After Feng Ling explained “Cloudy Moon Spirit Technique” word by word to Su Hao, she said, “The purpose of the Qi Induction Realm is to accumulate spiritual power as much as possible. However, different cultivation techniques have different methods of accumulating spiritual power, and they vary in quality. The ‘Cloudy Moon Spirit Technique’ in your hands is among the best, not inferior to others. You can confidently cultivate according to the methods outlined in it.”
Su Hao responded, “Thank you, Master, I understand!”
Feng Ling turned to look at the bewildered Feng Cheng and said, “For today, let it be. Wait for me here after six days.”
With that, she gracefully departed.
Su Hao sighed, put away the book in his hand, descended the mountain, and Feng Cheng hesitated to stop him but said nothing. He withdrew his hand and mumbled to himself, “Feng Cheng, what did you learn today? Well, I learned to ‘continue practicing the heart technique!'”
Picking up two small stools, he slowly descended the mountain.
Back in his room, Su Hao sat on the bed, reflecting on today’s lessons: “Although Master said cultivation should be goal-oriented and any method is acceptable as long as the practice goal is achieved, her intention is likely not for me to forge a new path but rather not to be limited by the fixed patterns of cultivation. I have the ability to innovate, but I shouldn’t rush into it. I’ll follow the solidified pattern of ‘Cloudy Moon Spirit Technique,’ thoroughly understand the theories and methods of others, master the principles, and then make my own choices.”
Throughout his academic journey, Su Hao always knew a fundamental truth: before fully understanding the classics passed down by others, it’s arrogant to modify or criticize them. This leads to arrogance, a hindrance to learning, and a potential deviation.
Reaffirming his commitment to learning, Su Hao focused on “Cloudy Moon Spirit Technique” again, carefully reviewing Feng Ling’s analysis. He muttered, “Qi Induction Realm is about accumulating spiritual power. ‘Cloudy Moon Spirit Technique’ is essentially a method for accumulating spiritual power. According to Master’s explanation, the spiritual power accumulated using this method is more abundant and stable, especially for breaking through the Foundation Establishment Realm.”
After another round of contemplation, Su Hao put the book down, entered a meditative state, and attempted to transform spiritual power for the first time.
Seeing himself through ‘mental perception,’ Su Hao immersed completely in the vast world of his body. As his consciousness spread throughout his body, following the subtle movements, when his mental perception covered his entire body, he followed the instructions in “Cloudy Moon Spirit Technique”: ‘Focus on the center of the sea of consciousness, let the clouds settle.’
In simpler terms, fill the body with mental perception and then daydream while looking at the mental image.
Sounds simple, right?
Indeed, it was simple, and Su Hao quickly found the balance, maintaining the state.
After an unknown duration, in Su Hao’s mental perception, the misty areas of his body lit up with scattered golden lights, gradually increasing, resembling the twinkling stars in the night sky.
Su Hao knew this was ‘spiritual power’! He successfully transformed spiritual power!
Maintaining the state for who knows how long, when the golden lights stopped increasing, Su Hao slowly withdrew his mental perception, exited the cultivation state, and the first question that came to his mind upon opening his eyes was, “What is the principle of transforming spiritual power?”
With a sweep of his mental perception, Su Hao sensed the scattered golden lights of ‘spiritual power’ distributed throughout his body, neither disappearing nor increasing.
This spiritual power, appearing as golden light points in mental perception, stayed quietly in Su Hao’s body, as if naturally growing on him.
“This is indeed what Master referred to as spiritual power. To use spiritual power, specific methods are required, but there’s no rush. First, investigate thoroughly the principles behind the generation of this spiritual power.”
For cultivators in this world, understanding how spiritual power is generated is generally impossible. However, for Su Hao, it’s exceptionally simple. All he needs to do is enter the data realm and retrieve the information.
After a moment, Su Hao exited the data realm, wearing an expression of realization on his face.
“So, ‘spiritual energy,’ ‘talent,’ and ‘heart method’ are all indispensable. ‘Spiritual energy waves’ form the environmental foundation, a protein-like substance generated by ‘talent’ serves as the material basis, and the ‘mental perception’ cultivated by the ‘heart method’ acts as a catalyst.
The protein-like substance transcribed from special gene sequences, under the radiation of ‘spiritual energy waves,’ generally doesn’t react. However, when introduced to the magical catalyst of ‘mental perception,’ the structure of the protein undergoes changes, reorganizing into a high-energy particle. This high-energy particle is what Su Hao perceives as golden light, also known as ‘spiritual power.’
And this is what cultivators call cultivation. The principle is simpler than I thought, yet different from what I anticipated. Cultivation in this world is truly miraculous!”
Upon touching the essence of transforming spiritual power, Su Hao immediately comprehended its nature. However, even if cultivators reach the Unity Realm, they are unable to perceive the underlying source.
Cultivators only know there is spiritual power in the world. Those with spiritual roots can ‘absorb’ the spiritual energy of heaven and earth according to the methods in cultivation scriptures, converting it into spiritual power to gain strength.
The so-called advanced cultivation methods are the result of countless cultivators unconsciously participating in updates and iterations over a long period, deducing more effective ways to transform spiritual power.
As for what ‘spiritual energy’ truly is and what ‘spiritual roots’ are, it’s not important to them. Not everyone in every world adheres to scientific principles and logical coherence.
This is the limitation of the era. If one thinks everyone around speaks science, therefore everyone in the entire universe speaks science, that would be too one-sided.
Su Hao slowly fell into deep thought. “Since the protein-like substance, under the influence of ‘spiritual energy waves’ and catalyzed by ‘mental perception,’ transforms into spiritual power, as long as I create specific conditions, I can artificially produce a large amount of spiritual power. For example…”
Su Hao entered the data realm, manifesting a notebook and a pen, then began jotting down ideas.
The process of transforming spiritual power reminded Su Hao of a simple experiment for obtaining oxygen in a laboratory.
“For instance, one, I can use runes to artificially create a special ‘force field,’ that is, ‘spiritual energy,’ similar to how I create ‘space waves.’ This way, I can refine spiritual energy not only in places with concentrated spiritual energy but even in another world.
Two, using genetic technology, I can modify plants or animals to produce the protein-like substance I need anytime, anywhere. Then, using extraction technology, I can directly extract and transform it into spiritual power. It’s similar to what cultivators often mention, like spiritual beasts, spiritual herbs, blood spirits, and so on. I’ll assign this project to Yashan in the future.
Three, the catalytic effect of ‘mental perception’ can be likened to the catalytic effect of manganese dioxide. ‘Mental perception’ participates in the transformation of spiritual power, but it’s not necessarily the most crucial. Perhaps something else can replace this ‘catalytic’ role.
Four, the process of cultivation involves accumulating a large amount of spiritual power and gradually constructing a new ‘life system’ within the body, allowing the spirit to break free from the constraints of the flesh and prolonging life. According to the cultivation theory of this world, as long as the human body is composed of spiritual power, one can truly achieve immortality…”
Su Hao’s pen paused here, shifting his thoughts to another question. “According to Master, the current highest realm in cultivation is the Unity Realm, which only extends life by over a thousand years, far from achieving true immortality. In other words, even the current highest-level cultivators haven’t succeeded in replacing their entire bodies with a spiritual power system.”
“The path of cultivation is blocked, and it’s stuck at the most critical step…”
