Becoming a Sage Starts From Condensing the Essence of Time

Chapter 68: Old Man of the Imperial Ancestral Temple Talks About Demons When Drinking Wine, Entering Top 18 of the Little Sacred Ranking

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The spring mud made the rain smooth like a mirror, and the dawn tree carried clouds that were as light as a picture.

An Le sat upright under the door. The spring rain accompanied by a breeze suddenly jumped in and stained An Le’s face. It was evaporated by the boiling Qi Blood circulating under the skin and turned into misty water vapor.

After a few days of seclusion cultivation and high-intensity circulation of his essence, qi, and spirit, he finally obtained the fruits of his labor today.

The spiritual energy caused the spring rain to flutter. The wind and waves in the small courtyard suddenly rose, and the leaves of the old locust tree fluttered.

An Le closed his eyes and sank his mental power into his dantian.

His dantian was like a furnace and his Qi Blood burned. A Qi Blood Inner Core could be vaguely seen forming and floating within, spinning!

Qi Blood Awakening, Spirit Bone Forging, Inner Core Condensation… These were the first three realms of Body Tempering martial arts.

His Spirit Refinement had stepped into Shedding Mortality a few days ago. Madam Hua thought that the Five Animals Body Tempering Technique had dragged An Le down, so she asked him to go to the Martial Temple to observe the stone and he ended up letting the Martial Chiefs deduce the new Martial Scripture.

However, An Le, who had just obtained the Martial Scripture, did not immediately condense an Inner Core after being baptized by the Green Mountain sword qi and the Qi Blood of the Martial Chief Stone. In the beginning, An Le was still a little disappointed.

Now, he was much calmer. Some things could not be forced.

It was as if a spring rain had fallen. As it poured, it shattered the bottleneck of the realm that had been maintained in his body.

On his body, the Ancient Demon Five Animals Scripture seemed to have revived. Vaguely, the roars of the ancient demon tiger, ferocious bear, demon ape, and other greater demons condensed into a majestic and domineering aura!

The Inner Core was an extremely important part of a Body Tempering cultivator.

It was the foundation of an endless stream of Qi Blood!

Human strength was sometimes exhausted, but an Inner Core that had been tempered to the extreme could continuously release strength.

Just as the Shedding Mortality Realm was a huge leap in Spirit Refinement

cultivation, so was the Martial Dao Inner Core.

The importance of the Inner Core carried the future path of the future realm. The fourth realm of Body Tempering, Mystic Intent, was closely related to the Inner Core!

Outside the courtyard, the storm was brewing.

A plain-clothed old man from the Imperial Ancestral Temple appeared.

Looking at the young man sitting upright in the courtyard, whose body carried the will of the ancient demons, a hint of admiration could not help but appear in his eyes.

“When the conditions are right, it’s natural to break through. Cultivation emphasizes following one’s heart.”

The old man of the Imperial Ancestral Temple stroked his long eyebrows and sighed endlessly.

As An Le’s cultivation progressed, his talent became more and more astonishing.

The higher one’s cultivation level was, the harder it was to break through. An Le seemed to have accumulated momentum that wanted to break through all the barriers and obstacles.

The old man had once thought that Green Mountain had chosen An Le because he was proud and unyielding. It seemed that that was not the case.

Perhaps the young man’s talent was also one of the reasons why Green Mountain was so charming.

In the courtyard, An Le’s aura gradually converged. His Inner Core was round and condensed Qi Blood, spiritual energy, physical essence, and other energies. It shone brightly and was filled with essence.

Such a nearly perfect Inner Core was extremely rare even among Body Tempering martial artists.

An Le let out a shaky breath and felt the endless strength in his body. His Inner Core was like the source, constantly pushing out strength.

If the Spirit Refinement Shedding Mortality was an evolution at the mental level, the Body Tempering Inner Core Condensation was an evolution at the physical level.

An Le suddenly remembered that the main reason why he could kill the coachman, Zhu Shan, a few days ago was because Zhu Shan did not have a high-rank Body Tempering technique. The condensation of his Inner Core was rough, and coupled with the weakness of his mind, Sword Qi Draws Near was too much of a restrain on him.

Otherwise, it would be very easy for a third-realm Body Tempering cultivator to defeat a second-realm cultivator.

Now that An Le thought about it, there was actually some danger involved, but he was not afraid. Cultivation was the process of cutting through the thorns in front of him and reaching the peak of the mountain.

He was fearless, but he had to judge the situation before he could reach the top.

When he opened his eyes, his mental power spread like threads.

On the old locust tree, Green Mountain suddenly jumped off the tree and arrived. An Le raised his hand and grabbed the Green Mountain Bamboo Sword. He circulated the energy in his body and began to dance with the sword. Traces of sword qi spread out from Green Mountain, soaking An Le’s body and consolidating his cultivation.

The old man sat at the door with a smile on his face and drank by himself.

At the same time, he dissipated his mental power to guide An Le on some of his sword technique shortcomings.

In the small courtyard, the sword qi seemed to be a little warm.

After a long time, An Le slowly stopped dancing. He sat upright on the small chair with Green Mountain placed horizontally on his knees and drank with the old man.

“Young Friend An, you’ve reached the third realm of Body Tempering and Spirit Refinement in a short period of time. Your talent is not bad. In terms of the speed of breaking through the first three realms, you can be considered one of the top ten cultivators I’ve seen.”

The old man took a sip of wine.

An Le was stunned when he heard this. The old man continued.

“Zhao Xianyou did not cultivate for more than ten years. Once he started, he broke through like drinking water. He broke through one realm a day and three realms in three days. His speed is naturally faster than Young Friend An.” “But that kid is known as the mortal immortal. It doesn’t count.’

“In addition, Emperor Yuan Meng broke through three realms in seven days, causing the entire Yuan Meng Imperial Court to tremble.”

“Next is the Dao Child of the True Martial Shrine, the Little Celestial Master of the Celestial Master Residence, the Golden Cicada Buddha Child of Lanke Temple, and so on. These are all geniuses of the current era. The first three realms are like paper to them.”

This was the first time An Le had heard of these monsters, and he could not help but be extremely curious.

“The True Martial Shrine, Celestial Master Residence, Lanke Temple, and other factions are different from the Literary Department’s Martial Temple. You can understand the former as a sect faction and have very little contact with the Imperial Court, but the Literary Department and the Martial Temple are closely related to the Imperial Court.”

The old man of the Imperial Ancestral Temple took a sip of old wine and said. “Of course, they’re nothing in front of the Sacred Mountain.”

“Young Friend An, the speed at which you broke through the first three realms is faster than the Mountain Lords of Sacred Mountain. However, even geniuses like the Dao Child, Little Celestial Master, Buddha Child, and so on are nothing in front of the Mountain Lords.

The old man laughed heartily. “That’s why you have to be wary of arrogance and impatience. The path of cultivation is long, and you’ve just stepped foot on it.”

“It’s nothing to be dazzling for a moment. After the third realm, you have to look at the fifth realm. After the fifth realm, there are another five realms to cultivate. What’s the scenery above the ten realms? Countless cultivators in the world yearn for it.”

An Le knew that the old man was teaching him not to be arrogant because of his talent.

He filled a cup with yellow wine and toasted the old man before drinking it in one gulp.

“Thank you for your teachings, Senior.”

The old man had a peaceful expression. He raised his glass of wine at An Le and finished it in one gulp.

“After your Spring Quarter Examination ends, I’ll bring you to a place to see the world. It’ll definitely be interesting and refreshing.”

The old man promised with a smile.

When An Le heard this, he smiled and said, “Then I’ll look forward to it.

“Hahaha, then you have to look forward to it. Others can’t get it even if they want it. I’m happy today. Take advantage of your breakthrough mood and make a good ink bamboo. The ink bamboo that fuses with your current mental state will definitely have a different flavor and let me have a look.”

When An Le heard this, he did not refuse. He stood up and walked towards the table in the room.

There was no dust in the house, and there was more leisure in the empty room.

Grinding ink and spreading paper.

The sound of the wind and rain falling could be heard.

He calmed his mind and focused.

Outside the courtyard.

Zhao Xianyou came like an ethereal mist. His luxurious clothes were stained with spring rain, and the majestic Qi Blood from An Le’s breakthrough still lingered in the courtyard, as if it was about to evaporate the rain.

Zhao Xianyou, who had his hands behind his back, shook his head. “I’m late. There’s nothing left to drink.”

“They’re talking about painting inside. I’m really not interested in painting, so I won’t join in the fun.”

Zhao Xianyou turned around. His flawless boots stepped on the spring water on the ground, but they did not touch any water. It was as if nothing could taint his purity.

“What kind of scenery is above the tenth realm? I wonder if Brother An can accompany me?”

Zhao Xianyou slowly walked out of the alley and spoke confidently. He looked back at the cold rainy alley and suddenly smiled.

“Brother An is still a little lacking now.” “However, I’m looking forward to it.”

Zhao Xianyou turned around. The spring rain silently dissipated above his

head, and his figure gradually became blurry.

Then, laughter lingered in Qingbo Street.

“The Little Sacred Ranking… is going to be interesting.”

When the wine was served, the face of Green Mountain bloomed.

Outside Lin’an Prefecture, mountains stretched on and clouds lingered.

The number one mountain of Sacred Mountain was not as sharp as the Sixth Mountain. It was more like an old Daoist sitting cross-legged and looking down at the mortal world. He could see everything in the world while chatting.

On the First Mountain, there was a thatched cottage.

In the thatched hut, an old man sat with his fingers pinched together. There was an incense altar in front of him, and an incense stick was lit in it. The green fog was faint.

Suddenly, dust fell from the incense stick like a thunderclap, causing the old man to wake up from his nap.

The old man’s eyes were sleepy. He counted with his fingers and yawned.

“There’s a change in the Little Sacred Ranking?”

“Who wants to climb up?”

The old man flicked his finger, and a bamboo slip floated down in front of the incense altar.

The incense ash floated up, and two lines of words gradually appeared on the bamboo slip.

“Wang Qinhe, ranked 19th on the Little Sacred Ranking.”

“An Le, third realm in both Body Tempering and Spirit Refinement. He has advanced to the top 18..”