Imperial Cultivation

"The three emperors who wielded the Son of Heaven's Sword, as well as the emperors of Da Lie, Da Yong, and Da Jian, are they above the Grandmaster realm?"

"Breaking through to the Grandmaster realm isn't that easy. The Grandmaster realm itself has nine levels."

"Nine levels?"

"If you want to break through above the Grandmaster realm, you must first break through these nine levels. It's almost impossible to break through to the upper three levels. Even the middle three levels are rare. Most people are stuck between the first and second levels... Perhaps I'm just ignorant, but I haven't seen anyone break through to the third level yet."

"What about Mr. Su?"

Su Qiuyan said, "I am at the first level." Chu Zhiyuan was surprised.

Su Qiuyan said calmly, "His Highness is right. The world is constantly changing. A thousand years ago, some people could still reach the third level. Now, even the second level is difficult. I estimate that in another thousand years, people won't even be able to break through to the Grandmaster realm, and will only be able to reach the Master realm."

Chu Zhiyuan frowned, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"People from ten thousand years ago also didn't think it could be that bad. People from two thousand years ago thought the same. Now, you, Your Highness, think the same way," Su Qiuyan said. "I wonder if they will think the same in a thousand years."

"Then does Mr. Su know why this is happening?" Chu Zhiyuan asked.

"People are born and then die. People are actually the same as heaven and earth. Heaven and earth also have birth and death," Su Qiuyan said. "From what I can see now, this world is declining and may eventually be destroyed."

Chu Zhiyuan looked up at the sky.

Li Hongzhao laughed and said, "Sir, even if it is really destroyed, who knows how many years it will take? Tens of thousands of years, at least."

"A hundred years later is impossible... Actually, there's no need to think so much," Li Hongzhao said. "Let's think about how to become the master of the Son of Heaven's Sword first. You should even think about whether you can become a Grandmaster."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and was too lazy to retort.

The three separated when they arrived at the outer city, each returning to their own residence.

As soon as Chu Zhiyuan returned to Listening Wave Pavilion, he took out the black Spirit Sealing Box. He placed it in front of the couch and looked at it again and again.

Finally, he put the Spirit Sealing Box back into the Iron Ring, deciding to wait first, because he felt a faint sense of danger.

He trusted his intuition. Although this danger was not strong, and might not be fatal, he still didn't take the risk.

He slowly drew out the Bright Moon Saber, his left palm stroking the blade, sensing it carefully.

The Bright Moon Saber became lively and agile, as if it had transformed from a completely ignorant infant into a one-year-old.

This change was very clear.

This change not only made the Bright Moon Saber itself more powerful, but also made the power of the Glazed Saber Sutra even stronger.

It even fed back into his body, strengthening his Glazed Body as well.

Feeling this, he frowned. Could this Glazed Saber Sutra be an evil art?

The so-called evil art involves the descent of alien power from outside the heavens, leading to changes in temperament.

This Glazed Saber Sutra doesn't rely on alien power from outside the heavens, so it won't lead to changes in temperament. However, the pleasure of becoming stronger by killing people does have a bit of the feel of an evil art. He pondered for a moment, and finally decided to continue practicing, as there was no need to stop.

His intuition didn't tell him there was any danger, so this Glazed Saber Sutra could continue to be practiced. It has a legacy above the Grandmaster realm, and can be cultivated all the way up.

The opportunity to break through above the Grandmaster realm might be on it, and besides, it also has a huge impact on his current progress.

He returned the Bright Moon Saber to its sheath. He drew out the Broken Blade and condensed his saber intent.

Immediately, his face rapidly turned white, and his head ached violently as if stabbed by a knife.

Again and again, he gritted his teeth and persevered, while simultaneously circulating the Spiritual Transformation Realm's mental cultivation method, condensing his saber intent to resist the saber intent in the Broken Blade.

When he reached his limit, he sheathed the Broken Blade, his face already covered in sweat.

After resting for a while, he drew out the Silver Sheath Long Saber, drawing it out more than halfway, and once again confronted its saber intent.

Until he reached his limit, he pressed the Long Saber back, his face even paler, like white paper.

Alternating between the two saber intents allowed his saber intent to no longer fall into a fixed pattern, and it increased even faster.

After he finished this round of practice, he looked at the two small Sword Qi in his Heavenly Pool Acupoint, watching them become more and more solid, and was immediately filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Especially the fact that their destructive power to the last layer of the Bronze Tower was visibly increasing made him even more accomplished and full of motivation.

He suppressed the urge to continue bitterly cultivating the Glazed Saber Sutra and stuffed the last two Phoenix Blood Pills into his mouth.

The Dragon Transformation Art circulated.

After a while, strange patterns began to appear on his skin, these patterns lit up on his skin, becoming brighter and brighter.

When the last trace of medicinal power was about to be exhausted, the patterns that had lit up on his skin suddenly fused together.

In the next moment, a burst of light erupted, and these fused strange patterns transformed into pieces of golden scales.

The scales were connected to each other, densely packed, and strange patterns floated on the scales, as if they were alive, rotating and twisting.

He smiled, knowing intuitively that he had achieved the initial stage of Scale Refinement.

He continued to circulate the Dragon Transformation Art, continuing to practice downwards, not stopping at the initial stage of Scale Refinement. As the patterns rotated and twisted, these dense scales began to slowly shrink towards the skin, drilling into the inside of the skin.

As time passed, the scales completely drilled into the skin and disappeared.

The skin became warm and smooth like yellow jade, faintly emitting a soft, lustrous glow, a yellow jade-like glow.

After an hour, the skin had returned to normal, and no lustrous glow could be seen. However, the scales were still inside the skin.

He could clearly feel the presence of the scales, making his skin stronger. He suddenly drew out the Clear Shadow Sword and stabbed it into his left palm.

When the tip of the sword pierced his skin, it was blocked by the skin and could not penetrate an inch, as if it had pierced into hard iron armor.

The skin was no different.

However, he could clearly feel the presence of the scales, like fish scale armor, dispersing the power of the sword tip, reducing it layer by layer.

The power that the sword tip finally exerted on the skin was almost non-existent, and it could not pierce into the skin.

The skin became exceptionally tough, and the scales and skin seemed to be one.

Only then did he clearly feel the wonder of Scale Refinement: first, it made the skin tough, changing the original skin structure; and second, it dispersed power.

He tried slapping his chest.

The force of the palm was instantly diffused by the scales, weakening ten parts of palm power to only one part.

Returning the sword to its sheath, he couldn't help but want to laugh. Unfortunately, he shook his head again.

This did indeed greatly increase his combat power, but it didn't greatly improve his realm.

After not being able to practice the Jade Lock Golden Gate Art, the Dragon Transformation Art's improvement speed for realm advancement was not as strong.

However, his intuition was telling him that he must not slack off in his cultivation of the Dragon Transformation Art. It was crucial for stepping into the Grandmaster realm.

After Scale Refinement, only the last layer remained: Claw Refinement.

He looked down at his palms, wondering what Claw Refinement would produce.

Could it be refining fingernails, making them as hard and sharp as a treasure sword, so they could be used as a treasure sword? Under his doubts, he continued to activate the Dragon Transformation Art, naturally entering the next layer. His palms began to warm up, and faint streams of light flowed on the skin of his palms.

However, the progress was extremely slow. After practicing for an hour, his palms were still warm, and the streams of light were faint, but there were no more changes.

So he temporarily gave up and took out the Spirit Sealing Box again.

At this time, he felt that it was not as dangerous as before. He secretly speculated.

Could it be that there was some mechanism inside this Spirit Sealing Box, and opening it would launch hidden weapons? Now that his Scale Refinement was complete, he could block the hidden weapons even if they hit him?