Beside the Trial Stele.
Zhang Xingfeng placed his right hand on the Trial Stele, his heart still uneasy.
Though he had grasped spiritual awareness and achieved Spirit Awakening and Enlightenment, he was not confident he could light up the Trial Stele.
Ding!
To his relief, the Trial Stele gave a soft chime, and a star lit up.
Zhang Xingfeng's eyes shone as he stared at the Trial Stele, hoping more stars would light up.
But the result disappointed him. The Trial Stele fell silent; only one star had lit up.
Right. I achieved Spirit Awakening and Enlightenment with the help of the Spirit-Awakening Tree and the Dao-Enlightenment Stone.
It isn't that I truly have Spiritual Wisdom. Getting even one star to light up is good enough!
At least I've gone from nothing to something. I can cultivate now, can't I?
Though a little unwilling to accept it, Zhang Xingfeng lowered his right hand and consoled himself.
"Xingfeng, there's no need to be disappointed."
"A cultivator's Spiritual Wisdom isn't set in stone. On the Sect's North Mountain, there's something that can change it. Just focus on cultivating!"
Li Moqing seemed to see through Zhang Xingfeng's thoughts and offered him reassurance.
"Really, Master?"
Zhang Xingfeng looked up in delight.
"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?"
Li Moqing answered without a flicker of expression.
"Then what is it, Master?"
Zhang Xingfeng was full of curiosity.
"You'll find out in time."
Li Moqing smiled mysteriously, then changed the subject. "Xingfeng, now that you've sensed Source Qi, I'll pass the Sect's Cultivation Method on to you."
"What Cultivation Method is it, Master?"
No longer dwelling on the thing that could change his Spiritual Wisdom, Zhang Xingfeng asked eagerly.
He knew that to become a true cultivator, he needed a Cultivation Method.
"The Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture. A Heaven-Tier High-Grade Cultivation Method!"
Li Moqing's voice remained as still as an ancient well.
"Heaven... Heaven Tier? High Grade?!"
Li Moqing spoke calmly, but to Zhang Xingfeng, his words struck like thunder beside his ears. He swayed.
Cultivation Methods were a type of Cultivation Art and, like other Cultivation Arts, had grades.
From highest to lowest, they were Heaven Tier, Earth Grade, Mystic Grade, and Yellow Tier.
Each tier was further divided into lower, middle, and upper grades.
The grade determined a cultivator's maximum cultivation speed.
For Cultivation Methods, Yellow-Tier Lower Grade offered only the normal speed, middle grade twice that speed, and upper grade three times.
Mystic Grade Inferior offered four times the speed, middle grade five times, and upper grade seven times.
Earth Grade Inferior offered nine times the speed, middle grade twelve times, and upper grade fifteen times.
Heaven Tier lower grade offered eighteen times the speed, middle grade twenty-one times, and upper grade twenty-five times!
Of course, a Cultivation Method was not the only factor determining cultivation speed, but it was undoubtedly an important one!
With a Heaven-Tier High-Grade Cultivation Method, even someone with one-star Spiritual Wisdom would surely cultivate at no slow pace in Search Province, where Source Qi was thin!
Such a method was usually found only in hegemonic powers like the Sacred Source Dynasty, which held an entire one of the seven regions to itself.
Zhang Xingfeng had never imagined a Sect in Search Province would possess one too!
As expected of a hidden Sect!
Astonishment filled his heart.
"Please teach me, Master!"
Zhang Xingfeng gathered himself and made his request with delight.
[Ding! Congratulations! Your direct disciple Zhang Xingfeng has believed the claim you fabricated. The Heaven-Tier High-Grade Cultivation Method, Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture, has become real!] [This fabrication becoming reality has consumed one opportunity to make a fabrication about Zhang Xingfeng real, gained from accepting him as a disciple!] [You have one opportunity remaining to make a fabrication about Zhang Xingfeng real: accepting Zhang Xingfeng as a disciple.] [You must write the Cultivation Method yourself. As a reward, the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture you write can increase Sect members' cultivation speed by up to thirty times!]
You've got to be kidding. I have to write it myself?
Li Moqing had not seen that coming.
But since the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture can break past the cultivation speed limit of Heaven-Tier High Grade, I suppose I'll go to the trouble of writing it!
With that thought, Li Moqing said solemnly, "I left the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture in the loft. Wait here a moment while I fetch it for you!"
"Yes, Master!"
Zhang Xingfeng's face brimmed with anticipation.
Fifteen minutes later.
Beside the Trial Stele.
"This is the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture!"
Li Moqing returned to Zhang Xingfeng's side and handed him a black-covered Cultivation Method—the one he had just written.
Zhang Xingfeng hurriedly took it and opened it, unable to wait.
"Gather Source Qi in the dantian, guide it through your eight extraordinary meridians, turn the five viscera into a starry cosmos and the six bowels into heaven and earth..."
"Draw in heaven and earth as the pure; breathe out rivers and seas as the impure... Sense the cosmos's wonders of creation and commune with the spirit in all things..."
The more Zhang Xingfeng read, the more absorbed he became. The words were somewhat strange, yet he understood them at a glance—and once he understood, he knew how to put them into practice!
The words seemed to hold a strange magic, too. A single reading engraved them in his mind!
"Divine breath clears the heart; the great spirit becomes the heavenly scripture!"
Only when he reached those final eight characters did he close the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture, still hungry for more. "That's it?"
Whoosh!
The Source Qi around him surged uncontrollably into his body. Though thin, it made Zhang Xingfeng feel wonderfully refreshed.
"A Heaven-Tier High-Grade Cultivation Method really is extraordinary! I only read it once, but it felt like enlightenment poured into me and my mind cleared in an instant!"
"I can sense more Source Qi, and my body has begun absorbing it!"
"This feels incredible!"
Zhang Xingfeng cried out excitedly, drawing in the Sect's Source Qi with all his might and making it his own.
He had officially begun cultivating!
Hm? Now that the Sect has been established, it's time to change its Source Qi concentration too. Xingfeng still has one chance left to believe me.
Li Moqing watched the excited Zhang Xingfeng calmly, lost in thought.
Half a cup of tea later.
"Huh? Is the Source Qi gone?"
Zhang Xingfeng calmed down and sensed his surroundings. Finding no Source Qi left for the moment, he felt reluctant to stop.
"That Source Qi was only a wisp leaking from the Sect's ancient source vein. Naturally, there wasn't much of it."
Li Moqing smiled faintly.
"An ancient source vein?"
Zhang Xingfeng's pupils trembled. He was astonished.
"Indeed. The Sect's ancient source vein is called the Divine Dragon Piercing Cosmos Source Vein. It holds the power of a divine dragon, and its Source Qi concentration is eight hundred times that of the place with the highest concentration in Search Province!"
Li Moqing kept a straight face and spoke with convincing authority.
"Eight... eight hundred times?!"
Zhang Xingfeng cried out, finding it almost impossible to believe.
The Western Region Spirit Island had the densest Source Qi on the entire Spirit Source Continent, yet even its concentration was only six hundred times that of the richest place in Search Province. The Sect had eight hundred times that amount!
Though Source Qi concentration only determined the upper limit of a cultivator's cultivation speed, and how much one could absorb depended entirely on the individual.
Still, cultivating somewhere with eight hundred times the Source Qi concentration would surely let someone advance faster and go further than cultivating anywhere else!
Then again, the Sect's Cultivation Method is Heaven-Tier High Grade. Why would its Source Qi be lacking?
With that thought, Zhang Xingfeng had no reason to doubt it.
[Ding! Congratulations! Your direct disciple Zhang Xingfeng has believed the claim you fabricated. The Divine Dragon Piercing Cosmos Source Vein has become real!] [The Sect's Source Qi concentration will rise to eight hundred times that of the place with the highest Source Qi concentration in Search Province!] [This fabrication becoming reality has consumed one opportunity to make a fabrication about Zhang Xingfeng real, gained from accepting him as a disciple. You have no opportunities remaining to make fabrications about Zhang Xingfeng real!]
Before you continue