145: The secret to breaking through to Martial Saint

"Of course not! How could that kind of trash compare to my treasure?"

As soon as Lin Yi finished speaking, the elder with white hair and eyebrows immediately shook his head and sneered, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes as he said:

"In terms of value, those so-called treasures that can help one break through to the Martial Saint Realm you mentioned—even if you added a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand of them together, they wouldn't compare to this single treasure!"

"This treasure is the true supreme treasure of the Martial God's Relic Palace; it's simply on a completely different level from those things!"

"What! Even ten thousand treasures that can help a Martial Artist become a Martial Saint combined are inferior to this one? Just what is this treasure? How can it be so precious?"

Hearing this, Lin Yi was shocked and dazed. He couldn't help but ask the White-Haired Elder.

"Don't be in such a hurry!"

Hearing this, the White-Haired Elder laughed and said:

"Before I tell you about the value of this treasure, little guy, I want to ask you first: do you know how one breaks through to the Martial Saint Realm?"

"I do not!"

Lin Yi shook his head slightly and said:

"Senior Tianwu, although my status in the Heavenly Mountain Sect is quite high, my current strength is still weak. As of now, I only know the name 'Martial Saint.' As for the specific details, I know almost nothing at all."

"Hmm, it's normal that you don't know."

The elder with white hair and eyebrows nodded gently and smiled:

"After all, for a Martial Artist who hasn't even reached the Innate Realm, knowing too much would instead make them aim too high and affect their cultivation."

"However, now that you've passed the Heavenly Pride Assessment and have the help of the treasure left by my master, combined with your talent, breaking through to the Martial Saint Realm—or even beyond—will be easy. Therefore, you naturally have the right to know."

At this point, the elder with white hair and eyebrows paused slightly, seemingly organizing his words. After a breath or two, he continued:

"Martial Saint—this is the second stage of stepping into the Transcendent. Compared to the first stage, Innate, a Martial Saint is truly far too powerful. Not only is their lifespan more than doubled, but their strength is hundreds of times greater."

"And because this Realm is so powerful, breaking through to it is naturally extremely difficult."

"In our Jiuzhou World, as far as I know, anyone who wants to break through to Martial Saint must satisfy at least three conditions!"

"First, your cultivation must reach the Peak of the Innate Golden Core Realm."

"Second, your Divine Soul must reach the Peak of the Form Condensation Realm."

"Third, and the most difficult and important point: you must comprehend a Dao of the world!"

"Dao?"

Hearing this, Lin Yi was stunned. Many descriptions of 'Dao' from his past life instantly flooded his mind.

However, he didn't know if the Dao from his past life was the same as the Dao in this life, so Lin Yi didn't speak to show off. Instead, he continued to wait silently for the White-Haired Elder's explanation.

On the other side, seeing Lin Yi lost in thought, the White-Haired Elder thought he was just confused and didn't mind. He continued to explain:

"Dao is the most fundamental operational rule between heaven and earth; it is the cornerstone that constitutes the world. It possesses incredible, great power!"

"Legend has it that there are a total of 129,600 Daos in the world, each of which is incomparably miraculous."

"Of course, in our Jiuzhou World and most ordinary worlds, there are basically only nine Daos."

"Those are—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Light, and Darkness."

"These nine Daos serve as the Foundation of our Jiuzhou World, together forming a complete Jiuzhou World!"

"So as long as you comprehend one Dao, you can master a sliver of the Jiuzhou World's most essential power!"

"And how vast is the power of the Jiuzhou World? Even mastering just a sliver is already very powerful; even splitting mountains and parting seas is a simple matter!"

"Furthermore, a Martial Saint's Physical Body and Saint-level Martial Arts can amplify this sliver of power. Therefore, the Martial Saints of the Nine Provinces naturally possess heaven-shaking power, with strength far exceeding so-called Xiantian Master!"

"Martial Saint? Dao? So, that's how it is?"

Lin Yi murmured. After a moment, his eyes lit up as he stared at the elder with white hair and eyebrows, 'Tianwu,' and immediately asked:

"Since this Dao is so powerful and is the Foundation for breaking through to Martial Saint, then I wonder how I should go about comprehending it?"

"Haha, you little guy, you haven't even learned how to crawl, yet you're already thinking about flying?"

The White-Haired Elder shook his head slightly and said:

"Dao is the most fundamental rule of heaven and earth. Even for those Martial Saints, comprehending a single Dao back then was a thousand times difficult."

"As for you, don't even think about it for now. Your Divine Soul and will are too weak. Even with the help of my treasure, it's impossible for you to comprehend a Dao for the time being."

"Eh? Divine Soul and will? How did it get linked to Divine Soul and will? Could it be that Dao comprehension is related to them?"

Lin Yi asked curiously.

"Of course it is!"

The White-Haired Elder nodded:

"Dao, although it is the most fundamental rule of heaven and earth and all things are theoretically composed of Dao, meaning all things theoretically contain Dao."

"However, these Daos are hidden in the most essential and deepest parts of these things. Ordinary eyes—even the eyes of an Innate Martial Artist that can easily see thousands or tens of thousands of meters—cannot possibly see them."

"Only when your Divine Soul reaches the Peak of Form Condensation, and then your will reaches the level of 'Manifestation'—which is the level of influencing your Physical Body's Aptitude through your will—can you barely observe a tiny trace of the Dao in the world. Only then can you study it, perceive it, and finally master it completely!"

"Peak Form Condensation? Will Manifestation? Is Dao comprehension this difficult?"

Hearing the White-Haired Elder's explanation, Lin Yi couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Reaching the Peak of Divine Soul Form Condensation was already incomparably difficult. Even among Innate Golden Core Grandmasters, it was estimated that only those top ten experts on the Heaven Rank, like Sect Master 'Gu Changsheng,' could achieve it!

As for Will Manifestation, that was even harder!

Lin Yi had only heard of people being able to do it before. In reality, perhaps even an expert like Gu Changsheng hadn't reached it.

And satisfying these two major conditions was actually just reaching the threshold of Dao comprehension; it was still a vast distance away from truly comprehending a Dao. No wonder Martial Saints were so rare in the Jiuzhou World.

"Haha, little guy, don't lose heart."

Seeing Lin Yi's expression, the White-Haired Elder 'Tianwu' laughed and said:

"Comprehending the Dao is indeed difficult, but with my fourth treasure, your Dao comprehension will be much easier than other Martial Saints."

"Didn't you want to know why the fourth treasure is more than ten thousand times more precious than other Martial Saint treasures?"

"Then I will tell you now. The reason this treasure is ten thousand times more precious than those so-called Breakthrough treasures is that those treasures actually work by overdrawing the user's potential to make their perception of the Dao several times clearer, thereby helping them break through."

"All the Martial Saints in the history of your Jiuzhou World—including that little guy from the Great Yuan Dynasty and those so-called Ancestors of the Three Great Sacred Lands—all obtained such treasures."

"And by using such treasures, the potential of their lives is limited to the level of the Ancestors of the Three Great Sacred Lands; it's impossible for them to ever reach my master's level!"

"But you—as long as you absorb this fourth treasure, not only will your clarity in perceiving the Dao be three or four times greater than theirs, but more importantly, this treasure will not damage your potential. Instead, it will increase your potential and even boost your Comprehension Ability several times over!"

"This is the true value of my fourth treasure—the true spirit jade!"