Inch of Radiance Vol 2 Chapter 16.2

Book 2 Chapter 16.2 – Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes

Li Yang continued to immerse himself in his memories, closing his eyes as he played the flute…

“Going forward silently, to share a cup with him. Hidden within the clear water lies deep emotions, and from it drunken love. Be it good or bad affinity, even without the dream of b.u.t.terflies, I’ll return to you in this lifetime. Be it life past or present, the pair flies through many lifetimes.”

TL: Thanks to Raynor for making sense of this

The song ‘b.u.t.terfly lovers’ was played through the flute, and the music filled up the interior of the Taibai Restaurant. The deep yearning of the flute music carried with it a wave of emotion, making those who heard it want to shed tears.

The green-robed elder listened. He slowly walking over, arriving at a table nearby Li Yang before sitting down. As if he also began to reminisce, the elder sat there like so as Li Yang played with his eyes closed.

Ge Pu slowly walked towards the green-robed elder before sitting down near him. Watching Li Yang, he sighed and said, “Brother Mu Yi usual puts on such a cold and unyielding character. Who knew he would also be such a heart-broken person!”

“Be it life past or present, the pair flies through many lifetimes. The road of cultivation is endless and remote. The heavenly tribulation is a terrifying display of heaven’s might. To successfully undergo tribulation is difficult enough, yet even after pa.s.sing the tribulation, no one knows whether the road to the Ghost Realm will be peaceful. I truly don’t know how many months and years it will take before I can see Xue again ah!” Li Yang lamented within his heart. He slowly put away the flute, and when he opened his eyes, he noticed that tears had already flowed down into his bosom. He couldn’t help but shake his head. As if he didn’t mind it at all, he laughed, but his smile became even more bleak.

“Which cultivation realm have you reached already within the Three Great Heavenly Realms?” Suddenly, an aged voice sounded from beside Li Yang’s ear.

Without thinking, Li Yang replied, “Despair boundary.” After replying, Li Yang was immediately alarmed, and his eyes shot towards the green-robed elder beside him. The ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’ was a rare text that only he, Li Shuo, and their mother knew about. How could anyone else know about this?

“Who are you?” Internal qi immediately surged from within Li Yang’s body, locking in the elder in front of him.

Expert, an exceptional expert! This was Li Yang’s immediate reaction.

“Mid-stage Nascent Soul level expert! However, he shouldn’t have any ill intentions. If he wanted to deal with you, he would have done so already. Moreover, there is an excessively terrifying wave of oppressing blade qi around his body. You probably won’t even be able to take a single strike from him, so just relax for now. Being so alert is also rather pointless, but since I am here, Overlord won’t allow anything to happen to you!” After hearing Xiang Yu’s voice, the muscles in Li Yang’s body began to relax.

“Right now, you don’t need to ask who I am, you only have to tell me whether or not your surname is Li. Don’t worry, I have already placed restrictions in the surroundings, so no one will hear our discussion.” The green-robed elder did not mind Li Yang’s reaction at all.

“It is!” Li Yang nodded.

The green-robed elder’s eyes immediately lit up, because Li Yang’s qi completely returned to normal. The qi was no longer prepared to attack at a moment’s notice like before.

“Is your father called Li Fengshu?” The green-robed elder continued.

At this moment, Li Yang’s mind immediately became utterly chaotic. He and his brother never saw their father before, and based on what their mother said, their father wasn’t even aware of their existence. Their mother becoming a workaholic was also related to their father, later on going to a mountain village to live alone.

However, Li Yang did indeed know his father’s name, and it was precisely — Li Fengshu. He immediately looked at the green-robed elder and nodded his head.

The green-robed elder began to laugh. “It really was my junior disciple Fengshu’s child! No wonder you look so much like my junior brother Fengshu when he was young

“You know my father?” Li Yang heart immediately began to shake. As a son who never met his father, how could he not be shocked to suddenly receive news related to his father?

The green-robed elder nodded his head and said, “Correct, your father and I were fellow apprentices.” Suddenly, the green-robed elder sighed. “Seems like you were also deeply emotionally wounded before you reached the Despair Boundary. This ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’ ah! It really is the cause of my Great Heavenly School’s ruin!

Li Yang’s heart was shaking incessantly. After hearing the ‘Great Heavenly School’, his mind began to make connections. “Since he is fellow apprentices with my father, then my father should also be a member of the Great Heavenly School. However, why is this ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’ the root of the Great Heavenly School’s troubles?”

“Great Heavenly School? That is my father’s sect, right? Why is the ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’ the cause of its ruin?” Li Yang asked quickly and urgently.

When the green-robed elder heard this, he sighed and said, “The Great Heavenly School is one of the truth cultivation schools within the Kunlun Paradise. Your father and I were disciples of the same generation within the Great Heavenly School. However, your father’s status was different than mine! He was the son of the school master. As for this ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’, heng heng, if it wasn’t for this ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’, you would most likely be cultivating within the Great Heavenly School right now.”

When Li Yang heard this, he immediately furrowed his brows in suspicion.

The green-robed elder looked at his grizzled hair and sighed before saying, “The ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’ is the rare text that the master ancestor used in the past to enter the dao through emotions. Using one’s emotions to enter the dao allows one to comprehend things more naturally, and absorb the heaven and earth’s spiritual essence at a faster speed. Other schools’ disciples need hundreds of years to pa.s.s tribulations, yet my Great Heavenly School needs less than two hundred. There is one crucial thing, however, and that is that one has to realize the three great realms. What this means is that for every disciple, there must be a girl to feel pain and grief over. Every single Great Heavenly School disciple has to leave and find love. After falling in love, they must abandon the woman and return to the Great Heavenly School. By facing such suffering within their souls, they will realize the Remorse Boundary, and soon after the Despair Boundary.”

The green-robed elder bitterly laughed and said, “Within the Great Heavenly School, as long as you can realize the Despair Boundary, you can leave the Kunlun land once again to find your past love, bringing her back to the school with you. However, only the Remorse Boundary is easy to attain; the Despair Boundary is extremely difficult. Many disciples can’t attain it after several tens of years, and at that time, their loved once have already aged. Even if some of the disciples reached it relatively fast, those girls were all heartbroken after being abandoned. To find them again in the boundless ocean of people is an extremely difficult task.”

When Li Yang heard this, his expression instantly changed greatly.

He never would have thought that the Great Heavenly School would have this type of cultivation method. Using wounded emotion as a way of cultivation; it truly made the two lovers’ feelings undergo torture.

His own mother was probably another one of these unfortunate individuals. As for his father, it was likely that he was still suffering this type of emotional tormenting while trying to attain the Despair Boundary so that he could find his mother.

“Haha, hilarious, too funny! These Great Heavenly School disciples all want to ‘reach the Despair Boundary’ and find their loved ones. With this kind of mindset, how could they possibly reach the despair boundary? Having this type of expectation and hope, yet they still want to attain the despair boundary, what a joke! Haha… To only cultivated for a few dozen years, maybe they can only awaken after they develop despair from never reaching this boundary!” Xiang Yu disdainfully spoke within Li Yang’s mind.

When Li Yang heard this, he immediately trembled. He himself reached it so fast, so he believed that the apt.i.tude of the school’s disciples wouldn’t be that low. However, it seems like it truly was like how Xiang Yu described it, because all of the Great Heavenly School’s disciples still had hope. Hope that they could reach the Despair Boundary, and hope that they could find their loved one afterwards. Having these expectations, they still want to understand despair, that truly was a joke.

“I won’t say any more, let’s stop here!” The green-robed elder suddenly shook his head.

The green-robed elder looked at Li Yang. “The Three Great Heavenly Realms is not a cultivation method for the mind, but rather a cultivation for training oneself. Since you are my junior disciple Fengshu’s child, you can also be considered my Great Heavenly School’s disciple. I will pa.s.s onto you my Great Heavenly School’s Flying Dagger way in the dao, the cultivation sacred canon — ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’!

Part 2

“Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’? Using the flying dagger as a sacred canon to cultivate the dao?” Li Yang’s heard was greatly shaken. He didn’t know whether to feel shocked or happy.

Xiang Yu began to holler, “Haha, Flying Dagger to enter the dao! In the Immortal Realm, there is only Sword Immortals and ordinary people. I have never heard of someone who used the way of flying daggers to become a daoist immortal. I wonder what would happen once this new school of thought is established? Li Yang ah, learn quickly! Overlord will definitely carefully listen. Who knows, I might be able to gain some enlightenment!”

Li Yang restrained his mind and calmed down his excited mood. Towards the green-robed elder, he said, “Teacher, is this ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ then the rare text for one to cultivate in the way of Flying Daggers? Is it the one that my Great Heavenly School ancestral master pa.s.sed down?”

The green-robed elder was proud as he spoke. “Of course! My Great Heavenly School’s ancestral master Daoist Xunhuan had a heaven warping natural apt.i.tude, establishing this way of the Flying Dagger truth cultivation manual — ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’. Taking the entire Kunlun Paradise’s great truth cultivator schools into consideration, there isn’t a single school whose attack method is comparable to our Great Heavenly School’s. Back then, do you know how universally shocking it was when Daoist Xunhuan faced tribulation?”

When Li Yang heard this, he immediately asked, “Tribulation?”

The green-robed elder continued, “When a cultivator faces tribulation, they will usually be hacked by lightning until their souls disperse. Aportion will become loose immortals, and only a small number truly pa.s.s tribulation successfully. Normally, pa.s.sing tribulation is already something to be proud of, but during that year when Daoist Xunhuan faced tribulation, it was the most shocking event in the history of the Kunlun Paradise!”

“Most shocking event?” Li Yang was incredibly curious.

The green-robed man’s face possessed a hint of pride. “Of course! During that year, Daoist Xunhuan was lying down on top of a cloud while enjoying some wine. When the heavenly tribulation came, the sky became muddled and the earth became dark. The region where Daoist Xunhaun was at had even more chaotic energies acc.u.mulated, yet Daoist Xunhuan seemed like he didn’t care at all.”

“Suddenly, Daoist Xunhuan raised up his arm to sip some wine before lifting his head to coldy shout. Immediately, blade radiance flickered outwards, and the heaven and earth seemed to have darkened. In that instant, the cultivators from the Kunlun Paradise who came to watch the tribulation were all shocked to find that the ‘tribulation cloud’ was actually hacked apart in one slice by Daoist Xunhuan! Later on, even though it gathered together once again, its power was greatly diminished. When the nine weakened streaks of heavenly lightning struck down, it didn’t even break through the sword radiance surrounding Daoist Xunhuan’s body!”

“Streak after streak of weakened lightning blasted down, and Daoist Xunhuan merely used the blade radiance around his body to defend against those nine streaks of heavenly lightning. From start to finish, Daoist Xunhuan did not use any artifacts, and the white clothes he wore did not receive the slightest bit of damage. It was to the point where after the tribulation, Daoist Xunhuan continued to casually lie down on the cloud and sip on wine! From the beginning, Daoist Xunhuan didn’t even worry about his heavenly tribulation!”

The green-robed elder continued to speak, and his face was one of yearning and adoration.

The more Li Yang listened, the more he became at a loss. It was as if he could personally see Daoist Xunhuan going through tribulation. He could see his att.i.tude being ‘no matter how powerful this heavenly tribulation is, I’ll just here and drink my wine’. With a single slash, the tribulation cloud dispersed! The heavenly lightning struck down on his body, but not even the blade radiance covering his body was broken through. The att.i.tude of not being concerned about tribulation immediately appeared in Li Yang’s mind, and he felt an involuntary surge of adoration.

“Powerful, powerful… Truly formidable, too formidable! Actually hacking apart the tribulation cloud with a single slice, this… This attack power is too terrifying, simply too terrifying! Back then when Overlord faced tribulation, even though it went rather smoothly, in the end, there were several life saving treasures that were hacked to pieces by the lightning. As for the tribulation cloud, at that time, I did not have the strength to blast apart that cloud! Seems like this way of the flying dagger truly is formidable!” Xiang Yu sighed with deep feelings.

The green-robed elder suddenly laughed. “Haha, after chatting so much with you, I still haven’t even told you what this master’s name is! My surname is w.a.n.g, so calling me master w.a.n.g will do!”

The green-robed elder’s name was w.a.n.g Tong, and was a disciple of the same generation as Li Yang’s father. Later on, because of a disagreement with his master regarding the ‘Three Great Heavenly Realms’, he left the Great Heavenly School and entered the Green Mercenaries. After several tens of years of effort, he helped raise the Green Mercenaries’ strength greatly. Currently, his status within the Green Mercenaries was extremely high, and there was no one who could compare to him.

“Master w.a.n.g, regarding the ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ you were talking about just now, how exactly does one go about cultivating it?” Li Yang was somewhat shocked as he spoke. He was already somewhat impatient to learn the “Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’.

When w.a.n.g Tong heard Li Yang’s words, he immediately released a straightforward laugh. He completely understood what Li Yang was feeling so he did not make any more detours. “Alright! Wait for a bit!” While speaking, w.a.n.g Tong took out a precious and crystalline piece of jade. The true primordial energy within his hands immediately surged, and w.a.n.g Tong began to concentrate as he recorded all of the contents of the ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ within.

Soon after, a smiling expression appeared on w.a.n.g Tong’s face, and he handed over the jade strip to Li Yang. “Disciple, the ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ are recorded within this jade strip. Within, there is also the ‘Luminous Clear Secret’. This ‘Luminous Clear Secret’ is the cultivation method to become an immortal. Master did not explain to you properly just now. Even though this ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ is a rare text for the dao of flying daggers, it is impossible to become an immortal purely through the ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’.

Li Yang became distracted, and couldn’t help but feel confused.

w.a.n.g Tong immediate explained, “This ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ is a way to transform true primordial force into a soul blade cultivation technique. That’s why our Great Heavenly School disciples must all cultivate the ‘Luminous Clear Secret’ to produce true primordial force, and then depend on the ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ to cultivate the soul blade.

Li Yang still did not understand, but Xiang Yu did. Xiang Yu immediately laughed loudly within Li Yang’s mind. “Haha… Formidable, formidable! This ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’ is originally quite like the ‘Demonic G.o.d’s Six Extremes’, only that it is a step further in addition to the ‘Demonic G.o.d’s Six Extremes’. The ‘Demonic G.o.d’s Six Extremes’ allows one’s attacks to conform with the heavenly law to increase the attack power! Meanwhile, this ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extreme’ directly allows true primordial force to undergo change within one’s body, turning into a attack power that is ten, or even a hundred times the power.”

“If you don’t understand, then just carefully read the ‘Seven Astral Heavenly Extremes’. It is explained in detail there. Right, you already reached the Xiantian Paragon stage, and can control your mind. As long as your mind enters the jade slip, you’ll be able to read it.” w.a.n.g Tong explained the usage of the jade slip.

Li Yang immediately controlled his mind to enter the jade slip.

“Shatter the golden dan, forming the great heavenly body! The golden dan will form the seven heavenly extremes, creating the form of the heavenly world. It will form the seven brilliant heavenly bodies and draw force from within them, refining out a strand of powerful blade radiance. Under the flames of the heavenly bodies, the blade radiance will become even more condensed. After many years, the countless true primordial force will gather and the blade radiance will become even more condensed. Once it reaches the pinnacle, it can immediately take on the form of a flying dagger and become a real flying dagger. That is the soul blade, and it can be compared to a truth cultivator’s nascent soul…”

An hour later, Li Yang’s mind returned. He sighed inwardly. “Formidable, who dares to shatter a golden dan while it is still forming? Once the golden dan is shattered, it will turn into seven fragments. These fragments will become the heavenly bodies, and those seven bodies will revolve like the heavenly world. One’s energy will be completely exhausted, all for the sake of refining a thread of blade radiance. In addition, the heavenly bodies are similar to a golden dan, as while the golden dan has dan flame, the heavenly bodies have heavenly flames. The heavenly flames will also continuously purify that blade radiance, and the true primordial force absorbed by the heavenly bodies will be refined into blade radiance. Countless energy will be gathered, and it will be continuously refined. Just how terrifying is the offensive power of this blade radiance?” Li Yang felt his heart tremble.

Xiang Yu immediately sighed in admiration. “Powerful ah! In addition, the blade radiance can be refined into a material object, becoming the soul blade. This type of soul blade’s st.u.r.diness will most likely be comparable to immortal weapons, and with the soul being within the ‘soul blade’, the safety of it will definitely far surpa.s.s that of a weak nascent soul. Formidable, truly formidable!

Xiang Yu suddenly yelled, “Li Yang, you are simply too lucky! In the future, your energy will refine a ‘soul blade’. It’s offensive power will already be frightening, but if you also add the insights of the ‘Demon G.o.d’s Six Extremes’, allowing your attacks to conform to the heavenly laws as well, then the power of your attacks will be…”

After hearing Xiang Yu’s words, a smile appeared on Li Yang’s face.