Chapter Ten: The Art of Synthesis

Wang Li’s voice trembled, “You can know what I’m thinking?!”

“Of course. We share a single soul. How could I not know your thoughts?”

“Ah… so that means I have no secrets from you?!”

There was a trace of terror in Wang Li’s tone.

“Haha, you really are easy to tease,” Old Sheng suddenly laughed, looking genuinely delighted. “How many years has it been—no, how many cycles of eternity? To feel the joys and sorrows of humanity again is truly wonderful.”

Ever since he’d entered Wang Li’s soul, his emotions had slowly begun to return, and he found it a great pleasure.

“Wang Li, you needn’t worry that I’ll pry into your privacy. The thoughts of an adolescent boy hold little allure for me; I won’t actively probe your mind.”

“To do so would be beneath me—it wouldn’t suit the persona of a Saint of Primordial Chaos.”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Wang Li exhaled in relief.

Strictly speaking, he and Old Sheng were one; his own thoughts were Old Sheng’s thoughts. Yet Old Sheng possessed an independent awareness, and for him to know Wang Li’s mind at every moment was no different from being spied upon by anyone else.

Since Old Sheng promised not to pry, Wang Li had no choice but to trust him. Not trusting was pointless. Old Sheng was now part of his soul; he couldn’t, nor would he want to, forcibly expel Old Sheng just to preserve his secrets. Besides, Old Sheng clearly had powers Wang Li couldn’t comprehend, and living symbiotically within his soul, Wang Li’s life was essentially in Old Sheng’s hands. Even if Old Sheng did monitor his every thought, Wang Li could only pretend not to notice.

Weakness was a sin.

His father had told him so in a letter, and Wang Li believed his father wouldn’t harm him.

Old Sheng was an enigma he couldn’t grasp—at least, not yet—and so he chose to ignore the constant exposure of his privacy.

Wang Li had barely convinced himself to accept the reality that Old Sheng could read his mind at any time, but Old Sheng’s next words left him even more frustrated.

Old Sheng said, “Directly extracting your thoughts through the soul is far too crude. So, from now on, I’ll use the ‘Heavenly Calculation’ technique to monitor your mind.”

“…Isn’t that a bit much?” Wang Li’s forehead was covered in dark lines.

You’re warning me, aren’t you!

“Of course I am. Young people’s thoughts can be dangerous; I need to correct your self-destructive impulses so you don’t end up killing yourself. I’m counting on you to inherit my Dao fruit!”

Wang Li muttered, “…Did you deduce this with your Heavenly Calculation?”

He felt that trust between people was growing ever more distant under Old Sheng’s contradictory actions.

Old Sheng showed no shame at being exposed, laughing, “Wang Li, we’ll be together for a long time. In time, you’ll come to appreciate Old Sheng.”

Wang Li tried again, “Can I use our soul connection to read your thoughts?”

“No. Unless your soul reaches the height of a Saint.”

Well then, it’s still a one-way transparency!

Wang Li no longer wished to dwell on Old Sheng’s spying. He strode quickly into the Scripture Pavilion, searching among the books on the first floor.

He wanted to upgrade his cultivation method. ‘Purple Qi Rising from the East’ was only a basic, entry-level technique—adequate for the Qi Refining stage, but insufficient for Foundation Establishment.

He had nothing better to do anyway, so he sought a distraction, lest Old Sheng catch him thinking anything untoward.

According to Old Sheng, his ability for data analysis could not only complete incomplete methods, but also fuse techniques and supernatural skills of the same attribute, enhancing their quality. In theory, as long as he could gather enough similar techniques, Wang Li could forge cultivation methods more powerful than the so-called Heavenly Grade arts.

Of course, that was just theory. In reality, his cultivation level imposed many limits; at Foundation Establishment, he couldn’t yet synthesize very high-level methods, but raising a technique’s grade by one or two levels was feasible.

Wang Li wasn’t greedy. He just wanted to raise ‘Purple Qi Rising from the East’ to a mid- or upper Yellow Grade, and perhaps create a few offensive supernatural skills.

‘Purple Qi Rising from the East’ was a gentle fire technique—excellent for tempering the body, but lacking in offensive power. This left him vulnerable; despite reaching Foundation Establishment, he might not fare well even against a Qi Refining cultivator of the sixth or seventh level.

The Scripture Pavilion was a sprawling five-story ancient building. The first floor housed mostly unimportant texts and basic copies of cultivation methods and supernatural skills. These copies were mere written records, lacking spiritual explanations, intended to help disciples choose their main cultivation path.

The second through fourth floors held original cultivation methods and supernatural skills collected by Pure Yang Temple over millennia, as well as notes from senior cultivators.

Cultivation methods and supernatural skills in the Profound Heaven World were divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow—Heaven being the highest, Yellow the lowest. Each floor corresponded to one grade: second floor for Yellow, third for Black, fourth for Earth, and fifth for Heaven.

The first floor was open to all disciples of Pure Yang Temple. Anyone with a disciple’s waist token could access it. The second and third floors required reaching the appropriate cultivation level. Deacons of all ranks could enter freely. The fourth and fifth floors, containing Earth and Heaven grade arts, were not open to just anyone.

To enter the fourth floor and seek Earth grade methods, one needed approval from Elder Chu Xuan, custodian of the Scripture Pavilion, or to pass a sect assessment. As for the fifth floor, that required a personal decree from the Sect Master.

Wang Li, though a disciple of Pure Yang Temple and the only registered disciple of Elder Chu Xuan, held a status higher than most, but he lacked cultivation talent and was still an ordinary mortal. Naturally, he could only search for methods on the first floor.

The best he could find were fragments of cultivation methods and copies of low-level arts. He’d completed ‘Purple Qi Rising from the East’ for this very reason.

His current status was sensitive. Though he could request permission to go upstairs and choose a method, he preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble, deciding instead to seek out fragments and copies on the first floor. Since he could complete them, it wouldn’t hinder his ability to synthesize methods, only cost him more time.

He wandered through the sea of books, quickly picking out three copies of fire attribute cultivation methods and a fragment of a fire attribute offensive skill.

The three method copies were: ‘Blazing Flame Gang Qi’ (mid Yellow Grade), ‘Severing Fire Formula’ (mid Yellow Grade), and ‘True Yang Demon Subduing Art’ (lower Yellow Grade). The skill fragment was ‘Wrathful Vajra’ (upper Yellow Grade). The names sounded impressive, but upon inspection they were mostly flashy, with only ‘Wrathful Vajra’ showing some utility; the rest were basic training methods, barely better than ‘Purple Qi Rising from the East.’

As Old Sheng put it: “A pile of rubbish—such good names wasted!”

Wang Li found a quiet corner and first spread out ‘Wrathful Vajra’ to read.

It was a fragment, requiring completion before it could be fused with ‘Purple Qi Rising from the East.’

Having experience with completing methods, Wang Li simply read through ‘Wrathful Vajra,’ memorized a few key points, and set it aside.

He quietly recalled the contents of the fragment in his mind. After about half an hour, his head began to feel a bit heavy. When the sensation faded, a complete cultivation method for ‘Wrathful Vajra’ appeared in his mind.

He reviewed the completed method from start to finish, compared it to the original fragment, then closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

As soon as he did so, a low whisper accompanied by an immense aura deeply embedded the method’s key points, operational procedures, and important precautions into his mind.

‘Wrathful Vajra’ was thus completed, and Wang Li instantly grasped its essentials, as if he’d practiced it for years.

Next came completing the other three cultivation methods.

After about half a day, all the methods were finished. Wang Li began his first attempt to synthesize a new cultivation art.