Infinite Professions-Chapter 101 - 28: Heavenly Gang Sha

Real World, Dormitory Room.

"Psst!!!"

A hissing sound of air escaping, the life support pod’s door opened, and Shen Hex sat up from within.

"Over three months."

He glanced at the time, shook his head, and then opened his personal terminal.

He had been in the Spirit Control Realm for nearly a hundred years, and with a time dilation factor of 365 times, more than three months had passed in the real world.

Three months isn’t very long, and less than a quarter of the year-long holiday due to the Evil God’s attack had passed. Everything at Tianbei Second Middle School was calm, with no new incidents occurring.

Shen Hex didn’t wake up to cause a stir, he was preparing to stock up for himself.

Although he had forced Zhong Qingcang and those Celestial Destiny Spirit Masters to retreat, both sides were well aware that this retreat was only temporary.

Next, Martial Country intends to expand, occupy the entire Eastern Continent and threaten the Three Great Kingdoms and Spirit Control City.

Meanwhile, the Three Great Kingdoms and Spirit Control City would also be assembling forces, urging successors like Jun Cangming and Hex Yanfeng to incorporate into the Emperor Spirit, and nurturing the next generation Celestial Destiny Spirit Masters to thwart Martial Country, or even eliminate him.

Ultimately, a major war is inevitable, comparable to the dark conflict against Celestial Destiny.

This is why Shen Hex got up to stock up for himself.

Even though he had a contingency plan for these Celestial Destiny Spirit Masters, the plan was, how should I say it... not very reliable.

After all, his understanding of Celestial Destiny Spirit Masters and the Dark Demon King Beast wasn’t very precise or detailed. His previous discussions were all based on his travels over the years, supplemented by his own speculation and combined theories.

Although the reactions of Zhong Qingcang and the others had proven his theory to be largely accurate, it was only approximately accurate, lacking some details.

Therefore, the countermeasures he devised based on this might not necessarily be effective in the end.

Even if they were effective, that wouldn’t prevent him from having a backup plan.

In this world, nothing is foolproof, but you can prepare to the best of your ability, so even if something unexpected happens, you have a second plan to fall back on.

What is Shen Hex’s second plan?

It’s himself!

If the plan against Celestial Destiny doesn’t succeed, then he would have to rely on his own hands to break the deadlock.

But with his current strength, dealing with those Celestial Destiny Spirit Masters seems beyond his reach.

So, he must improve himself!

How to improve?

Of course, by taking advantage of the Empire.

His current strength has reached a bottleneck; the Martial Arts Golden Core has just been refined, the profession has just completed the Fifth Transformation. It’s difficult to make further breakthroughs in a short time; only the Spirit Beasts under his command can still be nurtured, but that’s not enough to break the deadlock against Celestial Destiny Spirit Masters.

To break the situation, he still has to rely on the Human Empire’s high-dimensional martial arts, to deliver a further downgrade strike against those low-spirit natives of the Spirit Control Continent.

So...

"Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture!"

Shen Hex logged onto the Empire’s official website and looked at the selling price of the Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture and other advanced martial arts, frowning slightly.

As mentioned earlier, a Tier Four Martial Artist, reaching the realm of refining True Yuan, is called Celestial Spirit Returning to Truth, also known as Martial Dao Foundation Establishment, where the foundation means basics.

Thus, including Xingyi Fist Skill, all basic martial arts can only be cultivated up to Tier Five. After Tier Five, advanced martial arts must be practiced to progress further and gain greater power.

The advanced martial art for Xingyi Fist Skill is this Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture!

A Tier Five Martial Artist must cultivate it to unleash Divine Martial Power without the support of a profession.

In the Spirit Control Realm, Shen Hex, having the Tier Five profession of Spirit Control Martial Monarch, relying on Ten Thousand Spirits Armor and the talent of "Xingyi Divine Martial," can unleash advanced Divine Martial Power even using the basic Xingyi Fist Skill.

But this does not prevent him from advancing further, to cultivate in the advanced Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture, possibly stepping into the realm of Tier Six in Martial Dao.

The only issue now is the price of this Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture.

Shen Hex pondered for a while, then opened communications.

"Hello, ni hao!"

Zhong Qin’s image appeared, playfully greeting him: "Haven’t seen you for over three months, what’s up?"

Shen Hex smiled and got straight to the point: "Borrow money!"

"???????"

Zhong Qin tilted her head, a series of question marks popping up, and then looked at him angrily: "You only think of me when you’re short on money, what do you take me for?"

"Of course, a kind senior who can lend me money!"

Shen Hex smiled and said, "I’m in a bit of a rush, can you lend me some?"

"Is this how you ask people for money?"

Zhong Qin shook her head: "How much do you need?"

Shen Hex smiled and said: "Ten million!"

"How much?"

Zhong Qin’s eyes widened: "You think I’m a billionaire rich woman?"

"Aren’t you?"

Shen Hex looked at her in surprise: "Then five million will do."

"You...!"

Zhong Qin was left speechless by him, finally giving in and said: "My entire worth is just over four million, what do you need so much money for? If needed, I’ll ask my senior to lend you some; she’s the real wealthy one."

The senior Zhong Qin referred to is the current Xingyi Society’s president, Teng Manyun, whom Shen Hex is also familiar with.

So Shen Hex didn’t hesitate: "Then please trouble you; transfer it over once it’s borrowed."

"Wait!"

Zhong Qin quickly stopped him: "You haven’t said why you need so much money?"

Shen Hex didn’t hide anything: "To buy Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture!"

"What?"

Zhong Qin’s eyes widened, scrutinizing him with surprise: "Why do you want to buy Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture, don’t tell me that in just three months, you’ve jumped from second-stage Gang Qi to Fifth-rank Golden Core."

Shen Hex smiled: "Of course not, but I think previewing advanced martial arts in advance will aid in my martial arts cultivation."

"Is there really such a thing?"

Zhong Qin looked at him in surprise, "You’re not trying to fool me, are you?"

Shen Hex chuckled, "You’ll know when the time comes."

"This... alright!"

Seeing this, Zhong Qin didn’t say more, "I’ll go find our senior now and transfer the money to you later."

"Thanks!"

"..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

With one settled, he dialed another.

"What’s up, Little Hex?"

The image of Shen Qingyue appeared, wearing a neat and capable Martial Dao outfit, and beside her was a tall woman dressed the same, presumably teaching at the Martial Arts Dojo.

Shen Hex got straight to the point, "Lend me some money."

"Borrow money?"

Shen Qingyue was taken aback, then quickly responded, "How much?"

Shen Hex laughed, "Two million!"

"What?"

Shen Qingyue was shocked, "What do you need so much money for?"

Shen Hex did not conceal anything, "Purchasing martial arts."

"This... alright!"

Hearing this reason, Shen Qingyue hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "I’ll transfer it to you right now."

Shen Hex nodded, "Thanks!"

"Why are you thanking me?"

Shen Qingyue smiled and started the transfer immediately.

At the same time, inside the Martial Arts Dojo.

Tang Aoxue crossed her arms over her chest, watching Shen Qingyue finish the call, "Is it that little husband of yours again?"

"What do you mean little husband..."

Shen Qingyue blushed but didn’t argue much.

"What did he want?"

Tang Aoxue looked at her coldly, "Is he asking for money again? That kid really knows how to live off a woman!"

"You misunderstood, senior."

Shen Qingyue quickly explained, "Little Hex wants to buy some martial arts materials."

"Hmph, that’s what he says, otherwise how else would he get you to hand over the money obediently?"

Tang Aoxue snorted, feeling even more exasperated, "You’re hopeless; if this continues, I feel like one day he’ll sell you and you’ll help him count the money."

Shen Qingyue shook her head, softly laughing, "Little Hex wouldn’t do that!"

"..."

After a series of twists and turns, seeing the more than ten million yuan credited, Shen Hex decisively purchased the Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture.

As an advanced martial art capable of cultivation up to Tier Six, more than ten million yuan isn’t actually that expensive; any Tier Four Professional could save up that amount in a few years.

Even the original Shen Martial Arts Hall could afford it, but in the years following the disappearance of Father Shen and Mother Shen, most of those savings were used to maintain the dojo, otherwise, Shen Hex wouldn’t be in such a tight situation.

But these are minor concerns; with strength, why fear a lack of money?

With money paving the way, progress was smooth. The Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture was quickly downloaded, and Shen Hex eagerly started to study it.

"Xingyi Divine Martial!"

"Golden Core Ninth Transformation!"

"Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends!"

Upon reading the contents of the Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture, Shen Hex realized he was entering a whole new realm.

Beyond the Golden Core is the Gang Sha, Martial Dao Tier Six, the Heavenly Gang Sha Realm!

To step into this realm, one must first complete the cultivation of the Golden Core, which is the Golden Core Ninth Transformation.

If the Martial Arts Golden Core is the extreme refinement of human power, then the Golden Core Ninth Transformation is the process where human power combines with the power of heaven and earth, undergoing tempering by the universe.

That’s right, in the end, human effort alone is not enough; one must unite with the power of heaven and earth, and the essence of all spirits to gradually acquire this great power before reaching the peak of perfection.

And the method to temper with the power of heaven and earth is through utilizing the Heavenly Gang Sha Qi!

The Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends is a mysterious force, considered a more advanced form of Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit. Golden Core Martial Artists can use the Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends to temper their bodies and Martial Arts Golden Core, and gradually integrate the power of Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends into themselves. The higher the quality of Gang Sha, and the more times it is tempered, the higher the turns of the Golden Core, thus increasing the likelihood of achieving Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends.

According to the Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture, if one can achieve the Golden Core Ninth Transformation, not only can they smoothly step into the Tier Six Heavenly Gang Sha Realm, but they can also derive Martial Arts Divine Techniques from the Heavenly Gang Sha Qi, and even develop some extremely powerful martial professions.

Unfortunately, the difficulty is immense. Take Teng Qinglong, Tianbei Second Middle School’s top Martial Dao student, for example; he cultivates the Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture’s Cyan Dragon Divine Gang and White Tiger Divine Gang, using this Martial Arts Gang Qi to temper his Martial Arts Golden Core, yet after so many years, he has only achieved Four Transformations and is stuck at a bottleneck.

Although a Fourth-Transformation Golden Core can still be promoted to Tier Six, stepping into the Heavenly Gang Sha Realm, that would likely only be considered average, and perhaps not even that, based on the principle of "I’d rather be a head for a chicken than a tail for a phoenix," Teng Qinglong is unwilling to advance, choosing instead to concentrate on cultivating, hoping to achieve a Fifth-Transformation Golden Core or even a Sixth-Transformation Golden Core.

For this purpose, he even spent a fortune buying some Dragon Tiger Evil Qi to temper his body and refine his core to increase the number of transformations.

How does Shen Hex know about this?

The president of the Xingyi Society, Zhong Qin’s senior, Teng Manyun, is the apple of Teng Qinglong’s eye. Zhong Qin heard this gossip from her and relayed it to Shen Hex.

Gang Sha Tempering, Golden Core Ninth Transformation.

This Gang Sha is a miraculous thing of heaven and earth, not considered high-level, and can be purchased if you have money.

But Shen Hex has no money, nor does he have time to earn it now, so if he wants to cultivate the Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture and temper the Nine-Transformation Golden Core, he can only rely on his own efforts, forging a connection between his human strength and the strength of the universe, forming Gang Sha and using it to temper his Golden Core.

Exactly, the main content of the Xingyi Divine Martial Scripture is about condensing twelve forms of Gang Sha Qi and combining this Gang Sha Qi with the Xingyi Fist Skill; Unity of Heaven and Man accomplishes the Xingyi Divine Martial.

With money, one can perfect it quickly; without money, there’s only hard practice.

Thus, the saying goes, a scholar (of literature) should be poor, but in martial arts, wealth is essential; without money, forget about cultivating immortality, you can’t even afford to train in martial arts.

Fortunately, Shen Hex is just financially troubled in this world.

In the Spirit Control Realm, does something like Gang Sha exist?