Li Xingkong's Divine Sense had been growing very slowly since he reached the Foundation Establishment Stage. This was mainly because he didn't have time for dedicated cultivation. The growth of his Divine Sense came naturally from his daily use of it, so the speed was naturally not very fast.
This time, nurturing Divine Sense is a crucial part of the retreat, and also the final part. After all, Divine Sense cannot be expanded too far, and one cannot fully utilize the various methods one uses as Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
Most of the techniques used in the Foundation Establishment Stage are developed based on Divine Sense. Although they still rely on the assistance of Spiritual Qi, the core of this stage has shifted from Spiritual Qi to Divine Sense.
After all, no matter how useful Spiritual Qi is, it is still an external thing; only Divine Sense is something that truly belongs to oneself.
Although Li Xingkong currently has sufficient control over Spiritual Qi, he can control the distribution of Spiritual Qi anywhere on Earth Star by controlling the Earth Vein. Based on this, Spiritual Qi can be considered his own.
However, if Li Xingkong were to be content with controlling all things through Spiritual Qi, that would be somewhat unambitious.
Power is never equivalent to individual greatness.
The power to control the life and death of other lives, whether one cultivates or not, does indeed sound somewhat like wielding absolute power, but for Li Xingkong, this is no different from children playing house.
The pursuit of higher realms and greater strength is more attractive to Li Xingkong.
Currently, his Divine Sense can only travel a short distance from his body. Before this seclusion, Li Xingkong set a goal to reach the Mid Foundation Establishment. Even by the standards of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, to reach the Mid Foundation Establishment, Divine Sense must be able to cover a radius of a thousand miles.
This is indeed a challenge for Li Xingkong at the moment, as his current range of Divine Sense is practically nonexistent compared to this goal.
However, Li Xingkong was not without his advantages; no one else could cultivate their Divine Sense as quickly as he could.
The Hexagram he constructed can be considered an unconventional engine in terms of cultivating Divine Sense. Compared to ordinary cultivators, it's like comparing a 19th-century steam engine to a modern supersonic fighter jet engine. Moreover, some ordinary Foundation Establishment Method may not even have that many Hexagram. Just in terms of quantity, Li Xingkong's eight Hexagram far surpass those of his contemporaries.
As we've mentioned before, in terms of computation, even a small image can lead to a million-fold increase in computing power. This also applies to Foundation Establishment Method; the effects of Foundation Establishment Method at different levels are incomparable.
Of course, the most important factor limiting the cultivation of Foundation Establishment Method is the foundation of Qi Refining Method and the Qi Refining Stage. If the foundation of the Qi Refining Stage is insufficient, the speed and total amount of Magic Power recovery will not meet the standards. Even if the best Foundation Establishment Method are placed in front of you, you will not be able to cultivate them. Forcing cultivation will only lead to exhaustion of Magic Power and death.
Not everyone can master advanced techniques; it's like trying to make a rocket run on coal.
After completing the Eight Trigrams diagram, Li Xingkong relaxed briefly for half a day before sitting down cross-legged and formally beginning his Divine Sense cultivation.
Regarding the cultivation of Divine Sense, one aspect is to enhance the potential of Divine Sense by following the relevant training methods and methods of nurturing Divine Sense consciousness in the Foundation Establishment Method. The other aspect is to devote Divine Sense to the Hexagram, fully immersing oneself in them and unleashing Hexagram full power. In this high-energy-consuming and high-exhaustion state, Divine Sense is rapidly depleted, and through use at an extraordinary frequency, Divine Sense is increased.
This is a fairly complete cycle. When Divine Sense is abundant, one fully activates the Hexagram to consume it. During the Divine Sense period, one begins to use various methods to enhance one's inner potential. By utilizing such a cycle, one can achieve rapid growth of Divine Sense.
This can only be done during seclusion. Firstly, when focusing all one's energy on Divine Sense manipulation, it is most important to avoid being disturbed. Secondly, it takes Li Xingkong nearly a week to complete one such cycle, during which he is completely detached from worldly affairs. Without seclusion, it is easy for something to go wrong.
Of course, such intensive training brings substantial benefits. After one cycle of training, Li Xingkong's Divine Sense had expanded by 10 li, which translates to more than one li per day.
At this rate of cultivation, it will only take three years for Li Xingkong's Divine Sense to break through a thousand miles, officially becoming a cultivator in the Mid Foundation Establishment.
Of course, this is only an ideal state. As his cultivation progresses, Li Xingkong's total Divine Sense will only increase, and the time of one cycle will also become longer. Similarly, after one cycle is completed, the rate of increase in Divine Sense will also increase significantly.
Just like a bank deposit, the interest is slightly less if you deposit for a year, but more if you deposit for a longer period. Li Xingkong's Divine Sense cultivation is the same; the longer a cycle lasts, the greater the growth of his Divine Sense.
The first round might take a week, the second two weeks, the third four weeks, and the fourth eight weeks. And so on. The later the stage of cultivation, the longer it takes, and similarly, the greater the increase in Divine Sense.
Of course, while the Foundation Establishment Method is powerful, it doesn't come without a price.
Ordinary Foundation Establishment Method result in slow growth of Divine Sense, with each round of cultivation taking approximately 1, 2, 3, 4, or similar additive growth. However, the foundation -Foundation Establishment Method practiced by Li Xingkong results in exponential growth, with 2^1, 2^2, 2^3... based on the number 2.
In the later stages of cultivation, the time required for a single cultivation session can no longer be measured in months, but rather in centuries.
Of course, there is a limit to the amount of Divine Sense that the human body can control. Once this limit is reached, further cultivation can only serve to refine the way Divine Sense is used, and it is of no use in increasing the total amount of spiritual consciousness.
The upper limit of Divine Sense depends on physical strength; the stronger the physical constitution, the more Divine Sense it can contain.
That's why Qi Refining Stage cultivation emphasizes a solid foundation. If the foundation is weak, the path of subsequent cultivation will only become narrower and narrower until at some point you are completely unable to meet the requirements of the next stage of cultivation, and you will be trapped there for life.
Can you go back and rebuild from scratch in later stages? Theoretically, yes, but the problem is that you've already come a long way on that foundation. If you go back and rebuild from scratch now, you'll take much more detours than the average person.
It's like building a house. The original foundation was designed to be 50 square meters, but the house has already been built to the 7th floor. Now it has suddenly increased to 200 square meters. Can the original building on top just be expanded slightly and used? Of course not. If you want to continue building higher, you have to redesign it. If necessary, the original floors will have to be demolished and rebuilt.
Although using the construction industry as an analogy for spiritual practice is a bit abstract, the principle is the same. If the foundation changes, every subsequent stage of practice must also change accordingly, which is no small undertaking.
For people in modern society, change is inevitable; it simply takes more time, and they accept it naturally. But for some cultivation civilizations rife with intrigue and backstabbing, it's simply unrealistic for someone like a sect leader or clan chief to spend so much time rebuilding their foundation. Surrounded by external threats, they simply don't have that kind of time. This is also the reason why some heretical and unorthodox paths have emerged.
If you don't want to spend so much to rebuild your foundation, but still want to achieve a breakthrough, then you can only resort to some unorthodox methods.