188: Psychic

Chapter 187: Spiritual Communion

At the foot of Yuanhe Mountain.

Beside the main army camp, beneath a deep, secluded valley.

Xu Mujun sat cross-legged beneath the surging waterfall, every word and sentence of the Dragon Elephant Pure Yang Skill constantly echoing in his mind.

The Internal Energy within his body remained silent and motionless like an abyss, as if waiting for something.

Martial Dao.

Spiritual Communion.

Martial God.

What is Spiritual Communion?

What is a Martial God?

Gods?

Can martial arts... commune with the divine?

As his thoughts drifted, countless images appeared in Xu Mujun's mind.

Learning martial arts at the age of three, holding a saber to kill people at eight, joining the army at ten, and killing seven people in a row at twelve.

Promoted to Squad Leader at fifteen, he began learning the art of war.

Promoted to Centurion at sixteen, he was valued by a Senior in the army and brought into the border troops for tempering.

Promoted to Thousand-Man Commander at eighteen, he led his own troops to annihilate local bandits, comprehended the Hundred Battles Blood Fiend Saber on the battlefield, and stepped into the realm of a First Grade Realm Martial Artist.

At the age of twenty, fighting against Wu Country, one thousand men stubbornly resisted a force of thirty thousand; his own troops suffered heavy casualties, leaving only twelve men alive.

His martial cultivation stepped into the Second Grade Realm.

At twenty-one, he was promoted to Cavalry Captain, commanding three hundred cavalrymen.

At twenty-five, he led troops into the territory of Wu Country on a thousand-li raid, encountering tens of thousands of wolves by chance in the dark of night. Fighting through life and death amidst the wolf pack, he broke through and stepped into a First Grade Realm Martial Artist.

Xu Mujun's martial cultivation was not all that heaven-shaking and earth-shattering.

In fact, his Innate constitution and Aptitude could only be considered ordinary.

A First Grade Realm Martial Artist at the age of twenty-five was not unheard of, though rare.

But after the age of twenty-five, his martial cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

The Hundred Battles Blood Fiend Saber also grew increasingly proficient, reaching the realm of perfection, and he carved out a resounding reputation through slaughter in the northern borders.

Afterwards, he was transferred to Nanyue County to suppress the Nanyue Tribe of that time.

A career spanning thirty years pushed his martial cultivation one step further, yet he had remained immersed in the Innate Realm for over a decade without making a single inch of progress.

But now, Your Majesty had sought out a Cultivation Technique for him concerning breaking through the Innate martial realm.

Dragon Elephant Pure Yang Skill!

"According to the description of the Cultivation Technique, it is divided into twelve layers in total, and is a top-tier Body Refining secret method."

"Before reaching Major Achievement in the Body Refining Realm, a Cultivator must maintain a virgin heart, relying on a mouthful of Innate Yang Qi to temper oneself. After stepping into the Qi Refining Realm, one can Cultivate and grow the Innate Yang Qi within the body, filling the entire body."

"For every layer of the Dragon Elephant Pure Yang Skill successfully practiced, one's strength can be increased by the power of one dragon and one elephant."

"After the twelfth layer, one can reach the Great Perfection of the Spiritual Communion Realm, possessing the strength of a hundred dragons and a hundred elephants, along with all sorts of Divine Abilities!"

Xu Mujun muttered softly.

He had long since lost his virginity, having married the daughter of a Senior in the army and fathered a son and a daughter.

Unfortunately, due to old injuries, his wife passed away shortly after giving birth to Qingluan.

Fortunately, with the care of relatives in the clan, he managed to raise his son and daughter.

Under normal circumstances, he was unable to Cultivate the Dragon Elephant Pure Yang Skill.

Without that mouthful of Pure Yang Qi within his body, he could not temper himself, and thus could not perceive the Innate Origin Qi.

"Although I do not have Pure Yang Qi, I possess a dense Qi of blood and slaughter."

Xu Mujun muttered, having been infatuated with the Qi of battlefield slaughter and the Hundred Battles Blood Fiend Saber for a full fifty years, he had long since tempered it to be as responsive as his own arms.

Relying on the method of the Dragon Elephant Pure Yang Skill, Xu Mujun walked out on his own path and created his own martial god Cultivation Technique.

"Rumble...!"

Suddenly, the Internal Energy within Xu Mujun's body churned, and boundless Qi of blood and slaughter surged out from his limbs, bones, and blood, transforming into dense layers of blood mist that completely enshrouded his body.

His blood rushed like thunder, tsunamis, and collapsing mountains; even the distant lake churned violently due to Xu Mujun's movements, resembling an earthquake.

"Boom!"

In an instant, Xu Mujun's figure shot out from the blood mist, almost transforming into a bloody shadow as he violently smashed into the distant rocks.

Countless fragments of rocks and sprays of water burst forth, shrouding an area of several thousand meters in radius.

And Xu Mujun's figure continuously darted about amidst this sky-filling shroud of water mist, blood mist, and rock fragments.

Every time he struck, boundless power of blood and slaughter surged out, carving massive gullies into the ground and rocks.

Hundred Battles Blood Fiend Saber!

At this moment, Xu Mujun began to practice the battlefield saber technique he had created himself.

Countless saber shadows flickered and flew, with Saber Qi cutting across horizontally and vertically, as if the entire valley was filled with dense Saber Qi.

Viewed from afar, the valley seemed to have a giant bowl inverted over it.

"Communion... Spiritual Communion!"

Amidst the boundless blood shadows, Xu Mujun's speed became even faster.

As blade technique after blade technique burst forth, the surrounding earth, rocks, and even water mist were slashed by him into the most basic powder.

Within a radius of one kilometer around him, there was basically not a single intact rock fragment.

His figure suddenly stopped, bizarrely floating in mid-air as if something was supporting him.

Xu Mujun sat cross-legged, wisps of blood Qi and Internal Energy transforming into layers of cloud-like substance that supported him as he floated cross-legged in mid-air.

Around his body floated countless tiny particles.

Unknowing how much time had passed, Xu Mujun's eyes suddenly snapped open, a flash of bloody light darting across his pupils.

"Is this... Spiritual Communion?!"

In an instant, boundless blood Qi gushed out once more, transforming into a massive bloody shadow floating behind him.

Lifting his sole remaining right hand, he gave a gentle squeeze, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze for a split second.

Within a radius of one kilometer, the boundless powdery particles also stopped strangely.

They quivered and moved along with his breathing.

"I see, I understand."

Xu Mujun let out a long breath, his figure slowly descending from mid-air as his feet touched the ground.

In a flash, within a radius of one kilometer, the water mist, dust, particles, and so on that had originally been floating also started moving at this moment, dissipating without a trace.

It was as if they had recovered from a sudden stop to a normal state of motion.

"Martial Dao Spiritual Communion is about communicating with the spirit of heaven and earth, using the Martial Artist's tenacious mental state to trigger massive changes in heaven and earth, turning them into one's own blades and spears for personal use."

"With the mind comes the intent, causing drastic changes in heaven and earth."

"As long as the Martial Artist's spirit is undying, the state of Spiritual Communion will never be destroyed, allowing one to replenish Origin Qi of heaven and earth at any time to support one's Internal Energy and lifespan for eternal slaughter!"

"The stronger the spirit, the greater the range of heaven and earth and the power of Origin Qi one can control."

With a single step forward, the air in front of him instantly surged, and in an instant, a massive saber mark about a hundred meters long was slashed out before him.

It was as if a Void Realm giant had slashed out this strike from behind Xu Mujun!

"If Martial Dao Spiritual Communion is already this powerful, then... what about the Martial God Realm?"

He instinctively glanced toward his empty left arm, a look of desolation flashing across his eyes.

For some reason, Xu Mujun felt his left arm wound itching slightly, as if lacking something.

He strolled out of the valley, which had turned into a pile of ruins, and the personal guards stationed outside the valley immediately surrounded him.

"General!"

At this moment, the eyes of the dozen or so personal guards were filled with shock; they had witnessed the drastic changes in the valley just now.

They had not expected that General Xu, whose martial cultivation was already at the Innate Realm, could actually advance a step further.

This...

Had they not retreated fast enough just now, there was a high possibility they would have been caught in the aftermath.

Xu Mujun put on the clothing brought by his personal guards and asked, "How long have I been in seclusion?"

"Reporting to the General, only three days have passed."

"Three days? Are there any important military intelligence reports?"

"Yes!"

The personal guard said, "The Flying Eagle Army sent by Your Majesty has arrived and is awaiting the General's military orders."

The Flying Eagle Army was one of the New Army organizations.

It was a reinforced regiment whose main combat strength consisted of a mixture of hot air balloons and musketeer squads, possessing extreme combat power.

They were generally only dispatched when encountering hard-to-crack, majestic passes and large cities.

"The Flying Eagle Army? Could it be the force that breached Black Mountain Pass and Shuzhou Excalibur Pass back then?"

"Yes!"

"Let's go! Return to camp!"

Everyone walked down the mountain, and the personal guard added, "There is one more matter to report to the General."

"What is it?"

"The night before last, an arrow was suddenly shot into our army's main camp, with a letter tied to it. The General was not in the camp at the time, and Zhengkou General Tang, along with several other generals, opened that letter after discussing it."

"Oh?"

Xu Mujun's eyes flashed as he asked, "What was written in it? Is Yuanhe Mountain suing for peace?"

"It is not."

The personal guard said, "Intelligence on it shows that a Cultivator has arrived at Yuanhe Mountain, preparing to unite with several Innate Realm powerhouses to assassinate the General."

"Assassinate this general?"

Xu Mujun smiled faintly and said, "Mere rats and dogs scurrying about; when armies slaughter each other, what does a Cultivator matter?"

"Besides, this general really wants to test whether today's Cultivators can withstand a single slash from this general!"

"Have you found out who delivered this intelligence?"

"Unclear."

The personal guard said, "However, the Jinyi Guard supervisor in the army said that there are hidden stamps of the Shangwu Division and the Jinyi Guard on the envelope, which is enough to prove its authenticity."

"Return to camp to discuss matters."

"Understood!"

Walking halfway, the personal guard lowered his voice and said, "General..."

"What is it?"

"Zhengkou General Tang's move is an attempt to divide your military power, you..."

"Hmm?"

Xu Mujun said without hesitation, "A major battle is imminent; you must not speak such words that disturb military morale."

"Since Your Majesty sent General Tang, he naturally has his reasons."

"When this general is not present, all of you must obey General Tang's orders, understand?"

"Understood!"

Soon, Xu Mujun returned to the main army.

Under his military orders, more than a dozen generals arrived one after another.

"Greetings, General!"

"Greetings, General!"

The dozen or so generals sat down in order, with Xu Mujun sitting alone in the main seat.

"Everyone, this general will cut to the chase. Yuanhe Mountain's terrain is steep, which is unfavorable for the main army to advance together, nor is it favorable for the operation of artillery. Therefore, this general requested reinforcements from the imperial court and obtained the Flying Eagle Army."

"Now that the Flying Eagle Army has arrived, the general offensive is about to begin!"

A general stood up and said, "General! Let's begin, my massive saber is already thirsting and can hardly wait!"

"Hahaha, me too!"

"Break through Yuanhe Mountain and annihilate the rebels!"

Xu Mujun said, "This general has received the latest intelligence: the remnants of the Wang family are colluding with Yuanhe Mountain and are currently hiding on the mountain."

"In this battle, aside from annihilating Yuanhe Mountain, we must also wipe out the remnants of the Wang family in one fell swoop, understand?"

"Understood!"

At this moment, Zhengkou General Tang stood up and said, "General Xu, what about the intelligence received the day before yesterday?"

"There are Cultivators present on Yuanhe Mountain, and they have also contacted several Innate Realm powerhouses wishing to surround and assassinate you. Why not send men to find out the Cultivator's plan first before deliberating further?"

"General Tang's reminder is well-taken."

Xu Mujun nodded and said, "If we were facing ordinary enemies, this general would naturally investigate their purpose and identity clearly."

"But when facing Cultivators, what matters most is that speed is the essence of war!"

"The more preparation time we give that Cultivator, the more formidable their ultimate fatal move will become, making it impossible to guard against."

"What we need to do is to strangle them with the momentum of a fierce tiger pouncing on a rabbit before they can even gain a foothold."

"If we wait for them to react, the ones at a disadvantage will be us!"

These words fell into silence among the many generals; none of them had experience fighting Cultivators and simply could not come up with any good ideas.

Zhengkou General Tang hesitated and asked, "I wonder how General Xu plans to fight?"