Eunuch Liu asked.
"I don’t know."
Chu Lingguang couldn’t answer. He was in mortal danger, on the verge of death at any moment, and hadn’t even heard Eunuch Liu’s question clearly.
Eunuch Liu closed his eyes.
The power of the Soft and Flexible Technique that had been gathered in his palm now flowed back into his Dantian.
There was a handkerchief in his Dantian.
Rumors from the outside world claimed he had a gruesome, eccentric habit: he liked to place a handkerchief on corpses, sleep beside them, and watch as they rotted away.
Those who didn’t know the truth couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
Only he knew the truth.
He could use the Soft and Flexible Technique to find traces of response and the awakening of power within others’ bodies.
As a corpse decomposed, the power within it would transition from awakened to inert, and finally, fade into nothingness.
Over the years, he had captured the power responses and awakening traces of many people.
He pulled a handkerchief from his robes and used it to cover his eyes.
He calmed his mind, wanting to sense every single response within Chu Lingguang’s body.
Unfortunately, in the chaotic environment, with the added interference from the Cloud Mist Flood Dragon’s tentacles and the pressing lack of time, Eunuch Liu was completely unable to quiet his mind. He was even less able to use the power of the Soft and Flexible Technique to capture the changes in Chu Lingguang’s aura.
In such an environment, helping Chu Lingguang achieve a breakthrough was exceedingly difficult.
Yet, life and death were hanging in the balance.
He extended his right hand.
His index and middle fingers bent into an iron hook.
Then, he violently clawed at his own eyes, gouging the eyeballs from their sockets and plunging himself into an endless darkness.
In this world of darkness, all distractions finally vanished.
The handkerchief within his Dantian seemed to flutter in the air, and on its surface, a map of meridians appeared.
The Soft and Flexible Technique was a superior Cultivation Technique.
It was recorded in the Great Yuan Armory.
It was a Cultivation Technique both gentle and volatile.
Ever since Eunuch Liu began his training, his cultivation had progressed smoothly and naturally, with one exception: he was stuck at the third layer of the True Martial Realm, the Life and Death Realm, unable to break through.
It was gentle in that one’s cultivation could progress slowly until a state of tranquility emerged.
It was volatile in that it allowed one to hear countless responses; those with an unsteady Mental Realm could easily lose themselves in these responses and even suffer from cultivation deviation.
Thus, cultivating the Soft and Flexible Technique required a certain foundational strength in one’s Mental Realm.
He prized Chu Lingguang, treating him like a precious treasure, precisely because Chu Lingguang’s Heart Guarding Skill was masterful and his Mental Realm was strong. He believed Chu Lingguang might be able to cultivate the Soft and Flexible Technique to its absolute peak.
He might even be able to use the Soft and Flexible Technique to break through the third layer of the True Martial Realm and enter the Qi Refining Realm without help from the experts of Yuanchu Mountain.
For this reason, he had paid a great price to have Xuanyuan Jinkang transferred to Chu Lingguang’s side. He knew Xuanyuan Jinkang was jealous of Chu Lingguang, and he hoped that if Xuanyuan Jinkang could calmly reflect upon himself and accept Chu Lingguang’s strength, his own Mental Realm would achieve a true evolution.
In the future, he might even have a chance of reaching the state of Unity of Heart and Will.
But he had remained uneasy, which was why he had followed them all the way here to prevent Xuanyuan Jinkang from making any mistakes.
He never expected that investigating Xiazigou with Chu Lingguang would force him into such a perilous situation, compelling him to plunge himself into endless darkness.
In the darkness, Eunuch Liu’s mind grew ever brighter.
He could almost see the map of Chu Lingguang’s Mental Realm.
In an instant, he found the forty-six responses within Chu Lingguang.
The power of the Soft and Flexible Technique, which had just flowed back into his Dantian, now surged from his palm as if he were pulling meridians out from his own body.
SWOOSH!
Locking onto his aura,
Eunuch Liu shot over and pressed his palm against Chu Lingguang’s back. Strands of power resembling meridians seeped from his palm and bored into Chu Lingguang’s body.
"Argh!"
Chu Lingguang let out a muffled groan.
The map of his Mental Realm manifested on its own.
The forty-six responses flickered erratically.
Eunuch Liu kept his hand pressed tightly to his back. Blood streamed from his empty eye sockets as his body decayed at a rate visible to the naked eye. His skin wrinkled, his hair lost its luster, and it began to fall out strand by strand.
In the blink of an eye, the once vigorous old man became a decrepit, dying figure, so frail it seemed a gust of wind could blow him over.
Chu Lingguang felt his power surge explosively. The forty-six responses roared like forty-six ferocious tigers.
SWOOSH!
The Cloud Mist Flood Dragon’s barbed tail swept toward him again.
Chu Lingguang casually blocked it with his Long Spear.
The Cloud Mist Flood Dragon’s barbed tail was instantly repelled.
"Eunuch Liu!"
Chu Lingguang turned to see Eunuch Liu’s state and froze as if struck by lightning. He quickly reached out and caught the man’s withered body in his arms.
"Lin Guang, defeat it!"
Eunuch Liu shouted with all his remaining strength. His yellowed teeth fell from his mouth, clattering to the ground along with Chu Lingguang’s tears.
At that moment, Chu Lingguang’s aura reached its absolute peak. The forty-six responses thundered without pause, his Dantian trembled violently, and even his entire Sea of Consciousness began to release its power.
He finally understood just how vast the gap was between the Qi Sea and the True Martial Realm, and why this barrier had been so impossible for him to overcome.