Chapter 1736: Achieving a Breakthrough to Ancient Sage

Translator: StarveCleric  Editor: Millman97

Hu!

Zhang Xuan finally came to a halt.

“How is it?” the Xingmeng Sword Saints asked curiously.

They knew that their son was the head of the Jiang Clan and had a soul oracle student. Without a doubt, he was likely to be highly proficient in the field of soul arts. However, they were not too sure what realm he had reached, so it was inevitable for them to be interested in his results.

“This…” Zhang Xuan scratched his head awkwardly. “The world in here is simply too small. My soul thread has already reached the end of the world.”

While this was a world that Kong shi had created through extraordinary means, it was ultimately still a folded space. There was no way that it could be boundless like the Master Teacher Continent. All in all, the world was less than a million kilometers wide in diameter.

It was not large enough for him to push himself to his limits!

However, if one thing was for sure, when it came to souls, he was already comparable to the Ancient Sages!

Of course, he would only be comparable to them in terms of quantity. When it came to quality, he was severely lacking. At the very most, he would only be able to protect himself from the soul offense of the Ancient Sages. He was still lacking sufficient power to be able to quell experts of that level.

“Even though the world in the painting is small, the fact that you were able to reach the end of the world shows that you possess extraordinary soul span. As long as you raise your Soul Depth and cultivation up to the mark, you should be able to reach Ancient Sage!” Sword Saint Xing remarked in astonishment.

His son’s talent was truly overpowered.

While other cultivators struggled to keep up with their soul span even after their cultivation had reached Sempiternal realm consummation, he had already met the requirement despite only being at Aureate Body realm consummation.

Perhaps, the bottleneck that had made Ancient Sage unreachable to most cultivators might be a mere mini hurdle for him, just like any other cultivation realms.

“Actually, it’s not too difficult to increase your soul span. I have a soul cultivation technique manual over here that you two can cultivate…” Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and took out a book.

As one who had comprehended the Soul Quintessence and inherited the heritage of the soul oracles, he had long formed his own school of study regarding souls. The soul cultivation technique manual that he was offering to the Xingmeng Sword Saints was tailored to the constitution of those in the Zhang Clan. As it was completely unrelated to the heritage of the Jiang Clan, it could not be considered betraying the Jiang Clan’s secrets.

“This cultivation technique is indeed highly effective in increasing one’s soul span. As long as we cultivate it diligently, we should be able to reach a soul span of a million kilometers within a month!” Sword Saint Xing remarked in agitation after swiftly browsing through the manual.

“Un. I’m looking forward to the day that you two become Ancient Sages!” Zhang Xuan said with a chuckle.

“I’m glad that you think highly of the two of us, but it really isn’t as easy as that!” Sword Saint Xing shook his head. “Other than the three core requirements, there are many other factors that can affect the possibility of one’s breakthrough to Ancient Sage, such as one’s understanding of cultivation, one’s ability to harmonize with the world, one’s state of mind… In any case, a breakthrough to Ancient Sage is truly no easy feat. As powerful as your soul cultivation technique is, it’ll only increase our chances of success by ten percent!”

“Only ten percent?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

“Indeed. Stepping into the Ancient Sage realm symbolizes overcoming one’s fundamental limits to reach a higher level of existence. To make an analogy, it’s no different from a carp leaping across the Dragon’s Gate! One’s constitution changes completely, including one’s meridians. There’s no way to make that leap that easily…” Sword Saint Xing explained.

However, before he could finish his piece, he suddenly felt the world around him quaking intensely. Surges of spiritual energy were swiftly gathering in a certain direction.

Following which, an overwhelming burst of energy gushed into the heavens, splitting the world in half.

“This… Someone is achieving a breakthrough to Ancient sage?” Sword Saint Xing widened his eyes in disbelief.

He felt as if his head was going to explode. Not a moment earlier, he had said that it would be incredibly difficult to achieve a breakthrough to Ancient Sage!

Who in the world was it?

Sword Saint Xing quickly turned his sight to the center of the vortex, and he saw an eerie-looking saber floating quietly in the air, greedily devouring the spiritual energy and Aeon of Ancient Sages in the air. Its strength swiftly grew greater and greater.

It was as if rivers of spiritual energy were filling up an ocean. The flow of energy was so quick that it caused the saber to shake nonstop.

“This is… your weapon?” Sword Saint Xing gulped.

The dazed Zhang Xuan nodded in response. He was taken aback by the situation as well.

The one that was achieving a breakthrough at the moment was the Infernal Blacksaber.

He did not place it back into his storage ring after chasing the eight youths from the Hundred Schools of Philosophers away, so it had ended up following him into the Canvas of Four Seasons.

In the first place, the Infernal Blacksaber was a Half-Ancient Sage artifact, and it had devoured the fresh blood and souls of 110,000 Otherworldly Demon soldiers. It had already accumulated enough for a breakthrough, but it had just been lacking the final catalyst to do so. The Aeon of Ancient Sages in the painting just so happened to be what it lacked, thus allowing it to successfully advance to Ancient Sage!

Hualala!

A tremendous amount of spiritual energy swept across the area as if hurricanes, causing the ground to tremor intensely. As the Infernal Blacksaber continued to absorb spiritual energy furiously from the painting, the surrounding space began to dissipate.

“The spiritual energy in here isn’t sufficient for it to make a breakthrough! If this goes on, I fear that the world in the painting will be completely destroyed!” Sword Saint Xing narrowed his eyes in horror.

Usually, when a cultivator pushed for a breakthrough to Ancient Sage, they would prepare ample cultivation resources so that they would not abruptly run out of energy in the midst of their breakthrough.

However, the Infernal Blacksaber was just a weapon, so it was inevitable that it would neglect something like that. Zhang Xuan had not expected it to achieve a breakthrough at that moment, so he had not made preparations in advance.

If they were on the Master Teacher Continent, there might still have been ample spiritual energy in the air to sustain its breakthrough. However, they were in a painting. Considering how its foundations were not too stable in the first place, the surrounding space was already starting to collapse due to the strain that it was under. At that rate, the entire painting might just be utterly destroyed.

It had not been easy for him to find the Aeon of Ancient Sages required for one to make a breakthrough to Ancient Sage. It would be a huge waste if the painting was destroyed just like that!

“Infernal Blacksaber, absorb this!”

Knowing that there was no time to lose, Zhang Xuan flicked his finger.

Hula!

A droplet of blood harnessing a concentrated reservoir of energy surged toward the Infernal Blacksaber.

It was the blood that Old Geezer Yu had shed after he was injured.

The old ancestor of the Zhang Clan had collected the blood and given it to him. If there was anything that he had that could provide sufficient energy for the Infernal Blacksaber to achieve a breakthrough, it was that.

Tzzzzzz!

As soon as the Infernal Blacksaber came into contact with the blood, it swiftly absorbed it. However, it seemed like the spiritual energy harnessed within a single droplet was not enough for its breakthrough.

Thus, Zhang Xuan flicked the other droplets of blood over one after another.

Soon, he had already depleted all five droplets of Old Geezer Yu’s blood.

It was only after absorbing the fifth droplet of blood that the Infernal Blacksaber finally calmed down. An aura of invincibility drifted off from its body, and it felt as if it could split the painting in two and escape with just a single slash.

Hong long long!

A dimension rift appeared in the sky of the painting, and ominous clouds swiftly gushed in.

It was a cultivation ordeal, the Ancient Sage Ordeal!

Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for one to summon a cultivation ordeal within a folded space. However, the Ancient Sage Ordeal was simply so powerful that the world within the painting was not able to stop it.

Kacha!

Lightning and heavenly flames descended from the sky and shrouded the Infernal Blacksaber. The Infernal Blacksaber swiftly channeled the remaining energy from Old Geezer Yu’s blood to alleviate the destructive might from the cultivation ordeal, allowing it to absorb the energy safely. Slowly, crimson marks surfaced on its blade.

Under the tempering of the lightning and heavenly flames, the Infernal Blacksaber became more and more sinister. Just a glance at it was more than enough to unnerve one’s will.

Hu!

Some time later, the ominous clouds finally began to dissipate, leaving the Infernal Blacksaber floating quietly in the air. With a light slash, the space in the painting was sliced apart as easily as a blob of tofu.

“I have finally reached Ancient Sage! Hahaha!” The Infernal Blacksaber burst into laughter. Following which, it turned to Zhang Xuan and kneeled on the floor. “Thank you, Master!”

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