Foundation Establishment Great Perfection

"Could there be a bug?"

He Sheng was deeply puzzled. He carefully examined the water-clock droplets arranged in three rows—upper, middle, and lower—then focused his thoughts once more on the minus sign beside Formation Arts.

"I'll know once I try it."

Whoosh.

His Formation Arts rapidly reverted once more. He stopped it just as it had regressed to the point of first-rank lower-grade mastery.

[Arts]:

[First-Rank Lower-Grade Formation Master: 1000/1000]

(Total practice time: two years, three months, eight days)

After this regression, the total practice time for his Formation Arts had decreased by 1,667 days.

If it followed the previous pattern of returning double the general cultivation time, it should have increased by 3,334 days. Yet the water clock's display showed otherwise.

[Total currently allocable cultivation time: ten years, eleven months, fourteen days]

"Only 2,500 days of general cultivation time were added?"

He Sheng calculated carefully. At the first-rank upper-grade stage, cultivation time had regressed at a 2x rate.

But upon reaching the first-rank middle-grade stage, it regressed at a 1.5x rate instead.

Clearly, this was not some bug, but a particular rule.

To verify his theory, He Sheng added the general cultivation time back into his Formation Arts. After going back and forth several times, the rule remained exactly the same every time.

Simply put, this was not some kind of multiplied return. It was an exchange ratio between Immortal Art practice time and general cultivation time—or, rather, a time rate.

Taking the first-rank upper-grade Formation Master stage as an example, when regressing, it returned general cultivation time at twice the rate. And when adding it back, it likewise consumed general cultivation time at a 2x time rate.

He also tested and found that at the first-rank lower-grade stage of Formation Arts, the time rate was 1.2x.

Thus, when he regressed his Formation Arts to the state where he had just begun:

[First-Rank Lower-Grade Formation Master: 1/1000]

(Total practice time: one day)

The total general cultivation time he obtained was:

[Total currently allocable cultivation time: thirteen years, seven months, nine days]

After this round of experiments, He Sheng gradually began to grasp the underlying principle.

"The reason the water clock separates things into the three major categories of [Arts], [Methods], and [Spells] is likely because the three are cultivated differently.

Spells represent the likes of techniques. They are the simplest to cultivate, relying entirely on one's own magic power and not on external objects.

Therefore, their time rate is 1.

In other words, the exchange ratio between [Spells] cultivation time and general cultivation time is 1:1."

But both [Arts] and [Methods] were different.

"The cultivation of Immortal Arts naturally requires a great many external materials, and the path of formations is no exception. Whether crafting formation plates or refining formation foundations, both consume vast quantities of spiritual materials.

Moreover, the higher the formation's rank, the more demanding its requirements for spiritual materials naturally become.

That is why the higher the rank of an Immortal Art, the higher its time rate.

The water clock itself uses time as currency to regulate and balance its internal mechanism."

Having understood this point, He Sheng naturally gained a deeper understanding of the Time-Reversing Water Clock, this cheat of his.

"The cultivation of methods depends on the spiritual energy of the outside world. When ordinary cultivators breathe and refine qi, they either need to consume spiritual food and spiritual pills, or they must cultivate in a place where spiritual veins are formed. Otherwise, they simply cannot complete a cultivation cycle.

And the higher one's cultivation, the more spiritual energy is needed for breathing and absorbing qi.

So the time rate for [Methods] should fluctuate as well."

[Clear Billows Water Origin Art, Sixth Level (Beginner): 1/100]

(Total cultivation time: eleven years, seven months, seven days)

He Sheng glanced at the information for the Clear Billows Water Origin Art, preparing to test it as well and see whether it matched his conjecture.

He immediately added one month of cultivation time to the Clear Billows Water Origin Art.

[Clear Billows Water Origin Art, Sixth Level (Beginner): 51/100]

(Total cultivation time: eleven years, eight months, seven days)

He Sheng sensed the state of the magic power within his body and discovered that not only had his newly advanced cultivation been completely consolidated, but the magic power within his dantian's spiritual sea had increased by more than a hundred drops in one stroke!

Meanwhile, his general cultivation time had decreased by two months.

[Total currently allocable cultivation time: thirteen years, five months, nine days]

"In other words, at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, the time rate is 2. That is, the exchange ratio between cultivation time and general cultivation time is 1:2."

The unceasing experiments greatly improved He Sheng's command over the Time-Reversing Water Clock, and ideas for increasing his combat strength immediately sprang forth one after another.

"Then according to Time-Reversing Water Clock's assessment of my current cultivation, wouldn't spending around sixty months of universal cultivation time let me raise my cultivation straight to the great completion of Foundation Establishment Late Stage?!"

At a 2x time rate, that meant he only needed thirty actual months of cultivation for Clear Billows Water Origin Art to reach the sixth level's great completion—the great completion of the entire manual.

A mid-grade cultivation art could only be cultivated to this point; it did not mention Core Formation in a single word.

"Thirty months may sound like only two and a half years, but that means a full twenty-four hours every day. If Brother Piao were cultivating Clear Billows Water Origin Art for five hours a day like before, it would actually take six years. It's indeed even faster than Brother Piao's cultivation during the early and middle Foundation Establishment stages, but this is the result of my creation of using the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm to bolster cultivation. It isn't all that strange."

When He Sheng had previously used the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm to bolster his cultivation, it had not only greatly enhanced the effects of each major circulation cycle, but also drastically reduced the time required for circulation. That was why he had achieved such results.

Cultivation realm was the foremost factor determining combat strength, and He Sheng had always kept that firmly in mind.

Although he had originally wanted to study how to turn himself into a mechanics monster as well, he still had to first ground himself in practical problems.

"If anything happens later, raising my cultivation to Foundation Establishment Great Completion first will let me deal with it more calmly."

Having made up his mind, He Sheng no longer thought of anything else. His consciousness gathered on the plus sign behind Clear Billows Water Origin Art.

Whoosh!

As though riding a rocket, the realm of Clear Billows Water Origin Art began rising at breakneck speed.

Beginner, minor achievement, proficient, major achievement, great completion!

[After two and a half years of single-minded cultivation, your Clear Billows Water Origin Art has reached the realm of great completion, and your cultivation realm has likewise risen to Foundation Establishment Great Completion.

Unfortunately, this is only a mid-grade cultivation art and cannot allow you to advance any further.]

The cultivation message seemed brief, yet He Sheng could feel the changes in the spiritual sea within his dantian.

His spiritual sea had actually expanded by more than double, while his spiritual power had leapt in one stroke to nine thousand six hundred drops!

Feeling the surging, boundless spiritual power within his body, He Sheng felt that his spiritual power had doubled compared to when he had first entered Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

After all, according to the previous method of quantification, when he had first entered Foundation Establishment Late Stage, his spiritual power value had already reached a staggering 7,200 points.

Now, at Foundation Establishment Great Completion, calculated from 9,600 drops of spiritual power, his spiritual power value had become 14,400 points—exactly double.

"With my current amount of spiritual power, I'm already several times stronger than when I first arrived here. If I fully activate Subtle Ripple Water Escape, I should be able to keep it up for more than an hour. Escaping downstream for over two thousand li in a short time shouldn't be a problem."

With such formidable escape ability, He Sheng naturally felt greatly reassured.

Although the fluctuations of spiritual power outside the water manor were growing increasingly violent, and the shaking inside had become obvious, he still calmed himself and focused his consciousness on Clear Billows Water Control Art.

"If I dump all my remaining universal cultivation time into it, I wonder if I'll gain anything new?"

[Current available total cultivation time: eight years, five months, nine days]

He Sheng swept his gaze over the universal cultivation time, then focused his mind. The cultivation time invested into Clear Billows Water Control Art began increasing madly.