Yang An spent the ti it took an incense stick to burn wandering through the darkness, a Buddha’s Radiant Wheel floating above his head.
The darkness seed to have its limits, because he reached a certain point and could go no further. Though he couldn’t touch anything, it felt as if an invisible wall was blocking his path.
But even after tracing the periter of this invisible wall, Yang An still saw nothing.
’Is that old codger just ssing with ?’
Yang An simply couldn’t find the Earth Spirit Stele, and he suddenly had the feeling he was being played for a fool.
He was afraid that the old man had just teleported him to so random place and would let him out after two hours, ready with an excuse that Yang An’s failure to find the Earth Spirit Stele was due to his own lack of Enlightennt.
The old man was definitely capable of pulling sothing like that.
But Yang An cald himself and decided to keep searching. He could worry about what to do next if he truly found nothing.
It was pitch-black all around. Even a Cultivator’s True Eye was useless here; he couldn’t see a thing.
His Buddha’s Radiance, on the other hand, did illuminate a small area around him. ’Maybe I can stack other Light Magic on top of it,’ he thought, ’and try to expand the search radius.’
With that thought, Yang An imdiately set to work.
In terms of brightness among the Light Magic he had mastered—not counting the black light from the Dark Communication Secret Spell—the Buddha’s Radiance behind his head ranked first.
Next were the Divine Radiance of the Extre Day Divine Aspect, the Dao light of the One Qi Dao Guang thod, and the Golden Radiance of the Qi Guang Technique.
Following those were the cyan light of the Treasure Light Glaze Purification Technique and the Golden Radiance of the Great Brightness Golden Zen Spell.
The crimson fla of the Lighting Technique, ironically, was the dimst of all.
Yang An decided to start by adding the Divine Radiance. Activating all his Techniques at once would only overwhelm his vision.
At his current Cultivation Level, he could only open his True Eye. The more advanced Spiritual Vision would likely require a higher realm of cultivation.
The next mont, a pure white Divine Radiance emanated from Yang An’s body, instantly expanding his field of vision by several more ters.
’Still not enough!’
Yang An then activated the Dao light and the cyan light, expanding his visible range once more.
’Still not enough!’
Yang An stacked the Techniques one by one, until even the Golden Radiance of the Qi Guang Technique and the Great Brightness Golden Zen Spell were active. Still, he found nothing.
Having activated so many Techniques and allowing his vision to adjust to the increasing brightness, his visible range now extended for dozens of ters.
Yet, as Yang An explored the dark space once more, wreathed in a multitude of lights, he still ca up empty-handed.
Only the fla from the Lighting Technique remained. Compared to the radiance already enveloping him, the added brightness would be minuscule.
’Whatever, every little bit helps.’
Yang An used the Lighting Technique anyway, and his entire body beca wreathed in crimson flas.
But just as Yang An scanned his surroundings, saw nothing, and concluded that the old man had fooled him after all, a sound suddenly echoed through the space—like sothing catching fire.
Yang An imdiately fixed his gaze in the direction of the sound. He discovered that the ever-present darkness around him was beginning to show flecks of a matching crimson light.
He watched as the surrounding darkness receded like a tide, revealing a translucent object like a glass do. It materialized around him, enclosing him completely, like a bubble that could be popped with a single touch.
The specks of light slowly coalesced in front of Yang An, eventually forming characters on the newly visible wall. They seed to float silently in mid-air, confined to a small area before him.
’It’s the Lighting Technique!’
Yang An’s gaze sharpened as a thought imdiately struck him.
In the Life Crane Sect, every disciple who cultivated the *Mystic Path Decoded* shared one commonality: they all knew the Lighting Technique.
’So, the Lighting Technique has another ability? It can make the Earth Spirit Stele manifest?!’
’This is the Earth Spirit Stele?’
If he didn’t know that glass didn’t exist in this world, Yang An would have written the whole thing off as an elaborate prank.
When he saw the text, he realized it was identical to the Fake Food First Understanding stage of his Cultivation Technique.
’Why is it only the First Understanding?’
Yang An slowly moved closer.
As he drew closer, a second glass-like barrier manifested behind the first. As the flas of his Lighting Technique neared it, the text for the Fake Food Second Understanding of the Cultivation Technique gradually coalesced upon its surface.
Yang An understood at once. Each layer represented one minor stage of the Cultivation Technique!
Realizing this, Yang An grew excited and reached out to touch the barrier. However, his hand couldn’t make contact; his entire body passed through the first layer with ease, bringing him before the second barrier.
The barriers only looked solid; in reality, they were intangible and could not be touched.
Moreover, when he passed through the barrier, his unique ability showed no reaction whatsoever.
This ant he couldn’t use his ability to directly appraise this so-called Earth Spirit Stele.
Yang An had no choice but to continue forward. After passing through several of these glass-like barriers in succession, he finally stopped before the one for the Seventh Understanding of the Viscera Stone.
The characters on its surface began to slowly coalesce, but to Yang An’s surprise, they were incredibly blurry when they finally materialized.
It was as if they were heavily pixelated, making it impossible to recognize any of the characters.
’Looking at these blurry patches of light... this must be the opportunity with the Contemplation Stele the old man was talking about. Does this an I have to use visualization?’
’This so-called visualization... is it just a matter of staring at the text and trying to imagine what the characters are? Like so kind of word puzzle?’
Yang An decided to give it a try.
An incense stick’s worth of ti later, Yang An rubbed his dry eyes. He hadn’t blinked once, but there had been no reaction at all. He couldn’t visualize anything.
He then tried to pour Mana into the barrier, but just like his physical body, his Mana couldn’t touch it.
Next, he sliced open his palm and tried using his blood, but that was useless as well...
A little over a quarter of an hour passed. Yang An had tried nearly every thod he could think of, even dropping his pants and urinating on the barrier.
But no matter what he tried, he couldn’t make the text beco any clearer.
Seeing that nearly a quarter of the two hours was already gone, Yang An began to grow anxious.
If he wasted this opportunity, he didn’t know when the next one would co, or if he’d even get another turn.
In that case, he would either have to wait a very long ti, or he’d have to risk fighting his fellow disciples to the death. The latter would be extrely risky.
After all, his fellow disciples in the Life Crane Sect were clearly a cut above the common riffraff outside.
At a complete loss, Yang An stared at the blurry text on the barrier and fell deep into thought.
’How can I make these characters clear?...’
His mind raced, countless thoughts flashing by, but all of them seed impractical.
Without realizing it, Yang An’s stare grew vacant.
And at that very mont, as Yang An’s eyes were fixed on the blurry text, a giant eyeball suddenly appeared on the transparent barrier!
The eyeball was shot through with countless blood vessels, and a cicada-like wing grew from either side of it, flapping rapidly.
Yang An froze, startled. But in the ti it took him to blink, the winged eyeball had vanished without a trace.
’This...!!!’
’Wasn’t that the eye from the statue he saw on Wuwei Peak?!’
The mory of seeing the sa illusion on Ding Chong Daoist’s Wuwei Peak, right as he was about to leave, instantly flashed through Yang An’s mind.
The only difference was that many eyes had appeared at once back then, while this ti there was only one, and it was enormous.
The eye had appeared and vanished in a flash. If Yang An hadn’t been staring intently at the barrier, he might not have even registered its presence.
’Was it an illusion?’
It didn’t seem like it.
The first ti was on Wuwei Peak. He had rely touched that strange, sinister statue and had seen the bizarre phenonon.
The first occurrence could have been explained away as an illusion, but seeing it a second ti ant it was definitely sothing more.
’Could it be that sothing has targeted ?’
This was the Life Crane Sect; Ding Chong Daoist shouldn’t have the ability to reach him here.
Yang An was puzzled, but when his gaze inadvertently drifted back to the barrier, he froze.
The text, once a blurry mass of light specks, had at so unknown point beco perfectly clear.
He instantly recognized the content of the characters.
At the sa ti, an information box popped up before his eyes.
[*Mystic Path Decoded*]: [Partially Missing] [Reaches Seven Understandings of the Viscera Stone] Taken from the Earth Spirit Stele, passed down through the Life Crane Sect lineage. One Realm, Three Understandings; One Understanding, one Technique; Miaofa Entwined; lt Dao Ascension.
...]
He had rely finished reading the text on the barrier, and the subsequent Cultivation Technique for the Seventh Understanding of the Viscera Stone was imprinted in his mind, even triggering the information box.
’That’s it? It’s done just like that?’
Yang An suddenly found the whole thing a bit strange.
’Could it be because of that giant eyeball that just appeared?’
He hadn’t done anything; the text had changed right after that bizarre giant eyeball had appeared.
He couldn’t figure it out, but now that he had obtained the Cultivation Technique for the Seventh Understanding, Yang An suddenly had the urge to check out the subsequent stages.
’The old man never said I could only get one stage of the technique!’
Besides, only a quarter of the ti had passed. With so much ti remaining, he couldn’t just stand around idly.
With that thought, Yang An imdiately walked toward the barrier and passed through it in an instant.
As the fla of the Lighting Technique approached, the next barrier materialized, and the specks of light on its surface instantly coalesced into characters.
Yang An was stunned once again.
’It’s not blurry like the last one!’
[*Mystic Path Decoded*]: [Partially Missing] [Reaches Eight Understandings of the Viscera Stone] Taken from the Earth Spirit Stele, passed down through the Life Crane Sect lineage. One Realm, Three Understandings; One Understanding, one Technique; Miaofa Entwined; lt Dao Ascension.
...]
As the Cultivation Technique for the Eighth Understanding imprinted itself upon his mind and another information box appeared, Yang An felt a distinct flutter in his heart.
’What is this inexplicable excitent and agitation?’
’Could the next layer also be...’
At this thought, Yang An strode through the barrier and imdiately looked to the next layer.
A few breaths later.
[*Mystic Path Decoded*]: [Partially Missing] [Reaches Nine Understandings of the Viscera Stone] Taken from the Earth Spirit Stele...
He now had the subsequent Cultivation Techniques for all three stages of the Visceral Stone Realm!
Yang An was ecstatic, but he had no ti to celebrate. He imdiately prepared to pass through the barrier to the next layer.
’If I can get the Cultivation Technique for the Corpse Transformation Realm, too...’
But just as he was about to pass through the barrier, when he could even see the next layer beginning to manifest with specks of light...
...at that very mont, Yang An’s entire body shuddered, and he snapped back to his senses.
’Huh... What’s this?’
Yang An looked ahead, then glanced behind him.
He suddenly realized he was still standing in front of the barrier of the seventh layer.
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