Chapter 638 - 213: Taking the Heart Inquiry Pill: Epiphany and Improvement

"Next, we will discuss our patrol plan to counter the Demon Sect. We will divide the patrol areas among the peaks, ensuring our coverage is airtight. We must not give the Demon Sect any openings."

As his voice fell, the atmosphere in the Main Peak’s grand hall grew even heavier. The upper echelons gathered, focusing on key areas like Hidden Dragon Lake and the territories around each peak. They began meticulously dividing patrol zones, creating rotation schedules, and formulating emergency plans. Every detail was scrutinized repeatedly, leaving no room for error.

...

「Meanwhile.」

In a B-grade Training Room halfway up Lingxi Peak, Yang Jing was completely immersed in his cultivation.

He stood in the center of the Training Room, dressed in black martial attire, his posture as straight and tall as a pine tree. He was currently practicing the Mountain-Breaking Seal.

His fists were clenched tight as Inner Qi surged like a torrential river through his meridians, gathering in his fists. Every punch he threw carried the ferocious momentum to split mountains and break apart cliffs.

The force of his fists cut through the air, creating a sharp WHISTLE. The air was compressed and torn by his punches, forming visible shockwaves that swept through the entire Training Room.

His movements were steady yet swift. He initiated his attacks with the weight of Mount Tai, his punches landing like a clap of thunder, and his finishing stances were as stable as a boulder. Each and every move contained the fierce and domineering True Meaning of Martial Arts.

He knew the many Punching Techniques of the Mountain-Breaking Seal like the back of his hand. At this moment, he had perfectly integrated his Inner Qi with the techniques, his fists a blur of afterimages that stirred the ambient yuan qi in the Training Room into a ceaseless tumult.

An hour later, Yang Jing retracted his fists and stood still. The Inner Qi around him slowly returned to his Dantian. Beads of sweat had formed on his temples, but his breathing was steady and his eyes were bright.

This hour of practice was merely a warm-up for him, nowhere near enough to cause fatigue. He was just using the punching form to stretch his muscles and get his body’s qi and blood circulating freely.

He closed his eyes for a moment to assess his cultivation state, feeling the smooth rhythm of Inner Qi flowing through his meridians. Then, he opened his eyes, turned, and walked to a cattail cushion in the corner of the stone room, where he sat down cross-legged.

With a thought, a panel materialized before his eyes, displaying the various martial arts he was cultivating.

[Mountain-Breaking Seal: Minor Accomplishment (1251/2000)]

[Indestructible True Skill: Second Layer, Minor Accomplishment (191/2000)]

[River-Crossing Step: Minor Accomplishment (128/2000)]

Yang Jing nodded slightly. He then took a palm-sized White Jade Porcelain Bottle from his robes. The bottle was lustrous and smooth, warm to the touch. Inside was the very same top-grade precious Elixir his master had given him: the Heart Inquiry Pill.

The day he had been anticipating for so long had finally arrived. Yang Jing’s heart was a mix of nervousness and eager expectation.

He was well aware of the Heart Inquiry Pill’s miraculous properties. Legend had it that this Elixir could cleanse the mind and enhance one’s comprehension. Even if its effects were only average, it could still help a person enter a state of epiphany and break through the mysteries of the Martial Dao.

For someone like him, who was desperate to improve his strength, this was undoubtedly a godsend.

Yang Jing gently uncorked the White Jade Porcelain Bottle. A clear, rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the air, refreshing his mind and spirit.

He tilted the porcelain bottle slightly, and an Elixir—translucent white and as if carved from the finest mutton-fat jade—slowly rolled into his palm.

The Heart Inquiry Pill was only the size of a thumb, its surface shimmering with a faint glow. Its fragrance was pure, without the slightest hint of impurity. A single glance was enough to tell it was a rare, top-grade precious Elixir.

Yang Jing took a deep sniff of the medicinal aroma, suppressed the tremor in his heart, and without any delay, popped the Heart Inquiry Pill into his mouth.

The Elixir melted the moment it entered his mouth, transforming into a cool medicinal liquid that slid down his throat. It instantly became a strange form of energy that trickled like a small stream through his limbs and torso, finally gathering in his heart.

As this energy gathered in his heart, Yang Jing could clearly feel its every beat—steady and powerful. The rhythm of his pulse became exceptionally distinct.

With each beat of his heart, the strange energy merged with his blood, circulating through the meridians of his entire body to reach every inch of his skin, every strand of his meridians, and every one of his acupoints.

In that instant, Yang Jing’s mind became incomparably calm. It was as if he had been living in a muddled, ignorant, and chaotic state, and had now suddenly broken free. His mind was crystal clear, his spiritual altar serene, and not a single stray thought remained.

All the sticking points in his cultivation he could never figure out, the true meanings he could never grasp, and the problems he could never solve, suddenly became clear, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun.

Yang Jing entered an extremely strange, transcendent state.

He felt as if time had stretched out infinitely. Every minute, every second became distinct and perceptible. The flow of yuan qi in the Training Room, his own breathing, and the trajectory of his Inner Qi—all of it unfolded before his eyes as if in slow motion.

Yet at the same time, his mind was operating at a speed ten, even a hundred times faster than usual. Countless thoughts, insights, and questions about the Martial Dao erupted like sparks, only to be swiftly sorted, categorized, deconstructed, and integrated by his brain in a perfectly orderly fashion, without the slightest hint of chaos.

The ferocious fist intent of the Mountain-Breaking Seal was no longer a mere set of techniques, but had transformed into the True Meaning of Martial Arts: "using force to break finesse, using hardness to overcome softness."

He gained a completely new understanding of how to generate, disperse, and accumulate power in a single punch. The transitions between his Punching Techniques became perfectly natural, without the slightest bit of awkwardness.

As for the Body Refinement methods of the Indestructible True Skill, he previously only knew how to temper his skin, flesh, muscles, and bones. Now, however, he grasped the essence of how Inner Qi nourishes the internal organs and condenses qi and blood. In his mind, he envisioned a path to elevating his body’s defense and resilience layer by layer.

The profound mysteries of the River-Crossing Step’s Body Technique were no longer about simple movements and dodges. Instead, it incorporated the principles of "following the momentum" and "using momentum to break momentum." In his mind’s eye, the agility and speed of his Body Technique reached new heights.