Chapter 1154 The Pros and Cons of Secret Techniques (Part 2)
Like many others, the Crippled Elder, in his youth, was also a haughty and arrogant individual. Precisely because of this, when he first acquired the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art, he wasn't particularly pleased. He believed that even without relying on such a self-crippling secret art, he could still go far in his cultivation journey, perhaps even reaching the pinnacle! Though he personally disliked the self-crippling nature of the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art, he didn't immediately destroy it. Instead, he put it away. After all, his dislike didn't mean others would dislike it too; perhaps he could exchange it for something he needed if he encountered someone who did. With this thought, he stashed away this Spiritualist secret art, only for it to remain hidden for many years. Eventually, he even forgot about it himself, let alone taking it out to trade with others. However, as the Crippled Elder's strength grew and his realm became higher, he discovered that elevating his strength and realm was far from as easy as he had imagined. If he possessed infinite longevity like an Underworld agent, it wouldn't matter if his progress was slow; it was nothing to be concerned about since it wouldn't threaten his life. But the problem was, he wasn't an Underworld agent; he didn't have infinite longevity. His physical body aged day by day with the passage of time. If he couldn't break through to a realm recognized by the Heaven and Earth laws within his limited lifespan, then once his life reached its end, his physical body would also perish from old age, and all the power he had painstakingly cultivated would dissipate into thin air. For them, Spiritualists, to gain recognition from the Heaven and Earth laws and transform their physical bodies to possess infinite longevity, their realm must break through to the Spiritualist King realm. Before that, they, like ordinary people, would experience birth, aging, sickness, and death. The only difference was that their physical bodies aged at a slightly slower rate than ordinary people, and they could also seek out various heavenly treasures or longevity pills to extend their lives. Therefore, under normal circumstances, they could live much longer than ordinary people. Yet, even so, successfully breaking through to the Spiritualist King realm within a limited time was incredibly difficult. Throughout history, countless Grand Spirit Masters had been stuck at the peak of the late stage, unable to advance even an inch, until the end of their lives, never stepping into the Spiritualist King realm. There were two reasons for this situation: one was that breaking through to the Spiritualist King realm required terrifyingly vast resources, and not every Grand Spirit Master could acquire enough. The other reason was insufficient lifespan; if one had enough longevity, there would at least be time to seek resources to improve oneself. Without enough longevity, naturally, there would be no time to seek resources, leading only to a death filled with regret. When the Crippled Elder realized this problem, he began to grow anxious. Watching his physical body age day by day, he knew that if he continued like this, his ultimate fate would very likely be to die of old age, consumed by resentment, his entire power dissipating cleanly. He didn't want to see such an outcome truly befall him one day, so he decided to resort to unconventional means and seek shortcuts to breakthrough, thereby achieving his goal. Finally, one day, he inadvertently discovered the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art, which had been gathering dust in his independent space for many years. This gave him hope when he was at his wit's end; he felt that cultivating this Spiritualist secret art might indeed allow him to achieve his purpose. Although the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art had significant drawbags, if he could successfully step into the Spiritual King realm through this secret art and enjoy infinite longevity from now on, it would absolutely be worth it. In his arrogant youth, he didn't understand this point, and thus completely disdained the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art. In his old and frail age, he understood this, and therefore regarded the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art as a supreme treasure. Cultivating the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art didn't take the Crippled Elder too long; he successfully cultivated the secret art quite smoothly. However, after successfully cultivating it, he had no intention of immediately employing it. When the Crippled Elder successfully cultivated the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art, his realm happened to be at mid-stage Grand Spirit Master. Although he was already old and frail at that time, he still had the confidence to live another twenty or thirty years with various medicines. Considering he still had twenty or thirty years, and his backup plan was ready, he wanted to try one last time to see if he could encounter any fortuitous opportunities within those two or three decades and successfully break through to the Spiritualist King realm without using the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art. If so, he could still continue to climb higher, and his future path would not be affected at all. Conversely, if he couldn't break through to the Spiritualist King realm within those two or three decades, then it wouldn't be too late to employ the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art when he had no other path, and by then his realm would certainly be higher than mid-stage Grand Spirit Master, significantly increasing his chances of successfully breaking through to the Spiritualist King realm by using the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art. This was the Crippled Elder's plan at the time, and he implemented it accordingly. However, this great battle disrupted his plans, forcing him to advance his schedule. Although several Grand Spirit Masters gathered for this battle, the Crippled Elder initially had no thought of targeting other Spiritualists and forcibly breaking through using the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art. The reason was simple: his realm had already advanced to late-stage Grand Spirit Master, and he still had at least ten years of life remaining; he had enough time. Although wartime was full of danger, it was also full of various opportunities, and acquiring resources was much easier than in peaceful times. He believed that as long as he put in enough effort and focused all his energy on seeking and earning resources, he would certainly acquire enough resources in the shortest time possible. He was confident that he could successfully break through to the Spiritualist King realm within these ten-plus years, so he never thought of attacking the White-Haired Old Woman or other Grand Spirit Masters. But what he never expected was that their battle with Yang Haoran not only failed to gain them any advantage but instead left them suppressed by Yang Haoran. He knew that at that time, none of them were Yang Haoran's match. If they clung to a sliver of hope and persisted, there would only be one outcome: death! Not only would the others die, but he too would die! Of course, he didn't want to die like that, so after some consideration, he decided to use schemes and deceptions to unleash the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art upon the White-Haired Old Woman and the others. Although doing so would sever his path forward, it was better than dying at Yang Haoran's hands. Moreover, there were four Grand Spirit Masters present at the time, and the White-Haired Old Woman was even at late-stage Grand Spirit Master, just like him. He believed that by devouring the realms of these four individuals, he would definitely be able to successfully break through to the Spiritualist King realm. As long as he successfully broke through to the Spiritualist King realm and gained recognition from the Heaven and Earth laws, he would henceforth possess infinite longevity. Even if his path forward was cut off, he would at least no longer be threatened by his physical body aging to death. Most importantly, the Spiritualist King realm was already a rare powerhouse in the world; while there weren't no experts who could threaten this realm, their number was very small. Therefore, after breaking through to this realm, there were few people in this world who could threaten his safety. This was but one point; the second was that after breaking through to the Spiritualist King realm, any minute improvement would certainly be incredibly difficult. He had deeply experienced this when he was a Grand Spirit Master. After breaking through to the Spiritualist King realm, it was obvious that every slight increase in strength would be incredibly difficult. Since even a tiny bit of improvement in strength was incredibly difficult, then giving up on further advancement by severing his path forward wasn't much of a loss. When the Crippled Elder decided to employ the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art, he indeed thought this way, but these thoughts were somewhat self-consoling. After all, he had no choice; he could only use this self-consoling method to make himself feel better. Besides using the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art to elevate his realm to Spiritualist King, the Crippled Elder at that time had another idea, or perhaps it was his ambition: Zhong Siyu, the Blood-Clad Ghost King, whom Cold Yue and the White-Haired Old Woman desperately wanted to seize, was also seen as his target. However, this target was not to kill Zhong Siyu, but to obtain Zhong Siyu, the Blood-Clad Ghost King, and make her his Guardian Spirit. Although his Guardian Spirit was still present and had not yet been taken by Yang Haoran when he made this decision, he had actually already given up on his Guardian Spirit at that time. Over the years, he had indeed established a deep relationship with his Guardian Spirit, but when faced with immense temptation, he still chose to abandon the Guardian Spirit that had accompanied him through life and death. Precisely because of this, when Yang Haoran took his Guardian Spirit into the Soul-Gathering Bead, he had no overly aggressive reaction. It wasn't because he was unable to show such a reaction at the time, but because it perfectly aligned with his inner thoughts. If Yang Haoran hadn't taken his Guardian Spirit, he wouldn't have known how to deal with his Guardian Spirit after killing Yang Haoran. His calculations were excellent, and he successfully broke through to the Spiritualist King realm according to his plan. However, despite all his calculations, he still failed to foresee that even after breaking through to the Spiritualist King realm, he would ultimately die at Yang Haoran's hands. Through the Crippled Elder's soul, Yang Haoran obtained this information and thus gained a very detailed understanding of the Realm-Seizing Blood Refining Grand Art, grasping both its advantages and disadvantages. But it was precisely because of this that he felt helpless. Because he simply couldn't cultivate this Spiritualist secret art, and even if he could, and succeeded, he wouldn't necessarily dare to sever his own path forward to employ it. At this moment, he was just like the Crippled Elder in the past, neither wanting to cut off his own path forward by using this art. The difference was that when the Crippled Elder was young, no matter how arrogant he was, he never had the ambition to become a god. But Yang Haoran did, and always had!
Comments