"Your cultivation..." Lin Qingling had a faint sense of it, but she was somewhat hesitant to believe it.
It had only been two years.
Not twenty years!
"Master, I..." Li Shuang was about to answer.
Lin Qingling said, "Don't speak yet, let me examine it myself."
"Yes," Li Shuang obediently relaxed her mind.
Lin Qingling carefully sensed it, and the expression on her face grew even stranger.
She thought she was hallucinating.
She checked again, meticulously.
Then, she fell into a long silence.
She now suspected that she might have lost track of time.
Could it be that the Sword Sect was under some time-altering secret art, making it seem like only two years had passed when it had actually been twenty?
If not, then how could Li Shuang's current cultivation be explained?
Before her seclusion, Li Shuang was only at the Core Formation stage.
Two years later.
Her spiritual power cultivation had actually entered the Soul Transformation stage!
And that wasn't all.
Even more exaggerated was her spiritual sense cultivation; Lin Qingling, a dignified Integration stage cultivator, couldn't even discern the extent of Li Shuang's spiritual sense cultivation.
Either she had cultivated some top-tier secret art.
Or, her spiritual sense cultivation was already on par with her own.
Regardless of the possibility, it made Lin Qingling question her life.
"Very good... you are very good..." Lin Qingling's lips trembled, and it took her a long while to squeeze out a sentence.
Her heart even felt a little flustered.
By the heavens, this was the first time in her life she had encountered such a prodigy, and it was her own disciple.
She wouldn't have held her back, would she?
"Master, I've encountered a small bottleneck in my cultivation recently," Li Shuang said.
Lin Qingling composed herself.
Good, good, good, it was finally her turn to act like a master.
"Tell me," Lin Qingling quickly said.
"My spiritual sense cultivation has been stuck at the peak of Soul Transformation for a long time. I feel like there's something I haven't considered," Li Shuang said, looking slightly troubled.
Peak of Soul Transformation... stuck for a long time...
Lin Qingling couldn't help but ask, "How long has it been stuck?"
Li Shuang said very solemnly, "Half a year. For a full half a year, my spiritual sense cultivation hasn't progressed, which is very strange."
Lin Qingling: "..."
Is that very strange???
She had been stuck in the middle Integration stage for over a hundred years without progress, and what did she say about it?
Lin Qingling forced a smile on her lips: "Advancing from Soul Transformation to Integration is indeed a hurdle. At this stage, simple arduous cultivation can no longer achieve results. Do you know what is 'integrated' in the Integration stage?"
Li Shuang said, "The ancient texts say that in the Integration Realm, the spirit and body completely merge into one. But how to achieve this, there is no specific discussion."
Lin Qingling smiled. She waved her hand, and a phantom river suddenly appeared in the air.
Lin Qingling, using spiritual energy to form a boat, drifted on this river.
She said softly, "The path of cultivation is like a great river. Everyone is rowing against the current, striving to cross to the other side. Some start fast but are shipwrecked midway. Some start slow but eventually reach the distant shore. The path of immortal cultivation is truly an incredibly long journey."
Li Shuang looked up, somewhat entranced, at the small boat swaying in the vast ocean.
This boat.
It is you.
It is me.
And it is all cultivators striving to cross in this world.
"Before the Integration stage, cultivators carefully control their small boats, struggling against the wind and waves. If they fail to withstand the storm, their path of immortal cultivation ends there."
"But at the Integration stage..."
Lin Qingling suddenly smiled.
She waved her hand.
In the scene, the small boat suddenly sank to the bottom, much to Li Shuang's shock!
Li Shuang's pupils suddenly contracted.
The boat... just capsized!
However, the next moment.
The small boat, which had sunk to the bottom of the river, surprisingly reappeared on the surface, facing the wind and rain.
The wind and rain still roared down, and this small boat kept sinking and resurfacing.
Until finally.
It moved freely through the wind and rain, no longer affected.
This scene...
It seemed to contain the secret to breaking through to the Integration stage.
Li Shuang watched, momentarily captivated.
"Below the Integration stage, cultivators build their foundation, form their core, and cultivate their nascent soul, all to transform their cultivation into a boat, to withstand the overwhelming wind and rain, and to cross this vast sea of suffering. But upon reaching the Integration Realm, one must repeatedly and actively sink the boat to the bottom of the sea. Through repeated trials, the spirit and body completely merge, and also completely merge with this world."
"Integration... is not just the merging of spirit and body, but also the merging of spirit with this world."
"You once created the breathing technique. You should know that all things in heaven and earth have spirits. To integrate with all things in heaven and earth, to comprehend all things in the world. That is integration."
Lin Qingling's words fell.
Li Shuang looked at the small boat moving forward against the wind and rain, momentarily lost in thought.
Lin Qingling looked at her, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Good, good.
At least she didn't lose face in front of her disciple.
These words were actually spoken by the sect's founding patriarch when guiding disciples.
Although she didn't understand them at the time, she painstakingly memorized them.
Now.
She herself had entered the Integration stage.
But.
She still couldn't say that she truly comprehended them.
To merge with all things, to comprehend all things.
It sounded simple.
But when she broke through to the Integration stage, she only comprehended one thing, and then used that to break through.
If someone truly comprehended all things in this world, and then integrated with all things.
How terrifying would her cultivation be?
Lin Qingling dared not imagine.
"If you are confused about integration, I suggest you use one of the opportunities for guidance from the Grand Elder," Lin Qingling said.
"Elder Ling?" Li Shuang couldn't help but ask.
Lin Qingling was slightly surprised: "How do you know?"
However, she still nodded: "Elder Ling uses embroidery to depict all things in heaven and earth. She has walked very deeply on this path. You should gain a lot by seeking her out."
Both Su Mu and Lin Qingling suggested it.
What more was there for Li Shuang to hesitate about?
She said without hesitation, "Okay. Please inform Master, this disciple wishes to seek guidance from Elder Ling."
Lin Qingling nodded.
She suddenly chuckled. With Li Shuang's cultivation speed, even the Grand Elder would be shocked, wouldn't she?
This is good, this is good!
This way, she wouldn't be the only one shocked.
Li Shuang looked at Lin Qingling with some confusion.
Lin Qingling said nothing, only smiled. She said with a beaming smile, "Don't worry about it, I'll go inform her for you first, there should be a result soon."
"Yes," Li Shuang obediently agreed.
Half an hour later.
Lin Qingling brought Li Shuang personally to a mountaintop.
Elder Ling was already waiting there.
She looked at Li Shuang, her eyes sparkling.
It was indeed as Lin Qingling had said, Li Shuang had already reached the bottleneck of breaking through to the Integration stage.
This was truly...
Unbelievable.