In the real world six days had passed.
So how long had passed in the meditation world? Nearly three years.
It seemed extremely exaggerated. However many things in reality could prove that the time trajectory in the brain was different from real time. This did not come from the movie Inception but from real world evidence.
For example when you are sleeping and have a very long dream. Yet in reality the time you spent dreaming might have been only a few minutes.
Using a slightly inappropriate analogy, treat the human brain as a computer.
When awake it is interfered with by many many factors so its operating speed is very slow.
But when everything external is shielded, all resources are gathered, and it focuses on one specific task, then its computing speed may rise in geometric multiples.
However meditation is not omnipotent. It can only be used to study something very focused, pure, and even repetitive.
For example comprehending the internal laws and attributes of a certain set of sword arts.
If used to cultivate martial arts it would be completely useless because dragon power cannot be increased at all in meditation.
In the meditation world Suo Lun had also passed the most painful and most boring time.
This set of sword arts looked incomparably stunning, yet practising it in reality was truly too painful.
He needed to learn all nine moves and eighty one forms, and moreover he needed to comprehend all ninety nine variations.
And this comprehension could not have the slightest error. Once an error appeared the next sword move could not be performed at all because your body balance had been completely destroyed and even your meridians had been injured.
Therefore this set of sword arts was not about learning a certain movement at all. It was about sensing the internal force field balance of the body, the flow of qi within the meridians, and achieving perfect coordination and balance with the sword intent.
In short it was to make the meridian qi and the sword technique veins perfectly integrated and reach perfect coordination.
Therefore this set of sword arts had also become the highest path for swordsmen to comprehend the sword dao.
…
In the meditation world Suo Lun completely comprehended the first move and it took a full eight months.
Correct, a full eight months. Only then did the meridians in his body and the sword technique veins reach perfect coordination.
Fortunately this was in the meditation world where all selfish thoughts and distractions had already been eliminated long ago and he had long become numb to irritation and boredom.
If this were in reality he would probably have found it unbearable long ago and nearly collapsed completely.
But it was also precisely because of the numbness of emotion and perception that the learning sensitivity in the meditation world was much much lower than in reality.
Something that could be completed in half a year in reality might not be completed in a year in the meditation world.
Next the difficulty of the second move increased once more. However because of the comprehension from the first move the second move only took half a year.
The third move and the fourth move also only took half a year each.
However for the fifth move more than half a year passed yet it was still not completely finished.
Why? Because Suo Lun’s own spiritual power had been exhausted, Suo Lun’s own dragon power had been exhausted, and the dragon power stored by the demon star had also been almost completely used up.
To support the final comprehension and cultivation the demon star even had to devour Suo Lun’s own energy to supply the energy needed for the brain’s meditation.
By the time the fifth move was comprehended his entire body was completely empty, even weaker than at any previous time.
All the energy in his body had been consumed cleanly and all his vitality had also been exhausted.
The first thing he thought when he opened his eyes was to immediately fall over and sleep.
However he absolutely could not sleep because once he did he would not wake up for several days and nights.
Sword Venerable, how many days have I been in meditation? Suo Lun asked while barely holding himself up.
Six days. Sword Venerable Bi Xiao said, There are still three days until the duel you mentioned. How many moves of the厄难九剑 have you completed?
The fifth move. Suo Lun said.
The Sword Venerable said, Then how long did you probably spend in the meditation world?
Less than three years. Suo Lun said.
The Sword Venerable frowned and said, Then your speed is a little slower than I imagined. Is it that your spiritual talent is not as strong as I thought, or did you still carry distracting thoughts even in the depths of meditation?
Perhaps both reasons existed. Because he had entered meditation instantly Bi Xiao had greatly overestimated Suo Lun’s spiritual talent.
His real talent was around 8.1, which was one in ten thousand. But in Sword Venerable Bi Xiao’s eyes it was not considered top tier and was even inferior to Gui Qin Shao.
It sounded a little strange. Gui Qin Shao was so arrogant and her schemes were not particularly deep, so how could her spiritual talent be high?
But in fact it was like that. Suo Lun and Zhi Ning both had deep schemes but their spiritual talent could not reach the top tier.
People with high spiritual talent often had relatively purer personalities.
The Sword Venerable said Suo Lun still carried distracting thoughts in the depths of meditation and that was indeed true.
Because the ninety nine variations of the厄难九剑 existed only to write one character with the sword tip, Ling!
Therefore when he was practising and comprehending, this thought even invaded the deepest part of his meditation.
Thus Suo Lun’s cultivation progress in the meditation world was not as perfect as imagined.
Gui Qin Shao had practised the厄难九剑 for a full ten years and had now completed the fifth form of the eighth move.
However these ten years she had not been practising every moment. Even if the time spent comprehending and cultivating the厄难九剑 was added up it would not exceed two years.
Yet Suo Lun had spent nearly three years in the meditation world constantly comprehending and cultivating every moment.
Although because it was in the meditation world his body sensitivity and perception had decreased, so the cultivation efficiency was not as good as in reality.
But nearly three years and only comprehending five moves had to be said that the cultivation progress had suffered great interference.
Now two thirds of the ten days had passed, plus there was still one day of travel.
So the remaining time was only two days. To win against Gui Qin Shao he needed to at least completely finish the eighth move of the厄难九剑.
The difficulty of the remaining three moves increased in geometric multiples yet he only had two days left. Suo Lun’s spiritual power and dragon power had also been completely exhausted.
At present it seemed completely impossible to succeed.
…
Demon star, facing this situation is there any way? Suo Lun asked.
The demon star said, There is only one way, to raise your spiritual talent. I have said that the higher the spiritual talent the faster you comprehend the sword dao. If your spiritual talent could reach around 8.5 then the speed of comprehending the sword dao could at least increase by twice.
Suo Lun asked, Then how much spiritual power is needed to raise my spiritual talent from 8.1 to 8.5?
The demon star said, Devour the spiritual power of 2.8 Shadow Spider Queens.
As soon as these words were spoken Suo Lun was completely stunned.
Previously, just devouring half the spiritual power of one Shadow Spider Queen had raised his spiritual talent from 7.5 to 8.1.
Now, raising it from 8.1 to 8.5 actually required the spiritual power of nearly three Shadow Spider Queens.
Towards the later stages the spiritual power needed to raise spiritual talent increased explosively by several times.
In that case it was almost impossible. The Shadow Spider Queen, as a spiritual type monster, had cultivated for several hundred years to condense so much spiritual power.
Now nearly three Shadow Spider Queens were needed. Even searching the entire world it would probably be impossible to find them.
Of course such places were not nonexistent. In the spiritual hall, art hall, and sword dao hall of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple there were a pile of great cultivators with super strong spiritual power.
As long as they were killed and their dragon power and spiritual power devoured it would be enough to raise Suo Lun’s spiritual talent to 8.5 and even more than enough.
However, running to the Divine Dragon Holy Temple to devour those great cultivators? It would be faster to just seek death.
Suo Lun would be instantly killed by any random warrior standing guard outside before he even got close to the Divine Dragon Holy Temple.
But devouring an astronomical amount of spiritual power was currently Suo Lun’s only way to seek victory.
In an instant Suo Lun sighed inwardly. The ninety nine variations of the厄难九剑 existed only to write the character Ling with the sword tip. Perhaps this was one of the greatest mysteries in the world. But at least this time it had harmed Suo Lun quite badly.
This distracting thought had directly invaded his deepest meditation and greatly reduced his efficiency in comprehending the sword dao.
Sword Venerable, is there such a place that possesses a very very very large amount of spiritual power, excluding the Divine Dragon Holy Temple? Suo Lun asked, Monsters are also fine, other methods are also fine.
Sword Venerable Bi Xiao looked at Suo Lun in astonishment. He hesitated slightly, then nodded and said, There is.
Suo Lun was shocked. When he asked this question he had almost no hope. He had not expected there to really be such a place.
Where? Suo Lun asked.
The Heavenly Tomb! the Sword Venerable said.
The Heavenly Tomb? What is that? Suo Lun asked in surprise.
The Sword Venerable said, Do you know that once a person dies all their dragon power and spiritual power will completely dissipate and return to this world?
Suo Lun nodded.
The Sword Venerable said, But there is a group of people who are unwilling to die just like that. They hope to obtain a certain degree of immortality. So before they die they bury themselves in the Heavenly Tomb and obtain another kind of immortality.
Suo Lun said, Then is the Heavenly Tomb something like a completely sealed energy array? Once a person enters they instantly die and turn to ashes. However their spirit and soul are not harmed and are forever imprisoned in this energy prison, obtaining another kind of immortality.
Correct. The Sword Venerable said, And only the most powerful spiritual masters in the Divine Dragon Holy Temple can enter the Heavenly Tomb to obtain this other kind of immortality. Because these spirits and souls carry a certain very mysterious mission. Even if the entire world is destroyed one day their souls and spirits will still survive, waiting for the Divine Dragon Holy Temple to excavate and explore them hundreds or thousands of years later.
In an instant Suo Lun felt an incomparably mysterious aura.
Without doubt what was hidden in these Heavenly Tombs was the greatest secret of this world.
Therefore the souls buried in these Heavenly Tombs were perhaps not for their own immortality but to pass down the highest secrets of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple.
Because this kind of secret could not be recorded in any written form.
Sword Venerable, where is the Heavenly Tomb? Suo Lun asked.
The Sword Venerable said, Apart from a few传承 great priests of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple no one knows where the Heavenly Tomb is or whose souls are buried inside.
Correct. The Heavenly Tomb was the greatest secret of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple. How could it possibly let the world know?
Then does the Heavenly Tomb have any unusual characteristics? Suo Lun asked.
Completely none. The Sword Venerable said, Perhaps there are but no one knows.
In this way all of Suo Lun’s paths were cut off.
At present he did not have even a bit of spiritual power left and could not even perform ordinary meditation.
Therefore his comprehension of the厄难九剑 had also been completely interrupted.
In three days he would duel Gui Qin Shao. With his current cultivation of the厄难九剑 he would not only lose miserably but would really have both legs broken by her.
At this moment the demon star suddenly said, Master, the Sword Venerable in front of you is lying. He has spoken the truth almost his entire life. When he lies there is a strong energy fluctuation that I have captured.
In an instant Suo Lun was stunned. The Sword Venerable was lying?
Which sentence was the lie? The sentence where he said he did not know where the Heavenly Tomb was? If that sentence was the lie then it proved he knew where the Heavenly Tomb was.
Further expanding the association, why did he choose to go into closed door cultivation in this place?
Was there anything special about this place? Well it was rather special, the top of an isolated mountain on a sea island, extremely quiet and uninhabited.
But it was not completely detached from the world. Why did he choose to go into closed door cultivation here?
He was already nearly seventy years old. Why did he finally choose to accept disciples in the territory of Coastal City?
Was Gui Qin Shao’s talent really that strong? Why was she accepted as his personal disciple?
After carefully expanding the association everything seemed abnormal. It gave a feeling that thinking too deeply was terrifying.
Taking a deep breath Suo Lun suddenly said, Sword Venerable, is there a Heavenly Tomb nearby, which is why you chose to go into closed door cultivation here?
Suo Lun saying this sentence was completely at the risk of his life.
Once he was correct there was a high chance he would be killed to silence him. So he was gambling again.
Sure enough, after hearing Suo Lun’s words the Sword Venerable’s gaze suddenly shrank.
After hesitating for a moment he directly picked up the wooden sword in his hand and slashed towards Suo Lun.
There was not even a second of hesitation. He slashed directly just like that.
And Suo Lun’s entire body instantly seemed completely frozen and could not move at all.
Then the wooden sword lightly slashed across his neck.
There was no pain at all. His eyes went black and he fell straight to the ground. Endless darkness and coldness swept over him.
This was the Sword Venerable. This was the legendary number one sword master. He would absolutely not kill unless absolutely necessary.
But when he truly needed to kill there would absolutely be no hesitation and no wasted words.
He killed directly and cleanly and made sure the person being killed would feel no pain.
…
After killing Suo Lun the Sword Venerable’s expression was calm yet carried a faint pain.
It had been many many years since he had last killed anyone. Now he was forced to kill again and it was such a young, such a talented, and such a similarly unfortunate young man. It truly made one feel pained and regretful, but he had no choice but to kill.
The young man before him was extremely clever but not rational enough.
He had long guessed that once he hit upon his secret he might be killed to silence him, yet he still could not help saying it.
After killing Suo Lun the Sword Venerable picked him up, walked out of the cave, and was about to throw him down the bottomless cliff.
Below the thousand zhang cliff was the vast sea.