Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

Chapter 929: The Challenge from the Other Branches
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Everyone watched Chen Fei’s actions with rapt attention. When the Qiankun Cauldron paused just two inches from the platform, a hint of surprise appeared in their eyes.

Could it be that Chen Fei’s resonance with the Qiankun Cauldron was only at the intermediate level?

Yesterday, Chen Fei had outperformed everyone, and many had sought to befriend him on the spot. Afterwards, numerous individuals began to use their connections to gather information about Chen Fei.

However, Chen Fei’s information in Sky Sea City seemed like a blank sheet of paper; there was no data on this person whatsoever.

Until someone suggested that Chen Fei might come from a lower realm known as the Boundless Sea, people had no information about him.

This revelation shifted their search efforts, and they finally uncovered some details about Chen Fei.

The prodigies from the Boundless Sea realm, when they were in the Mountain Sea Realm, represented their realm and decisively defeated the alien races in mortal combat battles.

In the Mountain Sea Realm, they were invincible among peers. Now, in the Sun Moon Realm, despite having just recently broken through, Chen Fei’s foundation from the Mountain Sea Realm allowed him to dominate the early-stage Sun Moon Realm practitioners present.

His innate talent was undeniable, and his combat power was impeccable.

However, if today’s resonance was only at the intermediate level, his future growth would slow down significantly.

People didn’t think Chen Fei would fade into mediocrity, as resonance wasn’t a measure of innate talent but rather a supply of latent resources within the Qiankun Mansion.

Still, Chen Fei’s growth would inevitably lag behind those with supreme or high resonance levels. Even those with higher resonance levels would surpass him.

The Qiankun Mansion was designed to rapidly elevate one’s cultivation. Being even slightly slower could result in a significant delay because slower progress meant that the resources within the mansion would be consumed by others who advanced faster.

Eventually, Chen Fei might only be left with the dregs, falling behind in the competition.

Yu Xiaoliang, Lu Shuzhang, and Sun Qianrong watched Chen Fei intently. Among those who competed most directly with Chen Fei, these three were the primary contenders.

All three had supreme resonance, and Lu Shuzhang’s resonance even exceeded the supreme level. If Chen Fei’s resonance was merely intermediate, it might soon be their turn to challenge him.

At the front of the stage, Chen Fei sensed everyone’s gaze. The Indestructible Vision began to operate automatically, continuously adjusting his vitality and spirit.

In the next moment, the Qiankun Cauldron, which had reached its maximum weight and could not be lifted any further, suddenly felt lighter. Chen Fei managed to raise it to a height of three inches.

Among the early-stage Sun Moon Realm practitioners present, many displayed a trace of disappointment.

They felt somewhat uneasy that a genius like Chen Fei didn’t falter. After all, if he had performed poorly with medium resonance, the ensuing training in the Qiankun Mansion would have been truly interesting.

Seeing the Indestructible Vision reach its peak, Chen Fei’s body sank slightly, and he raised the Qiankun Cauldron another half inch.

At this point, no matter how the Indestructible Vision operated, the weight of the Qiankun Cauldron did not decrease further, and Chen Fei could not lift it any higher.

Three and a half inches was higher than typical high resonance but not reaching the supreme resonance level.

Such a resonance level ranked within the top twenty among thousands of early-stage Sun Moon Realm practitioners.

While it was not as impressive as supreme resonance, it was far from disappointing. This resonance level would not hinder Chen Fei’s cultivation speed.

Chen Fei remained a strong contender for one of the top three positions!

Chen Fei looked up at everyone, exchanged a glance with Lu Shuzhang and the others, and then placed the Qiankun Cauldron on the platform.

Yu Xiaoliang looked at Chen Fei’s profile, silently calculating the possibility of surpassing him in the future. He realized that a slight increase in resonance level only slightly narrowed the gap between them.

Catching up, and even surpassing him, would be extremely difficult.

Lu Shuzhang looked at Chen Fei with bright eyes. Although today’s resonance outcome was only a victory in resonance, Lu Shuzhang was confident that he would surpass Chen Fei in all aspects in the future.

“Well, your resonance results are much better than I expected. However, resonance level is not everything; cultivation ultimately depends on practice.”

Zhao Guanying smiled slightly and continued, “The Qiankun Method has been transmitted to you while you were holding the cauldron. This technique is very important, so do not be lax. That’s all for today; you may return now.”

With Zhao Guanying’s words, his figure vanished without a trace.

Many people approached Chen Fei to get close to him. Although he did not achieve supreme resonance, having an upper-tier resonance was still impressive.

Not only Chen Fei, but those who achieved supreme resonance in the Sun Moon Realm were also surrounded by many admirers.

A quarter of an hour later, Chen Fei returned to his courtyard and entered his private chamber.

Reflecting on the recent test, Chen Fei couldn’t help but shake his head slightly. If not for the Indestructible Vision, which simulates and adapts to the environment, the outcome might have been different.

Now, Chen Fei instructed the Indestructible Vision to stabilize the frequency of his energy, spirit, and soul from the final simulation of lifting the cauldron. He could distinctly feel the difference in the surrounding world’s energy.

The energy seemed to automatically flow into his body, and he also experienced a surge of inspiration for his techniques and spells.

This was the latent resource at play. The Qiankun Mansion assisted in cultivation without consuming any merit points, similar to the effects of being a child of the realm.

“If the Indestructible Vision progresses from beginner to proficient, I estimate it could lift the Qiankun Cauldron to a height of four inches. For the perfected state, perhaps five inches?”

Chen Fei thought to himself. After all, the Indestructible Vision was still in its early stages, and its capabilities were not fully developed yet.

Whether this speculation was accurate would be clear once the Indestructible Vision’s proficiency reached the advanced stage and further testing was conducted.

[Technique: Qiankun Method (Beginner)]

Chen Fei glanced at the panel showing the Qiankun Method information. He had successfully reached the beginner stage with just a slight activation.

However, advancing the Qiankun Method was not easy. The difficulty of mastering this technique was comparable to some top-tier legacies.

Of course, this did not affect Chen Fei much; it merely meant spending extra time to improve proficiency.

According to the Qiankun Method, if one could perfect this technique, it would enhance the resonance level by one tier—raising intermediate resonance to upper-tier, and upper-tier to high.

For those already at high resonance, it wouldn’t improve further, but it could potentially enhance it by half a tier.

For instance, Lu Shuzhang’s proficiency in the Qiankun Method, when perfected, would be equivalent to lifting the Qiankun Cauldron to a height of five inches in resonance.

“Simplify!”

“Qiankun Method simplication in progress… Simplification successful… Qiankun Method → Vital Energy Manipulation!”

Seeing the streamlined content, Chen Fei was slightly surprised to find that enhancing the Qiankun Method now only required manipulating vital energy.

Perhaps this was because the current environment in the Qiankun Mansion was closely related to the Qiankun Cauldron, so manipulating vital energy was sufficient?

Regardless of the reason, this simplification made it more convenient for Chen Fei. Cultivating any technique would directly enhance the Qiankun Method, saving him a lot of effort.

In the Sun Moon Realm mid-stage courtyard of the Qiankun Mansion:

“Brother Pan, Chen Fei from the Boundless Sea has also entered the Qiankun Mansion now,” Nie Shengyun said quietly to Pan Qingwu.

“I know,” Pan Qingwu nodded, his brow furrowing.

Entering the Qiankun Mansion meant past grievances were set aside.

However, setting aside past grievances applied to major factions; personal vendettas could still be addressed. It didn’t mean that everything from the past was forgotten just because one entered the Qiankun Mansion.

“I suspect that Chen Fei, who ranked first in the early-stage Sun Moon Realm yesterday, might be the one who killed Yan Ming’an,” Nie Shengyun said solemnly.

“Perhaps, but we have no evidence,” Pan Qingwu shook his head.

“Could he hold a grudge against the Boundless Sea and seek revenge on us in the future?”

Ranking first in the early-stage Sun Moon Realm was quite impressive, which is why Nie Shengyun had come to discuss it with Pan Qingwu. After all, they had plotted against Chen Fei in the Boundless Sea.

At that time, Chen Fei had only been seen as a mere Mountain Sea Realm practitioner from a lower realm.

“Given his past behavior, it’s hard to say.”

Pan Qingwu’s voice became somber as he looked at Nie Shengyun and said, “I understand your concern! In the current situation, we either bet that Chen Fei won’t care about this matter, or we apologize to him first.”

“Apologize to him?” Nie Shengyun’s brow furrowed.

“It’s a bit difficult, but it could resolve the grudge.”

Pan Qingwu chuckled softly, though the smile quickly faded as a cold glint appeared in his eyes. “Or, we could wait until he advances to the mid-stage Sun Moon Realm and then challenge him in the training grounds!”

Nie Shengyun’s eyes flickered. Ignoring the issue would mean no cost but also carried risk, while offering an apology was a small price to pay.

Chen Fei’s achievement of first place in the early-stage Sun Moon Realm highlighted his deep foundation and potential, raising concerns.

For mid-stage Sun Moon Realm practitioners like themselves, apologizing to someone in the early-stage Sun Moon Realm seemed simple in theory but would likely make them a laughingstock in Sky Sea City.

“I understand!” Nie Shengyun nodded and left Pan Qingwu’s courtyard.

Pan Qingwu watched Nie Shengyun’s departing figure, frowning. Unlike Nie Shengyun, Pan Qingwu had a fallback since his master was the Human Emperor Dao Yuefeng.

The Qiankun Mansion’s classes continued as usual, offering detailed introductions to Sun Moon Realm cultivation and techniques, along with taboos in spell practice.

As long as students attended classes regularly and met certain requirements, they would earn merit points. Although the points were modest individually, they accumulated over time.

Chen Fei settled into a routine of focusing on the essential tasks. After half a month in the Qiankun Mansion, the proficiency of the Indestructible Vision reached the advanced stage.

As Chen Fei had previously guessed, the improvement of the Indestructible Vision led to a better resonance with the Qiankun Cauldron, which in turn accelerated his cultivation progress.

In the second month at the Qiankun Mansion, resource exchange began, with a wide range of rare materials, techniques, and legacies available.

However, some of the more valuable materials and techniques required a significant amount of merit points. The points earned from attending classes daily were insufficient to exchange for these resources.

Some top-tier Sun Moon Realm practitioners began challenging the public stone towers, while others engaged in duels in the training grounds with merit points as stakes.

One day, a challenge letter from another branch arrived outside Chen Fei’s courtyard.