Chapter 488: Cultivation Mutation

Snow fell heavily. A seemingly ordinary carriage traveled along, driven by a robust man.

In reality, this coachman was a demon servant, transformed from a powerful being with strength close to that of a 'Fourth-Heaven Demon Monarch'. Ever since Meng Chuan swept through the world of demons, he had captured a large number of formidable demon servants.

"Giddy up, giddy up!"

The carriage moved through the accumulated snow.

Inside the carriage, the young master Yang Yuan sat, looking out through a crack, but his mind was preoccupied.

"In a month, I'll be taking the entrance examination for Yuanchu Mountain," Yang Yuan mused. "Which divine-demon body cultivation method should I choose?"

He wasn't worried about failing the exam.

Since the large-scale demon invasion decades ago, divine-demons had also begun patrolling extensively, and Yuanchu Mountain's recruitment of disciples had sharply increased to fifty per year. The next one to two centuries would be the most critical period of the war. Coupled with some treasures and rare items obtained from the 'World Gap', the three great sects could sustain this high rate of disciple recruitment for one to two centuries.

With fifty available slots, Yang Yuan was confident he'd get in, and even harbored a slight hope of vying for first place.

"Getting first place is merely for show; it's not important."

"The most crucial thing is which Super-Grade Divine-Demon Body I should choose," Yang Yuan pondered. "What has been the greatest aid on my cultivation journey? It's my maternal grandfather's guidance! My maternal grandfather has cultivated for a century and is subtly recognized as the foremost divine-demon in the world, with even greater achievements to come. Therefore, my best choice is to follow the same cultivation path as him—the Thunder Lineage."

"If I cultivate the Thunder Lineage, my maternal grandfather can guide me better. If I choose another path, his insights might not be as deep."

"There are only two Super-Grade Divine-Demon Bodies in the Thunder Lineage: the Thunder World-Destroying Demon Body and the Vast Ocean Demon Body."

"What I aspire to, naturally, is to achieve mastery of the divine-demon body. However, the Thunder World-Destroying Demon Body demands an incredibly strong will. Only one person in several centuries reaches Ninth Tribulation perfection, and I don't believe I can achieve that." Although Yang Yuan could be hard on himself, he was accustomed to pleasure and comfort. "Therefore, the Vast Ocean Demon Body is much easier to cultivate and more suitable for me."

"The Vast Ocean Demon Body, and the Thunder Lineage sword arts."

"It's decided then."

Yang Yuan thought.

Although he had many powerful connections, upon comparison, he found that his maternal grandfather Meng Chuan's guidance benefited him immensely, often leading to sudden enlightenment.

He didn't know that while his maternal uncle, Feather Dragon King Meng An, had progressed rapidly, his path was entirely arranged by Patriarch Cang Yuan. When it came to instructing disciples, however, he was far inferior to Meng Chuan.

The carriage entered the Meng Residence. Soon, Yang Yuan went alone to the Lakeside Pavilion.

He immediately spotted white-haired Meng Chuan in the distance, sitting cross-legged on the open ground in front of the Lakeside Pavilion, overlooking the lake. The surrounding scenery seemed subtly distorted.

"Whoosh."

As Yang Yuan stepped across the water's surface towards the Lakeside Pavilion, he noticed a change in the flow of time.

"What's happening?" He was astonished to find that as he walked across the water, passing different spots, the distant snowflakes sometimes drifted normally, sometimes slowly, and sometimes seemed completely still. All the snowflakes and the rippling lake water appeared almost frozen.

Yang Yuan was stunned.

Time was distorted, and the distortion varied in different areas.

Suddenly—

All distorted time and space returned to normal. Everything reverted to its natural state, countless snowflakes drifted normally, and white-haired Meng Chuan opened his eyes and stood up. Streaks of blood-blade light flew into his palm and vanished.

"Maternal Grandfather," Yang Yuan said as he stepped off the water in front of the Lakeside Pavilion and bowed respectfully.

"Yang Yuan, I will guide you for one hour today," Meng Chuan said, looking at his grandson. "I'll guide you one more time in half a month, and after that, you can go to Yuanchu Mountain and cultivate well."

"Yes, Maternal Grandfather," Yang Yuan replied with utmost respect.

"Practice your sword," Meng Chuan instructed.

Yang Yuan immediately began to demonstrate his sword arts.

His sword art was the *Three Sword Arts* that Meng Chuan had recently taught him. These three arts, 'Wave-Splitting Sword,' 'Yin-Yang Sword,' and 'Flowing Light Sword,' were the most basic introductory 'Thunder Three Aspects' of the *Endless Saber*.

Just three moves, practiced five thousand times each every day! This was Meng Chuan's requirement for Yang Yuan.

"Flowing Light Sword."

Yang Yuan instantly drew his sword, thrusting like a bolt of lightning, flashing across the sky.

"Yin-Yang Sword."

His body moved with the sword light, instantly creating several afterimages.

"Wave-Splitting Sword."

A sword shadow flashed and disappeared in a single move.

Meng Chuan watched from the side.

After performing the moves once, Yang Yuan stopped and looked at Meng Chuan.

"Continue practicing," Meng Chuan instructed. "Practice as you normally would at home. Don't stop until I tell you to."

"Yes."

Yang Yuan continued to practice repeatedly.

There were only three sword moves, and the sequence was always Flowing Light Sword, Yin-Yang Sword, and Wave-Splitting Sword.

"Stop." Meng Chuan only called a halt after Yang Yuan had practiced a full hundred times.

"I've been teaching you the *Three Sword Arts* for half a month now," Meng Chuan asked. "Tell me, what are your thoughts on cultivating them?"

Yang Yuan hesitated before replying, "Maternal Grandfather, must these three sword arts be performed in the sequence of Flowing Light Sword, Yin-Yang Sword, and Wave-Splitting Sword? Also, the more I practice, the more I feel I can grasp their underlying concept. The Flowing Light Sword could also be executed in other ways, and the Wave-Splitting Sword could be performed with a draw."

Meng Chuan smiled. "Yes, everything you said is correct."

Yang Yuan's eyes lit up, feeling delighted to be praised by his maternal grandfather.

"However, until you comprehend the 'Dao of the Sword,' you must follow these three sword moves exactly as I've given them," Meng Chuan said with a slight smile. "No alterations allowed. You must persist in practicing each move five thousand times every day."

"No alterations? Until I comprehend the Dao of the Sword?" Yang Yuan was instead overjoyed.

He understood.

These seemingly basic *Three Sword Arts* were profound enough to guide him to 'enter the Dao'.

Little did he know... Meng Chuan had combined the 'Light Aspect,' 'Yin-Yang Aspect,' and 'Wave-Splitting Aspect' to create the ultimate profound art, *Endless Saber*. Regarding how these three aspects combine, he was arguably the foremost human in history! He had specifically tailored these three sword arts for Yang Yuan. At Meng Chuan's level, the distinction between saber moves and sword moves was minimal; the same artistic concept could be transformed into saber techniques, movement techniques, or even executed with blood-blade discs.

Meng Chuan even planned to simplify *Endless Saber* into slightly weaker Black Iron Profound Saber arts for future human generations to learn.

"That's enough for today's lesson," Meng Chuan said, smiling as he looked at the somewhat disheveled Yang Yuan. "I will demonstrate the Three Sword Arts one more time, very slowly. Pay close attention to the artistic concept."

"Yes," Yang Yuan said, staring intently.

Meng Chuan extended his right hand, and true essence condensed into a sword.

"Flowing Light Sword." Meng Chuan thrust the sword seemingly slowly, yet it distorted space, creating ripples in the void. This single thrust pierced through numerous spatial ripples.

"Yin-Yang Sword."

Meng Chuan's body moved with the sword light, which glided through space like a fish. His body also moved and transformed within the void, creating numerous afterimages around him before returning to his original spot.

"Wave-Splitting Sword."

With one sword stroke, the void parted like waves.

The sword shadow cleaved through the void, directly striking the surface of Star-Moon Lake more than a *li* away. The sword tip touched the lake surface and was instantly withdrawn.

"Observe carefully, and continue practicing when you return," Meng Chuan said with a smile.

He had demonstrated before, emphasizing the precision of the moves. After half a month of practice, Yang Yuan's moves had become quite precise.

This demonstration, however, focused more on the artistic concept.

"Yes, Maternal Grandfather," Yang Yuan replied with immense excitement, bowed respectfully, and then stepped onto the water to depart. His mind was filled with the scene of his maternal grandfather's demonstration; the artistic concept had completely overwhelmed him.

Meng Chuan was very willing to teach his grandson. His own son, Meng An, was already on the path arranged by Patriarch Cang Yuan, so Meng Chuan had nothing more to teach him. His daughter, Meng You, was also a Marquis divine-demon, but her cultivation direction differed from his, so his ability to guide her was limited. As for his grandson, Yang Yuan, at least for now, seemed to favor the Thunder Lineage.

Meng Chuan's days in Jiangzhou City were peaceful. He would guide Yang Yuan only once every half month, spending the rest of his time in secluded cultivation, consolidating his ultimate profound art, *Endless Saber*.

In the blink of an eye, it was the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

In the quiet room of the Lakeside Pavilion.

"My Demon Awl has been reforged and completed. Once my true essence is further purified, I can depart for the World Gap," Meng Chuan thought, sitting cross-legged, his consciousness immersed in his Dantian space.

Dantian space.

The origin of the 'Seamless Realm' was a purplish-brown sphere, even smaller than a particle. Its surface was covered with fiery white patterns, and streaks of white light shot out from its two poles, forming the Seamless Fluctuation Domain.

"The cultivation of the Seamless Realm involves making its origin as small and pure as possible."

The more enormous the energy contained within the Seamless Realm's origin, the smaller it would collapse.

The smaller it was, the deeper the foundation it represented.

In the future, when a Grotto-Heaven was opened, it would be larger.

"My Dantian space had already expanded to its limit."

"Now that my Primeval Spirit is at the Seventh Layer and I've created the ultimate profound art *Endless Saber*, cultivating the Seamless Realm's origin with them will surely reach an unprecedented level for human divine-demons," Meng Chuan mused. His Primeval Spirit's thoughts had already permeated the Seamless Realm's origin sphere.

A Seventh-Layer Primeval Spirit's thoughts were incredibly powerful, offering far greater control.

As Meng Chuan's Primeval Spirit controlled the purplish-brown sphere, under its constraint, it slowly continued to collapse, continuously absorbing external energy, increasing in density, and refining its true essence further.

Furthermore, the *Endless Saber* rules began to replace the original Cloud-Mist Dragon-Serpent movement technique, becoming the governing rules for the purplish-brown sphere's own operation.

After the rules changed—

"Boom!"

After the purplish-brown sphere began operating under the new rules, it suddenly collapsed, completely transforming into a dark void.