Chapter 134: Master, Nian Nian, wait for me... (A chapter in return for everyone’s generous tips. Please subscribe.)

The Eight-Tailed Black Fox named Little Ye was utterly bewildered.

Just moments ago, the Eight-Tailed Black Fox had felt an immense pressure emanating from Jiang Lin.

Under that single sword strike, it had not even dared to move.

It had seemed that all it could do was silently endure the blow.

Yet, just now, the man standing before it had suddenly exploded into a mist of blood. This was something the Eight-Tailed Black Fox could never have anticipated.

Of course, Jiang Lin had not anticipated it either.

Like the faint echo of a coin striking the ground, a sound reverberated softly through the Central Tower. Jiang Lin came back to life inside the tower.

Within the Central Tower, Jiang Lin dragged a hand down his face.

Remembering everything he had done in front of the Eight-Tailed Black Fox, his old face flushed crimson.

He had thought he would be able to unleash one earth-shattering sword strike, the kind capable of destroying both heaven and earth.

To be honest, at the time, Jiang Lin had truly felt as though he could instantly crush the heavens, the earth, and even the air itself.

Even now, that heroic feeling remained in his heart—the feeling that with a sword in hand, the whole world belonged to him.

But this was just too damn disastrous...

Only when he activated Falling Snow did Jiang Lin realize that Falling Snow was not a technique at all, but a state—a buff.

To activate Falling Snow, the system burned Jiang Lin’s vital essence. He had no idea how many realms it had raised him by. In particular, after receiving the Falling Snow buff, Jiang Lin had felt that a single stroke of his sword could split the heavens open.

But under the enhancement of the Falling Snow buff, Jiang Lin also felt his vital essence burning even faster.

He had not even swung his sword yet. No, he had only just thought about swinging it and raised his hand...

And his vital essence had already been completely burned away.

Once his vital essence was gone, his ordinary blood began to boil before he exploded and died outright.

Jiang Lin did not even know what to say...

If he had to say anything, then it was simply that he was too weak. His cultivation realm was far too low.

Jiang Lin felt that if he wanted to activate Falling Snow and truly unleash such a strike, he would at least need to reach the Nascent Soul Realm. His physical body would also have to reach the Golden Body Realm of a Martial Artist.

Only then could he withstand the vital essence burned by the system to compensate for the gap in realm and physical strength, as well as the vital essence consumed by Falling Snow, and actually unleash such a sword strike—or perhaps half a strike...

Still.

Although Jiang Lin felt that he had failed to display his divine might and had instead...

During those few seconds, after the system had forcibly elevated his cultivation realm, Jiang Lin had witnessed a landscape and experienced a state of mind unlike anything he had ever known.

Jiang Lin now somewhat understood why those people would resort to any means necessary to improve their cultivation. He also understood why cultivators could enter seclusion for a thousand years in pursuit of the Dao without growing bored.

He understood even more clearly why cultivators throughout the world would risk their lives to enter the Upper Five Realms, and why, after reaching them, so many became even more obsessed with cultivating the Dao. Some would even undergo drastic changes in temperament and take extreme, unorthodox paths in order to advance their realms.

It was an entirely new experience.

Jiang Lin could not say with certainty what realm he had reached at that time, but the sense of harmony with the Great Dao, and the exhilarating feeling that all of heaven and earth lay within the space of a single sword strike, were things he had never experienced before.

In the past, breaking through to a higher realm had also felt wonderful—like combining a ten-game winning streak in ranked matches, soaking in a hot spring, and enjoying a full-body massage.

But what he had experienced just now was a completely different state of mind, a kind of exhilaration that was difficult to put into words.

It even felt far more satisfying than scoring perfectly on the national college entrance examination, earning an annual salary of over a hundred million, marrying a beautiful and wealthy woman, and reaching the pinnacle of life.

“No. I can’t become addicted to this state. This isn’t my Dao!”

Jiang Lin slowly closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

The smiling faces of his master, Nian Nian, and his senior sisters surfaced in his mind, and Jiang Lin gradually calmed his heart.

His realm was something he would improve, but he absolutely would not become obsessed with it. Nor would he resort to unscrupulous means for the sake of advancing his cultivation. That was not his Dao.

So what if he had seen the scenery atop the mountain?

If there were things more worthy of remembrance waiting for him at the foot of the mountain, then he was willing to descend.

Several breaths later, Jiang Lin slowly opened his eyes. The intense longing for a higher realm that had filled them before was gone.

And at the moment Jiang Lin rose to his feet, understood his own heart, and strengthened his convictions, his cultivation realm faintly showed signs of breaking through from the Sea-Watching Realm into the Dragon Gate Realm.

Ding...

The system’s voice rang out.

“After detecting that the host has repeatedly experienced life-and-death situations, repeatedly courted death, spent the past few days contemplating the Dao heart as much as he has in all previous years combined, and finally managed to remain steadfast and reject temptation even after experiencing the Upper Five Realms for three seconds, the host has reached perfection in the Sea-Watching Realm.

“The system recommends that the host suppress his cultivation realm and nurture the Sea-Watching Realm.

“Limited-time store promotion: Realm-Nurturing Pills—five hundred Infamy Points each. Buy ten and receive one free. Take one per day! After one hundred days, you will become the strongest Dragon Gate Realm cultivator!”

Hearing the accursed system’s sales pitch, Jiang Lin was reminded of the other accursed item it had recommended just moments ago: the Health Bar Conversion Device.

He had used it for three seconds before exploding.

And then there was the Health Bar Scanner. Jiang Lin had thought it could be used freely to inspect other people’s health bars, only to discover that it had to be used together with the Health Bar Conversion Device.

Meanwhile, the Health Bar Conversion Device could only be activated when he used a technique that surpassed his current cultivation realm. At all other times, it could not be activated at all.

This was just too damn outrageous!

Honestly, Jiang Lin wanted to give this system a five-star review—with payment installments, one star at a time.

Moreover, this system was practically the very embodiment of unscrupulous profiteering! He had only 5,300 Infamy Points left, and it intended to squeeze every last one out of him in a single transaction!

The problem was that the system was absolutely right.

A carp leaping over the Dragon Gate.

The Dragon Gate Realm was extremely important. Entering the Dragon Gate Realm meant leaping over the Dragon Gate, and the size of that gate depended on the strength of one’s Sea-Watching Realm.

Newspapers would occasionally report that some cultivator had deliberately remained in the Sea-Watching Realm for several hundred years, only breaking through after there was no further room to suppress their cultivation. Once they did, they would surge forward like a broken dam and enter the Upper Five Realms.

There was naturally a reason for that.

So Jiang Lin had to suppress his realm for a while as well. As for whether his senior sister had done the same...

Jiang Lin had once asked her about it.

His senior sister had merely replied indifferently, “It doesn’t matter whether I suppress my cultivation or not. I’ll enter the Upper Five Realms either way.”

It was like asking the top student in your class whether she had studied for the final exams.

That was the confidence of a top student.

As for a hopeless student...

One still had to proceed step by step and study properly...

Or perhaps put it this way: while everyone else was reviewing, you were... preparing in advance...

There was nothing Jiang Lin could do. He could only spend all his Infamy Points on ten Realm-Nurturing Pills.

After taking one, Jiang Lin felt the restless Sea-Watching Realm within him, which had seemed ready to erupt, gradually settle down. It was like compressing a mass of fluffy cotton into a tight ball.

Although the cotton would inevitably burst out someday when it could no longer be contained, there was no denying that the pills provided by the system were quite effective.

“Okay! Next! It’s time to finish this!”

After suppressing his cultivation realm, Jiang Lin stretched lazily and installed all the remaining C4 explosives inside the Central Tower.

“Master, Nian Nian, wait for me... I’ll be right back~~~”

Jiang Lin hummed a tune as he installed the C4, his expression rather relaxed.

Only the area between his brows seemed faintly darkened.

Apex