Time flowed on.
Year after year passed, and in the blink of an eye, it had already been three thousand three hundred years since Dongbo Xueying became the disciple of Blood Blade Divine Emperor.
In the vast mountain ranges behind the Yin Stone Villa, Jing Qiu, Longshan Pavilion Master, and Chihuo Divine Monarch were walking through the peaks, observing and listening intently.
“Over there!” Jing Qiu’s ears faintly caught a sound.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three of them swiftly flew over and soon spotted Dongbo Xueying, clad in simple black robes, wielding a spear as he thrust it repeatedly into a massive tree before him. These trees were nurtured under the unique conditions of Blood Blade Divine Court and were no ordinary species. Even if Dongbo Xueying hacked at them with an axe at full strength, it would take him nearly half an hour to fell one. As for stabbing them with a spear? Even a full day of thrusts wouldn’t bring them down.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The spear struck again and again, each impact carrying immense power.
“Don’t disturb him,” Chihuo Divine Monarch said solemnly. “Dongbo has been training with his spear in these mountains for ten years now. He must have gained some insight.”
Jing Qiu watched from afar, a faint smile on her lips. “Ten years of spear training in the mountains… I didn’t dare send him a message, afraid it might disrupt his state of cultivation. His true body has been in seclusion all this time—I thought something might have happened. Now that I know he’s here, I can rest easy.”
“What’s the point of stabbing a tree like this?” Longshan Pavilion Master muttered. “I don’t see how it helps.”
“Of course you don’t,” Chihuo Divine Monarch teased. “If you could understand, you wouldn’t still be stuck at the mid-stage of the Deity realm.”
Longshan Pavilion Master fell silent.
—
Dongbo Xueying felt at ease. He executed his spear techniques again and again, his power restrained, each strike landing squarely on the trunk of a tree. When one tree finally toppled, he moved on to the next. He could feel his state of cultivation shifting, could sense himself drawing closer to what he had long sought—what he yearned to grasp. And so, he refused to stop.
All these years, he had been contemplating the vast teachings Blood Blade Divine Emperor had imparted to him regarding the ‘Hunyuan Divine Heart,’ reflecting on them repeatedly. Combined with his long years of cultivation in the Lockworld Tower, he was inching ever closer to breaking through that bottleneck.
Ever since his labor sentence, he had taken to practicing his spear techniques on these trees. In these moments, his mind was more relaxed, and in that relaxation, flashes of inspiration often struck.
This time was no different.
As he pondered the secret techniques of the Lockworld Tower, striking the trees again and again, Dongbo Xueying suddenly felt a profound realization. He entered a unique state, his heart brimming with joy as he immersed himself completely.
Now, wielding his spear was pure enjoyment. Every thrust was a delight, and if something felt off, he adjusted.
“Boom—!”
Dongbo Xueying thrust his spear once more. Though the power was restrained, when it struck the still-intact tree, an overwhelming force erupted. With a deafening crash, the towering tree exploded into countless fragments. The sight stunned Jing Qiu and the others, who had been watching from afar for six or seven years.
“Exhilarating.” Dongbo Xueying’s eyes gleamed with a sense of unbridled release, as if an eternity of pent-up energy had burst forth.
“Exhilarating, truly exhilarating! Unrestrained, frenzied, an absolute eruption!” His eyes shone as the principles of the universe began to manifest around him. “Different first-grade Divine Hearts truly follow entirely different paths. When I trained in spear techniques as a youth, I pursued balance and perfection. Mastering the World Divine Heart came effortlessly! Yet that very pursuit became my greatest obstacle in comprehending the Hunyuan Divine Heart.”
The space around Dongbo Xueying began to collapse, forming a dark, swirling void.
The black void loomed behind him, devouring everything in its vicinity—grass, trees, even the powdered remnants of the shattered tree were all consumed.
“Is that—”
“The Hunyuan Divine Heart?”
“Dongbo has broken through?”
Jing Qiu, Longshan Pavilion Master, and Chihuo Divine Monarch watched from a distance, their faces alight with excitement.
Dongbo Xueying, however, was lost in his own euphoria. To grasp the Dao in the morning and die content by evening—such was the joy of true enlightenment. No matter how much others spoke, their words remained theirs alone. Though Blood Blade Divine Emperor’s guidance had been meticulous, it was ultimately of no use. Just as the Divine Emperor had poured everything into aiding his wife, yet she remained only a first-level Heaven’s God, her state of mind weak.
In cultivation, others may offer guidance, but the path must ultimately be walked alone. Enlightenment must come from within.
Now that Dongbo Xueying had attained it, he was filled with joy and excitement. He understood why he had struggled so painfully at the bottleneck, only breaking through today.
“Different first-grade Divine Hearts follow entirely different paths.”
“The World Divine Heart is rooted in earth, fire, water, and wind. With the breath of life, it achieves balance, rotation, and harmony. It is equilibrium, it is tolerance, it is all-encompassing!”
“But the Hunyuan Divine Heart is the polar opposite! It is absolute extremity!”
Dongbo Xueying shook his head.
His master had warned him, and he himself had recognized the issue. Yet this mindset of balance and tolerance had been ingrained in him since youth. When he trained in spear techniques, he would meticulously study offensive and defensive forms alike, striving for perfect equilibrium. In his dealings with others, though inwardly proud, he maintained at least the bare minimum of courtesy.
All of this was balance—a balance etched into his very bones.
It wasn’t as simple as recognizing the problem and instantly changing. Only when he immersed himself in studying that secret technique, especially when stabbing trees with his spear, did his mind empty, casting off all external influences, shattering all shackles, becoming as pure as a blank sheet of paper. As he contemplated the secret technique of the 351st layer of the Lockworld Tower, the bottleneck gradually gave way. In that moment of breakthrough, everything became clear.
“No wonder close-quarters combat with the World Divine Heart is far weaker than with the Hunyuan Divine Heart,” Dongbo Xueying mused with a smile. “The Hunyuan Divine Heart, from its very essence, discards everything—it is utter annihilation.”
Though their paths were diametrically opposed, both had reached the first-grade Divine Heart. Different roads, yet ultimately converging at the same destination. This was why fusing multiple first-grade Divine Hearts came so naturally—they were all fundamental aspects of the universe’s laws.
“Though the World Divine Heart is about balance and tolerance, precisely because it must encompass all, even the most absolute destruction should be embraced.” Within Dongbo Xueying’s heart, the two first-grade Divine Hearts rapidly merged. There was no hesitation, no confusion. In mere moments, they united as one flawless whole.
The aura around Dongbo Xueying shifted, now suffused with the profound mysteries of a deeper layer of universal law.
“He’s broken through.”
“Dongbo has broken through.”
Jing Qiu, Longshan Pavilion Master, and Chihuo Divine Monarch stood amidst the distant trees, watching intently. They could see Dongbo Xueying in the midst of his breakthrough and dared not disturb him.
—
Deep beneath Blood Blade Divine Court, in a hidden underground hall, a massive crimson furnace blazed with flames. Before it sat the towering figure of Blood Blade Divine Emperor, cross-legged as he observed the cosmic furnace, contemplating its mysteries.
“Master.” A resonant voice echoed through the hall.
“Hm?” Blood Blade Divine Emperor frowned. “What is it?”
The voice belonged to the artifact spirit of the entire Divine Court. Though vast, Blood Blade Divine Court was, in truth, a single treasure, and its spirit could monitor everything within. Even when visitors arrived, the Divine Emperor forbade his subordinates from intruding upon his cultivation grounds—only the artifact spirit was permitted to relay messages. It alone was eternally loyal to him.
Yet he had long decreed that only matters of sufficient importance warranted interruption.
“Master, you may wish to observe your disciple, Dongbo Xueying,” the resonant voice intoned.
“Oh?”
Though puzzled, Blood Blade Divine Emperor trusted the artifact spirit implicitly. With a thought, his consciousness expanded across the Divine Court, swiftly locating Dongbo Xueying.
“Breakthrough?” Blood Blade Divine Emperor remained impassive. A breakthrough was hardly noteworthy—reaching the first-level Heaven’s God after five thousand years was merely average.
But then his brow furrowed in disbelief.
“Second-level?”
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