Chapter 289: Beyond Divine Might, the Martial God's Countenance

Chapter 289: Beyond Divine Might, the Martial God's Countenance

In a distant castle, Li Xuan contemplated his next move. He intended to engage in martial battles, accumulating experiences and pushing himself to break through his limits, forging a deeper foundation.

This reminded Li Xuan of a concept—the path to invincibility! The path that Xu Yan was about to embark on seemed strikingly similar.

A journey toward invincibility, breaking through with the momentum of an undefeated streak, and forging an invincible will.

Of course, Xu Yan's goal was to accumulate a deeper foundation and transcend himself, which differed slightly. Even if he were to be defeated, it wouldn't hinder his progress toward invincibility.

"This is Xu Yan's path to invincibility!" Li Xuan marveled in his thoughts.

His disciple had finally broken free from the mold he had set, and it was a welcome development.

Stepping out of the confines of a set framework indicated that the disciple would become stronger and gain deeper insights into the martial path, which, in turn, would strengthen him as well!

As his disciple embarked on the path to invincibility, it was as if he himself were treading that path anew.

"Disciple, your ambition pleases me," Li Xuan nodded in approval.

Encouraged by his master's words, Xu Yan's spirit soared. "Master, I shall traverse the Spirit Realm, challenging the proud and mighty. I will defeat them, accumulating power and ascending to the pinnacle of the Spirit Realm!"

Challenging the pride of the Spirit Realm, dominating a generation, and ascending to the absolute peak—such actions would undoubtedly draw the ire of the major clans and sects. Their pride would not allow them to simply let it go if their prodigies were defeated.

The rules of engagement among the proud and mighty were merely a facade.

The once-powerful Wansing Martial Academy had been defeated in these clashes, crumbling and suffering heavy casualties among their top disciples.

Only those who had been involved knew the specifics of the battle involving Wansing.

And here, among them, was Yue Changming, one of the Thirty-Six Heroes of Wansing, a participant in those proud clashes!

As his disciple intended to challenge the proud and mighty, it was only natural for Li Xuan, as a master, to offer his support and protection.

As for those who might take it upon themselves to intervene after their prodigies were defeated, seeking to teach his disciple a lesson personally—that would be a path to their demise!

"I know it may be inconvenient for you to act, Master, but I am confident I can retreat safely. You need not worry," Xu Yan assured, his expression turning serious.

His master's strength was such that any display of power might cause unintended consequences and even bring about a catastrophe. Thus, Xu Yan didn't plan on relying on his master's protection. He was confident in his ability to make a safe retreat, and his challenge was not a reckless endeavor. He was a martial artist, not a hot-headed fool.

Li Xuan was delighted inwardly. Now he had an excuse for future encounters when he might not be able to defeat an enemy with a single slap. It wouldn't damage his image as an almighty being.

After all, he couldn't very well cause a catastrophe! His senior disciple was truly thoughtful, providing him with a ready-made excuse.

"Good, good, good! True strength is never cultivated in a greenhouse, nor through sheltering. The fact that you have this will and confidence pleases me greatly, Disciple," Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

Xu Yan was elated that his master approved of his plan, confirming that the path he had chosen was not wrong.

Meng Chong stepped forward as well. "Master, I wish to follow Big Brother's example. I want to sharpen my blade and become the foremost blade cultivator in the Spirit Realm!"

His second disciple was also ready to embark on a similar path.

Sulingxiu, the third disciple, approached with excitement, her cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "Master..."

Li Xuan turned to his third disciple, wondering if she, too, intended to walk the path of invincibility.

"I don't want to follow Big Brother and Second Brother. I plan to open a martial apothecary to heal and treat martial artists. I've learned the ways of an Alchemist, and I can't just let that knowledge go to waste," Sulingxiu explained with a giggle.

As Li Xuan had expected, his third disciple didn't have the temperament for constant battles. She lacked the ambition to strive for invincibility.

However, she made a valid point. Having learned the art of Alchemy, it would be a waste not to put it into practice.

With the turmoil in the Spirit Realm, the war between the Alliance and the clans had left countless injured, including many martial artists with severe, foundational injuries. This provided the perfect opportunity to gain experience as an Alchemist.

"Lingxiu has her own plans as well. I'm glad to see you all forging your own paths," Li Xuan said with a nod and a smile.

"Hehe, Master, I always have lots of ideas," Sulingxiu said, playfully pounding her master's shoulders with her fists.

"Master, I intend to lead the Alliance into the war in the Spirit Realm," Fang Hao declared.

As the Alliance leader of Yuzhou and a wandering martial artist himself, he felt a strong resonance with this idea. He, too, wanted to display his might and make a name for himself in the Spirit Realm!

"Very well," Li Xuan nodded in agreement.

All four disciples now had their own goals and aspirations.

This was an excellent development.

Although Xu Yan was confident in his ability to retreat safely, Li Xuan couldn't simply stand by and let his disciple face danger. He would have to provide some assurance.

After all, it concerned his grand martial pursuit.

While there was no need for him to personally escort his disciple, certain safeguards were necessary.

Li Xuan felt a sense of contentment as all four of his disciples had found their own cultivation goals and directions. He was especially pleased with Xu Yan and Meng Chong, who were about to embark on a martial path akin to the path of invincibility.

Through battles, they would accumulate power, transform, and break through to the Divine Source Realm.

Xu Yan started preparing for his journey through the Spirit Realm, getting ready to challenge the realm's proud and mighty.

Meng Chong also had his eyes set on this path, understanding the potential for immense gains despite its challenges.

Sulingxiu, on the other hand, was busy refining pills, ensuring that her senior martial brothers would have an ample supply of various pills for their endeavors.

Fang Hao continued to craft his mystical military cabinets, while Yue'er was in the midst of a breakthrough, cultivating the Art of Refining Gods. Yue Changming's spiritual body had recovered, and it now brimmed with a radiant glow like the moonlight. With the integration of the Heavenly Spirit Mechanism into his soul, his strength surpassed that of Huang Liang.

The strand of Heavenly Spirit Mechanism that Li Xuan had absorbed was far more potent than the one Huang Liang had integrated into his soul, explaining why Yue Changming's strength had surpassed the latter's.

As Yue Changming refined the Heavenly Spirit Mechanism, he also contemplated the law pattern contained within it. This pattern was one of the several law patterns that Li Xuan had extracted from the first page of the Grand Primordial Book and imprinted on paper.

For Spirit Realm warriors, these patterns were more than enough for them to comprehend; attempting to understand all the laws of the heavens and the earth was simply impossible. They could only hope to grasp one or two of these laws.

Li Xuan set aside the compilation of the *Divine Ability Martial Canon* for the time being and turned his attention to crafting martial arts realms beyond the Divine Ability realm. Before Xu Yan ventured out, Li Xuan intended to impart these martial arts techniques to him.

Xu Yan's path to invincibility was intrinsically tied to his ascent to the pinnacle of the Spirit Realm, and through continuous battles, his understanding of martial arts would also deepen. Perhaps, along this journey, he would be able to comprehend the martial arts beyond the Divine Ability realm.

"I've completed the realm beyond Divine Abilities, which involves the laws of the heavens and the earth. The martial arts techniques are fairly refined, and the progression between realms is seamless.

"The path of a Grand Primordial Martial Artist inevitably involves absorbing the laws of the heavens and the earth into their body. Even if they master the power of these laws, they are still bound by them.

"Transcending the heavens and the earth is far more challenging, and one lacks their own martial arts laws.

"My martial arts cannot be constrained. It must control the laws of the heavens and the earth, not be restricted by them. Thus, beyond the Divine Ability realm, one must control these laws for their own benefit.

"Using the laws of the heavens and the earth as the martial godly image enhances one's divine abilities and places them under personal control. Let's call this realm the Godly Image Realm."

With these thoughts, Li Xuan finalized the realm beyond Divine Abilities.

Godly Image Realm! Transforming the laws of the heavens and the earth into a martial godly image and controlling these laws for one's benefit—in a sense, this realm transcended the laws of the heavens and the earth.

To exist within the heavens and the earth yet, in a sense, transcend them was almost unachievable.

The Grand Primordial Martial Artist's cultivation beyond the Refining God: Heaven and Man realm was undoubtedly connected to the laws of the heavens and the earth, and Li Xuan could surmise that it involved refining the power of these laws to a certain extent, allowing one to borrow the power of these laws.

Take Huang Liang, for example, an extremely powerful individual who, by refining the Heavenly Spirit Mechanism into his body, gained the ability to sense the laws of the heavens and the earth and condense a strand of the power of the heavens. While it appeared that he was utilizing the laws of the heavens and the earth, Grand Primordial Martial Artists were ultimately bound by these laws. Their display of power was not so much "control" or "manipulation" but more of a borrowing.

Perhaps a higher realm was necessary to stand on equal footing with the laws of the heavens and the earth and truly manipulate them for one's purposes.

Li Xuan's goal was to achieve a realm beyond Divine Abilities, where he could directly manipulate the laws of the heavens and the earth for his benefit. In a sense, this already laid the foundation for transcending these laws.

The ability to manipulate the laws of the heavens and the earth was not only due to the Grand Primordial Martial Artist's own martial arts laws controlling the heavenly laws but also because of another crucial factor—the Grand Primordial Book's documentation of the laws of the heavens and the earth. This knowledge allowed Li Xuan to attain an extraordinarily profound understanding of these laws.

Furthermore, by directly referencing the laws of the heavens and the earth from the Grand Primordial Book, he could incorporate them into the Godly Image Realm, thus discovering the method to manipulate these laws.

Manipulate the laws of the heavens and the earth and transform them into a martial godly image!

"The Godly Image Realm, then, is set in stone. Using the laws of the heavens and the earth as the martial godly image, or even using the heavens and the earth themselves as the godly image... To transcend the heavens and the earth, one must not be constrained by them during their cultivation journey.

"The godly image is the starting point of transcending the heavens and the earth. Although true transcendence is still a distant goal, one is no longer bound by the laws of the heavens and the earth but instead controls them.

"With Xu Yan's talent, he should be able to comprehend this without issue."

Li Xuan's heart stirred with excitement.

In theory, the Godly Image Realm was comparable to the realm beyond Refining God: Heaven and Man. However, in reality, it had already surpassed it.

"If I break through to the Godly Image Realm and unleash my martial godly image, coupled with the Divine Ability of Heaven and Earth... My goodness, it feels like the entire heavens and earth are within my Heaven and Earth Divine Ability!

"This is incredibly powerful!

"If I were to use the Divine Ability of the Descending Dragon, my martial godly image would transform into a dragon, one that embodies the laws of the heavens and the earth!"

The more Li Xuan thought about it, the more thrilled he became.

Completeness of Cultivation Technique: Upper-Middle

Continuity Between Realms: High

Comprehension Difficulty: High

Cultivation Difficulty: Upper-Middle

After reviewing the information provided by the Grand Primeval Book, Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

The completeness of the cultivation technique was only upper-middle, but it wasn't too low either. With Xu Yan's exceptional talent, he would undoubtedly be able to comprehend it.

The continuity between realms, however, received a high evaluation.

This indicated that the theoretical progression from the Divine Ability Realm to the Godly Image Realm was entirely correct.

As expected, the comprehension difficulty was high. After all, the Godly Image Realm's martial arts techniques incorporated the heavenly laws from the Grand Primeval Book, allowing for direct insight into how to manipulate these laws.

The cultivation difficulty was only upper-middle, implying that as long as one comprehended the technique, cultivating it wouldn't be too challenging.

"So be it for the Godly Image Realm martial arts," Li Xuan decided.

Improving the completeness of the technique and lowering the comprehension difficulty would be extremely difficult.

After all, if the comprehension difficulty decreased and the completeness of the technique increased, it would, in a sense, lower the overall power of this realm.

The closer a realm was to the Divine Ability Realm, the higher the completeness of the technique would naturally be. Conversely, the farther away it was, the larger the power gap between realms, and the harder it would be to improve completeness.

To achieve an upper-middle level of completeness while ensuring that the realm's power wasn't lower than expected was, in Li Xuan's opinion, the best he could do.

The more profound and intricate martial arts techniques were, the higher the comprehension difficulty—it was an inevitable fact.

For the sake of greater power, such choices had to be made.

"The Godly Image Realm is done, but what lies beyond it?"

Li Xuan fell into deep thought.

The Godly Image Realm had already transformed the heavenly laws into martial godly images, manipulating them for one's use. But how should one progress further in the martial path beyond this realm?

How could one gradually transcend the heavens and the earth?

To truly transcend the heavens and the earth, it was impossible to do so in a single step. It required progressing through each realm, eventually breaking free from the constraints of the mortal world.

Therefore, beyond the Godly Image Realm, how should one continue cultivating and enhancing their martial prowess, laying the foundation for transcending the heavens and the earth?

Li Xuan felt a headache coming on. "This martial arts system is too difficult to create. The gap between realms is just too vast, with no continuity between them. It's like taking steps that are too big; it'll end up tripping you up...

"So, I can only progress step by step, improving one realm at a time..."

No matter how talented Xu Yan was, if there was no continuity between realms and the gap was ridiculously huge, it would be impossible for him to comprehend the techniques.

Even if he were talented enough to comprehend them, who knew how long it would take? It would undoubtedly result in him staying in one realm for an extended period...

"The Godly Image Realm involves controlling the heavenly laws, so the realm beyond it must involve breaking free from those laws and not being constrained by them. Therefore..."

Li Xuan began to form some ideas.

In the estate, while Li Xuan worked on the martial arts system, Xu Yan prepared to venture out into the world, ready to challenge the proud and mighty of the Spirit Realm.

Meanwhile, in the outside world, the situation underwent some changes.

In Leyin State, the battle between the mighty experts of the Wan Shi Alliance and Lei Yun Manor had commenced once more.

Boom!

During this battle, a bolt of lightning soared into the sky from the peak where Lei Yun Manor was located, instantly spanning the length of the horizon and striking one of the Wan Shi Alliance's mighty experts.

Puh!

The expert's face contorted in shock as they were sent flying backward, half their body charred black from the severe injury they had sustained!

Boom!

Another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, targeting the mighty expert from the Hailings.

"A divine artifact!"

The Hailings expert's expression changed drastically as waves rippled in front of her, summoning a surging tide. However, it was still unable to withstand the lightning strike, and another mighty expert from the Wan Shi Alliance nearby took it upon themselves to lend their aid.

Boom!

Although they managed to block this lightning strike, the expert who had intervened was heavily injured by a powerful strike from one of the Lei Yun Manor's experts!

The profound foundation of the Superran School was revealed in this moment.

A figure surrounded by lightning, holding a divine artifact, strode out from the Lei Yun Manor.

"Retreat!"

A figure appeared among the Wan Shi Alliance, their expression grave as they gave the order.

The multitude of Wan Shi Alliance experts promptly withdrew.

Boom!

Lightning streaked across the sky once more.

"Be careful, Yan Hunfa!"

The Wan Shi Alliance experts called out in alarm.

"Hmph!"

Yan Hunfa, holding a short rod, coldly hmphed and struck out with it.

Boom!

The two sides clashed with formidable attacks, neither gaining the upper hand.

The item in Yan Hunfa's hand was also a divine artifact.

Boom!

However, just at that moment, a red thundercloud emerged from the Lei Yun Manor, bringing with it rolling flames.

Lei Yun Manor had brought out their second divine artifact!

"Withdraw from Leyin State!"

A cold and stern voice rang out from the Lei Yun Manor.

"Hahaha! If you want to leave, then leave! What does it matter if we let you go? Leyin State will still be here for Lei Yun Manor!"

Yan Hunfa laughed loudly and led the Wan Shi Alliance experts in their retreat.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end