I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

Chapter 540: Chapter 400 The Secret of the Innate

Innate Grandmaster, the supreme realm of martial arts!

In the palace, a large number of eunuchs are acquired every year, yet in the past fifty years, only two have achieved the Innate.

Emperor Hongwu was able to defeat the Retired Emperor not only with his wit and courage but also with the protection of Grand Eunuch Hai, a martial arts grandmaster, and later Grand Eunuch Wei achieving Innate.

Otherwise, with the Retired Emperor’s temperament, he would not care about the stability of the National Dynasty and would have fought Emperor Hongwu to the death.

This shows that while a martial arts grandmaster cannot rival armies, they can still sway the situation within the palace.

Zhou Yi enjoyed the power that came from his fists, which is more direct and stable than what is bestowed by others, and naturally, he would not give up practicing martial arts, especially since the more golden seals he had at his waist, the tougher he had to become!

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“What, Eunuch Jing doesn’t know?”

Seeing Eunuch Jing silent, Zhou Yi said coldly, “I heard that you have kept a few wives outside and they have borne you several chubby sons?”

Eunuch Jing’s face turned pale, and a flash of bitter resentment crossed his eyes, as this matter was both his attachment and his taboo.

Any man who doesn’t leave the palace for three to five years, and whose home suddenly has a few more chubby sons, would be filled with rage!

Eunuch Jing killed all the adulterers and the loose women but left the children alive. He bought several more wives, hired wet nurses, and raised them as his own sons.

Such behavior is incomprehensible to the average person, but to the psychologically twisted eunuchs, it is all too normal.

“Eunuch Yi, with your merits, you could simply ask His Majesty to grant you the breakthrough. The method for breaking through to the Innate is a top secret of the Scripture Pavilion, if we speak out, we are sure to die!”

“If you speak, you might not die, but if you don’t, your whole family will die!”

Zhou Yi sought a breakthrough method from His Majesty, and most likely he would be given one, but that might subject him to others’ control.

In the past, he heeded the advice of officials and became a refugee.

He listened to his parents and was castrated.

He respected His Majesty and was demoted to the Cold Palace.

Up to this day, Zhou Yi had long since stopped trusting anyone; in this vast palace, he only trusted himself!

Eunuch Jing knew he had no other choice, not being able to leave the Hall of Duty without speaking today, he said reluctantly, “Eunuch Yi, do you know what distinguishes an Innate Grandmaster from an ordinary martial artist?”

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, recalling when Eunuch Wei obtained True Qi.

“An Innate Grandmaster’s True Qi is condensed and has strange properties; a portion of their True Qi can equal a hundred times that of ordinary True Qi!”

“Indeed, that is the case.”

Eunuch Jing said, “I have guarded the Scripture Pavilion for more than forty years, going through numerous scriptures, and from the basic, ancient cultivation techniques, I have learned that there originally was no Innate Realm in the world.”

Zhou Yi said in surprise, “Then how did it come about?”

“Exactly when and by whom it was created, I am not sure,” Eunuch Jing replied.

Eunuch Jing continued, “I only know it was imitated from the ghostly entities that absorb the yin energy of heaven and earth to grow stronger, and that method of absorbing the energy of the world was then named ‘Innate’!”

Zhou Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly, his thoughts connecting to ghostly entities, like in the ghost stories he heard from his parents since childhood; he had never doubted the existence of ghosts in the world.

“Then where did the ghostly entities learn to absorb the yin energy of heaven and earth?”

“It’s an innate instinct.”

Eunuch Jing said, “The scriptures speak of the reasons why ghostly entities form. If a person dies with great resentment, they could possibly attract yin energy to fuse with their soul, becoming a ghostly entity!”

Zhou Yi asked, “So are you saying ghostly entities start out in the Innate Realm from the beginning?”

“In terms of realm, they are Innate, but ghostly entities are weak with sparse yin energy at birth and, let alone fighting a martial artist, even a regular stout man could suppress and overpower them.”

Eunuch Jing said, “Ghostly entities with higher realms and faster strength growth, if they devour a massive amount of yin energy, can quickly transform into a Yin Yu Ghost King comparable to a martial arts grandmaster!”

Zhou Yi hurriedly said, “Please take a seat, Eunuch Jing.”

“You flatter me, Eunuch Yi.”

Eunuch Jing felt slightly more at ease and continued, “The sages sensed ghostly entities absorbing the energy of heaven and earth. After constant pondering and experiments, they created the Martial Arts Innate Realm!”

Zhou Yi’s eyebrows raised as his understanding of martial arts deepened.

It turned out that not only were cultivation techniques compiled by people but even realms were created by later generations. From this inference, he might also be able to create a higher realm in the future!

If a Martial Arts Grandmaster could not stand against an army, would a higher realm allow one to oppose a nation?

Zhou Yi meditated on this and asked, “Now that our family knows the origins of the Innate, how does one break through the realm?”

“First, you must find the appropriate Innate True Qi suitable for refinement!”

Eunuch Jing said, “For instance, there is a cold pond to the northwest of the Imperial Palace, rumored to emit strands of Innate cold energy. Integrating it into the body and merging it with True Qi will enable one to achieve the Innate Realm.”

“In the future, when practicing cultivation techniques, you can also continue refining the cold energy, augmenting the Innate True Qi within your body!”

“No wonder…”

Zhou Yi suddenly understood why, despite having reached Innate Grandmasters, Eunuch Hai and Eunuch Wei remained in the palace on duty. They could very well be enjoying their liberty in the pugilistic world, but they probably couldn’t let go of that cold pond.

Innate Grandmasters too couldn’t resist an army, so they were responsible for protecting His Majesty in exchange for the opportunity to cultivate with the energy from the pond!

“Without locating the Innate True Qi, the latter content of the cultivation technique is nothing but useless texts.”

Eunuch Jing said, “When Eunuch Yi finds the Innate True Qi one day, I will certainly present the breakthrough method with both hands, any cultivation technique will do.”

“You dare to harbor such motives!”

Zhou Yi gently tasted his tea, not pressing further, and changed the subject, “We can set aside the methods of the Innate for now. I want to ask you, in the Scripture Pavilion, are there any other life-shortening secret techniques?”

“Life-shortening?”

Eunuch Jing was puzzled. With the power and status of Eunuch Yi, one should always be concerned with nurturing health and prolonging life, enjoying the pleasures of wealth and honor.

“Such techniques are extremely rare, but there are still a few volumes. There is the Demonic Cult’s Dismemberment Great Technique and the Heretical Path’s Blood-Burning Secret Technique, both of which can trade lifespan for a burst of power.”

Zhou Yi puzzledly asked, “Why are they all heretical techniques from evil paths? Are there no orthodox cultivation methods?”

“Eunuch Yi, when martial arts practice was first established, it was aimed at combating diseases to live longer. Therefore, the cultivation techniques of the Buddhist and Taoist sects are mostly for nurturing life, with many immortals and Arhats living over a hundred years,” explained Eunuch Jing.

“Only the heretical and ruthlessly violent paths, often experiencing sudden and violent deaths, would practice life-shortening techniques.”

Zhou Yi asked, “Is the Epiphyllum Treasure Tome also considered a demonic skill?”

He diligently practiced the Epiphyllum Treasure Tome day and night, feeling that aside from the trade-off in lifespan, there seemed to be no other drawbacks. The quality and quantity of True Qi surpassed other techniques.

Eunuch Jing explained, “After the founding of the National Dynasty, Emperor Hongwu annihilated the Sun Moon Demonic Cult and obtained the Epiphyllum Treasure Tome. Nowadays, the rebellious White Lotus, Fragrance Adherents, Great Luo, and other such Evil Cults are mostly branches of the Sun Moon Demonic Cult, with deep-rooted enmity against the Imperial Court!”

“The tome has such a history!”

Zhou Yi nodded slightly, finding Eunuch Jing increasingly to his liking, seemingly a jack-of-all-trades.

Catching a glimpse of his distracted godson, he rebuked, “What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and serve Eunuch Jing some tea, don’t you know how to respect your elders?”

The godson snapped back to reality and hastily offered the tea.

Eunuch Jing sensed the True Qi whirling around his neck quietly dissipate, realizing he had narrowly escaped a peril, he sipped his tea to calm his nerves.

“In fear of Emperor Hongwu’s troops, the Buddhist and Taoist sects also surrendered a great number of divine skills and treasure tomes. The Vajra Indestructibility Divine Skill that Eunuch Yi practices is one of those from the Vajra Temple’s Guardian’s Divine Power!”

“Yet it only includes martial arts techniques. It is rumored that Buddhism and Taoism have other profound secret techniques, such as divination, physiognomy, astrology, and talisman drawing, which they would rather die than reveal to Emperor Hongwu.”

“After all, both sects have been passed down for a long time, with countless followers among the people. Emperor Hongwu had no choice but to reluctantly withdraw his troops!”