Chapter 290: Father-In-Law and Son-In-Law Teaching

Chapter 290: Father-in-Law and Son-in-Law’s Instruction

Of course, he dared not say such things to Cui Wenjing, for fear of being beaten to death by him.

Zhao Changhe could only shift his angle and cautiously seek guidance: “I’ve noticed that before, Chi Li, Yue Hongling, and also Brother Cui and Brother Situ, all lingered quite a while at the threshold from the eighth to the ninth level of the Mystic Barrier. Is there any special significance to this hurdle?”

Cui Wenjing said with a stern face, “Why not ask your Yue heroine? Isn’t she the one involved, clearer than I am?”

Zhao Changhe smiled ingratiatingly: “Uncle is a man of experience, and a top-tier grandmaster. With Uncle right here, why ask anyone else…”

Cui Wenjing really didn’t want to teach, feeling that with their relationship, his instruction would be like saying, “Come, come, I’ll teach you how to get on my daughter,” which was an awkward mindset…

But with such a high hat placed on him… being the crown prince, a hero—publicly and privately, not saying a few words seemed hard to justify.

Cui Wenjing had no choice but to speak reluctantly: “Naturally, the higher you climb toward the peak, the more exhausting it becomes. Each level’s difficulty doubles compared to the previous one—this is normal, as with all things. For instance, when you were at two hundred and fifty, entering the top two hundred was easy, but going from second to first is very…”

Zhao Changhe muttered, “Not that hard.”

Cui Wenjing: “?”

Zhao Changhe quickly corrected: “Uh, not me, I mean someone back then got to first just by lying down…”

Cui Wenjing clenched his fist, a fierce glint in his eyes.

Zhao Changhe nearly covered his head.

Cui Wenjing took a deep breath, expressionless: “The ninth level of the Mystic Barrier is the pinnacle of mortal martial arts. So-called opening the Bridge of Heaven and Earth, or switching to various special physiques, is no longer about training one’s own strength; it involves more esoteric external forces. In terms of one’s own power, the ninth level of the Mystic Barrier is the highest achievement, naturally not easily attained. First, the ninth Mystic Barrier acupoint is very dangerous.”

Zhao Changhe perked up: “The Heavenly Spirit?”

“Correct. The Heavenly Spirit is the meeting point of man and heaven, the core gateway of the Bridge of Heaven and Earth. Originally, in cultivation theory, the moment you open the Heavenly Spirit Mystic Barrier marks not only the ninth level but also involves the key to the Secret Vault. This level is difficult because it is the pivotal link, bearing a different significance.”

Zhao Changhe caught the key word: “In theory?”

Cui Wenjing was pleased with his insight, looked at him with a complex expression for a moment, then sighed: “Yes, because this level is too hard. At worst, you go berserk, your spiritual platform collapses, and you die; at best, you go mad or become an idiot—these are common occurrences. So all schools of cultivation adopted a compromise: they separated the role of linking to the Secret Vault, retaining only the meaning of breaking through one’s own strength. This made it much simpler, leaving the Secret Vault for later. This led to an explosion in the number of people at the ninth level of the Mystic Barrier, but in reality, they are not true ninth-level practitioners—just half-baked ones.”

Zhao Changhe understood: “That’s why Yue Hongling and others were stuck here for so long—they weren’t satisfied with this half-baked state; their ninth level is the true one. So although they linger at the ninth level, breaking through to the Secret Vault later is relatively easier, while those who take shortcuts find it even harder than expected to break through to the Secret Vault. This results in many at the ninth level but few Secret Vault masters, and the Human Ranking can’t even be filled.”

Cui Wenjing clapped his hands: “Exactly… There’s no natural chasm; it’s all man-made. In any case, the ninth level of the Mystic Barrier is still the limit of ordinary people. Reaching this step already makes you a regional hegemon. Risking your life to pursue the Secret Vault, which only a hundred out of billions achieve, doesn’t seem very necessary.”

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly and didn’t respond.

Cui Wenjing glanced at him sideways, knowing that this man would never be satisfied with a half-baked ninth level. In fact, he had already glimpsed the door to the Secret Vault. Achieving the true ninth level wasn’t too difficult, but it still required some opportunity.

After all, the Heavenly Spirit was still the Heavenly Spirit; you couldn’t force it violently. It required a certain insight, guiding the situation to let it happen naturally, or else you could easily go berserk and become an idiot.

As for how to find that insight… it might take years and never come. Of course, Cui Wenjing felt this wouldn’t happen to Zhao Changhe; otherwise, the strongest Hidden Dragon number one in history would be a joke.

He really didn’t intend to teach this in detail, so he changed the subject: “Have you started seeking a special physique?”

Zhao Changhe smiled ingratiatingly: “Uncle has sharp eyes. Is there any guidance you can offer?”

“This is different from the conventional cultivation system; it belongs to the characteristics of ancient gods and demons. Now, including me and Wang Daoning and others, we can’t really say we’ve fully understood this thing. The one in the world who knows it best, besides His Majesty, might be Li Shentong. What I can tell you is that it’s a bottomless pit, with no end in sight, and no one can give you clear guidance on what to do next. It all depends on your own opportunity. If you mess it up, you’ll only end up with a mishmash and a body full of hidden ailments.”

Zhao Changhe thought to himself that Yue Hongling hadn’t blindly followed the transformation of the Basalt Gem to create some innate Dao body, but had only made slight adjustments based on her own understanding. This must have been her consideration—the heroine’s martial arts insight was still very solid.

But he himself had a cheat; the guidance of the gold leaf was definitely reliable.

So he asked, “Uncle, do you know about the Dragon-Elephant Blood Ginseng?”

“Dragon-Elephant Blood Ginseng…” Cui Wenjing frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head: “I’ve heard of many types of blood ginseng, but never one with the name Dragon-Elephant. If your body-forging requires it, I can keep an eye out for news.”

Zhao Changhe was overjoyed. Having a backer was great; if the Cui family really got moving to find something, the chances of success were much higher. Something with a clear name like this couldn’t be as elusive as the heavenly treasures for reforming meridians.

Seeing his monkey-like delight, Cui Wenjing said irritably, “Don’t think you can just soak in some herbs and be done. You have to be prepared to spend a lifetime searching various secret realms and studying.”

Zhao Changhe smiled ingratiatingly: “Got it…”

Cui Wenjing looked at him for a long time, then suddenly ran out of topics. Actually, their talk about cultivation guidance was really about children’s matters—hoping he would improve quickly to marry his daughter; otherwise, why teach him? There was no need to make that too obvious, or Old Cui’s face would hurt.

After a long while, Cui Wenjing sighed and brought up something neither wanted to discuss openly: “Are you really going to be the crown prince now?”

Zhao Changhe said, “What are you saying…”

“Then why did you fight so hard in this battle? Everyone has to admit that the decisive factor in this battle was you, Zhao Changhe.”

“…What does that have to do with it? Brother Cui also held his ground and didn’t retreat. Is he trying to be the crown prince too?”

Cui Wenjing raised his hand as if to strike, and Zhao Changhe shielded his face.

Cui Wenjing glared at him for a while, then sighed: “Whatever your reasons, maybe you planted the willow without intent, but objectively you’ve won the favor of Huangfu Yongxian and the recognition of the Great Xia’s most elite legion. Do you know what that means?”

Zhao Changhe’s first thought was that if he wanted to get close to his daughter, the resistance seemed a bit less…

Then he realized that with his current identity and momentum, no matter what damn bloodline, it really didn’t matter anymore… But everyone was thinking in terms of conventional politics, never considering that Xia Longyuan was simply a madman who wouldn’t care about any of this.

As long as Xia Longyuan kept playing his games with gods and buddhas, this world would never be at peace. All people could do was patch things up.

That was the tragedy of Wanzhuang.

Now it seemed to be his turn, stepping into the game.

As if reading his thoughts, Cui Wenjing said calmly, “In this world, the more conscientious a person is, the more tired they live; the more self-centered, the more at ease. Do you… have any regrets?”

“And you, Uncle?” Zhao Changhe countered. “The Qinghe Sword’s spirit faded and abandoned the Cui family. You spoke lightly of it then, but in your heart, did you have any regrets? Now Brother Yuanyong holds the border, his righteous spirit piercing Yanmen. Perhaps the sword spirit may return, who knows? When you came a thousand li to aid him, did you blame Brother Yuanyong for not knowing when to advance or retreat, disregarding the family, or was there a hint of relief?”

Cui Wenjing said nothing, just stared at him fixedly.

The father-in-law and son-in-law looked at each other for a long time, then Cui Wenjing suddenly smiled faintly: “In over half a year, I haven’t seen much improvement in other things, but that bandit flavor in your speech is almost gone. Yuanyong, on the other hand, is full of curses.”

With that, he turned and left: “Have you noticed that the Dragon Sparrow is getting more and more docile? I think the day of its recognition is not far off. You might want to ponder that first.”

The Great Xia Dragon Sparrow, the emperor’s war blade.

If it recognized a master, it would only recognize one kind of person.

Zhao Changhe looked at the door with a headache. This Old Cui—he wasn’t talking about the blade at all; he might as well come over and drape a yellow robe.

No wonder he had allied with the Wang family. There were so many rebels in the world… and he called himself a royalist.

Just as his head ached, the door was knocked again, and an unfamiliar male voice laughed outside: “How are your injuries, Young Master Zhao? Ying Wu has some good medicine here, different from the Cui family’s… I’ll sell it to you for just one coin.”

The eighth on the Heaven Ranking, Ying Wu… one rank higher than Old Cui.

If Old Cui still focused on the mortal world, Ying Wu definitely did not.

Zhao Changhe was very interested in him.