Evening came.
Zhang Jing sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes tightly shut.
Thanks to the spirit beast meat, waves of warmth merged into his blood and circulated throughout his body.
During this process.
Zhang Jing's mind, which had grown somewhat weak from continuous cultivation, seemed to regain its vitality, flourishing once more.
He activated the Dao seed.
A familiar illusory Mind's Eye abruptly appeared, then opened little by little.
On the jade talisman.
His skill proficiency in the Pure Origin Breath-Absorbing Visualization Method began rising rapidly. Countless new insights converged into surging waves that rushed straight at Zhang Jing.
One breath, two breaths... seven breaths!
The time he spent cultivating with the Mind's Eye open had easily surpassed his previous attempt, yet Zhang Jing felt none of his former weakness or exhaustion.
At this very moment, waves of warmth radiated from deep within his body, continuously replenishing his depleted mental energy.
Nine breaths!
Ten breaths!
At last.
The time he kept the Mind's Eye open settled at fourteen breaths!
Zhang Jing even felt that fourteen breaths was not his limit.
It was simply that persisting any longer would injure his mind, making the gains not worth the losses.
His gaze shifted.
Before him, the jade talisman, seemingly both real and illusory, quietly appeared. The skill information for the Pure Origin Breath-Absorbing Visualization Method flashed across it.
[Pure Origin Breath-Absorbing Visualization Method · Uninitiated (13/50)]
"With the spirit beast meat helping this time, my visualization method's skill proficiency actually increased by a full nine points?"
Zhang Jing was momentarily stunned.
He had anticipated this result.
He just had not expected the difference between having spirit beast meat to help and going without it to be so great.
In that case, with a continuous supply of spirit beast meat, he would need no more than five more days to reach initiation in the visualization method.
Today was the second day.
That would just meet the requirements for a Grade B assessment!
"The higher your assessment grade, the more the Dao Academy values you. The four of you have a chance at Grade B and may be able to enter the inner academy in the future. Seize this opportunity, and do not slack off."
The words Instructor Wang had spoken to Ji Bochang and the other three in the Lecture Hall today echoed in Zhang Jing's ears once again.
His meaning had been very straightforward.
Clearly, the difference between Grade B and Third Grade assessments went far beyond receiving a middle-grade inheritance rather than a Lower-Grade Inheritance.
More importantly, it concerned whether there was a possibility of entering the inner academy!
"So I have to fight for a Grade B assessment," Zhang Jing said, enunciating every word. "I must resolve the spirit beast meat problem as soon as possible."
He did not want to miss an opportunity like this.
But-
How was he supposed to get spirit beast meat?
Wait!
Perhaps he could... shamelessly go to Ji Bochang every day and cadge some spirit beast meat? At worst, he could repay him double in the future.
But since this concerned Brother Ji's future too, he might not agree...
What about buying on credit at the Spirit Cuisine Hall?
There did not seem to be any precedent for that either.
Zhang Jing felt apprehensive, but he could not think of any better ideas for the moment. He could only give it a try.
With his thoughts churning.
Zhang Jing had completely lost any trace of sleepiness.
"Right, what did I forget last night... I remember now! The Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm!"
Slapping his forehead, Zhang Jing suddenly remembered.
Over the past few days, he had focused all his attention on the visualization method without a moment to spare, naturally leaving him no time for the incomplete Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm.
Since he had nothing else to do, why not give it a try?
A thought stirred in Zhang Jing's mind.
The main thing was that he had comprehended this so-called "Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm" through the Mind’s Eye Dao Seed, from an Immortal Elder of the Dao Academy who had been cultivating at the time.
Presumably, it ought to have something to do with cultivation.
A faint excitement stirred within him.
Only after quite a while did Zhang Jing calm himself.
He closed his eyes, slowly sinking his consciousness into the depths of his mind, recalling over and over the peculiar state he had sensed back then.
He tried to draw out that trace of Dao Rhyme.
Time trickled by.
The room was frighteningly silent. The usual chirping of insects had vanished entirely, as though cowed by some terrifying aura.
Gradually, a heavy, icy sensation began seeping into Zhang Jing's consciousness.
All at once.
Roar-
A vast, primeval roar exploded within Zhang Jing's consciousness without warning.
Immediately afterward, a series of sounds like metal scraping and colliding rang in Zhang Jing's ears.
The sounds grew from faint to loud, brimming with coldness.
At one point, Zhang Jing felt as though he had become a black flood dragon.
A flood dragon, for lack of a better description.
Its sharp teeth were like swords and sabers, its whiskers were broken on one side, and it had neither horns on its head nor feet beneath its body. Less than a tenth of its long, powerful body was exposed, densely covered in pitch-black scales that gleamed with a cold light.
The black flood dragon opened its eyes, a trace of savagery flashing through its gaze.
Then it instinctively opened its great maw.
In an instant, wisps of spiritual qi gathered around Zhang Jing's stone house, then entered the incomplete black flood dragon's mouth like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
"So this is what Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy looks like?"
Zhang Jing, who now seemed to have become the black flood dragon, only had time for that single exclamation before throwing himself wholeheartedly back into the great undertaking of absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.
I'll inhale!
And inhale again!
There was not much spiritual qi, but it had the advantage of coming in an unending stream.
After passing through the black flood dragon, the spiritual qi became incomparably pure and merged directly into Zhang Jing's body.
Moreover, unlike the warm currents the spirit beast meat produced in his belly, Zhang Jing now felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring, every corner of his body cheering and leaping for joy.
His Qi and Blood slowly strengthened, and his heart beat more powerfully.
His depleted mental energy steadily recovered.
Until...
Broad daylight.
Zhang Jing opened his eyes in bewilderment.
An entire night had passed since he began drawing in the Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm.
Yet to Zhang Jing's senses, only half a cup of tea's worth of time had passed.
The enormous disparity between his perception and reality left Zhang Jing nearly disoriented.
It took him a long time to recover.
"They say cultivation knows no passage of years. So it really is true."
Zhang Jing let out a long breath, followed immediately by irrepressible excitement.
He could feel the unbelievably abundant vitality within his body now. The effect was fifty percent greater than that of the spirit beast meat.
His circumstances had changed drastically overnight.
With the Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm's assistance, he would surely reach initiation in his visualization method in five days at most, or three to four days at least.
Obtaining a Grade B assessment was merely a matter of time.
Exhilarating!
An indescribable exhilaration filled Zhang Jing's heart.
He vaguely sensed that, limited by his still-mortal flesh, the Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm could currently only absorb spiritual qi to assist his cultivation. Its truly terrifying aspects would only reveal themselves after he stepped onto the Immortal Dao.
Crucially, this was merely an incomplete Dao Rhyme.
Zhang Jing could hardly imagine just how powerful that Immortal Elder of the Dao Academy had been.
He collected himself.
"But..." Zhang Jing looked at his hands, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I... haven't even reached initiation in an Immortal Dao visualization method, yet I can already sense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy and even absorb it for my own use!"
"I've learned to run before I've even learned to walk."
But he soon thought of those monstrous talents who received First Grade assessments.
The more he thought about some people, the more freakish they seemed.
Even with the jade talisman assisting his proficiency-based cultivation, the Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm helping him absorb spiritual qi, and the Mind’s Eye Dao Seed acting as an accelerator, Zhang Jing still could not reach initiation in the visualization method within three days.
"Ah, the road to immortality stretches far ahead."
Zhang Jing put away his pride and immersed himself in cultivation once more.
Two days later.
[Pure Origin Breath-Absorbing Visualization Method · Uninitiated (37/50)]
Satisfaction appeared on Zhang Jing's face. His progress in cultivating the visualization method was a little faster than expected.
"If I put my back into it, I can reach initiation in the visualization method tomorrow. Tsk, that's actually a day before the deadline for a Grade B assessment."
"What a genius I am."
"Right, the instructor is teaching the Dao today. I can't be late."
With that, Zhang Jing hurried toward the Lecture Hall.
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