Second Layer of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique

Zhou Yuan opened the furnace door. A four-meter-long Breaking Mountain Blade floated silently within. Its blade was streaked with silver and violet, while the secret patterns on its surface flowed slowly like the paths of stars. Occasional flashes of earthy yellow or silver light flickered across it. The auras of two laws were perfectly fused, yet clearly distinct.

He reached out and gripped the hilt, channeling a trace of origin power. The blade immediately trembled, and the weight of the Earth Origin Law and the sharpness of the Space Origin Law erupted at once, forming an invisible storm within the refining chamber. Zhou Yuan nodded in satisfaction, a tired yet excited smile appearing on his face. "It seems I've mastered the essence of forging fourth-tier weapons."

Successfully forging a fourth-tier Breaking Mountain Blade in one attempt meant Zhou Yuan had found a stable path to high-end wealth. But when he thought of the trillions of universe coins' worth of resources needed to cultivate the Second Layer of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique, he could not help frowning. At his current pace, the profit from one Breaking Mountain Blade was around one hundred million universe coins. To save up several trillion, he would need to forge tens of thousands of them. At his current speed, that would take at least several centuries.

"The road ahead is long and arduous." Zhou Yuan looked at the Breaking Mountain Blade in his hand and murmured. Still, he was not in a hurry. There were more than a thousand years left before the Universe-Level Geniuses Battle, enough time to earn the resources for the Second Layer of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique.

Time flew by, and 327 years quietly passed in the cycle of weapon forging and cultivation.

At that moment, Zhou Yuan stood amid the mountain of empty nutrient solution containers piled inside his spatial ring, a trace of relief flashing through his eyes. Over the past three centuries, he had forged more than seventy thousand fourth-tier Breaking Mountain Blades. The wealth he had accumulated was enough to support his attempt at the Second Layer of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique.

He spent nearly five trillion universe coins to order a full 500 tons of D-grade restorative nutrient solution from the core warehouse of the Purple Chen Universe Nation. The energy contained in D-grade nutrient solution was a thousand times that of the C-grade nutrient solution he had bought before, and its price was also more than a thousand times higher. It was generally used by Domain Lords for rapid recovery.

Cultivating the Second Layer of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique was far more difficult than the first. Each main secret pattern consisted of nine interlocking smaller secret patterns. In total, there were 10,081 such composite secret patterns, forming an even more complex three-dimensional network of laws.

Zhou Yuan did not dare be careless. He activated the castle's psychic shielding array to its maximum capacity, then entered the small world ring he had purchased to cultivate, ensuring that he would not be disturbed by any external force.

"Beibei, activate the nutrient pod." Zhou Yuan's voice carried a trace of solemnity. In the center of the cultivation room stood a massive nutrient pod a thousand meters long, already filled with pale blue D-grade nutrient solution. More than a hundred energy conduits were connected to it, capable of monitoring his vital signs in real time and replenishing his expenditure.

Zhou Yuan put away his origin power battle suit and stepped into the nutrient solution, lying down within it as his body returned to a height of twenty meters. His consciousness gradually sank into his sea of consciousness as he began comprehending the Second Layer of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique, deduced by the Hunyuan Dao Seed.

Just like with the first layer, the first step of cultivation was to use psychic power to draw the structure of the secret patterns within the sea of consciousness. Only this time, the patterns were far more complex. Every main secret pattern required him to first outline nine interconnected smaller secret patterns. The angles and spacing between them, as well as the thickness of their energy channels, all had to be precise to the extreme. Even the slightest deviation would cause the entire secret pattern network to collapse.

"Let's begin." Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, focusing his consciousness to the utmost. His soul power became countless invisible brushes, beginning to draw the outline of the first composite secret pattern in his sea of consciousness.

Perhaps because his more than three centuries of weapon forging had given him far greater control over his psychic power, the nine smaller secret patterns of the first composite secret pattern were completed exceptionally smoothly, in one fluid motion without the slightest hitch. Encouraged by this strong start, Zhou Yuan's confidence surged. His soul power continued to move, and one profound composite secret pattern after another gradually took shape within his sea of consciousness.

However, the path of cultivation was never smooth sailing. When he reached the 7,397th composite secret pattern, a faint fluctuation suddenly appeared in Zhou Yuan's soul power, causing the lines of one of the smaller secret patterns to deviate.

The next second, the entire secret pattern structure that had already taken shape instantly collapsed like dominoes, turning into specks of light that scattered throughout his sea of consciousness.

"Did I fail?" Zhou Yuan opened his eyes and let out a soft breath, with no trace of dejection on his face. Cultivation was never something that could be achieved overnight, especially not a heaven-defying secret art like the Second Layer of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Technique.

Over the following days, Zhou Yuan entered an almost frenzied state of cultivation. He repeatedly used his psychic power to attempt to draw the secret pattern structure. Whenever he failed, he started over. Once more than half his psychic power had been depleted, the D-grade nutrient solution in the pod would rapidly convert into psychic power to replenish him, allowing him to remain at his peak.

The secret pattern structure in his sea of consciousness formed time and time again, only to collapse time and time again. Yet Zhou Yuan's psychic power continued to condense and strengthen through each failure, and his understanding of the secret patterns deepened further and further.

Finally, after seven full days of relentless attempts, when the nine smaller secret patterns of the final composite secret pattern formed perfectly within his sea of consciousness, the entire secret pattern structure instantly stabilized. A three-dimensional structure composed of 10,081 composite secret patterns floated at the center of his sea of consciousness, slowly rotating and radiating a faint seven-colored mystical glow.

"Success!" Zhou Yuan's heart surged with excitement, but he did not relax, because this was only the first step.

Next, he had to use the origin power within his body to link the 10,081 composite secret patterns in the order drawn by his psychic power. This step was even more difficult than drawing the patterns. It required extremely precise control over origin power, and the slightest carelessness would render all his previous efforts futile.

Zhou Yuan carefully mobilized the origin power within his body. Like a slender thread, it slowly stretched toward the secret pattern structure in his sea of consciousness. The first composite secret pattern was linked successfully. Then the second, the third... When he reached more than two thousand composite secret patterns, a slight deviation appeared in his control of origin power, and the entire secret pattern structure collapsed once again.

Failure did not discourage Zhou Yuan. Instead, it made him even steadier. He tried again and again, continuously adjusting the output and precision of his origin power while accumulating experience through failure. Meanwhile, the D-grade nutrient solution in the pod continuously replenished his depleted origin power, so he did not need to suffer as he had during his first cultivation attempt, when his psychic power and origin power had been drained dry and left him unconscious.

Time quietly passed amid the dull cultivation. In the blink of an eye, another half month had gone by. On this day, when the final thread of origin power successfully linked to the 10,081st composite secret pattern, the entire structure suddenly erupted with dazzling earthy yellow light. All 10,081 composite secret patterns lit up at once like 10,081 stars, shining brilliantly within his sea of consciousness.

"It linked successfully!" A flash of wild joy appeared in Zhou Yuan's eyes.

The final step that followed was the easiest for Zhou Yuan. With a thought, his psychic power and origin power instantly resonated. The secret pattern structure within his sea of consciousness began to rotate slowly, every composite secret pattern operating according to some profound law, as though it were a flawless miniature of the entire universe.

As the secret pattern structure operated, a strange force spread out from his sea of consciousness and instantly coursed through Zhou Yuan's entire body. The origin power and psychic power within him were forcibly stirred by this force, rapidly circulating through his body along the paths guided by the secret pattern structure. Zhou Yuan even lost autonomous control over his own body.