Chapter 913: Cultivating the Saint Ascension Decipher
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Zhang Xuan didn’t expect Mu shi to have such confidence in him.
A First Grade Origin Core was great, but if it would take him several years to do so, it was clearly not worth the effort.
For one, if he didn’t become a 9-star master teacher before he reached 30, the Innate Fetal Poison would act up, and he would breathe his last breath. If so, what would be the point in cultivating a higher-grade Origin Core?
As such, despite how high of a regard Mu shi had for a First Grade Origin Core, he didn’t have much of an interest in it. It would be best if he could obtain it, but if not, that was fine, too.
"Indeed. With talent like yours, you definitely stand a good chance. But of course, to succeed, you will need a fair bit of luck and aptitude too." Mu shi’s puppet nodded in response.
There were countless outstanding geniuses in the history of the Master Teacher Continent, but not a single one of them had successfully cultivated a First Grade Origin Core since Kong shi.
Talent was important, but luck and intelligence were vital as well.
"Luck is beyond our control, but there is a way to take a peek into one’s intelligence. If you can learn the Saint Ascension Decipher and gather seven strands of zhenqi together without them collapsing within three days, there is a very good chance that you will advance beyond Advanced Second Grade Origin Core in the future. If you can’t achieve this much, I will have to advise that you not take this route."
"Seven strands of zhenqi..." Zhang Xuan muttered as he recalled what he had previously read in the Saint Ascension Decipher.
In truth, cultivating a Third Grade Origin Core could already be considered the limit of a Chrysalis realm cultivator’s capability. Putting aside that cultivating anything beyond that was nigh impossible, even if a cultivator were to succeed in doing so, it was likely that their Origin Core could still collapse due to their inability to wield the power.
In view of this problem, the Saint Ascension Decipher worked in a manner that forcefully widened the window in which a cultivator could nurture their Origin Core from just Chrysalis realm to Half-Saint and Nascent Saint as well. In other words, as long as the cultivator hadn’t made the breakthrough to Saint realm, they could continue to gather zhenqi into their Origin Core and strengthen it.
This was probably how Kong shi built an extremely powerful foundation, such that even the heavens acknowledged his existence when he made the breakthrough to Sainthood.
Usually, cultivating an Origin Core involved gathering one’s zhenqi into a spherical shape and refining it bit by bit, turning it from a Pseudo Core to a Temporal Core, then to a Corporeal Core, and finally a Golden Core!
The seven strands of zhenqi that Mu shi’s puppet had spoken of referred to the structure in crafting the Pseudo Core.
The essence of the Saint Ascension Decipher lay in gathering one’s zhenqi in the form of threads and putting them together in a unique structure in order to construct an Origin Core.
To make an analogy, cultivating a normal Origin Core would be like building a house by stacking rocks together. It was easier and more convenient to build a house in such a manner, but it would be unstable and unaesthetic. What the Saint Ascension Decipher did was give a blueprint to the house so as to elevate the quality of the ultimate product.
In the Saint Ascension Decipher, seven strands of zhenqi put together was termed a knot. Using the prior analogy, these knots could be considered the bricks of the house. Once one was capable of building stable knots, one would be able to start accumulating them and begin building the structure.
The theory was simple, but the difficulty lay in condensing one’s zhenqi into thin threads and constructing a structure with them without it dissipating.
Not only must one possess a strong soul, one’s control over zhenqi must also reach an astounding level in order to succeed.
"Indeed. You should start reading now. As long as you can succeed within three days, I will impart my experiences and insights regarding the Saint Ascension Decipher to you. With those, at least the blind man I was back then, fumbling to search for a road, you should be able to avoid many detours, and that should save you many years!" Mu shi’s puppet said.
"Reading... There is no need for that now. Are the seven strands of condensed zhenqi you speak of something like this?"
Zhang Xuan raised his finger, and with a light tap, a strand of zhenqi appeared in the air. Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly saw Mu shi’s puppet staring at him with eyes widened in astonishment, seemingly on the verge of fainting.
With a quivering voice, Mu shi’s puppet asked, "Y-you are... drawing zhenqi out of your body directly? And even maintaining fine control over it at that?"
"What is there to be shocked about? I was already able to do this shortly after I started cultivating, it really isn’t a big deal..." Seeing the other party making a huge fuss out of the matter like a countryside bumpkin who hadn’t seen the world, Zhang Xuan shook his head.
To think that he was the founder of the Master Teacher Academy at that, did he really need to be so surprised over something as elementary as this?
Drawing zhenqi out of one’s body, it was not like that was anything difficult to do. Back when he had just started cultivating, he had already injected his zhenqi into the bodies of others to clear their meridian blockages. Manipulating them into fine threads, he could already do so when he was still at Fighter ream. If he couldn’t do so as a Chrysalis realm cultivator, he really should just knock his head against a wall and die!
"Th-this..." Noticing the other party’s disdainful gaze, Mu shi’s puppet nearly spurted blood.
It was not difficult to draw zhenqi out of one’s body, but to prevent it from dissipating and even control it finely to form thin threads, that was the difficult part. In order to achieve that, one would have to meet two fundamental prerequisites.
Firstly, one’s zhenqi must be extremely pure, at least reaching superior quality!
Secondly, one’s soul must be powerful enough to draw soul energy out of one’s body. Otherwise, it was impossible for one to control one’s zhenqi remotely.
It could be said that the young man’s control over zhenqi had reached an unbelievable level. Even he wasn’t capable of such a feat when he first reached Saint realm back then!
Just as he was shocked beyond words, he saw the young man before him continuing to tap his finger in the air.
Hu hu hu hu hu!
The second strand of zhenqi, third strand... Before long, seven strands of zhenqi were already floating in the air, wriggling about like tiny snakes as they were manipulated to overlap with one another.
Mu shi’s puppet spoke hoarsely. "This... He is actually able to control seven strands of zhenqi simultaneously?"
Condensing one’s zhenqi into strands and controlling it remotely out of the body, this was a feat that even most Saint realm experts were incapable of. Yet, not only did this fellow succeed, he was even doing it with seven strands simultaneously... This was way too much!
Are you sure that you are only at Chrysalis realm primary stage?
Could it be that you are a Saint realm pinnacle expert or some disciple of Kong shi who suddenly decided to challenge my Mountain of Records on a whim to mess with me?
Soon, the seven strands of zhenqi were put together perfectly to form a sesame-sized zhenqi ball in the air. It twirled gently, not dissipating in the least.
After this was done, Zhang Xuan raised his head and said, "What you mean is that as long as I create and gather such little balls in the dantian, I should be able to form a Pseudo Core?"
"Yes..." Exhaling deeply, Mu shi suppressed his shock and nodded.
The Saint Ascension Decipher was the condensation of zhenqi into threads before putting them together to form those little balls. By gathering many of such little balls, one would eventually be able to form one’s Origin Core.
An Origin Core formed in such a manner was much more stable and powerful than a normal one, just that the effort to achieve it was far too great.
If that wasn’t the case, Mu shi wouldn’t have spent several hundred years to succeed either.
"Isn’t it quite simple? I don’t think anyone would need three days for that..." Zhang Xuan had thought that his comprehension of the technique was wrong, but in the end, it turned out that it was really that simple. Disappointed, he shook his head.
If someone needed three day in order to create this, were they even qualified to be considered a genius? He might as well knock himself out with a blob of tofu!
Embarrassed by how easily the other party had achieved it, Mu shi’s puppet replied with an awkward smile, "You... Perhaps you have cultivated some technique to condense your zhenqi, which granted you particular aptitude in this..."
It had intended to use that as a test to assess the other party’s capability, but who knew that the other party would clear it so easily? It felt like a fool for even proposing it in the first place...
In its years roaming the world and serving as the principal of the Master Teacher Academy, it had met countless geniuses. But... the young man before it was a true monster!
"Perhaps," Zhang Xuan replied nonchalantly.
He hadn’t cultivated any technique to specially condense his zhenqi, but his Heaven’s Path zhenqi did possess a purity far above that of superior zhenqi, which allowed him to easily accomplish what others would struggle to do.
On top of that, he was also a soul oracle, so the strength of his soul and his control over his soul energy were extraordinary as well.
"Since that’s the case, let’s not waste any more time then. For the time being, let me see how many deciphers you can build!" Mu shi’s puppet said.
Since the other party was able to do it to such an extent, there was no point assessing his talent anymore. It would be far more efficient to push him to his limit and see how far he could go.
As for the deciphers, that was actually the central and most important phase of the cultivation of the Saint Ascension Decipher. Seven zhenqi strands together were known as a knot, seven knots together were known as a bundle, and seven bundles together were known as a decipher.
In other words, one had to condense and put 343 strands of zhenqi together without any error in order to form a decipher.
Back then, when he was still at Chrysalis realm, he managed to form six deciphers before nearly losing control of it. Left with no choice, he could only make the breakthrough to Half-Saint.
For those who possessed subpar talent and a weak soul, it was possible that they might be unable to cultivate even a single decipher.
The other party did possess exquisite control over his zhenqi, but as one who had once cultivated the Saint Ascension Decipher himself, Mu shi knew the difficulties involved. The more zhenqi strands that came into play, the more dangerous it was, and the more likely one could lose control of it.
This was similar to stacking cards up. Stacking one or two of them was simple, but the higher it grew, the more dangerous it would be. The slightest error could make the entire structure collapse.
As long as a cultivator was willing to spend some time to refine their zhenqi, cultivating a knot was possible for most. Cultivating a bundle would be far more troublesome than that, and cultivating a decipher would be impossible if one didn’t possess fine control over their zhenqi and great patience.
As talented as the other party was, he was still too young. Furthermore, his cultivation was only at Chrysalis realm primary stage. In Mu shi’s view, it would be great if the other party could form even one.
"How many deciphers I can build?" Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before nodding. "Let me give it a try."
Honestly speaking, he also had no idea how many deciphers he could make until he tried it out for himself.
Raising both of his arms, he thrusted his ten fingers out.
Tzzzz!
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of strands of zhenqi spilled forth from the tip of his fingers, wriggling excitedly like little dragons.
"He simultaneously condensed so many strands of zhenqi?" Mu shi’s puppet was still wondering how long it would take for the man before him to successfully cultivate a decipher when it saw such a sight, and it nearly fainted on the spot.
To easily condense several hundred surges of zhenqi into strands simultaneously, just how powerful was his soul?
Putting aside now, it wasn’t even close to achieving this back when it was at his peak!
But the shock wasn’t over yet. Not too long later, the young man moved his fingers slightly, and the hundred strands of zhenqi began entangling together to form a sphere of zhenqi around the size of a grain of rice.
At which, the young man turned to it and asked doubtfully, "This is a decipher, right?"