Purple Mist Dao Master-Chapter 159 - 140: 100 Years? Only If You Become Immortal!

Chapter 159: Chapter 140: 100 Years? Only If You Become Immortal!

"Academy."

"Star Gate."

"Mountain and Sea Realm."

"So that’s it!"

Huo Zhen finally understood the secret behind Great Yan Buwu—

A whole new world!

Inexhaustible food!

Boundless resources!

And martial arts of even greater profundity and higher limits!

Endless allure!

Infinite attraction!

For Great Yan to develop the Mountain and Sea Realm, martial arts must be vigorously developed.

To guard against the Mountain and Sea Realm, Great Yan must also vigorously develop martial arts.

And so.

The Martial Arts Academy!

Came into being!

But those so-called ’Old School,’ are truly decayed, outdated, abandoned by the era, lamentable and pitiable.

"Sect Leader Huo, your fortune is deep, it’s not too late."

Yan Chuan could truly understand Huo Zhen’s feelings at the moment, so he comforted him.

"Indeed!"

"Meeting Palace Master Yan is already very fortunate."

Huo Zhen sighed.

Compared to many Old School Martial Artists, he luckily broke through the limits, which is a great fortune not even most New Martial Artists could rival.

Indeed.

In the New Faction, there are limit-breaking level experts like Wang Kuan, Jian Rong, Shao Yancong, and Zhao Ye.

But there are also those like his senior brother Wang Sheng, who joined the academy, devoted themselves to the New Faction, only to die a violent death.

Even within the New Faction, those who break limits are still rare as phoenix feathers.

Still struggling under the limit, with no way forward, and a bleak future, that is the majority.

"Thanks to Palace Master Yan, I have already taken a step ahead."

Huo Zhen bowed to Yan Chuan, sincerely grateful.

"Sect Leader Huo, you are too kind." Yan Chuan smiled, then returned to the main topic, pointing at the ’Star Gate Prototype’ ahead to ask the three: "How should this thing be dealt with?"

Star Gate Prototype!

This is a treasure!

Far more valuable than any secret medicine or surprise weapon because behind it is a whole Mountain and Sea Realm!

"The court strictly controls the Star Gate. Besides the academy, once anything outside the official system is discovered, it’s either incorporated or swept away with the force of a thunderbolt. Rumors of ’New Faction suppressing Old School’ and ’court cleansing Jianghu’ almost all arise due to the ’Star Gate’ and ’Star Gate Prototype’."

Wang Kuan frowned: "This ’Star Gate Prototype’ is both an opportunity and a calamity!"

Smack!

He kicked the decapitated head Yan Chuan had cut off, looked at the face, and recognized: "It’s really him!"

"Sheyang Sect!"

"Yue Junyang!"

Jian Rong recognized him too.

"Yue Junyang, together with experts, came to assassinate Palace Master Yan to conceal the secret of the ’Star Gate Prototype’, not wanting Palace Master Yan and Hundred Flower Palace to deeply root in Suanzao Mountain and develop further."

"Otherwise, the risk of the ’Star Gate Prototype’ being exposed would definitely increase."

Wang Kuan easily deduced Yue Junyang’s motive.

Yan Chuan also understood: "The Sheyang Sect, owning a ’Star Gate Prototype,’ as long as they develop steadily, is essentially no different than the Martial Arts Academy—food, treasures, martial arts, backed by the Mountain and Sea Realm, they have everything, and their development speed is a hundred times faster than traditional sects!"

Moreover, unlike the Martial Arts Academy, which is controlled by the Xuanwu Department and the Great Yan Court, Sheyang Sect remains a sect, keeping all resources obtained in the Mountain and Sea Realm to themselves. Yue Junyang, as the sect leader, is almost a local emperor.

For such a treasure, he naturally had to go all out to keep it hidden!

Especially after breaking the limit and experiencing the hardships of cultivation—

...

"Breaking limits is hard!"

"Cultivation is even harder!"

Wang Kuan looked at Huo Zhen: "Sect Leader Huo may not feel it yet, but once you start tempering the body, like ’muscle training’ with all 639 muscles of the human body, you’ll find that tempering just one, even with daily hard work, takes at least two months. Muscle by muscle, endless. A year’s time flies by! Year after year, seeing no end, that is true despair!"

"Two months just to temper one muscle?"

Huo Zhen was shocked.

Wouldn’t it take a hundred years to cultivate all 639 muscles?

"How is that possible?"

"How many people in the world live to a hundred?"

Not to mention, many are already over fifty before breaking limits.

Like Huo Zhen.

He’s forty-eight this year.

Another hundred years?

Live another hundred years?

That would take becoming immortal!

Huo Zhen stared wide-eyed.

According to Wang Kuan, no one in the world could complete ’muscle training’.

This path seems impassable!

"It is passable."

"But simply relying on hard work won’t do. You need resources, you must strive!"

Wang Kuan sighed: "I serve as an Inner Court Elder at Guangling Academy, receiving an annual salary of 280 taels of patterned silver, along with thirty-six ’Dragon Tiger Great Pills’ and one ’Heavenly King Pill’. One ’Dragon Tiger Great Pill’ is roughly equivalent to ten days of hard cultivation. One ’Heavenly King Pill’ can match two months of hard cultivation!"

By this calculation—

Wang Kuan’s annual salary roughly advances his cultivation by fourteen months.

This is additional.

He is in ’Muscle Training’, with 485 muscles in the human body, and if Wang Kuan were to practice normally, it would take three months to temper one muscle.

Before coming to Suanzao Mountain, Wang Kuan just emerged from seclusion, having tempered all 78 muscles of his two arms.

And how long did it take him to reach this step?

A full eight years!

"Eight years of time!"

"Various resources!"

"Without court salaries, without Mountain and Sea Realm’s resources, I would’ve needed at least—"

Wang Kuan held up two fingers.

Twenty years!

That means, the Heavenly King Pill, Dragon Tiger Great Pill, and earnings from the Mountain and Sea Realm saved Wang Kuan twelve years of arduous cultivation.

This is the most tangible benefit of being backed by the court and the Mountain and Sea Realm!

"Without court salaries."

"Without gains from the Mountain and Sea Realm."

"Cultivation is too difficult!"

Wang Kuan sighed.

Beside him, Jian Rong added: "Muscle training and muscle tempering have never been smooth sailing. While Brother Wang speaks of eight years of hard training, truthfully, achieving left arm connection, right arm connection—these are bottlenecks, integrating them as one is even harder. I don’t know much about Brother Wang’s specific stagnations, but for me, I have been practicing muscle training for eight years and only today have I tempered my right leg. Throughout this period, I encountered six significant and minor bottlenecks, collectively resulting in three years of stagnation. For instance, before Palace Master Yan’s guidance, I was at a standstill for a year and two months, unable to progress, struggling each step of the way."

Jian Rong turned to Huo Zhen: "Muscle training and muscle tempering are not smooth sailing. With such stagnations, reclaiming time lost to bottlenecks requires even more resources. During times with no bottlenecks, during normal tempering of sinew, bone, skin, and flesh, quick, quickening the pace, giving your all, using the greatest ability and fastest speed to temper, so as to leave more time to break through the bottlenecks, and as much time as possible for your martial arts journey."

Routine!

Bottlenecks!

The former requires patience and hard work and with sufficient resources can be expedited to some extent.

The latter is more metaphysical, with unknown difficulty and time; it could take one or two months, one or two years, or even longer. Precisely because it’s unpredictable, theoretically, shortening time as much as possible during ’routine’ allows for more time investment during ’bottlenecks’.

Martial Arts!

Hope exists!

Wang Kuan and Jian Rong gave Huo Zhen a real lesson.

Breaking limit cultivation is indeed tough!

Even with court salaries, even with Mountain and Sea Realm gains, Wang Kuan still took eight years to temper 78 muscles of both arms.

Too slow!

Too difficult!

Advanced resources are incredibly crucial for limit-breaking levels!

This also explains why each academy is dissatisfied with court rankings, protesting and promoting the ’Cang Mountain Sword Discussion’s’ establishment.

No other reason!

It’s all for the resources!

It’s all to gain more resource inclination for the fastest growth.

...

Back to the main topic.

Wang Kuan pointed to the decapitated Yue Junyang on the ground and sighed: "He didn’t join the academy or the New Faction, wanting to maintain quick progress after breaking limits, so he must utilize this ’Star Gate Prototype’ to enter the Mountain and Sea Realm to gain cultivation resources. And since this Star Gate is not recorded by the court, there’s no court levy, all gains belong to Yue Junyang, and the benefits are imaginable."

The Martial Arts Academy possesses the Star Gate!

But the Star Gate actually belongs to the court—

On one hand, every time you enter or exit the Star Gate, you have to pay a varying amount of ’toll’—

Before breaking limits, it’s 10 taels per entry.

After breaking limits, it’s 100 taels per entry.

With Wang Kuan’s salary, without extra income, he could enter or exit only two or three times a year. Each entry required earning enough to not make a trip in vain.

Toll!

This is a major expense!

On the other hand, 45% of the resources gained in the Mountain and Sea Realm go to the court, a pain for anyone.

But this ’wild’ Star Gate Prototype, can fully evade those expenses and levies.

The more you work, the more you earn!

Such a treasure, not just Yue Junyang, but even court officials and academy Inner Court Elders are tempted.

Yue Junyang took risks for this, attempting to assassinate Yan Chuan; this is no surprise.

But unfortunately, Yue Junyang misjudged the situation, even though he had broken limits and had boundless prospects, he still couldn’t escape death against Yan Chuan, who seemed to be cheating.

Now.

The Star Gate Prototype belongs to Yan Chuan!

...

"Palace Master Yan!"

"How do you intend to deal with this ’Star Gate Prototype’?"

Jian Rong looked at Yan Chuan.

Yan Chuan said seriously: "Great Yan Buwu aims to enhance overall strength and guard against possible invasions from the Mountain and Sea Realm. I, together with Hundred Flower Palace and Sect Leader Huo, are also part of Great Yan. Our enhancement in strength is a small part of Great Yan’s overall martial power. If forces from the Mountain and Sea Realm truly counterattack in the future, Hundred Flower Palace will defend the territory and protect the people, without shirking."

"The Butterfly Sect will do the same!"

Huo Zhen immediately declared!

Post-limit-breaking resources are so crucial; staying in Taikang and guarding the Butterfly Sect would be courting death.

Now.

The Star Gate Prototype is before him.

The Mountain and Sea Realm can be explored.

He must cling tightly to Yan Chuan’s support!

Wang Kuan and Jian Rong exchanged a glance, understanding each other.

Jian Rong bowed to Yan Chuan: "’Star Gate Prototype’ is at Palace Master Yan’s disposal. In the future, if there’s a need to develop the Mountain and Sea Realm, wherever I can be of assistance, I won’t refuse!"

Wang Kuan smiled: "Finding a ’Star Gate Prototype’ on the first day of establishing ’Hundred Flower Palace’ is fate. With the Star Gate as the foundation, ’Hundred Flower Palace’ has limitless prospects; I first congratulate Palace Master Yan!"

Jian Rong!

Wang Kuan!

One was just guided by Yan Chuan today, finding the way forward. The other will receive guidance from Yan Chuan tomorrow, seeking the path forward.

One is grateful to Yan Chuan, the other seeks favor from Yan Chuan.

If Yan Chuan wanted to ’privately keep’ the Star Gate Prototype, they obviously wouldn’t disagree.

Furthermore—

Those who see the treasure should share in it!

With Yan Chuan’s nature, he would never exclude them to enjoy it alone.

Sharing the Star Gate!

All are happy!

In their light-hearted conversation, the four decided to ’keep hidden’ the Star Gate Prototype like Yue Junyang did.

Next.

The key is—

"This man is Yue Junyang."

"So, who are the two who died on Dragon Tiger Peak?"

...