138: 343 Blue-level Secret Realms!
Although Zhang Sheng had already cultivated the Barlin Artifact Refining Technique to the Perfected State,
and had even mastered another second-rank Artifact Refining method specializing in spear-shaped Spiritual Artifacts, "Spear Soul Shape Refining," refining a supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact spear was still no easy task.
Even with the assistance of the talent panel, the time required would definitely not be short.
The plan to refine the spiritual spear had to be temporarily set aside.
Zhang Sheng contacted Hou Wu and asked him to first collect various spiritual materials needed for refining the spiritual spear to prepare for future needs.
For now, he was focused on the cultivation of Mental Energy.
Throughout this time, Zhang Sheng had come into contact with hundreds of Blue-level Jade Slips produced by the Secret Realms.
Unfortunately, most of them were the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art, followed by "Hundred Refined Steel Bones."
Although there were Spirit Refining Cultivation Techniques, they were primarily the Mysterious Spider Thought Binding Method and the Spirit Condensing Art.
At this moment, there was only one Spirit Refining Cultivation Technique left in his Sea of Consciousness that he had not yet cultivated—
"Star Bridge Guidance"!
This technique draws upon the power of the stars to temper the spirit.
Zhang Sheng hovered high in the sky, attempting to channel the stars.
This was not his first time encountering this power; he had already dabbled in it while cultivating the Synchronization Art.
The power of the stars felt cold and violent to him.
"What kind of energy is this exactly?" he wondered to himself.
"Cultivators refine Spiritual Qi for their cultivation; if one could refine the power of the stars, wouldn't that be wonderful? One would no longer need to worry about the suffering of lacking spiritual power."
"The Universe is vast; there must be powerful civilizations that specialize in the power of the stars."
Zhang Sheng picked up "Star Bridge Guidance" extremely quickly, and his Realm improved rapidly, but unfortunately, its tempering effect on Mental Energy remained mediocre.
From Beginner to Proficient and then to Proficient stage, the growth of Mental Energy was negligible.
It wasn't until he broke through to the Transcendent stage that his Mental Energy saw a significant increase!
When the moment of the Perfected State arrived!
Zhang Sheng's Mental Energy suddenly erupted, becoming thirty percent more condensed once again!
His Divine Sense spread out like a tide.
"Seventy kilometers... seventy-five kilometers... eighty-five kilometers..."
Finally,
the range reflected by his Divine Sense settled at a radius of eighty-five kilometers!
This improvement was not staggering in scale; it merely narrowed the gap slightly between his Body Refining and Qi Refining Realms.
For him, the greatest benefit lay in the fact that the Cultivation Technique operated automatically, and the recovery speed of his Mental Energy leaped once again!
With three Spirit Refining Cultivation Techniques running automatically at the same time, the recovery efficiency reached an extremely astonishing level.
During this time, Zhang Sheng also conveniently cleared two Secret Realms... Reviewing Xie He's cultivation progress report for today, Zhang Sheng's mind stirred: "The Spirit Refining Cultivation Techniques have finally all reached the Transcendent stage!"
Unfortunately, they still hadn't reached Perfection.
It seemed that the limit of the "Practice Makes Perfect" Talent was roughly this much.
Even if a Cultivation Technique could be cultivated to Perfection, the time required would likely be incredibly long.
Since the Transcendent-level Mysterious Spider Thought Binding Method could already operate on its own, Zhang Sheng simply had Xie He stop cultivating this technique and switch to other Cultivation Techniques and Spells.
The subsequent development was just as Zhang Sheng expected: Mental Energy was no longer in short supply, allowing for the continuous use of his Talent, and Xie He's cultivation speed soared!
...Since the appearance of the "Blue Moon" and the emergence of a large number of Awakened on Earth, no new Awakened had appeared.
Although the newborns in recent months had Physiques superior to those of the past, none had undergone Awakening.
The Lord of the Universe's gift of the Origin Law only existed at the moment the myriad worlds pearl's projection descended.
Later, the Talents within the bodies of Cultivators whose Realm improved slowly began to dissipate one by one.
First E-rank, then D-rank... months passed, and even C-rank Talents below the Divine Breath Realm could not escape the fate of dissipating.
To preserve their Talents, a significant portion of Cultivators chose to stop tempering their Foundations and forcibly break through to the Divine Breath Realm.
There were also some who chose to give up their Talents and continue to progress steadily.
Until one day, even the E-rank Talents of the Divine Breath Realm disappeared.
People finally woke up: without a solid Foundation, so-called Talents were nothing more than castles in the air and would eventually dissipate.
Instead of being anxious to break through Realms to save their Talents, it was better to focus on tempering their Foundations to pave the way for long-term cultivation.
Zhang Sheng had long since understood this point from Xiao Ling.
Therefore, he manufactured a large number of Spirit Refining jade plaques and prioritized distributing them to China's top Talent Awakened.
For the general population of Cultivators, although Zhang Sheng had produced instructional videos for the Heavenly Circulation Method and the refining of essence food pills,
unfortunately, limited by their cultivation Aptitude, those who could achieve "First Refinement Ten Spirits" and above were ultimately as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
The step of "opening the niwan palace" blocked the path for the vast majority of people, causing their cultivation to stop at the Divine Breath Realm—and the weakest Divine Breath Realm at that, with strength not even matching a slightly stronger Qi Sea Realm.
On October 8, 2030, China announced:
The Earth Co-Governance Federation is officially established!
Chinese is designated as the global common language, and all countries must implement it comprehensively.
Except for the China region, the original national systems of all countries are abolished, and Governor-General Offices are established, which are completely under the jurisdiction of the Federal Parliament under the China Heavenly Dao Academy and strictly abide by the "Heavenly Dao Charter."
Earth has ushered in a new era of order under China's leadership!
China issued a global announcement: Any SSS-level Talent Awakened, unless they have committed heinous crimes, can go to Capital to be granted the status of alternate Federal Parliament member!
Alternate members not only have the opportunity to obtain second-rank Jade Slips personally made by War God Zhang Sheng, but after assessment and election, they can even become official Federal Parliament members!
Once this news came out, SSS-level Talent Awakened from all over the world flocked to Capital.
Including those from mainland China, there were 89 in total.
Zhang Sheng estimated that there were fewer than a hundred SSS-level Talent holders surviving globally.
Before passing China's observation period, the precious second-rank Jade Slips would naturally not be provided.
Even though making second-rank Jade Slips was just a simple task for Zhang Sheng, no one dared to speak up rashly.
Not only SSS-level, but many powerful SS-Rank Talent Awakened and Divine Breath Realm Cultivators also flocked to China.
It is easy for Cultivators to learn languages, and communication had long been without obstacles.
The world is unified, and the old national distinctions have vanished.
Now, everyone has only one common identity—Earthlings.
Two Secret Realms descending in one day? Far from enough!
Starting from October 9, Zhang Sheng communicated with the star ring and, in his capacity as the Lord of the Planet, accelerated the Civilization Assessment process once again—three Secret Realms descending daily!
When he first met Xiao Ling, Zhang Sheng already knew: in the Civilization Assessment, there are a total of 343 Blue-level Secret Realms, and the normal speed is one descending per day.
After that, there are the Red-level Secret Realms with completely different rules.
Countless new civilizations have met their downfall here.
When the Blue-level Secret Realms end, the Red-level Secret Realms will follow.
Zhang Sheng did not intend to continue accelerating the descent of the Secret Realms; the current speed was already too fast.
Sufficient time must be reserved to make full preparations for the arrival of the Red-level Secret Realms!
Not only his own strength but the strength of all Cultivators on Earth must also be rapidly improved!