Let us return to Song Zhong at the West Shop academy, tossing and turning.
He lit a lamp and read through the night.
Yet between the lines, there was not a single method of cultivation.
Song Zhong suddenly slapped his forehead and said in frustration, "What a fool I am! Cultivation requires specialized scriptures. The old demon god never recited any incantation, formed any hand seals, or assumed any corresponding posture. How am I supposed to cultivate?"
The candlelight flickered dimly, and Song Zhong broke out in a cold sweat.
Not only had the demon god failed to form any seals, it seemed he had not even spoken.
He remembered going there in the afternoon and coming out at dusk. How could such a short span have allowed him to write down so much?
"I remember the demon god saying that cultivators can practice visualization techniques." Song Zhong immediately began visualizing strange phenomena, but no matter how he imagined, he could never escape the mortal world's dust and grime. He pictured either peerless martial heroes, great generals guarding the frontier, or high-ranking court officials. Yet no matter what, there was no immortal aura.
If he visualized the ghost and fox cultivators from stories, he had never truly seen them.
"Alas."
"How could I forget? If I visualized that old gentleman, then..."
"Why can't I remember what he looked like?" Song Zhong rose thoughtfully and began pacing.
He carefully tried to recall that old gentleman's appearance, but no matter how he racked his brains, he had not the slightest impression. He could only laboriously search through the book again, hoping to recover the memory.
The written records still could not form an image.
It was as though the person he was visualizing was someone who should never have existed at all.