Inverting the sea.
What was being inverted was the cultivator's sea of knowledge, which had a total of nine layers. Each time one layer was inverted, it brought them one step closer to the Great Dao.
When the entire sea of knowledge was flipped upside down, they would then be able to stand above the sea of knowledge and enter the realm of the Great Dao.
Chen Xia's method of inverting the sea was slightly different.
He inverted the million flying swords within his body, while simultaneously inverting the sea of swords spanning thousands of miles outside his body!
He achieved a true inversion of the sea, both physically and mentally.
No one knew whether the combination of these two inversions was comparable to that of the average cultivator's.
What could be known was that he had indeed entered the stage of inverting the sea.
Though it was a bit unclear just how many layers he had inverted.
This was because he had directly inverted the sea of a million swords.
Still, Chen Xia tested his own combat power and was certain he had not inverted nine layers of the sea. He estimated he was at the second or third inverted layer, which was not too many.
Next, he would need to invert all three million flying swords before he could enter the ninth layer of inverting the sea. The most difficult part would be inverting that half-immortal level bronze sword.
That single bronze sword was comparable in might to the remaining million flying swords put together.
Aside from inverting the sea, Chen Xia had made additional progress. He had successfully combined his Sword Intent with chess, which meant that each chess piece now contained a fierce offensive aura.
Specifically, the opening moves involving the knights had become even more ferocious.
That was enough.
He had also added some Sword Intent into the tea water in his teacup, using it as an ingredient when brewing tea.
Chen Xia took a sip and smacked his lips, feeling that everything was fine except for the tea slightly cutting his mouth.
This was the dull and boring life he led in Sword Prison, playing chess against himself during the day, following the standard sequence of two to three moves.
Both sides would take out a knight and capture a cannon in the opening, and then this rotten chess basket Chen Xia could not make another move. He racked his brains for a long time before resetting the chess pieces and choosing not to continue.
Since he was playing against himself, he could not break the stalemate, so it was meaningless.
In the afternoon, he would use the seawater from the Sword Sea to brew tea, grabbing the Sword Intent within it to use as a spiritual ingredient, gently warming it.
It was worth mentioning that over the past few hundred years, Chen Xia had collected a lot of Sword Intent from the sword waves. He had more than he could use up, so he stored the excess within his body.
As such, he had an endless supply.
However, this Sword Intent was not actually that powerful. It was ordinary Grand Vehicle realm level Intent, suitable for feeding regular flying swords but not enough for Spirit Swords.
What Spirit Swords needed was the pure Sword Intent within the bodies of sea beasts.
Such as the giant eyeballs.
But now Chen Xia could no longer get giant eyeballs to eat. He had devoured all the sea beasts around him, to the point where some had even become blind fish ahead of time.
The remaining cyclops fish also stayed far away from Chen Xia now.
This was the territorial division between the sea beasts. In the eyes of the other sea beasts, Chen Xia was an extremely ferocious creature, so this stretch of sea was considered Chen Xia's territory.
The other sea beasts did not dare intrude, and the sea beasts were also spiritually awakened creatures, though not highly so. Still, word of Chen Xia's exploits was passed among them.
There is a great demon in the deep sea who loves to eat eyeballs, peeling and devouring them raw. Stay away, living creatures.
This saying circulated among the sea beasts, spoken to make the little ones stop crying at night!
This was Chen Xia's infamous reputation among the sea beasts.
Although Chen Xia was happy to have peace and quiet, too much of it would also lead to boredom. The appeal of chess and tea were limited, and he could not solely rely on these two pastimes.
Cultivation within Sword Prison was also extremely slow, due to the majestic Sword Intent and scarce spiritual energy. It could be said that cultivation was basically impossible.
However, he had already entered the stage of inverting the sea, so there was no need for cultivation anyway. To progress further beyond inverting the sea, relying on cultivation alone was useless.
There were three main factors:
...
Karmic luck, innate comprehension, and longevity.
Of these three, longevity seemed the most useless on the surface, yet it was also the most difficult.
Many geniuses had fallen in their prime. They could have achieved the realms of quasi-Sage or Sage in the future, but after only reaching the stage of inverting the sea, they died and could die no more.
For example, Kui Qi.
As for karmic luck and innate comprehension, as long as either one reached an extreme, then becoming a Sage was guaranteed.
If both reached an extreme, then one would become an emperor.
Of course, the premise was that they also had longevity; otherwise, dying young would render everything meaningless.
Compared to these geniuses, Chen Xia's path of invincibility was a bit more eccentric.
First of all, the most ridiculous thing was that he did not need to walk the path of an emperor.
Chen Xia could become invincible without becoming a great emperor. It would just take a little more time.
What was even more ridiculous was that Chen Xia could also walk the emperor's path.
I'll still add points, and still take the emperor's path.
When Chen Xia became an emperor and added points on top of that, it would be more than just the cultivation base of an emperor.
At that time, Chen Xia would be able to shout at all other emperors, "I can take on ten of you!"
The most ridiculous thing was that he had eternal life. Who knew if he could break through the emperor realm and step into a whole new boundary?
With longevity on his side, as well as great luck, this meant he had endless possibilities.
Changing heaven and earth was not impossible.
Thinking of this brought Chen Xia slight excitement, and he wanted to do something.
So he exchanged twenty years of longevity with the Three Elders.
"Where did the surplus profits of the Association go these past decades?"
Pi Hu's expression was gloomy as he questioned Zhang DaoMing.
Their Heaven Pill Dao sect had been established for two hundred years already. He had invested five thousand Spirit Stones, but had not seen a single one in return.
This made him begin to suspect that Zhang DaoMing was planning to abscond with the money.
At the same time, he thought of the person who had first gathered funds at the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Chen Xia.
That man had single-handedly gathered thirty thousand Spirit Stones.
And had wasted away most of the creditors.
Those probationary disciples who had lent money to Chen Xia were not all able to pass the tests and become formal disciples. Most had been eliminated.
Since they did not become formal disciples, and were no longer probationary disciples either, they could not continue staying and had to return home.
Yet Chen Xia was still in prison at the time.
So these people were unable to get their money back, and the flying swords Chen Xia had borrowed to them were mostly not taken away either, still left in Chen Xia's abode.
The reason they did not take the swords was simple, the probationary disciples all gave the same reply.
"These aren't our flying swords anyway, what if one day they suddenly stab us in the head? That would be great."
How was that great?
Pi Hu thought briefly and understood.
It was great for Chen Xia, not only did he not have to repay the loans, there was also a chance he could obtain some dead men's riches.
The saying was about it being great for Chen Xia after all, which did make sense.
This also opened Pi Hu's eyes to a new world, making him realize for the first time that borrowing money could be handled like this.
When unable to repay, then handle the creditor.
Once and for all.
Thinking further about the relationship between Zhang DaoMing and Chen Xia, Pi Hu shook his head even more and questioned:
"Are you also illegally raising funds?!"
Zhang DaoMing forced a smile, "The Association only earned three thousand Spirit Stones, didn't we split it with you all?"
"But I invested five thousand!" Pi Hu yelled loudly.
"Gains and losses are normal, you can't expect to invest and earn money right away. And we're still just in the starting phase, why are you in such a hurry?" Zhang DaoMing shook his head persuasively.
"At least tell me how we lost money!" Pi Hu continued questioning.
Zhang DaoMing pursed his lips and said nothing.
He could hardly say it was because Chen Xia had borrowed away the money.
Otherwise Pi Hu might die on the spot.