Thinking this over, Zhang Tao had already made up his mind. He sat cross-legged at once and began compressing his Bridge of Heaven and Earth into a ring. In truth, this was easiest to cultivate at Rank 6. The higher one's cultivation, the longer the Bridge of Heaven and Earth became, and the harder it was to compress.
Fortunately, Zhang Tao had only just entered Rank 7. In half a day, he managed to bend his Bridge of Heaven and Earth. Then the Three Burner Gates appeared, arranged in a triangle inside the ring formed by the bridge.
Zhang Tao began circulating his vital energy. As his power flowed around and around, a phantom Brain Core soon appeared within the triangle.
Zhang Tao could clearly feel that his mental power had increased a little. Of course, he didn't have a genuine method for cultivating mental power. But simply locating the Brain Core and having power wash over it could still increase it—it just wasn't as fast as using a proper cultivation method.
It was like someone who knew their multiplication tables could get the answer at once, while you had to add things up one by one. Naturally, you'd be much slower. Even so, this was already a tremendous breakthrough for humanity.
Just then, Grey Cat came out. Seeing Zhang Tao cultivating, it asked, "Are you cultivating your mental power?"
Zhang Tao withdrew his Bridge of Heaven and Earth and said, "Brother Cat, I am. I just located my Brain Core. You might not know this, but we New Martial humans only have the Body Tempering Method, with no other techniques. Cultivating mental power has always been a major problem for us. Now that I've located the Brain Core, we've at least dealt with the urgent issue!"
"Oh? You don't even have a cultivation method? That's so miserable!" Grey Cat said sympathetically, looking at Zhang Tao.
Zhang Tao grimaced, then his eyes shifted. Right—just because he didn't have a method didn't mean Grey Cat didn't. And the cat had followed Gong Juanzi, who was a master of the Southern School and specialized in mental power. It should know at least a little.
"Brother Cat, now that I've located the Brain Core, I just don't know the right ratio of power or how to temper it more quickly. Do you know?" Zhang Tao asked at once.
Grey Cat blinked and thought for a moment before saying, "You don't know that? I think I heard Gong Juanzi mention it, but I forgot!"
Zhang Tao was speechless. Forgot? That made sense. The cat could get a little senile sometimes and forget all sorts of things.
"Then, Brother Cat, could you ask him for me? This is very important to us!" Zhang Tao asked immediately.
Grey Cat pursed its lips. "All right."
With that, it lay down on the ground. Zhang Tao was taken aback, then quickly understood. The cat must have gone to the Origin World. It liked running around there.
Zhang Tao waited beside it. About an hour later, Grey Cat opened its eyes and said, "This is what you wanted, right?"
As it spoke, it transmitted the method to Zhang Tao with its mental power.
The moment Zhang Tao received it, everything suddenly clicked. So that was how it worked. If he'd located the Brain Core before and blindly washed it with all his vital energy and mental power, his efficiency would have been one. Following this method of cultivating mental power, it would be five.
"Brother Cat, thank you! I'm heading out. Call and order whatever you want to eat!" Zhang Tao said, then dashed away.
Grey Cat didn't mind. Instead, it released its mental power and began searching. Whenever it found something it wanted to eat, it noted down the number to call. It was positively content.
He arrived at the Culture Academy. (We'll just call it the academy from now on. All those old titles—Academy Head, Chief Overseer, and the like—will be changed to Academy Head. I racked my brains over these titles before remembering Myriad Clans' Tribulation, which I read ages ago!)
Li Xianling was handling official business. After all, as the Academy Head of the Culture Academy, he was very busy.
"Oh? You're here. Is something the matter?" Li Xianling asked, looking at Zhang Tao in confusion. He also set down his pen. His favored successor had come to see him, so it had to be something important.
Zhang Tao glanced around. After confirming there was no one nearby, he released his mental power.
Li Xianling was taken aback, but released his own mental power to make contact. Gradually, his expression changed, and then he was overcome with delight. Their New Martial faction had no method for cultivating mental power. For high-ranked fighters, this was an especially embarrassing weakness. Many Rank 8 powerhouses had exhausted their Indestructible Substance and consequently could never reach Rank 9. Ultimately, it came down to their mental power.
After all, Indestructible Substance was formed from vital energy, mental power, and the power of the Golden Body gained after reaching Rank 8. None of the three could be missing. Their side was limited by its lack of mental power, which was why Indestructible Substance had become an extraordinarily precious resource.
Now Zhang Tao had suddenly given him a method for cultivating mental power. Many Rank 8 fighters would be able to put it to use, and they'd no longer have to worry about being unable to condense Indestructible Substance.
"Zhang Tao, h-how did you get this?" Li Xianling asked excitedly.
The Culture Academy had tried to seek out and develop a method before, but the results... Well, there was no need to mention them.
"Here's what happened..." Zhang Tao explained how he had discovered the Brain Core, then told him about asking the cat for help.
Li Xianling's mouth fell open. He couldn't believe mental power came from something like that.
"You did very well. Hurry up and cultivate. Once you reach Rank 9, come take my place. This old man's starting to feel a little worn out!" Li Xianling said with a smile.
Zhang Tao chuckled but said nothing. How to spread the method afterward was Li Xianling's business. With Li Xianling's abilities, he certainly wouldn't share it recklessly. He would only teach it to people he trusted.
And so, Zhang Tao went back. A message began spreading among a small circle: Zhang Tao had developed a method for cultivating mental power. Those who needed to know knew; no one else would say a word.
For a time, Zhang Tao won the approval of many Grandmasters. Even the Kongtong Seal inside him gave a faint tremor, but soon settled down again.
When Zhang Tao returned and saw the table full of delicacies, he grimaced. That cat sure could eat.
So Zhang Tao joined in without ceremony. Once he'd eaten his fill, he went to cultivate.
Now that he was Rank 7, Zhang Tao still had to study his combat techniques and tactics. Of course, at the moment, he mostly relied on brute force. There was no helping it: with the Kongtong Seal continuously restoring his vital energy, it was just like Fang Ping's cheat. Fang Ping's approach was naturally the most practical for him.
And Zhang Tao wasn't Fang Ping. He had far more experience and support. He alone had five techniques of the Blood Blade Art type.
After reviewing them, Zhang Tao quietly continued cultivating. Half a month later, Li Zhen broke through and became a Grandmaster. Of course, the youngest Grandmaster in Huaguo now wasn't Li Zhen. It was Zhang Tao.
After his breakthrough, Li Zhen went to find Zhang Tao. Unlike Zhang Tao, Li Zhen had decided to go to the Catacombs for tempering. As it happened, Zhang Tao wanted to go too, so the two hit it off at once.
Before you continue