Chapter 92 - Vying for Beauty and Glamor (2/2)
Zhong Yue smiled and kept silent, the reason he could be this strong was not because of the Sword Spirit, but the Great Sun Golden Crow.
He had not reached out to manifest the Sword Spirit of Swords Gate, but instead, he went to the sun and manifested the Great Sun Golden Crow. But the implications such a matter would bring would be immense, this was naturally something he could never afford to reveal, else his identity would be exposed to the monster race.
He had successfully coalesced the Great Sun Golden Crow Primordial Spirit, with it controlling the Sword Qi, he could control the Sword Qi at will as if they an extension of his arms; he could even withstand the assaults of tens of Qi Practitioners without any stress, even his ability to wield the shields of the Black Tortoise was swift and nimble, allowing him a dynamically impervious defense.
If it were instead Zhong Yue's thoughts that controlled them, he would have lost the speed and agility that had been so vital to his survival thus far. He would have already been hit long before the shield was able to be erected.
Spirit and soul as one formed the Primordial Spirit, this state was a prodigious leap to the Qi Practitioners; and especially after they had grasped the esoteric knowledge and abstruse quintessence in their spirits, their prowess would bloom greatly!
"It's really unexpected, we will have to call you our Senior Martial Brother Zhong from now on." Ting Lanyue's eyes were filled with complicated feelings.
"It is indeed ... unexpected."
Yu Feiyan also sighed, she reminisced of the days when she was still a viable rival to Zhong Yue; and yet, Zhong Yue had catapulted to greater heights and continued to soar to altitudes that are growing increasingly distant to her. In the blink an eye, he had now surpassed her position and had become her senior martial brother.
Right now, I might not even be able to withstand one strike from him. Could it really be that sword token that made him so strong?
Zhong Yue chatted with the four young ladies for some time, although he was already an inner hall disciple, he had little to no understandings about the inner hall. Moreover, he wasn't even entirely cognizant of all the levels of cultivation. His mind was currently a filled with questions he would like answers to.
"Senior Martial Brother Zhong, with so many things you don't know, how exactly were you able to achieve the level of Rebirth?"
The four young ladies did not to know whether to laugh or cry, Ting Lanyue smiled and said, "The inner hall consists of eight separate halls, with each one of them teaching different ways and techniques, but regardless of which or how many halls you join, you can still acquire the quintessences of the techniques taught in each. For example, I've joined the Hall of Sword Qi, Hall of Sword Heart, and Hall of Shield Wall. The Hall of Sword Qi focuses on the Sword Qi, the Hall of Sword Heart focuses on the tempering of the will in the face of hardship, and the Hall of Shield Wall concentrates on the defensive techniques. Other than these three, there is still the Hall of the Totem Spirit, Hall of Weapon Refinement, the Hall of Array Formations, the Hall of Soaring Vermilion and the Hall of the Swimming Dragon. The Hall of Totem Spirit takes charge of explaining the abstruse arts of totems and totem spirits; the Hall of Weapon Refinement teaches the ways to forge soul weapons and make totem pillars; the Hall of Array Formations expound on the esoteric knowledge pertaining to totem array formations; the Hall of Soaring Vermilion teaches the flying combat skills and the Hall of the Swimming Dragon imparts the movement arts and combat arts."
Tao Yanran then continued, "These eight halls have a hall master of their own who themselves would impart the knowledge and arts to the disciples. There would also be strong cultivators coming in from time to time to pass down their experiences. The inner hall disciples can select the halls based on their own personal interests, or even elect to join all eight halls. But other than these eight, there are still internal halls of the top clans that teach the secret arts and techniques of their respective clans. These are naturally only restricted to the clan's Qi Practitioners. For example, my Tao Lin Clan has a hall of our own, the Hall of Rosy Clouds, if other Qi Practitioners were to enter, they would have to be a son or daughter-in-law to the Tao Lin Clan."
She gazed deeply at Zhong Yue as she spoke these words while seemingly insinuating other meanings that were left unsaid, "A man is considered to be an adult as soon as he becomes a Qi Practitioner; it will be a long journey of cultivation for the rest of his lifetime, if only he could find a lovely partner and to walk the path of cultivation alongside with, it'll be able to relieve the loneliness of cultivation. What do you think, Senior Martial Brother Zhong?"
Yu Feiyan faked a cough and said, "To enter the Hall of Dragon Steer, one must also become the son-in-law of my You Yu Clan."
Li Xiuniang grinded her teeth in disdain, she sneered and said, "You two alluring women … Senior Martial Brother Zhong, if you become a son-in-law of my Li Shan Clan, you can also enter our Hall of Lotus God and cultivate there!"
Tao Yanran then said with deep meanings, "There are more girls in my Tao Lin Clan."
"My Li Shan Clan's girls have more spirituality!" Li Xiuniang smiled and answered.
Yu Feiyan was indifferent, she said, "The girls in my You Yu Clan are better at maintaining a household."
While Ting Lanyue on the side blinked her eyes, she looked at her three sisters that were covertly fighting, she was feeling very vexed and said, "There is no internal hall of my Da Ting Clan, it seems like my clan can't get a son-in-law…."
Zhong Yue coughed and quickly said, "Four senior martial sisters, what are the levels of the Qi Practitioners?"
The four young ladies then stopped their petty quarrels, Ting Lanyue had a wide circle of acquaintances and had previously inquired about the same thing. She replied, "The first stage of the Qi Practitioner is the Spirit Nurturing stage, nurturing the spirit manifested. One may need to spend at least a couple of years to accumulate enough to reach the next stage would have to spend at least one or two years to possibly years at this level. But since Senior Martial Brother Zhong Yue has already passed this level, you should be very familiar with it, right?"
Zhong Yue's face darkened, he had actually never been in that stage as he had charged straight into the realm of Rebirth – his knowledge towards the level of Spirit Nurturing was virtually a blank slate.
"The second level is Rebirth, coalescing the spirit and soul into one and distilling it into the atman, this is the level that Senior Martial Brother Zhong is currently standing on. The third level would be the Awakening, opening of the five wheels in the body — with the opening of all five wheels, comes the Combat Primordial Spirit; I hear that it is very abstruse and mysterious, it is a very important cultivation level."
Ting Lanyue continued on, "The fourth level is the Atman Body, which is to merge your atman with the body, the state of [Atman Body As One] and acquire a Combat Body. Cultivating to this level would elevate your prowess to the same stage as the hall masters. As for the higher cultivation levels, I hear that they are the levels of Inner Core, Heavenly Dharma, True Spirit and Imminent Deity. But I am not so sure of their strengths nor the sequences they come in. But I guess these are only achievable by the elders or the cultivation magnates."
Tao Yanran continued, "The four young successors of our Swords Gate have already cultivated to a very high level, rumor says that they are already above the hall masters and have reached to the stage of the elders, not far away from becoming magnates themselves."
Zhong Yue's heart shifted, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Have the four successors returned from the pursuit of the two island lords?"
"I hear that Feng Wuji, Fang Jiange and Lei Hong, the three of them are back, but Jun Sixie still hasn't returned."