Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Cultivation Bottleneck

Myriad Wither Peak’s Molten Iron Baneful Aura Pool spanned two hundred feet . It was comparable to some lakes . Churning black baneful aura emanated from the pool .

There were many chambers in the stone walls next to the pool .

In the fifty-foot-wide Chamber 11, there was a pipe in the corner that connected to the Molten Iron Baneful Aura Pool . Black baneful aura—with a lower concentration than the pool—diffused into the chamber .

Chi! Chi! Chi!

As the Molten Iron baneful aura entered his body, Meng Chuan felt his entire body heat up . His mind was assaulted by the baneful aura as well . Under the influence of baneful aura, the body-tempering saber art’s effects would be reduced, even if ordinary geniuses managed to stay awake . However, Meng Chuan had the Power of Essence Soul that helped him resist the baneful aura . This gave him absolute clarity of mind . He executed the body-tempering saber art with perfection, allowing his muscles to release strength .

This was why Meng Chuan had achieved the Fourth Refinement in a short month . He was half-way through completing the Fifth Refinement . He resisted the baneful aura’s effect on his mind completely .

My saber art realm isn’t high enough . If I don’t achieve Saber Intent, I won’t be able to use most of my physical strength . My body is absorbing the baneful already much slower now . Meng Chuan was a little anxious . From the first day of attempting the Fifth Refinement, the effects baneful aura has on my body-tempering has constantly been decreasing . With my current absorption speed, I’m afraid I’ll take a year to complete the Fifth Refinement . And that’s not even mentioning that my body-tempering speed might decrease tomorrow .

What about the Sixth Refinement? Will it take five years, ten years? What about the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Refinement? Meng Chuan shook his head gently .

Archean Mountain had plenty of books that introduced the various cultivation milestones of the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body .

If one wanted to cultivate the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body to a high level, their progress would be determined by several aspects .

The first was the physical body . The stronger one’s body foundation, the faster one absorbed and fused baneful aura . Meng Chuan’s Godfiend foundation was three times more robust than an ordinary mortal’s . It wasn’t bad, although it was inferior to Xue Feng’s Godfiend foundation, it was impressive enough . It was a Godfiend foundation forged from consuming a drop of Godfiend Jade Marrow Liquid, an Iceheart Fruit, and Astral Spirit Grass strand . It was a top-notch Godfiend foundation among geniuses . Meng Chuan was very grateful for his father’s and family’s efforts .

Second, will . The stronger one’s will was, the better . It reduced the negative effects of baneful auras . His strong will allowed him to execute the body-tempering saber art better . With the Power of Essence Soul, Meng Chuan could maintain absolute clarity of mind! He could execute the body-tempering saber art without any mental interference! He scored full marks on this aspect .

The third was realm . The Lightning Devastator Fiend Body required one to be at the Realm of Intent . This was because Intent allowed a person’s body to produce strength several times greater than when using Force! Intent allowed one to use more of their body’s potential . This caused a quantitative change in the absorption of baneful aura . Furthermore, Saber Intent would help him execute the body-tempering saber art more intricately . This also bettered the body-tempering effects—a qualitative change .

One had to achieve Intent before they had a chance of reaching the Seventh Refinement . And it was just a chance to reach it .

Many geniuses had reached the Realm of Intent, but the further they advanced in regards to body-tempering, the stronger the baneful auras became . They could barely maintain lucidity when the baneful aura attacked their minds; thus, only achieving a portion of the body-tempering saber art’s effects . If one had a sufficiently robust Godfiend foundation, they would stand a chance of reaching the Seventh Refinement . If their foundation were weak, they wouldn’t have any hope of reaching the Seven Refinement .

I’ll try the Power of Essence Soul . He now knew that the Power of Soul was the Power of Essence Soul . The Essence Soul was closely related to the body, and it was best at utilizing the body’s potential .

Boom!

The Power of Essence Soul fused with his body . His perception of his body became several times clearer . The blood in his heart seemed to be churning like rivers . His lungs and breathing mimicked the whistling air in Thousand Sabers Cavern . With improved perception, he could muster several-fold his normal strength and speed when he used the body-tempering saber art . The body-tempering effects he gained was no less than using Intent .

His body became greedier as it absorbed the baneful aura . His body-tempering efficiency immediately soared . However, this drained his Power of Essence Soul too quickly . Before he could complete one set of the body-tempering saber art, his Power of Essence Soul was already depleted .

Meng Chuan shook his head . The effects of absorbing the baneful aura have increased by several dozen-fold . Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long . I can train once in the morning . When the Power of Essence Soul has recovered fully at night, I can train again . I can use the baneful aura to temper my body twice a day at maximum efficiency, but these sessions are too short .

Previously, he cultivated for two hours . But now, he couldn’t continue after a few seconds . It was too short .

Even if it’s two times a day, it would probably take a year . There’s still the Sixth and Seventh Refinement… Meng Chuan shook his head . This isn’t a solution .

A beard well lathered is half shaved . I’ll try to comprehend Saber Intent first before continuing to temper my body . As long as I achieve Saber Intent, I’ll probably complete the Fifth Refinement in five days . There’s no need to drain my Power of Essence Soul daily . It’s not good for cultivation either .

Tempering the body with baneful aura is too slow . According to the descriptions in the manual, I should stop . The longer I’m exposed to the baneful aura, the greater the damage to my body . Many geniuses eventually collapse physically and are forced to stop . My body-tempering speed is slow; therefore, there’s no need to persist blindly .

Some geniuses had reached the Realm of Intent . However—with the baneful aura invading their minds—they barely managed to stay conscious . This caused the body-tempering saber art to be ineffective for them . Their bodies suffered severe damage after absorbing the baneful aura for too long .

The wisest method was to train one’s will, such as reaching the Darkness Altar’s summit! With sufficient willpower, one could maintain 60–70% of the body-tempering saber art’s effects whilst being assaulted by baneful aura . This way, there was hope .

However, it was very difficult to temper one’s will! It normally took geniuses three to five years to temper their well . Geniuses could not afford to waste so much time .

The Godfiend foundation was forged in the Mortal Shedding realm . It was impossible to change it now .

Raising realms was even more difficult .

Archean Mountain gave ten years for their disciples to become high-grade Godfiends at the very least, or they would be expelled from the inner sect . With such time constraints, cultivating a transcendent-grade Godfiend body was very difficult .

Apart from the Phoenix Divine Body and the Dragon God Body, it made sense why five of the other ten transcendent-grade Godfiend bodies—the Archean Divine Body, the Samsara Divine Body, the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body, the Thirteen Swordbane Fiend Body, and the Great Strength Fiend Body—were the hardest to cultivate .

If I want to reach the Ninth Refinement, I need to achieve Saber Intent . Without any hesitation, Meng Chuan left the chamber .

From this day onwards, he stopped cultivating his Godfiend body and focused on his saber art . Time originally spent for Godfiend body cultivation, was instead used for his saber arts .

He spent seven hours cultivating every morning! After lunch, he painted during his resting hours and recovered from his exhaustion . After all, it was exhausting to cultivate in the Thousand Sabers Cavern for long periods of time, even though he loved cultivating the swift saber . He had no restraint when painting . He could draw as he wished, allowing his mind to relax completely .

After eating food in the late afternoon, he would head to the Thousand Sabers Cavern and spend four hours perfecting the Heart Saber Stance . In total, he spent eleven hours on the Heart Saber Stance every day! After his painting sessions mid-day, he would be at his optimal state .

…

In the blink of an eye, it was June .

Bright Scenic Peak at night .

“Steward Liu, when did Meng Chuan leave?” Liu Qiyue placed dishes on the table and asked .

“Lord Meng Chuan left at 16:45,” said Steward Liu respectfully .

“I understand . You can leave first,” instructed Liu Qiyue .

“Yes . ” Steward Liu respectfully retreated .

Liu Qiyue sat at the table and looked at the food she had prepared . Ah Chuan cultivates until so late in the day . For the past six months at Archean Mountain, his cultivation has become even crazier than when we were back at home .

Her heart ached a little .

After hours of training, her mental fatigue greatly reduced her efficiency . According to her master, she should stop to rest if she was truly exhausted and had poor cultivation efficiency . Forcefully cultivating without rest was not beneficial .

However, Meng Chuan had been cultivating for a very long time .

She read a book as she waited at the table silently .

…

Late at night, an exhausted Meng Chuan finally returned to his cave abode .

“Ah Chuan . ” Liu Qiyue immediately stood up .

“Qiyue . ” Meng Chuan’s exhausted face brightened when he saw Liu Qiyue .

“I personally cooked some food for you . Try it,” said Liu Qiyue immediately . She covered each plate with her hands and heated the cold dishes up rapidly . Using the power of a Phoenix bloodline to heat food was quite a rare sight .

Meng Chuan saw the dishes being heated up . Steam rose from the soup .

He was quite touched . Qiyue probably waited quite long for him .

“Oh, there’s my favorite pork belly . ” Meng Chuan’s eyes lit up . He immediately sat down and picked up his chopsticks .

“Join me,” said Meng Chuan immediately .

“There’s no need . I’m already full,” said Liu Qiyue .

“I’m rather hungry,” said Meng Chuan with a smile . He had been cultivating the Heart Saber Stance for four hours in the Thousand Sabers Cavern . He was naturally very hungry, and he enjoyed the meal .

Liu Qiyue watched from the side with a smile, but she still said, “Ah Chuan, don’t tire yourself out from cultivating . My master said that persisting in cultivation when you’re exhausted is harmful . ”

“Don’t worry, I know . ” Meng Chuan nodded .

“It’s useless no matter how many times I tell you this,” Liu Qiyue said exasperatedly .

Meng Chuan smiled without defending himself .

If he didn’t paint for more than two hours in the afternoon, he wouldn’t have had the energy to continue practicing his saber in the evening .

His painting time wasn’t fixed . It depended on his mood . Sometimes, it was a little short . Other times, it was longer . He didn’t limit the time as long as he enjoyed himself . Therefore, Meng Chuan never had a fixed time for when he returned in the evening . Liu Qiyue often waited for quite some time .

“Qiyue, I have a feeling . ” Meng Chuan looked at Liu Qiyue and softly said, “I’m not far from achieving Saber Intent . I’ll definitely be able to break through within half a month . ”

“Really?” Liu Qiyue’s eyes lit up when she heard that .

“In a few days, I’ll use my saber art in front of you,” said Meng Chuan with a smile .

Liu Qiyue nodded . Her eyes were bright . She was extremely happy seeing Meng Chuan becoming stronger .