Chapter 16: Qingxuan Divine Light

Inside the Grotto Heaven, beneath the moonlight.

Having successively received thirty and fourteen years of Cultivation, Li Yinsheng was already incredibly familiar with this place. However, this Cultivation session was different from the previous ones.

Within his body, he now had the Blood Refining Core to assist in Refining Body, and he had additionally taken up the *True Blood Secret Scripture* for Blood Refining as a Minor.

When he Cultivated in the outside world previously, he hadn't tried to wrap the Blood Refining Core in Magical Power to pause its dissipation. Doing so would consume far too much Heart and Spirit, severely cutting into his Cultivation time. Moreover, just as the female Shopkeeper had said back then, the benefits were minimal. Besides, even if left completely alone, the Blood Refining Core would last for five or six years.

But now, inside the Grotto Heaven, he had to divide his attention, constantly allocating Magical Power to stabilize the Blood Refining Core without a moment's pause.

The reward this time alone granted thirty-four years of Cultivation. Although cultivating without sleep or rest in the Grotto Heaven meant the actual time spent Cultivating wouldn't literally be thirty-four years, it would undoubtedly take well over a decade. Over such a long period, if left unchecked, the Blood Refining Core would have dissipated two or three times over.

Fortunately, Cultivating in the Grotto Heaven didn't consume any Heart and Spirit whatsoever; it was only the lingering sensations of fatigue and discomfort from Heart and Spirit consumption that remained.

If consuming Heart and Spirit were compared to a bleeding wound, normally, while the wound hurt, the blood would also gradually drain away. But here in the Grotto Heaven, even though the wound still hurt just as much, the blood would never run dry.

Gathering Spirit and Qi, Li Yinsheng wrapped Magical Power around the Blood Refining Core—which had transformed into a mass of pure C Fire Qi at his heart—to prevent its C Fire Qi from further dissipating. Then, he began to circulate the *Qingxuan Scripture*.

***

A long while later, Li Yinsheng opened his eyes and slowly exhaled.

Since the surrounding scenery never changed, the only reference he had to judge the passage of time was the changes in his Cultivation. He estimated his current Cultivation to be around seventy years.

Just moments ago, his *Qingxuan Scripture* had broken through to the Ninth Layer, and his *True Blood Secret Scripture* was also approaching the Third Layer. The breakthrough to the Ninth Layer also brought about a qualitative change in his Magical Power. The Clear Spirit Qi that existed in his Dantian—long since fully restored—spontaneously gathered and condensed, transforming into a layer of hazy, clear radiance that illuminated his entire Dantian.

To the naked eye, the Magical Power cultivated from the *Qingxuan Scripture* was a translucent pale cyan. However, the Qingxuan Divine Light born after cultivating it to profound depths was quite different.

The Qingxuan Divine Light was completely colorless.

Raising his hand, Li Yinsheng watched as a light as clear as water surfaced on his palm, somewhat resembling the cold moonlight spilling from the full moon above. He could feel that after the Clear Spirit Qi sublimated into the Qingxuan Divine Light, its quality had experienced a dramatic leap.

But to get a clear concept of exactly how miraculous this Qingxuan Divine Light was, he still had to test it himself.

Li Yinsheng first withdrew the Qingxuan Divine Light, then casually flicked his finger toward the Lotus Lake in front of him. A streak of white light shot from his fingertip.

Propelled by the thick Magical Power brought by seventy years of Cultivation, the white light transformed into a crescent blade beam about ten feet wide, whipping up a piercing, whistling gale. In the blink of an eye, the blade beam swept across a distance of six or seven hundred feet, severing all the lotus flowers and leaves in its path and carving out a perfectly clean water channel.

Li Yinsheng was somewhat surprised. He hadn't even used the Qingxuan Divine Light yet; he had only casually tested the single combat-oriented Magic he knew.

This Magic was called the White Blade Skill. Intended exclusively for Magical Combat, it required no hand seals, incantations, or external objects for assistance. With a single thought, he could unleash a blade beam capable of cutting through iron and stone. However, its true advantage lay in its low consumption and rapid casting speed; it was never known for its raw power.

When cast by a beginner, the blade beam was only two or three feet wide and flew a few dozen feet at most. Although its power was enough to slice an ordinary armored soldier in half along with their armor, its speed was slow enough that even a mortal martial arts master had a chance to dodge it. When Li Yinsheng had twenty years of Cultivation, a single Technique could fly over a hundred feet, cleanly cutting through several trees as thick as large bowls at a speed no mortal could evade.

Yet with that strike just now—where he had even intentionally held back a portion of his strength—the power, range, and speed had completely exceeded his imagination.

A gentle breeze brushed past, and the shattered lotus flowers and leaves in the water were restored to their original state, as if nothing had ever happened. Li Yinsheng wasn't surprised. Given the miraculous nature of this Grotto Heaven, self-repair was completely to be expected.

He flicked his finger again, but this time, with a shift in his thoughts, a tiny wisp of Qingxuan Divine Light merged into the White Blade Skill.

Instantly, the ten-foot-wide blade beam surged to over thirty feet across, silently sweeping past two thousand feet. Its speed was so blistering that even Li Yinsheng merely perceived it as a fleeting flash.

"HISS..." Li Yinsheng drew in a sharp breath.

He nodded in satisfaction. Just a tiny enhancement of Qingxuan Divine Light had more than tripled the power of the White Blade Skill. The main reason for this was likely that the White Blade Skill itself was too simple and low-level, which was why the enhancement from a miraculous power like the Qingxuan Divine Light yielded such an exaggerated result. However, if applied to powerful Magic, doubling their power shouldn't be difficult either.

Full of interest, Li Yinsheng tested it a few more times. He flicked his fingers repeatedly, sending several streaks of White Blade Skill enhanced with Qingxuan Divine Light shooting out in all directions. In the blink of an eye, they plowed several water channels two to three thousand feet long across the lake's surface.

After testing it for a short while, Li Yinsheng shook his head.

The consumption of his Magical Power for these few strikes of the White Blade Skill had been minuscule, yet his Qingxuan Divine Light had been depleted by over ten percent from just those few attacks. Furthermore, according to his perception, the recovery speed of the Qingxuan Divine Light was even slower than that of the Clear Spirit Qi.

To recover a depletion of over ten percent, it would probably take close to half a year.

The good news, however, was that in this damn Grotto Heaven, he still had an untold number of half-years left to spend. He originally wanted to take advantage of his ample time to recover the Qingxuan Divine Light and then attempt to use it for Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins on himself. Unfortunately, although the Qingxuan Divine Light could also perform Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins, he wouldn't be able to Cultivate while doing so.

And this Grotto Heaven demanded that he could only Cultivate while inside; he was strictly forbidden from doing anything unrelated to Cultivation.

He had only spent half a cup of tea's time testing the Qingxuan Divine Light, yet golden text had already surfaced on the White Jade Platform beneath him, warning him not to let his mind wander and that if he didn't resume Cultivating immediately, he would be expelled.

Sighing, Li Yinsheng had no choice but to close his eyes, continue enduring the searing pain of C Fire Blood Refining, and circulate the *Qingxuan Scripture*.

***

Inside the grotto, there was no sense of time; the passing years went unnoticed.

Immersed in Cultivation, Li Yinsheng was unable to keep track of time. He only knew that his Cultivation was already marching toward the one-hundred-year milestone. His *Qingxuan Scripture* was getting closer and closer to the Tenth Layer, and his *True Blood Secret Scripture* had just barely reached the Fifth Layer, though it was still quite a distance away from the Sixth Layer.

However, he knew very well that it was impossible for him to reach one hundred years during this Cultivation session.

Before receiving his rewards, his Cultivation had barely reached the twenty-year mark. The three rewards—thirty years, fourteen years, and this time's thirty-four years—added up to exactly ninety-eight years, leaving him exactly two years short of a century. Therefore, he would be kicked out just as his Cultivation approached the one-hundred-year mark.

But if his feelings were correct, his current ninety-plus years of Cultivation put him extremely close to breaking through to the Tenth Layer of the *Qingxuan Scripture*.

If his guess was right, one hundred years of Cultivation wasn't just the threshold to becoming a Daoist, but it was also exactly what was required to break through to the Tenth Layer of the *Qingxuan Scripture*. And the *Qingxuan Scripture* stated clearly that only after reaching the Tenth Layer, stabilizing one's Cultivation post-breakthrough, and securing a flawless foundation, could one take a step further and use the Magic Technique recorded within to become a Daoist—

This was also the reason why the *Qingxuan Scripture* was considered a Superior Cultivation Technique of the Xuanzhen Temple. Ordinary Cultivation Techniques within the Daoist Temple absolutely would not include a Magic Technique to become a Daoist.

Even though becoming a Daoist was still slightly out of reach, Li Yinsheng had no intention of giving up on the Tenth Layer of the *Qingxuan Scripture*, which was right before his eyes.

Breakthroughs in a Cultivation Technique relied on one's Cultivation, but it wasn't strictly required to hit a specific year mark without a single day's deviation. For example, breaking through to the Ninth Layer of the *Qingxuan Scripture* required seventy years of Cultivation, but this wasn't an absolute rule. Depending on a Cultivator's talent, comprehension, Root Device, and even the teachings of their master, the Cultivation required to break through to the Ninth Layer would fluctuate around the seventy-year mark.

For a Cultivator with excellent talent, guidance from a renowned master, or a mindset and Root Device that perfectly aligned with the *Qingxuan Scripture*, they could potentially break through to the Ninth Layer five to eight years early. Conversely, a Cultivator with poor talent, poor compatibility with the Cultivation Technique, or one whose Cultivation was flimsy due to taking too many Elixirs or receiving energy empowerment, might need to accumulate an extra seven or eight years of Cultivation before breaking through.

Of course, regardless of the circumstances, Cultivation was the prerequisite for breaking through any Cultivation Technique. Being a few years early or a few years late was normal, but the discrepancy wouldn't be absurdly large. For instance, dreaming of reaching the Ninth Layer of the *Qingxuan Scripture* with only forty or fifty years of Cultivation was pure fantasy.

Li Yinsheng himself possessed a low-tier Root Device and his talent was actually quite poor. Moreover, his Cultivation relied entirely on his own fumbling and comprehension; he had very little guidance from any master. However, both his mindset and Root Device had good compatibility with the *Qingxuan Scripture*, and his Cultivation was forged entirely through his own painstaking, grinding effort—making it incomparably solid.

Even the small amount of success he had achieved with the *True Blood Secret Scripture* had made his body unfathomably tougher than before. His abundant vitality and spirit also provided a bit of help toward breaking through the *Qingxuan Scripture*.

With his disadvantages and advantages canceling each other out, once he possessed seventy years of Cultivation, he broke through to the Ninth Layer effortlessly with just a slight attempt.

In fact, he had faintly sensed it back then: with the foundation he had laid over these years, even with a low-tier Root Device, he could have broken through to the Ninth Layer two years early. It was just that back then, he was still far from leaving the Grotto Heaven. Even if he had broken through two years early, he would still have had to cultivate for the same amount of time, making it unnecessary.

But now, he was only two years away from a breakthrough. To be sent out while stuck at the bottleneck of the Tenth Layer left him truly unwilling. Especially since in this Grotto Heaven, although his Cultivation speed wasn't boosted, Cultivating consumed no Heart and Spirit whatsoever. From a certain perspective, it was actually far more suitable for breakthroughs—

The act of breaking through a Cultivation Technique consumed the most Heart and Spirit. It was like crossing a single-log bridge: although a smooth, wide road waited on the other side, traversing it required absolute concentration. A single misstep, or a failure to sustain one's Heart and Spirit, would result in all his efforts being in vain.

And this state within the Grotto Heaven—where his Heart and Spirit were never depleted—was extremely advantageous for breakthroughs. Li Yinsheng did not want to waste it.