85: Chapter 85 Zhou Tian

Wednesday, 6:00 AM. Chen Zhen opened his eyes right on time.

The Dantian spiritual bead rotated slowly. After a night of Cultivate, his Cultivation had increased by 22 points.

Qi Refining Level 4 438/1800.

He sat up. Instead of casting a Cleaning Spell, he looked directly at the pots of soul-calming grass.

The third bud on the largest plant had already bloomed, and the other two had also opened.

Three pale purple flowers trembled slightly in the morning light, dew drops condensed on their petals, and a faint, refreshing fragrance filled the entire Secret Base.

The light from the Eight-Talisman Chain Array shone on the petals, rimming them with a faint golden edge.

[calming flower × 3 (Newly Opened)]

[Quality: Quasi-Spirit Plant · Top Grade]

[Effect: Calming + 850%, can be used to make incense/tea/ink/Alchemy]

[Status: Optimal Harvest Period (within 8 hours)]

Chen Zhen walked to the flower pots, carefully picking them one by one and placing them into a jade box.

Three flowers, more than the previous two combined.

He walked to the workbench, took out the grinding bowl, and began to grind.

The petals turned into fine purple powder as he ground them, the fragrance so rich it was almost tangible.

After twenty minutes of grinding, he obtained about eight grams of anshen flower powder.

[anshen flower powder (Fine Grade) × 8 grams]

[Quality: Quasi-Spirit Plant · Top Grade]

[Effect: Calming + 950%, can be used to make incense/ink/Alchemy]

He nodded with satisfaction.

Eight grams of powder was enough to draw eighty talismans.

He put away the powder and glanced at the time—6:40 AM.

He still had an hour before school.

He took out the stack of blank talisman paper and started drawing talismans.

Today's theme—the Celestial Star Array.

Not the complete version, but a simplified one.

He found the incomplete 360-point array in the talisman scripture and only drew the core 36 points.

Thirty-six points, one-tenth of the Celestial cycle number.

With his current level, he should be able to try it.

He prepared the talisman ink, infused it with Stellar Energy, and lifted his brush.

The first point, brush down.

A faint light lit up on the talisman paper.

The second point, brush down.

A line connected the two points.

The third, fourth, fifth point...

He finished all thirty-six points in half an hour.

When the last stroke fell, the entire talisman paper erupted with a blinding golden light that lasted for five seconds before slowly fading away.

[Celestial Star Array · Simplified Version (36 points)]

[Effect: Draws upon Stellar Energy, Cultivate efficiency + 200%, lasts for 1 hour]

[Side Effect: Spiritual Qi consumption + 100%, pressure on Meridians + 150%]

[Quality: Fine Grade]

Chen Zhen looked at this talisman and was silent for a few seconds.

200% efficiency, but double the Spiritual Qi consumption and 1.5 times the pressure on the Meridians.

It was stronger than the Seven-Star Talisman, but the side effects were also greater.

He thought about it and didn't use it immediately.

He would save it for now. He would use it when he needed a boost.

He drew two more of the same talismans, totaling three.

What would happen if he stacked three simplified Celestial Star Arrays?

He didn't know.

But he could try.

At 7:00 AM, Chen Zhen stepped into the classroom.

Zhang Meng was in the back row catching up on homework. Seeing him enter, he shouted as usual: "Help! Lend me your English homework to copy!"

Chen Zhen threw his homework notebook over.

Zhang Meng caught it and buried his head in copying frantically.

Chen Zhen walked to his seat and sat down.

Su Xiaoya, who sat in front of him, turned around, her eyes bright.

"Chen Zhen, my mom had that dream again last night."

Chen Zhen looked at her.

"Dreamed of what?"

"That old man again." Su Xiaoya lowered her voice. "This time he said even more. Something about 'The stars will gather, the Heavenly Road will open,' and he also said, 'Those who hold the talismans should prepare early.'"

Chen Zhen's heart jolted.

Those who hold the talismans.

Shen Mo's grandfather's words were coming through via Su Xiaoya's mother's dream.

"Does your mom remember anything else?"

Su Xiaoya thought for a moment.

"She said the old man looked very happy and kept laughing. Saying something like, 'It's time, it's finally time.'"

Chen Zhen was silent for a few seconds.

"Tell your mom not to think too much about it. It's just a dream."

Su Xiaoya nodded and turned back around.

But Chen Zhen knew it wasn't an ordinary dream.

Shen Mo's grandfather's consciousness was still there.

And it was communicating with him in some way.

The first class was math.

Old Zhao was lecturing on derivative synthesis, and the blackboard was covered in formulas.

Chen Zhen listened for a while before his mind began to wander.

All he could think about was the dream Su Xiaoya's mother had.

"The stars will gather, the Heavenly Road will open."

Eighteen star core fragments, two had already appeared.

Where were the remaining sixteen?

What was that chaotic, violent light spot in the southwest?

And who was the old man in seclusion to the far north?

He activated Fragment Perception.

Seventeen light spots were distributed.

The Qi Refining Level 7 middle-aged man to the northeast had stopped today. He was at a certain location, motionless.

The old man to the far north was still in the same place.

The Young Woman to the southeast continued to move north, fifty kilometers closer.

That chaotic, violent thing to the southwest still made his heart palpitate.

And then there was Shen Mo—the small fragment on him also appeared as an extremely faint light spot in the perception network, nearby.

Seventeen pieces.

Where was the last one?

He withdrew his perception and continued listening to the class.

But he knew in his heart, it was coming soon.

After school at noon, Chen Zhen went to the cafeteria.

He got his food and found a seat.

He had just eaten a few mouthfuls when someone walked over with a tray.

Zhou Rui.

He sat down opposite Chen Zhen and lowered his voice: "Master, I tried drawing talismans last night."

Chen Zhen looked at him.

"Drawing what?"

"A Calming Talisman." Zhou Rui took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to him. "I drew it all night following the one you gave me before."

Chen Zhen unfolded the paper.

On it was a crooked talisman rune, the lines were intermittent, and in some places, they even overlapped. But the overall structure was correct—the core circle, the three-point triangle, and the radial curves were all there.

[System Notification: Disciple Zhou Rui attempted to draw a talisman]

[Quality: Failed (Spiritual Qi not injected)]

[Potential Assessment: Average talent for the Dao of talismans]

Average.

Not high, but not low either.

Chen Zhen returned the paper to him.

"The structure is correct. But talismans aren't drawn; they are 'written'."

Zhou Rui was stunned for a moment.

"Written?"

"Written with Spiritual Qi." Chen Zhen said, "Every stroke must carry Spiritual Qi, it cannot be broken, it cannot stop. It must be done in one go."

Zhou Rui looked thoughtful.

"I'll go back and try again."

He stood up and walked away with his tray.

Chen Zhen looked at his back, suddenly recalling when he first started drawing talismans.

He was just as clumsy, just as persistent.

This kid had a good Heart-Nature.

The third class in the afternoon was chemistry.

They were doing experiments today, working in groups.

Chen Zhen was grouped with Li Yang.

Li Yang was a well-known slacker in the class, with failing grades, sleeping in class, and relying on copying for homework. But his hands-on ability was surprisingly strong; picking up test tubes, alcohol lamps, and burettes, his movements were as skilled as if he had practiced them.

"Have you done experiments before?" Chen Zhen asked.

Li Yang said while adjusting the burette: "My dad works at a chemical plant, I've watched him do these things since I was a kid."

The experiment was to determine the concentration of a certain solution, which required titration with a standard solution and calculating the volume consumed.

Chen Zhen looked over the steps once, and a chemical model was automatically built in his brain.

Knowledge Fusion activated.

Model Thinking activated.

Titration endpoint, color change, volume reading, concentration calculation—each step was as clear as watching a movie.

Li Yang was responsible for the manual work, and he was responsible for recording.

In three minutes, the experiment was finished.

Li Yang looked at the test tube in his hand, stunned for a moment.

"So fast?"

Chen Zhen filled in the calculation results on the report.

Li Yang leaned over to take a look, his eyes widening.

"How did you calculate that? I haven't even taken the reading yet."

Chen Zhen didn't answer and handed in the report.

The chemistry teacher glanced at the report and nodded.

"Data is correct, operation is standard."

Li Yang stood to the side, looking bewildered.

After school, he chased after him and asked: "Chen Zhen, do you have superpowers?"

Chen Zhen looked at him.

"No."

Li Yang didn't believe him.

"Then how did you calculate it so fast?"

Chen Zhen thought for a moment.

"Do more practice problems."

Li Yang scoffed and walked away.

At 8:00 PM, at the Secret Base.

Chen Zhen sat cross-legged in the center of the Eight-Talisman Chain Array and took out the three simplified Celestial Star Array talismans.

He stuck one on the north wall, one on the south wall, and one on the west wall.

The three talismans lit up simultaneously.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the entire base began to soar.

150%, 200%, 250%—

Thirty seconds later, it stabilized at 280%.

[Celestial Star Array · Simplified Version × 3 Stacked]

[Effect: Spiritual Qi concentration + 280%, Spiritual Qi circulation speed + 200%]

[Duration: 1 hour]

[Meridian pressure: + 300%]

Chen Zhen felt the rich Spiritual Qi rushing towards him and took a deep breath.

280% efficiency, three times the pressure.

He activated Star Core: Second Layer and began to Cultivate.

The rotation speed of the Dantian spiritual bead instantly skyrocketed to its limit, and the Stellar Energy and ordinary Spiritual Qi intertwined into a torrent, crazily pouring into his body. Every meridian was burning, and every micro-vessel was expanding.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty minutes.

Fifty minutes.

At the sixtieth minute, he opened his eyes.

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 4 538/1800]

He had gained 100 points in one hour.

That was the amount that usually took a whole day.

He stood up and stretched his body.

His Meridians were indeed swollen, but still within the tolerable range.

He walked over to the spirit plants.

Under the blessing of the Celestial Star Array, their growth rate was visible to the naked eye. The four soul-calming grass plants had sprouted new buds—six this time.

[soul-calming grass × 4]

[Number of buds: 6]

[Expected flowering time: 3-4 days]

Six flowers.

The next harvest would last a long time.

He put away the three talismans—the Spiritual Qi was exhausted, but the talisman paper could still be recycled.

Then he walked to the window and looked at the night sky outside.

The Big Dipper hung in the zenith, starlight spilling down, echoing the Stellar Energy in his Dantian from afar.

He activated Fragment Perception.

Seventeen light spots.

The middle-aged man to the northeast was still in the same place.

The old man to the far north was still in seclusion.

The Young Woman to the southeast was fifty kilometers closer.

That chaotic, violent thing to the southwest still made his heart palpitate.

And Shen Mo's small fragment was flickering not far away.

He withdrew his perception and walked back to the center of the array.

It was coming soon.

He closed his eyes and began to recover his Spiritual Qi.