Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1422 - 757: Success (2)

In any Sect, the replacement of an Identity Jade Disc is a remarkably infrequent event.

Each Identity Jade Disc must be forged through specialized techniques, embedded with numerous concealed designs that are known only to the masters of Jade Disc refinement. Within the Cultivation World, every Sect employs its own unique protocols for refining these discs to guarantee they remain impossible to breach.

While updating the Identity Jade Discs for every cultivator is a massive undertaking, integrating the Space Acceptance Talisman directly into the disc is currently the most effective strategy. The primary benefit of this integration is that the space acceptance capability can only be triggered through specific identity authentication.

This protection ensures that even if a cultivator from outside the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion manages to seize a pavilion Identity Jade Disc, they will be unable to utilize the space acceptance feature.

The departure of Great Venerable Hongfa was delayed for a time, as he waited for the successful upgrade and testing of the new Identity Jade Discs. During this interval, Great Venerable Hongfa attended to another vital task: handling alchemy requests for Li Yuanba.

It was only then that he truly grasped the depth of Li Yuanba’s talent in alchemy, seeing him effortlessly refine Fourth Grade High-level Spirit Pills. "It is no wonder the master bestowed such lavish rewards!" he whispered to himself, recalling the Fourth Grade Spirit Tea and the Spirit Pills suitable for a Great Cultivator.

With Great Venerable Hongfa acting as his representative, Li Yuanba’s workload decreased significantly; he only needed to periodically send the alchemy materials to his main body, Li Shiming, and later collect the finished Spirit Pills.

The testing of the Space Acceptance Array was conducted with extreme precision, involving a series of trials spanning various distances and Cultivation realms. Once the new generation of Identity Jade Discs was successfully forged, another exhaustive battery of experiments followed.

By the third month, Great Venerable Hongfa had finally concluded the matters regarding the Space Acceptance Array on the Central State Continent. After saying his goodbyes to Li Yuanba, he set out on a long trek, escorted by a group of Sword Cultivators and carrying the official token of the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion.

When Li Yuanba emerged from his meditative state and exited his chambers, he noticed the empty table in the main hall and felt a slight sense of loss. When Great Venerable Hongfa was present, a cup of Fourth Grade Spirit Tea would always be waiting for him after his Cultivation sessions. Having spent years in solitary Cultivation, it had taken only a few months for the presence of Great Venerable Hongfa as a retainer to alter his daily routine. From now on, he would have to manage the alchemy commissions himself once again.

Reflecting on the progress of his Cultivation, Li Yuanba couldn't help but offer a bitter smile. Though ten years of secluded meditation had greatly bolstered his Spiritual Power Pattern, the path of Sword Cultivation demands the crucible of combat. His recent skirmishes had been insufficient to fully integrate the gains from a decade of hard work.

"Master, I wish to accept some Sect missions and travel abroad!" Li Yuanba declared upon visiting Jian Wuwei’s grotto to pay his respects.

"You are forbidden from leaving for at least five years. Even though the Sword Elder settled matters with Da Leiyin Temple, you have made enemies of too many factions. Beyond Da Leiyin Temple, the Infinite Sect, White Emperor Sect, Yuqing Sect, Beidou Sect, and several other superpowers are all hunting for a chance to strike at you!" Jian Wuwei replied, shaking his head with a look of concern.

This disciple was exceptional in every regard, save for his uncanny ability to draw trouble. As his master, Jian Wuwei felt a touch of shame that he could not provide more protection. He could only lay out the dangers clearly to ensure Li Yuanba didn't do anything reckless.

"Master, there is no need for worry. I am confident I can escape even if I encounter the most elite Great Cultivators. Furthermore, with the new Space Acceptance Array, I can trigger a space teleportation through my Identity Jade Disc if I face true peril!" Li Yuanba argued.

He had recently spent a great deal of time discussing the Divine Foot Skill with Great Venerable Hongfa. While their versions of the technique differed, their foundations were identical. The insights shared by the Great Venerable had significantly sharpened Li Yuanba's mastery of the Divine Foot Skill. This improved his efficiency with 'One-Step Reach' and marginally quickened the activation of 'Distant Horizons.' In a life-or-death struggle, that fraction of a second could be the deciding factor.

"Do you truly believe the Great Powers will remain idle?" Jian Wuwei asked in a hushed tone.

"Is it not true that Great Powers cannot wander far from their Grotto Heaven for long?" Li Yuanba asked, caught off guard. According to his understanding, Great Powers were tethered to their Grotto Heavens and rarely left their Sects. However, Jian Wuwei's words suggested otherwise.

"Many Great Powers possess the skill to manifest avatars. Even a solitary avatar possesses strength exceeding that of a peak Great Cultivator. These avatars can leave the Grotto Heaven, and their combat effectiveness is determined by the amount of energy the Great Power chooses to invest in them!" Jian Wuwei explained.

Hearing this, Li Yuanba immediately abandoned his plans to seek out missions for tempering. He was not foolish enough to think a Great Power's avatar would be easy to defeat. Beyond the Great Cultivator Realm, combat is not merely a clash of Spiritual Power Pattern and Spirit, but a battle of Rule mastery. An avatar might lack the raw energy of the original, but its comprehension of the Dao and its Rules remains at the Great Power level. The lethality of an avatar’s strike is rooted in that profound understanding.

Not only did Jian Wuwei warn him, but the Sword Elder also visited to advise Li Yuanba to keep a low profile. Meanwhile, many observers across the Central State Continent began to notice a strange phenomenon.

Because the Sword Cultivators of the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion were frequently involved in conflict, they had historically suffered high rates of attrition. Recently, however, it became clear that these Sword Cultivators had obtained a new means of survival. Whenever they were cornered, they would vanish through long-range space movement. While the first few occurrences were thought to be the result of rare life-saving talismans, the sheer frequency of these escapes soon signaled that the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion had acquired a reliable long-range teleportation method.

Intelligence networks were mobilized, and eventually, the secret of the pavilion's Space Acceptance Array was exposed. The Sword Elder received a blistering message from a monk of Da Leiyin Temple, who demanded the return of Great Venerable Hongfa. The monk had finally realized he had been deceived by the Sword Elder, allowing a master capable of constructing ultra-long-range Space Acceptance Arrays to be taken from him.

Having already secured the advantage, the Sword Elder refused to budge. The monk, bound by their prior agreements, found it difficult to press the issue further. As several superpowers confirmed the existence of the array—which boasted a reception range of at least several hundred thousand miles—the gravity of the situation became clear. This range was estimated based on the furthest successful teleportations recorded by the pavilion's Sword Cultivators.

Even if the estimate wasn't perfect, a jump from a ten-thousand-mile range to hundreds of thousands of miles proved the technology had moved beyond theory into practical application. Upon confirming this, representatives from various superpowers flocked to the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion to negotiate for the Space Acceptance Array technology. They were all turned away. The technology relied on Space Rules, and within the pavilion—a power almost exclusively focused on the Sword—only Great Venerable Hongfa and Li Yuanba understood it.

With Great Venerable Hongfa gone from the continent, the pavilion was even more protective of Li Yuanba. Consequently, all requests for the technology were denied. As time passed, reports from other continents began to trickle in, confirming that the Sword Cultivators of Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion now possessed the near-universal ability to perform long-range space movement.