Chapter One Fainted

  Xiao Zhan was practicing his fist technique while activating the inner vision of his True Eye. After a thorough examination, he found that the true energy in his meridians had actually dropped back to the Later Heaven's First Layer. This discovery left him astonished and perplexed. Only after some analysis did he feel relieved. The reason for the drop in true energy was due to it being forcibly compressed.

  It seems that the power on these stairs is actively helping Xiao Zhan to cultivate, and he doesn't need to control it at all. His cultivation and strength will increase automatically. On the first level of the stairs, Xiao Zhan's fist speed was slow as a turtle's pace, but after repeating this process for an unknown amount of time, another acupoint in his body began to resonate with the stars in the universe.

  Stardust infused his body, acupoints expanded, and his power increased again to 20 crystals before stopping. At the same time, the true energy in his meridians increased to the ninth heaven of the postnatal period. However, this time Xiao Zhan's body was unable to move even a little bit, he knew that the pressure had increased compared to the first level of the platform, and his physical strength had only increased by 10 crystals, which was not enough.

  Looking at the remaining 997 levels of stairs, Xiao Zhan was stunned. Was he going to be trapped on these stairs? This wouldn't do, so he began to think of a plan. From what had happened with the two previous levels, each level only tempered one acupoint. Once that acupoint was fully tempered, the training effect of "Ji Xing Quan" would be lost. To increase his strength, he needed to train in another technique. Fortunately, when Xiao Zhan was at Wu Kuang, he had used the "Extreme Memorization Curse" to record a secret sword manual, memorizing over 1,000 sets of sword moves, each with its own internal skill method. Now he could use them for training.

  Although he had no sword in hand, Xiao Zhan could only make do with practicing. He recalled the "Listening to Rain Sword Manual" in his mind and then used his hands as a substitute for the sword, slowly cultivating it. Sure enough, as soon as Xiao Zhan's sword intent rose, the mysterious power that enveloped the stairs reappeared, controlling his body and starting to cultivate this set of sword techniques.

  "The Rain Sword Manual" consists of three layers, with thirteen moves in each layer. Under the control of mysterious power, Xiao Zhan slowly brought out the thirteen sword moves of the first layer, and his true energy began to circulate according to the heart method on the sword spectrum, incredibly transforming into water-attribute true energy.

  The cultivation of swordsmanship is generally divided into three levels: mastery, proficiency, and perfection. When Xiao Zhan mastered all the moves in "Listening to the Rain Sword Manual", his cultivation also came to a halt. After True Eye scanned it, he found that the increase in power was only about half a crystal, and his entire body still couldn't move an inch. However, Xiao Zhan saw hope - he had over a thousand sets of sword manuals in his mind, if he practiced all of them, wouldn't that be equivalent to five hundred crystals? At that time, climbing up the third extreme step shouldn't be a problem.

  Thousands of sword techniques, each with its own unique style, and the mental methods were even more diverse, covering everything. Xiao Zhan, who was continuously practicing on the platform, was completely immersed in it, neglecting time and everything around him, entering a state of complete absorption. In this vast starry sky, on this mysterious platform, time seemed to have lost its meaning. As Xiao Zhan's speed with his sword gradually increased, the true energy within his body also changed constantly with the mental methods. When he had mastered thousands of sword techniques, he stopped practicing.

  The cultivation of thousands of sets of sword techniques did not increase the power of Wǔ Bǎi Jīng as much as Xiāo Zhàn had imagined, but only increased it by about fifty crystals. However, Xiāo Zhàn was now able to move freely. Although it was still very strenuous, climbing up to the third level platform was no longer a problem.

  With great difficulty, he climbed up to the third step, Xiao Zhan was already drenched in sweat. This time, he didn't rush to get up, but instead rested for a while, and only got up when his strength had slightly recovered. As soon as he stood firm, the enormous pressure came flooding back, making it difficult for him to move even an inch, just like before.

  On the stairs, Xiao Zhan practiced boxing and swordsmanship, with nothing else in his heart. Star power poured into his body, and spiritual energy surged in. Each of the acupoints was tempered and expanded, and the power of the 10 crystals increased continuously; each set of sword moves went from being grasped to being mastered, and the meridians were also constantly expanded and strengthened, while the properties of true qi were transformed under the control of mysterious power.

  Step by step, the stairs disappeared behind him, Xiao Zhan's physical strength grew stronger and stronger, his true energy became more and more refined, his bones and flesh became crystal clear, his body moved slightly, and even the sound of power rumbling like thunder could be heard inside his body.

  When Xiao Zhan stood on the 333rd step, he had 333 acupoints in his body expanded and filled with star power, and his physical strength almost doubled. At the same time, the true energy in his meridians had been compressed and re-cultivated from the first heaven of the post-heaven to the ninth heaven of the post-heaven for the 333rd time. The difference was that after repeated compression and re-cultivation, the true energy had transformed into liquid true yuan, increasing by ten times in quantity, reaching 900 crystals, equivalent to the realm of the eighth heaven of the pre-heaven.

  Congenital division of nine heavens, one heaven is 200 crystal, and each subsequent promotion to a higher heaven will increase the true energy by 100 crystal, while the true energy value of the nine heavens is 1000 crystal.

  The realm of transformation is different from the innate realm. At this time, the true energy has been transformed into true yuan. The value of true yuan in one heavy sky is 2000 crystal, and each subsequent increase in one heavy sky increases by 1000 crystal yuan. After reaching nine heavy skies, the value of true yuan is 10,000 crystals.

  Nether boundary is also true yuan, the value of true yuan in one heavy sky is 20,000 crystal, and each promotion of one heavy sky increases by 10,000 crystal true yuan. The value of true yuan in nine heavy skies is 100,000 crystals.

  Xiao Zhan's physical strength has now approached 9,000 jing, equivalent to the eighth heaven of the Transcendent Realm. In theory, his physical strength and star power should be equal, with 9,000 jing of physical strength being equivalent to 9,000 jing of star power. Unfortunately, these star powers are scattered among 361 acupoints, and each punch can only burst out 200 jing of star power, which is equivalent to the first heaven of the Innate Realm.

  Xiao Zhan had also tried to transfer the star power from other acupoints over and merge it into one fist, but he gave up after trying once. Because each acupoint corresponds to a star in the sky, its star power has unique properties, and forced merging will only lead to failure.

  "Xiao Zhan had been practicing the Stellar Fist for eight years, and this problem had always plagued him. Every time he thought of his cheap master, who could control 1800 acupoints in his body and roam freely, he must be able to call upon all the acupoints at once. Unfortunately, that ring just couldn't be opened, leaving him gnashing his teeth in frustration."

  Gathering his emotions, he struggled to climb up the 334th step. At this moment, he was extremely eager, if he could walk through all the steps, wouldn't it mean that he could open the 999 acupoints, and at that time, his power and star power would surge again, truly comparable to the Nirvana realm.

  After a brief rest, Xiao Zhan stood up, and when the overwhelming pressure came, his face suddenly changed.

  This time the pressure was not only applied to his body, but also spared no effort on his soul. At that moment, he felt that his thinking had solidified and his mind was a complete blank.