Chapter 302 - 151: The Trip to the Secret Vault Ends
Chapter 302: Chapter 151: The Trip to the Secret Vault Ends
’The difficulty is manageable. I have to reflect the All Heaven Stars, but with Mind Reading, Heart as a Mirror, and Heaven Rewards Diligence, I can gather every last one of them into my Heart Lake.’
’The problem is resources. The Qinghe Commandery Mansion will provide me with ordinary resources, but if I really manage to condense so many Star Cores, they will all need to be Refined from False into True. That will consume a massive amount of Gang Qi and Sha Qi...’
The quality of the Star Cores would be extremely high. Refining each one to perfection would consume over ten times the Wind Fiend Qi an ordinary Cultivator would use. With a dozen or so Star Cores, that would be over a hundred times the amount an ordinary Cultivator needs.
’...An amount of resources this immense... Prince Qinghe absolutely couldn’t afford it, much less give it all to me...’
At that moment, Zhong Ming truly felt the difficulty of Cultivation.
’Wealth, companions, techniques, and location... of the four essentials for Cultivation, there’s a good reason wealth is listed first.’
The lack of resources was giving Zhong Ming a headache, and the backlash from the Power of Time and Destiny cast a shadow over his heart.
The combination of these two problems had kept Zhong Ming’s brow furrowed ever since he’d left the Tower of the Morning Star.
Yi Yunya and Ji Qingyue noticed this and grew concerned.
"Brother Zhong Ming, have your injuries not healed yet?"
Seeing Yi Yunya’s worried expression, Zhong Ming smiled and shook his head. "It has nothing to do with my injuries. I’m worried about the Wind Fiend resources for the Foundation Establishment Stage."
As soon as he said this, Ji Qingyue, Ji Qinghui, Qin Zhou, Ruan Shi, Wei Zhong Mountain, and the others all began to laugh.
Ji Qingyue: "Young Master Zhong Ming, please don’t worry about the resource issue. I will do everything in my power to aid your Cultivation."
"And me." The two brothers, Ji Qinghui and Ji Qingkang, exchanged a glance and spoke at the same time.
After them, Ruan Shi and Qin Zhou also stated they would contribute a share of Wind Fiend Qi for Zhong Ming.
Just like that, in a short amount of time, Zhong Ming had been verbally promised over a dozen shares of the Wind Fiend Qi he needed.
For an ordinary Cultivator, or even a prodigy, this would have been enough. But for Zhong Ming, it was still far from what he needed.
’It’s not nearly enough...’
But while Zhong Ming was lamenting, something good was also happening.
By relying on Mind Reading, Immersion, and Heart as a Mirror, Zhong Ming had only needed to read the Star Core Creation Secret Manual once to learn it and directly reach the Initiation stage.
[You have read the Star Core Creation Secret Manual. You have gained some insight into star core creation. Your Cultivation Technique progress +813. Your Cultivation Technique has reached Initiation.]
[Star Core Creation Secret Manual]
[Grade: Mid Celestial Level]
[Realm: First Realm - Initiation (813/8,100)]
But that wasn’t all.
[You have a profound understanding of the stars and the Great Sun. Your Cultivation Technique progress +12,960... Your Star Core Creation Secret Manual has advanced. It is now at the Second Realm - Insight.]
[You have a profound understanding of Jupiter. Your Cultivation Technique progress +8,174]
[You have a profound understanding of Taibai. Your Cultivation Technique progress +6,394]
[You have a profound understanding of...]
The continuous stream of notifications showed that even though Zhong Ming had just obtained the Star Core Creation Secret Manual, his Cultivation Technique had already reached the Peak of the Second Realm, with its progress more than halfway complete.
As these notifications sounded one after another, a series of extraordinary phenomena unfolded within Zhong Ming’s Dantian:
His Magical Power from the Longxi Lineage gradually condensed into a Water Element Xinghui Yun. At its very center, a black star faintly appeared and disappeared (the Morning Star).
The Flame of the Sun within his apertures then surged into his Dantian, condensing into a true, orthodox Xinghui Yun. At its center was a phantom image of the Sun.
His Sword Heart reflected Taibai, manifesting as the planet Venus within Zhong Ming’s Dantian. Inside Venus, one could see the silhouette of a sharp Divine Sword.
’It’s even incubating a weapon.’
Next came Jupiter, a reflection of Zhong Ming’s special constitution: Demon Lord Tai Sui.
Jupiter, which corresponds to the wood element, formed a Xinghui Yun brimming with Life Force within Zhong Ming’s body.
——All his previous accumulation allowed Zhong Ming to condense several major stars the very instant he successfully switched his cultivation technique.
And among them, the Great Sun was undoubtedly the central body.
Once the Void Stars condensed and their framework was successfully established, the next step according to the Star Core Creation Secret Manual was to use an Array to restrain the cluster of stars. This would prevent them from colliding inside his Dantian and would keep the various types of Magical Power separate and running in an orderly manner.
Of course, Zhong Ming had no intention of doing that. He instead copied the planetary system from his past life—using the Solar Star Core as the center and leveraging gravity to make the other Star Cores orbit it in a perfect, orderly system.
HUMMM—
Driven by Zhong Ming’s Thought, the newly condensed and still-illusory Void Stars immediately began to move in an orderly orbit.
Because the profound mystery of the stars’ movements aligned with the Celestial Dao, another system notification sounded in Zhong Ming’s mind:
[You have gained a special understanding of the movement of stars. Your Cultivation Technique progress +33,600. Your Star Core Creation Secret Manual has advanced. It is now at the Third Realm - Refinement.]
And just like that, not even a full day after obtaining the Cultivation Technique, Zhong Ming’s progress in it had already reached the Third Realm.
Such speed might seem heaven-defying, but it was not. In fact, it was not at all rare in the Cultivation Realm.
There were always stories like this in the Cultivation Realm: someone might spend the first half of their life without practicing a single Daoist Skill, focusing only on painting and calligraphy until they became a generational Painting Saint.
Once people like that came into contact with Daoist Skills, they could break through several realms in succession and become a Great Power.
The painter in the story could just as easily be a woodcutter, an actor, or a sculptor... They were all stories of deep reserves leading to a sudden burst of progress.
The Dao follows nature. From another perspective, this meant that the countless scenes of this fleeting world and all the affairs of mortal life were themselves paths to the Dao.
Those who sincerely dedicated themselves to mastering a single skill were people who walked close to the Dao.
People like them were sitting on a mountain of treasure. The moment they obtained the key to unlock it, they could instantly soar to the heavens.
Zhong Ming’s understanding of the Sun, the Demon Star, and the Sword Dao was incredibly profound. He even possessed an understanding of the planets themselves.