Chapter 916: Peak of the Silkworm Seal Realm

He walked into the room.

This library was different from the ones he had visited before; the latter housed books corresponding to specific professions—for example, the Beast Taming Academy had only books on beast taming, the Medical Academy only medical texts...

This one, however, contained various cultivation techniques, martial skills, and general knowledge about the Hongyuan Empire's history, changes, human geography, and the like.

Although the books on the first floor were accessible to students, they were by no means simple. They included all cultivation techniques from the Spirit Fusion Realm to the Silkworm Seal Realm, arranged in rows and columns, numbering in the millions.

The Master Academy had been established for nearly ten thousand years, producing countless brilliant masters. These individuals recorded their insights and experiences in cultivation for future reference, and some even created their own unique techniques that were passed down through the ages.

This resulted in countless different cultivation methods for each level.

Taking the Spirit Fusion Realm as an example, a casual glance revealed over ten thousand different cultivation techniques, each forming its own system with a perfect lineage.

For other students, seeing such a variety of techniques would necessitate choosing one category to study. Otherwise, exposure to too many would make it difficult to distinguish right from wrong, easily leading to qi deviation.

Zhang Xuan didn't need to worry about this at all. He had no requirements for the type of technique; the more, the better.

Spending nearly an hour, he absorbed all the books on the Spirit Fusion Realm into his mind.

"Correct!" he murmured inwardly.

A book appeared before him. He casually opened it; it was the Heavenly Dao technique for the Spirit Fusion Realm. Although the cultivation path differed slightly from the one he had formed earlier, they ultimately led to the same destination with little difference.

He then moved to the technique manuals for the Qiao Tian Realm, spending another hour to collect them all.

After forming the Heavenly Dao technique, he compared it and found it similar to the one he had collected before, only more detailed, making cultivation simpler and easier.

"It seems that all Heavenly Dao techniques are essentially similar... the content won't change much!"

Zhang Xuan nodded and walked forward, collecting as he went.

Since he was here and time was not pressing, he might as well collect all the books, which would also increase his knowledge and foundation.

After five hours, Zhang Xuan had stored all the technique manuals, martial skills, and such in the library into his sea of consciousness.

Although these books did not increase his cultivation, they greatly enhanced his knowledge and gave him a better understanding of various cultivation systems.

In terms of breadth of knowledge, it was likely that all the masters in the academy combined were far inferior to him.

Moreover, various martial skills—sword techniques, blade techniques, spear techniques, etc.—had also formed their own Heavenly Dao techniques, arranged in rows on the bookshelves. As long as he cultivated them, he would surely attain a deeper understanding of weapon intent.

Zhang Xuan did not rush to cultivate but continued walking forward.

The second floor was a room accessible only to teachers. The martial skills and techniques left there were much more profound than those on the first floor, and there were even cultivation techniques at the Half-Saint level!

After collecting all the books there, he continued downward.

The third floor was accessible only to elders. It contained cultivation methods for the Cong Sheng and Saint Domain realms, though in much smaller numbers than the first and second floors.

After collecting all the books and forming the correct Heavenly Dao techniques, he had now gathered all the Heavenly Dao techniques for the nine levels of Mortal Transformation, the Silkworm Seal Realm, and the Half-Saint realm.

In other words, if he wished to cultivate, he could break through from the early Silkworm Seal Realm to the early Saint Domain in just three hours!

Smiling lightly, Zhang Xuan opened the Half-Saint level books and looked down.

After a moment, he frowned.

These techniques had no errors; if he cultivated step by step, they could indeed allow him to quickly reach Half-Saint, Cong Sheng, and even Saint Domain.

However, even if he reached Saint Domain, it would only be a third-grade primordial embryo, vastly different from the lowest second-grade in the Saint Ascension Decipher.

At first, he found it strange why the Heavenly Dao techniques for the Spirit Fusion Realm and such were similar, but this one had a gap. After thinking it over, he understood.

Among the many techniques in the library, there were none for cultivating a first-grade primordial embryo. No matter how many he collected, they were still ordinary techniques.

It was like reading countless books on building ordinary houses but still being unable to build a palace.

The two were fundamentally different. Even if much of the content was similar and could allow one to reach higher realms, they were not on the same level.

"Although the Saint Ascension Decipher is more difficult to cultivate, it is highly likely to form a first-grade primordial embryo and become a saint recognized by heaven. Cultivating these ordinary techniques offers no such hope!"

Zhang Xuan pondered.

Cultivating the Saint Ascension Decipher required treasures and might be more difficult, but once successful, its power was immense, far surpassing ordinary techniques.

Since he was going to cultivate, he naturally chose the stronger one.

Having made up his mind, he did not rush to cultivate but continued upward.

The fourth floor was accessible only to the dean. There were no more technique or martial skill books, but rather various insights left by previous deans and many secrets of the academy.

After storing these books in the library, Zhang Xuan continued upward.

The fifth floor was left by Master Mu. Although it did not contain the Saint Ascension Decipher, it included all the precious techniques he had collected, most of which were for the first level of Saint Domain, with a few reaching the second or even third level. However, their numbers were too small to be of much use to him.

There were also some manuals on soul refinement and body refinement. Having nothing else to do, he collected them all as well.

"Alright, time to start cultivating!"

Having collected all the books and formed at least a dozen Heavenly Dao techniques and martial skills, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, found an open space, and stopped.

With the Silkworm Seal Realm techniques ready and the Red萤 Fruit for breaking through to Half-Saint, he could go all out and first break through this realm!

He took out formation flags and set up a sixth-level spirit gathering array around him, then placed a pile of high-grade spirit stones into it.

Boom!

The spirit gathering array activated, extracting countless pure spiritual energy from the spirit stones, forming dense clouds that poured into his pores.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Zhang Xuan opened his many acupoints and absorbed wildly.

The spiritual energy from high-grade spirit stones was pure and heavy, far surpassing earthly vein spiritual liquid, making it extremely suitable for breakthroughs.

Closing his eyes, Zhang Xuan activated the content of the Saint Ascension Decipher, controlling streams of true energy to shuttle back and forth in his dantian.

The new Saint Ascension Decipher was completely different from the previous one.

In the latter, seven streams of true energy formed one grain, seven grains formed one cluster, and seven clusters formed one decipher.

In this one, nine streams of true energy formed one grain, nine grains formed one cluster, and nine clusters formed one decipher.

Nine was the limit of numbers; only by stacking nine streams of true energy could it conform to truth and the Heavenly Dao.

Spiritual energy flowed within his body, making gurgling sounds. Zhang Xuan controlled it to form streams of true energy, converging into grains, clusters, and deciphers...

The purpose of the Saint Ascension Decipher was to condense a higher-grade primordial embryo. It was much more difficult and complex than normal Heavenly Dao cultivation.

With normal Heavenly Dao techniques, one could advance a level in an hour, but this one made little progress; in an hour, he hadn't even broken through a minor level.

At this moment, he finally understood why Master Mu had spent several hundred years just to condense a second-grade primordial embryo. This technique, while producing a powerful primordial embryo, demanded an enormous amount of spiritual energy.

It was simply a bottomless pit.

Not to mention anything else, with his cultivation speed and the sixth-level spirit gathering array, it would take at least a day to reach the peak of the Silkworm Seal Realm.

Normally, he could cultivate a major level in an hour, but now it would take a day... The difficulty was evident.

But a day was fine; he wasn't in a hurry.

According to the Saint Ascension Decipher, Master Mu had spent over two hundred years to reach this realm.

Sitting in place, his cultivation slowly increased as true energy circulated within him, breaking through layer after layer of shackles.

Early Silkworm Seal Realm!

Mid Silkworm Seal Realm!

Late Silkworm Seal Realm!

...

After a day, he indeed reached the peak of the Silkworm Seal Realm, only half a step away from Half-Saint, ready to break through at any time.

"So much stronger than before..."

Stopping his cultivation, he looked inward and couldn't help but sigh.

Normally, each minor level in the Silkworm Seal Realm increased strength by about 3,000,000 cauldrons, but with the Saint Ascension Decipher, it reached 6,000,000 cauldrons!

(Normal Silkworm Seal Realm: early 25,000,000 cauldrons, mid 28,000,000 cauldrons, late 31,000,000 cauldrons, peak 34,000,000 cauldrons!)

He previously had 29,000,000 cauldrons; adding 18,000,000 cauldrons, his pure true energy strength reached 47,000,000 cauldrons!

Combined with soul power of 20,000,000 cauldrons and physical strength of 32,000,000 cauldrons, he had reached 99,000,000 cauldrons, only 1,000,000 cauldrons short of the Saint Domain's 100,000,000 cauldrons!

In other words, his strength was already comparable to a Saint Domain expert.

Terrifying!

A peak Silkworm Seal Realm cultivator matching a Saint Domain in pure strength—no one would believe it if told.

However, while his strength was similar to an early first-level Saint Domain, his actual combat power was still inferior.

Saint Domain experts comprehend the laws of heaven and earth, allowing them to attack from a distance without strength衰减. To use his full power, he had to fight at close range; if he couldn't get close, his physical and soul power would be of little use.

Without these two boosts, he only had 47,000,000 cauldrons, similar to a late Half-Saint.

Even so, it was still formidable, far surpassing Dean Mo Liuzhen in his time.

"My strength has improved a lot, but the consumption of high-grade spirit stones is also enormous..."

After feeling his power, Zhang Xuan looked at the debris on the ground and smiled bitterly.

Cultivating the Saint Ascension Decipher indeed made his cultivation more solid, his true energy denser, and his strength ample, but it also came with problems—for instance, the consumption of high-grade spirit stones reached an alarming level.

He had obtained several hundred high-grade spirit stones from Wu Xu, Lu Cheng, and others, plus gifts from the Bear Tiger Beast and Cloud Mist Ridge... totaling over eight hundred, more than any of the ten elders...

Now, just from the early Silkworm Seal Realm to the peak, he had consumed 500 stones, nearly half!

It was simply burning money!