Spirit Rhinoceros Grass

Kou Xiang'er was quick and efficient. She soon returned from the secret treasury, respectfully presenting a jade box with both hands.

He Sheng took the jade box and gently lifted the lid. A crisp, refreshing fragrance of grass and wood immediately rushed toward his face.

Inside lay a plant roughly an inch long, translucent pale blue throughout. Its slender leaves resembled willow brows, seven in total, spiraling around the stem.

Most miraculous of all, beneath the glow of spiritual light, each leaf tip seemed to have condensed a droplet of silver radiance, making it appear remarkably mysterious.

"I heard from Sixth Miss that this Spirit Rhinoceros Grass must grow beside a pool with a spirit vein, absorbing spiritual qi and moonlight for a full sixty years before it can mature."

Kou Xiang'er introduced it softly from the side.

"This grass can permanently improve one's comprehension slightly. Sixth Miss said it is an exceedingly rare treasure for those cultivating Technique Divine Abilities or Artifact Divine Abilities."

Technique Divine Ability?

Artifact Divine Ability?

"Kou Xiang'er previously mentioned something called a Fate Divine Ability as well. It seems the words 'Divine Ability' are far from ordinary."

He Sheng continued asking a question or two, but Kou Xiang'er did not know much. She had merely heard of it in passing.

He Sheng committed the two terms to memory, then looked again at the Spirit Rhinoceros Grass in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

What he wanted was a permanent increase in comprehension, not a fleeting flash of inspiration or enlightenment.

"Whether I used the clepsydra to cultivate the Clear Ripple Water Control Art or secret arts like the Soul Imprint Art, comprehension was a crucial factor. Only by believing myself to be a genius in this path could I gain additional insights.

What was a genius, if not someone with high comprehension?

In other words, comprehension was the key to triggering additional insights!"

He Sheng knew that if his conjecture was correct, comprehension was of the utmost importance.

With that thought, He Sheng sent Kou Xiang'er away and placed the translucent Spirit Rhinoceros Grass into his mouth.

The Spirit Rhinoceros Grass melted the moment it entered his mouth. There was none of the vast medicinal power he had expected, only a cool, refreshing current sliding down his throat into his abdomen. It then transformed into faint motes of light like scattered stars, silently merging into his limbs and bones before finally surging straight into his sea of consciousness.

"Hmm?"

He Sheng's brows rose slightly. The sensation was not intense. There was neither a drastic transformation of flesh and bones nor an explosive burst of enlightenment.

Yet he could clearly feel that the faint layer of "sluggishness" in his mind had been lightly wiped away by a trace.

It felt like a dust-covered mirror stand being polished a little brighter. Though the world reflected in the mirror had not changed, the mirror surface itself had become clearer.

"So this was the effect of a slight increase in comprehension."

That cool current gradually dissipated, and the sensation in his body returned to normal.

"It is time to test the effect of comprehension as I planned."

With a thought from He Sheng, his consciousness gathered on the minus sign behind Clear Ripple Water Control Art.

Whoosh...

The value of the Clear Ripple Water Control Art, which had already reached the realm of Transcendent Mastery, began to plummet madly. In the end, it returned to zero, becoming:

[Technique]:

[Clear Ripple Water Control Art (Beginner): 0/100]

(Total cultivation time: one day)

In an instant, the myriad insights regarding water arts in He Sheng's mind receded like a tide.

That feeling of merging with the water vapor between heaven and earth vanished completely. The once-lively Subtle Ripple Intent Realm was gone without a trace, and he became once more a beginner with only a superficial understanding of water arts.

At the same time, the available cultivation time within the clepsydra increased dramatically.

[Total currently available cultivation time: twenty-two years, two months, twenty-seven days]

He Sheng did not pause. His consciousness immediately focused on the plus sign behind Clear Ripple Water Control Art.

Whoosh!

As an unending stream of cultivation time was invested, a great deal of cultivation information appeared.

[After one year of arduous cultivation, your Clear Ripple Water Control Art has greatly improved. You sigh that your talent in the path of water arts is extraordinary.]

As before, once it reached the peak of Transcendent Mastery, the Clear Ripple Water Control Art could advance no further.

Other than the Water Transformation Realm, the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm, and the "Transcendent Art—Water-Gathering Break," he had gained no new insights during the process.

"Could my guess have been wrong? Did comprehension have no substantial effect?"

Amid his doubts, He Sheng carefully examined the information displayed in the water droplet.

[Clear Ripple Water Control Art (Transcendent Mastery): 1000/1000]

(Total cultivation time: sixteen years, nine months, seventeen days)

"If I remember correctly, it should have taken seventeen years, four months, and twenty-two days to cultivate it to this point before.

Now the time had been shortened... by seven months and four days.

That meant increasing comprehension had an immediate effect. At present, it was at least equivalent to a multiplier on cultivation time!"

He Sheng calmed himself and calculated carefully, muttering:

"If comprehension corresponded to a cultivation-time multiplier, then assuming its effect remained constant, my previous comprehension could be quantified as 62. If the Spirit Rhinoceros Grass increased it by only one point, my comprehension was now 63.

Then that would match the reduced cultivation time exactly!"

Originally, He Sheng had thought that increasing comprehension would bring new insights, but he had not expected it to directly shorten the total cultivation time.

"That is fine too. Even if it only raised comprehension by the tiniest bit, the effect was visible."

He Sheng immediately began testing his other cultivation methods.

After recultivating the Flesh Rebirth Art, he saved ten days.

The Soul Imprint Art, meanwhile, saved nineteen days.

However, the Clear Billows Water Origin Art did not change in the slightest.

"Could comprehension only shorten the cultivation time of [Techniques]? Did it have no effect on [Arts]?

Or was my sample size too small?"

Since he was still at the Lower River Branch, He Sheng naturally did not dare to roll everything back completely. He only rolled back to Foundation Establishment Early Stage for testing, yet there was not the slightest change.

"Once this matter is settled, I must find somewhere safe and properly study the clepsydra."

He Sheng also began considering what came next. At present, he had no intention of taking over the He Family.

For one thing, Ye Shaochen was a direct threat. He did not want to be cultivating one day only for the other man to block him on Long Sun Mountain with a sword in hand.

For another, the He Family was vastly different from the immortal cultivation lineage he had imagined. Unless he put in tremendous effort to reform it, who knew when another thunderclap might explode.

Yet changing it was by no means something that could be done overnight. It would require tremendous effort.

If that was the case, would it not be better to spend that time and energy on his own cultivation?

Thinking of future cultivation matters, He Sheng turned his palm over and took out two jade slips, both obtained from Wu Feng's storage pouch.

One was the <Heavenly Peak Mountain Artifact Refining Essentials>, while the other was the Divine Artifact Treasure Vase Forging Method.

The former was Wu Feng's artifact-refining inheritance, while the latter was a secret divine-sense method that could only be cultivated through artifact refinement.

"It is time to carefully consider where I should cultivate from now on. Only by settling down could I study artifact refinement."

He Sheng was now a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivator. His foremost task was to refine a Nascent Dharma Treasure. He possessed the third-rank precious material gifted by the Star-Backed Black Turtle, the Cold Soul Mystic Crystal Stone.

Once his artifact-refining skill improved, he could truly begin this matter.

But the prerequisite for everything was naturally a stable cultivation environment.

"When I send Kou Xiang'er to Primordial Mist Immortal City later, I must investigate it carefully."

Since he was not returning to the He Family, he could only change his identity and become a Rogue Cultivator. He naturally could not remain in the Silver Sand River region, for its resources were far too limited. Without the support of a lineage, he could not even obtain a second-rank spirit vein.

"Perhaps..."

As He Sheng pondered, his divine sense stirred slightly.

The divine sense he had spread under the enhancement of the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm had detected a Foundation Establishment cultivator heading toward Lower River Market, already several miles away.