Chapter 320: Breaking the Limit

Chapter 320: Breaking the Limit



November 18, 2024

At the entrance.

Lin Qingyi was just about to raise her hand to knock on the main door.

The next moment.

She felt a strange sense of discomfort.

"How odd!" She glanced around but didn't notice anything unusual, then quickly averted her gaze.

On the other side.

Jiang Ning rubbed his nose and couldn't help but smile.

Then he stood up and called out.

Dong—

Dong—

Dong—

The front yard's main door was knocked upon by Lin Qingyi.

Then the door was opened.

"Sister Qingyi!" Seeing the woman in a long green dress standing in the snowy yard, her skirt trailing on the ground, blending with the snow, Jiang Ning's face couldn't help but show a faint smile.

Upon seeing Jiang Ning, Lin Qingyi gave him a suspicious look.

"How did you know I was coming?"

"I don't know!" Jiang Ning replied.

"If you didn't know, how could you appear so timely?" Lin Qingyi looked into Jiang Ning's eyes, their gazes locking.

Jiang Ning rubbed his nose.

Seeing this, Lin Qingyi glared at Jiang Ning.

Her intuition told her that the strangeness she had just sensed was not an illusion but was due to Jiang Ning's prying.

Jiang Ning's timely appearance also confirmed this in her mind.

"Help me with my skirt, it's getting too dirty dragging on the ground!" Lin Qingyi said to Jiang Ning, who was standing beside her.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning casually lifted Lin Qingyi's skirt, and his gaze swept down, revealing Lin Qingyi's slender legs beneath the skirt.

"Isn't Sister Lin cold? Showing her legs in this weather!"

"It looks good!" Lin Qingyi replied.

Then she smiled slightly, "A grandmaster like me, how could I not look good?"

"Grandmaster?" Jiang Ning widened his eyes.

Seeing Jiang Ning's expression, Lin Qingyi couldn't help but smile, her lips curving upwards with a hint of pride.

"Let's go inside your room and talk. I came today with something to discuss with you!" Lin Qingyi said again.

Jiang Ning also snapped out of his astonishment and slowly nodded. He held Lin Qingyi's skirt with his right hand and headed towards his Eastern Yard.

In the yard.

Jiang Li and Liu Wanwan heard the commotion in the front yard and came out of the room, just in time to witness this scene.

"Brother Li, seeing this, you don't need to worry about Ah Ning at all. With so many girls favoring him, what's there to worry about?" Liu Wanwan said.

Jiang Li also nodded in agreement, "Indeed! Ah Ning is indeed favored by girls now, but I'm afraid he'll be spoiled for choice and won't know who to choose!"

Liu Wanwan said, "I think the older ones are better; they know how to care for and love someone!"

"The one Ah Ning likes is the best!" Jiang Li said.

In the Eastern Yard.

Jiang Ning held Lin Qingyi's skirt and lifted it over the threshold, entering the room and only then releasing it.

The skirt quickly covered Lin Qingyi's slender legs.

"Sister Lin, do you want to warm up by the fire?" Jiang Ning picked up the cup of tea he had just brewed and poured a cup for Lin Qingyi.

"Yes," Lin Qingyi nodded, then glanced around, "Where's Lu Yi?"

Jiang Ning held the still-hot tea in his hand and came to Lin Qingyi, passing it to her as he spoke, "After lunch, she went out to buy me some books."

"Buy books?" Lin Qingyi's face showed confusion.

She glanced at Jiang Ning's room and immediately saw the piles of books.

"You..."

"I'm preparing to take the Imperial Exams," Jiang Ning said.

"The Literary Imperial Exams?" Lin Qingyi asked.

"Both of them!"

"Impressive!! Amazing!!" Lin Qingyi exclaimed.

Jiang Ning smiled.

Then he went to the corner and added a few pieces of charcoal to the stove.

He waved his hand, and the Palm Control of Water and Fire Manipulation Technique was activated.

In less than two breaths, the black charcoal turned red, burning vigorously and releasing a continuous stream of heat.

Lin Qingyi held the hot teacup in both hands and had just sat down when her gaze was involuntarily drawn to Jiang Ning.

Seeing this, a look of surprise flashed through her eyes.

Her gaze then moved upwards, landing on Jiang Ning's face.

At this moment.

After lighting the charcoal, Jiang Ning's thoughts stirred slightly, and his mental strength left his body, moving the charcoal stove under Lin Qingyi's feet.

"Mental strength manipulation!" Lin Qingyi exclaimed, then praised, "It seems your mental strength has become very strong."

Jiang Ning smiled and nodded, then sat down next to the charcoal stove.

"Not bad, I can separate my mental strength from my body by two hundred meters."

"Two hundred meters?" Lin Qingyi looked at Jiang Ning in astonishment, her eyes flashing with deep surprise.

As a grandmaster, her mental strength was indeed stronger than Jiang Ning's current level, but she also understood what it meant to separate mental strength from the body by two hundred meters.

That surpassed ninety-nine percent of the Fifth Rank in this world, and even among the Fourth Rank, those with such mental strength were a minority.

Even she, having reached the Third Rank and achieved the status of a grandmaster, couldn't separate her mental strength from her body by much more than Jiang Ning, only by a mere mile.

She was also well aware that her powerful mental strength at her age was due to her unique innate constitution.

It was this unique physique that attracted the attention of the old prince.

Under the pretense of a joyous marriage, she entered the royal family, becoming a nominal princess.

Thinking of this, Lin Qingyi couldn't help but feel a sense of annoyance.

Then, she lifted her gaze towards Jiang Ning, and a smile unconsciously appeared on her lips, easing the annoyance in her heart.

Afterwards, she lifted her long skirt, revealing a smooth, jade-like calf that she placed by the charcoal fire to warm herself.

Jiang Ning took a sip of the tea he had just brewed, and his gaze was naturally drawn to her.

Lin Qingyi noticed his gaze and asked with a smile, "Do you like it?"

"It's quite nice!" Jiang Ning nodded.

At her words, a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she pretended to warm herself by the fire, lifting her skirt slightly.

There was no trace of shyness on her face.

"Look!" Lin Qingyi raised her chin slightly, speaking with a hint of pride.

Jiang Ning smiled.

Then, he asked, "Lin Sister, what brings you here today?"

"Oh, right!" At Jiang Ning's words, Lin Qingyi suddenly came back to her senses.

She took out a letter from her sleeve and placed it beside Jiang Ning.

"Take it!"

"This..." Jiang Ning hesitated, looking at the letter.

"It's a letter from Little Seventeen!"

"Seventeen Princess?"

Jiang Ning's mind instantly flashed to Ji Mingyue, the princess who was half a head shorter than him.

He recalled the image of Ji Mingyue holding his hand, and his eyes couldn't help but show a hint of complexity.

"What? Are you touched?" Lin Qingyi smiled, letting her skirt fall back down, covering the smooth calf she had just revealed.

Jiang Ning didn't respond but instead tore open the seal of the letter, taking out the contents.

After unfolding it.

He read through it line by line.

The letter was several hundred words long, and it didn't contain any flowery language. It simply shared her experiences and thoughts from the past month, along with her inner feelings.

The plain and simple words conveyed the girl's confession.

After reading the entire letter, Jiang Ning sighed inwardly, then carefully folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope.

"What do you think?" Lin Qingyi asked from the side.

"I don't have any thoughts!" Jiang Ning replied indifferently.

Then, he changed the subject, "Lin Sister, you just mentioned that you've achieved the Grandmaster level. Is it the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster, the Mortal Grandmaster, or the Earth-Bearing Grandmaster?"

"I didn't expect you to know about these things!" Lin Qingyi held her teacup, took a sip, and then looked up at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning explained, "I had a conversation with White Commander, and I heard a little from him."

"White Luoyu?" Lin Qingyi asked.

"Yes," Jiang Ning nodded.

"He's an extraordinary person!" Lin Qingyi exclaimed, then continued, "I've completed a cultivation with the Hundred Spirit Blood, so it's the Mortal Grandmaster."

"The Mortal Grandmaster," Jiang Ning murmured.

Then he asked, "Is it difficult to achieve the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster?"

Lin Qingyi nodded, "Very difficult! Extremely difficult!"

She continued, "In this world, among the Grandmasters, only one can achieve the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster, which is the highest level of Grandmaster. The rest are all below that."

"For me, the biggest challenge in achieving the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster is the lack of time and depth of cultivation."

"The Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster requires either the use of certain powerful cultivation techniques to achieve Heaven-Earth Convergence, thus attaining the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster."

"Or it requires a profound understanding of one's inner state, achieving Unity with Heaven and Earth, and also attaining the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster."

Upon hearing Lin Qingyi's words, Jiang Ning asked, "Which of these two is more difficult?"

Lin Qingyi replied, "In terms of difficulty, of course, the first one is more challenging. It requires the use of powerful cultivation techniques to achieve Heaven-Earth Convergence, drawing in the essence of Heaven and Earth, and completing a Blood Refinement to attain the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster."

"The difficulty of this method lies not only in finding a suitable cultivation technique but also in comprehending the technique to an extremely profound level."

"You should know that the more powerful the cultivation technique, the more challenging it is to cultivate."

"That kind of cultivation technique is difficult for ordinary martial artists to even comprehend, let alone cultivate it to an extremely profound level."

Jiang Ning asked, "What about the second method?"

Lin Qingyi continued, "The second method is also not easy. It requires a profound understanding of one's inner state, achieving Unity with Heaven and Earth, and drawing in the essence of Heaven and Earth."

"When the opportunity and timing are right, a flash of insight will appear in one's mind, leading to Unity with Heaven and Earth and drawing in the essence of Heaven and Earth."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning instantly understood.

The Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster.

It requires exceptional talent but is also the highest level of Grandmaster, as well as the Grandmaster with the most potential.

Just as White Luoyu had mentioned before, among the Grandmasters, five out of ten are based on the Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster, and the rest are the other two types of Grandmasters.

As for the Earth-Bearing Grandmaster, it is one level lower but also extremely difficult to achieve.

This is because the Heaven-Earth Essence required for the Earth-Bearing Grandmaster cannot be found in the current world.

In ancient times, this was a secret realm left behind by a powerful being.

Such secret realms are extremely rare in the world, and one could hardly find any.

At least, he hadn't heard of any until now.

The third type of Grandmaster, the most ordinary one, is the Mortal Grandmaster, and also the most common type.

Grandmasters like Lin Qingyi achieve this by using external objects like the Hundred Spirit Blood to become Blood Refinement Grandmasters, thereby transforming their physical bodies.

Lin Qingyi glanced at Jiang Ning, seeing his pensive expression, and spoke up.

"What's wrong? Do you think becoming a Mortal Grandmaster is weak?"

"No!" Jiang Ning shook his head. "I was just thinking about the differences between these three types of Grandmasters."

"The Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster, the Earth-Born Grandmaster, and the Mortal Grandmaster - do you understand them more or less?"

"More or less!" Jiang Ning continued, "The Heaven-Transcending Grandmaster, as the name suggests, is achieved through the convergence of Heaven and Earth, and thus, they are named Heaven-Transcending Grandmasters."

"The Earth-Born Grandmaster, on the other hand, is achieved through the use of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, hence the name Earth-Born Grandmaster."

"As for the Mortal Grandmaster, it is named so because humans are the foremost among all spirits. So, it's called the Mortal Grandmaster."

Hearing this, Lin Qingyi couldn't help but shake her head and smile. The hair accessory on her head shook slightly.

"What you said is more or less correct, but that's not what I asked."

"However, from what you said, it seems you've understood most of it!"

Jiang Ning recalled for a moment, then nodded slightly. "I should have understood most of it!"

"Do you think that becoming a Mortal Grandmaster means I have no further aspirations?" Lin Qingyi turned to look at Jiang Ning and asked again.

Seeing Lin Qingyi's gaze, Jiang Ning hesitated for a moment, then nodded, following his inner thoughts.

"A little."

He continued, "Lin Sister, you're still so young, and you have plenty of time. Why rush into the Grandmaster realm?"

"I'm not young anymore!" Lin Qingyi sighed, her expression turning somewhat gloomy. "For women, after the age of twenty-five, it's all downhill. I'm already thirty."

Jiang Ning said, "Becoming a Grandmaster grants at least two sixty-year lifespans. In the face of such longevity, thirty is just the beginning, like a flower in full bloom."

"You sure know how to flatter people!" Lin Qingyi's face showed a smile.

"Every word is sincere," Jiang Ning said.

Lin Qingyi's smile widened, and she spoke, "You don't understand. I don't have much time left!"

"Why do you say that?" Jiang Ning was taken aback and asked in confusion.

Lin Qingyi shook her head, clearly not wanting to delve deeper into the conversation.

She then stood up, "The purpose of my visit today has been fulfilled, and Xiao Shiyi's letter has been delivered to you. It wouldn't sound good if it got out that a man and a woman were alone together in a room, ruining your reputation."

"I don't mind, but it's different for you. You're not married yet."

"So, I should leave too!"

After saying this, Lin Qingyi turned and walked towards the door.

Watching Lin Qingyi open the door and disappear from the doorway, Jiang Ning's gaze became slightly focused, and he showed a thoughtful expression.

It was evident from Lin Qingyi's behavior that she had deep concerns and didn't want to confide in him.

After a moment of reflection, Jiang Ning shook his head.

Then, he picked up the book he hadn't read yet from the table beside him and continued reading.

Meanwhile, Lin Qingyi walked out of the main gate, glancing back at the eastern courtyard where Jiang Ning was.

"My affairs shouldn't involve you!"

"Being a Grandmaster only gives me a slim chance to defy fate!"

She shook her head, causing her hair accessory to sway, and then she lifted her leg and walked down the steps.

The next day.

[Arts]: Scholarly Skills + (Sixth Limit Break 6000/6000; Extraordinary Senses, Photographic Memory, Five Senses, Swift Mind, Sharp Mind, Heavenly Vision)



Opening the panel and seeing the display, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile.

Through his diligent efforts, he had accumulated 6,000 experience points for Scholarly Skills much faster than expected.

In just the first half of the morning, he had already earned 6,000 experience points.

With 6,000 experience points and sufficient Essence Energy points, he met the requirements for the next Limit Break of Scholarly Skills.

He then took a look at his Essence Energy points.

[Essence Energy]: 911.87

After these days of gradual accumulation, his Essence Energy points had exceeded 900.

For Scholarly Skills' sixth Limit Break, according to his calculations, he needed 500 Essence Energy points.

He confirmed it once more.

A thought crossed his mind.

In an instant, his Essence Energy points began to decrease like a waterfall.

In the blink of an eye, the points had stabilized.

[Essence Energy]: 411.87

At this moment, he closed his eyes, feeling a sense of soul-stirring lightness.

His body seemed to float away with the air currents.

At the same time.

He also felt his psychic energy field instantly expand, covering a radius of two hundred meters, and rapidly growing.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end