Chapter 324 - 298: Tai Gang Saber Technique and the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment

Chapter 324: Chapter 298: Tai Gang Saber Technique and the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment

Although he told himself not to dwell on it, Chu Mu had barely sat down when an inexplicable impulse made him get up and walk to the room where the Bloodline Essence was sealed.

He circled it again, meticulously checking all the Array Prohibitions. After repeatedly confirming that he hadn’t missed anything, he finally returned to his room.

After closing the door and checking the Array Prohibitions in his own room, Chu Mu sat down cross-legged. With a wave of his hand, the streak of white light and the Fiery Sun Fire Essence appeared before him.

The white light was a Divine Sense Imprint. Its principle was simple: a segment of memory was captured and stored within the Divine Sense Imprint as a medium, essentially making it a one-time-use Jade Scroll.

Once its contents were read, the medium would dissipate.

He sent his Divine Sense into it. About half an hour later, the streak of white light dissolved into countless specks of light and dissipated.

Chu Mu’s eyes were slightly closed, his thoughts already focused on the Saber Dao Concentration Method.

Nearly five hours later, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Tai Gang Saber Technique..."

He murmured.

The so-called Saber Dao Concentration Method was named the Tai Gang Saber Technique.

It was somewhat different from what he had expected.

The Tai Gang Saber Technique, in its entirety, combined Techniques and Methods, but it didn’t delve into the fundamentals.

Strictly speaking, it contained few aspects of a true Method; the vast majority was merely application techniques.

It only detailed how to use Saber Intent, not the cultivation technique to develop it.

Moreover, the way these applications were described was largely the same as in the Sword Dao Manual he had received from Xu Changqing.

However, unlike the vague descriptions in the Sword Dao Manual, this Tai Gang Saber Technique contained concrete cultivation and application techniques, as well as specific... Attack techniques.

Chu Mu studied the entire Saber Dao concentration technique, word by word, experiencing one epiphany after another.

When he had first learned about Saber Intent from Xu Changqing, he was only given a rough outline. He had to figure out the specific cultivation techniques on his own.

There were far too many things he didn’t understand.

But now, the Tai Gang Saber Technique seemed to have resolved all his doubts.

Using Saber Intent as the source to refine the Divine Soul and temper Magical Power, imbuing both with the sharpness of the intent—this was the foundation of a Saber Cultivator.

And besides describing this detailed method of refining and tempering, the Tai Gang Saber Technique also included several specific Saber Technique Divine Techniques.

For instance, the most basic of them was the Saber Manipulation Skill. Although basic, from what he could tell, this Saber Manipulation Skill was also the most terrifying of the Divine Techniques.

The basic Saber Manipulation Skill was not much different from the common Artifact Manipulation Skill in the Cultivation Immortal Realm; both were simply about controlling an artifact to do battle.

But after mastering the Saber Manipulation Skill, one could cultivate the Man-Saber Unity technique!

Although he didn’t yet know how terrifying this "Man-Saber Unity" technique was, the description calling it a Saber Cultivator’s ultimate attack technique offered a glimpse into its power.

There was another Divine Technique, called the "Saber Intent Finger Snap," that was also very much to Chu Mu’s liking.

According to the Tai Gang Saber Technique, after comprehending Saber Intent and practicing Concentrating and Tempering to a certain degree, the sharp intent would completely fuse with one’s Magical Power and Divine Soul. At that point, one could manifest Saber Qi from their internal Magical Power and launch it with a flick of a finger.

While this Finger Snap Divine Technique wasn’t as powerful as releasing Saber Qi directly from a blade, its advantage was its incredible convenience and stealth.

Moreover, thanks to the Saber Intent, this Finger Snap Divine Technique also carried its signature sharpness, so its power was by no means insignificant.

However, due to the sharpness of the Saber Intent, the Saber Pointing Divine Technique described in the Tai Gang Saber Technique placed high demands on the strength of a cultivator’s meridians.

If one’s meridians weren’t strong enough, forcing the technique would, at best, result in damaged meridians. At worst, the meridians could rupture, causing the Saber Qi to spiral out of control. It was even possible for the body to explode, leading to death.

Chu Mu merely glanced at this drawback and paid it no mind.

He cultivated the Great Sun Scripture, and its True Flame constantly tempered his body, both inside and out. His physical resilience was in no way inferior to that of a Demon Beast like Wangcai, who specialized in body cultivation.

With such a powerful physique, handling that kind of pressure would clearly be more than manageable.

To him, this Saber Intent Finger Snap was like a super-enhanced version of the Fireball Skill. Better yet, it was a growth-type magic technique whose power would increase along with his Saber Intent!

A glint appeared in Chu Mu’s eyes, the memory of him unleashing a frantic barrage of Fireballs still vivid in his mind.

The final Saber Dao Divine Technique was a Divine Soul Defense Divine Technique. Saber Intent was powerful, but its strength lay in attack. Using it for Divine Soul Defense was like killing eight hundred enemies at the cost of one thousand of your own soldiers.

Therefore, this Defense Divine Technique used Saber Intent to form a Divine Soul Barrier to protect the Sea of Consciousness.

It was also an excellent divine technique.

He mulled it over for a long time before finally setting aside the Tai Gang Saber Technique. His gaze then fixed upon the Fiery Sun Fire Essence.

This was a treasure of unparalleled rarity!

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart, took the Fiery Sun Fire Essence in his hand, and examined it closely, already finding it hard to part with.

After a long, long time, he reluctantly put the Fiery Sun Fire Essence away.

After calming his turbulent emotions, he pondered for a moment. The Spiritual Radiance Blessing descended, and the Saber Dao Divine Techniques he had just memorized began to swirl in his mind.

The Man-Saber Unity technique could be set aside for the time being. According to the description, practicing this skill required a Lifebound Saber.

Although Lifebound Spiritual Artifacts existed in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, unless it was an artifact capable of growth, it was utterly useless. He naturally wouldn’t give it a moment’s thought.

The Divine Techniques he could practice were the Finger Snap Divine Technique and the Saber Intent Divine Protection.

’Practicing Divine Techniques...’

At this thought, Chu Mu glanced at the Light Curtain Panel. The Skill Level for his Great Sun Scripture cultivation was already more than halfway complete.

He was truly not far from reaching the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.

With a wave of his hand, two bottles of elixirs floated before him.

During this time, taking advantage of the increasingly tense war situation, he had managed to gather enough Spirit Medicine for seven batches of Gong Palace Pills.

Of the seven batches of pills he had refined, most had been consumed, leaving only two bottles with a total of fourteen pills.

These fourteen pills included the two Two-Patterned Gong Palace Pills he had left from before.

Right now, of these fourteen pills, five were Two-Patterned Gong Palace Pills, and nine were One-Patterned Gong Palace Pills.

The ordinary Gong Palace Pills had all been used up.

’If I want to break through... I don’t have enough elixirs.’

Chu Mu pursed his lips. With a sweep of his sleeve, he put everything in front of him into his Storage Talisman. Then, he strode out the door.

"Wangcai, keep an eye on this room. If he dares to step out, kill him without hesitation!"

After instructing Wangcai and getting a whimper in response, he hastily left.

He went to the Contribution Hall. As always, a maid greeted him as soon as he entered. Chu Mu exchanged all of his remaining eight thousand or so Contribution Points for elixirs.

The elixir was called Jinhua. Like the Gong Palace Pill, it was a type of pill used to aid cultivation during the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment.

The exchange price for the elixirs was steep. In terms of Contribution Point cost alone, it was definitely not a good deal.

But in terms of convenience, exchanging for the elixirs directly was obviously far easier.

Now that his cultivation was on the verge of a breakthrough, he didn’t want to waste any more time.

He decided to just exchange for enough elixirs and make a concerted push to break through to the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.

After exchanging the elixirs, he hurried straight back to his residence. The door closed once more, and he sat cross-legged. With a wave of his hand, bottle after bottle of elixirs appeared before him.

For the next several months, Chu Mu’s life returned to its former tranquility.

He temporarily put aside his duties at the Artifact Hall. Although Xie Cangfeng was reluctant, the employment contract was just that—employment—and had no other binding force.

Combined with Chu Mu’s explanation that he was entering seclusion for a breakthrough, he was able to temporarily shed his duties at the Artifact Hall.

For several months, Chu Mu didn’t step foot outside his residence.

All his energy was focused on the Finger Snap Divine Technique, the Saber Intent Divine Protection, and his own cultivation.

With the Spiritual Radiance Blessing, his cultivation of the Divine Techniques progressed as if he had divine aid, advancing swiftly.

As for his cultivation, fueled by a mountain of elixirs, it advanced steadily. Driven by his longing for a higher realm, Chu Mu proceeded with extreme caution, even while relying on pills.

One elixir took seven days.

One day to completely refine its medicinal power.

The remaining six days, apart from practicing his Divine Techniques, were spent in arduous self-cultivation—polishing his Magical Power, tempering it and his physical body, and dispelling the negative side effects of the elixirs.

Nearly half a Spring and Autumn Period passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, in the courtyard of his residence, a small, monkey-like puppet was nimbly dodging and weaving.

Sharp, crescent-shaped streams of Saber Qi rained down right behind it.

Amidst the wild bombardment came the whistle of slicing air and the roar of explosions.

Chu Mu stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, flicking his fingers to send out one stream of Saber Qi after another.

After a long while, he slowly stopped. With a flick of his sleeve, the small monkey puppet leaped up and landed in front of him.

With a flicker of his thoughts, a projection of a light curtain appeared above the monkey puppet’s head, displaying rows of data.

The monkey puppet was an experimental puppet he had designed and refined, mainly for the purpose of conducting Magic Technique experiments and collecting data.

For instance, just now, as long as the magic technique landed within a one-meter radius of the monkey, it could accurately collect various data points—with the same precision as the Magic Experiment Hall.

’Its power is roughly equivalent to a Tier Two Upper Grade Attack Talisman...’

Chu Mu murmured, lost in thought.

A moment later, he slightly closed his eyes. Within his Sea of Consciousness, an invisible barrier composed of pure sharpness had taken form.

Any Divine Sense-type attack invading his Sea of Consciousness would first have to face this razor-sharp barrier.

Formed from Saber Intent as its source, it was a veritable Blade Like Prison!

When used purely for defense, it naturally wouldn’t result in a situation of killing one thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of his own.

His Divine Sense shifted, its focus moving to his Dantian.

The Root Supplement Pill was still floating above his Dantian.

However, compared to when he first got it, the pill had visibly shrunk.

At this rate of release, Chu Mu estimated that the Root Supplement Pill would completely fuse with him in ten years at most.

Although only a single layer of it had been refined, he could already clearly sense that his Fire Spirit Root Talent had reached a grade of nearly seven-and-a-half.

Although it was just an increase of two-and-a-half points, in terms of pure cultivation speed, his progress had nearly doubled!

At this speed, his potential was still pitiful.

But for him, it was still a massive improvement.

Besides, this improvement wasn’t over yet.

A grade of nine-point-nine-nine was this Root Supplement Pill’s... limit!

As for his cultivation...

Over half a Spring and Autumn Period, all his elixirs, save for the five Two-Patterned Gong Palace Pills, had been consumed.

In exchange, he had now reached the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment!

His Magical Power and Divine Sense had both improved by what felt like a quantum leap...

...