by <unknown>
"The vitality of ordinary people is tremendously feeble, so the consumption of their vitality per second is also very small. Their vitality flows like a mere trickle which would remain calm forever."
We cultivators, on the other hand, could stimulate the hidden potential of our bodies to the extreme and break past the limits one after another, and even blast a way towards a completely new path of evolution. Every second and every minute, the vitality we consume is more than hundred times than that of ordinary people."
"Like the second and third tree, which are burning from inside out, although they can emit inexhaustible light and heat in an instant, they could easily burn away themselves completely."
"The higher the state and the deeper the cultivation level, the fiercer you will burn and the faster you will consume your vitality."
"In the ancient cultivation world, many peerless experts whose cultivation had reached the limit could completely burn themselves, and subsequently after various kinds of visions, they would completely vanish. The ancient cultivators called it 'Breaking the Space'."
"But we modern cultivators know that it was nothing but burning our vitality away, burning ourselves alive to death."
"If you want to avoid burning away your vitality, you can not maintain your strongest state all the time. Instead, you have to alternate between tension and relaxation; you have to remain calm at normal times and be prompt when taking action."
"So, even if it is Nascent Soul Stage old monster, he would not remain in the Nascent Soul Stage at every moment and every second. If he did so, he will very easily completely burn through his entire life. It would simply be an act of suicide."
"They would often restrain their vigor and would look no different than Building Foundation Stage or Refinement Stage cultivators."
"Some skilled, peerless experts can even accomplish a state where not even a trickle of their life force leaks out, suppressing their strength to 0.01%. A true Nascent Soul Stage old monster will look like a feeble, ordinary person. Even if telepathic thoughts of other experts scan through them, they will not find an ounce of difference."
"Under this kind of state, their life force passes very slowly, and theoretically, they could live for 300-500 years, and perhaps even longer!"
"And if they need to, they can transform in the blink of an eye in accordance to the different combat scenarios. They could jump to different levels one by one, from the Refinement Stage, Foundation Building Stage, Golden Core stage to even the strongest Nascent Soul Stage!"
"In their strongest state, their attack force is 100,000 times stronger than their weakest state. It would be as if they were not the same person—as if an ant has evolved into a ferocious dragon in the blink of an eye!"
"Soul converging techniques teach you how to suppress your strength—the ability to transform!"
"Soul converging techniques, breathing exercises, and utilization exercises are also known as the three basic techniques of the cultivation world. Once you have learned a soul converging technique, not only can you warm and nourish your ife flame, it can also prevent others to see your actual situation, allowing you to be a wolf in sheep's clothing and play pig to eat the tiger. It is truly a marvelous and essential skill for you to walk in the cultivation world!"
Having finished the introduction, the middle-aged cultivator waved his hand before numerous streams of light submerged into Li Yao's brain, which was the basic theoretical stuff regarding soul converging techniques.
Just like the breathing exercises, soul converging techniques was just a general designation for techniques. Various sects had their own soul converging techniques. The Grand Desolate War Institution likewise had a total of a couple hundred different soul converging techniques, with each of them having different features and practicing methods. The students could freely choose as they wish.
Among this basic theory course, Li Yao got to clearly understand the origin, creators, features, advantages, and disadvantages of over a hundred soul converging techniques.
As a couple 100,000 thoughts submerged into his brain in the blink of an eye, Li Yao felt as if his brain was going to explode; he felt dizzy as he constantly complained.
When he withdrew himself from the knowledge of soul converging techniques, he felt everything was revolving and faintly felt nausea.
"Awful, I truly can not bear so many thoughts submerging into my brain all of a sudden."
"This is just the concepts of soul converging techniques forced into my brain, I still do not completely understand them. I guess it would take at least 3-5 days before I could master it, and only then will I have the hope to pass the exam."
"No, if it will be 3-5 days just for learning one course, I can only earn 20-30 credits in one month at most. How am I going to compete with those specially recruited students? Not to mention the first in Newcomer Ranking, it would be impossible for me to make it to the top 100!"
Li Yao was quite anxious.
The Low-Rank Soul Converging Techniques could not be described as difficult among the basic theory courses, but the telepathic thoughts it had were truly too many and even included the origin, development history, and evolution of the sect. Some courses even included many cultivation experiences of seniors which would very likely to appear in the exam.
Even if it was a cultivator who had tremendous computational speed, to completely understand one, they would—just like him—need to spend 3-5 days.
It was simply impossible to learn a couple dozen courses in one month’s time.
"The learning efficiency is truly low. I wonder if there are any cultivation facility which could promote the learning efficiency!"
Li Yao was somewhat distressed.
At this moment, a diamond-shaped crystal congealed over the top of his head; at the center of which had "Super Perception Cabin".
After it split open, Li Yao suddenly discovered that the institute surprisingly had a cultivation equipment called "Super Perception Cabin" which could promote the learning efficiency by 300%.
Practicing a second inside of the Super Perception Cabin was equivalent to practicing 3-4 seconds outside; it was like the time was being stretched—it was incredibly mysterious!
"Is there such an overbearing cultivation equipment? Then wouldn't one month be equivalent to three months?"
Li Yao, who was completely immersed in his happiness, completely ignored the restrictions and drawbacks of the "Super Perception Cabin" and excitedly checked the location of the equipment.
The Super Perception Cabin was a very common cultivation equipment. All the major departments had it installed. The Refining Department also used to have it; however, it was destroyed in the explosion.
But as all the departments had made a commitment that the students of Refining Department are welcomed anytime to use their training facilities, they would act fairly to everyone.
"Let's check out the Combat Department first!"
Li Yao discovered that the Combat Department had over a hundred Super Perception Cabin installed. It was a large-scale facility, and the distance was also not far away. He immediately decided to first go to the Combat Department to try his luck.
He could not wait to withdraw from the Wasteland Battle Network. Looking at the Black Wing Sword like a cheerful dog running around him, Li Yao’s complexion changed. He raised a finger.
"If I have to ride you, let's talk first—the highest speed can not be more than the 1/3rd of the speed of sound. You are not allowed to suddenly stop and change directions, you are not allowed to abruptly go up and down, you are not allowed to do a 360 degrees barrel roll, and you are also not allowed to suddenly brake! Start gently and brake softly, fly as slow as possible, ok?"
The Black Wing Sword's tip repeatedly moved up and down as though a dog was cheerfully wagging its tail, saying: "Okay, okay, okay!"
"That's more like it."
Li Yao linked the mini-crystal processor with the static type crystal processor before he awkwardly cl
imbed onto the Black Wing Sword.
When thunderous roaring sounds came from the back of Black Wing Sword, he had an ominous premonition. Just as he was about to jump down, he had already started flying.
"Damn you, Little Black, I am not going to believe you ever again!"
Li Yao's roars were however completely torn apart by the fierce winds.
....
Despite the fact that it was already late at night, a dozen floating mountains of the combat department were brightly lit, as though it was daytime.
"The major departments and the ordinary departments are really different. Each profession has a dozen floating mountain, and even the smallest mountain is 3-5 times bigger than the floating mountain that our Refining Department once had!"
"However, it's alright. Someday, the Refining Department will have 10, 20, 50 floating mountains. I will build a sky city in the sky of the Grand Desolate War Institution, and then it will be worthy of the title 'Holy Land of Refiners’!"
On the flying sword landing platform of a floating mountain, Li Yao stroked his messy hair and walked inside with his head held high.
Chapter 140: 10:1 |
This floating mountain belonged to Iron Fist Club, and despite it being midnight, the floating mountain was hustling and bustling with people inside. Its atmosphere was filled with an intense masculine taste, and sounds of striking could be heard without a breath of respite.
As Li Yao walked inside, a few sharp gazes converged on him.
He wore the uniform of the Refining Department, on which there was a burning crystal gear engraved on his chest, appearing to be particularly striking among the tall and robust members of the Iron Fist Club.
Very quickly, someone recognized him.
"He’s Li Yao, the only student of the Refining Department."
"So he’s the one who would rather die than change departments? So whether the Refining Department will exist or be abolished rests on his shoulders?"
"Do not underestimate him! This guy is very ruthless. Rumor has it that when he had just awakened, he had beaten the crap out of a 3rd level Refinement Stage cultivator. Our Iron Fist Club's instructor, Teacher Ding Lingdang, is sparing no effort to recruit him!"
A dozen fierce men with robust muscles who were drenched in sweat surrounded him.
A 2 meter tall bronze-skinned, fierce-looking man walked in large strides before Li Yao as he lowered his head and sized him up. Pursing his lips into a smile, he said:
"Are you Li Yao?"
Li Yao frowned. He slightly bent his legs, and his leg muscles shivered in high frequency, which was unable to be discerned with naked eyes, seemingly taking the pose at which he could kick the other guy's crotch at any moment, thereby breaking the other guy's attack.
However, his face bore calmness as he smiled and said, "That's right, and you are..."
The robust man raised his bowl-sized fist and ruthlessly smashed on his iron cast and copper plated chest. The subsequent sound was as though a stone had struck a piece of metal as he shouted:
"I am Zhang Chuang and am also a freshman like you. I am Southern Desert City's champion of the College Entrance Examination. Student Li Yao, I—admire you!"
"What?"
Li Yao was dumbfounded. What sort of strategy was this?
Zhan Chuang stretched out his leaf-fan sized, giant palm and forcefully smacked Li Yao on the shoulder as he said in a loud voice:
"We all know that the Refining Department had an accident and we have also heard of your choice. We all admire you. We feel that you represent the spirit of the Grand Desolate War Institution—regardless of victory or defeat, as long as even one soldier is left standing, we will fight to the end!"
"That's right!"
Another ugly freshman came forward and roared while waving his fist, "Although everyone knows that the Refining Department can never hold on after a year, you still chose to remain without a shred of hesitation to go all out to struggle and fight!"
"This kind of spirit is exactly the persistence that our Grand Desolate War Institution has passed down for hundreds of years. We can lose and even die, but we will never surrender!"
"Come on, Fellow Student Li Yao!"
A third hunk forced his way over: "No matter the final outcome, in this year, burn your life away, exert your utmost strength to shine so that you don't leave the slightest bit of regret! All the members of our Iron Fist Club completely support you!"
"For your dream, fight till the end!"
"Even if the Refining Department is abolished next year, it is well worth it!"
"Whatever you need, just say. We all know that cultivation is not easy. We are all brothers, and we don't have any bad intentions!"
One by one, seemingly ferocious-looking hunks started shouting all at once.
Li Yao was stunned for a while and didn't know what to say.
On the other hand, he was feeling warmer and warmer in his heart. A sincere smile soon crept up on his lips.
He sincerely bowed and said from the bottom of his heart, "Thank you for all your support. I will definitely do my best!"
"Alright! Since Fellow Student Li Yao has arrived on such late at night, you definitely want to use the training facilities here, right? Everyone disperse, don't you all have your own training to do? I will show Fellow Student Li Yao around!"
Zhang Chuang held quite a bit of prestige amongst the freshmen. After everyone dispersed, he accompanied Li Yao to the depths of the floating mountain.
When he came to know why Li Yao had come here, his ugly and ferocious-looking face revealed a sliver of bewilderment.
"The Super Perception Cabin is not some popular training equipment. You can use it any way you like, but don't expect too much of its effect!"
After having Zhang Chuang explain it, only then did Li Yao realize how foolish he had been.
The principle of the Super Perception Cabin was completely opposite to that of the "Deep Sleep Chamber". The latter could forcefully inhibit the activity of human brain cells, thereby making one enter a deep sleeping state. In this state, one hour of sleep was equivalent to 3-5 hours of normal sleep.
Super Perception Cabin, on the other hand, would stimulate its user's brain cells activity through special array glyphs and crystals. The activity of one’s brain cells would be enhanced to 300%, thereby improving the learning efficiency.
This method was a bit like injecting stimulants into the brain. One could support it for at most 20-30 minutes.
Following after which the brain cells would be overactive, ultimately resulting in Qigong deviation. Although its degree was very light, it would still be a bit troublesome to deal with.
Moreover, it was only enhancing the brain cell activity to 300%. The body would remain the same as before, which would give birth to a very serious dissonance between the physical and mental activities.
Often, the brain would issue a command, but the body would be unable to respond in time, making it feel like one was paralyzed.
So, the Super Perception Cabin was only suitable for learning the basic theory course; it was not at all suitable for training.
And it was only the freshman who would use it and that too for no more than half an hour, as the older students simply did not spare it a glance.
"We are here."
Zhang Chuang brought Li Yao to a dilapidated training room, on the walls of which were a few dozen large, pupa-like structure—they were precisely the Super Perception Cabins.
Through the crystal glass window, one could see that a majority of the pupa-like structures were empty, and only a few pupae had a student sitting cross-legged inside.
These students had been stimulated with a secret method and had their brain cell activity elevated to 300%. They appeared to be particularly stimulated; each and every one of their faces were red to their ears, their eyes were completely bloodshot, and they were saying something without being able to stop.
Suddenly, Li Yao noticed that there was somethi
ng wrong with a student in the upper left large pupa.
He was talking faster and faster, and his complexion was getting more hideous by the second. The blue veins on his forehead was slightly bulging, and finally, blood gushed out with a "splash".
"Damn! Cabin No. 27 student's brain cells are overactive. He is going to have Qigong deviation!"
"Whoosh!" The door of Cabin No. 27 opened as a couple personnels swooped to the cabin and carried the unconscious student out.
Zhang Chuang smiled and said, "Fellow Student Li Yao, what do you think? Do you still dare to try?"
Li Yao's eyes flickered as he nodded his head.
"Whoosh..."
The cabin door behind Li Yao gradually closed, sealing him inside the big pupa.
Following that, a personnel activated the array glyphs on the outside as over a hundred crystals embedded inside the large pupa were completely illuminated.
A milky-white radiance flowed through the engravings and fused constantly before they gathered into dazzling spirit glyphs one after another.
"Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub, lub… dub, lub… dub..."
Li Yao felt his heart beat getting slower and slower as his breaths became longer and longer.
"Brain cell activity, 150%!"
He realized that it was not his heartbeat which was getting slower, but rather, it was his thought process which was getting quicker; his body rhythm was unable to keep up with his thought process.
"Brain cell activity, 200%!"
Li Yao felt as if someone was prying open the top of his head and pouring scalding hot oil into his brain, which was producing "crackling" sounds.
Countless glimpses of scenes suddenly emerged before his eyes as multitudes of sounds also rang in his ears.
They were the residual memories from a decade ago which were upturning from the depths of his brain. Even the memories where a wolfhound was chasing him when he was seven years old had surfaced.
"Brain cell activity, 250%!"
Li Yao blinked his eyes. His pupils gradually expanded as they slowly occupied his entire eye sockets. One after another, like specks of light, incredibly deep thoughts in the depths of his neural field flashed, collided, shredded, and intertwined with each other as they were stretched into countless threads of light before weaving into an intricate web where each node bore numerous information fragments of [Soul Converging Techniques].