Star Odyssey

Chapter 2080: Internal And External Cultivation

Lu Yin had spent a whole month maintaining two lined battle force before it penetrated his body deeply enough to disappear.

At this moment, his battle force still only possessed the strength of an Explorer, but it was as powerful as a peak Explorer with a power level of over 40,000.

Such a speed of improvement was a bit unreasonable. If a normal person trained in this method, would they be able to improve their combat strength from a power level of just over 10,000 to over 40,000 in a month? It was absolutely impossible.

On top of that, one also had to have already mastered two lined battle force.

If someone was starting from scratch, then Lu Yin felt quite confident that this battle force training method was much slower than cultivating with star energy. Not everyone had a strong enough physical body to handle it either. This method not only required adequate time, but also for the person’s body to be able to handle the strain of the battle force.

Essentially, Lu Yin was re-cultivating the Exploration realm with a foundation of a three-tribulation Envoy. Naturally, he would proceed very quickly. If a normal person attempted this method, they would struggle greatly.

Next, Lu Yin moved on to three lined battle force, and Lu Yin took two and a half months to complete this stage.

He continued on to four lined battle force, and that took him a full five months.

Next was five lined battle force, and that took over nine months for him to succeed.

Lu Yin had been in the middle of training with six lined battle force when the two members of Team Resolution arrived. He had already spent more than three months training that level of battle force when he left the Timestop Space, but a conservative estimate was at least ten more months, or just over a full year, to master this level of battle force.

Lu Yin had no idea how long it had taken Xing Kai to cultivate to six lined battle force, but Lu Yin expected him to have taken much longer than himself; he had taken almost two years to reach his current level.

Once the five lined battle force had been branded inside Lu Yin’s body, the destructive power that he was able to release with it was equal to a Hunter.

This showed just how powerful even the public battle force cultivation art that the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate possessed was. This method could allow battle force to replace stellular energy as the predominant cultivation method for the Fifth Mainland, and it completely subverted all preconceptions that human civilization had possessed concerning battle force earlier.

It had to be understood that Lu Yin's ten lined battle force was only comparable to the strength of an Enlighter, and such battle force was already near the peak of what the Fifth Mainland understood to be possible.

With such a limitation, how could battle force ever replace stellular energy?

However, the proper method of cultivating battle force was finally being spread.

If this was true of battle force, then what about domain? What about spiritual force? In the Heavens Sect era, there had to have been in-depth research into alternate cultivation methods because all sorts of cultivation methods had flourished during that era. The Origin Progenitor himself had encouraged the creation and development of alternate methods, rather than making everyone following his own cultivation method of stellular energy.

It was a true pity that the destruction of the Mainlands had caused most alternate cultivation methods to be lost either entirely or partially. Once stellular energy was taken away from the Fifth Mainland, humanity’s strength had been reduced by more than half.

Xing Kai arrived in the Sword Array Plaza where the two people from Team Resolution had already appeared.

The two people looked quite ordinary, and the only difference between them from ordinary people was their eyes, which held an extremely firm determination. From Lu Yin's perspective, this determination looked more like ignorance. It was willful ignorance regarding a certain thing or person that would normally be considered faith, and these two people’s faith had permanently marked them.

There was also a familiar scent that Lu Yin picked up from these two people: the blood of the battlefield.

These two people were like two wild beasts that had been let out of a cage. Every breath and movement that they took caused other people to automatically put up their guard due to the bloodlust that assaulted them.

"Only five people this time?" one of the two Team Resolution members asked. There was a scar on his face that also divided his face in two as it stretched across from the corner of one eye. The man was truly hideous.

"Yes. The others were unqualified," Xing Kai answered softly.

The two people frowned, and Scarface replied, "This isn’t enough. Go ahead and lower the requirements, but anyone who passes the lowered threshold won’t qualify to join an affiliate team. We’ll send them into one of the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate’s external battle teams."

"Understood," Xing Kai replied.

The other person from Team Resolution gave Xing Kai an odd look. "You aren’t saying very much today."

Lu Yin was startled by this comment; was he being less talkative than Xing Kai? Could it just be that Xing Kai normally got along quite well with these two? That did not seem to be the case.

Confronted by two people from Team Resolution, Lu Yin quickly thought back to his conversation with Xing Kai, and he subconsciously raised a hand to rub the back of his head. "My cultivation isn’t progressing very well, so I'm a little worried."

Scarface stared at Xing Kai, and then the void suddenly began to burn. The phenomena passed right over Lu Yin's body like ripples that burned the void passing by. It was aurelian force.

Lu Yin reflexively put up his defenses, and nine lined battle force appeared around his body, but the aurelian force easily crushed such resistance.

Scarface only released his aurelian force for a brief moment before retracting it. “There’s no need to worry; your cultivation speed is actually quite fast, and it is even comparable to what we were capable of using at your level. The gatemaster will appreciate your progress."

Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief as he nodded. "I understand."

He was lucky that he had tried the training method he had picked up from Xing Kai while using Timestop, as otherwise he would have been exposed in that instance. He could not accept failing this soon at this juncture.

The other Team Resolution member glanced over at Scarface, who nodded. He stopped paying attention to Xing Kai, and he instead focused on Xi Yue and the other four applicants. "Let's get started and see if any of them has any actual talent."

At that moment, Scarface's eyes grew cold, and he released his aurelian force once again. The void started to burn above the five people’s heads, and the phenomena crashed down upon them.

Lu Yin was startled. What was going on?

"The gatemaster has told us that human cultivation can be categorized as internal or external. For internal, there are methods such as star energy and death energy. It’s when any one of those various energies flow through the meridians, or even through blood. As for external, that’s all about the physical body. Normal people just see flesh and bones, but that flesh was what the Third Mainland’s ancient Dao Monarch developed to create the colossal giants, the lesser giants, and all kinds of external powers.”

"External cultivation is in no way inferior to internal cultivation, and it’s simply that the human body lacks the necessary key. Right now, we are providing that key, so it’s all up to whether you can trigger this external power," Scarface stated indifferently.

This was the first time that Lu Yin had heard such a philosophy regarding cultivation. Was the human body really divided into internal and external powers? In that case, was it an internal or external power when battle force penetrated a person’s body? What about people’s innate gifts?

Lu Yin stared at Xi Yue and the other four people who were being suppressed by the aurelian force, and he started wondering just what Scarface was attempting to do at this moment. He had mentioned something about how this bombardment of aurelian force could act as a key to unlock the potential of these five people for external cultivation methods.

Puff!

One of the five people spat out blood and collapsed.

The observing member of Team Resolution frowned at the sight. "Trash."

As soon as he spoke, another person collapsed. Soon, the other two youths crumpled to the ground, leaving only Xi Yue still standing.

"They can’t even pass the illusion assessment? They’re the lowest sort of trash." The people from Team Resolution were clearly dissatisfied.

Scarface stared at Xi Yue. At this moment, the black cloth that had hidden her body was torn off, and her scarred face was revealed. However, her ugly appearance did not phase the two people from Team Resolution in the slightest. Her appearance was not worth even acknowledging to the two of them, as they were only concerned with how long she could endure.

There had been a woman on Team Resolution, but unfortunately, she had died. There were currently only five men on the team, and they wanted another woman to join. Appearance really did not matter.

Lu Yin watched Xi Yue, hoping that she could endure just a bit longer.

Lu Yin absolutely wanted to leave the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate soon, but he understood that that was not necessarily true for Xi Yue as well. If she wanted to genuinely join the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate, Lu Yin would be happy to allow her to pursue her own goals.

There was a muffled snort, and a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of Xi Yue's mouth. She grew pale, but she remained standing.

Scarface's battle force never fluctuated at all, but Xi Yue was like a piece of paper fluttering in the wind after being caught by a storm: at risk of being shredded at any moment.

After Xi Yue succeeded in persisting for a while, Scarface nodded, and the middle-aged man who stayed on Sword Mountain and cultivated spiritual force suddenly appeared and cast an illusion technique on Xi Yue.

Lu Yin had no idea what sort of illusion was used, but he was very curious.

He watched as Xi Yue fell into the illusion, and her expression twisted crazily from the pain she had shown thus far. More blood leaked from her mouth, and her entire body seemed to grow more excited. Suddenly, she let out a burst of laughter, and dark golden lines appeared within her four lined battle force. Those dark golden quickly took over her battle force and covered her entire body. She had just leaped from four lines to six lines.

Scarface looked pleasantly surprised. This girl was a true genius.

The other member of Team Resolution stood next to Scarface, and he also revealed an expression of pleasant surprise. "Finally! At least this trip wasn’t a waste. Xing Kai, when you went through this process, you managed to rise three levels in one go, so it’s pretty impressive that this girl managed to improve by two levels."

Lu Yin was stunned. Was this actually possible?

Xi Yue was not exceptionally talented in battle force, so why had she managed to instantly improve by two levels? Her results were almost as good as Xing Kai, but the reality was that Xi Yue’s talent was in no way comparable to Xing Kai’s.

Lu Yin glanced over at the middle-aged Envoy. Was her improvement somehow related to the illusion she had faced? Or was it because she had endured Scarface's aurelian force? He had mentioned that they carried the key to unlocking the human body’s potential with external cultivation. Whatever it was that they had done, they had allowed Xi Yue’s battle force to take an incredible leap forward. How had they accomplished this?

It was no wonder that Hen Xin had suggested to have Team Resolution teach the disciples of the other Heavenly Gates battle force cultivation methods. The other Heavenly Gates had not been able to even deny the appeal of such a thing, and they had only been able to propose a wager to alter some details. They also all wanted to allow this battle force cultivation method to spread throughout the Fifth Mainland.

Boom!

Xi Yue collapsed the moment Scarface retracted his aurelian force. She had overdrawn her body, and so he fainted and fell to the ground.

Scarface asked some people to take care of her and allow her to recover. "She’s a good seed. If she trains hard, it’s not impossible for her to eventually join Team Resolution."

The spiritual force cultivator commented, "While I have no idea what sort of desire was aroused in her from the illusion, I can tell you that she is motivated by hatred. Without that, she probably wouldn’t have broken through to six lined battle force."

Scarface did not care. "The reasons don’t matter. The fact that she was able to improve by two levels shows that she’s good enough to cultivate battle force.”

He then glanced over at Lu Yin. "She’s still a bit worse than you. Back then, you improved by three levels, and you’re still steadily improving. You’re also quite talented in battle force, and you’ve managed to stabilize your battle force at six lines within just five years. That’s even faster than us. Even back in our era, you would be considered quite outstanding.”

"The times may have changed, but your weakness is the fault of your era rather than your own. Even in the worst eras, there are still geniuses."

Lu Yin really wanted to slap the man’s face at this moment. This era was weak? What a joke! Not even Chu Yuan, Heluo Mavis, or Leng Qing, the gatemaster of the Celestial Blade Gate, would dare to say such things about the current era. They had personally witnessed the heroes of the current era and the fact that they had almost matched the glory of the Heavens Sect era. Where was the difference between the two eras?

"We actually didn’t come here for them this time, but rather for you. To be precise, we came for ten of you." The second person from Team Resolution looked at Xing Kai.

"The people from the Lu Heavenly Gate and the Honor Heavenly Gate dared to make a bet with my Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate, which is absurd. They want access to our battle force cultivation methods, but they don’t want to pay the required price. How can that be allowed? You ten must win, and you must do so flawlessly."

Lu Yin answered in a low voice, "They don't understand the true power of battle force. We will definitely win."

"Well said!" Scarface praised. He gave a rare smile. "Lu Buzheng and the other people from our era may understand the potential strength of battle force, but they never delved into it in our era. Battle force is something that belongs to my Third Mainland alone. If humanity wants to spread our cultivation methods, then this place must first belong to my Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate and our gatemaster must become a Progenitor. You’ve been given the opportunity to become the gatemaster’s disciple, so don't let him down."