Chapter 2712: Carving the Dao Mark

Half a year passed quickly. Lu Ye gradually constructed nine World Pillars within the Minor Flower Realm before finally taking a break.

Cultivating the Minor World Secret Art was merely foundational, or rather, preliminary preparation. The more World Pillars constructed, the more stable the minor world became, leading to better prospects for future cultivation.

It wasn't that Lu Ye didn't want to build more World Pillars; it was simply that, given the current capacity of the Minor Flower Realm, nine was the absolute limit.

To build more, he would need to find a way to increase the Minor Flower Realm's capacity, which involved another aspect of this secret art's cultivation.

All in all, cultivating this secret art felt to Lu Ye like building a house, requiring him to construct it layer by layer.

Supported by the nine World Pillars, the Minor Flower Realm was now significantly more stable and solid than before.

Now came the crucial part!

Lu Ye needed to inscribe Dao Marks within this minor world, a cultivation system entirely different from anything currently known in the cultivation world.

Normally, after cultivators advanced to the Dao Fusion realm, their cultivation focused on two main areas. One involved external forces, primarily resonating with the Star Abyss aura. The completion level of these three resonances determined how much external power a cultivator could harness. Therefore, any Dao Fusion cultivator would draw external power to infuse and resonate with their body only after thorough preparation, as any imperfection or mistake during this process would impact their subsequent strength.

The other area was cultivating their own foundation: continuing to refine their Dao Bones.

Before advancing to the Dao Fusion realm, cultivators typically only possessed five Dao Bones. However, upon entering Dao Fusion, they would continue to refine their remaining bones, tempering them into Dao Bones until they developed their own Dao Body.

This Dao Body was not the same as the "Dao Body" found in the Blood Clan's secret arts; these were two entirely different concepts.

Strictly speaking, the Dao Body in the Blood Clan's secret arts was a clone with its own consciousness that would not escape the main body's control.

In contrast, a Dao Fusion cultivator's Dao Body meant having a complete set of Dao Bones throughout their entire body, making them virtually invulnerable and nearly without flaws.

Not all Dao Fusion cultivators could develop their own Dao Body, because during this stage, the more Dao Bones a person had, the more difficult and costly it was to refine them.

Only those with a complete set of Dao Bones were considered to possess a Dao Body.

For example, some of the Dao Fusion cultivators Lu Ye had recently killed definitely had more than five Dao Bones; they were essentially on their way to forming a Dao Body.

Powerful figures like the Azure Mantis Blood Reverse, however, certainly already possessed a Dao Body.

Lu Ye had completed this path much earlier, during his Dao Initiation period, which allowed him to possess strength superior to his peers at that stage. Building on this foundation, his power was similarly absolute during Dao Integration.

After achieving a complete Dao Body and undergoing three resonances, Dao Fusion cultivators would then inscribe Dao Marks onto their own Dao Bones to further enhance their strength. Thus, even a Dao Fusion cultivator with a perfected Dao Body still had room for improvement.

Lu Ye used to be quite concerned about his cultivation after reaching the Dao Fusion realm.

While completing the Dao Body perfection path early gave him many advantages, it also meant he had used up some of his potential.

Other Dao Fusion cultivators could improve their strength by continuing to refine Dao Bones, but he no longer had that opportunity.

Although inscribing Dao Marks onto one's own Dao Bones could further enhance strength, there was a practical limit, which varied depending on an individual's foundation.

The Minor World Secret Art, however, offered an alternative path: instead of inscribing Dao Marks on one's own Dao Bones, it allowed inscription within a minor world. This greatly expanded his potential.

Although Lu Ye couldn't envision the ultimate state of this secret art, there was no doubt that if he cultivated it to its peak, his strength would increase far beyond what normal cultivation could achieve.

Crucially, he could still cultivate normally.

In essence, he had gained an additional system to enhance his strength, entirely separate from the standard cultivation system.

Furthermore, this was an enhancement of his fundamental power, not reliant on external forces!

The Minor World Secret Art comprised nine stages, each with its corresponding cultivation method. With the nine World Pillars in the minor world having reached their limit, Lu Ye had now cultivated this secret art to its first stage.

Lu Ye was filled with anticipation, wondering how many Dao Marks he could inscribe within his current Minor Flower Realm.

He carefully focused his mind, channeling his Dao power into the Minor Flower Realm.

This was Lu Ye's first time inscribing Dao Marks, so he had no direct experience. However, he had discussed the process with Yuan Xi and sought advice from Lian on the matter, learning from their experiences.

Therefore, he wasn't completely clueless as he proceeded.

As Dao power continuously depleted, the Minor Flower Realm seemed to undergo subtle yet wondrous changes. This realm subtly gained something new, yet like the World Pillars, it remained invisible and intangible.

Only Lu Ye himself could clearly perceive a new mark within the Minor Flower Realm. Initially, this mark was faint, but as time passed and his Dao power was consumed, it became increasingly distinct, covered in intricate patterns that seemed to conceal profound mysteries.

This was a Dao Mark.

In a sense, Dao Marks were non-existent Dao Bones possessed by cultivators.

They could also be described as virtual Dao Bones.

While not physically present, they could boost a cultivator's fundamental strength just like real Dao Bones.

Each Dao Mark was a virtual Dao Bone.

At this moment, with just a slight perception, Lu Ye could clearly discern that his fundamental strength had increased by one unit of power.

Including the 30% increase from resonance and the 30% blessing from the Son of Star Abyss, inscribing this single Dao Mark could enhance his power by 1.6 units.

This was undoubtedly a significant improvement.

What slightly surprised Lu Ye was that inscribing Dao Marks didn't seem as difficult as rumors suggested!

Previously, both Yuan Xi and Lian had earnestly warned him when he inquired about it, stressing that he must cast aside all distracting thoughts and be prepared for failure at any moment.

If the inscription failed, it would impact his own Dao Bones, requiring a period of recovery before he could attempt it again.

In essence, those outwardly powerful and glorious cultivators had painstakingly accumulated their strength through numerous failures.

Lu Ye himself had been mentally prepared for failure, yet he hadn't expected his first inscription attempt to be so smooth.

He wasn't sure if this was due to the Minor World Secret Art or simply his own luck; further observation would be needed to confirm.

Checking his Dao power reserves, which he had specifically noted at the start of the inscription, he calculated that inscribing this Dao Mark had consumed approximately 10,000 units of Dao power!

He couldn't help but be astonished.

He hadn't inquired about the Dao power consumption for other Dao Fusion cultivators inscribing Dao Marks, but it was highly unlikely to be this much.

This left him rather dispirited.

It seemed that ever since he entered the Star Abyss, the Dao power he needed for cultivation had been significantly greater than that of average cultivators. This was true when refining Dao Bones during Dao Initiation, when inscribing Dao patterns during Dao Integration, and now, when inscribing Dao Marks in Dao Fusion!

This was definitely due to the Minor World Secret Art; Lu Ye was certain of it.

Without delay, he proceeded to inscribe the second Dao Mark.

However, this time, the process failed halfway through. Dao power dispersed, causing impact in all directions, yet the Minor Flower Realm remained as stable as ever!

This highlighted the importance of constructing World Pillars before actual cultivation. Without the nine World Pillars stabilizing the Minor Flower Realm, this failure could very well have brought the minor world to the brink of collapse.

But with the support of the nine World Pillars, such an impact could not shake the Minor Flower Realm in the slightest.

Several thousand units of Dao power dispersed, filling the minor world. With a mere thought from Lu Ye, invisible roots permeated from all directions and completely devoured the dissipated Dao power.

His feelings were complex.

The Dao power he had consumed was reabsorbed by the Talent Tree. Aside from the expenditure of time and effort, there was virtually no loss.

As for time... situated on the ninety-ninth floor of the Tower of Time, he currently had plenty of it.

He resumed the inscription.

Time flowed on.

Dao Marks gradually appeared within the Minor Flower Realm, and Lu Ye's fundamental strength increased little by little. This was truly akin to accumulating grains of sand to build a tower.

He slowly confirmed something.

That was, inscribing Dao Marks within the Minor Flower Realm had a high success rate, and even when it failed, it caused him no hindrance.

This was the benefit of having a different cultivation system.

If he had been inscribing Dao Marks onto his own Dao Bones, a failure would have necessitated a period of recuperation. However, inscribing them within the Minor Flower Realm meant that even failure had no effect on Lu Ye.

As long as the World Pillars existed, the Minor Flower Realm remained impregnable.

In just ten days, after Lu Ye had inscribed another Dao Mark and was preparing to begin the next, he suddenly realized that the Minor Flower Realm had reached its limit!

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, clearly understanding that the Minor World Secret Art had reached the peak of its first stage.

To continue inscribing, he would need to advance to the second stage, and to cultivate the second stage, he had to increase the Minor Flower Realm's capacity!

However, increasing the Minor Flower Realm's capacity required a specific treasure.

He didn't possess it!

At present, it was like a clever housewife being unable to cook without rice; thus, further cultivation would have to wait until he left the Tower of Time.

He began examining the changes within the Minor Flower Realm.

Lu Ye felt a slight thrill. He hadn't paid much attention during his previous inscriptions, but only now did he realize that the Minor Flower Realm now contained a full hundred Dao Marks.

These were a hundred virtual Dao Bones, capable of increasing his fundamental strength by one hundred units of power.

Coupled with external power enhancements, this amounted to an increase of one hundred sixty units of power!

How much time had passed? To achieve such a significant improvement meant the Minor World Secret Art had boundless prospects.

This secret art had nine stages; if one stage yielded such results, cultivating all nine stages to completion could surely increase his fundamental strength by at least one or two thousand units, couldn't it?

If so, to what heights could his own strength ascend?

Lu Ye was filled with boundless anticipation and endless possibilities.

Compared to other cultivators in the cultivation world, he now possessed a unique cultivation system of his own, ensuring that his future prospects and achievements would be incomparable to theirs.

However, growth ultimately required time.

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