I'm determined to become an immortal!

"The centipede demon...is dead?!"

Inside the Water Palace, the Star-Backed Black Tortoise, which was originally controlling the Starlight Water Wall Array and preparing to take advantage of the centipede's sneak attack on the sword-bearing youth to launch its killing move—Thousand Star Cold Light—was suddenly terrified.

Its lantern-sized eyes were wide open, and its big mouth involuntarily opened, remaining open for a long time.

Wanchong Ridge is not far from Wanshou Pool, making the Thousand-Legged Centipede a close neighbor. The old turtle knew it quite well, knowing that the centipede's magical power was even greater than its own, comparable to a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In addition, it has awakened its innate talent, possesses a rare poison, and has an extremely tough carapace that makes it difficult for ordinary magical artifacts to damage it.

If it really came down to a fight, even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't be a match for him.

But right now, the sword-wielding youth was clearly meditating cross-legged, so how could the centipede have been directly killed by that cyan sword light?!

The old turtle was completely confused and panicked.

'Could it be... that this young man is a disciple of a legendary sect, possessing an unparalleled inheritance?'

The Star-Backed Black Tortoise suddenly thought of a possibility, and its heart panicked even more. It knew very well that if the other party really had such a background, it was not something that a wild mountain beast like itself could afford to offend.

What should I do?

The old tortoise knew that with the centipede dead, no other great demons would dare to come. Even if they reached the edge of the pool, they would likely flee immediately upon sensing the centipede's corpse.

Most demonic beasts are just reckless, not truly stupid. Not to mention that demonic beasts that have cultivated to the second tier are basically top-tier cultivators and would never risk their lives to be defeated.

"In that case, there's only one way left."

The enormous body of the Star-Backed Black Tortoise headed out of the Water Mansion, straight out of the Starlight Water Wall Array, and stopped about a hundred feet away from Ye Shao Chen.

Then, it cowered at the bottom of the pool, looking like it was at the mercy of others.

......

After two years of arduous training, you are not far from the pinnacle of mastery.

These two long years of cultivation have deepened your understanding of the subtle ripples in your mind, and you vaguely feel that this understanding can be further developed, but you don't know where to begin.

Three months later, you began to have some ideas and started to observe the changes in the water day and night.

You realize that simply controlling water is a inferior approach, and begin to try to integrate the "gentle ripples" into every flow of magical power, attempting to find a more fundamental "force."

Four months later, you have gained nothing, but you have already cultivated the "Qinglan Water Control Technique" to the peak of a state of divine mastery.

You feel no joy because you cannot see the road ahead; it seems this is the final destination on your path.

...

The cultivation information stopped automatically here, and He Sheng quickly checked the relevant information inside the water droplet.

【Clear Water Control Technique (Masterful): 1000/1000】

(Total cultivation time: thirteen years, two months, and fourteen days)

As for the remaining general training time, there is still quite a bit left.

[Current available total training time: 5 years, 9 months, and 24 days]

The system automatically stopped, perhaps as a reminder that continuing to invest general cultivation time in it wouldn't yield much benefit?

The realm of transcendence is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Don't be fooled by the fact that the total cultivation time is only a little over thirteen years.

However, if one cultivates for one hour every day without interruption, it would take nearly 160 years to cultivate!

Few cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage can achieve this, and now that He Sheng wants to go even further, it is naturally even more difficult.

"But at least the system didn't deny it!"

He Sheng carefully examined the information about the "Qinglan Water Control Technique." The plus sign was still there, indicating that he could continue to invest general cultivation time.

Go all in again!

He Shengcheng's determination to change the system was extremely firm.

Since he can rewind time anyway, he's not afraid of any sunk costs.

A year has passed, and you still have nothing to show for it, but you are determined to continue and innovate within the realm of subtle beauty.

Another six months have passed, and through your continuous perception of the changes in water, you have finally gained a profound insight.

You believe that 'water' is not a form; you try to peel away the appearance of 'water' to understand its essence.

You are no longer controlling the water, but communicating with it.

Another year has passed, during which you have collected all sorts of different kinds of "water"—river water, lake water, pond water, swamp water, depression water, and so on. You have come to understand the nature of each one and have gained a great deal.

You discover that different types of water have different properties, which you call compatibility.

To communicate with "water" is actually to communicate with a certain affinity, so one must first select it, rather than trying to understand it haphazardly.

You chose to communicate with the affinity represented by 'river water' because you discovered that the affinity represented by river water, lake water, and pond water is quite similar, suggesting it's a relatively common affinity that's not difficult to understand.

Eight months later, you finally gained something. Using your understanding of the river's properties to create a subtle, evocative atmosphere, you vaguely touched upon a power of extremely high status.

Six months later, you failed to comprehend that high-level power. You vaguely felt that you were lacking something. Without this one thing, there was always a barrier between you and that high-level power.

But you didn't come away empty-handed; you grasped a technique even more profound than controlling water, known as "The law follows the mind, and the mind moves the water."

Three months later, you realize that your perception was correct; you are indeed lacking something essential that prevents you from building a bridge of communication with that higher power.

This is a problem that cannot be solved by "technique"; its root lies in "method".

Having thoroughly grasped the essence of the problem, you began to shift your focus, researching how to cultivate your own transcendent techniques using the method of "the law follows the mind, the mind moves the true water!"

Just one month later, based on your insights and understanding over the years, you successfully created a transcendent technique, which you call "Gathering Water Break".

The power of this transcendent technique is comparable to that of ordinary talismans, and may even be more advanced. The key lies in whether you can sense the existence of even smaller amounts of water.

This is yet another new path, requiring a further advancement in your understanding of the subtle nuances of the universe. You eagerly continue exploring along this path.

Two months later, your subtle state of mind has not changed significantly, but you have grasped the key to the problem!

That means you need a more powerful divine sense to support your Mindful Ripples realm to go further, thereby perceiving the existence of even smaller water particles, and then further enhancing your Mindful Ripples realm through more subtle perception.

This is a cycle, and the key lies in divine consciousness.

The system stopped automatically again, and this time He Sheng didn't insist.

He had come to understand that after investing more than four years, it was indeed possible to take the "Qinglan Water Control Technique" to the next level and elevate the "Rippling Water" concept to a new level, but unfortunately, his physical abilities were insufficient.

"The path that connects to the water is clearly a problem with the technique. It's almost as if they're telling me directly that the 'Qinglan Water Element Technique' is just a path that can't reach higher levels of power."

The enhancement of the subtle ripple effect requires a more powerful divine sense to perceive the microscopic world, which is also a matter of hardware requirements.

After more than four years, he only managed to comprehend a so-called transcendent technique, and its power was not particularly strong.

This also shows that the time efficiency of magical cultivation is actually quite poor, especially when it involves creating something from nothing and opening up a path. It is easy to invest a lot of time but not gain anything worthwhile.

According to Piao Ge's memory, talisman treasures are special talismans created by Core Formation cultivators at the cost of consuming the essence of their natal magic treasures.

Depending on the quality of the talisman, its power can generally reach one to two-tenths of that of the original magic weapon.

Ordinary talismans generally possess about 15% of the power of magic treasures.

It possesses significantly greater power than a top-grade magical artifact, but it falls short compared to a fully refined, rudimentary magical treasure.

Talisman treasures are powerful weapons for cultivators at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and below, but they are somewhat useless for late-Foundation Establishment cultivators, especially those at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

In short, if the power of the Water Gathering Breaker cannot be further enhanced, it is just a useless skill.

However, I haven't yet crafted the prototype of the magic weapon, so Gathering Water Break is already a powerful technique.

To take it a step further, the key lies in spiritual consciousness.

Therefore, I must find a secret technique to enhance my spiritual awareness and cultivate it...

As He Sheng was pondering, he suddenly sensed something, and his mind immediately stirred. The image he had perceived with his divine sense appeared in his mind: the centipede being slashed by that cyan sword light!

"That's the move!"

He Sheng immediately recognized that the cyan sword light that killed the centipede was exactly the same as the sword that killed Piao Ge in an instant!

"Ignoring magical defenses again!"

And this sword strike seems even stronger...

That's right!

This sword strike actually contained the physical form of a flying sword.

He Sheng immediately saw the key point and felt a chill run down his spine.

"This flying sword is so sharp that even the sturdy body of a demonic beast cannot withstand it."

A dignified second-tier demon was killed with a single sword strike—what's the point of playing anymore!

He Sheng originally had some ulterior motives. He wondered if he could join forces with the Star-Backed Black Tortoise and the Sword-Bearing Youth after he reached the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

But seeing such a powerful demon as the centipede beheaded with a single sword strike, his heart sank into a deep chill.

"I can't stay any longer; I don't want to get another sword strike!"

He Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, and with a wave of his hand, he took the stone box that the green snake had placed at the entrance of the cave into his palm. He didn't look at it much, but just put it into his storage bag and prepared to make a quick getaway.

However, as he approached the hidden waterway that led directly to the underground river, He Sheng hesitated for a moment:

"This time we've dragged the Star-Backed Black Tortoise into this mess. Should we tell it before we leave?"

With a thought, He Sheng probed the main hall with his divine sense and discovered that the Star-Backed Black Tortoise had actually left the Water Mansion.

"What's this old turtle trying to do? Go straight for it and fight it head-on?"

To He Sheng's astonishment, the Star-Backed Black Tortoise did indeed ascend, but not to fight desperately. Instead, it crouched down and shrank a hundred feet away from the sword-bearing youth.

Upon seeing this, He Sheng immediately understood that the Star-Backed Black Tortoise wasn't trying to fight head-on at all; it was clearly trying to surrender after realizing that its opponent was not on the same level as it!

"That old tortoise...it's got some skills."

With the host here having given up resisting, He Sheng had no time to spare. He immediately activated the Minor Ripple Water Escape technique and headed out along the hidden waterway.