Chapter 321: Consciousness Breakthrough

Although the Divine Artifact Academy possessed two Divine Transformation cultivation techniques, Chen Mobai had focused exclusively on the Pure Yang Scroll, so he truly didn't know much about the Can Tong Qi.

He only knew that it was a cultivation method for artifact cultivators, and it was the fastest technique in the Immortal Sect for breaking through realms.

However, the key to its success lay entirely in the "artifact."

For example, Zhongli Tianyu, who possessed a fourth-tier Eight Trigram Mirror, had such a rapid cultivation speed that it made Chen Mobai quite envious.

"By the way, Master," Chen Mobai suddenly asked, "since I'm leading the team, can I choose which academy students participate in this offline exchange and sparring session?" Che Yucheng was momentarily stunned.

"Who do you want to bring?"

"Zhongli Tianyu, of course. Doesn't he also have a fourth-tier magical artifact? And his cultivation isn't weak; he's a viable combatant."

"Regarding him, you'd better inform him beforehand. The Zhongli clan head and I are on good terms, and I promised to look after him."

Hearing Che Yucheng's words, Chen Mobai nodded.

Master and disciple talked for a little longer before parting ways at the fork in front of Building One.

Before leaving, Che Yucheng gave Chen Mobai the contact information for three people. They were the three ninth-level Foundation Establishment graduates he had invited to assist: Sun Daoji, Chi Shicheng, and Bian Jingchun. Among them, Bian Jingchun was the senior who cultivated the Can Tong Qi. She was a disciple of Hong Mengkui, the master of Chicheng Grotto-Heaven, and was currently refining a fourth-tier magical artifact in the Myriad Treasure Caverns to be her attuned artifact.

Chen Mobai contacted all of them.

Sun Daoji answered the call immediately. After they introduced themselves, they had a friendly, brief conversation and got acquainted.

Chi Shicheng, on the other hand, called back a while later. After graduating, he had joined a research department under the Immortal Sect through the academy's connections. His tasks had been particularly heavy lately, which was why he hadn't answered.

However, he said his current project would conclude by the end of the year. He had also already requested leave in advance, reserving time for the academy's offline exchange and sparring session.

Both of them knew Chen Mobai.

After all, over the past two years, as the scope of Little Chitian gradually expanded to include the various Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, Chen Mobai, who was far ahead as the top-ranked individual in points, had become a well-known figure.

Everyone believed he had a high chance of forming a Core, with some even regarding Chen Mobai as a second Lan Haitian.

After their friendly conversations, Chen Mobai then called Bian Jingchun.

However, this senior seemed to be in secluded cultivation and didn't respond for two days.

Chen Mobai simply drafted a text message and sent it, then put the matter out of his mind.

After all, the senior was currently in the Myriad Treasure Caverns. If she emerged from seclusion and wished to meet, she could easily contact the student council.

Of course, the main reason was that Chen Mobai's Divine Control technique had reached a critical point for breakthrough.

It shouldn't have been so fast, but at the beginning of the year, due to the failure of his two good friends, Meng Huanger and Chansi, to establish their Foundations, Chen Mobai's mind entered a state of meditative absorption.

After he emerged from his confusion on his own, his spiritual consciousness significantly improved.

Coupled with the continuous supply of spiritual medicine like Clear-Eyed Bamboo Spirit Dew and the fierce battles in the Heavenly River Realm recently, his perspective and state of mind had broadened further.

Finally, today, the split-off green paulownia seedling had matured and flourished, bearing flowers and fruits.

With the experience of his first spiritual consciousness fusion, this time Chen Mobai didn't even take a Spirit Return Pill. By simply listening to Meng Huanger's original a cappella opera singing in their chat history, he effortlessly completed the "Spirit Unification" once again.

After completing another cultivation session of the Divine Control technique, Chen Mobai's spiritual consciousness realm surprisingly reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

The strengthening of his spiritual consciousness was like adding wings to a tiger for his cultivation.

Chen Mobai felt that his control over spiritual energy, the execution of cultivation techniques, and the refinement of spiritual qi were all faster and smoother.

Moreover, he clearly perceived that his spiritual consciousness could still grow further.

This was because he had consumed the Jadewood Spirit Heart. Although he was still only at the second level of Foundation Establishment, the expanse of his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness was no less than that of a sixth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The so-called bottlenecks in cultivation were limitations imposed by the Dantian Sea of Qi and the Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness.

Once the Dantian Sea of Qi was full of spiritual energy, it needed to be expanded further to hold more. The Sea of Consciousness followed the same principle: once spiritual consciousness filled the Purple Mansion, it naturally couldn't grow further, nor could it continue to increase; otherwise, one's head would explode.

The Immortal Sect divided the original two expansions of the Sea of Qi and Sea of Consciousness into eight stages, naturally greatly reducing the difficulty of breakthroughs.

Although Chen Mobai's current cultivation realm was low, he could grow his spiritual consciousness without restraint, because his Purple Mansion had already been expanded to be comparable to that of a sixth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It was still very spacious, far from reaching its limit.

It was precisely for this reason that after he completed Spirit Unification again, his spiritual consciousness doubled, skipping the third level of Foundation Establishment and directly surging to a realm equivalent to the fourth level.

Visualizing the jade-green phoenix tree in his Sea of Consciousness, which had grown four flowers and fruits, Chen Mobai felt he had completely mastered the Divine Control technique.

Therefore, he decided that once his fused spiritual consciousness was fully harmonious, he would cultivate two green paulownia seedlings from it.

One would be used for fusion, while the other would be specially used to control the Formless Puppet.

As the situation in the Heavenly River Realm became increasingly tense, he might need to stay in the Divine Wood Sect for an extended period, but he also had to manage affairs in the Immortal Sect, so it was necessary to create a separate manifestation.

Fu Zongjue's puppet body gave Chen Mobai inspiration.

This elder of the sect had clearly also split his spiritual consciousness. His true body remained with Chu Zuoshu to protect the sect's army, while his puppet body followed them. This might have been to ensure the smooth progress of the plan, or for some other protective purpose. With his attention divided, no one noticed any flaws.

Chen Mobai, as Che Yucheng's disciple, had also been taught the art of puppet transformation. However, previously, he was busy with the fundamental cultivation of the Pure Yang Scroll and hadn't meticulously studied it.

So, he took these two days to properly consult Che Yucheng. Although Che Yucheng was a bit surprised, he was only happy that his disciple was willing to cultivate puppetry.

The careful guidance of a Core Formation cultivator allowed Chen Mobai to quickly master this technique.

His true body and the Formless Puppet looked at each other. Following the techniques taught by Che Yucheng, the puppet's face, with its lifelike skin, shifted and transformed into another Chen Mobai.

The feeling of looking at himself was very novel.

After completing the puppet body, Chen Mobai even had the Formless Puppet work at the student council for two days. Hua Zijing and Zhuang Jialan had no idea that the person they were interacting with all day was merely a puppet.

Chen Mobai was very satisfied.

From now on, his true body and the Formless Puppet would preside over the student council and the Divine Wood Sect, respectively. When his true body was busy, the puppet could manage affairs.

Once preparations were almost complete, Chen Mobai returned to the Heavenly River Realm.

His true body remained on the barren mountain, while his spiritual consciousness controlled the Formless Puppet to visit Rolling Thunder Mountain.

The area was scorched black. The spiritual energy was mixed with a foul aura. It was fortunate that he was in a puppet body, which didn't need to absorb spiritual energy; its energy source derived entirely from the high-grade spirit stone within it. Otherwise, he would likely have been afflicted.

"Could this be... a Vein-Shattering Pearl!"

Although Chen Mobai had never witnessed such a situation, he had heard people from the Divine Wood Sect mention the Vein-Shattering Pearl artifact. He felt that the current scene at Rolling Thunder Mountain must be the aftermath of a Vein-Shattering Pearl attack, where the earth veins were contaminated by primordial poisonous miasma.

If Nan Shidao had truly used such a devastating weapon, it was no wonder Fu Zongjue couldn't hold out.

The spiritual vein of Rolling Thunder Mountain was contaminated, and not a single cultivator could be found in the vicinity.

Chen Mobai could only sigh, then sent out several communication talismans to his two disciples, Chu Zuoshu, Yue Zutao, and other familiar individuals.

However, after waiting for two days, there was no response.

He could only leave his puppet body there for now, and his true body retreated back to the Immortal Sect.

But upon returning this time, Chen Mobai felt something was off.

He was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The sensation of his spiritual consciousness being separated between two realms caused him an unexpected dizziness.

He felt as if his mind was at the ends of the earth, instinctively wanting to converge and merge impatiently, but was powerless due to the insurmountable infinite distance.

Fortunately, although his spiritual consciousness was separated between two realms, it had neither vanished nor suffered damage.

Amidst waves of weakness and dizziness, Chen Mobai forced himself to get used to the sensation.

After all, if he wanted to manage both the Immortal Sect and the Heavenly River Realm in the future, his true body and puppet body would inevitably have to be separated between the two realms for a long time.

Fortunately, it was just dizziness; Chen Mobai could endure it.

He opened his chat history with Meng Huanger and played her exquisite opera singing repeatedly. At first, it did provide some relief.

But after a few repetitions, Chen Mobai realized the opera singing no longer had any effect on him.

However, he had long been aware of this.

The singing and voices of sound-path cultivators contained their own unique spiritual energy fluctuations, like heavenly music. While recordings and videos online were pleasant to listen to, they lacked the spiritual efficacy of hearing it in person.

It was precisely for this reason that Bian Yiqing needed to take Jiang Yuyuan and Meng Huanger throughout the Immortal Sect's Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands to awaken the spiritual potential of young cultivators, because only by hearing it firsthand could their minds be stimulated to comprehend spiritual consciousness.

Of course, if one bought recordings where the singer was fully invested, they would initially possess some spiritual efficacy.

But as time passed and they were played repeatedly, this spiritual efficacy would completely vanish.

Chen Mobai had already listened to the voice messages from Meng Huanger several times when he performed his first Spirit Unification.

Listening again now, all the spiritual efficacy within them had been completely consumed by him.

Thinking about it, it seemed he hadn't contacted Meng Huanger in a long time.

He wondered if, after her failed Foundation Establishment, during her tour throughout the Immortal Sect, she had found an opportunity related to the Limit Breaking Method.

With this thought, Chen Mobai, after a long time, sent a message to Meng Huanger.

"Are you there?"

After waiting for a long time, there was no response.

She must be busy, perhaps singing.

Thinking this, and feeling the slight relief from the dizziness in his head after listening to Meng Huanger's opera, he didn't feel right presumptuously disturbing her again. He could only try to distract himself.

He opened his friends list.

Chen Mobai saw that Qing Nü, specially marked in his list, was online. He curiously sent an emoji.

"What's up?"

Qing Nü immediately replied with three words.

Chen Mobai: "Will you be at school at the end of the year?"

Qing Nü: "Probably."

Chen Mobai: "What do you mean 'probably' (confused emoji)?"

Qing Nü: "Recently, through my mentor's introduction, I joined a department within the Immortal Sect. This is to prepare for acquiring the Golden Elixir and Jade Return Pill after graduation. This department sometimes assigns urgent tasks to me. I recently helped complete the refinement of a whole pond of Golden Wind and Dew Paste, so I'm currently free. But it's hard to say about the end of the year. Why do you ask? Are you not going back to Danxia City at year-end and coming to find me instead?"

Qing Nü and Chen Mobai had a deep friendship. They had known each other since their humble beginnings, and with the matters involving Kong Feichen and Yang Jing, they knew each other inside out. Thus, Qing Nü spoke more casually and directly.

Chen Mobai: "That's right. I'm leading a team to your academy's offline exchange and sparring session at the end of the year. It's been three years since we last met, so I was wondering if we could get together this year."

Qing Nü: "I almost forgot you're the chief disciple of the Divine Artifact Academy now. I'll try my best then. But the department I joined has strict rules, so I can't guarantee I'll be there."

Seeing this, Chen Mobai replied with an "okay" emoji.

Then he asked about the three types of lifespan-extending pills from the Longevity Academy, wondering if Qing Nü could refine them if he gathered the herbs.

Qing Nü: "Probably not. Generally, these specialized pills have a dedicated set of refining pools and cauldrons designed for them. This means the Longevity Academy custom-orders alchemy artifacts from large equipment manufacturers based on their needs to minimize the failure rate and eliminate pill toxins."

Qing Nü: "If I were to attempt to refine them myself, without those custom-made artifacts specifically designed for refining longevity pills, I might need to fail a few times before I could find the knack for success. And even if I succeeded, the pill toxin content would likely exceed acceptable levels."

Qing Nü: "That would be too wasteful. For pills with such specific uses, it's better to just buy them directly. By the way, why do you need to replenish your lifespan?"

Chen Mobai: "It's not for me, it's for a friend of mine, who was ignorant in their youth..."

Since Qing Nü was also from Danxia City and might meet Chen Xinglan in the future, Chen Mobai quickly thought and didn't dare to use his father as an excuse again.

Qing Nü: "Oh."

They chatted for a couple more sentences. Chen Mobai also mentioned the situation with his spiritual consciousness breakthrough and thanked Qing Nü again.

After all, Qing Nü had specifically chosen this Divine Control technique for him, and it was indeed very suitable.

Qing Nü: "Your talent is exceptional."

This sentence warmed Chen Mobai's heart. Ten compliments from others didn't feel as genuine as this one from Qing Nü.

After all, his achievements today, apart from the resources from the Heavenly River Realm, were largely due to that Enlightenment Pill from Qing Nü.

If not for that, he might now be like Meng Huanger, troubled daily about comprehending the Limit Breaking Method and how to establish his Foundation.

Thinking of this, Chen Mobai wanted to ask Qing Nü if the Enlightenment Pill could still be acquired.

It wasn't for himself, but he felt that he might need Meng Huanger's help in the future, and wondered if he could use this as a "ticket" to book her performances for a period, helping to resolve his spiritual consciousness issues.

However, after a careful thought, Chen Mobai still didn't ask.

He felt a little embarrassed and couldn't bring himself to say it.

It would be better to reveal this information to Meng Huanger in the future and let her figure out how to get an Enlightenment Pill herself.

After chatting with Qing Nü for a while longer, they wished each other goodnight.

Chen Mobai waited until it was time to teleport again and returned to the Heavenly River Realm.

After retracting his spiritual consciousness from the Formless Puppet, Chen Mobai experienced a refreshing sensation he hadn't felt in a long time.

He even felt that his spiritual consciousness had increased slightly. It seemed like a good way to train and grow his spiritual consciousness, but the dizziness made it unsuitable for him.