don't even have that much drive, what the hell are you cultivating for? You might as well split the divine armaments among the three of us—one for each—and later we'll figure out a way to kill Ying Hongyue for you so you can find a woman, go home, and retire!" Yuan Shuo seemed genuinely infuriated. Li Hao offered a placating smile. "Teacher, that's not what I meant... Alright, alright, I'll change! I'll fix it!" In front of Yuan Shuo, he felt as though he had returned to his early days. A clueless novice. His earlier arrogance and self-assurance took a severe beating. Still, it was for the best. Li Hao's understanding of the martial dao was indeed lacking in depth and missing vital fundamentals. Now, Yuan Shuo was helping him correct these flaws. Left to grow wild, Li Hao might have continued advancing, but he would have expended twice the effort for half the result. Only then did Yuan Shuo nod slightly. "It's good that you can admit your mistakes! Li Hao, you must understand: superpowers have only existed for twenty years, yet a Sixth Stage powerhouse has already emerged. The path of superpowers is remarkably clear; as long as they resolve the conflict within the five organs, they will quickly advance into the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Stages! "In the five organs, there are at least three more locks waiting to be broken, which means their path to the Ninth Stage is fully mapped out! "Once they solve the internal organ issue, their road will be smooth sailing... We mock superpowers as garbage with our mouths, but we must never truly think that way. Despise them tactically, but respect them strategically! "Even someone as formidable as Xu Qing might not be a match for a Sixth Stage being at present... Neither you nor I have any right to look down on superpowers! If superpower users manage to resolve the issue of external energy and internalize it into their bodies... their energy system may differ, but their fundamental path will likely converge with ours!" Yuan Shuo spoke with grave solemnity. "If they can absorb superpower energy directly into their flesh... you must realize... the path of martial masters is actually far less clear than the superpower path!" Li Hao nodded repeatedly. Lately, he had been cutting down superpower users left and right while their power remained locked, which had indeed caused him to dismiss them somewhat. Yet hearing his teacher lay it out... he realized he had been far too careless. One had to remember that in the ancient era, the Energy Dao had produced supreme powerhouses. Ancient texts even noted that during the early ancient era, the greatest adversary was the Energy Dao; even in the late era, it remained a formidable foe that had never truly died out. Today, the future of the martial dao remained murky... while the opposing side possessed a far more defined path. Following that heavy lecture, Yuan Shuo's expression suddenly split into a beaming grin. "Alright, I've outlined the broad framework for you; work out the specific details yourself. Now... hurry up and get back to cultivating! Produce more sword energy... It's been ages since I absorbed any! If there's a shortcut, take it first; at least it'll save me plenty of time." Li Hao was left utterly speechless. Beside them, Hong Yitang and Bright Light Sword remained silent, staying put and waiting expectantly. *Now that you're so filthy rich... hurry it up, don't waste time.* *We want a share of the spoils too!* Although Yuan Shuo hadn't detailed specific cultivation techniques, they had no need for them anyway. Having the broader principles clarified gave them clear directions for their next steps. Their ultimate destinations might be identical, but for now, they didn't need to follow Yuan Shuo's words to the letter. Li Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. With such a massive hoard of divine energy stones on hand, however, he didn't mind the expenditure. Soon, he began shattering divine energy stones to resume cultivation. The immediate priority was constructing the five bridges, then following his teacher's instructions to firmly anchor his momentum into his five organs, saturating the supernatural locks, and finally merging momentum into the locks... A long journey still lay ahead. This time, Li Hao didn't absorb the sword energy himself, leaving it entirely for the others while he attempted to construct temporary bridges between his five organs. Beside them, Black Panther was attempting the same. The hound felt that relying solely on its bloodline resulted in sluggish progress; perhaps learning from humans would make it even stronger. Vast quantities of divine energy stones were shattered in succession. The group vanished completely from the eyes of the dynasty, oblivious to the winds and rains stirring the outside world. The one advancing fastest was likely Yuan Shuo. He could fortify his five organs on his own, but doing so would never match this speed. Since a shortcut presented itself and his path was clear, he had no qualms about taking it. At that moment, he rapidly absorbed sword energy, filling and reinforcing his supernatural locks. His goal for this stage was to break into Spirit Harmonization as quickly as possible. While he progressed swiftly, Hong Yitang was already attempting Spirit Harmonization, merging his sword momentum into his supernatural locks while constructing the genuine Five Organ Bridges. Constructing the true bridges required all nine supernatural locks to be saturated. Mid-cultivation, Yuan Shuo seemed to sense something and opened his eyes to look at him. Hong Yitang met his gaze, and a spark of competitive intent flared in Yuan Shuo's eyes... *This fellow has truly hidden his depth over the years!* By his own classification, Hong Yitang was on the verge of completing the second phase of Spirit Harmonization! At present, Yuan Shuo was certainly no match for him. In the near future, however, that might change. Hong Yitang smiled faintly and closed his eyes again. He paid Yuan Shuo no further mind. Still, Yuan Shuo served as a great catalyst for everyone's progress. While Hong Yitang hadn't felt much pressure before, he felt a sliver of it now; if Yuan Shuo broke into Spirit Harmonization with five fused forces, he might quickly overtake him. Bright Light Sword's task was far simpler: absorb sword energy to saturate her supernatural locks. She had only saturated two locks in her five organs so far, leaving her with a long way to go. *** While they cultivated in seclusion... Near Dongbin. Southern Fist wore an expression of utter grief. *Where the hell are they?* *I rushed here as fast as I could, but I was still too late!* *Heavens!* *Li Hao plundered so many treasures. Needless to say, they must be holed up somewhere cultivating right now. My losses are catastrophic!* Southern Fist was plunged into boundless sorrow. He knew those bastards would definitely be cultivating, which was why he had set off the moment word got out. He had arrived a step too late, and try as he might, he couldn't find Li Hao and the others. He knew he had missed out on a massive windfall! "They must be within a thousand li of me... Dammit, if only they'd reply!" The bronze armors allowed communication, but none of those scoundrels would answer him. It was truly heartbreaking!