Chapter 934: Silkworm Peak of the Sealing Realm

He walked into the room.

This library was unlike any he had visited before. The others contained books specific to certain professions—for instance, the Beast Tamer College's library was entirely dedicated to beast taming, and the Medical College's to medicine. This one, however, housed various cultivation techniques, martial arts skills, and general knowledge such as the history, evolution, and human geography of the Hongyuan Empire.

The books on the first floor, while accessible to students, were far from simple. They covered all cultivation techniques from the Harmonious Spirit realm to the Silkworm Chrysalis realm, arranged in rows and columns, numbering in the millions.

The Master Teacher Academy, established nearly ten thousand years ago, had produced countless brilliant master teachers. These individuals, upon gaining insights and experiences in cultivation, would record them for future generations. Some even created their own unique cultivation methods, which were then passed down through the ages. This meant that each cultivation level had innumerable different cultivation methods. Taking the Harmonious Spirit realm as an example, a quick glance revealed nearly ten thousand different cultivation methods. Each method was a complete system in itself, with a perfect lineage.

For other students, faced with such a vast array of cultivation techniques, it was essential to choose one category to study. Otherwise, exposure to too many could lead to confusion between correct and incorrect methods, making it easy to suffer qi deviation. Zhang Xuan, however, did not need to concern himself with these issues. He had no preference for the type of cultivation technique; in fact, the more, the better.

He spent nearly an hour absorbing all the Harmonious Spirit realm books into his mind.

“Correct!” he whispered inwardly.

A book appeared before him, which he casually opened. It was indeed the Heaven's Path cultivation technique for the Harmonious Spirit realm. While its cultivation path was slightly different from the one he had previously formed, they ultimately led to the same destination with little difference.

He then moved on to the cultivation manuals for the Bridging Heaven realm, spending another hour collecting all of them. After forming the Heaven's Path cultivation technique, he compared it and found it to be very similar to what he had collected before. The only difference was that it was more detailed, making cultivation simpler and easier.

“It seems that all Heaven's Path cultivation techniques are fundamentally similar… their content won't change much!” Zhang Xuan mused. He nodded and continued forward, absorbing books as he went. Since he was already there and not pressed for time, he decided to collect all the books. This would also increase his knowledge base and foundation.

Five hours later, Zhang Xuan had absorbed all the cultivation manuals, martial arts techniques, and other books in the library into his sea of consciousness. Although these books didn't directly increase his cultivation level, they significantly expanded his knowledge. He now understood various cultivation systems much better. In terms of breadth of knowledge, it was likely that all the master teachers in the entire academy combined wouldn't surpass him. Furthermore, various martial arts techniques, sword arts, blade arts, and spear arts had also formed their respective Heaven's Path techniques. These were now arranged in rows on his internal bookshelf. As long as he cultivated them, his comprehension of weapon true intent would undoubtedly reach a profound level.

Zhang Xuan was not in a hurry to cultivate. Instead, he continued onward. The second floor was accessible only to teachers. The martial arts and cultivation techniques found there were far more profound than those on the first floor, including cultivation methods for the Half-Saint realm. After collecting all the books there, he continued to the next level.

The third floor was accessible only to elders. It contained cultivation methods for the Conferred Saint and Saint realms, though the quantity was much smaller than on the first and second floors. After collecting all the books and forming the correct Heaven's Path cultivation techniques, he had now completed his collection of Heaven's Path cultivation techniques for the Mortal Transcension Nine-stage Silkworm Chrysalis realm and the Half-Saint realm.

In other words, as long as he was willing to cultivate, he could break through from the early Silkworm Chrysalis realm to the early Saint realm within three hours!

Smiling faintly, Zhang Xuan opened the Half-Saint level books and looked through them. A moment later, his brow furrowed. These cultivation techniques were flawless. As long as one cultivated them systematically, they could indeed allow him to quickly reach the Half-Saint, Conferred Saint, and even Saint realms. However, even if he reached the Saint realm, he would only form a third-grade Nascent Soul, which was vastly inferior to the lowest second-grade Nascent Soul mentioned in the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art.

At first, he found it strange. Why were the Heaven's Path cultivation techniques for Harmonious Spirit realm and similar stages not very different, yet this one had such a disparity? After some thought, he understood. Among the many cultivation techniques in the library, there were no methods to cultivate a first-grade Nascent Soul. No matter how many he collected, these were merely ordinary cultivation techniques. It was like reading countless books on building ordinary houses, yet still being unable to construct a palace. The two were fundamentally different. Even if much of the content was similar and could allow one to reach higher realms, they were not, in essence, on the same level.

“The Conferring Saint Cultivation Art, though more difficult to cultivate,” Zhang Xuan thought, “has a high probability of forming a first-grade Nascent Soul, allowing one to become a Saint acknowledged by the heavens. Cultivating these ordinary techniques, however, offers no such hope!”

Cultivating the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art required treasures and might be more difficult. However, once successful, its power would be immense, far surpassing ordinary cultivation techniques. Since he was only going to cultivate once, he naturally had to choose the stronger one.

With his decision made, he did not rush to cultivate. Instead, he continued further up. The fourth floor was accessible only to the dean. It contained no cultivation techniques or martial arts skills. Instead, it held the various insights and experiences left by successive deans, as well as many secrets of the academy. After absorbing these books into his library, Zhang Xuan continued upwards.

The fifth floor contained the legacies left by Master Mu. Although it didn't have the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art, it covered all the precious cultivation methods he had collected. Most were for the Saint realm First Layer, with a very small portion reaching the Second or even Third Layer. However, their scarcity made them not very useful to him. There were also some soul refining and body tempering manuals, which he absorbed as well since he had nothing else to do.

“Alright, time to cultivate!”

After collecting all the books and having formed at least a dozen Heaven's Path cultivation techniques and martial arts skills, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, found an open space, and stopped. The cultivation techniques for the Silkworm Chrysalis realm were fully prepared, and he also had the Scarlet Glaze Fruit needed to break through to Half-Saint. He could completely go all out and break through this realm first!

He took out formation flags and set up a Grade-6 Spirit Gathering Formation around him. Then, he took out a pile of high-grade spirit stones and placed them into it.

Boom!

The Spirit Gathering Formation began to operate. Countless pure spiritual energy was extracted from the spirit stones, forming dense clouds that continuously poured into his pores. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Zhang Xuan opened many of his acupoints and absorbed frantically. The spiritual energy from the high-grade spirit stones was pure and dense, far surpassing earth vein spiritual liquid, making it extremely suitable for breakthroughs.

With his eyes closed, Zhang Xuan circulated the contents of the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art, controlling streams of true qi as they coursed through his dantian. The new Conferring Saint Cultivation Art was completely different from the previous one. With the previous version, seven strands of true qi formed a single unit, seven units formed a mass, and seven masses formed a stage. This one, however, required nine strands of true qi to form a unit, nine units to form a mass, and nine masses to form a stage. Nine was the limit of numbers; only with the superposition of nine strands of true qi could it align with truth and the Heavenly Dao.

Spiritual energy flowed through his body, making gurgling sounds. Zhang Xuan controlled it, transforming it into strands of true qi that gathered into units, masses, and stages...

The purpose of the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art was to condense a higher-grade Nascent Soul. It was much more difficult and complex to cultivate than ordinary Heaven's Path cultivation techniques. With ordinary Heaven's Path cultivation techniques, one could advance a major realm in an hour. However, this one showed minimal progress; he couldn't even break through a minor level within an hour.

At this point, he finally understood why Master Mu had spent several hundred years to condense a second-grade Nascent Soul. While the Nascent Soul condensed by this technique was powerful, its demand for spiritual energy was simply too great. It was like a bottomless pit. Putting aside everything else, with his current cultivation speed and the Grade-6 Spirit Gathering Formation, it would take at least a full day to reach the peak of the Silkworm Chrysalis realm. Normally, he could cultivate a major realm in an hour, but now it would take a full day. The difficulty was self-evident.

But a day was just a day. He was not in a hurry. According to the records in the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art, Master Mu had spent over 200 years to cultivate to this realm.

Sitting still, his cultivation slowly improved as the true qi circulated continuously within his body. Previous bottlenecks disintegrated and broke one after another.

Early Silkworm Chrysalis realm!Mid Silkworm Chrysalis realm!Late Silkworm Chrysalis realm!

Sure enough, a day later, he reached the peak of the Silkworm Chrysalis realm. He was only half a step away from the Half-Saint realm, ready to break through at any time.

“Much stronger than before…”

He stopped cultivating and performed an internal inspection. Zhang Xuan couldn't help but sigh with emotion. A normal Silkworm Chrysalis realm practitioner typically gained about 3 million ding of power per minor level. However, after cultivating the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art, he gained 6 million ding per minor level!

(Normal Silkworm Chrysalis realm: Early stage 25 million ding, Mid stage 28 million ding, Late stage 31 million ding, Peak 34 million ding!)

He already possessed 29 million ding before. Adding 18 million ding, his true qi alone now reached 47 million ding! If combined with his soul power of 20 million ding and physical body strength of 32 million ding, his total power had reached 99 million ding. He was only 1 million ding away from the Saint realm's 100 million ding! This meant that in terms of power, he was no weaker than a Saint realm expert.

Incredible! That a peak Silkworm Chrysalis realm cultivator could rival a Saint realm expert in sheer power alone would be utterly unbelievable if word got out. However, while his power was comparable to an early Saint realm First Layer practitioner, his actual combat power was still inferior. Saint realm experts comprehend the laws of heaven and earth, allowing them to attack from a great distance without their power diminishing. Whereas for him, to utilize his full power, he had to fight in close quarters. If he couldn't get close, his physical body and soul power would be of little use. Without these two enhancements, he would only have 47 million ding, comparable to a late Half-Saint. Even so, it was still terrifyingly strong. He was immeasurably stronger than Dean Mo Liuzhen had been in his prime.

“My strength has improved significantly,” he mused, “but the consumption of high-grade spirit stones is simply too great…”

After sensing the power within him and looking at the shattered debris littering the ground, Zhang Xuan wore a wry smile. Cultivating the Conferring Saint Cultivation Art indeed solidified his cultivation, thickened his true qi, and increased his power. However, it also presented several problems. For example, its consumption of high-grade spirit stones had reached an alarming level. He had obtained several hundred high-grade spirit stones from Wu Xu, Lu Cheng, and others. Combined with the gifts from the Bear-Tiger Beast and Cloudmist Ridge, his total had already reached over 800—making him richer than any of the ten great elders. Yet now, just cultivating from the early Silkworm Chrysalis realm to its peak, he had consumed 500 stones, more than half of his total! It was simply burning money!