Inner Domain and Spirit Crystal, Xu Yan had another realization

Outside Yunshan County, Xu Yan and Xie Lingfeng, Meng Chong and Hu Shan were sparring, while Li Xuan sat on a chair, looking at the cultivation techniques written by Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan.

"Martial arts from the Inner Domain are powerful too. Grandmasters should not be underestimated."

Li Xuan felt a sigh of appreciation as he looked at the cultivation techniques.

In his eyes, both Xue Wuxin, and Xie Lingfeng with Hu Shan seemed weak.

They paled in comparison to Xu Yan.

However, Xu Yan, after all, had a Jade Bone foundation and, when he broke through to the Innate Realm, he transformed into a Dragon Ascending Rivers and Mountains Spirit Bone and also comprehended Sword Intent.

He had enlightened himself with the true might of the Descending Dragon Palm.

His strength was naturally unparalleled compared to an Inner Realm Grandmaster like Xie Lingfeng.

But to think that the martial arts of the Inner Domain were weak would be biased.

Of course, now, without a doubt, the martial arts he created and the martial arts system he founded were stronger than those of the Inner Domain.

But this does not mean that the martial arts of the Inner Domain are weak or without value.

"Someone like Shi'er with a Copper Bone foundation may not necessarily be able to defeat Xie Lingfeng after breaking through to the Innate Realm."

Xu Yan silently made an assessment.

Having a reference to the cultivation technique and knowing Xie Lingfeng's specific strength, he could easily make an evaluation.

"The talent of Xie Lingfeng is indeed very high, and among the young generation in the Inner Domain, he is also at the top. It's not surprising that Shi'er is inferior, but he would not lose to Hu Shan and might even be superior."

Li Xuan contemplated the gap between the two in his mind.

Overall, the martial arts he created were stronger and had more potential, especially in terms of the fundamental martial arts foundation, far exceeding those of the Inner Domain.

It also sounded more profound.

No wonder Xie Lingfeng himself believed that what he practiced was a pseudo-martial art.

"After this comparison, my martial arts win completely. I wonder if Great Grandmasters are indeed the peak in the Inner Domain?"

Li Xuan looked at the cultivation technique in his hand.

Great Grandmasters were already at the pinnacle.

Of course, it was possible that Xie Lingfeng and others had not yet come into contact with, techniques above the level of a Great Grandmaster.

"I feel that Great Grandmasters are not the ultimate peak, and it's likely that Xie Lingfeng and the others simply have not encountered the secrets beyond the level of Great Grandmasters."

Li Xuan took out an ancient leather book.

Although he could not understand it, Li Xuan was certain that this ancient leather book was extraordinary and that it covered a very high level.

With his current power, he was not yet able to understand it.

Every time he looked at the ancient leather book, it seemed as though he had a different understanding, and the symbols he saw seemed to change.

The only conclusion was that his cultivation realm was too low to see through its secrets.

"The ancient leather book came from the treasure vault of the Wu Country Royal Palace, a relic of the past, indicating that the Wasteland once had powerful beings."

The inability to cultivate in the Wasteland stemmed from the extinction of the Heavenly Earth Lingji, but when the Lingji had disappeared was now impossible to trace.

Even Xie Lingfeng and others did not know.

"Located within the same world, why are the Lingji active in the Inner Domain but extinct in the Wasteland? Could it be that Lingji is shrinking and over time, areas of the Inner Domain close to the Wasteland will also experience the extinction of Lingji?"

Li Xuan's face showed his perplexity.

To cultivate martial arts in the Inner Domain, the existence of Lingji was necessary, only with Lingji one could sense Spiritual Energy, which was mild enough to refine into the body.

"What exactly is the Heavenly Earth Lingji?"

Li Xuan had never left the Wasteland and although he could sense the existence of Spiritual Energy after breaking through to the Innate Realm, he had never sensed what Heavenly Earth Lingji was.

"My martial arts can be cultivated regardless of the existence of Lingji, showing that Lingji is not essential to cultivation."

Li Xuan continued to flip through the ancient leather book.

When Xu Yan and the others returned from their sparring, Xie Lingfeng and others once again sought martial arts guidance from Li Xuan.

They wanted to seize this rare opportunity to receive advice from an expert.

Li Xuan had already finished reviewing their cultivation techniques and, with his Innate Realm power, it was not difficult for him to give guidance.

The focus of his guidance was on refining True Qi.

Without the ability to refine into True Qi, all would be in vain.

"Do you know of Taicang?"

Li Xuan looked at Xie Lingfeng and asked.

Xie Lingfeng was taken aback, "Taicang?"

He shook his head: "I have never heard of it."

Li Xuan nodded quietly, understanding that Xie Lingfeng had also not heard of Taicang, and the ancient book had not appeared in circulation.

With the Jade Ruyi spinning in his hand, Xie Lingfeng bowed and said, "Then I won't disturb your peace any longer."

Li Xuan nodded.

Xu Yan was entertaining Xie Lingfeng and his companion, naturally inquiring about the Inner Domain, to which Xie Lingfeng and his companion began to introduce the Inner Domain and the cultivation of martial arts there.

Li Xuan listened quietly.

As Xie Lingfeng explained, he learned more about the cultivation of martial arts in the Inner Domain.

"In the Inner Domain, martial arts cultivation starts from the Ninth Grade which can be assisted with pills and medicinal soups… If one can afford to buy Spiritual Medicine, the effects of cultivation will be much better.

"According to Xie Lingfeng, one should not take these medicinal soups and pills too frequently; after each dose, at least a seven-day interval is necessary to completely refine the residual effects.

"Otherwise, it piles up in the body, which is detrimental to martial arts cultivation.

"Spiritual Medicines don't have these drawbacks as they contain pure Spiritual Medicine power, are easy to refine, and leave no residue, but Spiritual Medicines are rare and usually beyond the means of ordinary martial artists."

Li Xuan found that the Inner Domain did not have pills, they had pharmacists, but they did not know how to refine pills.

Spiritual Medicines were simply boiled and consumed directly, with different types of medicines exhibiting different medicinal properties, and there were no methods to combine and refine them into pills.

"If there are no pills in the Inner Domain, then I'll create a pill refining method. If successful, it will definitely be a delicacy for martial artists."

Li Xuan was incredibly intrigued.

"Grandmasters and above martial artists also cultivate by directly consuming spiritual medicines, but ordinary spiritual medicines have limited effects on grandmaster-level martial artists. They mainly rely on their own bodies for cultivation.

"Alternatively, they cultivate with spirit crystals to increase the speed of condensing and refining inner Qi, but spirit crystals are rare and can only temporarily boost the condensing of martial inner Qi. They're usually not extravagantly used for cultivation.

In most cases, spirit crystals are used after battles, when the consumption is great, to enhance the recovery speed of inner Qi."

Xie Lingfeng spoke about the cultivation of grandmaster martial artists.

"Spirit crystals?"

Xu Yan was full of curiosity.

"This is what a spirit crystal looks like!"

Xie Lingfeng took out five spirit crystals and explained.

Xu Yan picked up a spirit crystal, and he could sense that the spiritual energy contained within was much gentler compared to the nature's spiritual energy he was accustomed to sensing.

The amount of spiritual energy contained within a single spirit crystal was not very significant.

"Spirit crystals are naturally formed by nature and are relatively scarce in the Inner Domain. They are the currency of martial arts, used to trade for spiritual medicines, treasures, and other items. Only spirit crystals can be used in these transactions."

Xie Lingfeng knew Xu Yan was unfamiliar with the origin of spirit crystals, so he explained: "The formation of spirit crystals is similar to the jade mines in the Border Wilderness. However, the difference is that the spirit crystal mines in the Inner Domain evolve from jade mines. The jade mines nurture the spiritual energy of Tian Di, and over time, they transform into spirit crystals.

"Big spirit crystal mines are composed entirely of spirit crystals, but most spirit crystals are mixed within jade mines because only part of the jade has transformed into spirit crystals.

"Jade mines in the Inner Domain are very valuable because most jade mines contain at least some spirit crystals."

Xu Yan and Meng Chong, looked like country bumpkins who had never seen the world. At that moment, they had an epiphany.

They couldn't help but yearn for the Inner Domain.

The Inner Domain was bustling with martial arts activity!

Much more interesting than the Border Wilderness.

"I'll give these spirit crystals to Brother Xu as a gift."

Xie Lingfeng said with a smile.

"Then I won't be polite."

Xu Yan gleefully accepted them.

Hu Shan, seeing this, also took out five spirit crystals and handed them to Meng Chong.

"Thank you, thanks a lot!"

Meng Chong was overjoyed.

"One spirit crystal is worth ten thousand taels of gold in the Inner Domain, but while spirit crystals can be exchanged for gold, gold is not readily exchanged for spirit crystals. Normally, no one would really use spirit crystals to exchange for gold.

"There are things that can be bought with spirit crystals that gold cannot necessarily purchase."

Xie Lingfeng continued to introduce the uses of spirit crystals.

Li Xuan watched with a sigh, realizing that his disciple had suddenly become wealthier than himself.

Not true!

His disciple had always been wealthier than him.

"The Inner Domain is interesting. The Border Wilderness is like a backward, desolate town, while the Inner Domain is like a bustling big city. Once you go to the Inner Domain, you probably won't want to return to the Border Wilderness, right?"

Li Xuan thought to himself.

He was definitely going to the Inner Domain, but there was no rush as to when.

Xie Lingfeng and his companion settled down in Yunshan County. Every day, they sparred with Xu Yan and Meng Chong, while also contemplating the True Qi cultivation technique. Xu Yan also provided guidance for them.

After all, he was an Innate Realm martial artist who was already extremely familiar with condensing blood and Qi into True Qi.

The cultivation technique of condensing True Qi given to Xie Lingfeng and his companion by Li Xuan was naturally something they were intimately familiar with, allowing them to fully comprehend the true essence of the technique.

However, Xie Lingfeng and his companion were still unable to condense True Qi.

For a moment, they were quite dispirited.

"Let's ask the master," Xu Yan suggested thoughtfully.

Xie Lingfeng and his companion nodded; their only option was to seek advice from a more experienced senior.

After listening to their story, Li Xuan instantly understood where the problem lay.

Heavenly Earth Lingji!

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan were Inner Realm martial artists. To practice, they needed the Heavenly Earth Lingji, and to refine their martial inner Qi into True Qi, they naturally needed nature's spiritual energy.

They practiced Inner Realm Martial Arts and lacked the spiritual mechanism of Tian Di. Unable to sense nature's spiritual energy in the Border Wilderness, which lacks the Heavenly Earth Lingji, they naturally could not cultivate.

Without the capability to refine their martial inner Qi into True Qi.

The technique given to Xie Lingfeng and his companion had no issues at all.

Understanding the reason, Li Xuan spoke: "Inner Realm Martial Arts require the Heavenly Earth Lingji, and the refining of True Qi requires spiritual energy. It's natural that you two can't condense True Qi."

With this realization, Xie Lingfeng and his companion finally had peace of mind.

"Thank you for the guidance, Senior!"

Since they couldn't cultivate in the Border Wilderness, it was time for them to return to the Inner Domain.

Their purpose for coming to the Border Wilderness was to kill Xue Wuxin.

"Brother Xie, when are you going back?"

Xu Yan naturally understood this principle.

Xie Lingfeng's eyes were firm as he said, "In the cultivation of martial arts, one must not slacken for a single day. Brother Xu, I will return to the Inner Domain tomorrow."

"Good! One day, I will go to the Inner Domain to find Brother Xie!

Xu Yan nodded.

"Brother Xu, if you come to the Inner Domain and encounter any troubles, just use my name and it will serve some purpose; my name, Xie Lingfeng, still carries weight in the Inner Domain!"

Xie Lingfeng earnestly said.

Xu Yan's eyes lit up with joy as he asked, "Really?"

"Of course!"

Xie Lingfeng, patting his chest, proudly said, "I, Xie Lingfeng of Sword Venerate Cliff, indeed have a certain renown in the Inner Domain."

"Great!

H

Xu Yan, delighted, then asked, "Can I use your name for anything?"

Xie Lingfeng nodded and said, "Of course, anything at all. Whenever you encounter difficulties or find yourself in a troublesome situation, Brother Xu, you can just mention my name!"

"Understood! I got it!"

Xu Yan nodded solemnly.

"What about me?"

Meng Chong leaned in to ask.

"Brother Meng, it's the same for you as well; you can use my name!"

Xie Lingfeng said, patting his chest.

"Is your name really that influential in the Inner Domain?"

Meng Chong asked in surprise.

"Naturally!"

Xie Lingfeng finally regained a bit of the pride that was uniquely his own.

"I, Xie Lingfeng, am a renowned prodigy in the Inner Domain, possessing a certain prestige," he asserted.

Meng Chong nodded and said, "If I run into any trouble, I won't hesitate to use your name."

Hu Shan thought for a moment and then spoke up, "Ahem, actually, you could mention my name as well. My fame in the Inner Domain isn't inferior to the young master's."

Hu Shan, a grandmaster of Sword Venerate Cliff, also had a lofty reputation as a martial artist in the Inner Domain.

"No problem!"

Meng Chong nodded.

Li Xuan looked at Xie Lingfeng, then at Hu Shan, and felt a strange sensation in his heart. Once they reached the Inner Domain, could they really use the names of these two when facing issues?

He had an intuition that these two would be put in a bind!

His own disciple's thought processes were sometimes quite different from those of ordinary people.

Xie Lingfeng and Hu Shan bid their farewells and left. Before returning to the Inner Domain, the two planned to visit the Capital City of Qi Country one more time.

According to Xie Lingfeng, Emperor Qi was a decent man, allowing him to borrow his concubines to temper his heart before leaving. It was only proper to give thanks.

Xu Yan expressed his agreement, stating that Emperor Qi was indeed a rather good person; it was because he had tempered his mind in the emperor's harem in the past that he laid the foundation for a clear sword heart.

After seeing off Xie Lingfeng and the other, Xu Yan and Meng Chong continued to contemplate The Eight Diagrams.

Life returned to its previous routine.

Every day, Li Xuan would review the ancient leather-bound book and, using the Cultivation Technique of the Inner Domain Martial Arts as a reference, he further perfected the techniques for the realms above the Innate Realm.

Meng Chong had already made his entry into blood qi and belonged to the Physical Body Martial Path of the Innate Realm, so it was time to perfect that method as well.

Xu Yan had already broken through to the Innate Realm, albeit just getting started, but he could also be taught the techniques of higher realms.

If Xu Yan could gain understanding ahead of time, then the feedback from the Golden Finger would arrive sooner, enabling him to break through to the next level.

Shi'er had reached the late stage of Viscera Refinement and was not far from the threshold of entering the path of martial arts.

"Shi'er is now a servant. What kind of feedback will I get when he enters the path of martial arts?"

Li Xuan pondered in his heart.

Shi'er was a servant, not a disciple, and the cultivation technique he practiced was already perfected, not newly created. Whether it would generate feedback was an unknown.

Even if there was feedback, it was likely to be minimal at best.

Outside the Cloud Mountain County Town, Xu Yan was practicing The Eight Diagrams when his footsteps paused, coming to a stop on the Zhen Trigram.

The Zhen Trigram represents thunder!

In his mind, the technique of changing position, along with the light crane movement technique and the profound principles of The Eight Diagrams he had comprehended, suddenly surfaced.

In that instant, he seemed to have an epiphany.

"As swift as thunder, the body without shadow… Thunderclap, merely a flicker, then leaving no trace."

A flash of inspiration struck Xu Yan's mind, and in that moment, he understood!

A brand new movement technique emerged in his mind.

Whoosh!

His figure instantly disappeared from where he stood, leaving no trace.

Meng Chong's eyes widened as he looked around, unable to see his senior brother anywhere, as though in the blink of an eye, he had vanished from sight!