70: Refining Spirit Technique

"Hahaha! Successor! The fact that you can see these words of mine means your luck is pretty good! Or... perhaps your luck is terrible? Hehe!"

A passage of text—wild, scrawled, written with an untamed flourish like weeds growing wantonly in a gale—suddenly crashed into Lin Jingyu's "vision."

This handwriting was completely different from the neat, rigid, and time-worn script found in the Legacy earlier!

It was filled with strong individuality, the strokes wild and unrestrained. Upon closer inspection, one could feel a sense of carefree detachment after enduring life's vicissitudes and seeing through the world's ways, along with... a hint of deeply hidden exhaustion and loneliness?

"This Old Man is Bai Shouchuanliu! Successor of the Human Race's Alchemist lineage, and also... well, half the compiler of this Legacy you hold right now."

"Hehe, those six Mental Cultivation Methods mentioned earlier? This Old Man expended immense effort back then, went through countless hardships, explored innumerable ancient ruins, braved countless Dragon Ponds and Tiger Dens, and 'borrowed' them from certain eccentric old monsters!"

"What a pity, what a pity. They are good things, but perhaps... you won't be able to practice them. Overall, the requirements for these things are too strict. We should grab whatever benefits we can, but it doesn't matter if we can't get them all."

"Friend, don't panic! If you can't Cultivate it, don't force it. Forcing it might turn you into an idiot, or a Devil Head who recognizes no kin! That would be a huge loss."

"Therefore, this Old Man poured his heart and Soul into this, exhausting his mind, combining everything he learned in his life, and referencing the essence of the six secret methods mentioned earlier. He finally created... or rather... improved this seventh method—the Spirit Refining Art!"

"Guaranteed to teach and guaranteed to learn! Absolutely honest! As long as you have the guts to practice and the perseverance to endure, this Old Man guarantees that your Mental Energy will absolutely soar! Becoming a Grandmaster of the Pill Dao and shaking the world in the future is not just a dream!"

This opening monologue, full of "personal style" and even a bit "improper for an elder," made Lin Jingyu's mouth twitch, and three imaginary black lines seemed to drop down his forehead.

This Senior "Bai Shouchuanliu"... sounds like... quite the character? Or perhaps, an old mischievous child?

He suppressed his urge to complain, calmed his mind, and carefully read the core content of the Spirit Refining Art.

The more he read, the wider his eyes grew, and his mouth involuntarily fell slightly open, his face filled with shock!

The core concept of this secret method completely overturned his understanding of Mental Energy cultivation.

It was neither the traditional method of "nurturing and strengthening" nor "condensing and compressing," but rather—division!

That's right! Just like slicing a cake or dividing an apple, one uses a special method to cut apart the Origin of one's Mental Energy!

Then, the most crucial step arrives—using the divided Mental Energy fragments to carry independent thoughts and ideas!

This way, one conscious entity can simultaneously manage multiple thought threads!

Multitasking (using one mind for two tasks)? That's a basic operation!

Using one mind for three tasks? Easily achieved!

Theoretically, as long as the Origin of your Mental Energy is strong enough, your courage is great enough, and your will is resilient enough, cutting it into dozens or even hundreds of pieces is no problem!

This is equivalent to one person possessing dozens or hundreds of "brains" capable of parallel thought!

What's even more Heaven-Defying is that if there are enough treasures to nurture it, the divided Mental Energy can even reach its original strength.

In other words, it is almost equivalent to a double increase.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!" Lin Jingyu mentally swore three times, feeling that his worldview had been completely shattered and refreshed.

Isn't this just activating a "multithreading" cheat?

He finally realized why the Trainee Alchemist section listed "using the mind for three tasks" as a basic requirement.

With this Heaven-Defying Spirit Refining Art in hand, is that even an issue?

As long as he successfully divides two Mental Energy fragments, one can be dedicated to controlling the fire and precisely managing temperature changes; the other can be dedicated to perceiving the subtle states of dozens of medicinal herbs inside the Pill Furnace;

While the main consciousness handles overall coordination, responds to emergencies, and fills in gaps... Perfect division of labor! Efficiency off the charts!

One person could do the work of three Yuan Energy Mecha Warriors.

However, following the immense surprise, the content that immediately followed in the secret method poured over him like a basin of ice water, chilling him to the core.

The extreme pain during the division: cutting Mental Energy is absolutely incomparable to cutting the physical body; it is a tearing that directly acts upon the Soul Origin!

It is the cruel punishment of slicing the Soul!

The first attempt alone could cause pain so severe that one's spirit collapses, consciousness scatters, and one immediately turns into a muddle-headed idiot!

That kind of pain has been described by successive generations of Cultivators as "ten times worse than Extracting the Soul and Refining the Spirit!"

Furthermore, subsequent divisions will cause this pain to multiply several times over.

The huge hidden danger after division: the Mental Energy fragments, like infants separated from the body, are extremely fragile! They require special treasures or specific environments for nurturing and strengthening; otherwise, they will wither and dissipate like rootless duckweed.

Even more terrifying, it must be supplemented with extremely profound secret treasures that stabilize the mind and gather stray thoughts, otherwise it is highly likely to lead to split personality, mental disorder, turning one into a lunatic who talks to himself all day and cannot distinguish friend from foe!

Moreover, at this time, you will become extremely weak, retaining less than one-tenth of your strength, and must perform the division in a safe environment!

"Hiss..." Lin Jingyu felt his scalp tingle, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

This Spirit Refining Art is practically a double-edged sword—no, it's a peerless divine weapon laced with potent poison! Its power shakes heaven and earth, but the slightest mistake means you won't harm the enemy, but poison yourself first!

Risk and Opportunity coexist, and the risk is frighteningly high!

However, compared to the nearly cheating "multithreading" capability it provides, this small risk... seems almost negligible?

Especially in this dog-eat-dog, resource-scarce lower Cultivation World, one slow step leads to slow steps everywhere!

He composed himself and began to study carefully.

The cultivation of this secret method was much simpler than the first "High Tower Model Method." Although it still looked somewhat demanding, he could understand it.

Especially since every section of text came with extensive analysis and explanation.

Coupled with the "insights" and "painful lessons" left by previous generations of Cultivators, his heart settled greatly.

The pitfalls the Seniors had stepped into, and the blood they had shed, all became valuable experience.

One piece of advice, specially marked and repeatedly emphasized, shone like a bright lamp lit in the darkness, instantly capturing all of Lin Jingyu's attention:

"One of the key elements for successful division is Mental Energy purity! The purer, more condensed, and lower in Impurities the Mental Energy is, the 'smoother and flatter' the 'incision' during division will be, the less resistance encountered, the lighter the pain, and the higher the success rate!

Although one can begin division as soon as the first layer of the Spirit Refining Art is mastered, it is strongly recommended that the Cultivator Cultivate the first layer to at least the Major Achievement Realm, allowing the Mental Energy to initially condense and gain a certain resilience, before attempting the first division! Otherwise, the risk of failure will be extremely high."

"If you have the Opportunity to purify your Mental Energy to the 'Clarity' Realm, the success rate for the first division will be absolute, provided no mistakes are made.

The degree of pain during the process will also be greatly reduced, and the resulting fragments will be extremely stable, only requiring treasures for nurturing and strengthening..."