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nIn the shrine,

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n“The expert who is almost a martial master from the Daxia Kingdom, I would like to thank you for your help.”

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro turned around, an uncontrollable excitement appearing on his slightly aged face.

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nAlthough the octopus monster that he had personally created had not truly broken through to the master realm, it had taken an important step to becoming a sacrificial spirit at the master realm. He did not let the spirits from those clans die in vain.

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro had made a huge contribution to the Japanese royal family.

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n“I know that you killed the sacrificial spirits to strengthen your swordsmanship abilities. To express my gratitude, I’m willing to answer a question for you,” Matsumoto Shigejiro said.

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nIf the octopus monster did not take this important step, just by devouring the other sacrificial spirits, it would have the spiritual power for a short period of time.

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nIn that case, he wouldn’t be able to talk to Chen Yiming so calmly.

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nHowever, they were now on the same level. At the very least, Matsumoto Shigejiro thought so. He had the intention of forming an alliance with Chen Yiming.

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nChen Yiming smiled faintly.

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nThe head of the shrine was probably so excited that he thought that the octopus monster could resist his Sword Aura.

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nLittle did he know that even if he was facing a true master, Chen Yiming was confident that he could escape unscathed.

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nIf he was facing a spiritual creature that was at the master realm, he would even dare to draw his sword directly due to his Sword Aura ability.

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nAt this moment, the octopus monster behind Matsumoto Shigejiro sensed the unfamiliar aura from Chen Yiming who completely ignored the spiritual energy emanating from it.

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nThe octopus monster raised one of its tentacles, as if it was about to attack in the next moment.

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro hurriedly took out a talisman and added his internal force into it. As the caretaker of the sacrificial spirits, talismans were a common way to communicate with the spirits.

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nThe simple order reinforced throughout the long-term training of the octopus monster caused it to lower its tentacles and stay quietly where it was.

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro turned around again. He didn’t see it, but Chen Yiming did. The octopus monster seemed to be behaving a little unnaturally, and a few of its tentacles were wriggling around.

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nThe sacrificial spirit had broken through to the next realm, but his caretaker had not.

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nChen Yiming muttered to himself, but didn’t remind his opponent.

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n“How embarrassing. It’s too lively just after breaking through,” Matsumoto Shigejiro explained with a smile.

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nNo matter what kind of creature it was, the joy of breaking through to the next realm was something that almost nothing else could compare to.

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nAfter saying this, he extended his hand and invited Chen Yiming into the shrine.

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n“What’s the difference between a sacrificial spirit breaking through to the master realm and a human breaking through to the master realm?” Chen Yiming climbed over the steps and asked.

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n“It seems that you are also interested in the sacrificial rituals,” Matsumoto Shigejiro said with a smile.

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n“No, I just want to understand more about the sacrificial spirits,” Chen Yiming said casually.

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nBeating around the bush, Chen Yiming didn’t directly ask about the method for humans to break through to the master realm.

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n“It’s alright,” Matsumoto Shigejiro said with a smile. He felt that as long as he did not give away the actual technique, it would not be a problem, so he continued,

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n“The difficulty for humans to break through to the master realm is firstly the breathing technique that focuses on one’s body, and secondly, whether their mental strength has completed a qualitative transformation.

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nAs for sacrificial spirits, they are essentially a mass of spiritual energy. In terms of spiritual talent, we humans are far inferior to them.

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nAs for the breathing technique, the spirits can directly focus on their mental strength.

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nOf course, in theory, humans can also focus on their mental strength, but you know…”

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro didn’t finish his sentence, but Chen Yiming understood what he meant.

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nIt was simply due to the fact that a human’s spiritual talent was insufficient to support a human to break through to the master realm, unlike the sacrificial spirits.

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nChen Yiming’s thoughts raced. In an instant, he recalled that the concept diagram had been drawn in his spiritual world. He vaguely guessed that the method for humans to break through was probably to take a shortcut.

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nThis was because the evolution of living creatures was a process of transformation. Generally speaking, if one took a shortcut during cultivation, they would face a greater threshold to get to the next level in the future.

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nFrom Matsumoto Shigejiro’s words, Chen Yiming could sense the difference in difficulty between the two methods of breaking through to the master realm.

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nIf the breathing technique was focused on the body, it would be much easier to resolve any problems that occurred during the cultivation process. However, if it was used on mental strength, it would be a huge problem if there were any mistakes in the cultivation. There was no way to resolve it.

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n“It’s a pity that I wasn’t born in the Daxia Kingdom. There are two martial masters in the north and south of the Daxia Kingdom. Decades ago, I traveled to your nation and wanted to become a disciple there, but I wasn’t accepted.”

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro started chatting with him like they were old friends.

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nThose who could cultivate to the peak of the warrior realm were all talented people. However, because Matsumoto Shigejiro was from Japan, he did not have the chance to become a disciple under a martial master.

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n“After so many years, the Japanese royal family still hasn’t been able to obtain the corresponding cultivation technique for breaking through to the mast realm?”

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nChen Yiming pretended to be surprised.

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n“Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!”

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro instantly recalled the events of the past and sighed heavily. “I believe you also feel the limitations of the sacrificial spirits. While their hosts are still alive, the spirits are often not strong enough.

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nWhen the spirits completely develop, the living hosts would often die for various reasons.

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nIt’s fine to rely on the spirits to protect the nation, but it’s very difficult to invade the otherworld. If one’s activities in the otherworld are limited, how can one compete for and obtain things at the level of the master realm?”

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n“There are indeed many limitations. If the corpse in the coffin is damaged, the spirit won’t be able to live for long without its vessel,” Chen Yiming glanced at the altar and said.

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n“That’s why it’s a pity.” Matsumoto Shigejiro had a look of regret on his face as he asked, “By the way, I wonder which martial master you are under?”

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n“…”

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nChen Yiming was at a loss for words.

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nBefore this, he knew nothing about the martial arts masters in the Daxia Kingdom. He had only learned about the existence of the two martial arts masters in the south and north from Matsumoto Shigejiro.

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nJust as Chen Yiming was thinking about how to reply, the octopus monster saved him from having to answer.

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nHundreds of tentacles shot out, heading straight for Matsumoto Shigejiro and Chen Yiming.

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nChen Yiming leaped lightly and moved hundreds of meters away in an instant, dodging the tentacles of the octopus monster.

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nOn the other hand, Matsumoto Shigejiro was not so lucky. In essence, he was a long-term caretaker of the sacrificial spirits and was responsible for feeding them. In the past, with his powerful strength, there had naturally been no problems.

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nHowever, for the time being, he had forgotten to be constantly on guard against the sacrificial spirit that only had unstable emotions.

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n“Is he being devoured by the spirit?”

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nAfter Chen Yiming landed, he felt that Matsumoto Shigejiro had been unlucky. That octopus monster had only just broken through to the master realm, but it had already attacked its caretaker. Could it be that it had been holding a grudge against its caretaker all along?

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nMatsumoto Shigejiro was stunned and was wrapped into a ball by hundreds of tentacles.

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nIn the next moment, the ball continuously transformed into various shapes. Then, the octopus monster directly sat on the ball and all its tentacles swarmed over it.

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nTwo to three minutes passed.

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nTowards the end, the struggling became weaker. The octopus monster relied on its special ability to absorb all of Matsumoto Shigejiro’s vitality.

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