I Am Supreme
chapter-746

Ling Xiaozui's soft voice was solemn, "This revelation may be easier to understand for the two of you since both your cultivation base have already gone past the ninth Dao realm. It comes as a matter of course to you that there must be a higher realm. In the past, however, many cultivators of Tianxuan Continent were hounded by this bottleneck for far too long. They knew that there was a path ahead of them, but they were clueless about how to go about it!"

Yun Yang showed a hint of understanding but it was tinged with doubt. He paused before asking, "May I ask senior what is the reason behind this?"

Ling Xiaozui chuckled dryly.

"The bottleneck after the ninth Dao realm is a huge contrast against the barrier and bottleneck of the peak and heaven realm. When one reaches the maximum limit of the ninth Dao realm… the dantian cannot contain anymore mystical Qi. However much that is absorbed will be lost. Based on such a premise, there is, naturally, no way forward."

"This was the case until that one senior – upon achieving the pinnacle of his cultivation base-tried his hardest without the slightest bit of advancement. Stumped, his whereabouts was found out by his enemies as well. They gathered a dozen similarly-leveled masters and ambushed him."

"It was intentional versus surprise. The senior was first poisoned then severely wounded from the ambush before he was pursued. Exhausted and at the brink of depletion, he thought he'd come to his end. Helpless, he was forced to trigger soul inducement, hoping to fight to his death alongside his enemies! However, not only was he utterly expended in Qi and energy at that point in time, he was suffering from too much damage. He was like a ragdoll that was so broken that he couldn't even complete his soul inducement act."

"However, it was at that critical juncture that he felt the mystical Qi flowing into his body, which arose from activating the art of soul inducement, didn't seep away… It had, instead, run amuck within his body. Quickly, he realized that there were two new chakras being awakened, adding to the nine chakras he had inside him!"

"As these two new chakras were awakened, his capability shot up immediately followed by his rapid recovery. He eventually turned the tables around, and sent a dozen masters scrambling for their lives."

"From then on, word went out among the skilled ones that there weren't only nine chakras in one man! There were hidden chakras… many more…"

Ling Xiaozui sighed.

"Later, this stage would be called God's Shackles by the later generations."

"God's Shackles…" Yun Yang and Ji Lingxi mumbled it under their breath at the same time.

"Yes, God's Shackles. Not being able to reach this half-immortal realm, one will never be able to come into contact with this unusual seal," Ling Xiaozui sighed gently and said, "Since the beginning of time, for so many years that have passed, countless talented experts came to a halt right before this stage!"

"The cultivation journey emphasizes one's talent – this remains unchanged. However, this stage itself has already eliminated more than ninety percent of people in this world. Ascending to the heaven realm from the peak realm will remove another ninety percent of the remaining while going into the Dao realm, another ninety percent is gone. To advance from the Dao realm and face the God's Shackles, ninety-nine percent of the remaining cultivators would have to be ruled out once again! Therefore, the probability of cultivators ascending to the God's Shackles isn't one in a million – there may not even be one in a million!"

"This seems to be terribly harsh!"

"Up to now, this is the overall level of differentiation in Tianxuan Continent," Ling Xiaozui said, "Dugu and I, we're the luckier ones. Dugu is a romantic who entered the martial arts, making his path of devotion – he's devoted in love and martial arts, charging through the limit of chakras by chance. I don't know how many he's awakened in particular, but he's gone into a whole new cultivation journey due to this."

"As for me, I've entered the journey wholeheartedly by swordsmanship. To pass this stage…" Ling Xiaozui shook his head bitterly, reluctant to recall his past. "Every time I try, I pierce through a chakra by stabbing my sword across myself…"

"Back and forth, I've attempted a total of fifteen times before taking advantage of the Water Pneuma Spell. Leveraging on the fortunate encounter with the magical fish, I've indeed charged past the barrier of God's Shackles…"

"Then, I searched for the magical fish endlessly… mainly to secure my realm. It's the Qirin Fish I'm talking about." Ling Xiaozui glanced at Yun Yang with a smile. "It's due to this that I come to Tiantang City often and got to know Young Sister Yun. Knowing you, young brother, was also because of this."

Yun Yang nodded and smiled faintly.

Recalling the moments when he just met Ling Xiaozui while they fished, such a long time had actually passed in just the blink of an eye. He had also grown to this stage from being an insignificant character. For an instant, it all felt like a lucid dream.

Ji Lingxi asked from the side, "This is still different from my situation. When I cultivate, situations like being unable to absorb or leaking mystical Qi were never an issue. My cultivation base steadily increased and I just want to know what lies ahead."

"Patience, patience. We're about to come to the main topic… I've fumbled a lot regarding further cultivation, even sneaking into the Bound of Universe and probing around… The trip was hazardous, but I've come back fruitful. I have to say, the information in the Bound of Universe is indeed much more diverse than what Tianxuan Continent has…" Ling Xiaozui replied.

"With much effort, I've managed to collect some reliable information, thus revealing the riddle of cultivation in Tianxuan Continent."

Ji Lingxi and Yun Yang could not help perking up their ears.

Both of them were well aware that what Ling Xiaozui was about to say might perhaps be the most critical secret under this sky!

"It is said that hundreds of thousands of years ago, Tianxuan Continent wasn't called by this name. It was known as the Xuanxuan Continent!"

"Xuanxuan Continent? What kind of name is that?" Yun Yang muttered and chortled. "Tianxuan Continent sounds better."

Ling Xiaozui continued. "What's the use of having a nice name? The Xuanxuan Continent of the past was teeming with powerful individuals who could summon the heaven and earth – that was the prime, the best days…"

"Legend has it that there was once a youth, a popinjay like you – well, he was different from you – he was actually a real popinjay then, an incorrigible one. However, once he gained his senses, he worked hard and improved swiftly. His progress went up in a straight line, unhindered and smooth. Later, he became the ruler of the Xuanxuan Continent. He spent no more than twenty years to complete all of these. No one could top his speed of advancement even if he weren't the first to have done it!"

"Twenty years!"

Yun Yang and Ji Lingxi exchanged a glance, shock reflected in their eyes.

"Ascending from the worldly realm and becoming a ruler of one place in less than twenty years… Is this really possible?"

This sounded exactly like a myth, a mystical story – an absurd legend!

Could this really have happened?