Chapter 48: The Limit
The Eight Extremes Realm of martial arts was a concept everyone present had heard of. While the grand names of each realm were familiar, the finer distinctions between them varied depending on one’s upbringing and access to knowledge.
“For the first four realms, each has ten levels. Depending on the techniques practiced, the gap between the peak talents of each realm and ordinary martial artists is as vast as the heavens and earth,” Su Yehua began to explain.
She detailed the distinctions between the first four realms:
“...After the Zhoutian Realm comes the Soul Fusion Realm, where practitioners cultivate the Soul Condensing Technique.”
“Different grades of the Soul Condensing Technique allow for varying numbers of soul condensations. Top-tier techniques enable at least 50 condensations.”
“However, in the Soul Fusion Realm, what truly matters most is the level of soul essence one inherits.”
“That determines the upper limit of how many times the Soul Aspect can be condensed!”
Su Yehua’s gaze swept across the audience as she continued, “For instance, if you inherit the soul essence of a Fourth Pillar Realm expert, you can achieve 80 soul condensations.”
“If the inheritance is from a Demonic Soul, the range varies from 30 to 60 condensations, depending on the species of the demonic soul.”
“Inheriting from a mere mountain spirit or ghostly entity? At most, the limit is 20 condensations—a mid-grade Soul Condensing Technique would suffice in such cases.”
Here, Su Yehua paused briefly. Her eyes lingered on two youths in fine brocade robes with python embroidery on their sleeves among the disciples below:
“If the inherited soul essence exceeds that of a Fourth Pillar Realm expert, as far as I know, the upper limit can reach 180 condensations. That should be approaching the limit of the Soul Fusion Realm!”
Her words caused many of the scions from prominent families to show shock on their faces.
The disparity between a top-tier Soul Fusion Realm practitioner and an ordinary one was nearly tenfold!
Yet, the expressions of the two youths Su Yehua glanced at were quite different. One looked slightly uneasy, while the other wore a smug expression. Upon hearing the growing murmurs around him, he even cast a faint, disdainful glance at the crowd, his eyes filled with contempt.
One hundred eighty isn’t the limit... thought Li Hao as he glanced at the beautiful instructor, shaking his head silently.
The true peak limit was 360 condensations.
Probably.
Li Hao mentally added this caveat, knowing that just because he hadn’t achieved it didn’t mean others couldn’t surpass that limit.
Through his Heaven-and-Earth Soul Fusion method, he had practiced four top-tier Soul Condensing Techniques and five high-grade ones to reach his limit.
Even if he practiced additional techniques, he could not break the cap of 360 condensations. Any further progress—this was his limit.
Upon reaching 360 condensations in the Soul Fusion Realm, Li Hao had also grasped another type of Soul Aspect power.
He called it the Heavenly Avatar.
...
Meanwhile, Su Yehua continued her lecture above: “In our Tangong Academy, those who meet the qualifications for Soul Fusion can enter the Black and White Hall to cultivate with the inherited soul essence of Fourth Pillar Realm experts. Outside the royal family, this is the finest choice for Soul Fusion available!”
“Of course, some of you come from illustrious lineages with Fourth Pillar Realm ancestors, so you may not lack in this respect. But for others, this is worth considering.”
At this, many in the audience lit up with excitement. Unlike Li Hao and the two youths with python-embroidered sleeves, not everyone hailed from noble families with abundant resources.
The heroic souls of the Fourth Pillar Realm were highly prized even within the Martial Temple, where they were exceedingly rare. Only those with exceptional aptitude or favorable connections could earn their favor.
Yet Tangong Academy, as the foremost institution across the nineteen provinces, openly offered such top-tier resources to its disciples.
“After the Soul Fusion Realm is the Spiritual Wandering Realm.”
Su Yehua spoke softly, “At the Spiritual Wandering Realm, one is already at the level of a military colonel or a renowned martial artist of the martial world. In our academy, they qualify to serve as instructors in the secondary courtyard.”
Many nodded slightly at her explanation.
The Spiritual Wandering Realm was even the level of some of their family patriarchs.
In numerous cities, a Spiritual Wandering expert could dominate an entire region.
“The Spiritual Wandering Realm allows the Divine Soul to separate from the body, traverse several miles, and perceive everything within that range.”
“Against the illusions and sorcery of demons, the Divine Soul can dispel them.”
“At this stage, one cultivates the Spirit Refinement Technique,” Su Yehua explained.
“The grades of the Spirit Refinement Technique vary. Ordinary ones, even at their peak, can only extend the Divine Soul to just over three miles.”
“High-grade techniques can more than double that range to seven miles.”
“Supreme techniques are even more extraordinary, reaching up to 18 miles!”
Sweeping her gaze across the room, Su Yehua noted the astonishment and complexity in her students’ expressions. Calmly, she added, “Eighteen miles is not the limit of the Spiritual Wandering Realm, but supreme Spirit Refinement Techniques are exceedingly rare. Only the most elite families or a select few factions can possess them.”
“And our Tangong Academy has one such technique.”
At these words, the eyes of many noble disciples sparkled.
“If you diligently train in the academy, stay within the top-tier courtyards, you will naturally have the chance to access it in the future,” Su Yehua said with a smile.
“Really?”
“They’re willing to teach something like that?”
“The Spirit Refinement Technique my family patriarch practices is said to only be mid-grade.”
Some disciples clenched their fists in excitement.
To cultivate diligently at Tangong Academy and one day return home to surpass their family patriarchs—that thought alone was thrilling.
“Ha…”
A youth with python-embroidered sleeves seated in the front row let out a soft sneer, his disdain unmistakable.
A supreme Spirit Refinement Technique limited to 18 miles?
Compared to the royal family's Great Yu First Spirit Refinement Technique, it’s still far inferior. At its peak, that technique allows the Divine Soul to wander 25 miles!
Such a range covered half a city, enabling one to easily overpower ordinary Spiritual Wandering practitioners.
The farther the Divine Soul could travel, the stronger it became. This increased its ability to break through demonic sorcery and illusions, and even allowed one to narrowly escape the grasp of powerful demons.
Su Yehua noticed the disdain in the royal youth’s eyes but did not show any reaction. She was, of course, aware of the royal family’s Great Yu First Spirit Refinement Technique, but she chose not to mention it. After all, such matters pertained to the imperial family and were not to be casually discussed.
“Teacher, what is the upper limit of the Spiritual Wandering Realm? Is it 20 miles?”
Someone in the audience asked curiously.
Su Yehua glanced at the questioning youth and noticed that many others shared the same curiosity. She shook her head lightly and replied, “Twenty miles is not the limit. The highest limit should be around 25 miles, or perhaps 30 miles…”
“Thirty miles!”
The crowd was stunned. Such a distance was ten times that of an ordinary Spirit Refinement Technique.
The gap between the extremes and the ordinary seemed to be a tenfold difference in every realm!
It was almost unimaginable—if one could reach the limits of every realm, how terrifying would that power be?
Hearing Su Yehua’s explanation, the royal youth’s eyes flashed with disdain once more.
Thirty miles? The Great Yu First Spirit Refinement Technique of the royal family only reaches 25 miles. This instructor from Tangong Academy is wildly speculating and misleading her students. What a joke!
The youth entertained the idea of exposing her error and ridiculing her in front of everyone, but he remembered his mother’s earnest advice before he left for the academy: to maintain a low profile.
Forget it. As long as I know the truth, let her deceive these fools.
With that thought, he restrained his impulse, leaned back in his chair, and allowed a faint smirk of ridicule to linger on his lips.
Thirty miles… Li Hao silently shook his head again.
What this beautiful instructor was teaching differed greatly from his own experience.
Merely practicing the three supreme Spirit Refinement Techniques in the Tingyu Pavilion had extended Li Hao’s Spiritual Wandering range to 35 miles.
Later, with Feng Lao’s assistance, he infiltrated the royal family’s secret library and obtained a copy of the Great Yu First Spirit Refinement Technique, which pushed his range even further to 50 miles!
This allowed his Divine Soul to cover an entire city and instantly reach any location within it.
And yet, Li Hao felt this wasn’t the true limit. If he could find more supreme Spirit Refinement Techniques and cross-verify them, he might refine his Divine Soul to an even greater degree.
...
“If any of you can reach the Spiritual Wandering Realm before the age of 20, you will be considered geniuses wherever you go,” Su Yehua said with a smile.
“But I’ve heard that some people reached the Spiritual Wandering Realm at 16,” a noble youth interjected.
“My father told me that the Blade Saint of Yanbei perfected the Spiritual Wandering Realm at 15!” another student added.
The disciples began discussing these feats. What once seemed astonishing now felt even more incredible as they gained a deeper understanding of the difficulty.
They had thought these achievements were akin to gazing at the moon from the bottom of a well. Now, having stepped onto this path themselves, they realized it was more like an ephemeral insect looking up at the heavens.
“Such feats can only be accomplished by the pinnacle of Ninth-Class Battle Bodies,” Su Yehua explained. “However, you need not feel disheartened. While early breakthroughs in the Spiritual Wandering Realm are advantageous, in the final four realms, the impact of innate talent diminishes.”
...
“At 15 miles, talent might still barely create a gap. But by the time you reach the Heaven-and-Man Realm, the deciding factors will be mental fortitude, comprehension, and fortuitous opportunities. Anyone who can approach the threshold of the Heaven-and-Man gate has the potential to step into the Master Realm and become a grandmaster.”
“Teacher, what are the final four realms like?” someone asked eagerly.