Star Gate

“Do you know why the next martial master cultivation realm is called Refiner of Spirit?” asked Yuan Shuo.

“You’re the one calling it that.” Hong Yitang raised a brow. “Who says it has to be Refiner of Spirit?”

“All daos lead to the same goal, what do you know?” Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes. “There is no unified path for martial masters at the moment, so I’ve unified them. Proceeding down my way makes for the true, legitimate path. Following your reflections might bring you to a unique path, but your way will not integrate all of the paths suited for martial masters!”

Hong Yitang said nothing further, while Li Hao looked curiously at his teacher. Had his teacher made further progress recently? He quite needed his teacher’s help at the moment as well.

“Teacher, Refiner of Spirit should have something to do with the supernatural locks, doesn’t it?” He had to pick up the line of conversation since his teacher insisted on being mysterious. “Is it a function of melding the aura into the locks, using the locks to nurture the aura, and further using them to replace the core origin dao of the ancient civilization?”

Yuan Shuo blinked and looked at his disciple.

“Only the two of us walk teacher’s Summoner of Spirit cultivation realm at the moment. It requires a fusion of five auras, but not everyone can manage to comprehend five auras. Not even I have fully fused mine together. In that case, can one proceed with only one aura?

“Have you read an ancient book called Building Five Bridges, teacher? It’s a method from the ancient civilization that applies to the five organs and creates bridges of heaven and earth between them…” The more Li Hao spoke about this, the more confused he was. “I’m thinking if the five organs can form a circulatory loop, then just one aura is enough! We wouldn’t need five since the five organs have become one.

“Does this mean that the Building Five Bridges method is something that all martial masters should study? That it’s an option that all martial masters should try? But how does one build bridges between the five organs?”

Yuan Shuo raised a brow and looked at Li Hao. It’d only been a few months since they parted ways, but his disciple was starting to deliberate over his future path. And one had to know, Li Hao improved at a very rapid clip and was a great troublemaker. It also meant that he’d seen more of the world to be able to voice these thoughts.

“The supernatural locks have replaced the bridges of the old and the looks can become a loop,” Hong Yitang added. “But the locks themselves are independent and actually repel each other. Can we use the aura to mitigate the conflict between them?”

Yuan Shuo slouched with dejection and flicked a glance at the two of them. “It seems you two know more than I do.” Regardless, he nodded. “So it looks like people have a general idea of the road to come. It doesn’t matter how many auras we have, whether it is one or five, one can become five and five can become one. There is only a difference in level of strength.

“So whether it is one aura or five, there isn’t a big disparity. The only variance is in strength, not cultivation level. Supernatural locks are indeed the key, but breaking them is not the proper path!

“Hong Yitang, you and others are technically in the Refiner of Spirit level. It’s just not that obvious.” Yuan Shuo looked at Hong Yitang, then at Light Sword. “Summoner of Spirit is a stage in which we strengthen our auras and utilize them to nurture the supernatural locks. The locks fortify the organs, which in turn enhance the body…

“According to my hierarchy, the two of you are in a period of change between Summoner of Spirit to Refiner of Spirit—the lock saturation process that you speak of. That you’re close to success means that you have some skill to your name.”

Hong Yitang grinned. This guy just had to toot his own horn for a bit and pretend to be much more knowing than them.

“At this stage, all martial masters possess an aura!” Yuan Shuo continued. “Just as Li Hao said, whether it is one or five, it is all the same. If you are able to break through the bottleneck and connect the five organs together, then one aura can nurture five organs! The key lies in connecting the supernatural locks. It’s a bit of a thorny issue that I was musing over before, but made some discoveries later on.

“All paths lead to one.” Yuan Shuo looked at Hong Yitang. “You’re a step ahead at your current level. The bridge of the five organs requires saturated supernatural locks!”

The group’s eyes widened and Li Hao brightened.

“Only when the five locks are saturated can they be connected and build this so-called bridge…”

“But then, how are Dominators with only one aura supposed to cross this threshold?” Li Hao asked with a frown. “Do they bypass Summoner of Spirit and begin directly with Refiner of Spirit?”

His teacher’s thoughts were suitable only for the premier martial masters of their day. Those who weren’t as talented would be stuck on the other side of this chasm. There weren’t many who could make it to the level of Hong Yitang and the rest.

“Don’t rush!” Yuan Shuo laughed. “Just as the strong have their cultivation methods, so do the weak have theirs. There are two ways to build bridges between the organs. One of them is with the supernatural locks—that is the kind of completion in a single step that is suitable for the strong. As for the weak, they can make their way slowly through the cultivation level.

“A martial master’s foundational strength is internal force. The weak need to make use of internal force, not supernatural locks, to build these bridges. When they succeed at Summoner of Spirit, they can consider replacing the bridges with their supernatural locks as they move onward.”

“Internal force can be used as bridges?” Li Hao was confused. “But internal force is easily absorbed by the supernatural when it enters the five organs. They are unable to solidify into bridges.”

“That’s easy.” Yuan Shuo was unconcerned. “Just solidify it with your mind intent. Supernatural looks do not absorb aura and mind intent. They can be used to solidify internal force!”

Li Hao mused over his words and Hong Yitang also sank into deep contemplation. Finally, the latter said, “Then… according to your theories… there are multiple steps to take after Dominator. The first is to build the bridge between the five organs, then to summon the spirits, then replace the bridges with supernatural locks, then to refine the spirits…”

“That is the required path for a regular martial master.” Yuan Shuo nodded. “It’s not impossible to leap straight to Summoner of Spirit, but that’s too great of a burden for them. Their organs can’t endure the strain! We can, but that doesn’t mean everyone else can.”

Li Hao and the others could summon the spirits all the same without the bridges because their organs were very strong. Regular Dominators possessed much weaker organs.

“Teacher, then why do the others have to saturate the locks of their four limbs first before working on the ones of the organs? And only then can they unseal themselves…”

“I don’t know either.” Yuan Shuo shook his head. “I’ve never tried it before myself, but my guess is that it has something to do with the connections between the locks themselves.”

“Saturating the locks of the four limbs is to strengthen the body and use that as feedback for the organs,” Hong Yitang explained. “Otherwise, if the organs are strengthened first, both they and the body won’t be able to endure the strain.”

“But I…” Li Hao wanted to say that he’d strengthened the locks of his organs first, but then recalled that he’d also fortified his body and bones at the same time. Perhaps he might have failed if he’d focused only on his organs.

The group continued to discuss their theories. At their stage of cultivation, everyone needed to clarify what the next steps were. That was the key. Martial masters who could unseal themselves were premier martial masters. Unsealing resulted in battle strength greater than Nova, but a little less than the sixth cultivation level—unless one fully snapped a lock.

If they waited to the sixth level to solidify their cultivation, then these martial masters might fall behind. Yuan Shuo and the rest had reached this point. While Li Hao lagged behind, he was almost there. Progress would be difficult without a further path ahead.

……

The group conversed for several hours before Yuan Shuo summarized, “Summoner of Spirit can be divided into two stages. The first is to establish the bridges of the organs. The second is to nurture the aura.

“Refiner of Spirit can also be divided into two stages. The first is to saturate the supernatural locks, the second is to combine the auras with the locks.

“From the perspective of a martial master with a single aura, you guys are in the first stage of Refiner of Spirit. However, you’re already stronger than Novas. Therefore, Refiners can rival Novas and those two levels above Nova. If you can enter the second stage… perhaps you can match those who are even stronger.”

“Don’t shove me into your system!” Hong Yitang laughed.

“Letting you into my system is your honor!” Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes. “Only I can create a complete path of martial dao in this era. Your deviated shortcuts and other nonsense will have to return to the proper path sooner or later!”

Li Hao couldn’t be bothered with their squabbling and asked solemnly, “Then if I’ve skipped the step of building the five bridges and don’t use my internal force for them, can I only use my saturated supernatural locks for the bridges?”

“Why are you skipping that step?” Yuan Shuo countered impatiently. “Is it that hard for you to use your internal force for them now? Why must you create additional trouble for yourself? Or do you think you have so much potential that you can reach the skies with one step? Connect your organs as one first, the rest can wait. Do you think cultivation is so easy that you must create some difficulties by skipping steps in order to showcase how great your abilities are?”

“……” Li Hao was speechless. I just thought I was already past that level… but after your words… Fine, they make sense. “So I should build the five bridges with my internal force next, connect the organs, then saturate my locks…”

“Wrong!” Yuan Shuo snapped. “Are you a Summoner of Spirit?”

Li Hao blinked. I am! How am I not??

“Your auras were forcefully raised to their level, what kind of bullshit Summoner are you??” Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes once more. “You’ve completely relied on external resources, this is a completely incorrect way of doing things! Summoner of Spirit is the process of strengthening an aura. The stronger an aura is, the stronger the organ! You relied on outside forces to raise them to their level. When it comes down to it, you’re not even a Summoner! Your battle strength depends on everything but yourself! I’ve only been gone a few months, but you’ve completely gone down the wrong path!”

etvolare’s Thoughts

Oh... shit? And I think it’s the first time I’m seeing that using outside treasures in cultivation is bad. Usually there’s nothing much wrong with utilizing these cheats.