By the side of the gently flowing stream, the boy clenched the small wooden sword in his hand, staring intently at the white-haired man who was approaching with a flying sword.
"Your aptitude is very good. Would you like to come with me?" the white-haired man said.
Though he was young, how could he not see the breathtaking scenery of the azure sky? Just as he was about to agree, a stubborn voice rang out beside him, "Take me with you!"
The owner of the voice was his playmate, who had just been defeated by him in their "sword duel."
The boy knew well his friend's stubbornness. For instance, in today's "sword duel," he couldn't count how many times they had fought. But his friend, having lost once before, was determined to win back his pride.
The boy thought, we can go and cultivate together.
Many details he could no longer remember, but he still recalled the white-haired man's eyes. They were as clear as the stream and as lofty as the sky.
The white-haired man looked at them with those eyes, at the two children who had been inseparable since childhood, and a smile of ambiguous meaning played on his lips.
"I will only take one apprentice," the white-haired man said.
He repeated, "Both of you are good, but I will only take one with me."
What should we do? the boy thought at that moment.
But he only had time to think that instant. In the next moment, he was pushed into the stream.
Splash!
The sound of the water splashing.
His friend, the friend with whom he had played naked since childhood, still just a child, had pushed him into the water without hesitation!
Through the rippling water, he saw the expressionless face of his "friend" and the white-haired man's always calm gaze.
And then, a frosty white sword light shot up into the sky.
His young companion and the white-haired man were enveloped in that gorgeous and dazzling sword light, like a bolt of lightning on a clear day, coming abruptly and leaving abruptly as well.
Like countless legends of immortals asking the way, they brushed past the pitiable and mediocre mortals.
Only leaving behind, an unrelenting, unbelievable, countless times of waking up in the middle of the night in shock!
...
Jiang Wang opened his eyes. The pitch-black night enveloped everything around him, as well as himself. The dormitory was exceptionally quiet, with Ling He and Du Yehu's breathing long and rhythmic.
Jiang Wang knew that they were practicing the basic breathing techniques. Though simple and fundamental, only inner court disciples were granted these methods. It was the unchanging foundational technique of Zhuangguo Dao Academy for a hundred years.
There was little suspense in the selection of inner court students in Fenglin City Dao Academy. Ling He, Du Yehu, and Zhao Rucheng all became new inner court disciples, registering their names on the Taoist jade register enshrined in the sacrificial hall.
However, before manifesting their Dao pulses, they could not yet be considered formal Taoist priests in their coarse robes.
The Pulse-Opening Pill was hard to come by, even for Fenglin City Dao Academy, which was supported by the state. It was impossible to distribute it for free to every disciple. As the most outstanding ones selected from the outer court, they generally had to endure at least a year, accumulating enough merits, before they were qualified to receive the Pulse-Opening Pill.
Only those who ranked first in the outer court's annual contributions could exchange their contributions for a Pulse-Opening Pill. This was a special incentive for outer court disciples by the Dao Academy. Thus, since this session had produced Jiang Wang, no one else could replicate his path.
Even so, Jiang Wang had risked his life in bloody battles to accumulate enough contributions to exchange for the Pulse-Opening Pill. And now, within a hundred miles of Fenglin City, there were no more West Mountain bandits to eliminate.
Joining the outer court of the Dao Academy, diligently cultivating, defeating countless competitors to enter the inner court. After entering the inner court, continuing to practice diligently while accumulating task contributions, and finally being granted the Pulse-Opening Pill to step into the extraordinary. This was the normal path for cultivators in Zhuangguo. It was also a visible and broad road.
But compared to those who were born with naturally manifested Dao pulses and directly entered the inner court to start cultivating the Dao, these young men who advanced through the outer court route indeed had to waste too much time.
In the path of cultivation, one step behind means being behind in every step. This was the reason why Jiang Wang risked his life to complete tasks in the outer court, and also the reason why Fang Pengju could not restrain his greed. No one wanted to wait for so many years!
So Jiang Wang understood Fang Pengju's longing, but could not forgive his methods.
Among such extraordinary warriors as Ling He and Du Yehu, who would have less desire for the extraordinary than Fang Pengju? Yet none of them did such despicable things.
Jiang Wang's father once said: A person is defined by his choices. Jiang Wang deeply agreed with this.
And he was also facing a difficult choice at that time.
As is well known, cultivators are divided into nine ranks, with the first rank being the most prestigious, and the ninth rank being considered the beginning of the extraordinary. The hallmark of achieving the ninth rank is the formation of the Dao vortex, with the spontaneous generation of Dao essence.
Cultivators have gone through an incredibly long history, and naturally have very detailed and in-depth research on this first step to the extraordinary.
The spine is regarded as the great dragon of the human body, and the Dao pulse is hidden within it. Once the Dao pulse is manifested, cultivators can use their vital energy to feedback to the Dao pulse, thereby generating Dao essence. Dao essence is the foundation of all Daoist techniques and the basis for the extraordinary.
Take Jiang Wang's earthworm pulse as an example, each time he mobilizes the "earthworm," he needs to mobilize a considerable amount of vital energy. Only after penetrating the entire spinal great dragon can he generate a Dao essence. At Jiang Wang's level, a cultivator can perform pulse-dashing cultivation at most twice a day, accumulating two Dao essences. It's not that he is not diligent, but his body does not allow it. The consumption of vital energy is too great, damaging the source and injuring the spirit, which is completely not worth the loss.
After accumulating Dao essence, the next step is to use the spirit to control the Dao essence, to completely follow the foundational array diagram to list the corresponding array points. Once the array is formed, the Dao vortex will be born.
As a cultivator who has already opened the pulse, the Fenglin City Dao Academy naturally teaches the foundational array diagram. It is the universally used Guiyuan Array in Zhuangguo, with a total of eighty-one array points. That is to say, under the condition of perfectly listing the foundational array diagram without the slightest error, he will need at least forty-one days, nearly a month and a half, to truly become a ninth-rank cultivator. (The two Dao essences that Jiang Wang had previously accumulated had been exhausted in battle.)
Before this, Jiang Wang naturally had no difficulties, but now that he unexpectedly entered the Tai Xu Illusion and inherited Zu Guanglie's "Dongzhen Xu blessed land," unlocking the corresponding Sword-Discussing Platform and Dao-Enacting Platform, he naturally had new troubles.
Yesterday, after obtaining the Guiyuan Array diagram, in order to test the effect of the Dao-Enacting Platform, he invested all 1,850 points of merit into the deduction of the foundational array diagram. In the end, he obtained an incredibly complex Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array diagram. The entire foundational array diagram had three hundred and sixty-five array points!
Not to mention the difficulty of listing the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array diagram, even if he could perfectly replicate the foundational array diagram, he would need at least half a year to generate the first Dao vortex.
And thereafter, to ascend from ninth rank to eighth rank, one needs to establish three Dao vortices, and to ascend from eighth rank to seventh rank, one needs to establish nine Dao vortices.
Judging by this calculation, the time is just too long!
There is no doubt that the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array is stronger than the Gui Yuan Array, but the long time required for its foundation is precisely where Jiang Wang hesitates. He needs to quickly improve his cultivation in order to catch up with those cultivators who are born with naturally manifested Dao pulses. However, time waits for no one.
But after waking up from the dream tonight, he has already made his choice.
Jiang Wang closed his eyes, activated the only Dao essence generated from yesterday's pulse-dashing, and slowly moved it within the spine. In the vague perception world of controlling the Dao essence, this is an infinitely vast and boundless space.
Because the great dragon resides here, it is also called the Spine Sea.
But in the oral tradition of cultivators, it has a more resounding name - the Palace of Heaven!
Penetrating the Palace of Heaven and opening the heavenly gate is the transformation from an elementary cultivator to an intermediate cultivator.
In the boundless Palace of Heaven, a Dao essence is as tiny as a grain of dust. But it does not drift with the waves; instead, it firmly and stubbornly carries out Jiang Wang's will. Moving, moving, it finally suspends itself at the ideal place.
That is the position of the Sun Star in the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array diagram.
When this Dao essence suspends, Jiang Wang seems to see the eyes of the white-haired cultivator from his childhood once again.
He will never forget, the moment he was pushed into the water.
Those eyes seemed to be saying to him -
"The path of cultivation is about striving."