Chapter 1530: The Way of the Nine Profundities Can Be Cultivated to the Extreme, the Way of Transcendence Is Unattainable

In that instant, Xu Xiaoshou nearly lost his Dao heart's stability.

He quickly calmed his mind and began to seriously ponder this serious issue.

"That's right, it's called 'Jian Shu Jing Tong,' not 'Jian Dao Jing Tong'..."

Jian Shu Jing Tong had given him a vast foundation in ancient sword techniques. After reaching Sheng Di Lv.0, it also granted him a photographic memory, allowing him to instantly replicate the second realms of various ancient sword techniques upon seeing them.

But there was still one flaw, neither too big nor too small, that remained unsolved. He had to see a technique first before he could use it!

"Ban Ruo Wu, Di Er Shi Jie, Tian Qi Zhi, half of Da Hong Shen Zhi Nu, Shan Hai Ping... Does this count as half of Wang Qing Jian?"

These were the second realms he had pieced together from what he'd seen so far. Among them, only Ban Ruo Wu could barely be described as "proficient," while the others were just clumsy imitations.

It was essentially a matter of insufficient mastery, but if he gritted his teeth, Xu Xiaoshou was confident he could force them out.

He believed he had comprehended a total of four second realms. Yet now, the Jian Dao Pan told him that all of them combined only added up to "18."

"If it were called 'Jian Shu Pan,' the progress should be around '50' by now, but it's called 'Jian Dao Pan'..."

Xu Xiaoshou thought that this might be the fundamental difference. At the innate and grandmaster levels, "Jian Shu Jing Tong" could indeed serve as "Jian Dao Jing Tong." Because it was so vast and all-encompassing, everything at that level could find answers within it.

But once reaching the throne or semi-saint levels, the heights elevated, breaking free from that well and touching the realms of "Jian Xian" and "Jian Sheng," the distinctions naturally emerged.

"Jian Shu Jing Tong only encompasses 'technique.'"

"The nine great sword techniques, eighteen sword schools, three thousand sword paths—all can find answers in it."

"Even Liu Fu Yu's ancient sword steps, called 'sword methods,' are essentially 'techniques' and can be solved through Jian Shu Jing Tong."

"But Jian Dao Pan encompasses more than Jian Shu Jing Tong; it should be analogous to 'Lian Ling Dao'?"

No...

Xu Xiaoshou quickly dismissed that inference. Lian Ling Dao was too miscellaneous, capable of including the five elements, light and dark, yin and yang, even some conceptual attributes, and even the super great path of Ling Jian Dao! Jian Dao Pan wasn't that expansive. If it were, his mastery progress wouldn't be "18"—it would barely reach "1.8."

Jian Dao Pan likely referred specifically to "Gu Jian Dao." Gu Jian Dao included the nine sword techniques, eighteen sword schools, three thousand sword paths, but also lost sword methods, sword skills, and perhaps some minor paths researched by exceptionally talented sword cultivators from the ancient sword era.

Overall, from the perspective of Lian Ling, it could be divided into "nine great essences." Cultivating Gu Jian Dao was roughly equivalent to a Lian Ling master possessing nine attributes while aspiring toward the nine great essences.

Naturally, its threshold was high, and its combat power at the same stage was strong. But human energy was limited, so those with self-awareness would make new choices upon learning this information.

For instance, Mei Siren set aside the other eight "attributes" as supplements and focused on the "heart" attribute, thus achieving the "heart essence"—Ban Ruo Wu. Feng Ting Chen probably specialized in the "all" attribute, and Gou Wu Yue in the "nothing" attribute without a doubt.

Rao Yao Yao was "emotion," Hua Chang Deng was "ghost," You Tu mainly cultivated "illusion," and perhaps one or two others, which allowed her to surpass the previous generation's seven Jian Xian.

Hmm, and there was one more person? Right, Wen Ting—what attribute did he mainly cultivate? Ah, what a mysterious and tragic man, overshadowed and dimmed.

From this, it was clear why the Dong Yu Jian Shen Tian didn't respect the ancient Zang Jian Zhong, nor Can Yue Xian Cheng, nor the Feng Jia with its sword towers—they only respected the eighth Jian Xian, and not without reason.

Ba Zun An mainly cultivated all nine attributes! The top figure below Jian Shen!

"Jian Dao Pan encompasses the nine great essences. I've only made progress in Ban Ruo Wu, but haven't fully mastered it, so numerically that's about 10?"

"The others barely touch the threshold; adding them all up barely reaches 8, making a total of 18?"

Once he understood one, he understood all. Xu Xiaoshou not only saw through Gu Jian Dao but also the essence of this era. No wonder they said that in the Lian Ling era, the path of ancient sword cultivators was hard to walk.

Even if a water ghost cultivated the water essence to the extreme, that would be supreme talent. But to compare with an old eighth who mastered Gu Jian Dao... He'd need to be reborn seven times as Yu Ling Di, with a family of nine merging into one, just to be mentioned in the same breath.

Who could walk such a path? How many like Ba Zun An, with such exceptional talent, could appear in a hundred or ten thousand generations?

Returning to Jian Dao Pan itself, Xu Xiaoshou saw the distinction between "great paths" and "minor paths." Here, "great" didn't mean noble, and "minor" could mean "refined."

"If my inference is correct, paths like space path disk and life path disk are categorized as single, specialized 'minor paths.'"

"While something like Jian Dao Pan, which is miscellaneous and includes at least nine 'attributes,' is a cumbersome 'great path.'"

"Then..."

Xu Xiaoshou looked at his passive value.

"Passive value: 77,347,182."

He suddenly realized that perhaps to brute-force this Jian Dao Pan, eight million passive points wouldn't be enough.

"Does it need nine times, or even ten times, the usual amount of essence seeds and passive values?"

Practice makes perfect knowledge. Without hesitation, Xu Xiaoshou exchanged another essence seed, bound it to Jian Dao Pan, and planted it in the essence field.

"Jian Dao Pan (18)."

Indeed! The progress didn't increase at all!

In that moment, Xu Xiaoshou felt both bitter and joyful. Bitter because he might be completely drained, but joyful because his efforts and long performances hadn't been in vain.

With his current stock, even if Jian Dao Pan was extremely voracious, he could probably push it to around "80." And for a "Jian Dao Pan" with such a huge appetite, reaching "80" would be a qualitative leap. That wouldn't just be like ten water ghosts fused together—it would be a young, undamaged version of Ba Zun An!

Of course, this was all premised on ten essence seeds truly adding 1 point of progress. If not, not only would his understanding of the path be wrong, but everything would have to be overturned, even whether to invest in this great path disk.

One, two, three... After five more essence seeds, the value finally jumped.

"Jian Dao Pan (19)."

Xu Xiaoshou felt both pained and excited. Seven essence seeds for 1 point of progress—that was less than he'd expected...

"Passive value: 76,747,194."

Keep going! He planted essence seed after essence seed, until his heart raced, but the progress still didn't move.

Finally...

"Passive value: 75,747,198."

"Jian Dao Pan (20)."

In an instant, countless images flooded his mind, all insights into various sword paths, analyzed from the inside out, from shallow to deep.

If "Jian Shu Jing Tong" provided endless foundational knowledge, allowing him to piece together fragments after observing others' swords and replicate the various second realms...

Then Jian Dao Pan, from a high-level perspective, vitalized the application of these techniques, breaking them down further: which sword school used which sword path, which sword path used which method...

"Sword" and "technique" became secondary. "Path" was the key!

For Xu Xiaoshou, these insights came and went in a flash; they weren't the main point. The main point was...

"This damn thing really requires ten essence seeds for 1 point of progress?"

"The earlier seven that brought progress must have been from my pre-existing insights surplus?"

It was expensive, but with ten seeds per point, his idea was thoroughly confirmed, and Jian Dao Pan could now be quantified.

From 20 to the desired 80, there was just sixty million in between!

"Brute-force it!"

"Passive value: 74,747,198."

"Passive value: 73,747,198."

"Passive value: 72,747,198."

"Jian Dao Pan (21)."

"Jian Dao Pan (22)."

"Jian Dao Pan (23)."

Soon, the pain was forgotten as Xu Xiaoshou immersed himself in the pleasure of enlightenment. Under the witness of many ancient sword cultivators around him, the Jian Dao essence array diagram under his feet grew brighter and brighter.

Liu Fu Yu stared with wide eyes, shocked. Before the battle, she hadn't exaggerated—besides emotion sword technique, she was indeed somewhat familiar with the other eight great sword techniques. Now, she could clearly see that the various path patterns on Xu Xiaoshou's Jian Dao essence array diagram were advancing in unison!

"I only used Tian Qi Zhi and Feng Du Zhi Jian—how does he have insights in all paths except Wu Jian Shu and Gui Jian Shu, even the hardest to cultivate emotion sword technique?"

"Is it because of that earlier 'Ling Jian Shu · Shan Hai Ping,' where his Ling Jian Dao has broken free from the shackles of Gu Jian Dao?"

Liu Fu Yu wasn't the only one with bright eyes. Almost every ancient sword cultivator present had keen vision. Even the younger ones like Lei Shuang Xing and Feng Zhong Zui had seen the world—through their elders, that is.

Naturally, everyone could see that Xu Xiaoshou's enlightenment direction was too miscellaneous, too full, but the progress... was too exaggerated!

"Is this just 'slightly attained'?" Gu Yu was stunned.

The Xu Xiaoshou with his eyes closed was even more outrageous than the rumored Kui Lei Han—or perhaps a youthful Ba Zun An possessed him!

In fact, back then, Ba Zun An had to travel far and wide, observing landscapes and gaining insights over several years to achieve "do it and it's done."

Xu Xiaoshou had just fought two battles in Yu Jing City...

Although his opponents were of high quality, they weren't that absurdly strong to give him so many "slight attainments"!

"This level of talent..."

Gu Yu recalled the plan of Dao Xuan Ji in Sheng Huan Dian and suddenly felt a sense of irony. Where was this a delay tactic? She was feeding an ancient sword technique glutton... no, a devouring body... or an evolved version.

It eats whatever comes, learns whatever is used, and even surpasses it!

If this continued, after another fight with Xu Xiaoshou, wouldn't his Jian Dao essence be complete? Even if Sheng Shan had plans and someone else was coming, could they handle this "Young Master Xu" at the peak of sword maturity?

"No..."

Gu Yu gazed at the increasingly dazzling essence array diagram and suddenly snapped to attention: Did they even need to fight? Xu Xiaoshou hadn't finished his enlightenment yet!

If it went on like this, the challenge would rot in his heart, and he'd lose the courage to even speak it.

"Passive value: 64,747,207."

"Passive value: 54,747,216."

"Passive value: 44,747,235."

"Jian Dao Pan (31)."

"Jian Dao Pan (41)."

"Jian Dao Pan (51)."

When Jian Dao Pan unknowingly broke through 50, Xu Xiaoshou could clearly understand Xiao Da Zui's Di Er Shi Jie on the Void Island.

He could even reverse-engineer the foundational sword paths from it. His life... his insights... that single sword was his life's confession!

"Jian Dao Pan (65)."

"Jian Dao Pan (70)."

"Jian Dao Pan (75)."

The enlightenment continued! The underlying logic of ancient sword techniques seemed to be unraveled thread by thread.

With Jian Bu Wu Shi Si Sha, not even the first kill executed, Xu Xiaoshou could already deduce the intent after the tenth kill, fully integrating it.

Tian Qi Zhi, seen today and mastered today; Tai Shang Bai Ri, risen today and extinguished today—Xu Xiaoshou had skipped the abandonment phase, wandering in the divine void, immersed in thoughts of the "nothing" character beyond the great path and the world.

The one-sided Da Hong Shen Zhi Nu seemed to find its other half; even Feng Xiao Se stopped trembling, evolving in his mind to a flawless version.

Shan Hai Ping could indeed incorporate more than just emotion sword technique; mixing in some Ling Jian Shu imagery, at its core, so-called sword schools were just higher-level sword methods...

An immortal points the way, enlightenment pours in!

"What is unity?"

"The pinnacle of the path is infinite evolution; the pinnacle of numbers is the myriad returning to one!"

"What is desire, what is it called?"

"Desire without name is the delusional sword; within the square and circle, but truly without bounds!"

"Where is Feng Du, what is the ghost lord?"

"If it's the spring realm below, if the bridge connects beyond, if fire burns karma, if the altar summons, if the diagram offers yang, if the path is grasped, if I am..."

The entire world suddenly fell silent. Not only the surrounding ancient sword cultivators but also the major viewers before the transmission mirror clearly heard the faint Dao sounds flowing from Xu Xiaoshou's mouth.

But those sounds were like quicksand, impossible to grasp; as soon as they entered the ears, they passed through, leaving no trace in the heart or spirit, as if they had never existed in this world.

"Buzz!"

The Jian Dao essence array diagram shone like daylight. As it extended from the edges of vision, flowing into space and assimilating the Dao principles, seeming to coexist with heaven and earth...

Everyone could clearly see Young Master Xu disappearing bit by bit in the "light," as if struck by Tian Qi Zhi, turning into specks of wild grass and dissipating.

Mei Siren closed his eyes tightly, struggling to open them. He wanted to say something. He felt this was a critical moment. It was like sleep paralysis—his consciousness was awake, but his eyes wouldn't open.

He couldn't call out "Xu Xiaoshou, wake up." He couldn't even awaken himself, only sinking into the swirling Dao rhythms.

"Delicious, wonderful, beautiful..."

Dao Qiong Cang suddenly looked at Gou Wu Yue. After all, separated by a transmission mirror and the shift of Tian Ji Shu, Gou Wu Yue quickly regained his senses and stared in shock at Ba Zun An. "This is what you mentioned back then, that 'surpassing'..."

"Yes, super path transformation."

"Then won't he be assimilated..."

"Not necessarily."

"How so?"

"Either external force interrupts it, or he wakes by his own will. He's already awakened the life essence and space essence, so he should realize this and be prepared."

Dao Qiong Cang narrowed his eyes, lowered his head, and fell into deep thought: Super path transformation... Ascension...

"Jian Dao Pan (80)."

"Meow!"

A sharp, terrified cat cry suddenly echoed in his mind. Xu Xiaoshou's body shuddered, pulling back from that wandering state of unstoppable advance, but he couldn't help wanting to sink back in...

He realized he was in danger and needed some stimulation to fully wake himself—absolutely not go back. Because if he did, he might never return!

"Passive value: 15,753,222."

With a firm spiritual thought, Xu Xiaoshou felt as if cold water had been poured over him, his heart skipping a beat. Where were his seventy million passive points? How had they vanished upon waking?!