The true lion's share went to the Big Dipper Immortal Road Formation and the seven forbidden zones.
During the Mythological Era, the Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable had forged Big Dipper from a Chaos Body. Its Five Direction Dao Palaces became five continents, upon which he inscribed his Heavenly Venerable Emperor Formation.
Countless Supremes had joined in afterward. This mortal immortal formation was the greatest drain of all; the vital essence needed for its daily maintenance alone accounted for the vast majority of what Big Dipper absorbed.
Next came the upkeep of the seven Life Forbidden Zones, which provided favorable conditions for the Forbidden Zone Supremes to seal themselves away. Abundant vital essence helped preserve immortal source, slowing the passage of time to a certain extent.
The little old man lowered his pale head, looking uneasy. "Will they shun us if we go to another mining district?"
"Just like we shunned those mining slaves who came from outside."
He had worked here for over sixty years. Now that he suddenly had to leave, fear of the future filled his heart.
"It's only a change of location. It'll be fine once you get used to it!" Qin Tian reassured him.
After reading the notice, Qin Tian steadied his emotions and went down into the mine to work as usual. On a hundred-step journey, ninety steps were only halfway; now was precisely the time to be cautious.
Qin Tian gave himself a pep talk. Qin Tian, what's your motto in life? Caution, caution, and fucking caution!
Without a ninety-eight percent chance of success, how is it any different from running straight to your death?
O Little Mage Li, grant me the invincible, unrivaled power of caution.
Day after day passed.
That day, Qin Tian went down into the mine, and Ahoge stood up as usual, sensing the scent of an opportunity.
"Although the Temporal-Spatial Realm is almost at its limit, I can still squeeze a little more in."
Looking at the head-sized piece of divine source before him, Qin Tian gritted his teeth and opened the Temporal-Spatial Gate. Ignoring the aching in his eyes, he forcibly squeezed the divine source into the Temporal-Spatial Realm.
Qin Tian rubbed his eyes, feeling that his Temporal-Spatial Eyes were nearing their limit.
His original idea once again surfaced in his mind.
"Could Using the Body as an Array strengthen my physique, further increasing what my Temporal-Spatial Eyes can withstand?"
Unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, Qin Tian decided to create his own cultivation method based on Using the Body as an Array.
Using the Body as an Array referred to the achievement Cao Yusheng had attained by breaking through the ultimate limit within the Chaotic Ancient Era's cultivation system.
It was equivalent to the Unique Cave Heaven of the Array Formation Realm, a path that belonged to Cao Yusheng alone.
Qin Tian wanted to reproduce it within the Secret Realm Method system and forge his own path of "Using the Body as an Array."
With his Temporal-Spatial Eyes, he was sensitive to the future and possessed a unique spiritual intuition.
Ever since the idea of "Using the Body as an Array" had occurred to him, an unprecedented longing had welled up in Qin Tian's heart.
He wanted to put it into practice, to truly pursue "Using the Body as an Array."
He had a premonition that his future Great Dao lay in this very path of Using the Body as an Array.
He acted on the thought immediately. Taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around, Qin Tian used his divine sense to guide heaven and earth vital energy, inscribing a fragment of array marks onto the surface of his body.
Vital energy scoured his body. Enduring the pain, he branded traces of the Dao onto his skin.
"Hsss!"
The intense pain made his body sway. Blood seeped from every part of him, as though he were a shattered piece of porcelain.
Yet his eyes shone exceptionally brightly as he inscribed the traces of the Dao onto his skin, bit by bit.
After a long while, Qin Tian stopped. Looking at the fragment of array marks on his body, he sighed helplessly.
"It succeeded, and it failed!"
The formation had been inscribed successfully. The Spirit Gathering Formation operated freely on his body, channeling vital energy and accelerating his cultivation.
The formation constantly drew in spiritual energy from heaven and earth, expanding his Bitter Sea.
Yet it had also failed, because the formation ran on Qin Tian's divine power. The vital energy it drew from his surroundings was worth less than the divine power it consumed.
Once his divine power ran dry, it would begin drawing on Qin Tian's life force to fuel itself, leaving him with nothing but death.
"No, this path is wrong. Using the Body as an Array shouldn't mean directly treating the body as a formation diagram." After closing his eyes and pondering for a long time, Qin Tian slowly spoke.
"Instead, it should be branded into my origin, turning it into a beneficial buff like a special physique, subtly transforming my physical constitution?" Qin Tian conjectured.
Qin Tian sighed and erased the formation carved into his flesh. The process was agonizing, no different from tearing open his already wounded skin all over again.
A flash of inspiration crossed Qin Tian's mind as he recalled Chu Loli's Ultimate Technique, which he had seen in his previous life. "All things in the world, the myriad forms of mortal dust, everything beyond the ordinary-all are the Great Dao."
"Physiques are Dao, and formations are Dao too. If I can evolve different physiques into different formations, then turn those formations into Dao patterns and inscribe them into my origin, gathering myriad Daos and myriad physiques in this way, perhaps I can artificially create a Chaos Body." Qin Tian's eyes lit up, dazzlingly bright with unprecedented excitement.
A moment later, Qin Tian calmed himself and settled his thoughts. "This idea is far beyond what I can accomplish now. Just evolving a physique into a formation is a difficult goal to achieve, never mind collecting all those unusual physiques."
"Although all kinds of physiques are emerging endlessly in this golden age, sprouting like bamboo shoots after the rain."
"Gathering them all would still be a troublesome affair."
"I'll need to be at least a Quasi-Emperor, and fight my way across the world until no one can match me, before I can attempt it," Qin Tian said.
That day, Qin Tian had only just risen after a night of cultivation when he heard terrible news.
The little old man who had first advised Qin Tian to be careful was dead. He had died while mining source.
The news left him stunned, and he hurried to the old man's body.
Looking at the man before him, already devoid of life, Qin Tian's heart sank.
He did not know the old man's name, nor did anyone around him. Everyone simply called him "old man," and over time, he had accepted the name.
In the three years since Qin Tian had been sold into the Yaoguang Mine, perhaps the old man had seen a shadow of his younger self in Qin Tian, or perhaps it was for some other reason.
The old man had taken good care of him. Although Qin Tian did not need it, he appreciated the kindness.
He was the first person in a long time to make Qin Tian feel warmth.
Qin Tian had even considered taking the old man out of the mining district with him.
But... in the end, he had never lived to see the day he could leave.
People were simply that fragile, and cultivators were no different. You never knew which would arrive first-an accident or tomorrow.
He had already learned that truth when his sect was destroyed.
"Perhaps this is for the best!" Qin Tian said, his voice trembling.
"Just leaving this mining district was enough to fill you with fear."
Qin Tian's voice gradually softened. "If you really had gotten out, it might only have made you uncomfortable."
"Being buried in the mine would have been an acceptable outcome for you, perhaps even an ending you'd long expected."
More than sixty years as a mining slave had long since made him one with this work.
He knew how to mine, and mining was all he knew.
Had he really left with Qin Tian, he might have felt so out of place, so unable to accept the sudden change in his life, that he lost the will to live.
"But even if you could accept it, I can't!"
Qin Tian closed the old man's eyes, rose, and spoke coldly.
After so many years of mining source, the little old man was undoubtedly an old hand. He would only mine source stone where it was relatively safe. Qin Tian could not believe that his sudden death today was an accident, especially right after Qin Tian had beaten up that outsider.
"Who killed him?" Qin Tian asked calmly, but the anger flickering in his eyes proved he was not as calm as he appeared.
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