Confusing and Unpredictable

The spinning in mid-air suddenly vanished, and an unfathomable, profound thought surged into Zhou Qing's mind. A strange picture also appeared in the air.

It was as if viewed from tens of thousands of feet in the sky: a vast expanse of azure sea, with nine tiny black dots scattered across the boundless ocean. These dots formed a peculiar pattern that Zhou Qing had never seen before. As the viewpoint gradually descended from high above, Zhou Qing realized that the nine black dots were actually nine massive islands rising from the sea. Flocks of red, blue, yellow, and multi-colored seabirds flew to and fro above the islands. Occasionally, a sea breeze would blow, and the surging waves would crash against the rock, as unyielding as steel for billions of years, emitting a thunderous roar. The azure, crystal-like sea, the colossal islands, the crashing waves, and the multi-colored seabirds formed a perfect picture. Zhou Qing felt as if he had been transported into this scene, his very being merging with the world within the image, and a sense of joy bloomed in his heart.

The scene suddenly shifted. Giant fish swam back and forth, large lobsters crawled around, transparent jellyfish pulsed, strange seaweeds swayed, and vast forests of colorful coral appeared before Zhou Qing's eyes. Zhou Qing knew the scene had moved to the seabed. Within a coral forest spanning at least tens of thousands of acres stood a colossal palace, emitting a soft, milky white glow. The interior was hazy, obscuring any view of what lay within. "The Crystal Palace!" Zhou Qing's first thought was that this was the legendary dwelling of the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas.

The scene vanished without a trace. The ** appeared from the void, slowly descending to the ground, and returned to its original color, appearing entirely unremarkable. Zhou Qing awoke from the vision shown in the image, completely bewildered, like a monk unable to understand a riddle. This series of events had truly exceeded the limits of Zhou Qing's imagination.

Zhou Qing carefully pondered the profound thought that the ** had transmitted to him, discovering it was actually a cultivation technique. Zhou Qing was overjoyed. His own cultivation had progressed slowly due to a lack of advanced techniques and elixirs. He had only managed to reach the mid-stage of Qi Induction after stealing a sword cultivation technique from Shu Mountain, which had only slightly accelerated his progress.

While Zhou Qing's understanding of formations could be considered accomplished, if not that of a grandmaster, the Refining Compendium was a living encyclopedia of formations.

However, when it came to his own cultivation, without any reference manuals, and with the technique taught by that old Daoist Ling Yun being merely second-rate, Zhou Qing was a complete novice. But he could only imagine that this cultivation technique from the ** would be anything but ordinary.

Although Zhou Qing was a novice in cultivation, he still had a general understanding of the path.

Buddhism primarily focused on cultivating the self, divided into three channels and seven chakras. The Daoist path focused on refining the Primordial Spirit. Each had its strengths, with some specializing in the Primordial Spirit, others in the physical body, and some cultivating both, each with different emphases. The resulting cultivation techniques were as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

However, in general, they all referred to the body's extraordinary meridians and the twelve regular meridians to draw in various spiritual energies and free-floating energies from heaven and earth to temper the physical body and replenish the Primordial Spirit.

This could be achieved by borrowing the power of artifacts, like sword cultivators, or by relying entirely on the physical body to absorb energy, like in seated meditation and Qi cultivation.

The energies absorbed also varied. The Demonic Dao primarily absorbed death qi and pure Yin energy from the earth. Daoists absorbed spiritual energy, also known as immortal energy. Some sects cultivated using the energies of the Five Elements, such as the Five Elements Sect, while others cultivated using the Yang energy of the True Sun Fire, like the Pure Yang Sect. Other schools, such as Buddhism, Yao, Witchcraft, and Gu, also utilized different energies from heaven and earth.

Of course, the path of cultivation was ultimately about transforming oneself and continuously evolving. Buddhism, Daoism, the Demonic path, and Yao all had commonalities. In pursuit of immense power, throughout history, there had been many who cultivated both Buddhist and Daoist paths, Yao and Demonic paths, and even Daoist and Demonic paths, or practiced mixed disciplines. However, the risks also increased exponentially. Many had fallen into demonic possession, been blown to smithereens, or had their souls and forms utterly annihilated.

The cultivation technique Zhou Qing obtained was remarkably peculiar. It completely abandoned the concepts of the body's three channels, seven chakras, extraordinary meridians, and twelve regular meridians. Instead, it divided the body into eight extremities and nine apertures, drawing in free-floating energies that Zhou Qing had never seen or heard of before. Zhou Qing muttered to himself, "What kind of cultivation technique is this? Why is it so strange? Could it be an ancient Yao race cultivation technique? But this clearly comes from a Buddhist scripture! It's already strange enough for a Buddhist scripture to contain ancient Yao text, and now it's conjured up the Crystal Palace and this cultivation technique. Should I practice it or not?" Zhou Qing hesitated.

"Forget it. I'm already a master now, and the power of the Blood-Devouring Divine Saber has also recovered. I can use it to refine into a magic treasure or a flying sword. Then, even if I'm not invincible, I'll definitely be a peerless expert. Although my own cultivation is still lacking, I can't practice such a bizarre technique. What if I become neither human nor Yao?"

Zhou Qing made up his mind to study it first, as safety always came first. Snatch! Zhou Qing retrieved the Blood-Devouring Divine Saber, which had fallen to the ground, into his second primordial spirit. He enveloped it with his divine sense. The Blood-Devouring Divine Saber's abilities had now recovered. More importantly, the trace of consciousness generated from thousands of years of energy struggle with the Seven Treasures Mystical Tree Staff had completely disappeared, making it perfect for Zhou Qing to refine into his own magic treasure.

Once a magic treasure develops its own consciousness, it becomes difficult to control. While such treasures are miraculous, they are completely useless in combat. After all, an uncontrollable magic treasure is worse than having none! Especially for more powerful magic treasures, the consciousness they develop is stronger, and the owner finds it harder to control them. Therefore, whenever a magic treasure shows even a hint of sentience, its owner would erase it. A magic treasure with complete consciousness has never appeared before.

As soon as Zhou Qing entered the living room, he saw Liao Xiaojin massaging the little fox to promote blood circulation. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you two doing? What happened? Is the little fox's injury from that day still not healed? That's impossible! I checked it clearly."

"Master! Why did you have to learn that monk's spell? The little fox was stunned by your Six-Syllable Mantra, my ears are almost deafened, and even Junior Sister got injured and is meditating over there," Liao Xiaojin said grumpily.

"When did I learn the Six-Syllable Mantra?" Zhou Qing was completely confused, then suddenly remembered the sound that had emanated from the ** just now. "Oh! So that's what happened. It's nothing! Master, my cultivation has recovered now. Can this little matter trouble me?"

Zhou Qing raised his hand, and a stream of True Essence condensed into spiritual energy, gathering and piercing through the air to inject into the little fox's body. The little fox stirred and slowly regained consciousness. Zhou Qing, however, noticed Zhou Chen, who was meditating over there.

Looking at Zhou Chen, who was enveloped in white mist, Zhou Qing examined her with his divine sense. He felt that the white mist was a completely different kind of energy from the spiritual energy he had absorbed using the Soaring Sword Qi Art. It seems this is the demonic energy that Yao cultivate and absorb!