Chapter 1682 (Raw 1694):
Use the mundane as a cauldron to temper my Buddha-like heart!
Amid the flames made of the mundane scenes, Xiao Chen shone with a gentle Buddhist light as he held the Buddhist Śarīra Pearls. He used this fierce fire to temper himself, cultivating a Buddha-like heart.
Nestled in the inferno of mundane scenes, Xiao Chen was like an old monk in meditation. He looked like he was not moving at all, but he was actually cycling through these mundane scenes.
In one moment, Xiao Chen was a merchant. In another, a farmer, then, a general. After a while, a flippant young master of a Noble Clan…each incarnation ended in bitterness after experiencing all sorts of difficulties and pain.
This continued in cycles. After seven days, that spot of resplendent golden light finally turned into a distinct swastika and flew out.
The swastika spun continuously on Xiao Chen's forehead, releasing a piercingly intense, golden Buddhist light.
When Xiao Chen glared while holding the Buddhist Śarīra Pearls, he was like a ferocious temple guardian. An extremely tyrannical Buddhist Might spread out.
The flames created from the mundane scenes all scattered. In the entire cultivation room, there was only the dignified Buddhist Might that was unique to Xiao Chen.
That Buddhist Might was tyrannical and ferocious, containing killing Qi. It could not tolerate any impurities, displaying its might without anger.
With a thought, Xiao Chen stopped thumbing through the Buddhist prayer beads. Then, the Buddhist swastika on his forehead withdrew.
The Buddhist light in the cultivation room vanished, leaving peace and quiet.
Only Xiao Chen's body had some warm Buddhist light lingering on it, proving that everything that just happened was real.
"Alright, I finally managed to condense a Buddha-like heart. I also attained a higher level in Breaking the Mundane.
Xiao Chen showed joy in his face. After seven days in closed-door cultivation with the support of the Buddhist prayer beads, he had gained a comprehension of the Buddhist principles. He had experienced all walks of life in the illusionary mundane scenes, encountering all sorts of bitterness.
These short seven days were like seventy years. Xiao Chen finally cultivated a Buddha-like heart that only an esteemed monk of the Buddhist Dao could condense.
When the Skeleton Dragon Star Venerate executed Breaking the Mundane, his forehead had the swastika as well.
However, that had not been a true Buddha-like heart but a false Buddha-like heart, an imitation that the Skeleton Dragon Star Venerate created with his strong Soul Energy. He had not understood the principle of the Saber Technique or Buddhism. Hence, he could not have tempered a Buddha-like heart.
The Skeleton Dragon Star Venerate could only use his cultivation to forcefully make up for what he lacked. However, Xiao Chen truly gained a Buddha-like heart.
It was the same Breaking the Mundane, but Xiao Chen could already bring out thirty percent of its might. The remaining seventy percent was dependent on his cultivation.
When Xiao Chen reached the Cloud Sea Realm, there would naturally be no more hindrances. He would be able to express the full might of this move.
He would not be like the Skeleton Dragon Star Venerate, barely able to bring out only thirty percent of the move's might by relying on his Cloud Sea Realm cultivation.
As Xiao Chen held the Buddhist prayer beads, he started to think.
Right now, he had a total of four directions that he could take in his training.
The first direction was Saber Techniques.
Xiao Chen could focus on the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique. After all, it was a Mystery Grade Martial Technique derived from the Primogenitor Grade Gautama Divine Palm, something of a sufficiently high grade.
What he would need to do was continue meditating on Breaking the Mundane, thoroughly familiarizing himself with it to reach a level where he could control it freely.
As for Resolving the Mundane and Entering Hell, he could meditate on them after breaking through to the Primal Core Realm.
Next was the Army Breaking Saber Technique.
After all, Breaking the Mundane could only be used as a killing move. It required too much energy and could not be frequently used. As for the Army Breaking Saber Technique, which Xiao Chen derived from a peak Martial Technique of the Divine Shield Army, it was a Saber Technique with great offensive power.
Breaking Vast Armies, Breaking Mountains and Rivers, Breaking Stars, and Breaking the World.
Four powerful killing moves with incredible might. Continuing to practice them might result in plenty of improvement.
The Army Breaking Saber Technique was very suitable for regular battles.
Finally, there was the Flawless Saber Technique, which Xiao Chen had created when he was in the Kunlun Realm and inexperienced. Now, it looked like it was not powerful enough.
He could only temporarily set it aside and perfect it after his Saber Dao improved further.
The second direction was Movement Technique.
Currently, Xiao Chen used the new Fish Dragon Art. He had altered it based on his observations of a ferocious beast, using the beast's special characteristics to alter his posture and raise his speed.
Back then, it looked fine. In reality, it still had a gaping hole, a glaring weakness.
Although Xiao Chen's speed was fast, he could not control himself freely. It somewhat felt like losing control. When using such a Movement Technique, the circulation of his energy for his Martial Technique could not keep up; hence, the might of his attacks decreased.
In the end, it was still because of his inexperience. He had not observed enough Movement Techniques. If he had the chance, he had to find a Movement Technique in the Fiendish Demon Battlefield and take reference from it to make up for this shortcoming.
Right now, Xiao Chen had to play to the new Fish Dragon Art's strength, properly making use of that speed that pushed the limits of his control.
The third direction was the physical body.
Xiao Chen had already attained four Cauldron Force. Unfortunately, he had not found a truly strong body tempering Cultivation Technique in this Great Thousand Realms.
He still did not understand how to nourish, circulate, and control his Qi, which prevented him from bringing out his true Vital Qi.
Xiao Chen estimated that his physical body could handle ten Cauldron Force without any problems.
Nevertheless, without a suitable Cultivation Technique, he could not cultivate so much Vital Qi.
The last direction was his bloodline power.
This was the strongest of the lot but the one that Xiao Chen was the most helpless in. At least, he could seek out fortuitous encounters in the Fiendish Demon Battlefield for his Movement Technique or body tempering Cultivation Technique. He might even be able to find them in an auction. However, the cultivation of bloodline power was hard to obtain.
As for the other killing moves that Xiao Chen already familiarized himself with in the past, there was no need to continue working on them.
The Dharmic World, the Ice Blood Lightning Dragon, and the Dragon Blood Soul Breaking Finger would continue to grow stronger along with Xiao Chen's cultivation.
After thinking for a while, Xiao Chen decided on his focus. Before the Fiendish Demon Battlefield opened, he would spend most of his efforts on practicing the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique.
This would enhance Xiao Chen's strengths even further. With the remaining time, he would work on the Army Breaking Saber Technique.
After tempering his Buddha-like heart for seven days, Xiao Chen gained some vague new thoughts on this Army Breaking Saber Technique.
He could infuse some of the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique's ferocity and Buddhist Might, which contained killing Qi, into the Army Breaking Saber Technique.
Xiao Chen put away the Buddhist Śarīra Pearls and came to a decision.
"It is settled. I'll familiarize myself with Breaking the Mundane and continue to improve the Army Breaking Saber Technique's might!"
In the following days, aside from spending two hours every day to guide Ling Yu, Xiao Chen followed his plan to work on his Saber Techniques.
Ling Yu improved rapidly and would have practice fights with Xiao Chen. Both of them got what they needed.
Xiao Chen could practice his saber on Ling Yu, looking for weaknesses and improving them.
Ling Yu wanted to defeat Feng Yu. Fighting with a bladesman like Xiao Chen was definitely the best choice.
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In the blink of an eye, one month passed.
Without realizing it, the two both improved greatly.
By relying on the Life Juice Source that Xiao Chen provided, Ling Yu successfully broke through to late-stage Minor Primal Core Realm. More importantly, he had undergone the tempering of Xiao Chen's killing Qi.
Ling Yu's air had transformed. His entire body now gave off a sharpness, releasing a brilliance willy-nilly. He now had an intimidating aggressiveness.
As for Xiao Chen, his Army Breaking Saber Technique finally reached Great Perfection. After he infused the ferocious Buddhist Might into the four killing moves, it no longer had even a shadow of the Divine Shield Army's Thousand Army Sword Technique.
Now, the Army Breaking Saber Technique was something unique to Xiao Chen. It even somewhat surpassed the Thousand Army Sword Technique.
Xiao Chen could control Breaking the Mundane as he pleased, wielding it freely. With one thought, the Buddhist mark on his forehead would appear.
"Martial Uncle, with your current strength, if you go all out, you are no weaker than the true inheritors of our Purple Flame Sect. However, your cultivation…"
Having seen Xiao Chen's many trump cards and horrifying Saber Techniques, Ling Yu gave Xiao Chen an extremely high evaluation.
Xiao Chen smiled and shook his head. "There is no point in saying that. A gap in cultivation is still a gap. It cannot be ignored. Tell me, who are the strongest disciples in these three blessed lands?"
At this question, Ling Yu grew very excited. He nodded and replied, "The strongest disciple of our Black Cave Mountain is the Divine Firmament Sect's Shangguan Lei. His cultivation reached the early-stage Major Primal Core Realm long ago. He has exceptional talent in the Thunder Dao. Martial Uncle, you should pay attention to him. He is also the Thunder Saber Xiang Tian's disciple and Feng Yu's senior brother.
"However, unlike Feng Yu, aside from the Thunder Dao, his comprehension of the Wind Dao is equally astonishing. He is known as the Thunder Wind Berserk Saber."
Xiao Chen nodded to indicate his understanding. Just the cultivation alone would already inspire fear in others.
Furthermore, Shangguan Lei also cultivated two different attributes. Such a person could not be underestimated.
"The strongest disciple of the Heavenly Shaking Mountain is the Confucian Institution's Wang Yueming, a person of the Confucian sect. He cultivates righteous Qi and follows the teachings of the ancient sages. His Sword Techniques are bold, majestic, and pressing.
"As for the Potala Mountain, they do not pay too much attention to ranking there. However, everyone knows that the Potala Mountain's strongest disciple is the Profound Light Temple's Zhen Yuan, a disciple of the Zhen generation. His cultivation is high, and he is rumored to have cultivated the Iron Dharmic Body. His physical strength is astonishing, and he is incredibly strong."
[TL Note: For Buddhist monks, when they become monks, they discard their old names and are given a new name, which is known as the dharmic name. For Chinese monks, this typically consists of two parts, the first part is common throughout the same generation in the same temple, and the second part is like a given name. In fact, very traditional families of certain areas follow the same tradition, where you have a family name, and a name made up of two words with the first word being the word that indicates the generation.]