Chapter 5 – Mindscape: Sky Burial City

“Spirit Awakening succeeded?”

Upon initially hearing this, Mu Lin felt only some envy, without much shock.

This reaction left Zong Xiu somewhat dissatisfied, and he sighed, “Brother Mu, you really have forgotten a lot of memories… Don’t tell me you thought she had already drawn Qi into her body long ago, just needing that final push?”

“Isn’t that the case?”

“Of course not. Whether Cultivators could practice from a young age in the past, I’m not sure. But ever since the Blood Moon appeared, anyone who dares to sense Spiritual Energy and cultivate before the age of sixteen will inevitably undergo mutations in their body.”

“Because of this, along with the Dao Palace’s regulations and implicit evaluation criteria, even if a Disciple’s family has elders who cultivate immortality, they will prevent us from sensing Spiritual Energy. So, half a day ago, that Ji Xue was just an ordinary person like you and me—at most, she just knew a bit more about cultivation knowledge.”

“But half a day, just half a day, and she has already sensed Spiritual Energy, drawn Qi into her body, and succeeded in Spirit Awakening!”

“You should know, even after selecting the most suitable Cultivation Method for myself and with resources provided by my family, it will still take me over ten, maybe twenty days!”

As he spoke, Zong Xiu’s eyes were red with envy.

As for Mu Lin, he now understood why his original self, despite having a Qi Refiner grandfather, had not yet begun cultivating.

At the same time, he also felt a bit envious.

“You only need over ten days. I’d be satisfied if I can get started within a hundred days.”

Sensing the resentment in Mu Lin’s words, Zong Xiu felt a bit embarrassed.

“Ahem, Brother Mu, your talent isn’t bad either… at least not holding you back. You’ll definitely get started within fifty or sixty days…”

After exchanging a few more words, Mu Lin returned to his seat, closed his eyes, and began organizing the knowledge in his mind.

In the classroom, everyone else was quite disheartened by Ji Xue’s achievement, so they all focused on cultivating. Thus, the classroom fell silent.

…

After spending the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Mu Lin had sorted out the knowledge in his mind clearly.

Then, he was dismayed to find that there was quite a lot he needed to cultivate.

First was the Paper Crafting Scripture, which was divided into three parts.

One was the Divine Soul, one was Qi, and the last was Mystical Art.

Leaving Mystical Art aside for now, to achieve the most perfect Spirit Awakening at this stage, Mu Lin helplessly realized that he needed to cultivate both Qi and Divine Soul simultaneously and integrate the two.

Qi was Yin Spiritual Energy.

The Vitality Creation Qi was the highest realm of the Paper Crafting Scripture. In the early stages, Mu Lin would mainly cultivate Yin Qi, then transform Yin to Yang, and finally unify Yin and Yang—only then would it be considered Vitality Creation Qi.

If the Paper Figures crafted through the Paper Crafting Secret Art were compared to Puppet robots, Qi (Spiritual Energy, Mana) would be the energy source, the power core that enables the Paper Figures to move.

But for Puppet robots to act autonomously, besides an energy source, they also need a thinking core. Mu Lin’s cultivation of the Divine Soul was precisely to grant the Paper Figures temporary AI.

The Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture and Mindscape – Sky Burial City were the two Cultivation Methods recorded in the Paper Crafting Scripture.

The former allowed Mu Lin to cultivate a special Yin Spiritual Energy, while the latter could strengthen his Divine Soul. These two, combined with the Paper Crafting Secret Art, formed the complete Paper Crafting Scripture.

Of course, by now, some might have noticed.

Essence, Qi, and Divine Soul are the three treasures of a person, also known as the Three Blossoms.

The Paper Crafting Scripture only encompasses qi and spirit, lacking the essence for cultivating the physical body—after all, the Paper Crafting Scripture is merely an Earth Grade High Rank cultivation method, not a perfect Heaven Grade one. Moreover, as an unorthodox path, it is normal for it to have flaws.

This was also the reason Mu Lin chose the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art in the Dao Palace Library.

It could fill the last gap in Mu Lin’s cultivation, allowing his essence, qi, and spirit to achieve perfection.

However, thinking of this, Mu Lin’s expression turned bitter.

“Is the old man expecting too much of me? Cultivating the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture, Mindscape – Sky Burial City, and the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art together would indeed forge a relatively perfect foundation for me, but does he think I’m a prodigy?”

Mu Lin sensed trouble, but soon, a thought struck him, and his expression froze.

“Wait, perhaps the old man doesn’t believe in me but is prepared to shoulder the burden himself… Is he rushing around various towns so desperately to earn money and use resources to help me build a solid foundation?”

After careful consideration, Mu Lin felt there was an eighty percent chance this was the case.

It must be said, the hearts of parents are pitiable. No matter which world they are in, parents always hope their children have a bright future.

Alas, the heavens are unpredictable, and no one can foresee whether tomorrow or misfortune will come first.

The old man never expected that while he was toiling away, Mu Lin, living in the prefectural city, would suffer a calamity.

To heal Mu Lin’s divine soul, he spent most of his savings, and thus, all the preparations he had made for Mu Lin came to nothing.

The only thing that brought him relief was this:

According to the records in the Paper Crafting Scripture, neither the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture nor Mindscape – Sky Burial City required resources. The former only required diligent cultivation under the moon at night.

Although Mindscape – Sky Burial City was somewhat intricate, it could be mastered simply by closing one’s eyes and visualizing.

Only the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art was resource-intensive, but the more than one hundred spirit stones the old man had given him were enough for Mu Lin to lay a foundation.

“Two cultivation methods that don’t require resources, and one that does, with my grandfather helping to shoulder the burden—I have the possibility of forging a relatively perfect foundation. However, cultivating three methods together might not be feasible within a hundred days… Forget it, I’ll try cultivating first and take things step by step. If I’m capable enough, I’ll cultivate all three; if not, I’ll focus on one and quickly achieve Spirit Awakening.”

Since it was daytime and he had no Blackwater Profound Serpent Essence Blood on hand, Mu Lin hesitated little before closing his eyes and visualizing Mindscape – Sky Burial City.

The so-called Sky Burial City had no specific reference.

According to the cultivation method’s records, it required Mu Lin to meditate on a vast and solemn underworld palace or great city, complete with soldiers, horses, houses, cranes, weapons, and more…

The reason for visualizing these elements was related to the breath-infusing technique of Paper Crafting.

To temporarily imbue a paper figure with consciousness, one must visualize the specific type of consciousness in their mind while blowing air onto it, thereby transferring it to the paper figure through the act of blowing.

However, visualizing on the spot was too time-consuming, and even Earth Master-level Qi Refiners found it difficult to conjure powerful and complete entities in a short time.

Thus, the ancestor who created the Paper Crafting Secret Art instructed later practitioners to first visualize a great city filled with various elements.

With this template in place, the construction consumes the usual energy of Mu Lin and the others.

During combat, he doesn’t need to expend effort on construction at all; he simply needs to summon the completed meditation image from his mind to immediately confront the enemy.

This will save Mu Lin countless amounts of energy during battles.

“Constructing a massive city, a grand city, and a majestic palace—that is the final step. Initially, I only need to construct weapons, Paper Cranes, or people…”

Thinking this, Mu Lin began constructing… a sword.

Compared to armor, Paper Cranes, horses, and the most difficult of all—people—the form of a sword is undoubtedly the simplest.

Because it was simple, after just three or five attempts, he succeeded in visualizing it.

“Qi is the energy source, the foundation and lower limit of the Paper Figure. Spirit, on the other hand, represents the upper limit of the Paper Figure. The Cultivation Method, Mindscape – Sky Burial City, must be cultivated diligently…”

For Mu Lin, today had brought too many blows, but the easily visualized sword counted as a piece of good news.

However, before Mu Lin could breathe a sigh of relief over this good news, a peculiar change appeared before him once again.

[Mindscape – Sky Burial City, First Realm Entry (1/108)]

“???”

“What is this?”

(End of Chapter)