Chapter 402

Chapter 402: Chapter 401 "You..."

Elder Sword was rendered speechless by Ye Tianchen’s sudden change in attitude, and at the same time, he was incredibly surprised. The young man was so clever and formidable that, despite his modest cultivation strength, his potential was boundless. Moreover, with the Taia Sword and the Fish Intestine Sword already in his possession, the likelihood of him being able to subdue the Xuanyuan Sword had increased.

One thing Elder Sword did not deceive Ye Tianchen about was that gaining the Xuanyuan Sword’s recognition did not necessarily require extremely high cultivation. Higher cultivation could increase the possibility, but that was just one determining factor. The most important thing was obtaining the approval of the Holy Path Power, or the approval of Heavenly Dao. Emperor Huang, Xia Yu, and Shang Tang were all ordinary people at first, who moved the Xuanyuan Sword because the deeds they did were for the greater good of all humanity. Otherwise, it would be a fool’s dream for such ordinary people to obtain the Xuanyuan Sword.

"Elder Sword, I hope you can honestly answer my three questions, and don’t think about deceiving me, otherwise I won’t be able to help you!" Ye Tianchen shook his head and spoke with a serene expression.

"If you, boy, don’t try to subdue the Xuanyuan Sword, you’ll never be able to get out of here in your lifetime, you’ll just be waiting for death!" Elder Sword said fiercely to Ye Tianchen.

"No problem, I’m still so young, I can wait for decades. Besides, I can slowly look for a way to break free. After all, there’s no real danger here!" Ye Tianchen still maintained an indifferent demeanor.

At this moment, Elder Sword was extremely frustrated, raising his hand, wanting to smack Ye Tianchen. However, after raising it for quite some time, he did not follow through. Instead, he sat down next to the furnace, furrowed his brows, and said nothing, seemingly determined to outlast Ye Tianchen!

Ye Tianchen smiled faintly. At the beginning, he hadn’t suspected that Elder Sword had any sinister intentions, believing him to be a remarkable predecessor who forged the Xuanyuan Sword—which was exceedingly impressive. Yet, as their conversation went on and Elder Sword persistently enticed Ye Tianchen to try and subdue the Xuanyuan Sword, showing an urgency in his tone, Ye Tianchen sensed something was off. Logically, Elder Sword was nothing but a Spiritual Mark within the Xuanyuan Sword. Whether someone subdued the sword would have no impact on him, so why was he so keen on someone subduing it? There must be some trickery involved.

And a crucial point was that Elder Sword finally threatened him, saying that if he didn’t attempt to subdue the Xuanyuan Sword, Elder Sword would slap him dead. If Elder Sword truly possessed exceptional strength, having forged the Xuanyuan Sword, he naturally would have known more about it and would not have been trapped here as a mere Spiritual Mark.

In this silence, the two sat still until Ye Tianchen began to sit cross-legged and started to cultivate, closing his eyes. He found that cultivating within such a realm, the True Power within his body became even more refined. Unnoticed, nature’s spiritual energy from all directions surged into Ye Tianchen’s Dantian, and he felt his Cultivation Realm slowly rising—it might even be possible for a breakthrough.

A person’s Dantian is where their vital meridians lie, containing a large amount of Inner Strength Qi that sustains life and can make a person more powerful—of course, this requires the ability to perceive and mobilize the energy within the Dantian. In modern traditional Chinese medicine as well, the Dantian is often involved in treating illnesses. For example, skilled singers utilize the energy from their Dantian, and vocal teachers teach breath control techniques, which is actually the simplest form of its application.

All this time, Ye Tianchen had been looking to break through to the Emperor-level Superpower Realm, but sadly, since reaching the King-level, he had been at a standstill. Even now, at the peak of the King-level Superpower Realm, he was unable to break through, since the spiritual energy on Earth, which aids in cultivation, had long dried up, making cultivation impossible. This is also why modern humans have increasingly poorer health—the nourishing spiritual energy has almost completely disappeared on Earth.

Ye Tianchen wanted to achieve a breakthrough in his realm relying solely on his own energy, but he did not realize just how insane this idea was. If those powerhouses knew, they would be shocked speechless. No matter how strong a person is, their power is limited. Even those at Emperor Level who wish to unleash a world-shattering strike need to rely on the power of the Great Universe. Cultivators are continuously drawing power from the universe to strengthen themselves, and at the very peak of strength, one could easily call down a mountain. Who could withstand such might?

However, during the apocalypse on the star, Ye Tianchen felt that something was amiss. As he step by step approached the stone coffin, wanting to see if the Xuanyuan Sword was indeed inside, the words of Dongfang Meng once again awakened him. All beings and items exist within a Great Universe, no matter how cultivators cultivate, no matter the realm they reach, even if it were the Emperor Level, commanding the wind and the rain, omnipotent, plucking the stars and grasping the moon, self-aggrandizing, they still live within this Great Universe. As long as they live within this Great Universe, they must abide by its "rules." Birth, old age, sickness, and death are inescapable. Even at the Emperor Level, one only lives longer than others, but eternal life is impossible, and one cannot escape the fate of turning to dust.

Therefore, Ye Tianchen had a bold idea, which was from now on, his cultivation would not rely on the power between heaven and earth, nor on the power of the universe. He had to rely solely on himself for breakthroughs. Although this method was very slow and could be said to be extremely difficult, Ye Tianchen found that the realms broken through in this way were more solid and steady than those broken through with the help of the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. At the same cultivation realm, if one broke through relying on their own strength, they would definitely be much stronger than those who relied on external powers, even to the point of absolute suppression.

Breaking through cultivation realms by one’s own strength, without drawing on the power of the universe, was not something only Ye Tianchen thought of. Those who had become Emperor-level powerhouses could not have failed to think of it. However, to achieve this was almost impossible, and something many cultivators dared not even imagine.

"This lad truly has boundless potential. He managed to gather all the spiritual energy in this small world in an instant!"

Elder Sword watched Ye Tianchen, who was sitting cross-legged beside him. In less than an hour, Ye Tianchen had gathered most of the spiritual energy in this Different Space’s small world. He could not help but marvel. When Ye Tianchen appeared, Elder Sword had already been in this small world within the Different Space for thousands of years. Over these thousands of years, a total of six peerless masters had come with the intent to subdue the Xuanyuan Sword, only to fail and scatter their blood across the skies.

To say that Emperor Huang, Xia Yu, and Shang Tang had once possessed the Xuanyuan Sword, that was merely ownership and usage. Truly subduing it was an entirely different matter. So until now, no one had ever truly tamed the Xuanyuan Sword and owned it.

Ye Tianchen was different from the previous six masters in that his cultivation was lower, and he already wielded the Taie Sword and Fish Intestine Sword, which, just like the Xuanyuan Sword, were among the ancient ten Divine Swords. Had it not been for these two swords, Ye Tianchen, with his current Cultivation Strength, would have had no chance of entering this Different Space within the body of the Xuanyuan Sword. Especially the previous six masters, who all had extraordinary cultivation levels. Upon arriving in this Different Space, they were full of confidence, believing that with their powerful cultivation, they could not fail to subdue the Xuanyuan Sword. They went forward relying on their cultivation to tame it, but unfortunately, they were all slain by the Holy Path Power of the Xuanyuan Sword, meeting a grisly end.

Ah... Boom!

Suddenly, Ye Tianchen let out a loud shout, and with his arms spread out, he actually scattered all the spiritual energy gathered around him, not absorbing a bit of it. Even Elder Sword furrowed his brows, wondering in his heart if Ye Tianchen was an idiot, a fool, or mentally ill. Such a great opportunity for cultivation, a chance to break through cultivation realms, and he dismissed it?

You should know that cultivators want to gather the spiritual energy from heaven and earth because this energy nourishes all things and is greatly beneficial for cultivators, especially when breaking through cultivation realms. The more spiritual energy during such times, the better. You can never have too much, only too little. Yet Ye Tianchen, on the contrary, did not want any of it, didn’t take in a bit. For a cultivator, isn’t that idiocy or what? Has his brain gone wrong?

"Are you out of your mind? You gathered so much spiritual energy, which you could use to enhance your Cultivation Realm, at least allowing significant growth from your current state, yet you scattered all the spiritual energy?" Elder Sword could not hold back and scolded Ye Tianchen indignantly.

Ye Tianchen glanced at Elder Sword, slowly gathered the pure Inner Strength back into his Dantian, then said with a smile, "Throughout the ages, countless cultivators, countless peerless powerhouses, all have to die in the end, cannot escape turning to dust. Why has no one ever successfully explored the road to eternal life? Because no matter how powerful they are, they are using the powers of this universe. Once they lose the support of these powers, their cultivation will decline significantly. No matter how strong, they still live in this Great Universe, they still use everything within this Great Universe, and must abide by the rules of this Great Universe. But I, starting from now, will no longer use any power from this universe. I will break through my cultivation on my own, so I won’t have to follow the "rules" set by this Great Universe. I am myself, and one day I will walk a different path to immortality!" (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)