Chapter 1863 - 186: Breaking the Shackles, Beholding the World

In the courtyard.

Tap tap tap—

A series of footsteps, coming closer from afar.

Jiang Ning slowly opened his eyes, and his fluctuating mood calmed down again.

The next moment.

Prince Zhenbei’s figure appeared within his line of sight.

"I greet Your Highness!" Seeing Jiang Ning standing under the tree, Prince Zhenbei Xu Zhen saluted him with a respectful expression.

"Is there something?" Jiang Ning said.

"Yes!" Prince Zhenbei Xu Zhen responded, then said, "Outside the city there is a group from the Northern Barbarian Royal Court. They claim to be acting under an order from Princess Ashina to deliver tribute."

Tribute.

Jiang Ning sneered inwardly, then nodded. "Looks like Ashina is still keeping her word. Let them enter the city and send everything to my courtyard."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Prince Zhenbei Xu Zhen answered.

Then he turned and left.

Very soon, the sound of footsteps faded into the distance.

Jiang Ning also withdrew his gaze.

A hint of satisfaction flashed across his eyes.

The first batch of resources sent by Ashina had arrived at just the right time.

He had just comprehended the true meaning of the great secret of the human body and understood the direction of the road ahead; he was in urgent need of large amounts of resources to firm up his foundation and accelerate the process of breaking the shackles.

This step concerned peering into a higher level of heaven and earth.

He had a premonition.

The true qualitative transformation was to break all the shackles of the human body.

And that Martial Saint had very likely achieved this.

If not, relying only on breaking a few shackles, it would be impossible to possess such outrageous strength.

As far as foundation went, he did not believe that the Martial Saint of that year was stronger than himself.

After all, the opportunity and fortune he had obtained was the so‑called Primordial Source Foundation.

He did not know what it was, but he was very clear that it must be a kind of fortune from a higher dimension.

As he pondered, his gaze involuntarily turned toward the northern sky.

Celestial Palace City lay in a border region, far away from the strife of the Great Xia Royal Capital, which suited him perfectly.

Here, the only thing he needed to be wary of was one point: the Honorable God of Great Snow Mountain.

There was too little recorded about this god.

Its strength was unknown.

The only thing that allowed him to make some judgment was that after the Martial Saint took that step back then, he went to Great Snow Mountain once, and afterwards Beiman and Great Xia coexisted for more than eight hundred years.

The Martial Saint never again concerned himself with the Beiman on the Great Grassland, and Great Snow Mountain had not shown any movement for all these years.

That Martial Saint had also returned safely at that time.

From this alone, he could judge that the god on Great Snow Mountain had been unable to do anything to the Martial Saint of that year.

This was enough to reveal certain issues.

Though the Honorable God of Great Snow Mountain was ancient, its strength was limited.

What he could not figure out in his heart was exactly what realm the Martial Saint was in: had he only just begun to sever shackles, merely cut off some of them; or had all eighty‑one shackles been severed, leaving only the nine shackles within the skull?

Or were all ninety shackles completely severed?

None of this was known to him.

Because every possibility existed.

But for now, he did not want to ask the Martial Saint about these questions.

He did not presently wish the world to know that he had reached this step.

If this news were to leak out, what would happen after that was something he could neither predict nor control.

Although, based on his previous contact, the Martial Saint was entirely trustworthy, and he believed the Martial Saint would not speak of it.

But if you truly do not want others to know a secret, only by never opening your mouth can you truly ensure nothing goes wrong.

Once something is spoken, there is no such thing as a true secret.

He did not want to gamble.

Since the road ahead was already clear, he only needed to proceed step by step. No matter what level the Martial Saint had reached back then, he would be able to walk to a point equal with him.

The so‑called hardship of effort lies most in being unable to see the goal, in the goal being unclear.

In being unable to see progress, not knowing whether the distance was truly being shortened.

But none of these were problems before him.

He could now see the goal, see the road ahead, and at the same time see his progress increasing and the gap shrinking.

Each of these could bring him a strong sense of positive feedback.

As all kinds of thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind, his will became incomparably firm.

Celestial Palace City was far from contention, situated in a remote place; according to his agreement with Ashina—

The various tribes of the grassland, as well as Ashina, all needed to continuously send him batches of rare ores, as well as resources like Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

With the Northern Barbarians’ supply of resources, his subsequent rise in strength would have no bottlenecks to speak of.

At the same time, this place was far from the turmoil of the Great Xia Royal Capital and away from the gaze of all sides, making it an excellent place to immerse himself in cultivation.

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated, assumed his stance, stirred his Qi‑Blood, and began cultivating the Vajra Immortal Body.

The Experience Value of the Black Dragon Swallowing Whale Skill had long since accumulated to Perfection; to go one step further, what he lacked was only the catalysis of Source Points.

As for the Spirit Platform洞照 True Self Method, to go one step further, the gap in Source Points was simply too great.

He also did not consider it for the time being.

Besides, the greatest effect of this Cultivation Technique had already manifested in him.

By virtue of his powerful spirit and subtle observation ability, it had allowed him to glimpse the great secret of the human body, so that a road appeared ahead.

The rest of the road, based on his experience, would mainly be related to the physical body.

He calculated inwardly, his planning growing ever clearer, and he gradually entered the proper state.

As faint golden patterns flickered on and off across his flesh, waves of heat rolled around his body, and the Experience Value of the Vajra Immortal Body increased bit by bit.

Compared to the Spirit Platform洞照 True Self Method and the Black Dragon Swallowing Whale Skill, the efficiency of the Vajra Immortal Body was clearly inferior.

After a period of time.

Noisy sounds came nearer from afar.

Jiang Ning also knew that this meant the first batch of resources sent by Ashina had arrived.

Thinking of this, he stopped his cultivation and withdrew his stance.

...

The next day.