Lin Tian carefully pulled out the silk booklet from his chest. The old man had warned him countless times that this booklet, made from an unknown and extraordinary material, contained knowledge far beyond ordinary cultivation techniques. If he hadn't reached the Refining Bone stage and his body's endurance hadn't been significantly improved, attempting to practice the teachings within could lead him astray, possibly even falling into madness.
Now that he had broken through the Refining Bone stage, the time had come to uncover the secrets hidden within the ancient, yellowing silk pages—the very things that had caused the old man's assassination and set an entire sect on his tail.
Opening the booklet, Lin Tian followed the old man's instructions, using a sharp needle to pierce his chest. He allowed his hot blood to drip onto the silk pages.
The deep red blood quickly seeped into the pages as if the booklet itself were a bloodthirsty monster, sucking it in.
Having lost at least half a tael of his hot blood, Lin Tian felt his face grow pale. This wasn't just any blood—his heart's hot blood was the essence of his life force, ten times more valuable than ordinary blood.
The booklet shimmered briefly, and slowly, words and two illustrations began to appear on the page.
"Divine Path, at the top of the heavens, is called Destiny; vast, as if at the beginning of the universe, with all gods converging. The mysteries of the hidden places, the nurturing of the primordial, thus the devouring of the origin, rebirth, and the guarding of the One, while fleeing the Nine..."
As Lin Tian read the opening passage, he understood only half of it. But even this meager understanding seemed to sharpen his senses. His muscles, bones, and spirit felt heightened all at once.
At the end of the passage, the name of the silk booklet was revealed: Spirit Martial Sutra, Volume II.
"Sutra?" Lin Tian's hands trembled as he held the booklet. He was filled with shock and awe.
In the legendary times of the ancient gods, cultivation methods were considered supreme, only accessible to the highest order of cultivators—those who had reached the Void Breaking or even Shattering Void realms. Yet, to think that such a treasure had fallen into the hands of the old man, and now, in his hands...
Lin Tian compared the movements the old man had taught him with the new revelation in the booklet. His expression grew increasingly strange.
The movements he had been practicing also contained a similar core principle:
"The Form Path, at the bridge between Heaven and Earth, is called Nature; vast, as if in the beginning of time, bearing Yin and embracing Yang, harmonizing the energies. The three energies merge into one, and five hearts turn towards the origin, thus cultivating emptiness, nurturing the breath, guarding the Nine while gazing at the One..."
Lin Tian could almost see another silk booklet in front of him, the first volume of Spirit Martial Sutra, bearing the same words.
He might have been slow to understand, but now it all clicked—those strange and complex movements were the foundational techniques from the Martial section of the Spirit Martial Sutra!
"No wonder, no wonder that sect would stop at nothing to obtain this booklet... it's not just an ordinary technique, but a legendary one! I've heard that to advance in cultivation, one must first reach the Void Breaking level in martial arts and Shattering Void in spiritual arts before understanding the way of the heavens and attaining the rank of Saint or even godhood... But this booklet, and the movements the old man taught me, allow one to begin cultivation from the very start! Such a treasure... even the Three Martial Holy Lands, the Five Great Dao Sects, the Seven Evil Path Demon Sects, and even the demon clans of the Outer Realm or the Celestial Realm—any of them would go mad to possess it!" Lin Tian muttered, his mind racing with awe.
Martial arts and spiritual arts were the two foundational systems of cultivation on Tianzhou Continent. Martial arts had five realms: Body Refining, Qi Transformation, Innate, Master, and Void Breaking. Similarly, spiritual arts had five stages: Spirit Gathering, Thought Refining, Soul Cultivating, True Essence, and Shattering Void.
Legends spoke of cultivators who could master both paths to their peak, reaching the Void Breaking and Shattering Void realms, transcending into godhood. However, such stories were often just myths. Very few reached even the Master or True Essence stages, and those who achieved the Void Breaking and Shattering Void realms were as rare as phoenix feathers.
Martial arts and spiritual arts were considered mutually exclusive. A person could focus on one and reach great heights, but to try and master both? It was considered a fool's errand. Those who attempted often reached a bottleneck in one path and could not break through. In the rare case someone attempted both paths from the start, they usually ended up nowhere, stuck in a mediocre realm, a common cultivator.
The only exception in the past few centuries was Ji Wuchang, a genius from the Evil Dao, who had managed to achieve equal mastery in both martial and spiritual paths, reaching the Master and True Essence stages. But Ji Wuchang was a once-in-a-hundred-year genius.
For most, the idea of dual cultivation was laughed at. Even a Master martial artist could easily defeat a cultivator who had reached the Innate stage in martial arts and the Soul Cultivating stage in spiritual arts. A single realm's difference was often the difference between life and death.
But for Lin Tian, the set of movements he had been practicing was part of the Martial section of the Spirit Martial Sutra, and this silk booklet was part of the Spiritual section. Together, they formed a complete and extraordinary system.
Understanding what lay within the booklet, Lin Tian's face grew pale. But he couldn't resist the urge to study it further. He pulled the booklet out again, silently reciting the words over and over.
Despite the ancient language and cryptic phrasing, Lin Tian, using his remarkable intelligence, was able to memorize the 6,000 characters after two hours of focused effort.
Once he was sure of the words, Lin Tian put the booklet back under his clothes. The words were imprinted in his mind, but the two illustrations, one simple and one complex, were still beyond his full grasp.
Even so, committing the text to memory had already increased his mental acuity. Though he wasn't yet at the point where he could generate spiritual energy—something that would only be possible after reaching the Innate realm—his progress was astonishing for someone still at the Refining Bone stage. Most martial cultivators would be envious of his ability to heighten his spirit at this stage.
The key to martial techniques lies not just in physical strength or weapons but in the spirit. While the differences in spirit are not so obvious in lower-level cultivators, once one reaches the Innate stage, even the slightest difference in spiritual power can alter the outcome of a battle between two powerful practitioners.
Suddenly, Lin Tian's heightened senses, sharpened by his training, caught a growing sense of danger. His heart began to race, and an instinctive chill ran through him.
In an instant, he sprang to his feet, his body feeling lighter than ever, as though it had been fitted with springs. He moved with feline grace, making no sound as he leaped up onto a broken statue in the ruined temple. Without missing a beat, he used the force of the statue to propel himself onto the beam above, performing an almost acrobatic flip.
His bones cracked lightly as they seemed to shrink, making him virtually invisible even to someone standing directly beneath the beam. Had it been just two hours earlier, Lin Tian wouldn't have been able to pull off this kind of stealth.
Closing his eyes, he slowed his breathing, reducing his heart rate. It went from three beats per second to one every several seconds, until his heartbeat barely fluttered.
In the ancient scriptures, it is said that "nine hundred lives and deaths make one moment." Lin Tian's control over his heartbeat and breath had become so fine that, to an ordinary person, his pulse would be undetectable.
Thanks to his newly gained abilities, Lin Tian was now ready for whatever came next. The real test was just beginning.