59: Chapter 59 [Positive and Negative, Just Like It]

I arrived home at exactly seven o'clock.

Father had already left.

He took the six o'clock train to the provincial capital this morning, and Mother saw him off.

The living room was quiet, and a note was left on the coffee table:

"Xiao Zhen, Mom went to see your dad off. Breakfast is in the pot. I might be back late at noon, eat by yourself. — Mom"

Chen Zhen went to the kitchen to scoop some porridge and sat down to eat slowly.

After finishing the porridge and cleaning up, he began today's study.

His morning schedule was to study the bag of notes given by Engineer Zhou.

Chen Zhen opened the kraft paper bag, which contained a thick stack of A4 paper. It was photocopied, and the handwriting was blurred in some places.

He flipped through it roughly; there were about two hundred pages.

He first cast the Eye-Brightening Spell.

Consuming 2.5 points of spiritual energy, a cool sensation spread through his eyes.

Then he began to read quickly.

Engineer Gu's late-life research was deeper and bolder than his previous notes.

Not only were there detailed observational data, but also a large number of theoretical derivations and conjectures.

The core was the "Resonance Hypothesis."

The Earth has its own fundamental frequency.

Engineer Gu called it the "Geomantic Resonance Frequency."

This frequency is not constant; it changes slowly, influenced by multiple factors such as core movement, crustal stress, and celestial gravity.

When the geomantic frequency approaches the natural frequency of certain special locations (geomantic nodes), "resonance" occurs.

When the resonance intensity is strong enough, energy leaks out in the form of "Strange Lights" or "Geomagnetic Anomalies."

This is the essence of the Strange Lights.

And the reason for the shortening cycle is that the change in geomantic frequency is accelerating.

In his later years, Engineer Gu used a large amount of historical data to fit a curve:

From 1000 AD to the present, the speed of change in geomantic frequency has been accelerating. According to this trend, it may reach a critical point around 2040.

He did not write what would happen after the critical point. He only left one sentence:

"At that time, there may be a great upheaval in heaven and earth. I hope those who come after will prepare early."

Chen Zhen closed the notebook and let out a long sigh.

2040.

He would be around fifty years old then.

He didn't know what "great upheaval" meant, but since Engineer Gu used this term, it certainly wasn't a small matter.

He summoned [Trend Deduction] and entered Engineer Gu's data.

A few seconds later, the system panel appeared:

[Based on historical data deduction]

[Geomantic frequency acceleration trend: fits cubic function model]

[Critical point prediction: between 2038-2043 (confidence level 73%)]

[Nature of critical point: unknown (more data needed)]

A confidence level of 73% was not high, but it wasn't low either.

Chen Zhen kept this prediction in mind.

There were still more than twenty years; he had enough time to grow and prepare.

The most important thing now was still to lay a good foundation.

When Mother returned at noon, Chen Zhen had already cooked.

Two dishes and one soup: shredded pork with green peppers, lettuce with garlic, and seaweed egg drop soup.

Mother sat down, took a bite, and nodded: "Delicious."

The mother and son ate quietly.

Halfway through the meal, Mother suddenly said: "Your dad called just now, saying he arrived in the provincial capital and the training base conditions are quite good."

"That's good."

"He said that cup of Mint tea you gave him, he brewed a cup this morning and wasn't sleepy all morning." Mother smiled, "He asked me to thank you."

Chen Zhen lowered his head to eat and didn't speak.

But he felt a little warm inside.

Before going to the Bookstore in the afternoon, Chen Zhen first went to the Secret Base.

He provided Spiritual Nourishment to the Mint.

The spiritual plant Mint was growing encouragingly; he harvested three more leaves today, bringing the stock to thirteen.

He injected spiritual energy into the Black Lump.

Spiritual affinity: 14 / 100.

Then he took out the sixteen object-control beads and began training.

Today's goal was not to arrange Formations, but to "multitask."

He used seven jade seeds to arrange the Big Dipper Formation, and the other nine ordinary jade stones to arrange the Nine-Star Alignment Formation.

Two Formations existed simultaneously, not interfering with each other.

The difficulty was greater than arranging one Formation with sixteen stones.

The first time, just as the Big Dipper formed, the Nine Stars scattered.

The second time, the Nine Stars barely formed, but the Big Dipper was crooked.

The third, fourth, fifth time...

The seventeenth time, both Formations finally formed simultaneously and stabilized for five seconds.

Chen Zhen stopped, sweating on his forehead, but satisfied in his heart.

[High-intensity object control training]

[Spirit Control Major Achievement effect improved: spiritual energy control precision + 12% (currently 200%)]

[Achievement unlocked: 'Multitasking' (multi-line operation ability significantly improved)]

Spirit Control precision broke through 200%.

He felt that his control over spiritual energy had reached another level. Now multitasking was much easier than yesterday.

He continued to practice.

Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds, twenty seconds.

Twenty minutes later, the two Formations could be stably maintained for thirty seconds.

[Spirit Control Major Achievement → Spirit Control Perfection]

[Status obtained: 'Spirit Control Perfection' (spiritual energy control precision + 200%, multi-line operation limit broken, mental drive speed significantly improved)]

Another Breakthrough.

Chen Zhen stopped, and the sixteen object-control beads fell back into his palm.

From Initial Glimpse of Spirit Control to Spirit Control Perfection, it took ten days.

Practicing extra every day, breaking through every day, improving every day.

This feeling was better than leveling up in any game.

When he arrived at the Bookstore, Old Wu was organizing the bookshelves.

Seeing Chen Zhen, he waved: "You came just in time, help me move a few boxes of books."

"Okay."

The two moved the few boxes of books that had just arrived at the back door inside.

While moving, Chen Zhen casually used the Cleaning Spell on the boxes.

The movement was subtle, but Old Wu glanced at it.

"You kid," Old Wu said, "getting more and more mysterious."

Chen Zhen smiled without explaining.

The afternoon's work was to organize this batch of new books.

They were all old books, including literature, history, science and technology, and some miscellaneous ones.

While organizing, he scanned with [Anomaly Perception].

When organizing one box, his perception suddenly jumped.

He pulled out that book.

"Jiangcheng Folklore Anomalies," published in 1982, written by a local cultural center cadre.

He flipped through it quickly.

In the "Strange Tales" section, there was a record:

"Dongshan Old Temple: There used to be an ancient temple at the southern foot of Dongshan, dedicated to the Mountain God, with quite prosperous incense. In front of the temple were three ancient pines, hundreds of years old, called 'Three Old Pines' by the locals. During the Great Steel Smelting in 1958, the temple was demolished, the pines were felled, and they no longer exist."

Three Old Pines.

Chen Zhen's heart jolted. He remembered the "at the southern foot of Dongshan, under three old pines" mentioned in that "Jiangnan Folk Strange Tales."

It was here.

Although the temple was demolished and the pines were felled, the location was still there.

He continued to read:

"According to the memory of local elders, there was a deep cave in the temple, of unknown depth, with cool air coming out all year round. Every Mid-Yuan Festival in July, green light would flash at the cave entrance, which the villagers called 'Mountain God showing his spirit.' After the temple was destroyed, the cave entrance was filled in, and now there is no trace to be found."

Deep cave.

Green light.

Mid-Yuan Festival in July.

Chen Zhen entered this clue into the clue network.

[Key location clue discovered]

[exploration dimension experience + 45]

[Clue association network updated: new node 'Ancient Temple Ruins' added, connected to 'Three Old Pines', 'Deep cave', 'Strange light', 'Engineer Gu node speculation']

The node location almost overlapped with his previous speculation.

If the Ancient Temple Ruins were the location of the geomantic node, then the 2013 observation point had a clear target.

He closed the book and set it aside separately.

He would ask Old Wu later if he could borrow it to read.

When leaving the Bookstore in the evening, Old Wu glanced at the book: "Is this book useful?"

"A little."

"Take it," Old Wu waved his hand, "no one buys it anyway."

Chen Zhen thanked him and put the book into his backpack.

When he returned home, Mother was watching TV in the living room.

Seeing him return, she said: "Your dad called again just now, saying the training is going quite smoothly, and told you not to worry."

"Okay." Chen Zhen changed his shoes, "Mom, I'll cook."

"Let Mom do it, you rest for a while."

"It's okay, I'm not tired."

Chen Zhen entered the kitchen and began preparing dinner.

Mother watched from the side, occasionally handing him seasonings.

While cutting vegetables, he subconsciously used spiritual energy control.

The blade moved precisely along the texture of the ingredients, each slice as uniform in thickness as if machine-cut.

Mother watched for a few seconds and suddenly said: "Xiao Zhen, did you learn all these... from that old grandfather?"

Chen Zhen didn't stop his hands: "Yes."

"He teaches really well," Mother said, "your knife skills now are better than a restaurant chef."

Chen Zhen smiled without explaining.

Dinner was three dishes and one soup.

The mother and son ate slowly, occasionally chatting about daily life.

"Mom," Chen Zhen suddenly said, "I want to go to Dongshan next week."

Mother paused for a moment: "Dongshan? That far?"

"There's a place I want to see," Chen Zhen said, "just one day, go and return on the same day."

Mother was silent for a few seconds.

"Is it safe?"

"Safe," Chen Zhen said, "it's just the countryside, there's no danger."

Mother was silent for a while longer, then nodded: "Okay, take care of yourself."

"Thanks, Mom."

"What are you thanking me for?" Mother picked up a piece of meat for him, "Eat more."

At night, Chen Zhen returned to his room.

First, he stood in a stance for five minutes and ran the Simplified Microcosmic Orbit for ten cycles.

In the [Internal Vision] state, the Dantian spiritual pearl rotated slowly, the spiritual energy circulation as smooth as an inexhaustible river.

Then, he took out the sixteen object-control beads and began today's extreme training.

Today's goal: use the Big Dipper Formation to hold a thermos, the Nine-Star Alignment Formation to hold another water cup, the two Formations not interfering with each other, and simultaneously making the water in both cups form stable vortices.

Four-task multitasking.

The difficulty broke through the sky.

The first time, the Seven-Star Formation held up the thermos, but the Nine-Star Formation scattered just after holding up the water cup.

The second time, both Formations barely stabilized, but the vortices did not form.

The third, fourth, fifth time...

The twenty-third time, he finally succeeded.

The Seven-Star Formation stably held the thermos, the vortex in the cup having a diameter of three centimeters.

The Nine-Star Formation stably held the water cup, the vortex in the cup having a diameter of two centimeters.

The two Formations did not interfere with each other, and the two vortices rotated stably.

He held it for fifteen seconds.

Chen Zhen stopped, and the two cups fell gently back onto the table.

He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes to rest.

Sweating on his forehead, his Mental Energy was mostly consumed, but his heart was full of a sense of accomplishment.

[Extreme object control training]

[Spirit Control Perfection effect improved: spiritual energy control precision + 15% (currently 215%)]

[Big Dipper Formation proficiency + 45]

[Nine-Star Alignment Formation proficiency + 35]

[Mental Energy significantly increased]

He rested for five minutes, drank a sip of hundred-flower pollen water, and his Mental Energy slowly recovered.

Then, he summoned the system panel to begin today's summary.

[Day 30 Summary]

[Cultivation gain: + 11.36 (morning run + 1.68, study + 2.5, exploration + 4.5, Cultivate + 2.68, others + 0)]

[Current Cultivation: 41.36 / 800 (Qi Refining Level 2)]

[Spiritual energy value: 12 / 15 (will recover to 15 / 15 tomorrow)]

[Health Dimension: Lv.5 ( 154 / 600 )]

[Learning Dimension: Lv.6 ( 580.7 / 1500 )]

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

[Skill Dimension: Cooking Lv.2 ( 28 / 300 ), Planting Beginner ( 12 / 100 ), Organizing 72 / 100, Hand-drawing Lv.2 ( 150 / 300 ), Structural Drafting Beginner ( 60 / 100 ), Formation Beginner ( 1 / 100 )]

[exploration dimension: Lv.3 ( 405 / 600 )]

[Spell proficiency: Cleaning Spell ( 21 / 100 ), Water Condensation Spell ( 18 / 100 ), Eye-Brightening Spell ( 30 / 100 ), Spiritual Shield ( 3 / 100 )]

[Special status: Qi Refining Level 2; Spirit Control Perfection (215%); Hexagonal Warrior (0 hours remaining); Big Dipper Overseer (4 hours remaining); Explosion Minor Achievement; Gardener's Heart; Runners Heart; Integrated Power Initial Success; Physical Optimization; Anomaly Perception; Literary Perception; Internal Vision; Knowledge Fusion; Heat Sensing; Model Thinking; Trend Deduction; Spiritual Nourishment]

[Storage Space: 1 cubic meter (Black Lump × 1, spiritual plant Mint leaf × 13, jade stone × 28, object-control bead × 16, Engineer Gu note copy × 1 bag, Ancient Temple Ruins clue book × 1)]

[Main quest: Qi Refining Level 2 ( 41.36 / 800 )]

Qi Refining Level 2, 41.36 / 800.

The Hexagonal Warrior status ended, four hours of Big Dipper Overseer remained, he had to use it quickly.

He thought for a while and decided to use these four hours to finish the rest of "Jiangcheng Folklore Anomalies" and Engineer Gu's notes.

Opening the book, with the [Big Dipper Overseer] status bonus, his reading speed and depth of understanding improved again.

One hour later, both books were completely "scanned," and all clues were automatically entered into the knowledge network and clue network.

Chen Zhen closed the book and closed his eyes to digest it.

Although the book didn't have precise coordinates for the Ancient Temple Ruins, combined with Engineer Gu's map and the descriptions in the folklore anomalies, the approximate range was already determined.

The southern foot of Dongshan, near the site of the three old pines, at an altitude of about three hundred meters.

When he went for a field inspection, he could search with [Anomaly Perception].

The thirty-first day.

When Chen Zhen opened his eyes, he clearly "heard" the sound of leaves falling outside the window.

It wasn't listening with his ears; it was perception.

The moment every leaf left the branch, the subtle disturbance of the air, the trajectory of the leaf's rotation, the micro-tremor upon contact with the ground.

Everything was clearly imaged in his consciousness.

Qi Refining Level 2, Spirit Control Perfection, perception System fully upgraded.

He got out of bed, his gaze sweeping over the room.

Cleaning Spell.

1 point of spiritual energy consumed, an invisible wave swept across.

The leaves of the green dill on the windowsill stretched out, and the pale gold fine lines on the edges became clearer.

In [Internal Vision], he could clearly "see" that the spiritual energy circulation inside the green dill had improved a little more.

Those tiny "plant meridians" were slowly growing and connecting.

[Green dill spiritual plant progress: 42 / 100]

It increased by 7 points compared to yesterday.

Chen Zhen moved his mind, separating a wisp of spiritual energy to inject into the pothos, slowly guiding it along the meridians within its body.

The pothos leaves trembled slightly, the layer of pale golden halo brightening for an instant before slowly fading into the depths of the leaf veins.

"Spiritual energy guidance successful"

"Pothos spiritual plant transformation progress: 45/100"

He nodded in satisfaction.

At this rate, in another ten days or so, this pot of pothos will officially advance to a spiritual plant.

By then, there will be two spiritual plants in the room: the Mint and the pothos.

The Cultivate effect should be able to improve a bit more.

During his morning run, Chen Zhen began to challenge the "Sixteen-Star Alignment".

Sixteen object-control stones flew out from the Storage Space, lining up in a straight line beside him.

Sixteen-line operation.

The difficulty had gone up another level compared to yesterday.

But he was now at Spirit Control Perfection, with 215% precision, and his Mental Energy was also a notch stronger than yesterday.

The first kilometer, the Formation was as stable as a nail.

The second kilometer, the Formation showed slight fluctuations.

He made a slight mental adjustment, and the sixteen stones instantly returned to their positions.

The third kilometer, the Sixteen-Star Alignment hovered stably, like a string of tamed stars in the morning light, moving steadily with his footsteps.

"Morning run quality 'Transcendental'"

"Health Dimension experience + 162"

"Cultivation + 1.85"

"Spirit Control Perfection effect increased: Spiritual energy control precision + 12% (current 227%)"

"Sixteen-Star Alignment Formation proficiency + 40"

When he ran to the Riverside, the old man was already waiting under the willow tree.

He wasn't standing in a stance today, nor was he watching the river; instead, he was sitting on that large rock, holding an old pipe in his hand, smoking slowly.

Chen Zhen ran closer, withdrew his power, and the sixteen object-control stones landed back in his palm.

The old man glanced at him: "Sixteen?"

"Yeah."

"How long did it take to stabilize?"

"Just stabilized the whole distance today."

The old man nodded and tapped his pipe against the rock: "Not bad."

He stood up and walked over to Chen Zhen: "Today, I'll teach you something I've been keeping up my sleeve."

The old man led Chen Zhen to the rock at the highest point of the river embankment.

The rock was huge, two people high and three people wide, its surface pitted and scarred by wind and rain.

"Stand here." The old man pointed to the top of the rock.

Chen Zhen leaped lightly and jumped onto the rock.

His footing was steady.

Spirit Control Perfection allowed him to have complete command over every subtle movement of his body.

The old man also jumped up and stood beside him.

"Look over there." The old man pointed to the distant mountains on the other side of the river.

Chen Zhen looked in the direction of his finger.

The mountains were rolling, shrouded in morning mist, the furthest peak faintly visible in the haze.

"That mountain,"

"is called Azure Dragon Mountain. There is an underground river inside the mountain that leads directly to the Yangtze River. Every summer, when the river water swells, the underground river sprays water out; the sprayed water carries the temperature from deep underground and is several degrees hotter than the river water."

Chen Zhen listened carefully.

"Now look over here."

The old man pointed to the river surface.

"This section of the river has a name, called 'Returning Dragon Bay'. The river bends here, the flow slows down, sediment deposits, and every summer, a sandbar forms."

He paused: "Do you know what the relationship is between these two things?"

Chen Zhen thought for a moment: "The hot water from the underground river flows into the river, changing the local water temperature, affecting the flow speed and sediment deposition?"

"Interesting." The old man nodded, "But that's not entirely correct."

He took a small stone out of his pocket and handed it to Chen Zhen: "Throw it in."

Chen Zhen took the stone and threw it gently into the river.

The stone entered the water, creating a ripple that quickly dissipated.

"What did you see?"

"A ripple."

"What happens to the ripple?"

"It spreads, then disappears."

The old man nodded, took another stone from his pocket, and this time threw it into the river himself.

The stone entered the water, and a ripple formed as well.

But this time, the ripple didn't disappear immediately.

It spread across the river surface, met another ripple coming from elsewhere, and the two ripples met, superimposed, and formed new waves.

"Did you understand?" the old man asked.

Chen Zhen stared at the river surface, watching the two ripples superimpose, interfere, and disappear.

"Power... can be superimposed?"

"Correct."

"A single ripple disappears quickly. But when two ripples meet, they produce new waves. If the timing and position are right, they can even stir up bigger waves."

He turned to look at Chen Zhen: "Cultivation is the same. Practicing alone, no matter how hard you work, is limited. But if you can 'resonate' with heaven and earth and borrow the power of heaven and earth for your own use, that's a different story."

Resonance.

This word again.

"How to resonate?" Chen Zhen asked.

The old man didn't answer directly, but pointed to the river surface: "When you threw the stone just now, did you feel anything?"

Chen Zhen recalled.

When he threw the stone, he subconsciously used a bit of spiritual energy.

It wasn't intentional, but a natural reaction brought about by Spirit Control Perfection.

The moment the stone entered the water, he seemed to feel a certain 'response' from the river water, very faint, fleeting.

"Yes," he said, "The river water seemed to... move a little?"

"It wasn't the river water moving, it was your spiritual energy touching the 'Qi' within the river water."

"This river has flowed for millions of years, and countless things have settled in the water. The breath of mountains and stones, the breath of plants and trees, the breath of fish and shrimp, even the breath of humans. These breaths mix together to form the 'Qi' of the river water."

He paused: "That moment just now, you used your own Qi to touch the river's Qi. If you touch it correctly, you can produce 'resonance'."

Chen Zhen was lost in thought.

"Of course," the old man added, "you are still too weak right now to make anything of it. But knowing the direction, you can practice slowly in the future."

"How to practice?"

"Throw stones into the river every day."

"Throw them one by one, feel it with your heart. When you can feel that the 'response' of the river water is different for every stone that enters the water, you have entered the gate."

He paused: "Then, try to use your spiritual energy to 'tune' that response. Make the small big, the big small, the fast slow."

Chen Zhen noted it down.

"Learned Advanced Skill: Heaven and Earth Resonance (Entry Level)"

"Health Dimension experience + 85"

"Cultivation + 1.22"

"Obtained Status: 'Initial Glimpse of Resonance' (Can weakly perceive heaven and earth energy, Cultivate efficiency + 5%)"

On the way home, Chen Zhen tried to "feel" everything around him while running.

The trees by the road, the dew on the grass leaves, the water vapor in the morning breeze, and even the earth beneath his feet.

In the [Initial Glimpse of Resonance] state, these things seemed to have an extra layer of "breath".

The breath of the trees was calm and upward-reaching.

The breath of the dew was cool and fleeting.

The breath of the wind was flowing and intangible.

The breath of the earth was heavy and eternal.

He tried to use his spiritual energy to touch these breaths.

Some he touched.

The dew trembled slightly, as if responding.

Some he couldn't touch.

The breath of the earth was too heavy; his spiritual energy was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, instantly disappearing.

But every time he touched it, he could feel a subtle "communication".

This is resonance.

Although weak, the direction was correct.

He arrived home before seven o'clock.

His mother was already up and cooking porridge in the kitchen.

Seeing Chen Zhen return, she poked her head out and said: "So early today?"

"Yeah, I ran fast." Chen Zhen changed his shoes, "Mom, is there any news from Dad?"

"He called last night, said the training is going quite smoothly, told you not to worry."

His mother served the porridge, "He also said that the Mint tea you gave him, he shared with his roommates, and they all praised it."

Chen Zhen smiled: "Then I'll send him some more."

"No need, he said it's enough." His mother sat down, "Eat quickly, the porridge is getting cold."

The mother and son ate breakfast quietly.

After eating, Chen Zhen volunteered to wash the dishes.

With a Cleaning Spell, the dishes were as clean as new; he pretended to rinse them with water and put them back in the dish cabinet.

His mother watched from the side and suddenly said: "Xiao Zhen, you're going to East Mountain tomorrow, do you want Mom to prepare some food for you?"

"No need, I'll just take some dry rations."

"Just going for a look, will be back the same day."

"Alright then." His mother nodded, "Be safe."

"Yeah."

During his morning study, Chen Zhen began to use [Initial Glimpse of Resonance] to assist in understanding physics.

He opened the electromagnetism chapter, electric field lines, magnetic induction lines, electromagnetic waves.

These abstract concepts, from the perspective of "resonance", suddenly became vivid.

The electric field is the "disturbance" of charges to the surrounding space, the magnetic field is the "ripple" produced by moving charges, and electromagnetic waves are the "resonance" formed by the alternating transmission of these two disturbances.

He built a model in his mind:

Charges are like stones, space is like the water surface, the electric field is like ripples, and the magnetic field is like water flow.

When charges move, ripples and water flow interact to form a complex wave System.

Once this model was established, the previously obscure Maxwell's equations suddenly became clear.

Each formula corresponded to a side of this wave System.

"Cross-Domain Realization: Resonance Model of Electromagnetism and Wave Theory"

"Learning Dimension experience + 220"

"Cultivation + 1.55"

"Physics subject ability greatly improved"

"Knowledge Fusion efficiency + 15%"

Chen Zhen put down his pen and closed his eyes to digest it.

This feeling of "breaking through" was much more satisfying than just doing problems.

At noon, Chen Zhen made himself a bowl of beef noodles.

He used the beef brisket he bought yesterday, simmered it on low heat for two hours, the soup was rich and the meat tender.

The noodles were hand-rolled, chewy and bouncy.

Topped with a few Mint leaves from the spiritual plant, the crisp fragrance neutralized the greasiness of the beef, and the whole bowl of noodles was fresh from the inside out.

He finished eating slowly, wiped his mouth, and leaned back in his chair to rest.

He had to go to the Bookstore in the afternoon, and when he came back in the evening, he had to prepare the gear for going to East Mountain tomorrow.

He thought about it and made a list:

Dry rations (bread, water), flashlight, hiking shoes, map (the one from Engineer Gu and the one drawn in the Folklore Miscellany), notebook, pen, mobile phone (for taking photos), power bank.

Also, take a few Mint leaves from the spiritual plant for refreshment.

When he arrived at the Bookstore in the afternoon, Old Wu was dozing behind the counter.

Hearing the doorbell ring, he opened his eyes: "You're here? Not much work today, help yourself."

"Okay."

Chen Zhen walked to the bookshelf specifically for "miscellaneous books" and continued browsing.

He found a few books about East Mountain's geology and folklore, quickly browsing to see if there were any new clues.

In a book called "Jiangcheng Geographical Gazetteer", he found a record:

"At the southern foot of East Mountain, at an altitude of about 300 meters, there is a cave that locals call 'Wind Cave'. Cool wind blows out of the entrance all year round, cool in summer and warm in winter. The depth of the cave is unknown, and no one dares to enter. In 1958, during the Great Steel Smelting Movement, the entrance was blown shut, and it no longer exists today."

Wind Cave.

Chen Zhen's heart stirred.

The description of this "Wind Cave" was very similar to the "Deep Cave" in the Folklore Miscellany.

The location was also at the southern foot, and the altitude matched as well.

Could it be the same cave?

He copied this record down.

"Discovered New Clue: East Mountain Wind Cave"

"exploration dimension experience + 30"

"Clue Association Network Updated: Added node 'Wind Cave', connected to 'Ancient Temple Deep Cave' 'Earth Vein Node'"

The exploration dimension increased by another 30 points.

When leaving the Bookstore in the evening, Old Wu gave him his pay, plus an extra twenty.

"Going to East Mountain tomorrow?" Old Wu asked.

Chen Zhen was stunned: "How did you know?"

"Heard it from your mom." Old Wu lit a cigarette, "I've been to that place when I was young, the mountain road is hard to walk. Be careful."

"Thank you, Grandpa Wu."

"Don't thank me." Old Wu exhaled a puff of smoke, "If you see any... strange things, don't go too deep inside."

These words were exactly the same as what the old man said.

Chen Zhen nodded: "I know."

Back home, his mother had already prepared dinner.

After eating a little, Chen Zhen went back to his room and started preparing the gear for tomorrow.

He packed everything into a hiking backpack, tested the weight, it was fine.

Then he took out the sixteen object-control stones and started today's training.

Going to the wilderness tomorrow, he might need it.

Today's goal:

To arrange the sixteen object-control stones into two Formations: the Big Dipper Formation and the Nine-Star Alignment, while simultaneously holding up two cups, forming stable vortexes in the water within the cups, and making the two vortexes rotate in opposite directions.

Six-fold multitasking.

The difficulty was off the charts.

The first time, the Big Dipper Formation held up the thermos, but the Nine-Star Alignment fell apart as soon as it held up the water cup.

The second time, both Formations stabilized, but the vortexes didn't form.

The third time, fourth time, fifth time...

The twenty-eighth time, it finally succeeded.

The Big Dipper Formation stably held the thermos, and the vortex in the cup rotated clockwise.

The Nine-Star Alignment stably held the water cup, and the vortex in the cup rotated counterclockwise.

The two Formations did not interfere with each other, and the two vortexes rotated stably.

It lasted for twenty seconds.

Chen Zhen withdrew his power, and the two cups landed gently back on the table.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.

Sweat appeared on his forehead, his Mental Energy was mostly exhausted, but his heart was full of a sense of achievement.

"Extreme Object Control Training"

"Spirit Control Perfection effect increased: Spiritual energy control precision + 10% (current 237%)"

"Big Dipper Formation proficiency + 40"

"Nine-Star Alignment Formation proficiency + 35"

"Unlocked Achievement: 'Mastery of Opposites' (Multi-line fine control ability greatly improved)"

He rested for five minutes, drank a sip of spiritual Mint tea, and his Mental Energy slowly recovered.