Imperial Cultivation Chapter 1695: Fighting to the Death

They froze.

The aged White Ape rose, then flipped over to kneel, knocking its head toward the sky.

It could feel a power descending from the heavens, pouring straight into its body.

Its old, decayed body suddenly became active, as if it had returned to twenty years ago in an instant.

It immediately understood: not only had it come back from death, it could live another twenty years!

This was a gift from Heaven, a favor from the White God!

The other White Apes saw it kneel and kowtow, and followed suit.

Chu Zhiyuan withdrew his gaze, a smile appearing on his face.

As expected, he could decide the life and death of the creatures within his Inner Universe.

And this life-force that resurrected the White Ape came from the Taixu True Scripture.

It was the unique aura cultivated by his Taixu True Scripture.

This Taixu True Scripture had no such miraculous effect in the Outer Universe, yet within the Inner Universe it was boundlessly wondrous.

His Heart and Spirit settled completely, and he continued to fix his eyes on Xiao Ruoling and the other two.

He watched the three of them tremble under the White Tiger’s might, utterly powerless to strike back.

Xiao Ruoling was already a Seventh Transition Spirit Venerable, still one Transition short of the White Tiger.

Shen Hanyue was only Fifth Transitions, lagging even farther behind.

As for Zhou Qingyu, she was only at Second Transitions, the gap even greater.

Thus among the three, only Xiao Ruoling still had any ability to resist.

But Xiao Ruoling’s potential had yet to be drawn out, and Shen Hanyue and Zhou Qingyu were even less up to the mark.

In such a situation, if they wished to trigger their potential, they had to be driven to a death’s door and then reborn.

Only by rousing a will to disregard life and death could they break through the barriers of the heart and advance another step.

Under the Insight of the Inner Universe, he clearly saw the process of Xiao Ruoling’s breakthrough.

The breakthrough of a Spirit Venerable had always been shrouded in mystery, as though it could be summed up with a single word: enlightenment.

Now, through his own comprehension and the Insight of the Inner Universe, this process had become clear to him.

See the Heaven’s heart, see the human heart, see one’s own heart.

From one’s own heart to the human heart, then from the human heart to the Heaven’s heart, and from the Heaven’s heart back to the human heart to see one’s own heart.

This was a complete process of realization; by completing this cycle again and again, one could continuously erase one’s inner barriers and let the mind step into a new world.

When the mind is freed and transcends, the Realm rises.

If the mind cannot be freed and transcend, the Realm will forever remain at a standstill.

Upon reaching the level of Spirit Venerable, one was usually already of advanced age, with hardened notions; especially after cultivating to such heights, one was often full of confidence, and inwardly unshakable.

Such steadfast faith, given enough time, became extremely difficult to move.

Thus the older one was, the harder it became to step into Spirit Venerable; and the later one stepped into Spirit Venerable, the more impossible it became to raise one’s Realm.

Young in years, the accumulation was insufficient to enter Spirit Venerable; old in years, though the accumulation was enough, one could not enter Spirit Venerable because those notions were too fixed, and once in Spirit Venerable it was still extremely hard to advance the Realm.

Such a dilemma, so Spirit Venerables were rare in every heaven and earth.

Unless it was some special heaven and earth where cultivation progressed with astonishing speed, then stepping into Spirit Venerable would be faster and more common.

Among the Thirty-Six Heavens, perhaps the Outer Heaven was like this, and also the Wind and Cloud Heaven.

It seemed he had to go to the Wind and Cloud Heaven to see for himself how heaven and earth could so greatly aid cultivation.

And at this moment, for the three women, the transcendence of the mind was the transcendence of life and death.

“Wuu…”

“Pa! Pa! Pa!”

Amid the roars, the three women’s movements stalled.

Then came three crisp impacts, and they were flung away again, returning to their original treetop perches.

At this moment, the corners of all three women’s mouths were stained red.

Blood slowly gushed from the corners of their lips; their internal organs had all suffered grievous damage.

Zhou Qingyu gave a bitter smile. “Master-Mother, Aunt, we can’t get away.”

Shen Hanyue tilted her head back to look at the White Tiger squatting in the Void above them, staring down with lantern-like eyes full of mockery. She wiped the corner of her mouth with hatred. “This damned thing is really fast!”

Their movement technique was extremely swift, and by splitting in three directions they had thought at least one of them could escape.

Yet it was sly, unleashing a sonic attack first to directly suppress their speed.

If it kept using that move, the three of them had no hope of breaking free.

She sighed. “Senior Sister, looks like we have to risk our lives!”

Xiao Ruoling had been lost in deep thought all along.

Zhou Qingyu was also racking her brains for a way to escape.

She pondered for a moment, formed a Sealing with both hands, tapped her own glabella once more, then floated up and tapped the glabella of the other two in turn.

“Qingyu,” Shen Hanyue said, “this Sealing Technique can only ensure we don’t faint, we’ll still be affected by its roars.”

“It’s all my fault for not having cultivated this to perfection!” Zhou Qingyu said angrily. “If Master were here, he would absolutely…”

“Ha, if the Princely Heir were here, would this beast still dare to act so wildly?” Shen Hanyue said. “But sadly the Princely Heir isn’t here. Ai… I originally thought that with the Life-saving Talisman gifted by the Princely Heir, we’d be absolutely safe.”

Xiao Ruoling said, “My husband always stressed that external things are not to be relied upon, that Life-saving Talismans are not absolutely reliable. That was because he knew some heavens, some Grotto Heavens are strange, and external items will fail.”

“Ai… our luck…” Shen Hanyue sighed.

Her spirit suddenly lifted. “If the Princely Heir sees that we’re still not back after so long, would he come searching?”

Xiao Ruoling said, “We must rely on ourselves to escape; if we can’t, then we fight to the death!”

“Fight!” Shen Hanyue glared hatefully at the White Tiger in the Void above her head. “Senior Sister, I’ll use my trump card. You two hurry and run!”

“Trump card?”

“I can hold it for a short while. You hurry and go, and let the Princely Heir come back to save me!”

Xiao Ruoling frowned and shook her head. “Not proper.”

She knew exactly what Shen Hanyue’s so-called trump card was: the Jade and Stone Burning technique.

Every sect had such a secret technique.

Some were powerful, others weak, but all of them exploded with formidable force at the cost of sacrificing oneself.

Some dealt heavy damage to one’s Primordial Energy, others consumed all of one’s Lifespan.

The Profound Yin Palace’s secret technique could be adjusted according to the situation.

If the enemy was too strong, then one could burn away all Lifespan to drag them down to mutual destruction.

If the enemy was not that strong, then sacrificing a certain amount of Lifespan was enough to block them, and it would not be necessary to exhaust Lifespan completely.

Once this secret technique was unleashed, it could not be stopped; Lifespan would be consumed to some extent no matter what.

This was Lifespan, not Spiritual Essence.

Shen Hanyue bit down hard. “Judging by this posture, it won’t work if we don’t give it something ruthless. If we keep hesitating, we’ll only be injured more heavily. By then we won’t even have the strength to fight to the death!”

“Let me do it.” Xiao Ruoling said.

“Senior Sister!” Shen Hanyue chided.

Xiao Ruoling shook her head. “The power I’ll burst forth with is stronger, and I’ll be able to hold it longer.”

“Senior Sister, you must run!”

Shen Hanyue’s eyes suddenly shone; her aura surged abruptly. Her green robe billowed like a ball, then turned into a streak of green light that shot toward the White Tiger.

“Junior Sister!” Xiao Ruoling was suddenly frantic.

Yet Shen Hanyue’s speed grew faster and faster.

“Wuu…”

A roar sounded.

The White Tiger leapt up, charging to meet Shen Hanyue.

Shen Hanyue’s body instantly flared with white light, the white radiance like a blazing sun, impossible to look at directly.

“Senior Sister, run!” she cried sharply.

Xiao Ruoling grabbed Zhou Qingyu and turned into a streak of clear light, fleeing into the distance.

Zhou Qingyu was pulled along in flight, the scenery before her eyes streaking past. In one breath they had bolted a kilometer away; she released her Spirit Shuttle, only to discover it still could not be used.

“Master-Mother, Aunt…?” Zhou Qingyu looked anxiously behind them.

In the Void, she could still see two masses of white light colliding, like two blazing suns crashing together, their roars rolling like thunder.

She had not expected Shen Hanyue to be able to unleash such astonishing power.

Xiao Ruoling pressed her red lips tightly together, saying nothing.

Zhou Qingyu said, “Master-Mother, you go first. I’ll wait on this side; that way our speed will be faster.”

Xiao Ruoling shook her head.

Her figure did not slow; instead, she grew faster and faster, likewise igniting her Lifespan.

Seeing this, Zhou Qingyu clenched her teeth and also activated the Secret Technique of burning Lifespan.

Once she activated it, Xiao Ruoling’s burden lightened, and thus her speed increased further; in the blink of an eye they had traveled several more miles.

Yet the Spirit Shuttle was still useless.

“Go, we’re going back!” Xiao Ruoling swung around and reversed direction, shooting toward the two blazing suns in the sky.

Zhou Qingyu clenched her teeth and also charged back with her.

Chu Zhiyuan paced with his hands behind his back, slowly nodding as he watched this.

At long last they were staking their lives, no longer clinging to luck.