The Proper Use of Green Lotus

When Gu Jinlai returned to the battlefield where he had killed the first three of the Four Evils of Star Province, the old man had already left.

His hope of stripping an outfit off the old man to replace his own "hole-riddled attire" was gone.

Fortunately, Third Brother of the Four Evils of Star Province had a build similar to his. Though the clothes were stained with blood, they would be wearable after a wash.

By the river, Gu Jinlai changed into a gaudy outfit after washing himself clean.

The Gu Jinlai he had transmigrated into was sixty-nine years old.

Even though Core Forming cultivators could live to one hundred fifty or sixty, with a theoretical lifespan of two hundred, he still could not be considered young.

Fortunately, having achieved Core Forming meant his qi and blood did not leak. He would not suffer from the aching back, sore legs, and cramping limbs of a seventy-year-old man.

His physique was robust. He could eat, run, and jump, healthier even than a young man in his early twenties.

With true qi circulating endlessly within him, the experience was still quite good.

For instance, freshly washed clothes could be automatically dried with true qi.

"Orthodox One Sect."

Gu Jinlai circulated the Great Sun Demon Radiance Art, instinctively guided by his body as it restored his true qi, while pondering the road ahead.

If he wanted to return to Changjun City, he could not avoid the Orthodox One Sect.

Though the Orthodox One Sect was not a top-tier major sect, its sect master was still a Spirit Refining Giant.

Furthermore, their headquarters was in Changjun City. With their numbers and strength, they could not be underestimated.

But that was not the crucial point. The crucial point was Gu Jinlai's enemy—Lin Xiao, the vice sect master of the Purgatory Demon Sect.

As an elder of the Purgatory Demon Sect, he had received no aid despite being hunted by the Orthodox One Sect for over ten days because Lin Xiao had been obstructing him from within.

Both were Spirit Refining cultivators, but a vice sect master wielded far greater authority than an elder.

"With a Purgatory Demon Sect like this, there is no point in staying."

Gu Jinlai wanted to betray the sect and join the righteous path.

But...

If he went to one of the Six Immortal Sects like this, he would probably be surrounded and killed by their elders before even passing through the gates.

Moreover, the Purgatory Demon Sect had always been ruthless toward traitors. Until he found a patron or gained sufficient strength, he could only entertain the thought.

"Over the past month, I have already shown weakness before Lin Xiao. With the ten-layer Karma Buff on top of that, this vice sect master will almost certainly find a way to personally strike and snuff me out! I must restore my cultivation to Spirit Refining as quickly as possible. To be absolutely safe, I should work even harder and take another step forward, reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm!"

His attention focused on the Green Lotus in his spiritual world.

The Four Evils of Star Province had provided him with four streams of clear light.

His gaze shifted to the Red Lotus Sword Qi.

Since he had clear light, he naturally had to increase his combat strength as quickly as possible, especially with the crisis still unresolved.

"Green Lotus, add it! Max it out!"

"Buzz, buzz!"

A stream of clear light crashed down, and countless profound mysteries concerning the Red Lotus Sword Qi emerged once more.

Red Lotus Sword Qi: Mastery → Perfection.

However...

"Something is off."

Gu Jinlai pondered for a moment. "I am not being stubborn! It is just that truth grows clearer through debate! I found it strange the last time I added points—why did Sword Qi have to take the shape of lotus petals? It does not conform to aerodynamics at all! Before, I could still say that my swordsmanship had not reached perfection, so I could not comprehend the true essence of Red Lotus Sword Qi. But now that I have cultivated Red Lotus Sword Qi to its end, I have the right to speak."

He felt that the Red Lotus Sword Qi could be optimized.

How should he optimize it?

Knowledge.

Gu Jinlai sensed the Green Lotus within his spiritual world.

"Every time I add points and enter enlightenment, key information emerges from my brain, forming sparks of inspiration one after another, as though my brain is filtering it itself."

A guess formed in his mind. "In other words, although I do not understand this knowledge, as long as I have encountered it before, my brain will recall that forgotten information during enlightenment, thoroughly grasp the things I could not understand, then combine them into an optimized solution—turning calculus into one plus one so that I can understand and comprehend it."

So this Green Lotus was not some point-adding device at all!

Its true nature was the strongest scientific research system!

"I graduated from university with a degree in applied physics. Before finding a job, I used the name Ten Thousand Star Years to make popular science content as an amateur researcher on Shazhan for four years. I looked up an extraordinary amount of related material. Later, my family pulled strings to get me a job at a unit in a small county, and after two years, I had forgotten almost everything I should have forgotten. Yet this knowledge still lies dormant in my mind."

He dearly wanted to know what kind of sparks would result when this knowledge collided with this world's cultivation system.

"Practice produces true knowledge. I will set a framework for the new Red Lotus Sword Qi, and leave the rest... to my brain!"

Clear light flickered.

The next moment, within his mind, the perfected Red Lotus Sword Qi intertwined with aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, wave dynamics, metrology, meteorology, the integration of sword and qi, the principles of true qi, mechanical principles, shooting techniques, navigation techniques...

Countless thoughts surged forth.

His head buzzed, and for the first time, he discovered that so much information had been hidden in his mind.

Some of it was information he had only glanced at once.

Even related information from advertising slogans reflected on his phone screen while he looked at it on the subway surfaced.

"Buzz, buzz!"

Gu Jinlai felt his brain heating up, his body temperature rising by more than ten degrees.

This was the heat generated as his body rapidly supplied energy to his brain.

He was fortunate to be a Core Forming cultivator. If he had been an ordinary person, his brain would already have been burned out.

After quite a while, the clear light dispersed.

The Red Lotus Sword Qi had turned into an unnamed sword art.

Gu Jinlai examined it briefly and found that this unnamed sword art was extraordinarily complex!

Complex to the extreme!

He did not even think he could execute this sword art.

Yes, he had learned it, but he could not use it.

After all...

It was his brain that had learned it, not his body.

What the brain knew, the body did not necessarily know. That was perfectly normal.

"I need to divide it into levels."

Gu Jinlai rubbed his temples.

He first cast aside the information and knowledge that offered little enhancement yet consumed too much mental effort.

For a time, he began cutting and trimming this unnamed sword art.

After spending most of the day slimming down the sword art, he once again shifted his attention to the consciousness within the Green Lotus.

"Continue!"

Another stream of clear light crashed down.

This time, the effect was clearly far better than before.

Gu Jinlai made a grasping motion, and a treasured sword fell into his hand as true qi circulated.

Streams of Sword Qi emerged along the blade, gradually transforming into a patch of invisible sword shadows.

Optical camouflage.

Aerodynamic configuration.

Wave dynamics design.

As he thrust with his sword, a strand of Sword Qi shot out. An ancient tree thirty meters away was pierced through by a single strike, wood chips flying everywhere.

"Concealment has doubled, speed has increased by sixty percent, range by fifty percent, and power by thirty percent..."

This power...

Was no weaker than a Spirit Refining sword art.

"The activation speed is somewhat slow. The reason is that my control over my own true qi is insufficient."

Gu Jinlai turned his gaze toward the Great Sun Demon Radiance Art.

The Great Sun Demon Radiance Art was already at perfection, operating on its own in an endless cycle.

But Gu Jinlai had never personally cultivated this technique from nothing. The circulation and movement of his true qi were all instinctive—how could he better bring out the power of this technique?

With a thought, he infused the final stream of clear light into the Great Sun Demon Radiance Art.

This clear light did not increase the Great Sun Demon Radiance Art, but it refined his understanding of the technique, allowing his true qi to flow as smoothly as his own limbs.

"Now it is settled. If I previously relied on the Mastery-stage Red Lotus Sword Qi to barely display the strength of an upper-tier Core Forming cultivator, then now I have undoubtedly crossed the threshold of the top tier and can rival a peak Core Forming cultivator."

If he could make up for shortcomings such as movement techniques and secret arts, he could even fight a Spirit Refining cultivator.

"The new sword arts... one encompasses all phenomena, so it will be called Myriad Phenomena Sword Qi. The other is shadowless and formless, so it will be called Formless Sword Qi."

With a thought from Gu Jinlai, one orb of light beside the Green Lotus consciousness changed.

Dark green turned pale blue.

Red Lotus Sword Qi: Perfection → Formless Sword Qi: Beginner.

As the orb changed, a new dark-blue orb floated out from the consciousness.

Myriad Phenomena Sword Qi: Beginner.

"Four orbs... three and a half. The orb of the Six Desires Demon Art has dimmed to the point of nearly vanishing."

Gu Jinlai withdrew his attention from his spiritual world.

In truth, he very much wanted to master a movement technique as soon as possible.

Then he could advance to attack and retreat to defend.

During the month since his transmigration, he had urgently practiced the Red Lotus Sword Qi and the Eight-Level Soaring Dragon Body.

Yet after ten days of fleeing for his life, the movement technique he had constantly been using stubbornly refused to reach Beginner level, while the Red Lotus Sword Qi had overtaken it from behind.

"No movement technique, then no movement technique. At worst, I will simply blanket them with firepower. As I am now, as long as I do not face a Spirit Refining Giant, I fear no opponent."

Gu Jinlai came back to himself and narrowed his eyes at the forest.

After living from one uncertain day to the next for over ten days, he finally possessed a shred of self-preservation ability.

Next...

It was time to let these pursuers from both the righteous and demonic paths experience what terror was.

Heh heh heh heh!

(Bring me my Nuclear-Powered Flying Sword. Uranium-235—add it! Max it out!)