The continent of Qingzhou was a land where martial arts and cultivation were prevalent. Most people with the means would embark on the path of martial arts and cultivation to strengthen themselves.
Consequently, martial arts and cultivation sects flourished in every country.
Within the Yunyue Kingdom, the Scarlet Feather Sword Sect stood as the largest and most powerful martial sect in the land.
Its Sect Master, Zhang Hongyi, possessed a cultivation base at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm, just one step away from entering the Qi Transformation realm. However, this single step had eluded him for years, preventing him from grasping the essence of entry into the Qi Transformation realm.
Despite this, he had never slackened his efforts.
Since beginning his martial arts cultivation at the age of ten, Zhang Hongyi had diligently practiced every day with few absences. Now, at sixty-three, he still meditated and cultivated as he always had.
But tonight, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly shifted, its concentration increasing, which Zhang Hongyi immediately detected.
"What is this? Why does the spiritual energy of heaven and earth feel more abundant and of higher quality tonight?"
Zhang Hongyi opened his eyes, filled with surprise and uncertainty.
After entering a meditative state several times and verifying his findings, Zhang Hongyi rejoiced, "Heaven has not abandoned my martial path! I thought my future was hopeless, but today I have encountered such a wondrous event!"
Having said this, Zhang Hongyi suddenly recalled his own situation and that of the sect. He quickly put on his clothes, pushed open the door, and summoned disciples to inform the entire sect of the news.
He then returned to his room to seize the opportunity and meditate.
A large amount of spiritual energy was absorbed into his body, circulated through his meridians three times, and then poured into his dantian.
The previously sparse dantian was suddenly filled to overflowing. Under Zhang Hongyi's control, countless spiritual energies expanded the dantian to its limit, unable to expand further. The abundant spiritual energy in the dantian, with nowhere else to go, began to compress into a liquid state.
Finally, all the spiritual energy in his dantian transformed into liquid, filling the dantian and spreading throughout his meridians, internal organs, and viscera before finally settling.
"Hahaha!"
Zhang Hongyi laughed heartily, tears welling up in his aged eyes. "I've finally broken through! I've finally broken through to the Qi Transformation realm!"
In his excitement, Zhang Hongyi did not control his cultivation. His voice, inadvertently amplified by his Qi Transformation realm power, spread throughout the entire sect, delighting numerous disciples.
"That voice? It's from Sect Master Ancestor! Sect Master Ancestor has actually broken through to the Qi Transformation realm!"
"With this, our Scarlet Feather Sword Sect will undoubtedly be the strongest martial sect in the Yunyue Kingdom and even the surrounding countries!"
"That's wonderful, Master has finally broken through!"
Upon hearing the voice, the disciples were filled with joy.
As the saying goes, when one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Now that the Sect Master had broken through to the Qi Transformation realm, the disciples would have greater influence and status when venturing into the martial world or facing other cultivators of the same realm.
After a long while, Zhang Hongyi finally calmed his激动 emotions. Just as he was about to rise and inform his fellow disciples, he noticed that the four walls of his room had cracked from his recent shout.
"I didn't even use the Lion's Roar technique, how did the walls crack?"
Zhang Hongyi frowned slightly, recalling the events. A thought struck him, and he quickly left his room, heading towards the training grounds.
On his way, he encountered several fellow disciples who were coming to congratulate him.
Zhang Hongyi had no other thoughts in mind. He merely nodded in acknowledgment and hurried on, leaving his fellow disciples bewildered.
"What's wrong with Sect Master Senior Brother?"
"Perhaps he's eager to test the power of his new realm?"
"Let's follow him and see."
When they arrived at the training grounds, Zhang Hongyi's fellow disciples did not enter, remaining outside.
Zhang Hongyi drew a random long sword from the weapon rack, performed a few opening stances of swordplay, and then his gaze sharpened. With a shout, he unleashed a sword strike towards an empty space in the training grounds, devoid of any people or buildings: "Feather Scales Pierce the Sky!"
Instantly, a vast amount of spiritual energy erupted from the sword, transforming into feather scales that shot forward with incredible speed.
"Thud, thud, thud, thud~"
Hundreds and thousands of feather scales pierced the ground fifty meters away, their cold gleam reflecting the moonlight.
"Whoosh, whoosh~"
After unleashing this ultimate technique, which was a signature move from his sect, even with Zhang Hongyi's Qi Transformation realm cultivation, he found it difficult to sustain, panting as he recovered the vast amount of spiritual energy depleted from his body.
Meanwhile, the disciples behind him were stunned.
"This, this, this is still our sect's Feather Scales Pierce the Sky?"
"It... it should be, right?"
The disciples looked at the distant, cold, reflective feather scales in disbelief. The hundreds and thousands of them embedded in the ground resembled a thousand arrows loosed at once.
When Zhang Hongyi was still in the Foundation Establishment realm, this ultimate technique could only condense thirty to fifty feather scales, used as hidden weapons for mid-range attacks during combat. Its primary advantage was its suddenness rather than its sheer power.
But the scene before them, where one person could transform into a thousand archers and one sword could unleash hundreds and thousands of feather scales, was incredibly powerful, even within a hundred-meter range.
At this moment, Zhang Hongyi's breathing calmed. He looked at the long sword in his hand in disbelief, then at the changes he had wrought in the distance.
He murmured to himself, "So, this is the Qi Transformation realm. The ancient texts of the sect spoke the truth, and they did not deceive me!"
"Sect Master Senior Brother!"
Seeing that Zhang Hongyi had stopped, everyone walked over.
"Indeed, my fellow disciples. Good evening."
Zhang Hongyi nodded briefly in greeting and then pointed to the hundreds and thousands of feather scales in the distance, smiling. "Have you all seen these feather scales?"
"Of course, we have. Did Senior Brother achieve this with his Qi Transformation realm cultivation?"
The second disciple asked, his tone tinged with excitement.
"That's right. This was created using most of my Qi Transformation realm spiritual energy. How do you find its power?"
Zhang Hongyi asked with a smile.
"Terrifying!"
The disciples replied excitedly.
The second disciple exclaimed, "Sect Master Senior Brother, with your current Qi Transformation realm cultivation, you are comparable to an army of thousands!"
"I never imagined the Qi Transformation realm would be so vastly different from the Foundation Establishment realm. It's truly terrifying!"
The third disciple's eyes showed anticipation, as if he could already envision himself being as powerful when he broke through to the Qi Transformation realm in the future.
"Haha~ Exactly, this is the power of the Qi Transformation realm!"
Zhang Hongyi did not humble himself, stating frankly, "My fellow disciples know that in the Foundation Establishment realm, the power of this sword technique was only thirty to fifty feather scales, used as hidden weapons for ranged attacks. Against hundreds or thousands of opponents, it was difficult to be effective.
"But the Qi Transformation realm is different from the Foundation Establishment realm; the gap is immense.
"Upon entering the Qi Transformation realm, the dantian expands significantly, and the internal spiritual energy transforms into liquid. When unleashing ultimate techniques, the spiritual energy leaves the body, and within a hundred meters, everything is under my control! As long as my spiritual energy is not depleted, thousands of ordinary individuals cannot get close, and they will die within fifty meters.
"This is the terror of the Qi Transformation realm! Of course, I have only just entered this realm, and as my cultivation progresses, it will likely become even more terrifying, transcending the human form."
The disciples nodded repeatedly, thinking to themselves, "This is indeed not human. This is not martial arts cultivation; it already possesses a trace of the power of the gods and deities from myths. It is truly beyond human!"