Chapter 1964: Dan Xiaotian's Assault on the Ancient Saint

"Mas..."Filled with excitement, Shan Xiaotian was about to call out "Master" when he saw the other party gently shake his head, causing him to stop abruptly.

His master had just privately instructed him to keep a low profile and avoid drawing attention. While they could maintain the proper master-disciple etiquette in private, in front of outsiders, they should present themselves as friends.

Given their age difference, no one would likely suspect otherwise.

"I am Zhang Xuan, a friend of Shan Xiaotian. Greetings, Elder Lu..."Zhang Xuan slowly walked over.

Seeing his face clearly, Huo Jianghe's expression became unnatural. They had crossed paths at the Wild Goose Merchant Guild; back then, the other party's face was obscured by bandages, which was why he hadn't recognized him earlier. Now, with his voice and physique, there was no mistaking who he was.

"You claim Shan Xiaotian can break through to Ancient Sage within an hour and a half?" Elder Lu Yun frowned.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan nodded. "He saved me when I was injured, so I know his true strength! He had actually already reached the Ancient Sage level, but he depleted too much energy helping me heal, which caused his cultivation to drop to Grand Sage Triple-tier! As long as it's handled properly, restoring him to his original state within an hour and a half shouldn't be difficult!"

"He was already an Ancient Sage?"Elder Lu Yun looked at the young man before him with deep skepticism. An Ancient Sage looked like this? Even making up stories should have some standards. Was it really okay to just spout nonsense?

Shan Xiaotian was also stunned, completely bewildered. Yesterday, he was just a minor figure at Saint 6-dan. After killing the parasitic worm, his cultivation skyrocketing to Grand Sage Triple-tier was already incredibly defying. Yet, his master was claiming he was inherently an Ancient Sage..."When did I become an Ancient Sage? How come I don't know about it myself?"

"Give me an hour and a half, and no one must disturb us. I guarantee I can restore him to his original state!" Zhang Xuan said, seeing their disbelief.

He knew that claiming to help someone forcibly ascend two major cultivation levels to become an Ancient Sage in an hour and a half would be utterly unbelievable. If he truly accomplished it, the glory would be impossible to hide, and he might even be captured and experimented on like a lab rat.After much thought, the only option was to lie and say the person was already an Ancient Sage. Restoring strength was far less shocking than a rapid advancement."Alas, to maintain a low profile, I truly exert myself. I, Zhang Xuan, am just this kind of peerlessly handsome man who does good deeds without seeking recognition, beloved by all."

"It's no trouble to ensure no one disturbs you!" Seeing Zhang Xuan's confident assertion, Elder Lu Yun nodded, though still somewhat skeptical. He turned to Huo Jianghe, "Take them to a quiet location. We can use this time to assess the other candidates."

"Understood!" Huo Jianghe replied and immediately led the way. He had been staying in the City Lord's Mansion for several days and was very familiar with it. The courtyard arranged for him was extremely secluded, and outsiders would certainly not disturb them there.

They quickly arrived at the courtyard. After settling them, Huo Jianghe turned and left. Entering the room, Shan Xiaotian closed the door, then turned and knelt before his master, "Master, I'm not an Ancient Sage at all..."

"Do you think I was lying just now?" Zhang Xuan looked at him.

"Uh..." Shan Xiaotian's face flushed. As a disciple, thinking his master was lying was disrespectful in itself.

"You haven't reached Ancient Sage, it's true, but... that doesn't mean you can't advance to that level within an hour!" Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.

"Advance two major cultivation levels in an hour?" Shan Xiaotian was utterly bewildered. It wasn't that he disbelieved, but that he dared not believe. If cultivation were that easy to advance, experts would be everywhere.

"From now on, follow my commands completely. Do not resist in the slightest; do exactly as I tell you," Zhang Xuan instructed.

"Yes!" Shan Xiaotian nodded. From the moment he became a disciple, he had resolved never to disobey his master's commands.

Zhang Xuan looked at him and said, "Though the spiritual energy you've absorbed over the past ten years hasn't been converted into true qi but remained in your body, your continuous tempering of this spiritual energy has made your body and meridians far surpass those of ordinary people, already comparable to an Ancient Sage. As long as we find a way to modify the arrangement of your meridians, a breakthrough in cultivation won't be difficult!"

"Modify... the meridian arrangement?" Shan Xiaotian became even more confused. Could this even be changed? Weren't meridians fixed from birth? Wouldn't altering them easily lead to death? The so-called 'cultivation deviation' was essentially true qi entering the wrong meridians due to improper cultivation methods... If just true qi going astray was like that, could one truly survive modifying the meridians themselves?

"Exactly! This is something I've just discovered and haven't tested yet. Are you willing to try it? Success means reaching the Ancient Sage level in one fell swoop; failure... might mean becoming crippled, unable to cultivate ever again!" Zhang Xuan's expression was grave.

"..." Shan Xiaotian felt his scalp prickle; he was at a loss for words, wanting to cry. So, after all that, this was just a theoretical concept that no one had ever actually tested... And he was supposed to be the guinea pig... This master truly had nerves of steel!

Although he felt his new master was somewhat unreliable, Shan Xiaotian still nodded, his gaze devoid of hesitation or doubt. "This life of mine belongs to Master. Without Master, let alone reaching Grand Sage level, I might have already died. What is there to fear?"

"Since you dare, the rest will be simple..." Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

He wasn't lying; the method he referred to was indeed something he had just conceived. Under normal circumstances, following his guidance, breaking through to Ancient Sage within a few days would be easy, provided there were sufficient resources. However, advancing two cultivation levels in an hour... that would require the Heaven's Path cultivation method! But ordinary people couldn't cultivate such a method besides himself; even if he taught it, they wouldn't be able to achieve it and might even be directly crushed to death by the Heaven's Path itself. Therefore, he had to consider other avenues.

Through observation, he discovered that the meridians of beings native to the Firmament were more accurate than those of the Otherworldly Demons, but still not perfectly flawless. Human meridians had many errors, leading to ordinary people in adulthood; the humans of the Hundred Schools of Philosophers had fewer errors, reaching the Master Realm in adulthood; Otherworldly Demons had even fewer errors, reaching the Ethereal Mortal Realm in adulthood; and those native to the Firmament had the fewest errors, reaching Saint 9-dan in adulthood!From this, it could be inferred that if one's meridians were altered to become flawless, and combined with sufficient true qi, would cultivation rapidly increase, similar to how sacred beasts alter their bloodlines? Previously, Zheng Yang and others had rapidly broken through to Shattered Void by altering their meridians, shattering the limitations that prevented breakthroughs on the Master Teacher Continent.Of course, these were all theoretical deductions that had not yet succeeded. He could only use the person before him as an experiment.

With a flick of his wrist, a large pot and firewood appeared in the room. He then went outside to fetch a bucket of water and brought it to a rolling boil. Having a storage ring, and knowing he might get injured in the future, he had already prepared items like pots and firewood in advance.

"Good boy, come out for a bath..."Communicating with his dantian mentally, a gourd soon appeared before him and dropped into the boiling water. Although his Heaven's Path true qi could also rapidly heal injuries, for someone native to the Firmament with shattered meridians, even he couldn't guarantee complete recovery within an hour. Therefore, he thought of the gourd's bathwater. This item had significant effects even on him, a Shattered Void realm expert, so it would certainly be no problem for someone at the Grand Sage level.

As the water boiled, Zhang Xuan looked over, his expression grave. "Endure the pain!"

"Yes!" Shan Xiaotian nodded and sat cross-legged on the ground as instructed, remaining motionless.

Taking a step forward, Zhang Xuan pressed his palm down. In a blink of an eye, true qi surged into Shan Xiaotian's body along his acupoints, then violently vibrated. Shan Xiaotian spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. In an instant, his meridians were shattered by his master. The intense pain made his vision darken, and he nearly fainted. Any other person would have long since been unable to bear it, but having endured disaster since he was six, his will was already as hard as iron. Even so, he felt he could lose consciousness at any moment.

"Hold on, you must not pass out!" Seeing his state, Zhang Xuan instructed, continuing to infuse Heaven's Path true qi into his body, reconnecting the broken meridians along perfect routes. The Heaven's Path true qi, refined from liquid mercury spiritual energy, was even purer. It circulated within the heavily injured body, quickly reconstructing a new set of meridians.

"It works, as expected, but... Heaven's Path true qi isn't as fast in healing severe injuries..." With the meridians reconstructed, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, realizing his conjecture was correct. Heaven's Path true qi was very fast at healing injuries, but the precondition was that the recipient's strength wasn't too severely damaged. Now, this disciple's internal qi was completely destroyed, meaning he had virtually no strength... In this condition, similar to when he was reduced to a skeleton, the true qi's effect was significantly weaker. It wouldn't succeed without at least ten days to half a month!

In another hour, the other party would turn seventeen, so there definitely wasn't enough time. He brought over the gourd's bathwater. "Drink it..." Without much hesitation, Shan Xiaotian grit his teeth and drank. His physical body, just as Zhang Xuan had said, had been tempered for ten years and was already comparable to an Ancient Sage; merely drinking hot water would not harm him in the slightest. Gulp, gulp, gulp! As the bathwater entered his body, his previous severe injuries visibly recovered. In less than a minute, he was restored to his original state.

"This..." Shan Xiaotian's eyes widened. He never dreamed that bathwater from a gourd could be so incredibly potent.

"Quickly absorb spiritual energy and break through!" Seeing him simply standing there in shock, Zhang Xuan frowned and reprimanded him.

"Yes!" Shan Xiaotian focused his mind. Although his meridians had just been shattered and his strength destroyed, his true qi remained stored in his dantian without any loss. Now, absorbing spiritual energy immediately activated this power, restoring him to Grand Sage Triple-tier Great Perfection. The barrier that had previously been difficult to break through instantly stirred, ready to open at any moment."Break!" Without the slightest hesitation, his true qi circulated and violently charged. In an instant, he broke through the shackles, reaching Grand Sage Quadruple-tier, the Undying Realm. His cultivation rapidly progressed: Undying Realm initial stage, mid-stage, late stage, peak, perfection, great perfection... In less than an hour, he was just a step away from Ancient Sage, ready to break through at any moment.

However, at this very moment, Zhang Xuan clearly felt that the power within Shan Xiaotian was no longer as fierce as before. It was like a receding tide, just one final step away but unable to pass through."It seems I thought too simply... Ancient Sage is a major cultivation level; even in the Firmament, it's not that easy..." His expression darkened, and Zhang Xuan's heart tightened.