Chapter 6 - Breakthrough the mortal shackles and enter sainthood
As time continued to elapse, 6 years passed by in the blink of an eye.
The time for autumn to fade and winter to appear had come once again.
"Bang Bang Bang"
In an exceedingly spacious courtyard, sounds of collisions rang out, with every single bang being accompanied by a shout. Right at the centre, a skinny figure was currently using his hands to repeatedly strike at a stake in front of him…
Naturally, that little figure was Jiang Han, and he was already 6 years old.
Even when he was still a baby, he had started tempering the flexibility of his body. As he grew up, he started to make slow steps towards cultivating his bodily strength.
During his previous life, Jiang Han was already clear how the level of talent would dictate how fast one could cultivate, while hard work would dictate the distance.
"Hu!"
Jiang Han slowly pulled his fists back. He was currently doing some strength training that was suitable to his body, instead of any qi circulation methods. This training was specifically for the sake of increasing his bodily and martial foundations.
Turning around, Jiang Han proceeded to walk towards the house in the courtyard.
Upon walking into the dinner hall, Jiang Han noticed that his mother had already placed all of the dishes on the table.
"Hurry up and eat, Han'er." said Qin Wei with a smile. "Han'er, mom's made your favourite boar head meat! Have a taste!"
"Okay." Jiang Han replied with a smile. "Is father coming home tonight?"
"Three days have passed. He should be back home soon." said Qin Wei.
The autumn season was the period where the wild and demonic beasts were the most numerous within the northern mountain range. Many of the various mountain villas would organize their martial artists into groups, entering the mountains to hunt. Firstly, it was for the sake of food, and secondly, for the sake of their ancestral ceremonies.
Over the past few years, Jiang Han was more than familiar with this family tradition. Being the number one expert of their mountain villa, his father would always lead a group of martial experts every year and head deep into the mountain range. It would usually take a few days before they would return.
Very quickly, Jiang Han finished his meal. Cleaning his mouth, he said, "Mother, I'm going out to take a walk."
"To the library again? Remember to come back for dinner!" replied Qin Wei with a smile.
"Yes, I know, mother!" Jiang Han's reply came from a long distance away.
Jiang Han walked slowly along the paths within the villa.
During these 6 years, instead of the neverending pain and torture of hell, he felt love and care from his parents. Being the son of this mountain villa's 2nd Master, he was able to enjoy a large variety of food and things to play with, and everything he needed was provided for.
To Jiang Han, in contrast to the hell in his previous life, this was heaven.
However, instead of drowning himself in enjoyment, he had quietly focused his free time on coming up with ways to improve his cultivation and strength.
Over the past 6 years, he had primarily cultivated his Spiritual Soul, while simultaneously tempering the toughness of his body, muscles and bones. On the contrary, he did not start any training in martial arts.
One's advancement in the cultivation of martial arts wasn't dependent on how early they started in life. That was due to the overly quick growth rates of the bodies of children. If one wasn't sufficiently attentive, it might have a negative effect in the form of leaving hidden dangers that would result in serious damage in the future.
As he continued walking along the path, Jiang Han quickly walked out from the inner courtyard.
Although the Jiang Family's residence was classified as a mountain villa, in Jiang Han's eyes, there wasn't much difference when compared to a small-scale city.
With a large mountain being constructed into a fully defensive mountain stronghold, there were over 10 thousand people staying within the Jiang Family mountain villa. Furthermore, they were also in charge of all of the ordinary villages and towns situated within a couple dozen miles from their mountain villa.
The library pavilion held a large volume of books, with the collection even containing various secret cultivation books, which was rather significant. After all, books were considered to be exceedingly important in this world.
Jiang Han wanted to go to the library pavilion, so he needed to pass by the martial arts training grounds.
The martial arts training grounds was where all of the martial artists in this mountain villa came to train, and it took out the largest amount of space within the villa. Furthermore, there were horse stables and armouries present beside it.
Upon walking through the great doors, Jiang Han was already able to see the martial arts training grounds with a circumference spanning over a couple hundred metres. Over a hundred youths stood at attention, all full of vigour and energy as they practised their moves.
"9th move, accumulate your breath!" A sturdily built male dressed in a black martial outfit shouted out. "Use your whole body, and fuse it with your fist, and tense your legs! Learning this move will be critical for training your Qi! All of you better buck up!"
"Sweating more in training will allow you to bleed less during combat! Only then would you all not regret it when joining the guards in the future and heading out to hunt!" The large male walked towards the front row of trainees. "Only when you continuously break through the limits of your body will you be able to condense a Martial Mark, and obtain the possibility of walking on the path of cultivation!"
Leaning against the wall, Jiang Han quietly watched as people continued to train. Although he could be considered to be rather knowledgeable on the cultivation of the Spiritual Soul, he was only an amateur in the cultivation of martial arts.
"Indeed, big uncle's teaching standards are pretty good. However, even though father's the number 1 expert in this mountain villa, he has never once taught his son!" thought Jiang Han.
The middle-aged, sturdily built large male was his big uncle, Jiang Yan, and he was also an expert at the Martial Ancestor Realm. As the martial arts drill instructor within the villa, he was in charge of teaching talented youths that had yet to step onto the path of cultivation.
"Compared to those on Earth, the youths in this world have much, much stronger talents and potential."
During the past 6 years, Jiang Han had already long come to the conclusion that the bodily constitutions of the humans present in this world far, far exceeded those from Earth in his previous life.
In his previous life, he had spent a dozen years just to be able to set foot on the cultivation path. Nonetheless, his talent was already considered to be top-class back on Earth.
However, every single one of the youths currently training in the martial arts training grounds was able to lift a few hundred pounds. If such strength was found on Earth, they would definitely be able to become kings within the armed forces. However, in the Jiang Family Mountain Villa, they didn't even possess the qualifications to be inducted into the Jiang Family guards!
"Within the territory of Flood City, our Jiang Family Mountain Villa can be considered as a first-class power. However, we're still far from being able to stand on par with the Northern Mountain Stronghold." thought Jiang Han. "The 9 thousand soldiers of the Northern Mountain Stronghold are able to suppress such a powerful Jiang Family. They are indeed extraordinary.
9 thousand Northern troops, with mirror-like polish on their armour. When they advanced, they appeared just like the sun and the moon. This was the number 1 army in the Jiangbei region.
The Northern Mountain Stronghold was definitely the strongest power within the Jiangbei region; no one else could rival them. Even 10 Jiang Families added together would still be insufficient.
The only reason why the Jiang Family was well known was probably due to them having a top-class expert whose might had shaken the entire Jiangbei region…
As he walked past the martial arts training grounds, Jiang Han arrived before a 3 storey pavilion. This building was the library pavilion, and it appeared simple and unadorned.
"Wait for me outside!" Jiang Han ordered.
The guards following him nodded their heads. The library pavilion was only accessible by members of the Jiang Family. Other people would require a command plaque or a verbal order before they could enter.
"6th grandpa." Jiang Han respectfully greeted the lean old man basking in the sun at the entrance.
This old man's name was Jiang Yangchuan, and was in the same generation as his grandfather, Jiang Yangshan. However, according to his father, this 6th grandpa's strength was definitely among the handful of top experts within this mountain villa. It was only due to him being unwilling to care about the more complicated matters, leading to him taking up the role of doorman for this library pavillion.
"You're here to read books again, little Han?" Opening his eyes, the old man replied with a smile, "Alright, go in an read whatever you want. Make sure to record down any of the books you wish to take from here."
With a smile, Jiang Han nodded his head and walked in, not wanting to disturb his 6th grandpa's sleep any longer.
Walking up a flight of steps, he gently pushed open the large doors of the library pavilion. Without any hesitation, he went forward and chose a book he had already decided on prior to his visit, before sitting down at a nearby table to read.
Sunlight shone through the windows onto his body, causing him to feel exceedingly comfortable.
Other than training his Spiritual Soul and tempering his physical body, the other thing Jiang Han had did in his 6 years here was to read books.
Jiang Han was clear that there would be books providing a record of the history of a civilisation, as this was one of the driving forces behind the constant progress of a civilisation. Be it the era of scientific revolution or cultivation, he wanted to understand and absorb much knowledge, while having to ask others for such information. Hence, finding the desired information from books was a clear and effective way for him.
Therefore, ever since he was able to talk, Jiang Han has been pestering his mother to teach him the basic language and read books to him.
Despite possessing an extremely high accomplishment in academia and cultural understanding, she was astonished by her son's intellect and development, resulting in her being extremely happy to read books to him. With Jiang Han's powerful Spiritual Soul allowing him to possess a vast and near eidetic memory, it took less than a month for him to learn the couple thousand of words that made up the foundation of the language used in this world.
Only when civilisation developed and reached its peak would its language be sophisticated enough to contain tens of thousands of words. In most cases, there would only be about a couple thousand of them.
Over the past couple of years, Jiang Han had started to slowly read through books by himself.
In his previous life, most of the knowledge Jiang Han had gained in the Nether Realm was pertaining to the Nether Realm itself, as well as some general knowledge on the cultivation of Spiritual Souls.
The only experience he had in the cultivation path of martial arts was during his past life on Earth, which truthfully wasn't much. Therefore, he had considered himself to be a blank slate when coming into this world.
If one desired to ascend a mountain, one would first need to identify the best routes.
In this life, Jiang Han wanted to step on the saintly path. Therefore, he naturally needed to obtain a deep understanding of all the various paths of cultivation.
Principles could be found in books. Therefore, the true essence of cultivation should be present in this library.
After a couple of years, Jiang Han had already read half the books present in the library pavillion. After reading them intensively in detail, he was indeed able to get an elementary understanding of this world.
This world was ruled by cultivation, and was endlessly large and wide. Furthermore, mortals living in lifelong poverty was one of the inevitable facts of this world.
The various human empires were established on mutual conflict. Furthermore, every one of them possessed sects and powers whose strength was immeasurable. Two words could be used to sum up the situation: "endless chaos".
The Great Zhao Empire in which the Jiang Family was established had already existed for over 8 thousand years. The vast area it controlled was close to a million square kilometres. In summary, the situation within the empire was considered to be stable and peaceful, with no large scale wars happening.
"It's said that in lands far, far away from here, there are empires and sects with histories spanning over tens of thousands of years. They possess unfathomable might and strength beyond imagination, with innumerable treasures and extravagant palaces." Pondering, Jiang Han couldn't help chuckling. "I wonder how they match up against the palaces in hell?"
Shaking his head, he placed down the book he was holding.
"Okay. I've read 《The Great Chronicles of the Empires》. Let's read the《Legends of the Saints in the Empires》." said Jiang Han as he picked up another book.
The majority of the books present in the library pavillion were ones about history, with only a few being related to cultivation. However, there were still several books about the general knowledge of cultivators present in the pavilion. As he continued reading, Jiang Han was able to gain a deeper understanding of the doubts he previously had towards cultivators.
"Other than the 3 realms of Martial Warrior, Martial Master and Martial Ancestor, there are also the 4 realms of Heavenly Yuan, True Core, Spirit Severing and Saint, in the path of martial arts cultivation." Jiang Han pondered.
He had only known about the first 3 realms in his previous life, and that one would reach the realm of Saints when one cultivated martial arts to the very peak. As for the finer details of the process in the middle, all of it was a big question mark to him.
"Innate, Acquired, and Saint?" thought Jiang Han as he continued to read.
Of the 7 great realms of cultivation, Martial Warrior, Martial Master and Martial Ancestor were known as Acquired stages. When one was within this realm, one would be able to move unhindered through the battlefield, while possessing superhuman strength.
If Jiang Han's father, Jiang Zheng was a Martial Ancestor expert who had cleansed his marrow, changed his blood and found his true self, he would already be standing at the peak within this couple of thousand miles of this Jiangbei region.
As for the Heavenly Yuan, True Core and Spirit Severing realms, they were known as Innate Stages. Cultivators at such realms had far exceeded the superhuman martial artists in the Acquired Stage. It would not be impossible for them to accomplish feats like defeating tens of thousands of people by themselves.
"The Saint Realm lies afters the Innate Stages." as he reread this information, a slightly passionate fervour started to burn within his heart.
Saints! Only Saints!
Only after one took a step out from their mortal bindings and entered Sainthood would they completely transcend from being a mortal and possess inconceivable might. One would become part of the mightiest group of living creatures within the entire world; these creatures couldn't be defeated by just throwing bodies at them.
In the ancient antiquity, Saints had killed the immortals living in the heavens, slaughtered the gods living outside of this world, and established the endless glory and splendor for the human race.
It was due to having such a group of Saints that the Great Zhou Empire was able to stand tall and not collapse over the past couple thousands of years.
"Breaking the mortal shackles and reaching sainthood. I'll definitely become a Saint and stand at the apex of the world!" thought Jiang Han as he placed his book down.
As he was passing time in hell, he was able to observe the frightening means that Saints possessed. They were existences that were able to stand toe-to-toe with divine spirits and immortals!
"The Great Sacrificial Ceremony is coming up soon once again." Jiang Han closed his book and muttered to himself. "I'm already 6 years old…"