My Swordsmanship Has No Upper Limit

"Zhong Ming, are you really going to be okay?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Seeing the worried look on Ji Qingyue’s face, Zhong Ming chuckled lightly, then said with a confident expression, "Don’t worry, I’ll win. I’m a top-tier prodigy, after all."

After he spoke, something seemed to occur to him, and he added, "Oh, right. Be ready to catch me later."

"Huh?"

Before Ji Qingyue could ask for details, he was already walking toward the center of the Starry Courtyard.

This was a ruined Array that Prince Qinghe had excavated. The place was ancient, and the cracks between the stone bricks seemed to hold the weathered patina of time itself.

But time is the cruelest of all, and most of the Array had been annihilated by the ages.

However, the scouring of the Power of Time had also left a special Dao Rhyme lingering in this place.

Upon entering the Starry Courtyard, Zhong Ming inexplicably felt the sky darken, as if he had drawn closer to the starry expanse above.

’It’s a sacred land for cultivating the way of the starry sky. A shame it’s in ruins.’

Shaking his head, Zhong Ming looked toward the center of the Starry Courtyard, where a stone stele stood silently.

What made Zhong Ming frown was that this stone stele... was also incomplete.

’Wait, don’t tell me the Body Forging Cultivation Technique, Star Heaven·Divine Monarch, is also incomplete?’

After a moment of thought, Zhong Ming realized it was a real possibility.

’However, Prince Qinghe’s Mansion has certified Star Heaven·Divine Monarch as an Earth-Level Top Grade Cultivation Technique. They wouldn’t deceive me on this point, which means the complete version is likely Celestial Level.’

’Only then could it retain its Earth-Level Top Grade quality even after being damaged.’

’A Celestial-Level Body Forging technique, paired with a Celestial-Level Qi Cultivation method from the same origin... The All Heaven Stars Sect of old must have been a Major Sect powerful enough to shake the entire region.’

No matter how powerful a sect, it could not withstand the erosion of time. They had fallen, and their foundational techniques were now fragmented beyond measure.

Of course, it was only because it was so fragmented that Prince Qinghe’s Mansion was able to acquire this Cultivation Technique and open it up to Zhong Ming and the others.

And then, Zhong Ming realized something, his eyes gleaming.

’This Cultivation Technique may be incomplete for others, but for me, that might not be the case... My Eternal Flame allows me to sense the insights and experiences of predecessors through their writings, even letting me cross eons to communicate spiritually with the historical projection of the author.’

’If I have enough Magical Power to truly cross ten thousand years of time, I’ll have a chance to complete this Cultivation Technique!’

’No, not just complete it. I might even be able to learn the Qi Cultivation method of the All Heaven Stars Sect.’ As his thoughts raced, Zhong Ming’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. ’And the Divine Soul... I wonder if this sect had a technique specifically for tempering the Divine Soul...’

Standing before the stone stele, Zhong Ming’s mind surged with a thousand thoughts, but in the outside world, only a single instant had passed.

The next moment, Zhong Ming’s palm landed steadily on the stone stele.

Naturally, the inheritance of the All Heaven Stars Sect would not be so simple. Just as Zhong Ming placed his hand on the stele, the Sixth Elder of Prince Qinghe’s Mansion walked over, holding a Star Stone.

After giving Zhong Ming a long, hard look, he finally infused the power of the Star Stone into the stele, allowing Zhong Ming to receive the inheritance.

"I hope you aren’t just all talk!"

...

HUMMM...

The stele’s inheritance Array was instantly activated, and countless streams of information surged into Zhong Ming’s mind like a tidal wave.

This information included flowing star charts, esoteric text, and a few vague, profound rhymes, like gazing at a landscape through a thick fog.

Previously, faced with such a situation, Zhong Ming could only rely on his Heart Soul Rhyme to passively absorb it all.

But this time, things were different.

’Great Dream of Thousand Years!’

Following a whisper in his heart, Zhong Ming closed his eyes and immediately felt himself arrive in a special domain.

This domain was a dim, gray Chaos, and Zhong Ming’s Spirit walked upon the surface of dark waters.

But in the next moment, the influx of countless streams of information caused this domain to transform.

Starlight surged from beneath the water’s surface and hung in the firmament. The faint sound of chanting echoed, and phantasmal figures of Divine Generals clad in stellar brilliance emerged from the gray mist.

This was a dreamscape, but it was also an ability Zhong Ming had gained when his Daoist Canon - Celestial Derivation advanced to the Second Realm—an extremely powerful ability.

’Come to think of it, my current development is severely lopsided.’

Of the three treasures of a Cultivator—Essence, Qi, and Spirit—Zhong Ming had only just obtained his Body Forging Cultivation Technique. He hadn’t even finished receiving it, let alone started practicing it.

Furthermore, the Qi Cultivation method of the Longxi Lineage was far too mediocre.

This meant that of the three most fundamental and important "attributes" for a Cultivator, Zhong Ming’s only outstanding one was his Divine Soul. Thanks to his superior comprehension, he had grasped several types of profound rhymes and reached an extraordinary level.

And because the Daoist Canon - Celestial Derivation was incomplete, when it awakened the body’s Divine Treasures, it tended to prioritize opening the parts that were easiest to access first.

As a result, Zhong Ming’s first two Divine Treasures were both related to the mind, the Divine Soul, and the brain.

’Although the Candlelight Heart Eye absorbs sunlight from the real world, what it burns is, strictly speaking, Heart Fire. Its abilities of True Sight, Illusion-Breaking, and seeing things As Clear as Daylight are all intimately connected to the mind.’

’And the Divine Treasure, Great Dream of Thousand Years, is also inextricably linked to the brain.’

Humans have the ability to dream, and the Divine Treasure of Great Dream of Thousand Years awakens based on this very instinct.

Of course, as a Divine Treasure—and one awakened by the Daoist Canon - Celestial Derivation at that—Great Dream of Thousand Years was naturally not so simple.

First, this Dream World was completely under Zhong Ming’s control.

And because of the illusory nature of dreams, it could also change at any time.

This transformation could be based on Zhong Ming’s idle fantasies, or it could project his past experiences, the beautiful sights he’d seen, the books he’d read, the profound rhymes he’d comprehended, the pressure he’d felt... all of it could be manifested within the dream.