Sacrificial Artifact System: From Bell-ringer to the Ancestral Patriarch

"Master, is Martial Saint a realm above the Innate?"

Li Qian curiously asked.

His understanding of the martial arts hierarchy was limited to the Innate level.

"Of course not... Martial Saint still belongs to the Innate level."

Zhou Buping shook his head, "Let me explain to you in detail about the situation of the Innate level martial arts."

"Master, let's go inside and talk."

Li Qian hurriedly said.

"Mm."

Zhou Buping nodded his head.

Master and disciple entered the room.

Li Qian lit the oil lamp.

In the dim light, Zhou Buping enlightened Li Qian about the Innate level.

"Unlike the postnatal Ninth Layer, the Innate represents a level of communication with heaven and earth... Based on the difference in the degree of communication, it is referred to as the Innate Five Realms."

Zhou Buping said.

"Innate Five Realms? I've read some books that only mention the Innate Three Realms."

Li Qian was extremely surprised.

"The books you've read didn't fully describe the Innate Five Realms."

Zhou Buping shook his head and said, "All cultivation in the Innate Realm is for the communication with heaven and earth; the first three realms are True Qi, True Yuan, and True Core, representing the unlocking of one's innate potential, and are part of laying the foundation... The last two realms are where one truly begins to explore and even influence heaven and earth."

Li Qian listened attentively.

This seemingly basic martial arts knowledge was not available until reaching a certain level.

"The fourth realm of the Innate is called Heavenly Person, symbolizing a person of the heavens. At this level, one can soar through the sky, traversing the heavens, liberated from the bonds of the earth. Heavenly Persons have a deeper understanding of heaven and earth. Most importantly, their lifespan can reach three hundred years, whereas those in the first three Innate realms, even a Great Grandmaster who has condensed a True Core, can live at most two hundred years."

Zhou Buping continued.

"Then, is Martial Saint the fifth realm?"

Li Qian couldn't help but ask.

"That's right, Martial Saint, the saint among warriors... It is said that this level opens the true door to influencing heaven and earth.... Unfortunately, as to what kind of abilities they possess, I am also not clear. But it is said that the lifespan of a Martial Saint can reach over five hundred years."

Zhou Buping nodded as he said.

Li Qian finally had a preliminary understanding of the Innate Five Realms, "Master, what level are you?"

"I was once at the early stage of the True Core Realm."

Zhou Buping spoke with a hint of sigh.

The reason he said 'once' was naturally that his Qi Sea had been damaged, and his cultivation had regressed.

"Does our Divine Sword Sect have any Heavenly Persons?"

Li Qian asked curiously.

"That, I do not know."

Zhou Buping shook his head.

"Even Master doesn't know?"

Li Qian was quite surprised.

"I don't handle sect affairs and am not an authoritative elder of the Elder Hall, so how would I know the sect's top secrets?"

Zhou Buping said with a smile, "But I guess... there's probably an eighty to ninety percent chance. Our Divine Sword Sect has a high-ranking, missing Sword Master; however, no new Sword Master has been selected from the true inheritors, which strongly suggests that this Sword Master may still be alive, especially since Heavenly Persons have a lifespan close to three hundred years."

"You've just broken through to the Innate Realm; you need to consolidate it for a while. I will go back to sleep now."

Seeing that Li Qian wanted to continue asking, Zhou Buping immediately waved his hand and stood up, heading towards the outside of the bell tower.

He walked briskly with his hands behind his back, evidently in a good mood.

"True Qi, True Yuan, True Core, Heavenly Person, Martial Saint... My journey in martial arts has only just begun."

Li Qian sighed.

....

Dong!

Accompanied by the sound of the bell for the 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. period, a new day began.

Due to the season, the sky was already getting light despite it being the 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. period.

Mist shrouded everything.

The moist morning breeze blew.

Li Qian assumed his stance and began cultivating the Heartless Sword Technique.

The cultivation technique of the Heartless Sword Technique was of a very high level, suitable not just for postnatal cultivation but also for the Innate level, with undiminished efficacy.

Heaven and Earth Essence Qi converged upon him, merging into his body, combining with his qi-blood and spirit, refining it into True Qi.

After a complete Grand Circulation of Innate True Qi, he finally stopped.

Comfortable!

Li Qian felt that the Innate True Qi within his body had also increased by a fraction.

Not to mention that the Pure Sword Body absorbed the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi with high efficiency, its refinement into True Qi was also extremely easy.

Needless to say, this was one of the significant effects of the Pure Sword Body.

According to his understanding, the cultivation speed of an Innate Martial Artist mainly tests two aspects.

One is the efficiency of absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.

The other is the efficiency of integrating Heaven and Earth Essence Qi with one's qi, blood, and spirit.

Both of these involve root bone qualifications and comprehension.

Li Qian has the aid of the Sacrificial Artifact Chen Bell, so his comprehension is absolutely top-notch.

As for root bone qualifications... he has already trained to have the Pure Sword Body, which goes without saying.

Now he can be said to understand the essence of being leakage-free.

That is, one can breathe in and out the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi with the whole body, and the qi and blood can fully integrate the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi without any wastage in the process of cultivation.

With this in mind, the cultivation speed becomes exceedingly terrifying.

Thinking of this, Li Qian's mind moved, and he summoned the system interface to check the latest information.

Host: Li Qian.

Cultivation: Innate True Qi (Early Stage 2/100).

Sacrificial Artifact: Chen Bell (Law 2315/10000).

Martial Arts: Sword Stabbing Fist (Perfect), Heartless Sword Technique (Perfect), Pure Sword Body (Perfect).

Martial Intent: Heartless Sword Intent (Illusion 19/100).

Secret Skills: Ten Thousand Transformation Sword Qi, Blood Burning Technique.

....

"Eh, my cultivation progress has increased a bit?"

Li Qian was very surprised.

Merely one Grand Circulation's practice had increased the progress by one point; the efficiency was terribly frightening.

As expected of the Perfect Innate.

This isn't about the Houtian level but the Innate level, where the difficulty of cultivation is definitely hundreds of times harder than Houtian.

Yet he could still add one point of progress with a single session of cultivation.

Looking at it this way, to advance to the Middle-stage Innate True Qi Realm, he only needs to practice the Heartless Sword Technique a hundred times.

The question now is how many times can he practice in one day?

In the following few days, Li Qian conducted various trials and basically confirmed that with normal cultivation, he could practice about three times a day... otherwise, his bodily qi and blood couldn't keep up.

He had tried taking Qi Blood Pills.

The effect was very good.

His Pure Sword Body was able to absorb the effects of the pill quickly.

The most important thing is... every time he took a pill, his body could eliminate the Elixir Poison immediately.

Li Qian finally understood why it's called the Perfect Innate.

The Pure Sword Body isn't afraid of Elixir Poison.

After taking the Qi Blood Pills, he could practice about two more times a day.

The reason for only increasing the practice twice and not unlimitedly is simple.

His spirit couldn't keep up.

Although the Chen Bell itself has the effect of restoring the spirit.

However, after multiple rounds of cultivation, the spirit would become exceptionally tired, and even the Chen Bell would find it hard to alleviate this condition.

He had consulted his master, Zhou Buping, on this issue.

The master explained that it involved spiritual tenacity and required moderation—too much or too little could be detrimental. Overdoing practice can lead to spiritual damage.

Even Elixirs like the Spirit-Enhancing Pills don't genuinely restore the spirit but only relieve mental fatigue and prevent the spirit from being damaged to a certain extent.

The only way to improve spiritual tenacity is to enhance Martial Intent.

Li Qian could cultivate five times a day, increasing five points of cultivation progress... which was already astonishing.

This is because he had comprehended Sword Intent to the Illusion level right after entering the Innate Realm.

Unfortunately, after stepping into the Illusion level of Heartless Sword Intent, the difficulty of cultivation significantly increased.

He didn't see the possibility of advancing his Sword Intent further in a short period.

However, he was still very satisfied with his current pace of cultivation.

Even if one could only practice five times a day… to be able to increase by five points of cultivation progress, he could raise his cultivation to the Middle-stage Innate True Qi Realm in less than a month without using up all his time.

Such a speed of cultivation could be described as defying the heavens.

....