Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improved Spirit Rice

Chapter 92 Observing the Subtle Formula, Opening the Heavenly Eye

Zhao Cheng'an put down his pen and smiled: "It's probably related to my recent focus on cultivating my divine sense. The strength of my divine sense has increased, and I can feel significant progress in both memorizing and processing these rune structures."

"Divine Mind Cultivation —"

Upon hearing this, Luo Qingyi immediately realized: "Those books I gave you at the bookstore in Floating Scale Cave Heaven?"

Zhao Cheng'an nodded: "That's right, it's all thanks to Fellow Daoist Luo. The formulas recorded in those books are indeed very effective in honing one's divine sense."

After hearing this, Luo Qingyi was initially incredulous, but then her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, "Those books are just the most basic introductory readings of the Chaotic God lineage of Hunyuan Cave. They are not of great value."

"To be able to figure out the method of refining one's divine sense from such basic content, and to persevere and achieve such results, Fellow Daoist Zhao, your talent in this area is also quite amazing."

Zhao Chengan said modestly, "I just put in some hard work."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "However, I have indeed gained some insights during my cultivation process. I'm just throwing out these ideas to get the ball rolling. If you two want to try them out, you can refer to them. If you have any better ideas, we can also exchange them with each other when the opportunity arises."

As he spoke, Zhao Cheng'an took out several neatly organized notebooks from his Qiankun bag.

They were handed to Luo Qingyi and Ning Zixu respectively.

"Not at all, you're too modest!" Ning Zixu took the stack of notes with both hands, glanced through them, and his expression became serious.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhao."

His tone was filled with genuine gratitude.

"These things are very useful to me. Of the three of us, my learning progress is the slowest. As the saying goes, sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. If I can improve my spiritual power, it should be effective."

Furthermore, divine sense is crucial in combat, whether for casting spells or manipulating magical artifacts.

Luo Qingyi put away the notebook, a smile appearing on her face. "Since we've accepted such a wonderful gift from you, I'll treat you to a welcome feast once we arrive at Tongming Mountain and settle in. I'll invite you to try the most famous Ling Shan Lou restaurant in the mountain gate."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony," Zhao Cheng'an replied with a smile.

Back in his room, Zhao Cheng'an closed the door and sat down cross-legged on the futon again.

He took out the pitch-black Netherworld Soul Jade, held it in his palm, and once again immersed his divine sense into it.

The grand hall ablaze with flames, the one-armed Huai Xuanzi, the fox spirit shrouded in black mist—all the familiar scenes are playing out once again.

In the past two weeks, he has died countless times in this illusion.

Kill them as soon as they open the door.

Block the door and kill.

The knife moves at varying speeds and unpredictable rhythms.

Small monsters hiding in pools of blood, disguised as corpses.

There was also another demon that sneakily attacked him from behind while he was fighting with one of the demons.

This seemingly chaotic battlefield concealed deadly dangers, and Zhao Cheng'an's death was shrouded in bizarre and varied circumstances.

He was tormented to the point of despair by the various monsters in the illusion.

However, feeling the growth of one's divine sense is, in a sense, a bittersweet experience.

Zhao Cheng'an, through repeated deaths, learned the timing of each monster's appearance.

The angle of the attack and the trajectory of the strike were all etched into his mind.

Now we're going through this process again.

Zhao Chengan's movements were incredibly fluid and graceful.

The moment the skull materialized at the corner of the corridor, his Chaotic Divination Technique had already struck with pinpoint accuracy. Just as the monster lying in a pool of blood, preparing to rise from the dead, was about to raise its head, he sidestepped the lunge and shattered it with a mental shockwave.

The entire process of dodging, counterattacking, and advancing is executed seamlessly, without a single superfluous movement, and even subtly reveals a cruel artistic beauty.

finally----

As the last Heavenly Demon before the stone steps leading to the Cardinal's Pavilion was completely annihilated by Zhao Cheng'an using the Chaotic Divination Technique, the entire battlefield returned to an eerie silence.

At this moment, Zhao Cheng'an's spiritual power was also nearing its limit.

My temples suddenly throbbed violently, and my vision blurred.

But an uncontrollable joy appeared on his face.

Because right in front of him, the majestic gates of the Cardinals' Chamber were clearly visible in his field of vision.

"After so much time and so many deaths—we've finally passed the first hurdle!"

Zhao Chengan took a deep breath.

With the last ounce of strength in his body, he climbed the stone steps one by one and arrived at the tightly closed bronze door.

He reached out and gently placed his palm on the cold door.

The moment he touched the door.

The Netherworld Seal held in his other hand suddenly became scalding hot.

Immediately afterwards, a vast and unfamiliar stream of divine information, like a flood bursting its banks, surged into Zhao Cheng'an's consciousness without warning.

"Buzz!"

The instant that divine message flooded into Zhao Cheng'an's consciousness, everything around him seemed to freeze in an instant. The flames stopped flickering, the flying debris hovered in mid-air, and even the distant howls of the Heavenly Demon were silenced by some force.

Deep within his mind, a complex geometric structure was slowly unfolding.

It was a three-dimensional pattern composed of twelve intricately nested arithmetic units, resembling an open eye, full of mysterious beauty. Moreover, the lines representing the arithmetic trajectory crisscrossed on it.

It is much more complex than the chaotic divine calculation formula that Zhao Chengan painstakingly refined.

【Microscopic Formulas】

As the name came to mind, its associated effects also flooded into Zhao Cheng'an's mind.

Zhao Cheng'an looked surprised and carefully went through the logic of the formula.

This is a type of exploration formula.

It can read and analyze the opponent's background. In addition to judging the opponent's specific cultivation level, the strength of their spiritual sense, and even the characteristics of their spells, the most important thing is that it can directly detect whether the opponent has been parasitized or corrupted by the Heavenly Demon.

Zhao Cheng'an's heart stirred.

Among the several ancient texts of the Chaotic God lineage that he had previously consulted, there were also similar formulas for checking one's background.

One of the more commonly used methods is called "Mysterious Calculation Method".

However, comparing the two side by side.

Zhao Chengan quickly discovered the difference.

The structure of the [Microscopic Calculation Formula] is actually simpler and more ingenious, and the spiritual fluctuations generated when it is used are more subtle and not easily detected by the opponent.

However, the information it can glean from its opponents is far more abundant and accurate than that obtained through the "Mysterious Formula".

"Simpler structure, yet better results"

Zhao Cheng'an thought to himself, "This shows that the Mingxu Sect a thousand years ago truly represented the pinnacle of the entire East Sea region's divination lineage."

"It could even be said that with the destruction of the Mingxu Sect, the overall level of divination masters in the entire East Sea region has experienced a significant decline."

A first-rate lineage capable of producing such exquisite calculations has been completely lost in the long river of history, and its profound heritage has almost been lost as well.

Thinking of this, Zhao Cheng'an couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

As he processed the newly acquired formula in his mind, he reached out and tried again to push open the tightly closed bronze door in front of him.

However, the gate remained unmoved.

No matter how hard he tried, the heavy door seemed to be rooted to the spot, showing no sign of loosening.

Just as he was wondering, a cold notification came from the depths of the illusion and appeared directly in his consciousness.

The strength of my divine sense is insufficient to open the Cardinal Pavilion.

Let's explore the areas ahead later.

"Holy crap, Hara Ichi!"

Immediately following that message, a line of specific requirements was added.

[To unlock the second level, your spiritual power must reach 500 hexagram breaths.]

"So it was my spiritual power that was insufficient. I thought it was that Yuan." Although Zhao Cheng'an's spiritual power has increased compared to before, it should still be around two hundred.

The gap between them and the threshold of five hundred divination breaths was simply insurmountable.

This door can't be opened for the time being.

Zhao Cheng'an shook his head helplessly and withdrew his divine sense from the door.

With a thought, he voluntarily withdrew from the illusion.

In the room, Zhao Cheng'an opened his eyes and rubbed his throbbing temples.

Although I didn't make it to the second stage this time, obtaining the inheritance of the [Microscopic Calculation Formula] is already quite an achievement.

-

This is a pleasant surprise.

But next, he must find a way to significantly enhance his divine sense.

"Five hundred divinations—"

"Whether it's inscribing new formulas or using illusions to slay demons, it can indeed bring about some improvement in divine sense."

"But the efficiency of both methods is getting lower and lower."

In the beginning, every time he went in and died, his divine power would visibly increase.

However, the improvement has become less and less noticeable now. This is because, with each attempt, the demons in the illusion can no longer pose a significant threat to Zhao Cheng'an, thus failing to achieve the effect of tempering his divine sense.

This is like a rubber band. When you first stretch it, it is very elastic, but after repeated stretching, the range of motion it can be stretched becomes smaller and smaller.

Relying solely on the two methods of inscribing formulas and refining in the illusion realm is insufficient to reach five hundred hexagram breaths.

I wonder when I'll finally be able to get through this.

"To significantly enhance one's divine sense, we will probably need some other methods."

Zhao Cheng'an pondered to himself, "Tongming Mountain is a lineage of Golden Core cultivators with profound foundations. Once we reach the mountain gate, there might be a sacred place specifically for tempering one's divine sense, or related methods."

When the blue phoenix picked him up earlier, it mentioned that there were many wonders in Tongming Mountain Cave Heaven that resonated with the laws of heaven and earth.

Perhaps one of these wonders will have an effect on my spiritual cultivation.

Thinking of this, Zhao Cheng'an's anxiety subsided.

It can't be rushed.

Spiritual practice is a gradual process. What we can do right now is to do the things we can do well.

For example, achieving a good result in the sect's subsequent small test.

This will allow for more resources to be allocated, making it much easier to do whatever you want in the future.

In the following days, Zhao Cheng'an did not rush to enter the illusion, but instead focused his energy on inscribing the newly acquired [Observational Formula].

This formula has twelve calculation cores, and its structure is far more complex than the Chaotic Divination Formula.

Fortunately, after being repeatedly tempered by the illusions during this period, Zhao Cheng'an's divine sense was now strong enough to support the construction of this formula.

In the pitch-black sea of ​​consciousness within the Niwan Palace, he carefully traced each line of light.

One computing core, two computing cores —

As the last computational core was firmly embedded, the complex and intricate eye-shaped pattern he had seen in the illusion slowly took shape in the center of his sea of ​​consciousness, emitting a soft blue light.

"Success!" Zhao Cheng'an was overjoyed, feeling a sense of fulfillment.

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