Chapter 372: Taking Enlightenment Tea

Before leaving, Chen Mobai didn't forget to get a note from Che Yucheng, allowing him to exchange for the 'Pure Yang Scroll, Core Formation Chapter' and related cultivation insights at the library. Although he was far from reaching Core Formation, the Enlightenment Tea allowed him to foresee the process. After collecting the cultivation techniques and materials from the library, Chen Mobai also downloaded and printed a thesis on puppet factories using the campus network before heading to the student union.

Having led the Dance-Weapon Dao Academy team to a triumphant return, a celebration was naturally in order. Hua Zijing had already expertly arranged the celebratory banquet. Chen Mobai also remembered to change clothes in his office; the red and black dance-weapon robe he was wearing still belonged to Jiang Yuyuan.

"Junior, please guide me more in the coming years." Halfway through the meal, Bian Jingchun's pretty face was slightly flushed as she raised a glass to Chen Mobai. Chen Mobai didn't understand what she meant, but he courteously clinked glasses with her.

After the feast, everyone dispersed. Sun Daoji and Chi Shicheng went to Chicheng Grotto-Heaven together. They had booked flights to leave tomorrow and proactively bid farewell to Chen Mobai before their departure.

"Next time you come to Wangwu Grotto-Heaven, you can look for us." Both held positions in the central administration of the Immortal Gate and desired to obtain the Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill for their Core Formation.

"Alright, seniors, take care." Chen Mobai had originally intended to ask Chi Shicheng about the Heaven-Swallowing Serpent, but then he thought that he knew nothing about it. If it were a unique technique of the Ascension Cult, wouldn't he expose himself as being colluding with an evil cult? So, after much consideration, he decided to put it aside for now. Anyway, they were already friends, so there would always be an opportunity in the future.

After seeing everyone off, Chen Mobai returned to his small wooden cabin. Looking up, he was surprised to see lights on in Meng Huang'er's villa on the mountain. But considering it was now the end of the semester and exams were approaching, it was normal for her to be back. Chen Mobai paid her no mind and teleported to the Tianhe Realm from his room.

Xiaonan Mountain was as usual, but after activating the cloud and mist formation on the mountaintop, he found two communication talismans. They were from his two disciples. It was currently the time for the sect's grand competition. His eldest disciple, having been injured in the battle against Trembling Mountain Peak, had recovered but his cultivation had dropped by two levels, so he wasn't participating this year. However, Zhuo Ming and Luo Yixuan had both signed up. Zhuo Ming participated to hone her combat experience and also because the Xiaonan Mountain shop's business in Shenmu City needed management by year-end. Luo Yixuan, on the other hand, was aiming for one of the twenty-four True Disciple spots this year, determined to bring glory to her master. Before departing, both had sent a communication talisman to Chen Mobai, who was in secluded cultivation. After reading the messages, Chen Mobai nodded. He calculated the time and realized that if Luo Yixuan became a True Disciple, he could still make it to watch the final few rounds. After replying to both disciples, Chen Mobai, seeing no major issues on the Shenmu Sect's side, returned to the Immortal Gate.

That night, instead of meditating, he turned off the lights and went to bed, getting a good night's sleep. On the second-floor hall of the elegant villa on the mountaintop, a graceful figure with long legs and a slender waist stood by the window. She watched the lights in the wooden cabin below extinguish, and a faint daze crossed her beautiful face.

"Please consider it carefully; the opportunity comes only once." On her phone screen, a colorful figure slowly disappeared, eventually displaying that sentence. Only after the text vanished did Meng Huang'er slowly regain her composure. An opportunity, only once...

The next day, Chen Mobai woke up naturally, feeling his essence, qi, and spirit had reached their peak. Wasting no time, he used a Minor Teleportation Talisman to reach the Dao Academy, then went straight to Building Nine to rent a cultivation room for a week. Although the Enlightenment Tea's effect lasted only three days, he had to leave himself ample time.

While scanning to pay with good deeds points, Chen Mobai noticed several unread messages. They were all from his good friends at the Dao Academy, congratulating him on his glorious return. After casually scrolling through, Chen Mobai found one message from Meng Huang'er among them: "Do you have time recently?" Chen Mobai glanced at it and simply ignored it.

The end of every year was his busiest period. Besides the main task of consuming the Enlightenment Tea, the student union also needed to pre-arrange next year's course schedules for various Dao Academy majors. This involved communication with various subject teachers and students. With Hua Zijing having graduated, if he didn't personally step in, it might not be completed even by early next year. Besides these, if his youngest disciple at the Shenmu Sect became a True Disciple and advanced to the final rounds of the sect's grand competition, he, as her master, would be obliged both personally and professionally to attend and watch. After these three matters, his talisman factory in Danxia City also needed to undergo year-end auditing and tax reporting. Since it involved factory mortgage loans, if he, as the legal representative, didn't appear, the accounts prepared might not be approved by the bank and the Immortal Gate. Chen Mobai systematically listed in his mind all the tasks he needed to accomplish after consuming the Enlightenment Tea. In comparison, maintaining his friendship with Meng Huang'er ranked far lower on his priorities. After replying to the congratulations from Ming Yihua and his other good friends, he swiped his finger across the phone screen, effectively pretending not to have seen Meng Huang'er's message. This was to avoid affecting their friendship by outright rejecting her.

There was a small amusing incident when he rented the room: two junior students at the front desk recognized him and delightedly asked him for an autograph. The approachable Chen Mobai even took a photo with them.

Upon entering the cultivation room, Chen Mobai immediately turned off his phone to prevent any distractions while taking the Enlightenment Tea. He took out a tube of emerald-green tea water from his storage pouch. Had one not seen it with their own eyes, who would believe it was Enlightenment Tea? After calming his mind, Chen Mobai pulled out the stopper and drank it all in one gulp. A cool energy rose from his abdomen, surging like sweet dew into his Violet Palace and Sea of Consciousness. Having experienced enlightenment once before, Chen Mobai allowed this clear energy to flow naturally and permeate every part of his Violet Palace. Soon, he felt a sealed door of wisdom deep within his Sea of Consciousness slowly emerge under the cleansing of the clear energy, then gently open.

In an instant, Chen Mobai felt his comprehension and inspiration erupt. The obscure and complex knowledge he had accumulated in his mind from previous talisman crafting, as if cultivated and practiced for decades, became crystal clear in a flash. He could even deduce from one instance to many, feeling an impatient urge to start drawing and let it all pour out. He immediately halted the diffusion of his thoughts, adhering to his pre-arranged priority order to ensure the precious time of the Enlightenment Tea was perfectly utilized.

First, he picked up the 'Pure Yang Scroll, Foundation Establishment Chapter'. Although he already had a deep impression of this content and could even recite it backward, Chen Mobai still took out the original book and read it word by word. As the easiest cultivation method to begin with in the Immortal Gate, the 'Pure Yang Scroll', after being revised by Old Ancestor Yuanyang, had all its content made simple and easy to understand. Yet, in his enlightened state, Chen Mobai still noticed details he had not perceived during his previous cultivation.

It turned out that when using the Lantern Lighting Technique, the effect would be even better if resonating with divine sense. Theoretically, the Flame Manipulation Technique could control all fires under heaven; any flame could be manipulated and controlled, though this naturally required a very high personal cultivation realm. The profound secret of the Fire Kindling Technique was that it could use Pure Yang spiritual energy as fuel to ignite any elemental spirit fire that a cultivator had mastered. If the Flame Burst Technique was cultivated to its extreme, one could even reverse the process oneself. The Flame Stabilization Technique could be affixed to magic artifacts. The Sun Ascension Technique had an optimal frequency for enhancing each type of flame, which was not constant. Cultivators could normally experiment by continuously blending their spiritual energy, Primal Yang Qi, and divine sense to find the best Sun Ascension frequency for various flames.

Chen Mobai gradually became immersed in the profound mysteries of the Pure Yang Scroll. Unknowingly, he finished reading the Foundation Establishment Chapter from beginning to end, then without stopping, began reading the Core Formation Chapter. At this point, his pace of turning pages was several times slower than before. Time ticked away. After Chen Mobai finished reading all the content of the Core Formation Chapter, he then looked at the appended spell catalog: Pure Yang Violet Qi! Profound Yang Divine Light! Demon-Slaying Divine Thunder! Pure Yang True Fire!

After reading about "Pure Yang Violet Qi," Chen Mobai strongly resisted the urge to continue flipping pages. Given his current cultivation realm, even if he comprehended these powerful spells, he would be unable to use them due to insufficient cultivation. Every minute of the Enlightenment Tea's three-day duration was precious and could not be wasted here. The reason he wanted to read about "Pure Yang Violet Qi" was because his confidence in his own Core Formation was not entirely sufficient. Pure Yang Violet Qi aided in breaking through to the next realm; although not as effective as the Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill, the two could be combined, and perhaps that slight edge would be just enough!

However, there was another issue: condensing Pure Yang Violet Qi required a Core Formation True Person to act. But in his enlightened state, Chen Mobai experienced a burst of inspiration and thought of a possibility. Could he use a puppet to condense Pure Yang Violet Qi in his stead? Conveniently, the next use he had planned for the Enlightenment Tea's effects after the Pure Yang Scroll was the Way of Puppetry that Che Yucheng had taught him. He had originally intended to comprehend the manufacturing and installation of puppet factories, use puppets to develop resources in the Divine Tree Secret Realm, and then use his own factory to produce talisman paper for resale in the Immortal Gate and Tianhe Realm, becoming a major trader between the two realms. However, under the influence of the Enlightenment Tea, his inspiration soared, and he conceived another use for puppets.

The Formless Humanoid Puppet that Che Yucheng had passed on to him could perfectly simulate a cultivator's practice and breakthroughs. So, if there was sufficient energy, could it simulate a Core Formation True Person condensing Pure Yang Violet Qi? The Formless Humanoid Puppet was a third-tier artifact, hailed as the pinnacle of Immortal Gate puppetry, capable of reaching Core Formation level power. However, due to the scarcity of spirit stones in the Immortal Gate, the Formless Humanoid Puppet had never been allowed to exert its full power. For the Formless Humanoid Puppet to simulate the Core Formation realm, high-grade spirit stones were needed. And since condensing Pure Yang Violet Qi was not a combat task, theoretically, as long as energy was sufficient, the puppet could complete this step instead of Chen Mobai himself.

Acting on his thought, Chen Mobai took out paper and pen, retrieved the Formless Humanoid Puppet from his storage pouch, and then also took out the puppet-related books Che Yucheng had given him, beginning to mentally simulate and complete this theoretical process on the spot. Among these, Chen Mobai directly skipped the most difficult problem for Che Yucheng: the energy issue. Making the Formless Humanoid Puppet use high-grade spirit stones to simulate Chen Mobai's Core Formation realm with the Pure Yang Scroll was an existing function, which Che Yucheng had already perfectly constructed in his Dharma performance. The crucial part came next: using the simulated Core Formation realm to condense Pure Yang Violet Qi!

Fortunately, Chen Mobai had already read all the content of Che Yucheng's Way of Puppetry several times. Although he hadn't fully understood it before, now in his enlightened state, he could selectively pick out relevant knowledge points about the Formless Humanoid Puppet from his mind and begin to learn and comprehend them. Through his comprehension and understanding, he re-adjusted some non-critical values and codes within Che Yucheng's original puppet framework, completing the theoretical basis for this step. Although it was merely a few modifications, this could only be achieved after comprehending all the knowledge points related to the Formless Humanoid Puppet. After completing this theory, Chen Mobai could confidently say that he had inherited Che Yucheng's mantle. Leaving aside other puppets for now, at least concerning the Formless Humanoid Puppet, he could now communicate with Che Yucheng as an equal.

Normally, Chen Mobai would naturally proceed to verify whether this theory was feasible. But now was precious enlightened time. He put down the paper and pen and began looking at knowledge and papers related to puppet factories. This was related to making money and was crucial for his future stability in both realms. If not for the sudden burst of inspiration regarding Pure Yang Violet Qi, this would have been his second priority for comprehension.

The knowledge about puppet factories was, in comparison to the Formless Humanoid Puppet, exceedingly simple. All the puppet knowledge points were below Tier One, as they only needed to perform mechanical labor and didn't require being overly complex or powerful. The only key and difficulty lay in controlling a large number of puppets. If relying solely on a cultivator's divine sense, no matter how many separate thoughts they could manifest, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could at most control fewer than ten puppets. This necessitated a magic artifact called the "Heavenly Calculation Bead." The crucial component of puppets was their chips, and even the most common Heavenly Calculation Bead could control ten chips. As long as a cultivator refined a Heavenly Calculation Bead and set their commands within it, they could control the puppets linked to its chips as easily as moving their own limbs.

The Heavenly Calculation Bead was a patent of the Heaven-Mending Dao Academy, categorized into tiers from One to Five. Controlling puppets was merely one of the most minor functions of the Heavenly Calculation Bead. This artifact was primarily used to enhance various applications of divine sense, with its mainstream use being for deduction. For instance, Ding Chunzhi of the Stargazing Academy possessed a third-tier Heavenly Calculation Bead. However, the Heaven-Mending Dao Academy only sold Tier One and Tier Two Heavenly Calculation Beads externally. Tier Three ones required custom orders, and only those with significant influence could place an order. Tier Four Heavenly Calculation Beads had never circulated on the market. As for Tier Five, the entire Immortal Gate only had the one possessed by Old Ancestor Qianxing, a Soul Transformation cultivator. Chen Mobai felt that a single Tier Two Heavenly Calculation Bead would suffice for him; a hundred puppets would be plenty.