Chapter 187 - 185: Formation
The Dream Training Space.
Gu Ming returned to this place after a long absence. Looking at the room in his dream, he felt a surreal sense of it being half-real and half-illusory.
THUMP.
He turned his head to see Ah Kun leap out of the Fish Tank, leaving the aquatic environment.
Driven by the pressure to survive, it desperately circulated the Magic Circulation of a Pure Water Life Form to practice the "Everlasting Pure Water Technique."
Back in the Fish Tank, surrounded by water, it couldn’t feel any significant difference even after opening up its circulation pathways.
It wasn’t a clever fish and couldn’t sense where the Magic Circulation was going wrong, so it simply jumped out of the Fish Tank.
And just like that, its world changed. The environment was different. A terrifying pressure from the outside world seemed to bear down on its body at every moment.
It opened its fishy mouth, trying to circulate the Green Treasure Breathing Technique with great gasps. But the more it breathed, the more unbearable the discomfort became.
After a moment, it felt a part of its body that the water couldn’t replenish.
The simulation in the training space was so realistic that it began to examine the Magic Circulation passing through the drying area, repeatedly practicing and modifying it.
Gu Ming had wanted to step in and help. But after watching for a moment and seeing Ah Kun was in a bad state, he decided to walk over and check on it.
Suddenly, it began to convulse. It struggled to breathe, and its fish eyes bulged from their sockets.
This wasn’t simple dehydration. Its internal respiratory channels were rapidly becoming severely deprived of water.
Even with Water Element Mana circulating through its body, it couldn’t be stopped. Something was wrong.
Before Gu Ming could throw it back into the Fish Tank, he saw its head loll to one side and its eyes close. The next second, it respawned inside the Fish Tank.
’It died just like that?’
Gu Ming gasped.
’The Everlasting Pure Water Technique really is dangerous.’
’It actually died in such a short time.’
This definitely wasn’t a normal death from dehydration. It was a backlash from the Cultivation Technique.
The incorrect cultivation method, combined with the approach of pushing its body into a dire situation, had exacerbated the side effects of the technique’s backlash.
The system, for its part, offered no status updates, simply stating that Ah Kun was cultivating desperately.
The system wasn’t wrong this time. It really was *desperately* cultivating.
[Everlasting Pure Water Technique EXP +10]
Seeing the experience bar pop up, Gu Ming wanted to offer a few words of advice and have it change its approach.
’But then again,’ he thought, ’as long as the experience bar is increasing, it must be on the right track.’
Meanwhile, Cyan Treasure had been awake for some time, practicing the tail swing for the Wood Escape Flood Dragon Power.
It was a complete set of exercises: lift the abdomen, tighten the scales, lunge forward, twist the body, swing the tail, and land.
The muscles used and the way it exerted force were similar to a normal Snake Pet, but the strength required, along with the initial explosive power needed, exceeded the Little Cyan Snake’s physical capabilities by twofold.
To achieve this effect, Cyan Treasure had to drain every last bit of its potential, damaging its own body to increase its explosive power.
Only by doing so could it achieve a similar effect.
[Wood Escape Flood Dragon Power Exertion EXP +1]
[Power Exertion EXP +1]
Gu Ming was just assisting on the side, occasionally massaging its body to relieve fatigue.
Although it could be revived infinitely in the dream, the muscle soreness and the recovery process were also part of the training.
Skipping the recovery process would be like skipping a part of its "snake life," which was not an option.
For a high-end Technique, every step of the training was backed by theory, so Gu Ming didn’t dare give instructions carelessly.
He guided it exactly as he had learned.
Right now, only the power exertion experience was increasing, not the experience for the entire Technique. This showed that there were still many prerequisites to learn.
After a day of training, Gu Ming saw that Cyan Treasure was gradually adapting to the entire Body Forging process, and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
This was also the real-world training process for the Flood Dragon Tail Swing. Once it got used to this part, it could practice the same set in reality.
However, for the "Wood Escape Flood Dragon Power," this was just the beginning.
This Technique integrated Body Refining and Divine Cultivation. It didn’t mention Qi Cultivation, mainly because Elder Zhong believed the Green Treasure Breathing Technique could serve as a substitute, so there was no need to switch to a different Qi Cultivation technique.
Therefore, after Cyan Treasure finished the Body Refining portion, it was time to practice the Divine Cultivation Chapter.
And the shortcut to mastering its Origin Power was also related to the Divine Soul.
Next was the Fierce Dragon Array, a clever method used by modern Beastmasters to cultivate their Pet Beasts.
An Array that aligns with the Celestial Dao allows a Pet Beast to get a close-up glimpse of the Celestial Dao, which is similar to mastering an Origin Power. It’s one of the shortcuts used in high-end Techniques of later generations.
Theoretically, if a Pet Beast could quickly master its own Origin Power, the Fierce Dragon Array wouldn’t be very necessary and could be skipped.
But people of later generations were already accustomed to efficient cultivation. Making them grind away slowly over time like ascetic monks, growing alongside their Pet Beasts, was just too slow.
To put it simply, using an Array as a transitional step to teach a Pet Beast to grasp the feeling of Origin Power could shorten years of arduous training.
It’s safe to believe that any Beastmaster who has used an Array to aid cultivation would never be able to endure that long, ascetic journey.
Mastering one’s Origin was never something a Low-star Pet Beast was supposed to do in the first place.
That was something only High-star Pet Beasts could touch upon. By year 550, access to Origin Power was delegated downwards, causing the strength of even university students in later generations to swell severalfold.
In the past, some powerful Techniques were only passed down from master to disciple and never shared with outsiders.
People lamented their inability to even begin, only able to look on in awe. But after Arrays were incorporated to assist with high-end Techniques, the standard of power for those techniques also inflated.
Master-disciple Techniques were no longer something to be envied but never obtained.
To get back on track, Gu Ming was not a stick-in-the-mud. If an Array was useful, then he would use an Array.
He would first help Cyan Treasure get a feel for it, and then they could explore how to find its Origin Power within its spiritual world.
"Cyan Treasure, come here. I’ll help you inscribe the Array."
Gu Ming condensed his Spiritual Power to guide Cyan Treasure, controlling the still-boiling Soul Power Potion inside its body and directing it to flow into the Spiritual Snake Acupoints in its head.
Following its master’s guidance, Cyan Treasure slowly directed this Soul Power Potion into the part of its Snake Bone in its head.
This Soul Soup was truly mysterious.
It was clearly a soup made from various medicinal herbs, but once it entered the body, it became ethereal and weightless.
It wasn’t like a liquid. Instead, it shimmered like Spiritual Qi, sparkling brightly.
To his surprise and delight, while its Magic Power Inner Core couldn’t control the Soul Soup, Cyan Treasure’s Foundation Establishment Platform was actually able to manipulate this ethereal mass of Soul Power Potion and guide it into the Spiritual Snake Acupoint.
’This is perfect.’ The most difficult opening step of cultivating this Technique had been skipped just like that.
After the potion was guided into the Spiritual Snake Acupoint, Cyan Treasure felt as if the top of its head had been opened to the sky. Its feverish brain instantly dropped a hundred degrees in temperature, and its thoughts froze over.
If its master hadn’t been continuously stimulating it with his Spiritual Power, it would have completely lost its way.
"Calm your mind. Follow my voice."
Cyan Treasure nodded. Following the Array Diagram Gu Ming had drawn out, it condensed its Spiritual Power onto the other acupoints one by one, stimulating its brain.
In a short while, as many as 108 spiritual nodes formed on the surface of its cerebral cortex.
These spiritual nodes were all stimulated by the Soul Power Potion, becoming incredibly vibrant and causing its Sea of Consciousness to bubble with activity.
For a fleeting instant, Cyan Treasure felt the world in its eyes slow down. The trajectory of the airflow, the arc of falling dust—all became clearly discernible.
With just a sharp stretch of its muscles, its body tensed like a bowstring. It suddenly shot forward as if it had lost control, moving as fast as lightning.
Furthermore, the draconic cry emanating from its Foundation Establishment Platform caused a mystical change in its tail swing. A faint, illusory afterimage of a dragon’s tail now accompanied its own.