"What on earth is Earth Rock Cloud Stone?" Zhou Heng casually asked.
Leaning her hand against her forehead, Lin Fuxiang sighed and said, "What kind of monster did you crawl out from? You clearly have such immense strength, being able to slay a Body Refinement Ninth Layer demon beast while only at the Body Refinement Sixth Layer, yet you know nothing!"
"That's because this sword is too sharp!" Zhou Heng, unable to put down the long sword, admired it closely. As a swordsman, none didn't wish to possess a famous blade.
Indeed, without the advantage of this precious sword, he certainly wouldn't have been able to decapitate the Six-legged Giant Head Beast with a single strike, but would have instead broken his long sword!
"Then, I'll give this sword to you!" Lin Fuxiang bit her lip, having made up her mind.
Zhou Heng was astonished. Was she giving him such a valuable sword just like that? When was this beautiful woman ever so generous? She hadn't even thanked him for saving her life before. Could it be... that she had developed feelings for him over time?
He looked at Lin Fuxiang with a puzzled gaze and said, "You couldn't have fallen for me, could you?"
"What, what!" Instantly, Lin Fuxiang jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "Miss likes you? In your dreams! You hateful scoundrel, I'll kill you!"
"Then why give me the sword?" muttered Zhou Heng.
"Brat, don't get the wrong idea!" Lin Fuxiang huffed, "This Earth Rock Cloud Stone is extremely precious! No, it's incomparably precious, which is why Miss is giving you the Frost Cold Sword, as a part payment of your reward!"
"Oh!" Zhou Heng nodded, but what exactly was this Earth Rock Cloud Stone used for, to be so valuable that Lin Fuxiang would willingly part with a blade worthy of being called a Divine Weapon? And this was just an advance payment!
Seeing the puzzled look in Zhou Heng's eyes, Lin Fuxiang sighed and explained, "Earth Rock Cloud Stone can be used to refine Magic Artifacts!"
"Magic Artifact?" Zhou Heng's confusion not only remained unabated but grew.
——Originally, he was only ignorant about Earth Rock Cloud Stone, and now he was puzzled by Magic Artifact as well.
"Ahh, speaking to you any longer makes me feel like dying!" Lin Fuxiang said, nearly beating her chest in frustration, "Where exactly did you crawl out from, to not even know what a Magic Artifact is?"
Zhou Heng curled his lips and naturally didn't respond.
"Speaking of Magic Artifacts, that also involves Spiritual Power and the Martial Realm... It's so frustrating, so frustrating!" Lin Fuxiang stamped her feet repeatedly, then glared at Zhou Heng fiercely as if she wanted to devour him alive.
Seeing Zhou Heng's indifferent appearance, she couldn't help but heave a sigh, and then dejectedly said, "You must at least know about the Ascension Path, right?"
"I know!" Zhou Heng's eyes lit up. That was his fighting goal, to ascend to the path, to let his sword resonate through the Third Layer Heaven!
"It's not easy, you actually know something!" Lin Fuxiang praised him.
"Hey, hey, hey, I don't feel this is praise at all!"
"Miss wasn't praising you in the first place!" Lin Fuxiang rolled her eyes at him. Under the dim light, her rolled eyes were soft and charming, as if the cave itself brightened a bit, "The so-called Ascension Path is reaching the peak of the Body Refinement Realm, attempting to resonate with nature, understanding the way of nature."
"You have to understand, human strength is finite; even if you were filled with True Yuan Force, how much could that be?"
"The legends say, experts can shatter mountains with one punch, sever rivers with a palm strike, how do they achieve that?"
At the peak of Body Refining Twelfth Layer, one could at most shatter a stone the size of a buffalo with a punch, which was already a terrifying force that frightened ordinary people. But to shatter mountains with a punch, to sever rivers with a palm strike, could humans truly achieve that?
Zhou Heng couldn't help but show a look of yearning, a surge of pride rising in his heart. He would definitely become such an expert!
Seeing the unyielding confidence on Zhou Heng's face made him look like a sharp sword freshly unsheathed, dazzlingly bright. Lin Fuxiang felt a tremor in her heart, a tender affection as if her heart had been touched.
But she immediately thought of Zhou Heng's annoying behavior, her mouth twitching slightly, that gentle feeling was dispelled completely as she said, "Once you reach the peak of the Body Refinement Twelfth Layer, a martial artist's exploration of their body's potential is basically maximized. To take a step further, one must open the Dantian!"
"Open the Dantian?" Zhou Heng's heart stirred. He had heard his father mention it in passing; that the Dantian was related to the mysterious Ascension Path, and now he was hearing it from a second person.
"The Dantian is a special place, an Inner World!" Lin Fuxiang tried to recall her father's words, "Although we currently can't introspect into the Dantian, Miss can tell you responsibly that although the Dantian is within the human body, it forms a world of its own that can expand infinitely!"
Can't introspect the Dantian?
Zhou Heng laughed. He had been able to introspect his Dantian since he was eight years old, not because he was a freak, but because there was a strange sword residing in it!
Dantian, Inner World, expand infinitely?
He suddenly had an epiphany and said, "After reaching the Body Refinement peak, is it about storing the True Yuan Force into the Dantian?"
"Humph, you're not as dumb as a pig; you finally caught on!" Lin Fuxiang took great pleasure in belittling Zhou Heng, which filled her with immense joy, "However, it's not as simple as you think. If you want the Dantian to store power just like other parts of the body, you first need to open up the Dantian!"
"The so-called 'path to ascension' is essentially opening up the Dantian. Success means breaking through the body's limits and stepping into a new Martial Path!"
"And if you fail?" Zhou Heng interjected.
"Just keep on hammering at it, why are you so dense!" Lin Fuxiang suddenly burst into a dainty laugh.
Zhou Heng's mouth twitched, and he suddenly felt an urge to spank this woman hard.
"Ahem!" Lin Fuxiang cleared her throat, "You keep interrupting me, if you keep this up, Miss won't be able to finish explaining even by next year!"
"..." Zhou Heng was at a loss for words, feeling that the beautiful woman in front of him had brought the act of making excuses to a whole new level.
"That being said, opening up the Dantian is indeed a dangerous affair. One misstep could burst the Dantian. Although it won't be fatal, it would mean losing hope for further progress and a lifetime stuck at the Body Refining Twelfth Layer Peak!"
As Lin Fuxiang continued speaking, her expression became more solemn: "Generally, each person's Dantian starts out the same size, which is a circular space about a meter in diameter."
"Once the Dantian is successfully opened, it truly forms an Inner World and can communicate with nature. Then, a Martial Artist doesn't have to absorb and refine True Yuan Force from food but can directly take in the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth, creating their own Spiritual Power, stored within the Dantian."
Zhou Heng's breathing quickened unconsciously; Lin Fuxiang's words seemed to have opened up a new world for him, making him feel how small he'd been before, like a frog in a well.
"Taking in Spiritual Energy, communicating with the world, undergoing a complete transformation. Not only can a Martial Artist gain much greater potential for strength, but they can also add a hundred years to their lifespan!" Lin Fuxiang added.
Adding a hundred years to a lifespan, wasn't that like living an extra lifetime?
No wonder they call it the path to ascension!
"Above the Body Refinement Realm is the Spirit Gathering Realm. As the name suggests, it's about filling the Dantian with Spiritual Energy. It's divided into three minor realms, known as the Third Layer Heaven!" Lin Fuxiang didn't care whether Zhou Heng could take it all in; she just spilled everything she knew.
Zhou Heng pondered and then his heart began to race as he said, "So you're saying, the larger the Dantian Space, the more Spiritual Power it can store, and the greater the power that can be unleashed?"
"Exactly!" Lin Fuxiang nodded, "It's true, but expanding the Dantian Space is incredibly difficult. Aside from those with extraordinary talent, born with larger Dantians than normal, most Spirit Gathering Realm Experts have Dantians of similar sizes."
His own Dantian Space was already twice the size of before!
It was only at this moment that Zhou Heng realized how precious the Ink Fruit was; it could actually expand the Dantian Space! This meant that if he could enter the Spirit Gathering Realm, he could possess twice the power of an ordinary expert in the same realm!
Of course, this also meant he'd need to accumulate much more Spiritual Power, but with the Black Broken Sword providing power, he wasn't worried at all!
"Hey, what are you daydreaming about?" Lin Fuxiang saw Zhou Heng zoning out again, ignoring her, and she felt her anger rising rapidly.
Zhou Heng chuckled and said, "I just got distracted by some other thoughts. So, above the Spirit Gathering Realm, are there any higher realms?"
"Of course, there are!" Lin Fuxiang proudly lifted her chin but then deflated immediately, "Father said I shouldn't aim too high, so he didn't tell me what's beyond the Spirit Gathering Realm!"
Zhou Heng nodded in agreement, thinking that it was better to advance step by step, solidly and steadily. It was good to have grand goals, but setting them too high could lead to losing oneself.
"However, it seems we're getting off-topic. What I really want to know is what this Earth Rock Mica is for?"
"Tsk, it's only because you're so ignorant that Miss has to explain everything from scratch!" Lin Fuxiang rolled her eyes at Zhou Heng, feeling that no amount of eye-rolling was too much, "Like I said before, Earth Rock Mica can be used to make Magic Artifacts. These so-called Magic Artifacts can be used by at least those at the Spirit Gathering Realm level. They can draw on the Spiritual Energy from nature to increase the power of attacks!"
"Magic Artifacts are ranked from Tenth Grade to First Grade, with Tenth Grade being the worst and First Grade the best. A Tenth Grade Magic Artifact can boost a Martial Artist's power by ten percent, while a First Grade Artifact can increase it by a full hundred percent!"
Zhou Heng was slightly startled; a boost of a hundred percent could lead to a completely one-sided result between two evenly matched opponents!
"Silly boy, now do you realize the value of this Earth Rock Mica?" Lin Fuxiang said with a smile all over her face, "Miss has found a vein of Earth Rock Mica, and that's a huge credit!"
She looked at Zhou Heng and continued, "Don't worry, Miss is a person of her word. I won't swallow your credit. After the new year, come look for Miss at the Nine Spirit Sect, and I'll have father take you as an apprentice!"
Nine Spirit Sect?
Zhou Heng was taken aback for a moment. He recalled the Identity Token underneath the corpse in the mysterious valley, which had "Nine Spirit" inscribed on one side. Could it be that the deceased was a disciple of the Nine Spirit Sect?
What a coincidence!
PS: It's so hot, so hot, so hot...