Xiao Jian was angered till his face turned purple when he heard those words. He held back the Essence he gathered in his hands and dispelled the Martial Technique he was about to execute, the Inferno Chop. After staring blankly into empty space for a while, he quickly understood what Xiao Chen meant with his words, looking at him as though he had just seen a ghost.
Not just him, everyone in the martial training grounds also understood what Xiao Chen meant when he said that he had accepted it. A commotion broke out among the crowd, who then also looked at Xiao Chen as though they had seen a ghost.
Duel Rites!
What Xiao Chen had just performed was the Duel Rites of the Tianwu Continent. There were many different kinds of Duel Rites in the Tianwu Continent. For instance, if you threw your handkerchief at the opponent and he catches it, it meant that the opponent had accepted the challenge. The nature of this kind of duel was genial, and most challenges were of this type. According to the different cultures and practices of their land, there were different types of Duel Rites.
However, regardless of the place, there was one kind of Duel Rite that was universal—furthermore, a duel of that nature was the cruelest. It was the act of hitting someone's face using a piece of torn cloth from one's sleeves. If the cloth hits the target, then the request for the duel was automatically approved. And once the duel started, it was a fight to the death.
However, Xiao Chen was at the 9th Grade of Spirit Refinement. Without any Martial Techniques, wouldn't it be nothing short of seeking death if he challenged a peak Martial Disciple to this kind of duel?
In the Tianwu Continent, Martial Cultivators reigned supreme; the realms of Martial Cultivation were divided into the initial Spirit Refinement, Martial Disciple, Martial Master, Martial Grand Master, Martial Saint, Martial King, Martial Monarch, Martial Sage, and Martial Emperor. The Spirit Refinement Realm was split into 9 Grades, whereas the Martial Disciple Realm and above were split into the Inferior Grade, Medial Grade, and Superior Grade.
On the road of Martial Cultivation, the Spirit Refinement phase was considered to be the most challenging, and only after achieving the 9th Grade of Spirit Refinement and condensing the Martial Spirit could one be considered to be a true cultivator.
For people with good talent, they would be able to condense their Martial Spirit before the age of ten. If the Martial Spirit was condensed after the age of ten, then that person's accomplishments on the martial path would definitely be limited. The earlier a person condenses their Martial Spirit, the more they would accomplish in the future.
Within the Xiao Clan, in a desolated courtyard, Xiao Chen sat cross-legged on the bed in a bedroom and followed the cultivation method of his new body to absorb the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth.
Threads of Spiritual Energy surged towards him from all directions, entering his body via the 720 major and minor acupoints through his pores. Afterwards, the Spirit Energy moved along the meridians like a tiny snake, slithering towards the Dantian. The Spirit Energy from all directions moved via the meridians and converged in one spot.
There was a formless mass in the location of the Dantian; the Spiritual Energy circled above the Dantian once, turning into countless strands of Spiritual Energy, and returned to the meridians. Xiao Chen was not resigned and tried to gather the Spiritual Energy again and used a new volley of energy strands to put pressure on the Dantian, but the Spiritual Energy merely circled the Dantian as before and returned to sit in the meridians. After a few tries, the Spiritual Energy in his surroundings began to thin out, yet the energy could still not enter the Dantian.
Finally, all of the Spiritual Energy flowed in reverse, through the meridians and acupoints, entering the skin and muscles to slowly nourish Xiao Chen's bones, skin, and muscles before completely disappearing.
Xiao Chen stopped cultivating, subsequently pounding down on his bed in frustration—he still could not overcome this hurdle.
Ever since Xiao Chen entered the 9th Grade of Spirit Refinement, the Spiritual Energy he absorbed would not gather in his Dantian. Instead, every last bit of it permeated his bones, skin, and muscles, causing his body to be tempered until it was incomparably tough and durable, which also gave him a shocking level of strength.
If the opponent did not use Essence, even if they were a Martial Master Realm 'martial cultivator', they would not be able to compete against him in strength. This was the reason why he was able to struggle free of Xiao Jian earlier.
However, if he was not able to condense his Martial Spirit, then he had no way to distill the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth into the more condensed Essence. The Martial Techniques for Martial Disciples and onwards required Essence to execute. Regardless of his physical strength, in front of a Martial Master using Essence, only a path to death existed. Could it be that he had no way to escape death in seven days?
Suddenly, a thought appeared in his head – that Compendium of Cultivation that he had purchased from Taobao... he was not able to cultivate it on Earth, but perhaps it was possible to cultivate it in this world? The existence of the Martial Spirit meant that he might not be able to form a Jindan or a Yuanying, but what about cultivating?
The Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth did not exist in his previous world, but it existed everywhere in this world. The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed.
In the Compendium of Cultivation, there was only one Immortal Cultivation Method, which was the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. He had read the Compendium of Cultivation for three years and had been able to memorize it long ago. He sat down cross-legged again and started to cultivate according to the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation.
The Purple Thunder Divine Incantation had a total of 12 layers, so he could naturally only start cultivating from the first layer. He silently mouthed the incantation, immediately able to clearly feel the surrounding Spiritual Energy stir, and began to feel delight in his heart. Xiao Chen calmed his emotions and continued to circulate the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. At this moment, he absolutely could not afford to be too eager and impatient.
The surrounding Spiritual Energy continuously gushed forth, percolating him in the incomparably clear feeling of the Spiritual Energy seeping into his pores. The threads of Spiritual Energy that entered his body were like little fishes that swam around with utter glee, which resulted in an indescribably carefree feeling. The speed and density of the absorption of Spiritual Energy was faster and denser by several times.
The Spiritual Energy swam happily through his meridians; Xiao Chen's thin meridians expanded and continuously turned wider under the influence of the thick and dense Spiritual Energy. The Spiritual Energy flowed rapidly and, in an instant, completed a small circuit in front of his chest.
The alarming speed of it made Xiao Chen feel a little apprehensive, hurriedly calming down and slowing the pace of the Spiritual Energy's circulation down a notch. After it completed a cycle, the Spiritual Energy returned and tarried above the Dantian.
Xiao Chen started to get nervous. He hadn't given up yet, so he did his best to control the Spiritual Energy, carefully directing it inch by inch towards the formless mass that was his Dantian and pressed on it. The boundless spiritual energy was like a flood dragon and slowly swam to the side of the Dantian.
The feeling he got was different from the previous times he attempted this. This time, his mind could clearly feel a flexible barrier in his Dantain preventing the Spiritual Energy from infiltrating it. The feeling of Spiritual Energy moving forward was becoming more obvious until, finally, the Spiritual energy could no longer proceed forward.
Xiao Chen hardened his heart and caused the rest of the Spiritual Energy scattered in his meridians to gather above his Dantian, immediately afterwards prompting it to ferociously charge downwards.
There was a loud bang, and the Spiritual Energy bounced back, causing a huge wave. Xiao Chen could feel that his organs and viscera had shifted, and a thread of fresh blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth. He turned pale with fright. Quickly recollecting himself, he slowly channeled his Spiritual Energy into the organs that were damaged.