Present-Day Cultivation World

"Whoosh~"

A streak of red light wrapped around a white book and swiftly cut across the sky, entering a room somewhere in the hotel through an open window.

"Smack~"

The red light dispersed, and the white book dropped from midair, landing securely in Gu Sheng’s hands.

"So this is that Yi Youzi’s cultivation method? It’s nothing special!"

Liu Daimei sat beside Gu Sheng, climbed over to the other side, and leaned over to take a look. She was somewhat disappointed after seeing it. Five crooked characters were printed on the cover: One-Character Yin Talisman Scripture. It certainly did not look like anything high-end or impressive.

Gu Sheng smiled and gently stroked Liu Daimei’s head. "You can’t judge a book by its cover. What matters is the content! As long as a cultivation method has substance, that’s enough. Why bother about anything else?"

"I’ll listen to you, then! Little Brother Gu!"

Liu Daimei fell backward onto Gu Sheng’s lap. Looking up at him from below, she felt that Gu Sheng looked so ugly right now! She had little interest in this One-Character Scripture. In her view, someone who could be shaken into serious injury by Gu Sheng from a distance probably was not very formidable. What was there to see in the cultivation method practiced by such a person?

"Hehehe~~"

Liu Daimei lay on her back and stared at Gu Sheng for a while before suddenly bursting into laughter. From her angle, the way Gu Sheng looked while seriously reading the book was simply hilarious!

No matter whether they were male or female, people looked ugly when viewed from below the chin. Compared to a normal frontal view, it could be called a complete disaster. With Gu Sheng’s expressions being especially animated while reading, it was no wonder Liu Daimei could not hold back her laughter.

"This cultivation method… why does it seem so much like the Mortal Flow?"

After flipping through the One-Character Yin Talisman Scripture for a long time, Gu Sheng closed the book. He now had some understanding of the cultivation path in the present world. It was also divided into the Essence Refining Stage, Qi Transformation Stage, Spirit Refining Stage, and Void Uniting Stage.

Setting aside the other types of cultivators, the first step was Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment. One had to abstain from meat and fish for at least three months, absorb the morning dew and dawn light, and cultivate a Foundation Establishment body. This stage was also known as the Qi Cultivation Stage.

After completing Qi Cultivation and forming a Foundation Establishment body, one would become as light as a swallow and run as swiftly as a flying horse. One could lift over a thousand jin with both hands and condense the most basic breath of qi. This breath was the most basic natal magical power of a cultivator. This was the Foundation Establishment Stage.

After Foundation Establishment came a long period of accumulation. One had to constantly nourish this breath until it reached its peak, at which point one could attempt to condense a true core, break through the Niwan Palace, condense True Essence, and achieve an unblemished Golden Core. This was what was commonly called the Golden Core Stage.

The later realms were not recorded in the One-Character Yin Talisman Scripture. Gu Sheng guessed they were probably something like the Nascent Soul Transformation. It really was quite similar to the Mortal Flow! The difference was that the Qi Cultivation here was not divided into a certain number of levels. It was only a period of time. As long as Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment was completed perfectly, one would definitely be able to cultivate a wisp of magical power.

Did it sound easy? In reality, if it were truly that simple, Yi Youzi would not have wasted most of his life, and this cultivation method would not have become so difficult to sustain.

The key to Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment lay in perfectly uniting essence, energy, and spirit to cultivate a wisp of magical power. The nature of this magical power was the same as Innate True Essence. It not only contained Inner Qi, but also the Primordial Spirit.

As everyone knew, the human spirit and soul remained locked within the Niwan Palace. Before reaching the Innate Realm, it was difficult for the spirit to leave the body before breaking through the Niwan Palace. However, nothing in the world was absolute. Some people possessed powerful spirits and could break through this restriction. Mental Ability Users like Le Erya were among the best of them, making it incredibly easy for them to cultivate magical power.

However, Mental Ability Users were an extremely rare category. One might not even be born among a billion people. In ancient times, such people were exceptionally gifted individuals whom the various sects fought to recruit.

Below Mental Ability Users were some other people whose Spiritual Energy was not strong enough to directly break through the Niwan Palace, but was still sufficiently powerful. This was what people called cultivation "aptitude."

Thus, in the path of cultivation, aptitude was the most important hurdle. Without aptitude, it was impossible to cultivate magical power, and therefore impossible to embark on this path.

The first hurdle of cultivation was aptitude, and this alone stopped ninety-nine percent of the people in the world. Yet passing the aptitude test did not mean one could definitely cultivate magical power.

Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment involved many prohibitions. Violating even one would make one’s aura impure and ruin all one’s previous efforts, forcing one to start over from the beginning. Each cycle wasted at least half a year.

Moreover, the emergence of magical power certainly did not come from nowhere. It required a source and energy.

Before ancient times, Spiritual Qi had been abundant. Absorbing the morning dew and dawn light was enough to accumulate what was needed for Qi Cultivation. During the middle ages, Spiritual Qi declined, but spirit items containing Spiritual Qi had not yet completely vanished, so there were still ways to ensure a supply. But by the end of the near-ancient Dharma-Ending Age, there was nothing left, and everything had been exhausted. What could one do? Slowly grind away at it!

Every attempt at Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment was also a process of accumulation. After a failure, most of the Essence Yuan that had been nurtured would remain within the body and serve as accumulation for the next attempt. Over time, one could eventually rise to the threshold. But after accumulating enough, one still needed the most important thing: an opportunity.

Those with the aptitude for cultivation had Niwan Palaces that were slightly more open than ordinary people’s. Their spirits were not locked away as tightly, and through special methods, they could draw out a portion of their Divine Essence.

However, possessing the method and the accumulation did not mean one could certainly draw out that wisp of Divine Essence. One also needed an opportunity—a faint opportunity hidden within the workings of fate.

One or two attempts might fail, but after repeatedly grinding away at it, one might finally seize the chance after failing many times. Thus, as long as one persisted, one would eventually be able to cultivate magical power. It was simply impossible to guarantee how long it would take.

It might be ten years, twenty years, fifty years, or even an entire lifetime. Someone like Yi Youzi, who could cultivate magical power at the age of fifty while living amid the mortal world, could still be considered a young prodigy. (Manual laughter.)

Yi Youzi’s Yin Talisman Scripture contained little about cultivation. Most of it was an introduction to the present cultivation world. Several pages toward the end were still unfinished. This copy was probably being used as a notebook for recording his experiences and observations. He had likely planned to turn it into a proper book and use it to fool some youngsters into embarking on the long, one-way road of cultivation.

Quite a few of the things recorded in it opened Gu Sheng’s eyes. The records concerning hidden sects in particular drew his attention.

According to the records, powerful figures from ancient and middle antiquity had already foreseen the calamity of the near-ancient Dharma-Ending Age. Thus, many great sects began a war over the Blessed Lands that offered that slim chance of survival. Cultivation history called this the Dark Epoch at the end of the middle ages.

During the Dark Epoch of the middle-age sects, those seeking that slim chance of survival fought fiercely. The divine land shifted, and its fortune declined greatly. Many Blessed Lands that had originally been anchored in place by high-level cultivators also shifted from their original locations. As a result, by the end, many of the victors failed to obtain the fruits of victory, nearly triggering another war.

In the end, these victors moved their entire sects into the Blessed Lands, leaving only a few people outside to guard their mountain gates.