I Stayed At Home For A Century, When I Emerged I Was Invincible Chapter 3 - Sublimation, Breaking Through to the Profound Realm
Previously on I Stayed At Home For A Century, When I Emerged I Was Invincible...
“You’ve been holed up for five days. Your reward: one box of great profound pills.”
Here it was!
Not merely a breakthrough pill for the Profound Gate, the great profound pill proved vital for cultivation within the Profound Realm too.
Generously, the system granted a full box, skipping the measly one or two bottles.
Chu Xuan retrieved a bottle of pills, shook out one, and sat cross-legged inside his chamber before swallowing it. This would propel him into the Profound Realm.
Upon entering his mouth, the pill dissolved instantly. A rumble echoed through him as his body transformed, leaving him feeling weightless, adrift in the void.
Spiritual energy within him compressed relentlessly while Heaven and Earth spiritual energy surged inward. Slowly, it solidified, emitting a subtle glow.
Undergoing its own change, his spiritual energy refined into true spiritual energy.
A hundred units of spiritual energy condensed into a single unit of spiritual energy, boosting the power one wielded a hundred times over.
Yet, the most profound shift occurred in the mental will.
Surpassing even body or spiritual energy changes, the true divide between Mortal Gate and Profound Gate lay in the mental will's evolution.
Central to this breakthrough, this transformation defined the core.
It formed the ultimate obstacle to entering the Profound Realm.
Chu Xuan sensed a chain binding his spiritual will. Shattering it revealed a gateway ahead.
That sealed door now began to yield.
Pushing it open would usher him into an entirely new realm.
The authentic threshold!
Chu Xuan understood: opening this door would elevate his spiritual will fully. He'd perceive it inside himself and grasp the world's mysteries.
A portal to profoundness, that's what it was.
He had to force open the door of profoundness to access the new realm.
More than a gulf separating mortal from profound realms, this door tested one's resolve.
Failing to breach the Mortal Gate doomed one to mortality, ultimately decaying into dust.
Mortal Realm peaks rarely exceeded 150 years of life.
Profound Realm entry extended lifespan by 500 years, with special techniques pushing it to 800.
Chu Xuan hammered at the door repeatedly. Each strike refined his spiritual will further, widening the seam.
Nine assaults later, a thunderous crash shattered the door. Suddenly, Chu Xuan plunged into a fresh world.
Sublimating swiftly, his spiritual will transformed at breakneck speed.
In that instant, he viewed his cross-legged form, the room's contents, and courtyard ants alike.
Clarity enveloped the world then.
Spiritual qi pulses between heaven and earth registered clearly to him.
Profound Realm achieved at last!
Eyes shut, his vision sharpened beyond pre-breakthrough clarity.
Will Perception!
Exclusive to Profound Realm cultivators, this power emerged.
Detached from the body, mental will extended outward—the stronger the cultivator, the greater the range.
Chu Xuan grabbed another great profound pill, ingested it to stabilize his new realm.
“You’ve broken through in seclusion. Reward: the Bewitching Technique!”
System announcement rang out, filling Chu Xuan with delight. Breakthrough bonuses too? Excellent, excellent.
He wondered if every advancement brought such prizes.
Upon claiming the Bewitching Technique, a slim gray manual materialized. Flipping it open, enigmatic symbols leaped forth, imprinting into his vision.
Insights flooded his mind profoundly. Within half an hour, Chu Xuan mastered the Bewitching Technique.
This secret art induced mental hallucinations, scrambled wills, and even assaulted souls.
Cultivating it bolstered one's mental will and soul concurrently.
Far from Chu Xuan's grasp lingered the soul, making its condensation far from simple. Another round of refinement and evolution in one's mental will was required before it could solidify into a true soul.
While stabilizing his realm, Chu Xuan trained in the Bewitching Technique. Since he had comprehended it directly, cultivating it proved straightforward, letting him grasp the basics in just over an hour.
Once his session ended, Chu Xuan headed to the courtyard and unleashed the Dragon Python Spirit Fist anew.
Now in the Profound Realm, the Dragon Python Spirit Fist's might far surpassed its previous level.
With each punch he launched, spiritual power erupted, morphing into a gray python that shot forward swiftly.
Punch after punch flew from Chu Xuan's fists. The gray python snapped, lunged, and lashed out with blinding speed, yet always retained its supple agility.
Having honed the Dragon Python Spirit Fist, Chu Xuan then tried out the Bewitching Technique, sending forth ripples invisible to the eye.
The Bewitching Technique targeted a foe's mental will directly. It induced hallucinations and could compel the victim to obey the caster's commands.
Using the Bewitching Technique drained one's mental will. Without pitting himself against fellow Profound Realm first-stage martial artists, Chu Xuan knew his mental will dwarfed theirs in strength.
He pondered whether the system might one day grant pills or spiritual treasures to bolster mental will.
A technique centered on nurturing mental will would suit him perfectly.
Methods for cultivating mind and will were exceedingly scarce and hard to obtain.
The Chu family possessed just a single low-grade Profound Realm mind-and-will cultivation method.
Thanks to that lone technique, the Chu family held a prominent position in the Qin Kingdom.
This method formed the heart of the Chu family's heritage. Back when Chu Xuan lingered at the Mortal Realm's meridian opening stage, not even direct descendants had laid eyes on it.
Having advanced to the Profound Realm, Chu Xuan required a new cultivation method. The Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, now at Profound Realm level, needed no further practice.
His prior Chu family cultivation method only bridged Mortal Realm to early Profound Realm. Juniors received the advanced version only after their Profound Realm breakthrough.
Still, Chu Xuan had no intention of pursuing the Chu family's method further. He planned to await a superior one from the system's rewards, which were bound to come.
Though the Chu family ranked among Qin Kingdom's top three clans and seemed mighty, it paled in the broader southern region.
The core lineage of the Chu family practiced merely high-grade mysterious sutras.
Mysterious sutras encompassed cultivation methods up to Void Realm, split into high, middle, and low grades.
Beyond Void Realm lay Unity Realm, True Realm, and Emperor Realm.
True Scriptures covered techniques below True Realm, varying in power without fixed grades.
Surpassing True Scriptures were the Emperor’s Scriptures.
Chu Xuan believed he deserved at least Emperor’s Scriptures to cultivate.
Just days into his journey, he held modest expectations for such advanced techniques.
Whispers among Chu family direct descendants claimed Chu Tianming held half a True Scripture, the dream prize for all heirs.
With only those two palms of true scripture, the whole Chu family built its foundation.
Yet Chu Xuan showed no interest in that partial True Scripture for now. Cultivating an incomplete version might doom him before reaching Unity Realm.
Reclining comfortably, Chu Xuan kept reading. Fresh from his breakthrough, his realm already felt solid.
To remain homebound for years, stability was essential.
Thus, Chu Xuan resolved to read extensively—for pastime and to expand his knowledge.
After all, the Chu family boasted a vast library. Devouring those tomes would surely deepen his grasp of the world.
Right now, Chu Xuan possessed only a decent grasp of the Qin Kingdom. Since it lay within the Southern Province, his knowledge of it was limited, and he knew even less about regions beyond the province.
Countless books amassed by the Chu family couldn't be transported by the servants, so when Chu Yun visited once more, Chu Xuan sought her aid. She needed to duplicate all those Chu family collections for him.
While he immersed himself in reading, she abruptly detected a servant bearing a lunchbox in the courtyard outside.
PS: collect, ask for tickets, ask for everything (# ^ ^ ^ #)