Although managing the huge formation consumed a lot of his energy, it was still quite a good opportunity for Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman.
Venerable White's knowledge in regards to runes was extremely high, and while he was controlling the huge formation, Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman was able to experience first-hand the way Venerable White manufactured the talismans.
While controlling the formation, he became aware of many things, which were going to be really helpful to him when he would advance in realm.
Today, he had almost completed that oath about teaching the natives how to write and read.
Next, he only had to wait for the hand-guided tractor competition to finish and carry out the transaction with little friend Song Shuhang for his Blood God Crystal. After that, he could finally get ready to break through the Fifth Stage Realm.
At the time, he should be able to condense a Golden Core with at least seven dragon patterns!
If one had a Golden Core with seven dragon patterns, they had a 90% assurance of advancing to the Sixth Stage True Monarch Realm. As long as they didn't die halfway or receive a severe injury that crippled their foundation, they also had an opportunity to advance to the Seventh Stage Venerable Realm.
Moreover, if one wanted to have the possibility of reaching the Eighth Stage Profound Stage and show their divinity in front of the masses, they could do so only if they had a Golden Core with seven or more dragon patterns.
First Stage Mortality Transcender, Second Stage True Master, Third Stage Battle King, Fourth Stage Innate, Fifth Stage Golden Core Spiritual Emperor, Sixth Stage Spiritual Monarch (or True Monarch), Seventh Stage Spiritual Venerable (or just Venerable), Eighth Stage Profound Sage (or Sage Monarch), and Ninth Stage Tribulation Transcender.
One had to proceed one step at a time on the road of cultivation.
After taking each step, they would have to prepare for the next realms and lay down a good foundation.
Only if one had built a solid foundation during the previous four stages would they be able to condense a Golden Core with numerous dragon patterns after advancing to the Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor Realm. The number of dragon patterns represented the potential of a cultivator and how far they could walk on the road of cultivation!
"Laying down a good foundation is really a lengthy process," Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman said.
And today, he finally managed to build a good foundation for himself!
"Formation, start!" Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman made a seal with his hands and clapped his palms together.
The huge formation made of 10,000 talismans ultimately changed into a huge gate of stone. As soon as the projection of the huge gate appeared, it gave all the onlookers an 'ancient' feeling.
Strangely enough, when the cultivators on the scene tried to engrave in their minds the appearance of the gate, they were unable to do so.
Even using techniques or phones to take pictures and drawing it was useless.
When they used techniques or phones to take pictures, they were only able to capture an indistinct and illusory 'gate'.
And when the cultivators picked up their brushes and tried to draw it, they felt as though the gate was everchanging and were thus unable to draw it.
Truly marvelous! When the contestants reached the finishing line of the hand-guided tractor competition, Fellow Daoist Seven Lives Talisman made his move and activated this huge formation made of 10,000 talismans. Afterward, the huge formation changed into a mysterious stone gate. What is the origin of this gate? Is it the final trap? Or is it a pleasant surprise? The voice of the announcer Jiang Shan echoed.
Even the eight-trigram information collecting formation of the Daily Cultivator was unable to record the appearance of the gate.
Therefore, all the cultivators watching the scene from home through their TV-like magical treasures were unable to see the appearance of the stone gate clearly. They could only see an indistinct gray-colored gate.
Jiang Shan's intuition told him that the gate was going to be a pleasant surprise.
Just as Jiang Shan's voice faded, True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon, who was in the lead, passed through the stone gate.
In the next moment, a layer of light descended from the stone gate and fell on True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon's body.
At first, True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon slightly furrowed his brows. Next, a surprised look appeared on his face. Back in the days, when he was practicing an ancient cultivation technique, he made a small mistake and a minor defect was left behind in this cultivation. The defect wasn't serious, but Tyrant Flood Dragon never managed to get rid of it completely. According to his estimations, only after advancing to the Seventh Stage Venerable would he be able to eliminate it completely.
But when the light of the stone gate fell upon him, the small defect in his body disappeared. Moreover, he even felt his constitution strengthen a bit.
Is this a special reward for the winner? True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon thought to himself.
Soon after, he turned his head around and saw that True Monarch Fallout, Great Master Profound Principle, and Cave Lord Snow Wolf, who were following closely behind, were also shrouded in the layer of light.
From the looks of it, the reward wasn't exclusive to the winner?
Fellow Daoist White was really generous this time! True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon thought to himself.
To arrange this formation made of 10,000 talismans, he must have spent a number of natural treasures that goes far beyond the imagination of ordinary cultivators...
...Moreover, only a special existence like Fellow Daoist White is capable of spending so many natural treasures to arrange such a huge formation for something as trivial as the 'hand-guided tractor competition'...
Now then, how many people can gain benefits from this stone gate?
Just as he was in deep thoughts, Soft Feather overtook Northern River's Loose Cultivator and crossed the finish line.
A layer of light fell on her body.
"Eeeeh? Incredible!" Soft Feather shook her small fists and said, "As soon as the light fell on my body, my cultivation increased by a small realm! There is still one last small realm left before I'll be able to break through the Fourth Stage Innate Realm! At the time, I'll finally be able to ride a flying sword, hehehe!"
After that temporary moment of delight, Soft Feather turned toward Northern River's Loose Cultivator and waved her hand at him, saying, "Senior Northern River, thank you~"
She was well aware that Northern River's Loose Cultivator slowed down toward the end on purpose, allowing her to get fifth place.
Northern River Loose Cultivator faintly smiled and likewise enjoyed the effects of the layer of light.
Soon after, Dharma King Creation, Daoist Priest Southern Lake, and Sun Splitting Halberd Guo Da also crossed the finish line.
The stone gate generously released another layer of light that fell on the bodies of all those that crossed it.
Soon after, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber also crossed the finish line while crying strangely.
At this time, only the front part and the driver seat of his hand-guided tractor were left intact… behind him was the calm-looking Scholar Drunken XXX.
Scholar Drunken Moon operated his fearsome drill and thrust into the baboon version Thrice Reckless, crossing the finish line alongside him.
Then, two layers of light likewise fell on the Scholar and Thrice Reckless~
"From the looks of it, there is a share for each person!" True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon sighed with emotion… Answering Fellow Daoist White's call and traveling for thousands of miles to participate in the competition was totally worth it!
As the contestants crossed the finish line, they all received the baptism of the stone gate.
Finally, Venerable White's hand-guided tractor also rumbled through the finishing line.
Three layers of light descended from the sky.
The layer of light that covered Venerable White's body only flashed past him… it seemed that such a level of body tempering had no effect on him? Or perhaps his body didn't need any tempering anymore?
Song Shuhang controlled Young Master Phoenix Slayer's body and accepted the baptism of the layer of light. Afterward, he felt his body become lighter; his strength slightly increased as well. But since it wasn't his own body, he couldn't feel it too clearly.
As for Song Shuhang's own body, it exploded with a dazzling seven-colored crystal-like radiance as soon as the layer of light shone upon it.
"Eh? What's happening? How come the light shooting out of my body is several thousand watts stronger?" Song Shuhang asked.
After he had thought up to this point… Song Shuhang felt a powerful attraction transmit from his original body that made him leave Young Master Phoenix Slayer's body, pulling his consciousness back.
The world before his eyes went black.
When he regained consciousness, he was back inside his body.
I'm back in my body?
There is no three seconds delay...
And I don't need to fear to suddenly find a breast wrapping cloth around my chest...
It's truly great!
It feels good to be back!
Song Shuhang felt like someone that had been forced out of home and who had returned only after several years. It was truly a warm feeling.
However, this beautiful, heart-warming feeling lasted only for about two seconds before Song Shuhang's body fiercely trembled.
An ultrcold feeling transmitted from the depths of his souls to his body.
The source of this feeling were the shared senses of the ghost spirit!
Song Shuhang tried to feel his chest, but there was no reaction from the ghost spirit.
The ghost spirit wasn't in his body? Where was it, then?
Moreover, why was he continuously feeling a cold feeling being transmitted from the ghost spirit? Did it run to the North Pole or something?
Therefore, Song Shuhang decided to use the 'senses sharing' feature to locate the position of the ghost spirit.
The ghost spirit had signed a contract with Song Shuhang, and the two had already synchronized their senses. At this time, the two of them were like one entity and could induce each other's presence even if they were on the other side of the globe.
But just as he was preparing to induce the ghost spirit, Song Shuhang felt a hand press on his forehead.
"Don't move, you're about to advance by a small realm." Venerable White's voice echoed.
In the next moment, Song Shuhang felt the true qi in his dantian churn.
The three Aging Crystal Roots filled Song Shuhang's dantian with an amount of true qi comparable to the one he would have gathered after practicing for whole nine years.
And when the layer of light released by the illusory stone gate fell on his body, it aroused the medicinal strength of the three Aging Crystal Roots. The two complemented each other and the resulting effects were much better than a simple 1+1 addition.
Earlier, Song Shuhang's body emitted that seven-colored crystal-like radiance precisely because the power of the Aging Crystal Root burst forth.
"I'm about to break through?" Song Shuhang asked in puzzlement. "Senior White, isn't that a little too fast?"
After all, he broke through from the First Stage to the Second Stage True Master Realm just recently.
And now, he was already breaking through the second small realm of the Second Stage? Wasn't this speed a little too fast—wouldn't it cause his foundation to turn unstable?
If there was a meal, one would have to eat it bite after bite. If there was a road, one would have to take one step at a time. If one were to eat too fast, they might choke on the food. If one were to walk too fast, they might trip and fall.
"If it were before, I wouldn't have recommended you to break through… but now, you don't need to worry," Venerable White said with a faint smile.
If one were to advance in realm too quickly, their foundation might turn out to be unstable. But what was the reason behind it?
Actually, there were many such reasons.
For example, cultivators might lack the complete understanding of their own cultivation techniques if they advanced in realm too quickly, causing the hardware and the software to be out of sync.
For example, their willpower might not be able to keep up with their realm, producing an Inner Demon.
For example, if they lacked in quantity of mental energy or experience, they might have difficulties controlling their power that had sharply risen.
But Song Shuhang didn't have to worry about any of them for the time being… after all, he obtained a lot of experience points while in Young Master Phoenix Slayer's body.
By relying on the good fortune Phoenix Slayer brought him, Song Shuhang had managed to reach the 'master level' in all his cultivation techniques.
Song Shuhang's originally not bad mental energy, which had perhaps increased due to the arduous experiences in the various dreamlands, had now far exceeded his realm.
As for his will… our little friend Song Shuhang once lived as a green onion for several hundred years. After the boring and dull experience of being a green onion, our little friend's will had been thoroughly tempered.