The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Chapter 221 Mental Power Cultivation
Whoosh!
A black streak of light streaked across the dim sky and then fell atop a towering mountain.

At the summit of this mountain, there is a hazy portal of light, leading to a chaotic space only a hundred feet in size outside the world's prison.

“This will do!” Lei Zhan stood on the mountaintop, casually found a gentler slope, and sat down directly.

Wow~~~
With a thought, a large number of magical treasures obtained from the True God of Release appeared out of thin air and were casually piled up on the hillside, forming a small mountain.

"This True God of Release from Hell has quite a lot of wealth. No wonder he was able to escape from the hands of ancestral gods and immortals so many times." Lei Zhan looked at the pile of treasures in front of him with a smile on his face.

“Three Chaos Treasures… Besides the Sky-Gazing Taihao Pagoda and the pair of Dark Wind Rifting Staffs, there’s also an armor that’s actually at the level of a Chaos Treasure. It’s a pity it’s already damaged.” Lei Zhan looked at the magic weapons piled on top of this pile of treasures, his gaze falling on one of the damaged dark armor pieces.

"Whoosh!"

The palm-sized armor streaked across the sky and landed directly in front of Lei Zhan.

Lei Zhan reached out and grabbed the black armor. The armor was covered with plates that looked like dragon scales strung together. The plates gleamed coldly and had faint ancient and broken patterns on their surface.

"What a pity," Lei Zhan shook his head and sighed, "such a treasure has been ruined like this."

All armor and magical artifacts are extremely precious. Their function is somewhat similar to protective supernatural powers, providing protection to the body.

Even those with fragile divine bodies, wearing powerful armor, can withstand at least 99% of the power.

Even a piece of armor of the highest innate quality is already quite valuable, comparable to a Chaos Treasure, because such protective armor is extremely rare.

As for those at the level of Chaos Treasures, they are even more precious.

Although the armor in front of Lei Zhan was damaged and unusable, when it was intact it was a Chaos Treasure. The value of this armor alone could be comparable to a high-grade Chaos magic weapon, or even a general Chaos Supreme Magic Weapon.

He channeled his divine power into the armor in his hand, casually examined it, and was about to put it away. But this examination left him completely stunned.

"Hmm? The internal essence of this magical artifact isn't completely shattered yet?" Lei Zhan carefully sensed the artifact's essence. "Black Winged Nether Dragon Armor? Although the exterior is severely damaged, this treasure should still have a chance to be repaired?"

A bright light flashed in Lei Zhan's eyes. He knew he didn't possess many Chaos Treasures to begin with. Seeing this broken one already made him feel sorry for it. But now, suddenly discovering that this magical treasure could be repaired, he was naturally overjoyed.

"It's good that there's a chance to repair it. Even if repairing this Black Winged Nether Dragon Armor requires a large amount of Five Elements Essence, I already have mountains of Pure Yang Magic Treasures and Innate Spiritual Treasures. It wouldn't be a loss to crush some of them to repair this armor." Lei Zhan thought for a moment, then flipped his hand and directly put away the tattered armor.

"Next, let's sort through these more ordinary ones. The True God of Release is quite wealthy; perhaps we can find what I urgently need."

Lei Zhan's gaze fell once again on the magical treasures in front of him. His magical power surged, and the pile of treasures immediately floated in the air, quickly being sorted into categories.

"This set of flying swords consists of twelve pieces, each of them being a top-grade innate flying sword... Water attribute? That would be suitable for withered grass."

"And this set of Chaos Pearls... each one contains a vast world? Wang Shu can use them, keep them!"

"Hmm? Nine-star bamboo? There are two here! They can be used to cultivate the Eighteen Divine Demons of Tao Wu! But there are too few of them."

Each valuable item was quickly sorted out by Lei Zhan, whether it was valuable to Lei Zhan or not.

Soon, only a small silver tower and a pair of short sticks remained.

"Come!" Lei Zhan pointed in the distance, and the pair of Dark Wind Rifting Staffs came to Lei Zhan's side.

"The Sky-Splitting Staff of the Dark Wind. It's a pity that this treasure of the True God of Release is not suitable for me." Lei Zhan toyed with the pair of short staffs in his hands and shook his head helplessly.

After probing the memories of the True God of Release, Lei Zhan learned that this True God of Release had been fortunate enough to obtain the inheritance left by a deceased world god, and also acquired four Chaos Treasures, one of which was the Sky-Gazing Taihao Pagoda. Later, the True God of Release used the other two Chaos Treasures to exchange for this pair of 'Dark Wind Rifting Void Staffs'. The fact that he was able to fight against Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals in his True God form was largely due to these two Dark Wind Rifting Void Staffs.

"This True God of Release from Hell also has a great opportunity. If the supernatural powers and methods in his memory could be discovered, their value would probably be no less than the treasures we have obtained. Unfortunately, those powerful supernatural powers are all bound by a life oath, so they cannot be learned even if one wants to."

Looking back, Lei Zhan also felt somewhat frustrated. He had been extremely envious of the explosive supernatural power of the True God of Release, but unfortunately, it was all bound by his life oath.

Moreover, besides this reason, Lei Zhan, as one of the many leaders and powerful figures in the entire Three Realms, is not a lone wolf. He also has a great need for these methods and secret techniques.

If he were to acquire a powerful supernatural technique, he could pass it on to his two Daoist partners, Wang Shu and Ku Cao, even if he didn't learn it himself, and even to the many celestial gods and true immortals under his command in the Zhaixing Mansion lineage.

"Sigh..." Lei Zhan sighed, gathering his thoughts and focusing his gaze on the last remaining silver triangular tower.

Now, after being refined and transformed, this small tower is like a stubborn rock, completely devoid of any supernatural power, looking quite ordinary and simple.

"Let's go in and take a look." With a thought, Lei Zhan entered the space of the small silver tower.

……

Take a peek inside the Taihao Tower.

This is a space with a radius of only about 100 zhang, completely pyramid-shaped. The space is very stable, but the flow of time in the surrounding area is obviously different.

call.

Lei Zhan appeared directly there, looking around.

As far as the eye can see, inside the spire at the very top of this pyramid-shaped space, there are faint rings of light, which are the spacetime that is subtly vibrating.

At the very top of the other three corners of this space, there were also faint circles of light.

"This treasure... just the fact that this magical artifact operates on its own can achieve a time flow rate of ten times. This..."

Lei Zhan sensed the flow of time between the tower's interior and the outside world, and a thought struck him. A stable spacetime could maintain a flow of time ten times faster than normal, and only those who had embarked on the path of spacetime could understand how difficult it was to achieve such a level.

“My spacetime power is at the fourth level, and even with all my strength, I can only maintain the flow of time up to twenty times. This Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower can reach ten times the flow of time under normal operation, it’s truly extraordinary!” Lei Zhan sensed the changes in the flow of time around him and was filled with admiration. “Let’s take a look at the array and restrictions inside this treasure. Its use of spacetime is so profound, it might just touch me.”

“Hua La La~~~~”

His mind raced like lightning, and his vast and powerful consciousness surged like a tidal wave, directly penetrating the entire interior of the Sky-Gazing Taihao Pagoda.

"Hmm? The array formations and restrictions on this tower..."

"His~~~"

Like a mortal gazing at the heavens, Lei Zhan was immediately captivated by the sight. He carefully observed the numerous divine runes constantly flowing across the tower's surface, which contained a wealth of mysteries of space and time.

"The master craftsman who forged this magical artifact possesses an unparalleled mastery of time and space," Lei Zhan murmured softly. "This place evokes a feeling completely different from the Six Paths of Reincarnation created by the Goddess Nuwa. The understanding of time and space here..."

For a moment, the entire space fell into silence.

Lei Zhan stared intently, observing as if he were viewing an exquisite work of art. The use of time and space within the Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower, and even the various traces of time and space within its array formations and restrictions, rapidly enhanced Lei Zhan's understanding of time and space, completely immersing him in it.

I don’t know how much time passed.

"Phew!" Lei Zhan opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.

"It's different! It feels completely different!"

"I have been comprehending the Six Paths of Reincarnation for nearly ten thousand years under the accelerated time, but it is nothing compared to the various restrictions in the Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower!"

"The powerful expert who crafted this treasure must have had a profound understanding of the Dao of Time and Space at the World Realm level..."

It should be understood that there is no way to mass-produce innate spiritual treasures or chaotic treasures in the entire Three Realms, let alone to refine magical artifacts that can change or stabilize spacetime.

At most, it can be achieved through a massive array, much like the six realms of reincarnation in the underworld.

While array formations can achieve the same effect, they cannot move freely like the Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower; the difference is enormous.

"Space-time..." Lei Zhan thought to himself, "Only a World Realm expert whose space-time power has reached the sixth level can use space-time so mysteriously."

"I only studied it for a short while, and it greatly increased my understanding of the origin of time! I estimate that it won't be long before the power of the origin of time will be on the same level as the origin of space."

After calming his thoughts, Lei Zhan regained his composure.

"Now let's see how much my understanding of spacetime can elevate the spacetime flow of this magical artifact!"

"Speed ​​up the flow of time!"

With a thought, Lei Zhan immediately began to try it. His first-class immortal magic power began to be consumed rapidly, and the flow of time also increased rapidly.

Twenty times.

Thirty times.

Fifty times.

The flow of time within the Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower was changing, and at the same time, the consumption of his own magical power was rapidly increasing, becoming more and more astonishing.

A hundred times.

Two hundred times.

Three hundred times.

Five hundred times.

……

"It's reached its limit!"

It kept increasing to a thousand times the limit, the magic power was consumed wildly, and the stacking finally stopped.

“With the time flow maintained at eighty times, my mana replenishment and consumption are roughly equal,” Lei Zhan thought to himself. “If it were increased to two hundred times, my mana consumption would be greater, but it would still be relatively easy.”

"Three hundred times the power would be too much, but it should be just right..."

With his control over the magical artifact, Lei Zhan understood its limits.

Based on his understanding of the Dao of Time, using the Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower to maintain the flow of time at three hundred times is generally the most suitable state.

Of course, if Lei Zhan forcibly increased the flow of time to five hundred times, he could maintain it for a relatively long time by consuming pills.

“Three hundred times the speed of time flow means that one year outside is equivalent to three hundred years inside. That’s enough for me,” Lei Zhan muttered to himself. “With this magic weapon, my cultivation speed should also increase considerably.”

Lei Zhan was satisfied, and with a "whoosh," he left the space.

At the summit of Mount Wanli, Lei Zhan looked down and saw scattered, chaotic little worlds beneath the dim sky. Almost every little world held a prisoner from the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom.

"I've finished digesting the gains from the True God of Release. My clone that went to Nuwa's Immortal Realm with my master is probably about to finish and leave as well," Lei Zhan thought to himself.

"The trials of the mortal world are upon me, and the threat to my mental strength is imminent. My mental power is currently at the fourth level, and I'm probably close to reaching its peak. But to raise my mental power to the fifth level..."

Lei Zhan shook his head. His mental energy was ethereal and elusive, making improvement extremely difficult. As for those like Bu Xiu who had such incredible luck that they directly advanced to the fifth level, they were one in ten thousand.

At the very least, it would be extremely difficult for Lei Zhan to replicate this.

"Then I'll continue my journey through the Three Realms! Once my mental strength reaches the fifth level, the threat posed by my mental power will be greatly reduced. I might even be able to break through the Heavenly Heart Ring that Master Tathagata gave me!"

Lei Zhan thought of that mysterious white jade ring and felt a sense of anticipation.

For over a thousand years since acquiring this wondrous artifact, Lei Zhan had attempted to decipher it, but with his mental strength at the fourth level, he had never been able to fully refine it. Lei Zhan also vaguely understood that to know the secret of this wondrous artifact, he must reach the fifth level of mental strength.

"To reach the fifth level of mental strength... it's too difficult without a special opportunity. I really don't know how Senior Brother managed to do it." Lei Zhan's gaze was distant. "If one's mental strength is strong, it can also greatly improve my strength. Unfortunately, achieving true mental strength is something that can only be encountered by chance."

Mental power is an extremely powerful force. After breaking through to the sixth level, one can directly cultivate their own mental world, which greatly enhances their strength.

Although Lei Zhan knew that mental power, divine power, and magical power were essentially the same, all being schools of cultivation, regardless of other factors, mental power cultivators were generally stronger than those who cultivated qi flow or those who refined their bodies through divine and demonic means.

Therefore, if given the opportunity, I will not neglect the development of mental power cultivation. And I must also unlock the secrets of the Heavenly Heart Exquisite Ring, a wondrous artifact related to mental power, if the chance comes.

……

(End of this chapter)