This made Qin Ziya’s heart fill with doubts. Just what was Lin Ming doing?
The reason that Qin Ziya had come back this time was to prepare for the upcoming Inter-faction Assembly Tournament.
Two months from now, the Seven Profound Valleys would call down the Martial House core disciples from all the nearby countries and hold a martial gathering.
The martial gathering occurred every three years. At that time, the core disciples of all the countries would gather together and drink tea while appreciating and comparing martial arts.
This was an assessment of the various nations’ core disciples, but it was also an assessment of the Martial Houses themselves. Even Qin Ziya, who rarely cared or worried about the internal affairs of the Martial House attached a serious importance towards this assessment.
When Lin Ming had been passed down the Seven Profound Decree, Qin Ziya had taken advantage of that time to give Lin Ming many benefits. He hoped that Lin Ming would be able to quickly grow in that short time and blossom, shining with radiant glory at the martial gathering.
If his result was good, then not only would he receive rewards as a core disciple, but even the Martial House Master would receive a reward.
The most precious reward was a Heaven Opening Pill.
A Heaven Opening Pill was the miracle medicine that a peak Houtian realm master would take when they were attempting to break into the Xiantian realm. It would remove the foul Houtian air within them, wash their muscles and marrow, reproduce a Xiantian-like state that would allow them to return to their natural state, and finally step into the Xiantian realm.
No matter how awe-inspiring one’s talent was, they still had to take a Heaven Opening Pill in order to step into the Xiantian realm from the Houtian realm.
The difference between the Houtian realm and Xiantian realm was the Xiantian breath within oneself. With this, one’s soul would enter into a tranquil state, and they would be able to communicate with heaven and earth origin energy. They could use their soul to understand the wisdom of the world and use their true essence to move the power of the heavens and earth.
When a baby was still in the mother’s body, they would rely on the umbilical cord transporting blood in order to breathe; this was the Xiantian breath.
After a baby was born, they changed to breathing from their mouths and nose. Inevitably they would breathe the foul Houtian air, and there simply wouldn’t be any Xiantian breath.
From Houtian to Xiantian, one had to rid themselves of worldly roots and change their Houtian breath to Xiantian breath.
In order to do this, one had to wash their muscles and marrow and reproduce the Xiantian breath with the Heaven Opening Pill!
In theory, it could be said that a naturally peerless martial talent could get rid of their body’s Houtian air through their own strength, and wouldn’t need to depend upon a pull to step into the Xiantian realm. However, this was only a theory. The truth was that no one had ever managed to accomplish this.
The Heaven Opening Pill was an incomparably precious treasure within the Seven Profound Valleys. Not only in the Seven Profound Valleys, but the Heaven Opening Pill was extremely scarce even in other large sects.
The materials for the Heaven Opening Pill were too difficult to find. Even if they were all collected, there was still a small chance that there would be a failure during the alchemical refinement of the pill.
The Seven Profound Valleys would refine a batch of Heaven Opening Pills every three years. In the end, they would have around 20 or 30 pills.
The more than 20 pills were insufficient to be divided among so many disciples.
The rules of the Seven Profound Valleys stated that the Heaven Opening Pill could only be rewarded to peak Houtian masters with outstanding talent. Even if these masters took the Heaven Opening Pill, it didn’t mean that they would necessarily break into the Xiantian realm.
Qin Ziya’s talent could already be considered heaven defying. He had started cultivating at 20 years of age, and at 45 he had reached the peak Houtian realm. Once, he too had been given a Heaven Opening Pill. After he took it he attempted to break through the Xiantian bottleneck. However, there was a problem that arose from within his Zither Heart, and he had failed just a step away!
Finally Qin Ziya had stopped a half-step into the Xiantian realm. These years he had been roaming the deep valleys and tempering his Zither Heart. Now, his Zither Heart had reached the Large Success stage. He would only need a Heaven Opening Pill to attack the Xiantian realm bottleneck once again!
Every three years during the martial gathering, two Heaven Opening Pills were rewarded. One to the core disciple, and one to the Martial House Master.
Only first place was rewarded!