Formal Cultivation

Zhu Zhengwei quietly left, hiding his achievements and name.

Before long, the entire night sky was split apart by a roar.

"Who was it?"

"Who smashed the second Head Sarira, too?!"

The next morning.

In a port city of Bronze Country, Zhu Zhengwei sat on a bench in the fountain square, holding a copy of the All Living Beings Scripture and began to read.

Although he had completed a sentence in the general outline himself, he discovered that the entire book was practically a step-by-step guide to the Qi Consumption Method. He could not help but study it ravenously.

He was like a self-taught college student returning to formal elementary and middle-school textbooks to fill in his foundations, systematizing and standardizing all his knowledge.

He had benefited tremendously!

"Based on my current level, I'm probably about a third-level Senior Blessing Shaman. I'm already among the top-tier combatants, after all. Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng is only a fourth-level Grand Blessing Shaman."

Zhu Zhengwei sensed it for a moment and became even more amazed by the mysteries contained in the book.

"The second volume, the Cultivation Arts section, even constructively proposes a Lifebound Shamanic Art—the Spirit Appeasement Art—which allows a Blessing Shaman to instantly unleash unprecedentedly intricate attacks."

Previously, a Blessing Shaman's attacks had basically consisted of extending tendrils of Spiritual Power from the brain to attack directly.

To describe the essence of shamanic arts in the book's words: the brain's spiritual sea was like a steamer, constantly spraying out qi to attack!

But this method was too direct. A steamer spraying steam was too simple and too crude!

The method before him, however, involved transforming the brain's "steamer" into a "Spirit Binding Cage." In Zhu Zhengwei's understanding, the book's so-called "Spirit Binding Cage" was a Domed Exquisite Birdcage—the brain's steam engine. By complicating the brain and constructing different structures, one could form specialized steam engines that sprayed out powerful Lifebound Shamanic Arts instantaneously.

This was the prototype of the "Spirit Appeasement Art."

"Brilliant. Truly brilliant!"

Zhu Zhengwei read on ravenously. "Why can shamanic arts be unleashed instantly? Simple! It's like modifying your simple brain into a firearm. Once everything is laid out in advance, the bullet can naturally be fired instantly!"

Different models of "steam engines" established in the brain's qi-consuming sea would produce different instant Lifebound Shamanic Arts.

Zhu Zhengwei glanced at the First Generation Steam Engine models listed in the book. There were three in total.

The illustrations showed three incredibly complex models, like 3D designs. Their shapes were varied and incomprehensibly complicated, with some structures winding like labyrinths—enough to leave any poor student completely baffled.

Spirit Appeasement Model: Purple Sickle. By constructing a sickle-shaped exhaust, qi could be expelled instantaneously to kill with tremendous speed.

Spirit Appeasement Model: Umbrella Shield. By constructing an umbrella-shaped Qi Shield, one could defend oneself.

Spirit Appeasement Model: Voice. One could communicate mentally across a distance.

Zhu Zhengwei became deeply interested and continued reading. "At present, each person can construct only one 'Spirit Appeasement Art,' meaning one steam engine. Once it has been successfully constructed, dismantling it requires a prolonged period of weakness."

"However, the book also presents ideas for the future. Although there is only one steam engine, perhaps it can eventually be made highly precise and its quality improved, allowing a single steam engine to accommodate several instant Lifebound Shamanic Arts at once."

After reading this, Zhu Zhengwei could describe it with only one word: awesome!

It was ridiculously awesome!

They were going to turn a Single-Cylinder Steam Engine into a three-cylinder engine!

This wisdom was truly terrifying. They had only just developed the prototype of a single Lifebound Shamanic Art, yet they had already thought so far ahead!

"The Wind Swallowing and Qi Consuming Country—this really is an age of steam where everyone sprays steam!"

"This is so punk! Human-shaped three-cylinder engines, human-shaped four-cylinder engines... In the future, could they fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth? Build a human-shaped steam-powered aircraft? The technological feeling of the civilization would shoot right up!"

Seeing this, Zhu Zhengwei felt utterly exhilarated.

Everything he had learned before had been crude and simple self-taught knowledge, with no way to compare it to what lay before him.

Had he really just been squeezing toothpaste before?

No wonder all he could do was squeeze toothpaste. Everyone had been feeling their own way forward, and the methods were too wild, with far too low an efficiency!

He soon began thinking.

"Although other shamanic arts aren't unusable, Lifebound Shamanic Arts can be unleashed instantly, while other shamanic arts take much longer. Each person's Lifebound 'Spirit Appeasement Art' is the key to determining their strength. The stronger the Blessing Shaman, the stronger the steam engine they build! The same applies to me. So I need to carefully consider what my Lifebound Spirit Appeasement Art should be."

One's Lifebound Shamanic Art was extremely important.

Attack?

Defense?

Utility?

And a true powerhouse would, of course, create their own Lifebound Shamanic Art.

Zhu Zhengwei thought for a while, and a daring idea suddenly surfaced. "What if my Lifebound Spirit Appeasement Art, my brain's steam engine, were the 'Mobile Dream Network'?"

Turn this world into his Lifebound Shamanic Art?

The instant this thought appeared, Zhu Zhengwei's heart began pounding wildly!

It seemed kind of exciting.

But the idea was too outrageous, too crazy. Whether it could be realized was another question entirely.

Even so, it had already planted an ambition in Zhu Zhengwei's heart.

He quickly skipped past the second volume, the Cultivation Arts section, and looked toward the third volume, the Artifact Forging section. Once again, he was stunned by its various ingenious ideas.

This third volume included three major sections: "Artifact Refining," "Spell Mediums," and "Shamanic Gu Raising."

Artifact Refining was easy to explain.

It meant using materials with shamanic properties to create tools.

The Shaman Skull from before, for example, was also a tool that amplified shamanic arts.

As for the shinbones and skin of those Sea Giant Beasts, they were Qi Consumption beasts as well. Their remains could be used to make staffs, leather bags, and various Shamanic Artifacts.

That was still normal enough. What surprised Zhu Zhengwei was something else.

It was the "Spell Mediums" section.

This section was very short and only a prototype. Most of it consisted of theoretical concepts. It proposed using "material mediums" to instantly cast other shamanic arts. There was only one medium formula for casting an Explosion Spell, yet it had already left Zhu Zhengwei dumbfounded.

One kilogram of flour, three grams of sulfur, seven grams of charcoal powder, and one section of cow intestine.

The method of casting the spell was simple. A shamanic impact would instantly compress the pouch, causing an explosion. With sufficient cultivation and precise control, combined with qi to create an oscillation, it could blow up a small house in an instant.

"What the hell? Isn't this a Dust Explosion?" Zhu Zhengwei stared at the Spell Mediums section, utterly speechless.

That still wasn't the most outrageous part.

There was actually a "Gu Raising" section as well.

After all, Artifact Forging referred to creating tools for shamanic arts, and its scope was broad. Living tools were included too.

This "Gu Raising" section was a complete prototype and had yet to produce any results.

Because it required a long time, there had not yet been time to test it. The idea was for a Blessing Shaman to raise an insect, feeding it qi and their own blood to form a small insect colony containing qi and establish a connection with it, achieving all sorts of wondrous effects.

"This is truly incredible."

Seeing this, Zhu Zhengwei could not help sighing at the terrifying wisdom of a civilization. "Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng truly is my Superman, the master of an entire civilized age, my Einstein, my Tesla!"

This was practically a world-shaking masterpiece!

Only at this moment did Zhu Zhengwei finally gain a real sense of it:

Once this civilization developed, the depth of its various fields of knowledge would absolutely be no weaker than that of Earth's twenty-first-century Internet civilization. This civilization, which specialized in souls and flesh, might even accomplish biological Genetic Engineering that modern society could not!

By the time he finished reading, it was already dusk.

"Come home tonight and study what the teacher taught you properly, all right?" a parent said while leading a child along.

"Sentinels, begin your patrol."

Various sounds echoed around the fountain square as pedestrians rustled homeward.

Zhu Zhengwei could not help reading it several more times. Each time, he felt that it contained profound truths and new insights.

Setting aside the general outline, which encompassed all things under heaven and possessed tremendous breadth, the remaining four volumes—Shaman Invocation, Cultivation Arts, Artifact Forging, and Illuminating the Heart—contained a total of 31,831 words. They truly embodied the culmination of an age, with every word a gem!

"Awesome!"

Zhu Zhengwei felt that he had not experienced the joy of reading in a very long time.

As a Roll King, he reluctantly put the book down, organized the thoughts in his mind, and prepared to construct a "Spirit Appeasement Art." He thought:

"Although the Mobile Dream Network clearly can't be constructed right now, I can build a Lifebound Shamanic Art first. Once I grow stronger, I can dismantle it and replace it."

He was not a foolish bird reaching for the heavens. Not everything could be accomplished in a single step.

Since only three basic Lifebound Spirit Appeasement Arts were available, he only needed to choose one as a transitional measure.

The offensive Purple Sickle.

The defensive Umbrella Shield.

The utility Voice.

"The last one can definitely be eliminated first."

"Our modern society already has telephones. And transmitting my voice to people would just be making trouble for myself and letting them discover me, wouldn't it?"

Zhu Zhengwei thought for a while. "The offensive one can be discarded too. This Spirit Scythe looks formidable, but in actual effect, it's probably only equivalent to a small-caliber firearm. For now, I should focus on defense, lie low, and develop."

He soon made his decision.

He left the square and found a secluded mountain wilderness to hide in. Then he sat cross-legged.

It took him more than a week to finish constructing it. Once the "Single-Cylinder Steam Engine" had been built in his brain, a beautiful Domed Exquisite Birdcage floated up and down inside his mind. He could only feel that it was profound and all-encompassing. The knowledge and academic principles involved in constructing the "Spirit Appeasement Art" were no simpler than studying books.

"Even the simplest Lifebound Spirit Appeasement Art is so profound. Wouldn't the more difficult ones take several years of cultivation before achieving anything?" After taking a deep breath, he left the Four-dimensional world.

Crack.

He opened his eyes on the bed. Only a few minutes had passed in reality.

A dream of the Yellow Millet—nothing more than that!

His two idiot roommates knew nothing. They had no idea that he had returned from secretly learning at the feet of the Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng they had been yearning for. They were still eating the breakfast he had just brought back, bustling excitedly in front of the computer.

"Let's give it a try."

Zhu Zhengwei grew excited inside and silently walked into the dormitory bathroom.

After thinking for a moment, he turned on the shower overhead.

Pssht.

A sheet of water poured down.

"Umbrella Shield."

He silently recited this utterly ordinary name.

He felt his brain act like a steam engine, instantly spraying out a stream of qi that spread above his head like a transparent little umbrella one meter in diameter.

"Ah, an instant Spirit Appeasement Art is practically instinctive. Looks like I won't need to carry an umbrella when I go out anymore."

Zhu Zhengwei scratched his head. The only unpleasant part was that he looked like a giant mushroom spraying steam from the top of its head. "I feel like a paratrooper."

He studied it for quite a while before walking out of the bathroom.

The two idiots in the dormitory had already made a post online: "It's exploded! It's completely exploded!"

When Zhu Zhengwei heard this, he became leisurely as well.

His mood was pleasant. He moved closer to the two roommates to see what these Chives had done after last night's "collective suona chanting" of Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng.