Chapter 198 - 189: I’m a Little Innate?

Chapter 198: Chapter 189: I’m a Little Innate?

Chen Yue was a bit stunned right now.

The sensation of his Heart Spirit making contact with the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was subtle and profound, a novel experience unlike any he’d had before.

But what truly shook his Heart Spirit wasn’t the act of perceiving the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi itself, but the question of *why* he could perceive it.

After all, in his current state, Chen Yue shouldn’t have been able to do so.

Previously, when the Ten Thousand Forms Tiger Roar Golden Bell was active, it would draw the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to slowly permeate his body, tempering his sinews, bones, and skin.

He could feel his body growing tougher and his Inner Strength becoming more condensed, but he had never been able to perceive what exactly was causing this effect.

Thus, even as the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi surged into his body, flowed into his Sea of Consciousness, and was even absorbed and refined, he couldn’t sense what it was actually like at all.

To him, that Primordial Qi was like color to a blind man; you knew it existed, but you couldn’t perceive it with your own senses.

But now, Chen Yue could sense it.

That power enveloped his body like an invisible, warm, and gentle current, flowing slowly across the surface of his skin.

He could perceive its direction of flow and the subtle interactions between it and his Inner Strength. He could even distinguish the vast difference between the rich Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi within the Gathering Essence Spirit Platform and the minuscule, rarefied amount drawn by the Ten Thousand Forms Tiger Roar Golden Bell.

’But why can I sense it *now*?’

In a flash of inspiration, a thought streaked through his mind like lightning.

’The Burning Essence Technique!’

It was the brand-new Cultivation Technique he had just acquired, a fusion of the Heart-Burning Record and the Burning Pill Technique.

’Actually, many things are different now compared to before. The first is the environment.’

’The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi in the Gathering Essence Spirit Platform is exceptionally dense. This is undoubtedly a key variable, as the difference in concentration makes the Primordial Qi’s permeation and influence on the body much more pronounced.’

’But even so, when I first started circulating the Vast Heart Rock Skill, I didn’t sense the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.’

’I’d already been inside the Gathering Essence Spirit Platform for a while by then, but I definitely didn’t sense anything.’

’But after I started circulating the Burning Pill Technique, my Sword Intent seemed to change.’

’The change was subtle, but it triggered a chain of resonances within my Sea of Consciousness.’

’The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, which before had merely flowed through my Sea of Consciousness and dissipated, began to resonate subtly with my Sword Intent.’

’And then, I could sense it.’

’But why can the Burning Essence Technique sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi?’

Chen Yue’s brow furrowed slightly. His consciousness remained in his Sea of Consciousness, hovering at the very edge of this faint, newly-emerged perception.

He carefully recalled every word Liu Zhengyi had spoken when teaching him the Burning Pill Technique, trying to find any mention of the Heart Spirit sensing Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. There was nothing!

He then mentally flipped through the handwritten manual, page by page. The text and diagrams, which he had long since memorized, still contained nothing about the ability to sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

’In other words, the Burning Pill Technique isn’t the sole reason.’

’The Burning Pill Technique certainly played a part—it was the string that was plucked—but it wasn’t the only cause.’

’If the Burning Pill Technique itself allowed a Cultivator to perceive Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, Liu Zhengyi would have surely known and included it in the Secret Manual.’

’So, the emergence of this ability to perceive Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi must also have something to do with me.’

Thoughts flashed through Chen Yue’s mind like the rapidly turning pages of a book, presenting one possibility after another only to be dismissed.

’How am I different from others?’

’There are too many differences. My Physique is tougher than that of Martial Artists at the same level, my cultivation methods are more extreme than most, and I possess two Talents: Copper Skin Iron Bones and Immune to Hundred Poisons.’

’But none of those seem directly related to perceiving Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. And the biggest difference between the Burning Pill Technique and the Heart-Burning Record is simply the added combustion of Qi Blood.’

’My Qi Blood is undoubtedly far more potent than that of others in the Marrow Refining Realm. The Ten Thousand Forms Tiger Roar Golden Bell, an Innate Technique, tempers my Qi Blood in a comprehensive and profound way, from skin to muscle, bone to organ.’

’But no matter how potent my Qi Blood is, that alone shouldn’t be enough to let someone sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, should it?’

In the understanding of a Martial Artist, Qi Blood and Primordial Qi are two completely different things. Qi Blood is the Life Force within the body, while Primordial Qi is the Origin energy of heaven and earth.

There might be some connection between them, but it’s by no means a chasm that can be easily crossed.

’Besides, if simply burning extra Qi Blood allowed one to perceive Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, then many Martial Artists should have already sensed it. After all, many Secret Techniques begin by burning Qi Blood.’

Chen Yue’s thoughts continued to race. Anyone else might have given up if they couldn’t figure it out. The path of the Martial Dao is long, and not every question needs an answer.

Some epiphanies simply arrive on their own, and it’s best to just accept them.

But Chen Yue was determined to understand. Only by understanding it could he hope to replicate this situation in the future.

He needed a reliable, reproducible method. That way, every step he took would be firm, not a gamble left to luck.

The importance of a Marrow Refining Realm practitioner being able to sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi went without saying.

In the common understanding of the Martial Dao, perceiving Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi is one of the thresholds of the Innate Realm, something only achievable after one’s Heart Spirit metamorphoses into Divine Sense.

To achieve this in the Marrow Refining Realm meant starting to connect with and understand the world’s most fundamental power a full two major realms ahead of everyone else.

While others were still fumbling with how to circulate their Inner Strength, you would already be touching the underlying laws of the world.

Forget the Marrow Refining Realm—even for someone in the Refining Organ Realm to sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi would be an extraordinary event.

For those peak Martial Artists of the Refining Organ Realm, stuck before the Innate Barrier, being able to perceive Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi before attempting their breakthrough would drastically increase their success rate. They would no longer be blindly crashing against that wall.

It was just like with Mo Ciqiu. She could sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi while still in the Marrow Refining Realm, allowing her to treat the Innate Barrier as if it were nothing. She crossed over without even experiencing the difficulty of the breakthrough.

This was a level of Talent that even Liu Zhengyi couldn’t match. No matter how many Elixirs he consumed or how much he relied on the Burning Pill Technique to accelerate his refinement, he was still stuck at the Innate Barrier for over half a year when he was at the peak of the Refining Organ Realm. His Heart Spirit was always just a paper-thin barrier away from its breakthrough.

Chen Yue didn’t know what his own Innate Barrier would be like; with his current Cultivation and progress, he was nowhere near even touching its edge.

But the examples of Mo Ciqiu and Liu Zhengyi made it clear: there was an obvious correlation between how early one could perceive Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi and the difficulty of breaking through to the Innate Realm.

If he could perceive Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi while in the Marrow Refining Realm, then that barrier might be far, far thinner for him than for an ordinary person.

And if he could not only perceive Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi but also had the Ten Thousand Forms Tiger Roar Golden Bell to absorb it, then Chen Yue’s cultivation speed would increase by leaps and bounds.

He would refine Elixirs faster and absorb Primordial Qi more efficiently. With these two advantages combined, Chen Yue dared not even imagine the result.

With both working in tandem, his cultivation speed would be pushed to a level far beyond that of a normal Martial Artist.

Suddenly, the train of thought in Chen Yue’s Sea of Consciousness came to a halt. A new idea surfaced in his mind.

’The biggest difference between my Qi Blood and that of other Marrow Refining or even Refining Organ Realm cultivators... is that my Qi Blood contains Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi!’

’Through my daily practice of its fist forms, the Innate Technique, Ten Thousand Forms Tiger Roar Golden Bell, has been continuously drawing the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to slowly permeate my body.’

’Some of that Primordial Qi was refined and converted to build up my Inner Strength and Qi Blood. The rest silently merged into my Qi Blood, becoming an intrinsic part of it.’

’This was something Liu Zhengyi had been completely incapable of doing.’

’He might have had a Physique tempered by All Things Return to the Source and an elixir-refining ability far beyond ordinary people, but he didn’t have a Cultivation Technique like the Ten Thousand Forms Tiger Roar Golden Bell that could actively draw and absorb Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi before reaching the Innate Realm.’

’Therefore, when his Burning Pill Technique burned Qi Blood, it was only burning *ordinary* Qi Blood. It wouldn’t trigger any resonance with Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.’

’Liu Zhengyi naturally had no idea that burning both Heart Spirit and Qi Blood with the Burning Pill Technique could trigger such a transformation.’

’But I am different. My Qi Blood contains Primordial Qi. The moment the Burning Essence Technique ignited my Qi Blood, it wasn’t just burning my body’s Life Force, but also the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi that had already been refined into it.’

’In the process of being burned, that Primordial Qi produced a unique vibration that resonated with my Sword Intent, prying open the tightly sealed door to perception.’

’There’s another crucial point: I’ve already condensed Sword Intent.’

’It isn’t just a combat technique; it’s a sign that my Heart Spirit has already reached a certain level of attainment.’

’The very solidity of my Sword Intent proves that my Heart Spirit is standing on the threshold of metamorphosis.’

’The Burning Essence Technique ignited the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi within my Qi Blood, triggering a resonance with my Sword Intent. The power of that resonance acted like an external force, gently pushing open a door that was already ajar.’

’And then, the door opened!’

Chen Yue’s Heart Spirit felt like a surging tide as thoughts flashed and collided in his Sea of Consciousness, piecing together the scattered fragments of information one by one.

According to the records of the Vast Heart Rock Skill, for someone in the Refining Organ Realm to break through to the Innate Realm, they must burn the Qi Blood and Inner Strength in their body, pushing their Heart Spirit to metamorphose into Divine Sense and thereby sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

Then, they must use that Divine Sense to guide the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to temper their Physique, which allows them to locate and open their Innate Acupoints, finally stepping into the Innate Realm.

Following this logic, what Chen Yue was experiencing right now was remarkably similar to breaking through to the Innate Realm, just on a much smaller scale and with far less intensity.

A true breakthrough to the Innate Realm requires burning massive amounts of Qi Blood and Inner Strength. It’s an extremely intense process where all of the body’s power is poured into that inferno, allowing the Heart Spirit to complete its final metamorphosis within the flames.

In contrast, Chen Yue’s current combustion, aided by the Burning Essence Technique, had only ignited a mere trace of his Heart Spirit and Qi Blood. The magnitude was on a completely different level.