The Profound Mystery of Unlocking the Third Golden Page

Shen Yue closed his eyes to look within. The third golden page of the Nine Heavens Profound Mirror was fully illuminated, and four archaic characters appeared upon it: All Roads Lead to the Same Destination.

Within his body, two streams of mana surged and converged through his meridians and dantian.

One was the Qi Refining spiritual power condensed from the Geng Metal Art, sharp as a blade.

The other was the Breath-Governing mana cultivated from the Star Sand Return-to-Store Technique, heavy as a mountain.

In the past, although these two streams of mana resided in the same body, they remained distinct, each following its own meridians like water from different wells that never mixed.

However, the All Roads Lead to the Same Destination ability on the third golden page had bridged these two forces.

Spiritual power and mana flowed like two streams merging into the same lake, settling steadily into his dantian.

"Sixth level of Qi Refining!"

Shen Yue curled his fingers into a void-grasp, and a faint golden edge shimmered along the side of his palm.

Bridging spiritual power and mana was merely the surface manifestation of All Roads Lead to the Same Destination; the true power of the third golden page was the ability to convert and stack the two forces.

Yet, if that were all, All Roads Lead to the Same Destination would seem rather mediocre.

After all, he could already use both forces simultaneously even without stacking them.

Shen Yue's thoughts shifted, and his spiritual power surged, instantly transforming into dense, heavy mana.

"Sixth level of Breath-Governing!"

The sixth level of Qi Refining and the sixth level of Breath-Governing shared the same numerical rank, but the latter's mana was far more profound than the former, absolutely surpassing an ordinary late-stage Qi Refiner!

Furthermore, his divine sense had also significantly improved.

At this moment, Shen Yue could even use his divine sense to overhear the whispers of the steward, Chen Tong, over at Refining Lake:

"Chen Yunxi and Chen Qiaoqian are nothing special. But I, Chen Tong, am a pillar of the Chen Clan and a future prodigy of the Sword Sect. Foundation Establishment is only a matter of time...!"

Of course, mana did not appear out of thin air. The reason he could reach the sixth level of Breath-Governing was that the Nine Heavens Profound Mirror itself had been absorbing and accumulating energy all along.

However, was that truly all there was to it?

"If I can convert between the two major mana types at will without any restrictions, what if I cultivate both to the tenth-level perfection and then stack them onto my Qi Refining spiritual power?"

Two forces at tenth-level perfection fused together would possess a depth far exceeding the tenth level of Qi Refining.

What would happen if he used such immense spiritual power to break through to Foundation Establishment?

"Furthermore, after establishing a foundation with this, if I were to convert it back into Breath-Governing mana, what kind of Dao foundation would that forge?"

Shen Yue felt a surge of excitement.

In the small courtyard next door, Changqin Wuming and Zhou Chongwen sat facing each other.

On the stone table sat two pots of spirit wine and a plate of fennel beans.

Changqin Wuming pinched a fennel bean, his gaze drifting from time to time toward Shen Yue's courtyard next door.

After a long while, he sighed, "The fifth level of Qi Refining is not easy to break through."

Zhou Chongwen set down his wine cup and sighed as well.

"General Shen first failed to learn artifact refining, then couldn't even get a foot in the door with formations... If he fails to break through to the fifth level as well, I fear it will damage his Dao heart."

On the path of cultivation, talent is important, but a heart that seeks the Dao is equally indispensable.

Just as he often told his son, Zhou Feng: "Your talent is the best in the world, unmatched by any."

That was why Zhou Feng had achieved such accomplishments in formations.

Conversely, if the Dao heart were damaged, the path of immortality would become difficult to tread.

"When General Shen comes out, I ask that Emperor Wen help me comfort him."

"How shall we comfort him?"

Changqin Wuming pondered, "We shall just say... we also failed several times when trying to break through to the fifth level."

Zhou Chongwen's eyes lit up. "Speaking from personal experience—that is a good method."

"How many times does Emperor Ming intend to say?"

Changqin Wuming picked up his wine cup and took a slow sip. "Three times."

"Truly three times?" Zhou Chongwen pressed.

"How could that be? With my natural talent, I naturally succeeded on the first try." Changqin Wuming, of course, would not mention that he had used four.

"Then I shall say three times as well?"

Zhou Chongwen smiled and took out a sound-transmission talisman. "I will also send word to that boy Zhou Feng, telling him to treat General Shen a bit better over these next two days and stop pulling such a long face to belittle others."

"Emperor Wen is attentive to detail," Changqin Wuming praised.

Zhou Chongwen waved his hand, remaining composed and elegant.

"Three times? Father, didn't you try five times?" the reply on the sound-transmission talisman read.

"Rebellious son!" Zhou Chongwen's aged face flushed red.

A moment later, Shen Yue gathered his focus and closed his eyes once more.

The road ahead was long, and there was another matter to attend to right now.

He maintained his mana at the sixth level of Qi Absorption, scouring the fire toxins within his meridians inch by inch.

With the robust mana of the sixth level, he had enough power to completely purge the fire toxins.

As his mana continued to circulate, the fire toxins were forced out in thin wisps.

Before long.

Shen Yue held his palm upward, where a cluster of dark red fire hovered and danced.

The fire seed was crimson with golden undertones, its surface etched with fine, flowing patterns, resembling a lotus seed bathed in flames.

"The [Heavenly Cauldron True Fire Hundred Refinement Scripture] is truly profound..." Shen Yue murmured.

This scripture contained several esoteric refining techniques; the Green Fire Cauldron from before and the Xin-Si Fire Seed before him were both products of it.

The Xin-Si Fire Seed used fire toxins as a catalyst, essence blood as a pact, and mana as nourishment, capable of releasing high-temperature flames comparable to powerful fire-element spells.

Furthermore, this fire seed possessed growth attributes; it could continue to strengthen by absorbing fire energy.

What was even better was that because this fire seed was refined from Shen Yue's own fire toxins, it was naturally connected to his mind and spirit, their essences intertwined.

If others were to obtain this fire seed, they could at most use it as a spiritual tool, and it would be considered good if they could unleash fifty or sixty percent of its power.

But in Shen Yue's hands, it was like a part of his own body, as responsive as an arm or a finger, with its power increased by thirty percent.

"Sixth level of Qi Absorption, Xin-Si Fire Seed..."

"With my current strength, I should be able to put up a fight against a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator like Chen Tong, right?"

However, the mindset of a lower-level cultivator was not advisable.

If one were to fight across ranks, it was far more satisfying to do so from a position of superiority.

"Strength lies not only in cultivation base, but also in spiritual tools, talismans, spells, and the like. My repertoire is still too thin."

"I must go to Ancient Wei again to learn two powerful spells."

Shen Yue tidied up briefly, adjusted his cultivation base to the fifth level of Qi Refinement, and stood up to leave the room.

"In our line of cultivation, failure is a common occurrence."

Changqin Wuming walked toward him, speaking with earnest concern:

"Back in the day, it took me three tries to successfully reach the fifth level! The first time, my meridians nearly went haywire. The second time was even worse; my mana dissipated just as it was halfway condensed."

Zhou Chongwen nodded from the side: "Come to think of it, it took me three tries as well. Cultivation should be a matter of perseverance; as long as one's Dao heart does not waver, there will always be a day when the clouds part... Hmm?"

Before Zhou Chongwen could finish his sentence, his expression changed abruptly.

"You succeeded?!"

Mystic Array Pavilion.

"Look here," Xia Qingqing pointed at the patterns Shen Yue had drawn with a jade tally, shaking her head like a little adult.

"The spiritual energy breaks when it reaches this corner. Why? Because your turn is too sharp, and the spiritual energy can't make the bend."

"The correct way is like this: when it reaches this position, the pattern should narrow slightly to allow the spiritual energy to accelerate naturally..."

"Master is back." Zhou Feng walked over with a calm expression. "He wants you to go over; he's going to test how well you've learned array formations."

"Alright." Shen Yue stood up.

Xia Qingqing looked up at Shen Yue with her small face: "Good luck!"

Shen Yue nodded.

Zhou Feng recalled his father saying that Shen Yue was no good at artifact refining, no good at cultivation, and hadn't learned anything of note in array formations either—truly a miserable state. After a moment of thought, he said:

"Master is very strict. My junior sister and I didn't satisfy Master back then either, and we were scolded for it. You... just try your best, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"That's right! I remember when Senior Brother had his first test, Master asked him how many variants the simplest Spirit Gathering Array pattern had. Senior Brother couldn't answer a single one and got his palms struck by Master's ruler—it was so loud!"

Zhou Feng: "..."

Inside the room.

Xuanzhenzi's hair was gray, his face thin and gaunt.

He sat behind a desk, holding a fine-tipped talisman brush, slowly tracing lines onto an array diagram.

Shen Yue knocked and entered, but Xuanzhenzi didn't even lift his eyelids, merely pointing toward an array diagram hanging on the wall.

"On that, how many types of array patterns are there?"

Shen Yue turned to look.

It was a three-foot-square array diagram, drawn on pale yellow silk with dense, overlapping patterns that looked like a tangled mess at first glance.

He steadied his focus, starting from the top-left corner and identifying each line one by one.

"Spirit Gathering Array patterns, three variations. Qi-guiding array patterns, two. Stabilization array patterns, one basic type and two variations. And also..."

Xuanzhenzi looked up, his heart filled with astonishment.

Zhou Feng had clearly told him that the newcomer only studied arrays for two hours a day and hadn't even mastered the basics of array patterns yet.

"Come here and take a look at this." Xuanzhenzi picked up the array diagram he had just designed.

Shen Yue stepped forward, and as he gazed at the diagram, his eyes lit up.