After comprehending the first six layers of the Xuan Tian Sword Art to their peak.
The techniques of layers one through six all appeared in Ji Yuan's mind, and he began to dissect them carefully.
There is a significant difference between knowing a technique and fully grasping it. The former merely allows for application, while the latter truly makes it one's own.
It is akin to Confucian scholars studying an essay. Knowing it means you can use the essay for your studies.
But only by truly understanding it can you grasp the profound meaning within the text and enhance your knowledge and cultivation.
Ji Yuan had now 'learned' the first six layers of the technique, and his next task was to 'digest' them to generate his own insights.
Under normal circumstances, given his talent and comprehension, even with his utmost effort, it would likely take several years.
However, in this state of enlightenment, he was digesting the first six layers of the Xuan Tian Sword Art at a staggering speed.
It is often said that time flows differently in the mountains, and cultivation brooks no delay, which is not without reason.
When cultivators are immersed in their practice, they barely perceive the passage of time. Those with profound cultivation can gain years of insight in the blink of an eye.
Ji Yuan was now experiencing this state. He felt no sense of time passing, completely unaware that three months had elapsed in the outside world during his contemplation.
At this very moment, a realization struck him. The white jade flying sword in his Purple Mansion, guided by his will, plunged into the lake of sword energy and then directly struck the seed nurtured by the countless sword energies.
A surprising sight unfolded. The seed was not cleaved by the sword's edge but instead merged into the flying sword.
The once 'lively' white jade flying sword became incredibly still, sinking into the depths of the sword energy lake to be nourished and refined by the infinite sword energies.
After three months of contemplation, he had thoroughly grasped the first six layers of the technique, transforming them into something truly his own.
He was no longer using them as if reading from a script, but could wield them with effortless command, as if by instinct, without even needing conscious thought.
Without any pause, Ji Yuan immediately began to switch techniques and started to comprehend the Miao Yuan Yan Shen Zhen Fa.
This soul-refining secret art had the effect of strengthening the soul light and divine consciousness. If cultivated to profound depths, the formed primordial spirit could ascend to the highest heavens and descend to the deepest abysses, unharmed by fierce winds and uncorroded by netherworld flames.
Under the influence of the Dao rhyme contained within the five-colored Golden Core, he quickly gained a fundamental understanding of this art in his enlightened state.
In his Sea of Consciousness, the inheritance bead of this art began to emit a soft glow. Its surface gradually cracked open, dripping beads of golden light.
In just three to five days, seven drops of water appeared in Ji Yuan's Sea of Consciousness.
The bead containing the Miao Yuan Yan Shen Zhen Fa had also visibly shrunk by a circumference.
Gradually, more and more water droplets accumulated in his Sea of Consciousness, and a peculiar Dao rhyme began to permeate the air.
Under this Dao rhyme, his enlightened state deepened further, seemingly developing in another direction.
Another two to three months passed in the blink of an eye. Ji Yuan, immersed in his enlightenment, suddenly felt a change in his mind and discovered a pure golden core had appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.
However, he soon realized that this was not a cultivator's Golden Core, but a Primordial Spirit Bead that only great cultivators could condense.
Such an item could only be formed by great cultivators at the cost of their own Dao cultivation.
Each bead was worth more than a three-colored Golden Core, and even for great cultivators standing at the pinnacle, they could condense at most two or three in their lifetime.
The moment this Primordial Spirit Bead appeared, Ji Yuan understood its origin: it had been refined into the inheritance bead of the Miao Yuan Yan Shen Zhen Fa.
As the surrounding matter dissolved, forming droplets of water, its true form was revealed.
Simultaneously, the method for using this Primordial Spirit Bead appeared in his mind.
Ji Yuan unhesitatingly activated the secret technique. The one hundred and eight golden droplets in his Sea of Consciousness rose one by one, directly falling onto his soul.
As these droplets merged, his soul light rapidly expanded, and its originally pure white color began to transform towards gold.
Once all one hundred and eight droplets had merged into his soul light, its strength became comparable to that of a cultivator at the early to middle stage of the third realm!
It was at this moment that the Primordial Spirit Bead rose and gradually integrated into his soul.
It resided within Ji Yuan's soul, being slowly refined by the soul light. Although the process was slow, the improvement it brought was significant.
He estimated inwardly that if this Primordial Spirit Bead were fully refined, the strength of his soul would be comparable to that of a great cultivator who had just entered the Golden Core realm.
However, this was naturally an extremely long process. Even with his current soul power, it would likely take several years, or even over a decade.
Before long, he sensed that in his Sea of Consciousness, under the illumination of his soul light, golden water droplets were constantly condensing.
In just over half a day, these droplets formed a pool, which continued to expand.
He immediately understood that this golden liquid was the 'seawater' of his Sea of Consciousness, the divine consciousness that was born from soul light after breaking through to the Ming Dao realm.
Now, relying on the Primordial Spirit Bead and the mysterious substance that encased it, he had not only strengthened his soul but had also prematurely generated divine consciousness power, a full major realm ahead of schedule.
However, Ji Yuan had no time to dwell on his thoughts. As the Primordial Spirit Bead and its surrounding mysterious substance merged into his soul, an even richer Dao rhyme enveloped him entirely.
His mind sank into it, ascending from the state of enlightenment and silently entering the realm of Dao comprehension.
Unknowingly, another year had passed.
In these one year and six months, while others were enjoying the fortune brought by the spiritual spring, many events had transpired in the outside world.
In Jue Xian Valley within Fei Yun County, a terrifying battle erupted. It was said that more than six great cultivators at the Golden Core realm engaged in combat without any prior warning.
Furthermore, the Golden Core ancestor of the Yu Clan, for the first time in hundreds of years, revealed his true form in full view of the public.
With his own power, he suppressed a great cultivator at the middle stage of the Golden Core realm within the Yu Clan's forbidden grounds and subsequently slew three great cultivators at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.
As for the two fleeing great cultivators of the Golden Core realm, both were seriously wounded. One of them was even attacked by the five demonic sects and tragically met his end through a hidden attack.
However, a strange turn of events occurred. No one pursued the truth of this battle; instead, a wave of pursuit against the cultivators of the five demonic sects erupted.
Even the prefectural city issued bounties. Killing a cultivator of the early stage of the second realm of the demonic path would earn ten thousand taels of silver from the imperial court.
If one could kill an elder of the third realm of the demonic path, they would receive a sixth-grade spiritual pill, with the highest reward being a fourth-grade spiritual pill.
Moreover, the type of pill was chosen by the killer, allowing them to freely select from pills that increased cultivation or advanced one's realm, and so on.
Just as countless cultivators began searching for the traces of the five demonic sects, in the northern part of Fei Yun County, the long-opened underground dojo transmitted news that shook the entire Ling Yang Prefecture.