Chapter 437: The Pinnacle Aperture Tempering Realm

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“Sir, thank you,” Mi Xian turned to look at Chen Fei and bowed earnestly to express her gratitude.

Mi Xian had been a guide many times before, dealing with both good and extremely difficult individuals. Some people even took pleasure in mocking and insulting Mi Xian.

She could endure all of that, but some individuals would find excuses not to pay Mi Xian at all.

Even though they had agreed on the terms initially, Mi Xian took her guiding responsibilities seriously. However, in the end, she wouldn’t receive a single penny. If she dared to speak up, she would face insults at best and physical violence at worst, which was quite common.

No one would stand up for Mi Xian; the fee collectors were only interested in taking a cut from the guides, and they wouldn’t intervene in other matters.

That’s why meeting Chen Fei today brought such joy to Mi Xian’s heart.

Chen Fei looked at Mi Xian’s bow and revealed a slight smile on his face. He believed in working hard and that dedication would lead to rewards. While the real world might not be so simple, one couldn’t say that such a mindset was wrong. After all, it was the only thing they could control.

As for the rest, it was entirely beyond their control.

“Interested in martial arts?” Chen Fei asked softly.

Mi Xian’s body stiffened, and she looked at Chen Fei in disbelief. Her body started to tremble slightly, as if an exceptional opportunity lay before her.

Missing this chance might mean no second opportunity like this in the future.

“Sir, I want to learn martial arts!” Mi Xian nodded vigorously, afraid that if she hesitated, this opportunity would slip away.

“This is a breathing technique. If you make progress in your learning, we will have a chance to meet again,” Chen Fei said with a faint smile. He pointed forward, and the practice method of a breathing technique appeared in Mi Xian’s mind.

It wasn’t the same as the Extreme Mountain Breathing Technique that Chen Fei had originally learned, which was quite ordinary and had very low efficiency in tempering the physique. Even if an ordinary person mastered it to the highest level, the effects would be extremely limited.

Therefore, Chen Fei created a new breathing technique and implanted it directly into Mi Xian’s mind. With Chen Fei’s current cultivation, he could almost create such a technique in the blink of an eye.

This was what they meant by “building a high house upon a firm foundation.”

Mi Xian closed her eyes, eagerly absorbing the information that came into her mind. When she had fully absorbed the content of the breathing technique and opened her eyes again, Chen Fei had already disappeared.

Mi Xian faced the spot where Chen Fei had been standing, bowed deeply once more. When she straightened up, her eyes were already red, and tears welled up and fell from her eyes.

It was not just excitement; it was joy. In this moment, Mi Xian felt that her destiny might be on the verge of a significant change.

She tightly clenched her fists and then turned to run toward her own house. There were not only the food in the lotus leaf bundle but also other things she needed to tell her parents.

Mi Xian wanted to share the joy in her heart with her family.

Inside the secret chamber, Chen Fei sat cross-legged, surrounded by a dense aura.

Such a secret chamber cost a whole inferior-grade elemental stone per day, which was quite expensive. However, just like the formation Chen Fei had seen earlier, there was no issue of safety here. Moreover, the elemental energy in the secret chamber was indeed denser than the outside, providing some beneficial effects on cultivation.

As the practice method for the Primordial Sword Body flashed through his mind, the elemental energy inside Chen Fei’s body began to tremble slightly. Following a specific route, his elemental power started circulating, and Chen Fei slowly closed his eyes.

There were 88 apertures in the cultivation method of the Primordial Sword Body, and Chen Fei had already successfully opened 86 of them. He was only two apertures away from merging them into the Primordial Sword Scripture, completing the entire technique.

Because of this, Chen Fei didn’t encounter any obstacles at the beginning of his cultivation. The flow of elemental power through his apertures was incredibly smooth. Perhaps it was because he had personally deduced the Primordial Sword Body that Chen Fei had an intimate understanding of its workings and the cultivation process. Thus, his cultivation progressed very smoothly.

It was as if Chen Fei had already comprehended the Primordial Sword Body to a state of perfection.

Chen Fei’s skin began to tremble slightly due to the circulation of his elemental power, and a sharp aura surrounded his body.

This sharpness was similar to the Blade-Slaying Sword, but the details were entirely different. The Primordial Sword Body seemed like a container, designed to encompass all the power within Chen Fei’s body.

As per the general outline of the Primordial Sword Scripture, the Primordial Sword Body was indeed the most foundational part of the entire technique. It served as the cornerstone and container.

Previously, Chen Fei had fused the six heritage techniques, primarily using the Zhongyuan Sword and the Water-Jade Sword as the foundation to combine all six techniques seamlessly.

This method of integration wasn’t problematic per se, but it seemed somewhat moderate. Balancing the conflicts between the various techniques and harmonizing them required effort and compromises on Chen Fei’s part.

However, with the current cultivation of the Primordial Sword Body, it felt like the other six techniques within Chen Fei’s body had found a true foundation to rely upon.

The balancing issues that used to require Chen Fei’s effort seemed to have found an automatic and optimal solution with the cultivation of the Primordial Sword Body.

Everything flowed naturally, as if it were destined to be.

One day, two days, three days passed, and Chen Fei’s aura continued to rise. In tandem, another aperture in his body opened, reaching a total of 107 apertures.

The seventh layer of the Primordial Sword Scripture had already been perfected by Chen Fei long ago; all that remained was the Primordial Sword Body. Now, as he cultivated it without any hindrances and with a sufficient supply of elixirs, his apertures broke through effortlessly.

The mighty power continued to surge within Chen Fei’s body, and the serene state of the Primordial Sword Body became increasingly apparent.

The Primordial Sword Body was a body-refining technique, and theoretically, cultivating it should have enhanced Chen Fei’s physical strength. However, in reality, despite the refinement of the Primordial Sword Body, there was no discernible increase in his physical strength.

The Suppressing Dragon Elephant had already elevated Chen Fei’s physique to a high level, and while the Primordial Sword Body was exceptional, it still paled in comparison to the Suppressing Dragon Elephant.

Although his physical strength hadn’t improved, the Primordial Sword Body imbued Chen Fei’s physique with many characteristics of a sword cultivator – sharpness, agility, and incredible speed. The power of sword energy naturally increased.

On the fourth day, the fifth day, and the sixth day, with abundant resources, Chen Fei consumed elixirs as if they were candy.

It had to be said that the ability to freely use pills to promote cultivation was indeed a fortunate situation. Without these ample elixirs, opening an aperture wouldn’t be as straightforward as it was now.

As the sixth day arrived, the last aperture was violently trembling.

Compared to any aperture before, this final aperture seemed particularly resilient. Even with Chen Fei continuously circulating his core soul energy and mental focus around it, it appeared challenging to open.

Applying even a little more force gave the sensation that this last aperture might be squeezed and shattered.

It exhibited both resilience and fragility simultaneously, creating a contradictory sensation.

Chen Fei remained completely calm, continuously using his elemental power and mental focus to cleanse the aperture, squeezing it little by little without causing any damage.

The level of precision required for this process was at its peak. Under Chen Fei’s already perfected mental focus, he executed it with ease.

With his technique perfected and his mental focus at its peak, the opening of this final aperture, which might be a challenging obstacle for others, was simply a matter of course for Chen Fei.

At most, it meant spending a little more time, and Chen Fei had the time to spare.

On the evening of the seventh day, the aperture that had been in a contradictory state finally showed a small crack. Chen Fei’s elemental power and mental focus immediately rushed into the aperture like a needle threading through a hole.

The 108th aperture was finally opened.

Chen Fei’s entire elemental power was drawn in and suddenly surged. There was a sensation of synergy among the 108 apertures in his body. This feeling was familiar to Chen Fei; it had appeared when he had 36 and then 72 apertures.

Now, with 108 apertures, this feeling resurfaced.

As long as Chen Fei could fully connect these 108 apertures, he would truly reach the pinnacle of the Aperture Tempering realm. This would be the most powerful state under the Aperture Tempering realm, serving as a preliminary preparation for breaking through to the next stage.

Only by allowing the apertures to get used to the connected state could he later unify all the apertures to achieve the true mysteries of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

Without pause and without rest, Chen Fei’s eyes suddenly opened, and he formed hand seals.

“Activate!”

The technique for linking all 108 apertures recorded in the Primordial Sword Scripture surged within his body, causing a slight vibration in all the apertures.

In the later stage of the Aperture Tempering realm, the first 72 apertures had already been connected. Now, the task was to integrate the remaining 36 apertures into the whole.

A stream of elemental power circulated through the first 72 apertures and then burst forth with a powerful force, rushing towards the 73rd aperture. Like breaking through bamboo, the elemental power in the 73rd aperture hardly paused and surged towards the 74th.

One after another, in the blink of an eye, 90 apertures had their elemental power linked. At this point, the speed of aperture connection usually slowed down, testing an individual’s foundation.

How deep was Chen Fei’s foundation? Or perhaps the question should be, what kind of foundation did the cultivation of the 108 apertures in the Primordial Sword Scripture provide?

The difficulty of cultivating the Primordial Sword Scripture was much greater than other techniques of the same level. However, the rewards were equally substantial once you successfully completed the cultivation.

Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three!

While others might face obstacles, in Chen Fei’s case, there was no room for obstacles when it came to the Primordial Sword Scripture. Especially considering that his mental focus had already reached perfection, and both his apertures and mental focus were perfected, achieving the pinnacle of the Aperture Tempering realm was inevitable.

“Hum!”

The connection of elemental power among all 108 apertures was completed in an instant, and a completely new whole emerged within Chen Fei’s body. It was seamless and, in a sense, heightened his perception of the world, making it incredibly clear and vivid.

The pinnacle Aperture Tempering realm, achieved!

After contemplating the changes within his body for a moment, Chen Fei was about to conclude his cultivation when suddenly, the tranquil Suppressing Dragon Elephant trembled.

Both the Suppressing Dragon Elephant’s body-sealing and mind-sealing techniques were activated simultaneously. Chen Fei’s blood boiled within his body as if stimulated by the perfection of his apertures. The proficiency of the Suppressing Dragon Elephant’s techniques soared rapidly.

He was already not far from the Perfection Realm, and now, he had unexpectedly surged past it.

“Crack!”

As if a tremor in the soul, within his body and yet in the void, a discreet aperture slowly manifested itself within Chen Fei’s body..