After saying goodbye to Gu Ji, Pei Xuanjing secretly returned to his place of residence and embarked on his third life simulation.
"The Great Tao numbers fifty, the Forty-Nine Heavenly Paths are the unfolding of it, with one path remaining hidden! Therefore, in all things, there is a glimmer of life!"
At the age of twenty-one: You will cultivate the "Dragon Elephant Skill" to the third level and leave Anping Prefecture.
At the age of twenty-two: You will visit the Four Symbols Sword Sect.
At the age of twenty- three: You will leave the Four Symbols Sword Sect.
At the age of twenty-four: You will go to the Diamond Gate intending to acquire the subsequent cultivation method of the "Dragon Elephant Skill."
Three months later, you will be defeated in a challenge against a Third-Grade Elder of the Diamond
Gate. The Diamond Gate's Master will take pity on your qualifications and wish you to join the Diamond Gate, promising to overlook Yuwen Leopard's death.
You will firmly decline, but the Diamond Gate's Master will restrain you within the Diamond Gate.
At the age of twenty-five: You are confined within the Diamond Gate but stubbornly refuse to surrender.
At the age of twenty-seven: A group of mysterious visitors arrive at the Diamond Gate. A conflict arises during the negotiation between them and the Diamond Gate, resulting in a fierce battle.
You seize this opportunity to escape from the Diamond Gate during the chaos. Even though you are seriously injured in the process, you gain freedom. Unfortunately, you do not manage to acquire the cultivation method for the next stage of the "Dragon Elephant Skill."
At the age of twenty-eight: You cultivate the "Dragon Elephant Skill" to the fourth stage, get caught in an uprising in the Northwest Dao, and with your astonishing strength, you protect countless lives.
Behind the scenes, the Liu family sends a third-grade Martial Artist to kill you. To not endanger those you protect, you choose to meet your enemy outside the city.
You are unable to defeat the Third-Grade Martial Artist. You use all of your abilities, but still fall short. You have no choice but to flee in disgrace. Leveraging on your beefy cultivation of the "Dragon Elephant Skill," you lead your pursuer away despite the injuries, into a barren land.
At the age of twenty-nine: You, who were certain of your impending death, miraculously escape with your life. However, your True Qi is entirely lost, your elixir stocks are completely depleted, and you are trapped within a forest.
You manage to restore your strength without relying on any elixirs or spiritual materials and begin to search for a way out.
Unfortunately, despite countless attempts, it feels like you're trapped – as if the forest will not let you escape.
At the age of thirty: Even though trapped, you do not grow despondent. You feel that this place is perfect for intensive cultivation.
At the age of thirty-one: Even though you, once rich, now have to survive on animal hair and blood, and be exposed to winds and dews, you still tirelessly search for an exit.
You make up your mind to set a direction and chop down each tree in your path, opening a way out even if it means deforesting the area.
At the age of thirty-nine: Although you didn't intentionally cultivate, your body's True Qi naturally flows in alignment with the daily tree chopping, cultivating your "Dragon Elephant Skill" to the fifth level.
Still, you do not find a way out. You have carved out hundreds of miles of path, but still, see no hope of escaping. It seems like this forest stretches endlessly.
At the age of forty-one: The leaves turn green then yellow, yellow then green. Year after year passes by, and you chop down countless trees in madness, but you always find unlimited trees blocking your path.
At the age of forty-two: You have lost count of how much path you have carved out a thousand miles? Ten thousand miles? You even consider giving up, but you continue to preserve, unwilling to quit.
At the age of forty-nine: You have completely given up and no longer wish to continue forward.
Twenty years have passed. It has been twenty years since you last spoke to a person. You feel like you are going insane, constantly talking to yourself and finding companionship in solitude and loneliness. Perhaps you have already gone mad.
At the age of sixty-one: You cultivate the "Dragon Elephant Art" to the sixth rank, and finally see a glimmer of hope. After what felt like an eternity, you finally manage to escape the forest.
Over thirty years have passed— you emerge from the forest into a world that feels unfamiliar to you.
You transform from a vibrant youth into an elderly man with white hair. While the "Dragon Elephant Art" has kept your body youthful, your heart feels aged.
The martial world has become nothing like how you remember it. Most of the people you knew have either passed away or lost contact with you.
At the age of sixty-two: You use the silver money on you to buy a batch of elixirs and spiritual materials, planning to break through your realm. Nonetheless, you fail but barely manage to hang onto life.
Three months later, you return to the small town in Border County, where the Everlasting Observance was stationed. The town, after having gone through the Northwest Dao rebellion, has regained its prosperity. However, everything has changed.
At the age of sixty-three: You spend money to rebuild a new Everlasting Observance and take in some disciples, wishing to pass down your knowledge.
At the age of sixty-five: Although your disciples are not particularly talented, they are very hardworking, which makes you feel relieved. Feeling your deteriorating health and knowing that you have successors, you feel happy.
At the age of seventy-six: Your most promising disciple is killed during a venture into the martial world.
You, who had previously let go of your desire for revenge, draw your sword in fury and slaughter your enemies ruthlessly. However, this drains you of your final strength.
A month later, you return to Everlasting Observance, settle your affairs, and pass away peacefully.
"End of life simulation."
"Mysterious forest?"
Pei Xuanjing carefully recalled the situation about the Northwest Dao. To his knowledge, there doesn't seem to be such a strange forest within the territory of the Northwest Dao.
If there were such a mysterious forest, news of it would have spread long ago.
"Could it be an unknown Blessed Land or Cave Heaven?" Pei Xuanjing felt uncertain.
He thought he had already gained some understanding of this heaven and earth. However, as his strength increases, his understanding of this world seems to be getting more and more superficial, as if shrouded in a thick fog.
"Thirty years without human interaction, talking only to yourself every day, that is truly terrifying!"
Pei Xuanjing thought about this recent experience, and his face showed deep concern.
He lived until the age of seventy-six in this simulation, but the experience was somewhat bone-chilling.
Even being reincarnated twice, he'd never had such an experience. Humans are social animals, after all. Thirty years of isolation from society, how mad and terrifying is it?
However, seeing the result of this simulation, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. "The simulation is over. You can choose one of the following rewards to keep."
"First, the "Dragon Elephant Skill" at the sixth rank." "Second, an experienced level in logging."
"Third, thirty years of True Qi accumulation."
Pei Xuanjing didn't expect his laborious efforts would yield such odd rewards – was he meant to become a carpenter?
He grumbled to himself. After hesitating between the first and third options, he eventually chose the first one..
Like the previous upgrades not so long ago, once Pei Xuanjing made his selection, his veins and flesh, internal organs and marrow began to strengthen again, with his physical strength also substantially increasing.
With a punch thrown into the void, even the surrounding air roared with strong winds. The dramatic increase in his physical strength gave him great confidence.
He felt that even against a martial artist of the same realm, if they had not cultivated across martial studies, they would be caught off guard and he could blow them up with a punch.
I want to fight ten!
This was Pei Xuanjing's biggest desire after the increase in his strength.
In the following time, after using more than half a month to familiarize himself with his increased strength and recover his vitality, he started the life simulation again.
"The Great Tao is fifty, Forty-Nine Heavenly Paths are derived from it, and one escapes! Hence, a ray of life exists in everything in the world!"
At the age of twenty-one: You cultivated the "Dragon Elephant Skill" to the sixth level and left Anping Prefecture.
At the age of twenty-two: You visited the Four Symbols Sect, traversing the mountains fearlessly, even in heavy rain, as a means to temper yourself.
At the age of twenty-three: You left the Four Symbols Sword Sect.
At the age of twenty-four: You went to Diamond Gate to seize the remaining part of the "Dragon Elephant Skill" and failed, resulting in pursuit by Diamond Gate.
At the age of twenty-five: However, facing constant pursuit by the elite of Diamond Gate, you fled to the uncivilized land of the Western Regions.
At the age of twenty-seven: In this desolate land of the Western Regions, where there are rarely any human traces, after reflecting day and night on your own experiences and self-discipline, and organizing your learnings, one day, when the moon was high in the sky, you had a sudden insight. You cultivated the "Water Swordsmanship" to the ultimate realm, comprehending the true meaning of Martial Arts, which is also the Martial Arts intent necessary for breaking through the third-grade realm.
At the age of twenty-eight: You went back to Northwest Dao, intending to seek revenge from
Diamond Gate, but unexpectedly, you were involved in an uprising and fought against the expert sent by the force behind Liu family. You traded blows with him several rounds, relying upon the physical cultivation of the sixth level of "Dragon Elephant Art". Eventually, you used the Martial Arts intent to display an unexpectedly learnt sword move "Soaring Immortal From Outer Heaven" to kill the third-grade martial artist, ending up in each other's demise.
"End of life simulation."
"Is the true meaning of Martial Arts so powerful? It actually allows me, a fourth-grade martial artist, to challenge a third-grade martial artist and end up mutually destroyed." Pei Xuanjing couldn't help fantasizing.
When it comes to the ninth -grade of the Three Realms of Martial Arts, it can be said that power enhancement can lead to the jumping of grades to challenge others, but with the rise of strength, it's increasingly difficult to challenge across grades.
Every martial artist, especially powerful ones, have cultivated their skills through countless hardships and struggles, and it is not easy to transcend levels.
Take a fourth-grade martial artist for example, if he wants to challenge a third-grade martial artist, he probably needs a Ten Thousand-Forged Divine Weapon in his hands, and he should be very compatible with this weapon to achieve it. Even so, he can only challenge some less powerful third-grade martial artists.
According to the results of this life simulation, Pei Xuanjing believed that the third-grade martial artist sent by the White Lotus Sect, the power behind the Liu family, was probably the faux grandmaster that Li Yuzhen talked about, not the grandmaster who truly broke through the third-grade realm with his own strength.
Otherwise, it could not be explained how he, as a fourth-grade martial artist, challenged a third-grade martial artist, even if the result was a mutual destruction. "Simulation is over, you can choose to keep one of the following rewards."
"First, the true meaning of Martial Arts."
"Second, perception of the sword move 'Soaring Immortal From Outer Heaven'."
"Third, related information about the Wildlands of the Western Regions."
He chose the first option without hesitation.
For him, the thing he looked forward to the most now was breaking through the third-grade realm.
If he wanted to break through, what he lacked the most was the intent of Martial Arts. As long as he understood the intent of Martial Arts, he might be able to smoothly break through to the third-grade realm in the next life simulation.
Even in the worst scenario, if he didn't break through in the next simulation, by understanding the intent of Martial Arts, he could still pile up a third-grade martial artist with plentiful resources.
After making the selection, there was much more information in Pei Xuanjing's mind. While he was receiving this information, his demeanor involuntarily changed.
If it could be said that he was previously like an unsheathed sword, then after receiving this
information and understanding the intent of Martial Arts, he was more like a sheathed treasure sword, starting to restrain his power.
"The gains from this time far exceed the past." Pei Xuanjing's eyes flashed with an extraordinary color.
The effects brought about by the true meaning of Martial Arts far exceeded his previous expectations.
The so-called true meaning of Martial Arts is the Martial Arts intent that he and Li Yuzhen had mentioned before.
When he had previously cultivated 'IWater Swordsmanship" to the realm of profound understanding, he had a sense of this realm, but he did not really step into it.
After understanding the true meaning of Martial Arts, his Martial Arts realm underwent a change. It was not as simple as merely cultivating "Water Swordsmanship" to the ultimate realm.
The true meaning of Martial Arts, if you use a sword, it's called Sword Intent, if you use a knife, it's called Saber Intent, if you use your fist, it'S called Fist Intent…
Apart from his best swordsmanship, Pei Xuanjing's palm and fist matrices also improved significantly.
This is a comprehension of nature by the martial artist after cultivating martial arts skills, and as soon as you reach this step, it'S the so-called "understanding one rule leads to understanding all others".
This is also why the martial artists of the Upper Three Realms are called 'Grandmasters'.
This time, Pei Xuanjing's rest period was longer than any previous ones. The information in his mind, and the vitality consumed in this life simulation, took him a whole three months to recover.
During this time, he also used those spiritual materials and elixirs to fill his energy to a brimmed state. His energy, accumulated purely over a decade, was not weak compared to common fourth -grade martial artists.
"The last chance for simulation, I wonder if I can break through to the third-grade realm this time."
"The Great Tao is fifty, Forty-Nine Heavenly Paths are derived from it, and one escapes! Hence, a ray of life exists in everything in the world!"
At age twenty-one: You understood the true meaning of Martial Arts in one night, and you cultivated the "Dragon Elephant Skill" to the sixth level, left Anping Prefecture, and traveled around the world.
At age twenty-two: You went to the Four Symbols Sect for a visit, and had discussions with the elite of the Four Symbols Sect. After several months, you left the Four Symbols Sect and continued to travel.
At age twenty-three: You had accumulated enough true Qi, and looked for a secluded place to start seclusion.
Half a year later, you finally broke through to the realm of third-grade martial artists.
At age twenty-four: You sneaked into Diamond Gate to seize the remaining part of the "Dragon Elephant Skill" but alarmed the grasshoppers and returned without success.
At age twenty-five: You went far away to the Western Regions, wanting to find the residence of the Esoteric Sect and search for the Esoteric Sect's "Dragon Elephant Skill", but still found nothing. At age twenty-seven: You cultivated the "Burning Palm" to the realm of conscious perception..