Dreams Have Their Own Methods Within Books

"Since it's a dream, it's perfectly reasonable for the time flow to be different!"

As the thought crossed his mind, a surge of white mist welled up in his heart, conveying a piece of information that made Chen Qing pause in surprise before a look of sudden realization dawned on him.

"Each time I enter a dream, only a moment passes in the outside world, but seven days elapse within the dream. However, the entry point for each dream can be random and doesn't necessarily pick up from where the last one ended. If I expend a Dao Mark to leave a marker, I can reconnect to a previous dream. Alternatively, if I wish to extend a dream beyond seven days, I can also expend a Dao Mark to increase the dream's duration... Hmm, there's no need for that for now."

Feeling the newly absorbed spiritual energy coursing through his limbs and bones, with signs of it wanting to break free and dissipate, Chen Qing immediately gathered his focus, concentrating on guiding the spiritual energy through a full circulation until it returned to his dantian.

In an instant, his sea of qi became even more abundant, and the golden light three inches below his navel faintly grew!

"Master once said that in ancient times, cultivators broke through purely based on aptitude and comprehension. Because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was abundant, there was no need to painstakingly accumulate it. Thus, this golden light below the navel signifies potential for Foundation Establishment; the brighter it glows, the higher the aptitude!"

"Nowadays, the spiritual energy in the world is sparse, and breaking through requires external aids. For major and minor realms alike, there must be corresponding heavenly treasures, medicinal herbs, and elixirs."

"If I can receive spiritual energy feedback from my dreams each time, perhaps I can save resources and reserve them for my disciples to use."

After guiding the spiritual energy back to his dantian, Chen Qing recalled the experiences of "Chen Xu" in the dream.

Seven days, not long, not short, but being confined to a small prison cell, the gains were limited.

"I wonder if the Primordial Immortal Dynasty truly existed in history. If it did, I could act much more conveniently in my dreams by gathering more information. But this world's history is said to trace back tens of thousands of years. Over such a long span of time, how can one verify an Immortal Dynasty?"

He savored the feeling of abundant spiritual energy in the dream: "In the era of the dream, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth was extremely abundant, allowing for effortless absorption. And Chen Xu had an extraordinary background. Although his cultivation was crippled, he likely had the foundation of the second realm. Experiencing more of his dreams might help me break through..."

With this thought, Chen Qing recalled the key principles of cultivation his master had spoken of:

The path of cultivation lies in the Life and Soul Cultivation. Soul cultivation emphasizes tempering the mind and understanding the origin, while Life cultivation emphasizes refining the physical body and solidifying the foundation. Therefore, the path of cultivation is such that the soul is inseparable from life, and life is inseparable from the soul.

The first realm of cultivation, "Yellow Court Initial Opening," strengthens the viscera, fortifies the physique, nourishes qi and strength, opens the dantian, and develops the essence, qi, and spirit within.

The second realm of cultivation, "Soothing Harmony Foundation Establishment," guides qi to cleanse the marrow, plants talismans to purify impurities, nurtures the Supreme Harmony Qi, and condenses the life-bound spiritual talisman.

The third realm of cultivation, "Mysterious Unity," progresses from life to soul, condensing the Yin Spirit, where life and soul cultivate together, with the form and spirit both separating and unifying.

These three realms are also known as the "Initial Cultivation Three Realms" and collectively termed "Foundation Establishment and Body Refinement." Their purpose is to temper the physical body into a raft for crossing the sea of suffering and to lay the foundation for soul cultivation.

"I have now perfected the first realm, while Master is in the middle stage of the second realm. I heard Grandmaster achieved the third realm through a secret technique. Logically, those in the second realm have a lifespan of two hundred years, and those in the third realm have a lifespan of three hundred years, yet neither of them lived out their natural lives..."

As he was pondering, he suddenly heard a noise outside the window. Chen Qing looked in the direction of the sound and saw Fang Da'ao tiptoeing towards the backyard.

He frowned and quietly followed.

After a few steps, they reached the open space in the backyard. He saw Fang Da'ao practicing the bear form from the Five Animal Guidance Technique, his fists whistling through the air.

"Is he secretly training because he feels pressured?" Chen Qing mused. "But if he only focuses on refining his body without keeping up with medicinal baths and dietary supplements, it will damage his foundation."

Fang Da'ao and the others were all teenagers. Although they had been tempering their bodies for several years, they had not reached the stage of sufficient essence and stable qi, nor had they truly begun cultivating. They weren't even cultivators of the first realm, their bodies were still mortal flesh, and they couldn't withstand such strenuous practice frequently.

With this thought, Chen Qing spoke directly, "The path of cultivation values both body and mind. Our Hidden Star Gate's guidance technique can strengthen the body even after stepping into the first realm, but it emphasizes gradual progress. Haste makes waste."

Fang Da'ao froze upon hearing the voice, scratching his head sheepishly. "Uncle-Master, you found out the first time I snuck in for practice..."

"Do you think your little tricks can hide from me?" Chen Qing walked closer and admonished, "Without medicinal diets to complement body refining and martial arts training, it will only deplete your qi and blood. The more you train, the weaker you'll become. That's why people say literature is for the poor and martial arts are for the rich; you can't practice the body without money and medicine."

"Han Sha is gone, and Xiaoyao is still young. If I don't work harder, how can I revitalize the sect?" Fang Da'ao said, hesitating slightly before finally adding, "Besides that, just after I woke up, I felt a warmth in my abdomen. I remembered Grandmaster saying that the sign of entering the first realm is a warm current in the dantian, followed by a doubling of strength. So, I thought, if the feeling arrived, I shouldn't miss the opportunity, that's why I..."

"Your dantian feels warm?" Chen Qing's eyes lit up with joy at the news, then he turned serious. "Although cultivation relies on opportunities for breakthroughs, Foundation Establishment emphasizes accumulation over time, reaching a natural culmination. Once the accumulation is sufficient, you can break through like a bamboo splinter!"

Fang Da'ao pondered for a moment, then hesitantly asked, "Uncle-Master, based on what you just said, can I continue cultivating with the Five Animal Guidance Technique after entering the initial realm?"

Chen Qing nodded. "Indeed. The Five Animal Guidance Technique is not a secret art; various sects have similar techniques. The uniqueness of our Hidden Star Gate lies in its visualization, breathing methods, the circulation path of qi, and the accompanying medicinal formulas."

Fang Da'ao processed this for a moment and then asked, "But my aptitude is dull, not as good as Han Sha's. I fear I won't be able to cultivate the orthodox Daoist methods. Won't the next generation of the sect decline? Why don't you go down the mountain and find some individuals with excellent aptitude and talent to inherit the mantle?"

Finding a seed for cultivation, how is that so easy!

Moreover, my own talent is also average...

With this thought, Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "The methods of cultivation have been passed down since ancient times and are constantly being perfected. Today's methods not only divide major realms but also further subdivide each realm into early, middle, late, and perfected stages. These divisions are not arbitrary but are the result of cultivators refining and annotating them generation after generation, with clear key points and corresponding medicinal materials for each stage. This truly lowers the threshold and difficulty of cultivation. You only need to focus on your practice, and you will naturally progress."

"I understand!" Fang Da'ao's eyes brightened, and he became energetic again. He also heeded the advice and returned to his room to catch up on sleep.

After he left, Chen Qing sighed inwardly.

Although what he said was true, the core cultivation technique of the Hidden Star Gate was a fragmented scroll.

Where was it fragmented?

The cultivation essentials were vague, the medicinal formulas were incomplete, and even the visualization diagram was missing half of it! If not for this, how could their progress be so slow? Why would they be so demanding of bone structure and comprehension? Naturally, it was because the conditions were insufficient, so talent had to compensate!

"I can somewhat understand Master now. Managing a sect truly requires words of comfort. But relying solely on comfort is not a long-term solution. Once Da'ao and the others enter the first realm, the problems will eventually be exposed."

This worry intensified a few hours later when Chen Qing discovered that Qu Xiaoyao, uncharacteristically, was diligently learning to read and write with a desperate intensity, completely lacking her usual carefree and relaxed demeanor. Clearly, she also felt the pressure.

As a result, he was constantly worried even amidst his busy daytime activities, only finding respite in the evening.

"I should first explore the dream-entering method of the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record. Given the Hidden Star Gate's current situation, progressing step by step will make it too difficult to turn things around. If there's a turning point, it might be within these dreams, hmm?"

As he entered the dream platform and opened the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record again, he found that the ink marks on the first page had increased from ten to eleven.

"This extra one..."

With a light touch of his finger, Chen Qing immediately understood.

"As expected, it came from explaining things to Da'ao. His heart gained insight, and my dream gained something. Now I have a stable way to obtain Dao Marks. I was originally thinking of saving them, but now I can relax a bit."

Thinking this, he silently recited "Enter Dream," and his consciousness was once again drawn into the pages of the book.

"Last time, I dreamt for seven days and was trapped in prison. I woke up just as I was about to be released. But the entry points for each dream are different. I wonder how much time has passed this time..."

Chen Qing opened his eyes, and what greeted him was not the dark, damp ceiling of a cell, but bright sunlight and dappled tree shadows.

A gentle breeze brushed his face, feeling exceptionally pleasant.

He instinctively took a deep breath, the fragrance filling his lungs with a unique charm!

Chen Qing couldn't help but pause, then he realized!

This was extremely concentrated spiritual energy!

"Just a casual breath draws in so much spiritual energy, what a great era! But where is this place? Ugh!"

He was suddenly struck by a splitting headache, and countless fragmented memories flooded his mind!

A moment later, Chen Qing let out a long sigh and looked towards a cluster of houses in the distance. "The points in time for entering dreams are indeed not continuous. Seven years have passed since I last left!"

Those fragmented memories were the experiences of "Chen Xu" over the past seven years.

Seven years ago, "Chen Xu" was freed from the Mysterious Prison by a word from the Tenth Princess and brought to Tingfeng City.

This city was the Tenth Princess's fief.

While the Princess nominally recruited guards who had clean backgrounds, a foundation in cultivation, and were not too old, her true intention was for "testing techniques."

"Before the Primordial Immortal Dynasty was established, the Hundred Races fought fiercely, and the human ancestors pioneered the path of cultivation from which they rose. However, their descendants' talent and bone structure were inferior to the founders, and the cultivation methods were rudimentary, with many unclear aspects. Learning their techniques yielded half the results for twice the effort, with minimal progress. Thus, numerous modifications and additions arose, leading to the birth of many sects and aristocratic families."

Upon arriving at the city, the City Lord, Xu Ruohuai, answered the newcomers' questions.

At that time, the City Lord had frankly stated, "Descendants of Immortal Emperors like Princess Xiyao, due to their innate divine nature and resilient souls and bones, find it difficult to cultivate using conventional methods. Therefore, they require you all to test techniques and adjust the cultivation methods for the Princess's reference and practice!"

"To specifically raise cultivators to test techniques and try out various methods to identify their strengths and weaknesses is truly extravagant," Chen Qing shook his head, withdrawing his thoughts. "However, this is like 'daytime thoughts leading to nighttime dreams.' During the day, Da Ao and Xiao Yao struggled with slow progress, and I was the same. Who knew that the ancient people in the dream were also troubled by the same issue, though for different reasons? One was a missing technique, the other was..."

He suddenly froze, narrowing his eyes in thought. "Since it's for testing techniques, for the Princess, what's the difference between testing it for my junior disciples or my true body? This is a dream; this body and identity are all fictional. There's no need to hold back!"

According to the memories, on that day, he pointed out the hidden dangers in the Princess's cultivation and was chosen as the fourth person. However, after being chosen, the Tenth Princess never appeared to inquire about the hidden dangers. After "Chen Xu" arrived in Tingfeng City, he was settled in a separate courtyard in the mountains, and no one paid him any attention for a long time.

"She's not in a hurry, and neither am I. Besides, this is a dream, fragmented and intermittent, which is quite reasonable."

Compared to the Princess's matter, Chen Qing was more concerned about his cultivation over the past seven years. His dream body, after arriving at the courtyard, chose the Great Mountain Heavenly Art as his primary cultivation method and had now reached the peak of the first realm.

"Although this dream body quickly cleared its meridians before, its foundation was still at the first realm. Now, re-cultivating the technique, it's starting from scratch. However, this Great Mountain Heavenly Art..."

After recalling the contents of the technique, Chen Qing's face showed surprise.

The technique was too crude and only listed three realms! There were no detailed realm divisions, no crucial annotations, and not even any formulas for auxiliary elixirs or medicinal guides. In terms of content, it was even more incomplete than the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll!

With his seventeen years of arduous cultivation experience with the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll, Chen Qing could easily spot numerous omissions and areas for improvement.

"With such incompleteness, how could he reach perfection in seven years? Is it because Chen Xu's foundation was solid, or because of the abundant spiritual energy?"

While filled with surprise and doubt, he delved deeper into his memories and finally discovered the peculiar characteristic of this technique--

The opening of the Great Mountain Heavenly Art was a complete visualization diagram. In the diagram, strange peaks pierced straight into the clouds. Merely recalling it made Chen Qing's spirit tremble, feeling as if his spirit was about to fly out from the top of his head!

"Just recalling it makes the spirit tremble; this visualization diagram must be of extremely high quality!"

Thinking that the cultivation method was originally in "Chen Xu's" room, Chen Qing couldn't sit still any longer. He immediately got up to return, but before he could take two steps, he was stopped by a short, plump figure.

"Chen Xu, I finally found you!" The newcomer was clearly familiar with "Chen Xu." "Today is another assessment of cultivation insights! We have to escape quickly! We have to leave here to save our lives!"

"Escape?"

Chen Qing was stunned, then shook his head.

"What's the point of escaping in a dream?"

Alas, being a novice is not easy