Chapter 179: The Cost of One Simulation

“Huh!”

This result surprised Che Yucheng. He specifically checked the Formless Puppet, thinking there had been an error during the deduction. But it wasn't broken. He then carefully reviewed the thirteen pages of data Chen Mobai had printed using the Red Heart Mirror, and finally discovered the reason.

“Ah, although your original Five Elements cultivation relied on external objects and your spiritual energy was somewhat volatile, you had already formed a spiritual energy vortex. Afterwards, with Xiao Yu using the Lamp Lighting Art to ignite it, it transformed into pure Yang spiritual energy, completing the Qi-to-Liquid condensation step in advance.”

“Furthermore, your spiritual consciousness realm far exceeds the Qi Cultivation level, so the Red Heart Mirror showing your spiritual consciousness leaving your body is also not a big issue.”

“Among the three major steps of Foundation Establishment, the first step, Marrow Cleansing and Tendon Transformation, is the simplest. With the aid of spiritual items like Profound Fire Spirit Liquid or Giant Kun essence blood, success is almost guaranteed. The Formless Puppet’s deductions, by default, assume the most perfect conditions, and if there are no unforeseen circumstances, it estimates over a 50% chance of successful Foundation Establishment on the first attempt.”

This is also a minor flaw of the Formless Puppet, as it is, after all, merely an artifact. Many people have used it to successfully simulate their Foundation Establishment process, but when they actually attempt it, they find they cannot achieve the flawless perfection of the puppet. It is precisely for this reason that the Immortal Sect, to increase the Foundation Establishment success rate for all cultivators, developed the “Foundation Establishment Treasure” software, and also led a collaboration between Daoist Academies and Imperial Schools to research and develop the “Critical Method.”

However, the Immortal Sect’s resources are limited, and currently only students from the Four Great Daoist Academies and a very small fraction of top students from the Ten Great Imperial Schools can benefit from these.

After Chen Mobai, two other students who chose the Pure Yang Scroll also completed the Formless Puppet’s deduction. One of them, a young man named Yun Yangbing, happened to be thirty years old, but unfortunately, the result showed Foundation Establishment failure. The other, Ming Yihua, seemed to possess even more astonishing talent; he could achieve the Three Yang Body at just twenty-eight years old and had also reached the ninth layer of Qi Cultivation perfection. However, he also failed Foundation Establishment.

After reviewing the results, Che Yucheng fell into contemplation. Normally, Chen Mobai, being thirty-eight years old when he achieved the Three Yang Body and reached the ninth layer of Qi Cultivation, would typically be advised to withdraw and not cultivate the Pure Yang Scroll. But he succeeded in Foundation Establishment on his first attempt. Moreover, since the Scarlet Robed Immortal was willing to expend a year’s cultivation to cast the Lamp Lighting Art and ignite his cultivation, there might be some potential in him that Che Yucheng had not yet seen.

If Chen Mobai wasn't advised to withdraw, then the other two certainly wouldn't be. Yun Yangbing and Ming Yihua were true geniuses. The former had a fire spiritual root of 48 points, while the latter had an astonishing 61 points. They naturally had an advantage from the start when cultivating the Pure Yang Dharma Body. In the most ideal scenario, Ming Yihua could achieve a 100-point Immortal Fire spiritual root by cultivating to Five Yang.

However, Che Yucheng, being nearly four hundred years old, had seen more geniuses than anyone. He felt that if Ming Yihua did not cultivate the Pure Yang Scroll, there might still be a slim chance for him to form an Infant, but if he focused solely on this God Transformation cultivation method, he might only reach the Golden Core stage.

“As for you two, I won’t say much more. After achieving Foundation Establishment with the Pure Yang Scroll, if you find breakthroughs difficult, you can switch to cultivating the Heaven-Burning Art or other techniques derived from this God Transformation Grand Method at any time.”

Hearing Che Yucheng’s words, Yun Yangbing and Ming Yihua both clenched their fists, their faces alight with excitement.

“As for you...”

Seeing Che Yucheng turn to speak to him, Chen Mobai couldn’t help but feel nervous. He had already invested so much into the Pure Yang Scroll beforehand; he hoped the Artifice Daoist Academy wouldn’t reject him simply because of one deduction result from this puppet.

“Your spiritual root is a bit mediocre. If you want to go further on the cultivation path, you truly need the Pure Yang Dharma Body for transformation. Keep up the good work.”

Che Yucheng’s gentle encouragement deeply moved Chen Mobai. Indeed, enrolling in the Daoist Academy was the best decision he had ever made.

“Alright, next, each of you should identify the Formless Puppet that performed your deduction.” After encouraging Chen Mobai, Che Yucheng then addressed the other twelve individuals. “Don’t let this thing look simple. In reality, it’s a top-tier magic artifact equivalent to a peak third-grade item. If you damage it, to put it bluntly, you wouldn’t earn enough in a lifetime of working for the Daoist Academy to compensate for it.”

“The Formless Puppet is a masterpiece combining puppetry with modern bionics. Each time it’s activated, it requires half a year of spiritual recharging before it can be used again.”

“This time, thirteen Formless Puppets were used for you. You will also be responsible for refilling the depleted spiritual energy in their cores. You shouldn’t have any objections to that, right?”

Because Zhongli Tianyu did not come, one of the fourteen prepared Formless Puppets was not activated. After Che Yucheng picked up this puppet, he opened a mechanism on its head, and instantly, the faceless head split open to both sides, revealing its core. Inside the puppet’s head were dense, hair-thin wires, and its power source was surprisingly a spirit stone.

After Chen Mobai and the others followed Che Yucheng’s instructions to open their Formless Puppets’ heads, they found that the spiritual energy in their puppets’ spirit stones had already been depleted during the recent deduction.

“Teacher Che, we haven’t learned how to recharge spirit stones?” One student raised his hand, a distressed look on his face.

“Follow me.”

Everyone immediately followed Che Yucheng out of the lab and into the adjacent Spiritual Recharging Room. Following his instructions, they placed the Formless Puppets on specially designed stands, then inserted a connecting cable from each stand into a slot on the reusable spirit stones. The other end of the cable was a plug, which they inserted into a spiritual energy socket on the wall.

“The Formless Puppets can only be recharged for four hours each day. Once the time is up, they will automatically disconnect, so you’ll need to come back every day to plug them in again.”

So that’s how simple it is to recharge spirit stones! Chen Mobai’s eyes were truly opened today.

“Teacher Che, how long will it take to fully recharge the spirit stones?” Yun Yangbing asked.

“It will take half a year, but the Daoist Academy requires you to complete it within one year.”

Hearing this, Chen Mobai felt something was off. What kind of spirit stone would take that long? He looked closely, and even though the spiritual energy was depleted, his long experience with spirit stones allowed him to spot a clue. This was actually a mid-grade spirit stone. In other words, one deduction with the Formless Puppet required roughly one hundred low-grade spirit stones! Realizing this, he couldn’t help but gasp. Were the freshman benefits at the Artifice Daoist Academy really this good?

“Because you are cultivating God Transformation techniques, the Daoist Academy gives this a bit more importance, allowing you to use the Formless Puppet once in advance.”

“Originally, this would require applying to me and waiting in line before Foundation Establishment, or when your cultivation reaches a bottleneck.”

“However, after you’ve used it this time, you won’t be able to apply to use it again for two years.”

After giving his instructions, Che Yucheng left the Spiritual Recharging Room.

“Let’s all join a group chat.” Ming Yihua seemed to have a very outgoing personality. After adding everyone as a friend, he pulled them all into a small group chat. The group’s name was quite flashy:

God Transformation Class!