The Trigger for a Fortuitous Opportunity

It's a good thing to experience the abilities of the Eighth Sequence ahead of time.

But Zhang Xuezhou did not show any joy on his face; instead, he had an indescribable emotion.

While it's good to increase one's abilities, it's a bad thing to rashly raise them to a level that doesn't match one's physical capabilities.

This isn't Zhang Xuezhou's speculation; rather, Ren Yisheng is a precedent, and Chimman Haig's fate wasn't exactly pleasant either.

Zhang Xuezhou's position in the sequence is vastly different from these two.

Not to mention Qimeng Haige from the Seventh Sequence, even Ren Yisheng from the Sixth Sequence was several levels higher than Zhang Xuezhou's sequence.

The thought of Ren Yisheng and Qimeng Haige looking more than ten years older terribly shocked Zhang Xuezhou.

"Receive, receive, receive!"

Zhang Xuezhou felt that more than ten seconds had passed, but Zhang Manqian's face had not yet turned around, Ren Anran's right foot, which she had slowly raised and stepped down, had not yet touched the ground.

This is a scene that is not static, but it is moving at an astonishingly slow pace.

From a relative perspective, this is because Zhang Xuezhou's thinking was too fast due to the influence of his spirit, to the point that a noticeable stagnation occurred when he used his abilities.

The world did not slow down as a result; rather, his speed made everyone else slow down.

After shouting repeatedly, Zhang Xuezhou felt that everything remained the same.

This ability came suddenly, Zhang Xuezhou didn't know how to use it or how to take it back, but he didn't stop because of what he thought.

"I don't even know if the Life Series gene therapy can restore my deteriorating body. It's all over!"

The longer the delay, the more obvious the consequences will become.

After being repeatedly ordered around, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but feel somewhat dejected, realizing that his physical appearance and aging were now inevitable.

If one doesn't know how to restrain oneself, this will likely drive continuous consumption until the body can no longer supply a certain type of energy, at which point it will passively stop.

"That's completely unscientific! Who would suddenly become much stronger after lying down for twelve days!"

Zhang Xuezhou's thoughts.

He repeatedly used his Realm Technique and Gene Sequence abilities, but found that these abilities had no effect whatsoever.

Zhang Xuezhou's involvement with spiritual power is limited to deterrence and suppression.

He couldn't very well use this ability on Zhang Manqian and Ren Anran, so he had to pull out the nutrient needle from his hand, slip out from beside Zhang Manqian, and then walk around Ren Anran.

"Deterrence!"

Before he could even use his Realm Technique to intimidate, suppress, and draw upon his spiritual power, Zhang Xuezhou felt as if the world before him shattered like glass.

In his ears, the whistle no longer roared like continuous artillery fire, but sounded one after another.

The ship stopped rocking and vibrating, and the slight tremors in the windows went almost unnoticed.

Behind him, the sound of Ren Anran's footsteps could be heard, followed by Zhang Manqian's surprised "Eh."

Zhang Xuezhou turned his head and saw that Zhang Manqian and Ren Anran turned around and looked at him almost simultaneously.

"Brother, how did you suddenly disappear and then reappear behind us?" Zhang Manqian asked incredulously.

"I think I saw it, but it all happened too fast!"

Ren Anran was equally puzzled.

Her mental strength was higher than Zhang Manqian's, but her eyes did not capture anything related to it. Only the lingering of her thoughts left a trace. She did not feel the 'disappearance' like Zhang Manqian did.

"Oh no, do I look really old and ugly?"

Zhang Xuezhou raised his hands and vigorously wiped his face again.

Only after Zhang Manqian shook her head and handed him a mirror did Zhang Xuezhou withdraw his right hand that was wiping his face.

"No change? Then is this ability of mine actually the control of the Eighth Sequence?"

The person in the mirror still looked young, and their body had not been depleted by the power they had used beyond their limits.

Thinking about the situation of Ren Yisheng and others, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but wonder if everything he had experienced was due to supernormal forces.

"What happened?" Ren Anran asked.

"I don't understand what happened either," Zhang Xuezhou shook his head. "I just used my mental powers to slow down my thoughts and perceptions. It always worked fine until this time when I sat on a tree chair. When I regained consciousness, I found that everything in front of me had slowed down. I thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out, so I removed the needle and got out of bed as usual, preparing to use my mental powers again. Then, the slowness I was experiencing suddenly returned to normal!"

"Tree chair?"

"You mean you removed the needle, then got out of bed, and then came behind us?"

Ren Anran focused on the 'tree chair' mentioned by Zhang Xuezhou, while Zhang Manqian pondered the movement trajectory Zhang Xuezhou described.

Ren Anran didn't understand the tree chair, and Zhang Manqian didn't understand why Zhang Xuezhou was moving so fast.

"I think I'm like the professor; I might have gained some power of control ahead of time," Zhang Xuezhou said, scratching his head. "But I don't seem to have suddenly aged!"

"Control?"

"Getting older?"

This time, Zhang Manqian spoke first, followed by Ren Anran.

Zhang Manqian's face lit up with joy, while Ren Anran looked puzzled.

"So our previous guess was correct?" Zhang Manqian said happily.

"Which guess?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"It's that conjecture we made about cultivation," Zhang Manqian said. "We previously discussed that the Eighth Sequence requires qualities such as perseverance, calmness, and patience, and these qualities involve mental strength. However, our Mental Strengthening Chapter has boosted mental strength, which may potentially advance to a higher sequence!"

Originating from Changkong Luo's departure from the Munian Mansion team, Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian once discussed the situation of the Eighth Sequence.

They speculated for a while, but remained relatively cautious.

The matter had seemed settled, Zhang Xuezhou thought that paying attention to related matters during his cultivation was enough, but he didn't expect this outcome.

However, it is clear that after several slowed-down thought cycles, only this time did the relevant ability emerge. This is not due to Zhang Xuezhou's own ability meeting the standard, but rather to his many accumulations, either driven or lured, or the tree chair giving him some special abilities, which led to his current conjecture of the control over the Eighth Sequence.

What is this tree chair you're talking about?

Zhang Manqian's joy corresponds to Ren Anran's contemplation.

The control over the Eighth Sequence did not arise from the sequence being completely bound, or from the Seventh Sequence's breakthrough between life and death, or from the Sixth Sequence's Ren Yisheng encountering stimulation while rescuing Ren Anran, thus acquiring extraordinary abilities, or from the 'tree chair' that Zhang Xuezhou mentioned at the moment.

Regardless of which side gains control, there are underlying causes, rather than it being a natural outcome that suddenly emerges after the party has become sufficiently powerful.

If the Seventh Sequence focuses on the corresponding extracts from ferocious beasts, then the Eighth Sequence, in addition to its own basic requirements, also has certain incentives.

This is indeed a wonderfully hierarchical sequence, but it also carries the awkwardness that Badun, along with other members of the Montes Lineage, cannot replicate.

"It was a giant tree, an unimaginably enormous tree, its roots anchored to the entire planet..."

Zhang Xuezhou recounted his observations.

To outsiders, this is undoubtedly an absurd thing, but those close to the person hear it will take it seriously and even think about it.

"This looks a bit like the Boundary Tree when Realm Entry, only the way you're describing it is a bit too outrageous."

After listening to Zhang Xuezhou's description, Zhang Manqian couldn't help but murmur.

This made Zhang Xuezhou pause, and then he looked at his body, which had never aged.

He vaguely sensed that his ability was not born from the combination of sequence and spiritual power, but most likely from the combination of Realm Technique and spiritual power, and then the tree chair was used as a trigger, which brought about this special ability.

He is not qualified at the sequence level, but he is not weak at the realm level.

However, Zhang Xuezhou had never heard of any cultivators in the Divine Ability Realm, the Sole Self Realm, or the True Self Realm possessing any ability to control the speed of their thoughts; they only knew about the distinction between Divine Ability, Divine Ability, and major Divine Ability.

As he tried to distinguish between the different cultivation systems, Zhang Xuezhou felt somewhat melancholy, ultimately realizing that he had become too eclectic in his studies.