Xuanhuan: The Empress and I Swapped Bodies - Chapter 49

Ye Wushuang was unaware of the Grand Elder’s thoughts.

During this time, though he had been practicing the Grass Script Sword Technique and other sword arts, he had also been cultivating the Eight-Nine Heaven Technique. However, as he trained, he began to sense something amiss.

This feeling wasn’t because he was practicing incorrectly—rather, he felt his progress had slowed down far too much.

Before, his advancement had been swift, almost effortless, with breakthroughs coming daily. But now, things were different.

Though he was still making progress, the speed had drastically declined. No longer was he improving at an astonishing rate. In fact, he had a premonition that breaking through to the next level of the Eight-Nine Heaven Technique would take an excruciatingly long time—perhaps even a full year.

Such a delay was unacceptable to Ye Wushuang.

After some hesitation, he sought out Zongzheng.

“Master!”

“Hmm? What is it? Have you encountered some difficulty?”

At this moment, Zongzheng Liu Ning maintained the dignified demeanor of a strict mentor, nothing like the kind of master who secretly practiced his disciple’s techniques, feared exposure, and contemplated silencing witnesses.

Ye Wushuang, of course, knew nothing of this. To him, there was nothing unusual about Zongzheng Liu Ning’s behavior.

“Master, I’ve hit a bottleneck in my cultivation!”

“Oh? A bottleneck? Even you would encounter a bottleneck?”

By now, Zongzheng Liu Ning was utterly in awe of Ye Wushuang’s talent. Hearing that his disciple had encountered a bottleneck, he couldn’t help but feel curious.

He wanted to know what kind of obstacle could possibly hinder a prodigy like Ye Wushuang. More importantly, he relished the chance to offer guidance, proving his worth as a strict yet wise teacher.

Thus, when Ye Wushuang mentioned his bottleneck, Liu Ning was almost excited.

Without overthinking, Ye Wushuang answered plainly:

“Master, I feel my progress in the Eight-Nine Heaven Technique is too slow!”

“What? You think you’re progressing too slowly? You’ve already achieved the strength of a trillion jin in just half a year! How is that slow?”

“Master, didn’t you say you reached this level in just three months?”

“Ah! Ahem! Hahaha! Well, yes, but… our circumstances are a bit different!”

For the sake of pride, Liu Ning had exaggerated.

In truth, it had taken him thirty years to even approach the strength of a trillion jin. The Eight-Nine Heaven Technique was unlike other cultivation methods—the further one progressed, the more difficult it became.

Thus, he was already immensely satisfied with Ye Wushuang’s speed. If he had to describe his disciple’s talent, he’d call him a once-in-a-million-years genius.

Still, wanting to keep Ye Wushuang humble, Liu Ning instinctively tried to temper his expectations.

Hearing Ye Wushuang complain about his progress—even suspecting he had hit a bottleneck—left Liu Ning utterly speechless.

Progressing at such an insane pace yet still feeling dissatisfied was downright demoralizing. Even as a half-step Supreme, Liu Ning found this hard to stomach.

As he often said, even when battling countless Immortal Emperor-level experts in his youth, he had never suffered such a devastating “wound.”

Yet, he had no choice but to reassure Ye Wushuang, lest his disciple overthink things.

“Don’t overanalyze it. The Eight-Nine Heaven Technique grows increasingly difficult the further you cultivate. Slower progress at later stages is completely normal.”

“There’s no need to rush. Haste makes waste.”

“But is there really no way to speed up my cultivation?”

“How could there—well… actually, there is, but…”

At first, Liu Ning wanted to say no—after all, when he had practiced the technique, he had advanced step by step through sheer effort and time.

But then he remembered that Ye Wushuang was no ordinary cultivator. His speed and comprehension were beyond human limits. Perhaps methods that Liu Ning couldn’t use would work for him.

Thus, Liu Ning hesitated.

Hearing that there might indeed be a way, Ye Wushuang’s eyes lit up.

“But what? What method?”

“In the highest level of the Scripture Pavilion, there’s another technique that can accelerate your progress in the Eight-Nine Heaven Technique.”

“However, the conditions for cultivating it are extremely demanding. Even with unparalleled talent, if you don’t meet the requirements, it’s impossible.”

“What technique is it?”

“The Divine Phoenix Clan’s—Undying Heaven Technique!”

Within the Divine Dragon Palace’s Scripture Pavilion lay a peerless technique: the Undying Heaven Technique.

Legend held that mastering it granted the power of nine deaths without true demise. Through continuous rebirths, one could grow ever stronger.

However, this was the Divine Phoenix Clan’s secret art. To cultivate it, one needed the blood of a Divine Phoenix as a catalyst. Only by absorbing this blood could one truly practice the Undying Heaven Technique.

Without it, no matter how high one’s comprehension, success was impossible.

The problem was, unlike the Dragon Clan, which had left behind numerous bloodlines, the Divine Phoenix Clan had long since vanished into the river of time.

In the current era, not a single Divine Phoenix was known to exist—not even descendants of the clan. Even among divine birds that underwent ancestral awakening, only a few drops of true Divine Phoenix blood could be condensed.

The Divine Dragon royal family didn’t possess a single drop.

Thus, mastering the Undying Heaven Technique was effectively impossible.

After explaining this, Liu Ning shook his head.

“A pity. Our royal family no longer possesses any Divine Phoenix blood. There’s no way for you to cultivate the Undying Heaven Technique.”

“If I had Divine Phoenix blood, I could master it?”

“With your comprehension, yes. If you obtained Divine Phoenix blood, you could cultivate the Undying Heaven Technique.”

“And if you mastered it, your Eight-Nine Heaven Technique might leap an entire major realm. You could even use the Undying Heaven Technique’s rebirth power to rapidly enhance your strength and advance through the Eight-Nine Heaven Technique’s levels!”

“A single rebirth could elevate you by an entire tier!”

Hearing this, Ye Wushuang’s heart raced.

He had already reached the strength of a trillion jin. Only a few more breakthroughs stood between him and true perfection.

If he could use rebirth to swiftly ascend through the Eight-Nine Heaven Technique’s levels, he might achieve completion in no time.

The thought filled him with excitement.

“Good! Then I’ll go search for the Divine Phoenix blood!”