56: Chapter 56 The Big Dipper Formation

Day 27.

When Chen Zhen opened his eyes, he could clearly "hear" the sound of spiritual power flowing within his body.

It was not a real sound, but a more profound perception.

The spiritual power was like a stream, bubbling through the riverbed of his meridians.

The Dantian was like a deep pool, containing this living water, rotating slowly and steadily.

The warmth of the shouzhong token resonated with the warmth in his Dantian; with every breath in and out, his entire circulatory System pulsated slightly.

Internal Vision had reached a new Realm.

He lay still and let his consciousness wander along his meridians for one cycle.

Starting from the Dantian, passing through the perineum, up to the coccyx, climbing vertebra by vertebra along the spine.

Passing through the Life Gate, Zhiyang, Dazhui, and circling the Baihui point.

Then descending along the midline of the chest, through the Shanzhong and Zhongwan points, returning to the Dantian.

A complete Microcosmic Orbit route.

Previously, he could only walk the "simplified version," but today, for the first time, the entire path was unobstructed.

Although it was only consciousness guidance, the spiritual power did not yet have enough strength to truly complete the cycle.

But the patency of the meridians had reached that threshold.

This was an important signal.

He sat up and glanced at the alarm clock—4:52.

The sprig of spiritual herb last night had significant effects; he fell asleep quickly, slept deeply, and woke up refreshed.

He got out of bed and scanned the room.

Cleaning Spell.

1 point of spiritual power consumed; an invisible ripple swept across.

The leaves of the pothos on the windowsill spread out, and the dewdrop on the leaf tip refracted fine light in the morning sun.

This ordinary pothos, under the continuous infiltration of trace Spiritual Qi, had quietly transformed into [Weak Spiritual Qi Adaptation · Growth Speed + 12%].

Chen Zhen walked over and lightly touched the leaf with his fingertip.

The pothos trembled slightly, as if responding.

His mind stirred, and he separated a wisp of extremely thin spiritual power, slowly injecting it into the leaf veins.

The leaf instantly lit up with a faint emerald halo, which lasted for three seconds before slowly extinguishing.

[Pothos Spiritual Qi Affinity Increased]

[Status: Weak Spiritual Qi Adaptation → Spiritual Qi Affinity (Growth Speed + 25%, Minor Air Purification)]

An unexpected harvest.

It turned out that it wasn't just active nourishment that could improve plant quality; long-term exposure to a micro-spiritual power environment would also cause plants to slowly evolve.

He listed this pothos as a "long-term observation object," and from now on, he could nourish it with a wisp of spiritual power whenever he used the Cleaning Spell.

...

During his morning run, Chen Zhen began to challenge "eight-line operation."

Six lines yesterday, today he added two more:

Object control training increased from five stones to seven, then added one more line.

Used Heat Sensing to monitor the output efficiency of spiritual power in various parts of his body.

Eight tasks at once.

Seven stones flew out of the Storage Space and hovered beside him.

He deliberately chose seven stones of different sizes, shapes, and weights.

The largest was the size of a baby's fist, and the smallest was smaller than a mung bean.

Keeping them in a neat Formation in the morning breeze required extremely high control precision.

What was even harder was that he required the seven stones to be arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper Formation and to maintain this Formation throughout his run.

Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, Yaoguang.

He had specifically checked the positional relationship of the Big Dipper last night and memorized it.

Now he had to reproduce it; every stone's relative position, spacing, and angle had precise requirements.

The first kilometer, the Formation was scattered.

Kaiyang and Yaoguang were always too close, Tianji kept drifting to the right, and Tianquan's position was always too low.

He constantly micro-adjusted, his Mental Energy highly concentrated.

The seven stones were like seven disobedient wild horses, struggling, shifting, and correcting under the reins of his will.

The second kilometer, the Formation barely took shape.

Although there were still deviations in spacing, the seven stones finally lined up in the approximate shape of the Big Dipper.

In the morning light, they looked like a string of floating light spots, moving steadily with Chen Zhen's footsteps.

[Object Control Training Breakthrough]

[Spirit Control Minor Achievement Effect Improved: Spirit Control precision + 15% (Current 65%)]

[Mental Energy significantly increased]

Chen Zhen didn't stop.

Taking advantage of the good feel, he tried to let the seven stones start to rotate slowly while maintaining the Formation.

Seven-line operation jumped directly to nine-line.

The Formation immediately fell into chaos.

Yaoguang fell out of the Formation, Tianquan dropped to the ground.

He hurriedly diverted spiritual power to catch them, his breathing rhythm was disrupted, the spiritual power buffer had problems, and his footsteps became heavy.

He immediately reined it in.

Giving up the rotation, he focused on maintaining the Formation and his running state.

Three seconds later, the team returned to their positions.

He learned his lesson this time: don't be greedy, consolidate first.

Wait until the seven-stone queue could be stably maintained for the whole journey before increasing the difficulty.

When he ran to the Riverside, the seven-stone Big Dipper Formation was steady, and the spacing error was controlled within half a fist.

[Morning Run Quality 'Extraordinary']

[Health Dimension experience + 98]

[Cultivation + 1.12]

[Unlocked hidden achievement: 'Big Dipper Regulator' (Object Control ability growth speed + 15%, lasts 72 hours)]

The third kilometer, he actively withdrew his Cultivation.

The seven stones fell back into his palm and were collected into the Storage Space.

The old man was not under the willow tree today.

Chen Zhen looked around and found the old man standing on the rock at the highest point of the river embankment.

Facing east, his hands were forming a complex hand seal.

The morning light shone from behind him, outlining his motionless silhouette.

Chen Zhen lightened his footsteps and did not disturb him.

Three minutes later, the old man finished his practice and jumped down from the rock.

"You're here." He glanced at Chen Zhen, "What was that Formation just now?"

"Big Dipper Formation."

"No wonder." The old man nodded, "Can you control seven now?"

"Just barely able to keep the queue stable."

The old man was silent for a few seconds, a faint smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

The smile was very faint, fleeting, but Chen Zhen caught it.

"Not bad." The old man said, "It wasn't in vain."

He reached into his pocket and took out seven stones, handing them to Chen Zhen: "Use these to practice."

Chen Zhen took them.

Seven stones, identical in size, shape, and weight.

They felt warm and moist in his hand, the surface glowing with the unique luster of jade.

"This is..."

"Old jade seed material, I collected it in my early years." The old man said, "The texture is uniform, and the Spiritual Qi conductivity is good. You can throw away those miscellaneous stones of yours."

Chen Zhen looked closely.

The seven stones were indeed cut from the same piece of jade material.

Each one was as warm as suet, revealing a faint greasy luster in the sun.

[Obtained Item: Jade Seed Material Control Stones (Seven, Mortal Grade · Top Quality)]

[Effect: Spiritual Qi conductivity efficiency + 50%, Object Control precision + 30%, Additional bonus when combined with 'Big Dipper Formation']

"Thank you, Grandpa Wu."

"Don't be in a hurry to thank me." The old man waved his hand, "Used well, they are treasures; used poorly, they are scrap metal. It only counts if you practice it yourself."

He paused: "I'll teach you something new today."

This time, he taught "Explosion."

The old man asked Chen Zhen to stand in front of a large bluestone half a person tall.

"What you practiced before were all delicate tasks, object control, multi-line, micro-manipulation."

"But fighting is not embroidery. When you need to explode, you must be able to explode."

He demonstrated.

His palm pressed on the surface of the bluestone, no energy accumulation, no qi movement, just a light press.

Then—boom.

It wasn't a loud sound, but the power was concentrated.

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the bluestone, spreading from the contact point of the palm to the surroundings, spreading to the whole stone within half a second.

Then the whole stone shattered into fist-sized pieces, falling all over the ground with a clatter.

Chen Zhen's pupils shrank slightly.

The old man withdrew his palm and patted the stone dust on his hands: "Did you understand?"

"The power... is very concentrated."

"Right. It's not that the strength is great, it's that the explosion is fast." The old man said, "Spiritual power is all pressed to one point in a very short time and then hit out. The longer the accumulation, the more scattered the force; the faster the explosion, the stronger the penetration."

He asked Chen Zhen to try.

Chen Zhen found a smaller stone, took a deep breath, mobilized the spiritual power in his Dantian, and learned from the old man's appearance to press on it.

The spiritual power output was too slow, and the stone did not move.

Try again.

This time he accelerated the output speed, and a fine line appeared on the surface of the stone.

The third time. He was fully focused, pressing half of the Dantian's spiritual power onto his right palm within 0.3 seconds, and pressed down hard.

"Bang!"

The stone split into two halves from the middle, the cross-section jagged.

Chen Zhen withdrew his palm, his right palm slightly numb.

[Learned Explosion Technique]

[Health Dimension experience + 55]

[Cultivation + 0.68]

[Obtained Status: 'Explosion Initial Understanding' (Instant spiritual power output speed increased by 50%, continuous consumption doubled)]

"Not bad." The old man nodded, "Being able to crack stone on the first try counts as having talent."

He reached into his pocket and took out a small porcelain bottle: "This, rub your hands after practicing explosion. It promotes blood circulation and removes stasis."

Chen Zhen took it.

In the bottle was a light green paste, with a cool medicinal fragrance mixed with the smell of Mint.

"Thank you, Grandpa Wu."

"Go." The old man waved his hand, "Explosion hurts the meridians, practice for one day and rest for one day, don't be greedy."

...

On the way home, Chen Zhen's palms were still numb.

He dug out some ointment and applied it to his palms, the cool feeling penetrated instantly, and the numbness and slight burning sensation were immediately relieved.

In less than five minutes, his palms returned to normal.

Good stuff.

He noted the scent and texture of the ointment.

If he could cultivate spiritual plants in the future, perhaps he could try to make similar healing medicine.

Arrived home at seven o'clock sharp.

Mother had already gone out.

There was a health check for the elderly in the community today, and she went to help with registration.

Father hadn't returned from the training camp yet.

Chen Zhen heated up breakfast for himself, finished eating, and tidied up.

He looked at the system panel.

Cultivation: 142.46 / 500.

Spiritual power: 7.9 / 10.

Today there were a few things to do: Mint nourishment, black lump spiritual injection, learning sprint, training control.

He made a simple schedule and then started to act.

...

First stop: Secret Base.

Opened the door and nourished the Mint.

Spiritual power was slowly injected; the moist luster of the plant was already visible to the naked eye, and the gold edge on the edge of the leaves changed from faint to a clear circle of gold thread.

In [Anomaly Perception], the whole Mint plant radiated warm golden-green energy fluctuations, like a small, breathing flame.

[Continuous Spiritual Power Nourishment]

[Mint Quality: Quasi-Spiritual Plant · Excellent → Spiritual Plant (Initial Stage)]

[Congratulations! You have successfully cultivated your first spiritual plant]

[Effect: Refreshing effect + 2000%, duration + 500%, nourishes the heart and mind, slightly increases spiritual power recovery speed, can be used for medicine / incense making / tea brewing]

[Cultivation Progress: 100 / 100 (Completed)]

[Special Reward: Cultivation + 20, Skill Dimension (Planting) branch unlocked]

The system panel jumped wildly.

Success.

Chen Zhen looked at the pot of Mint, the gold thread on the edges of the leaves flowing, and the whole plant radiated the warm and fresh life aura unique to spiritual plants.

He picked a leaf and put it in his mouth.

The cool feeling didn't come in an explosive way, but in layers.

First, it melted in his mouth, then it spread down his throat to his chest, and then diffused to his limbs and bones.

His mind was as clear as if it had been washed by morning dew, and even the operation of the Dantian spiritual power was a little lighter.

[Consumed Spiritual Plant Mint Leaf]

[Effect: Spirit + 300%, duration 60 minutes; Spiritual power recovery speed + 20%, duration 30 minutes]

[First time consuming a spiritual plant, Mental Energy upper limit slightly increased]

Good stuff, truly good stuff.

He carefully picked five mature leaves, wrapped them in a paper towel, and put them into the Storage Space. He kept the rest and would harvest them after more leaves grew.

[Skill Dimension branch unlocked: Planting Entry (5 / 100)]

[Obtained Status: 'Gardener's Heart' (Spiritual plant Cultivation efficiency + 20%)]

...

Second stop: Continue to Secret Base, black lump.

He took the dark blue mineral from the Storage Space and held it in his palm.

Spiritual power injected, 0.3 consumption, a circle of dark blue halo lit up on the surface, extinguishing after four seconds.

[ Spiritual Power injection complete ]

[ Spiritual Power affinity: 8 / 100 ]

Once a day, without fail.

He calculated that at this rate, he would be able to unlock the information on this meteorite in twelve more days.

It was worth the wait.

...

Third stop: Home, learning sprint.

[Hexagonal Warrior] state had over sixty hours remaining, [Big Dipper Commander] had over seventy hours left, and [Knowledge Fusion] was on standby 24/7.

He decided to push his limits today.

Finish reading that book, "Introduction to Mathematical Modeling".

The book was thick, over four hundred pages, involving a vast amount of higher mathematics, statistics, and optimization theory.

Today, he would devour it within a few hours.

First, cast the Eye-Brightening Spell.

Consuming 2.7 points of Spiritual Power, a cooling sensation spread through his eyes.

The world became clear to the extreme.

Opening the book, he began scanning.

[Knowledge Fusion] activated automatically; every new concept, new formula, and new model was automatically associated, anchored, and internalized with his existing network of mathematical and physics knowledge.

Linear programming → connected to optimization path problems in physics.

Differential equation modeling → connected to electromagnetic field equations and mechanical vibrations.

Probability and statistical models → connected to the cycle analysis in Engineer Gu's notes.

Knowledge was no longer an isolated island, but an extension of a continent.

An hour later, he closed the book.

Over four hundred pages, all "scanned" and completed.

Although the derivation details of some complex models still needed subsequent digestion, the overall framework was already completely engraved in his mind.

[Limit Learning]

[Learning Dimension experience + 380]

[Cultivation + 1.75]

[Mathematical Modeling ability entry level]

[Knowledge Fusion efficiency increased]

He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest.

Mental Energy consumption was great, but the harvest was even greater.

The tool of Mathematical Modeling would be of huge help to him in the future for analyzing earth vein node data and predicting exotic light cycles.

...

At noon, Chen Zhen made himself a good meal.

He brewed a cup of tea using the newly harvested spiritual plant Mint leaves; the tea was pale gold, with a crisp and clear fragrance.

After one sip, the fatigue was swept away.

He also used ordinary ingredients to make three dishes and one soup:

Stir-fried seasonal vegetables, scallion-fried lamb, tomato scrambled eggs, and seaweed egg drop soup.

[Heat Sensing] allowed him to grasp the cooking time down to the second, and the timing for each dish to come out of the pan was just right.

He sat alone at the dining table and slowly finished the meal.

He thought to himself: When Father returns from the martial arts competition, I will also brew him a cup of tea with the spiritual plant Mint leaves.

To refresh his mind and relieve fatigue.

...

Before going to the Bookstore in the afternoon, Chen Zhen stopped by the second-hand market and bought a few more pieces of jade.

The stall owner recognized him: "Young man, buying jade Materials again? I recently acquired a batch of Xinjiang Hetian green jade scraps. The quality is good, do you want to take a look?"

Chen Zhen took a look.

They were indeed good Materials, fine in texture and rich in oiliness, much better than the ones he had bought before.

The price was also expensive.

Five small pieces cost one hundred and twenty.

He gritted his teeth and bought them.

[Obtained item: Hetian green jade scraps × 5 (Mortal Item · Good)]

[Effect: Spiritual Power conduction efficiency + 80%, Spirit Gathering Array effect + 15%]

There is a reason for it being expensive.

He carefully put them away.

When he gathered enough Materials, he could set up a more effective Spirit Gathering Array.

...

When he arrived at the Bookstore, Old Wu was talking to someone at the door.

That person had his back to the door, wearing an old jacket, with gray hair, and holding a cane in his hand.

When Chen Zhen approached, he heard a few sentences:

"Old Gu's Materials, really not for sale?"

"Not for sale."

"I'll offer ten thousand."

"Not for sale."

The man sighed and turned around.

Chen Zhen saw his face clearly.

He was about seventy years old, with deep wrinkles, but his eyes were very bright, possessing the sharpness unique to intellectuals.

He glanced at Chen Zhen, then looked at Old Wu: "Who is this..."

"Someone working here."

"A high school student."

The man nodded, didn't ask further, and walked away slowly, leaning on his cane.

Chen Zhen walked to Old Wu's side: "Grandpa Wu, that person..."

"Old Gu's colleague." Old Wu lit a cigarette, "He's also from the Geological Bureau, retired for many years. He's always been thinking about Old Gu's things."

"He wants to buy them?"

"He said he wanted to organize and publish them." Old Wu exhaled a puff of smoke, "I don't trust him."

Chen Zhen didn't ask again.

Old Wu had his own judgment.

The afternoon's work was to organize a batch of newly received old pictorials.

While organizing, Chen Zhen thought about the old man from just now.

Old Gu's colleague.

Perhaps he was also someone who knew about the "backside" world.

But this thought just flashed by.

His task now was to walk his own path steadily, not to go around asking about other people's secrets.

...

When leaving the Bookstore in the evening, Old Wu gave him his wages and handed him a paper bag: "Take this."

Chen Zhen opened it.

Inside were a few old books: "Dongshan Geographical Records", "Jiangcheng Geological Survey Report", and "Compilation of Mining Data from the Republic of China Period".

"Engineer Gu's old colleague gave them to me," Old Wu said, "He said they were useless to keep anyway, so give them to someone who can understand them."

Chen Zhen took them: "Thank you, Grandpa Wu."

"Don't thank me, thank Old Gu." Old Wu waved his hand, "Go now, it's getting dark."

...

In the evening, Chen Zhen returned home.

His mother was already back and was busy in the kitchen.

"Mom, I bought some groceries." Chen Zhen put the groceries in the refrigerator, "I'll cook tonight."

"Alright, Mom will help."

The mother and son were busy in the kitchen.

The sounds of chopping vegetables, stir-frying, and the clashing of pots and pans mixed together—it was the family symphony that Chen Zhen had heard since he was a child.

When he was chopping vegetables, his mother watched for a while and suddenly said: "Xiao Zhen, your vegetable chopping technique... who did you learn it from?"

"Practiced it myself." Chen Zhen's knife work didn't stop, "Is it not good?"

"Good, it's too good," his mother said, "Just like a restaurant chef."

Chen Zhen smiled and didn't explain.

Dinner was four dishes and one soup.

Father came back after eight o'clock and smelled the fragrance as soon as he entered the door: "Oh, extra dishes today?"

"Your son made them." Mother served rice, "Try it."

Father picked up a bite with chopsticks, chewed it, and nodded: "Good. It smells even better than the restaurant."

Chen Zhen lowered his head to eat, but thought to himself: When Father wins a ranking in the martial arts competition, I'll cook an even better meal.

...

At ten o'clock at night, Chen Zhen returned to his room.

He stood in a zhan zhuang stance for five minutes first, then ran the Simplified Microcosmic Orbit for ten cycles.

In the [Internal Vision] state, he could clearly see that the Spiritual Power circulation was smoother than yesterday.

That complete Microcosmic Orbit route had already been "opened up", just waiting for enough Spiritual Power to truly run it.

Then, he took out seven jade seed material Spirit Control beads.

They felt warm and smooth in his hand, and the Spiritual Power conduction was as silky as if it had been greased.

With a thought, the seven jade beads floated up simultaneously.

They instantly arranged themselves into the Big Dipper Formation in the air, with spacing accurate to the millimeter, as stable as if they were nailed in mid-air.

They were much better than miscellaneous stones.

He began to challenge a new difficulty:

Making the Big Dipper Formation rotate as a whole while they rotated on their own axes.

The seven jade beads rotated individually, while the entire Formation rotated like a star chart.

Tianshu rotated on the outer ring, Yaoguang rotated on the inner ring; each jade bead had a different orbital speed, but they had to maintain their relative positions unchanged.

Fourteen lines of thought in one mind.

Mental Energy burned crazily.

Five seconds, the Formation tilted slightly.

Ten seconds, Yaoguang's orbit shifted.

Fifteen seconds, Mental Energy in critical condition.

Stopped the technique.

The seven jade beads fell back into his palm, their surfaces still retaining a faint, warm luster.

[High-intensity object control training]

[Spirit Control Minor Achievement effect increased: Spiritual Power control precision + 18% (currently 83%)]

[Mental Energy significantly increased]

[Big Dipper Formation proficiency increased]

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Still far from enough.

But the direction was right.

...

Finally, he summoned the system panel to summarize:

[Day 27 (Qi Refinement Stage Day 6) Summary]

[Cultivation harvest: + 24.85 (Morning run + 1.12, Learning + 1.75, Burst + 0.68, Spiritual Plant Cultivation + 20, Other + 1.3)]

[Current Cultivation: 166.31 / 500 (Qi Refining Stage 1)]

[Spiritual Power value: 7.2 / 10 (Restored to 11.5 / 11.5 tomorrow)]

[Health Dimension: Lv.4 (273 / 500)]

[Learning Dimension: Lv.5 (930.7 / 1200)]

[Social Dimension: Lv.1 (118 / 200)]

[Skill Dimension: Cooking Lv.2 (28 / 300), Planting entry level (5 / 100), Organizing 72 / 100, Hand-drawing Lv.2 (150 / 300), Structural Drafting entry level (60 / 100), Formation entry level (1 / 100)]

[exploration dimension: Lv.2 (225 / 400)]

[Spell proficiency: Cleaning Spell (15 / 100), Water Condensation Spell (12 / 100), Eye-Brightening Spell (27 / 100)]

[Special status: Qi Refining Cultivator; Spirit Control Minor Achievement (83%); Hexagonal Warrior (66 hours remaining); Big Dipper Commander (69 hours remaining); Burst Initial Realization; Gardeners Heart; Runners Heart; Integrated Power Initial Success; Physical Optimization; Anomaly Perception; Literary Perception; Internal Vision; Knowledge Fusion; Heat Sensing]

[Storage Space: 1 cubic meter (Black lump × 1, Spiritual Plant Mint leaves × 5, Jade × 13, Spirit Control beads × 7)]

[Main Quest: Qi Refining Stage 1 (166.31 / 500)]

Cultivation broke through 160 points, one-third of the way to completing Qi Refining Stage 1.

Cultivated the first spiritual plant, unlocked the Planting branch.

Spirit Control precision reached 83%, not far from the next Realm.

...

Day 28.

When Chen Zhen opened his eyes, he felt the mass of Spiritual Power in his Dantian gently "pulsing".

Not rotating, but pulsing.

Like a heart, like a tide, rhythmically contracting and expanding.

Each time it contracted, the Spiritual Power condensed inward.

Each time it expanded, the Spiritual Power spread outward, nourishing the surrounding meridians.

This was a sign of being about to break through to Qi Refining Stage 1.

He lay still, his consciousness sinking into Internal Vision.

The pulsing frequency of the Dantian was stable, about seventy-two times per minute, completely synchronized with his resting heart rate.

The Spiritual Power became more solid with each pulse, like water slowly freezing into ice.

He sat up and checked the time.

Four forty-eight.

There was an important matter today: Father's skills competition.

He got out of bed, his eyes sweeping across the room.

The pot of pothos on the windowsill stretched its leaves in the morning light, having completely transformed into [Spiritual Qi Affinity · Growth Speed + 35%].

The green of the leaves was deeper than ordinary pothos, and the edges were tinged with faint, elusive pale gold fine lines.

Chen Zhen walked over and injected a wisp of Spiritual Power.

The leaves trembled slightly, and the layer of pale gold fine lines became clear for a moment, then slowly faded away.

[Pothos Spiritual Qi affinity increased]

[Status: Spiritual Qi Affinity → Weak Spiritual Plant Transformation (Growth Speed + 50%, slightly purify air, slightly calm the mind)]

Another quasi-spiritual plant.

Although not actively cultivated, ordinary plants would slowly evolve after being in a micro-Spiritual Power environment for a long time.

He thought of the Mint in the Secret Base.

That was truly "carefully cultivated", while this pot of pothos was "unintentional planting".

He decided to continue nourishing the pothos with a tiny amount of Spiritual Power every day.

To see where the limit of ordinary plant-to-spiritual-plant transformation lies.