Information Encryption, Dharma Seed
"Perhaps this is what they call a magical restriction. At its core, it's an information lock, data encryption..."
In the state of Thought Overclocking, countless streams of information flowed through Lin Xu's consciousness, encrypted and compressed according to his wishes.
In the end, he encrypted them in layers according to their different grades, forming four levels.
Without a sound, a spark of spiritual light flashed above the candle flame. Like a firefly on a summer night, it drifted lightly around the lamp.
"What should I call it? A spiritual root? Or a Dharma Seed?" He looked at the tiny firefly, unable to keep the smile off his face.
The potential of the Lamp Kindling Spirit Transformation Chapter had surpassed his expectations. He had the Daoist art's cultivation of essence, Qi, and spirit to thank for his success in compressing the information within his magical power; its exposition of magical power had reached a certain pinnacle.
In the state of Thought Overclocking, he drew on his understanding of the essence of magical power and easily saw the information it contained.
It consisted of countless Daoist seal scripts, recording the ineffable mysteries contained within the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity in writing that Daoists could understand.
This was a cultivation method that could be passed down, and for that reason, Lin Xu could also break it down and compress it.
This speck of magical power contained the mysteries of the Lamp Kindling Spirit Transformation Chapter. If a cultivator could decipher all the information within it, they could master this dark-gold cultivation method
-and then become something akin to his external incarnation, a being called a saint in the Western divine path!
"Gold-grade cultivation methods are the pinnacle of cultivation. Anything of a higher grade isn't a cultivation inheritance, but information contamination..."
Lin Xu's face flickered between light and shadow in the candlelight. By now, he was certain that none of the Spirit Realm's inheritances contained a cultivation method above the gold grade.
If there were one, a huge pitfall had to be buried in it!
By the time someone reached the end of their cultivation, they might have unwittingly become someone else's clone, their entire being and even their thoughts molded into the other person's shape.
Though they would still retain free thought, their entire being would be reshaped through cultivation. Whether they were still their original selves was probably something even the cultivators themselves could not make clear.
That was cultivation: body and mind were one. The process of cultivation was a process of life's sublimation, but also a process of reshaping thought.
Lin Xu looked at Chen A'niu, a trace of amusement appearing in his eyes. "A'niu, you should enter my tutelage."
He had no obsession with keeping his mind untouched. Being able to cultivate was the greatest blessing in this world, so how could there be no price to pay?
By entering his tutelage, though A'niu's entire being would eventually take his shape, it was still better than being trampled at will for his weakness.
The Bright Light Lamp flickered, casting a beam of candlelight onto the head of Chen A'niu, who was meditating.
The candlelight pierced Chen A'niu's fragile soul barrier in an instant and entered his sea of consciousness.
A tiny candle flame quietly lit up in the dim, cramped sea of consciousness.
An illusory oil lamp lit up at the center of the sea of consciousness, filling its gloom with radiance. For the first time, this dim world was filled with light.
"So this is an NPC human's sea of consciousness. It really is... dreary..." Sensing the dim, cramped sea of consciousness through the candlelight, Lin Xu shook his head inwardly.
A natural-born human from the real world would not have such a cramped and dim sea of consciousness, because humans in reality had active minds and possessed far more knowledge and information than humans in the Spirit Realm.
But a cramped sea of consciousness was not necessarily all bad. Right now, for instance, a single spark of spiritual light was enough to illuminate the whole thing, and Lin Xu spotted Chen A'niu's Divine Aperture almost at first glance.
With a thought, the Dharma Seed floating above the Bright Light Lamp followed the path of the candlelight, entered Chen A'niu's sea of consciousness in an instant, and crashed toward the Divine Aperture.
"Boom!"
Like Mars crashing into Earth, the Dharma Seed collided with the Divine Aperture, and the entire sea of consciousness trembled violently, as if about to shatter.
At that moment, however, the previously illusory spiritual lamp manifested. Its candle flame was like a great sun, shining upon every corner of the sea of consciousness.
The consciousness that had been boiling instantly froze, then was slowly smoothed out beneath the candlelight.
After a few breaths, the sea of consciousness grew calm again, and the Dharma Seed had merged with Chen A'niu's Divine Aperture.
"The Divine Aperture is open!" Lin Xu breathed a sigh of relief and slowly withdrew his consciousness.
This was his first time opening someone else's Divine Aperture, and only now did he discover that the process was not easy.
The instant the Dharma Seed joined with the Divine Aperture, had Lin Xu not personally suppressed the upheaval in the sea of consciousness, Chen A'niu's consciousness would have shattered the moment the Dharma Seed opened the Divine Aperture. At best, he would have been reduced to an idiot.
With the Divine Aperture open, magical power arose of its own accord. Within a few breaths, the first wisp of magical power was born in Chen A'niu's body.
This was the first seed. It was still tiny now, but before long, it could grow into a towering tree.
I'll have to prepare a Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp for him... Lin Xu thought to himself as he watched Chen A'niu cultivate in meditation.
Although a Bright Light Lamp was no longer needed to open the Divine Aperture, in his view, this magical implement was practically standard equipment for disciples of Xuanwei Monastery.
It could both amplify the power of spells and store extra magical power, greatly increasing their staying power in battle.
Name: Chen A'niu Race: human Status: protector (Lin Xu) Class: Daoist Level: 1 Strength: 7 Agility: 8 Constitution: 8 Spirit: 12 (+1) Intelligence: 12 Health: 18/18 Magical power: 3/3 Loyalty: 100 Talent: [Diligent and Eager to Learn · blue] skill learning speed +20% Skills: Basic Meditation Method · white (advanced), Basic Fitness Technique · white (advanced), Lamp Kindling Spirit Transformation Chapter [incomplete] · blue (advanced) Evaluation: Though he has a mortal body, he is a born seed of the Dao
The stats were not impressive, and were even a little meager, but with an NPC human's patience and the resources Lin Xu supplied him, Chen A'niu would surely grow quickly.
Lin Xu glanced over them, then turned his gaze to Liu Jiayao.
Unlike Chen A'niu, Liu Jiayao could not be given a Dharma Seed through this kind of empowerment.
The reason was simple: his "intelligence" was insufficient!
According to Lin Xu's judgment, inheriting the Lamp Kindling Spirit Transformation Chapter required at least 12 intelligence, even if it was only a Dharma Seed with the vast majority of its information compressed.
Without enough intelligence, one could not comprehend the Daoist information. The seed could never "blossom and bear fruit," and would be entirely wasted.
Lin Xu pondered how he should train Liu Jiayao.
How about compressing the Mystic Art God-Descending Technique?
He considered it, then immediately abandoned the idea.
After all, every Dharma Seed Lin Xu condensed cost him five points from his maximum magical power.
Although he could recover them by meditating for a single night, it was still a price.
Since compressing the Mystic Art God-Descending Technique into a Dharma Seed also required magical power, why not use the Lamp Kindling Spirit Transformation Chapter directly?
By the time one reached the end of a dark-gold cultivation method, one would become a saint under Lin Xu's tutelage. That was making the best use of everything and everyone!
I should adapt. Since his intelligence isn't high enough, he can cultivate magical power first and use it to light up neural nodes and strengthen the brain's neural network. It'll be an incomplete version of the Wisdom Art, slowly raising his intelligence stat.
Lin Xu thought for a moment and came up with a plan.