Wang Sheng hadn’t planned on cultivating the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter,” wanting to avoid risks as much as possible.
But now, a progress bar had appeared.
He felt there was no need to be overly cautious, and it was time to stop holding back.
He might not reach the state of “hearing the Tao in the morning and being ready to die in the evening.”
But ever since he realized the benefits of reading, he had a strong desire for this type of knowledge-based scripture and wanted to study it.
Having learned about it and with the appearance of the progress bar, he naturally wouldn’t miss the opportunity.
“All or nothing!”
He decided to see if the Lifeless Mother truly existed.
So, Wang Sheng devoted a certain amount of time to the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter.”
However, at the start of his cultivation, Wang Sheng found that the scripture had a minuscule impact on enhancing his Divine Thought, virtually none at all.
“Is it because my spiritual power is already strong enough?”
Wang Sheng’s spiritual power was his Divine Thought.
His Divine Thought was constantly advancing under the influence of the Inner Core Skill, with the great medicine soon to form, now already quite powerful.
Thus, scriptures like the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter,” which enhance the mind to become stronger, had virtually no effect on him in the early stages.
But Wang Sheng himself wasn’t particularly concerned.
He had anticipated this situation from the beginning; the low improvement rate couldn’t disappoint him.
The scripture’s most important aspect was potential; with the help of the progress bar, the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” could continuously strengthen, and his Divine Thought could keep growing stronger.
So even with the current low effects, he could wait for his Divine Thought to become entirely sufficient.
And then, there was another important point.
The mental manipulation techniques within the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter.”
Currently, Wang Sheng’s use of Divine Thought was mostly to control flying swords, with his only skill being the God-slaying Sword.
The comforting, seducing mental techniques of the scripture were something he desperately needed.
Mastering these techniques could also serve him well in battle.
The most important among them was a technique called “True Void Homeland.”
“True Void Homeland” was a world imagined by the White Lotus Sect.
In the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter,” it became a method for constructing illusions.
This method was somewhat sinister.
Because if the practitioner had malicious intentions, it would act like the White Lotus Demon King’s method, trapping everyone in an illusion where they felt they were in a paradise, subject to the practitioner’s control.
Moreover, those who used “True Void Homeland” could draw the spiritual power from those trapped in the illusion, enhancing themselves.
But if you wanted to improve yourself slowly, you could gradually cultivate; however, that was much slower compared to draining someone else’s spiritual power.
Once drained for the first time, it was hard to resist the temptation.
According to the White Lotus Demon King’s own plan, “True Void Homeland,” if cultivated to the extreme, could turn the illusory into reality, creating an actual “True Void Homeland.”
Simply put, it was world creation!
But reaching the state of turning illusion into reality was no easy feat; it would be a distant journey, requiring an immense amount of spiritual power, almost unimaginable.
Such was the power of “True Void Homeland.”
Plus, the ability to draw on others’ spiritual power for one’s own enhancement made the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.
The White Lotus Demon King had already proved that.
“Good thing my will is firm!”
With his current Divine Thought, although he couldn’t cover a whole province like the White Lotus Demon King, he could still envelop a large area and then use the draining technique…
He fully understood the craftiness and power of this technique, as well as its terrifying allure.
Wang Sheng didn’t want to lose his humanity, so he wouldn’t use this technique.
“Who knows what problems could arise from draining someone else’s spiritual power.”
Wang Sheng consoled himself and then continued to cultivate slowly and honestly.
Seasons changed, and the year entered 539 of the Great Zhou calendar.
The atmosphere of the new year hadn’t completely faded away.
Shuzhou had rarely enjoyed such a long period of peace and had recovered quite well.
Of course, this recovery actually had little to do with the common folk.
Since the year 533, Shuzhou had enjoyed favorable weather for crops, but the people had no surplus grain left; it was all requisitioned and taken away.
The three major powers collected the grain, letting their smaller forces do the actual legwork.
And these smaller factions were hardly kind or gentle.
Thus, the people of Shuzhou managed to survive, but only just, occasionally suffering from hunger.
There was even a more outrageously cruel collection of spiritual medicine.
In most areas, the penalty for hoarding spiritual medicine was death, and the punishment could extend to one’s whole family, with reporting on one another allowed.
In places where there were not enough martial artists, ordinary people were sent into the mountains to search for spiritual medicine, but along with the increase in spiritual medicine, there were also increasing numbers of the Demon Clan and the Spirit Clan.
Going into the mountains, the losses for ordinary people were enormous.
Yet there were still those who entered.
Because if they did not search for spiritual medicine, their entire families would not survive.
This was a live tyranny, more ferocious than tigers.
And that was the situation in Shuzhou.
Outside, the situation was even more terrifying.
The Great Zhou Imperial Family had lost its authority, existing in name only.
In the year 538 of the Great Zhou calendar, a great flood occurred in the southern state of Jiangzhou, ruining countless crops in an instant.
The Imperial Family naturally had no capacity to provide disaster relief, and it was assumed that Lihai City, being nearest to Jiangzhou, would handle it.
But in practice, Lihai City merely reported the situation to the Great Zhou Imperial Family, and that was the end of it.
Other forces responded similarly.
With the support of Divine Lady Peak, the Zhang Family, who were proclaimed to be the successors of the Emperor, became more and more obvious in their influence, but they also took no action.
Even the three major powers of Shuzhou, far away, did not lift a finger.
Countless people of Jiangzhou became refugees, and the death toll was immeasurable.
Ultimately, it was the Yuelai Inn that took action, mobilizing a large supply of grain to support Jiangzhou and temporarily stabilized the situation.
However, Divine Lady Peak and Lihai City accused the Yuelai Inn of buying people’s hearts and neglecting the Great Zhou Imperial Family.
The three forces entered a prolonged period of wrangling.
Meanwhile, Wang Sheng had been cultivating at Qingshan Village after all this time, blissfully ignorant of the world outside.
More than a year had passed, and his progress was nothing short of significant.
“Realm—
Refining Essence to Qi, Refining: 95%
Cultivation Technique—
Inner Core Skill (Refining Essence to Qi): Breakthrough +4 (89%)
Ba Duan Jin: Breakthrough +4 (97%)—Blood Qi like Dragon: 10%
Five Elements Fist: Breakthrough +3 (98%)—Five Internal Organs Containing God just beginning: 45%
Yijin Scripture: Breakthrough +3 (86%)—True Body: 48%
Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter: 5 (12%)
Everyday life—
Herb Recognition: Breakthrough +3 (68%) Planting Skill: Breakthrough +5 (99%)
Forging: 9 (98%) Mechanical Techniques: 8 (95%)
Hidden Star Skill: 5 (6%) Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill crafting: Breakthrough +5 (12%) Reading: 8 (23%)
Martial Skills—
Eight Extremes Fist: Breakthrough +3 (56%) Plum Flower Step: Breakthrough +3 (45%)
Six Harmonies Spear: Breakthrough +3 (36%) Qiankun: Breakthrough +1 (56%)
Sword Flight: 8 (39%) Sacrificial Refinement: 8 (17%)”
In just over a year, many of Wang Sheng’s skills had reached the verge of promotion.
Among them, quite a few were key skills…