Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 160: Tier 3 [Illusion Simulation] and Tier 2 Portable Sword Formation
[You are undergoing a Foundation Establishment test in the Illusionary Realm Simulation. Illusionary Realm Simulation +1, Divine Soul +3]

[Effect: Illusion Simulation reaches Tier 3, performing Illusion Simulation]

[Note: Deduced Illusion Simulation is a more advanced extension of Illusion Simulation, capable of simulating future virtual scenes.]

[Total number of simulations: 1001/10,000]

Seeing the prompt that appeared before him, Zhou Ling, who was sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed, couldn't help but show a look of joy.

After lunch.

Zhou Ling finally managed to send the extremely enthusiastic and talkative Sun Dajie away.

After this conversation, Zhou Ling understood Sun Dajie's personality; he was a complete chatterbox.

Fortunately, he knew quite a lot.

After a discussion, Zhou Ling learned a lot about the Dao Academy.

Of course, most of them are unimportant.

Zhou Ling didn't take it to heart.

After seeing Sun Dajie off, Wang Xin sat for a while before heading back to her dormitory to prepare for the start of school the next day.

After cultivating for a while, Zhou Ling activated the [Illusion Simulation] to test the specific effects of the Foundation Establishment test.

After all, there were too many people being tested at the time, and he did not expose the Beast Flame or the Azure Lotus Spirit Flame.

They did not participate in the foundation-building process.

Moreover, the foundation-building process was perceived to be extremely vague.

Zhou Ling didn't know if it was just her situation, or if everyone else was in the same boat.

But it's also possible that it's because his cultivation in the other five elements is too low.

However, he was the only one who failed the Foundation Establishment test, so he was too embarrassed to ask Zhang Daojian.

With the [Illusion Simulation] talent, I'll come back and do a proper simulation test.

The moment I started the [Illusion Simulation], a prompt appeared.

[Illusion Simulation] has reached level three, becoming [Derived Illusion Simulation].

"What's the difference between this [Dual Illusion Simulation]?"

Zhou Ling pondered this in his heart.

According to the annotations, it seems to be a further simulation based on the original [Illusion Simulation]!
Filled with curiosity and anticipation, Zhou Ling continued into the [Dual Illusion Simulation].

As the scene shifted, Zhou Ling reappeared in the pavilion where the Foundation Establishment inspection was being conducted.

But at this moment, all around was quiet, with only him and the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror floating in the void.

Zhou Ling sat cross-legged in meditation. A faint light flickered on the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror, and then a reflection enveloped Zhou Ling's entire body.

To Zhou Ling's astonishment, his phantom image began to appear on the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror.

The findings of this inspection were clearly different from those of my test this morning.

Then, as if transparent, the phantom appeared, revealing the circulation of the five elements meridians within Zhou Ling's body.

At the same time, on the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror, five flames of varying sizes slowly condensed from Zhou Ling's Five Elements Meridians.

A faint white light shone on the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror.

"To cultivate the Five Elements Qianyang True Technique and establish a foundation, one needs to match five different types of spiritual flames. This is the best choice the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror has given me!"

Looking at the changes on the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror, Zhou Ling murmured to himself.

These were things that Zhang Daojian had introduced to them.

Zhou Ling knew in his heart that his master had told him this before.

During the last inspection, the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror emitted a white light upon reaching this point, and the inspection would then have ended.

However, with the talent of [Illusion Simulation], the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror did not emit a white light.

Zhou Ling thought for a moment, then activated the "Five Elements Qianyang True Technique," simultaneously integrating the Beast Flame and Azure Lotus Spirit Flame, along with the Five Elements Spirit Flame, into the circulation of the Five Elements Meridians.

The next moment, two phantom images of spiritual flames emerged from the five elements meridians of the ancient mirror and slowly merged into the circulation of the five elements meridians.

"These are the areas where we can improve and enhance our regular cultivation process!"

As the spiritual flame circulated through the five elements meridians, Zhou Ling sensed an aura different from before.

The speed should be significantly improved.

This is another function of the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror; it can also detect the cultivation process of techniques.

Then, Zhou Ling clearly saw that the original five spiritual flames had also changed.

The fire and wood elemental flames shone brightly.

The color between the two spiritual flames gradually changed from white to red.

The other three spiritual flames remained white.

"After merging with the spiritual flame, a red light finally appeared!"

"This means that if I focus on fire or wood attribute techniques, I may be able to successfully establish my foundation."

"The other three spiritual flames were dim and white, clearly indicating that they were still quite far from reaching the Foundation Establishment stage."

Zhou Ling looked at the illusory image on the ancient mirror and murmured.

Then, as if time were fast-forwarding, the five spiritual flames began to grow stronger.

Based on the results of the last inspection.

Zhou Ling knew that this must be the time when, based on his current cultivation progress, he had cultivated all five types of spiritual power to the ninth level of Qi Refining after a period of time, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Of course, this is just a simulation created by the illusion.

As his spiritual power surged, Zhou Ling could clearly feel his meridians expanding dramatically.

Then, spiritual energy surged through the meridians, rushing fiercely towards the sea of ​​qi. In a short while, the five converging spiritual energies condensed into a five-colored spiritual energy vortex within the sea of ​​qi.

It quickly condensed into a drop of liquefied spiritual energy.

"This is the foundation-building process?"

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

A surge of excitement welled up within me, and I couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of this Mysterious Ancient Mirror.

Of course, he also realized that the main factor was the [Derived Illusion Simulation] function.

This situation only arose after further deduction based on the original premise.

"No wonder the success rate of Foundation Establishment among the disciples of the Six Great Dao Academies is so high!"

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

Having a treasure like the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror alone can save disciples from many detours and increase their chances of Foundation Establishment.

Just as Zhou Ling was sighing, suddenly, the light of the five spiritual flames on the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror began to blur.

At the same time, the vortex of spiritual energy that had been gathered in the Qi Sea also dissipated, and the spiritual power that had been converging towards the Qi Sea suddenly scattered in all directions.

Then, the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror flashed with white light, and the illusory image on it dissipated.

It became smooth as a mirror once again.

"Failed!"

Zhou Ling was helpless.

As soon as he finished speaking, the scene before his eyes changed, and he was back in the dormitory.

Zhou Ling's face was slightly pale.

But his eyes were full of energy.

[You are undergoing a Foundation Establishment test in the Illusionary Realm Simulation. Illusionary Realm Simulation +1, Divine Soul +3]

With the end of the [Illusion Simulation], his spiritual energy was now mostly depleted.

But deep down, I was overjoyed.

Now, he has a general understanding of the function of this [Derived Illusion Simulation].

In other words, based on the original [Illusion Simulation], it is possible to predict the following situation.

Of course, the consumption of spiritual energy also increased significantly.

However, given the current situation, if he continues to simulate this in the future, the probability of achieving Foundation Establishment will increase significantly.

Moreover, during the simulation, one can also improve their cultivation of the "Five Elements Qianyang True Technique" through the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror.

Originally, it was quite difficult for disciples of the Dao Academy to use the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror, as they needed academic credits and approval from the higher-ups of the Dao Academy.

But now, he can use it anytime simply by using the [Derive Illusion Simulation].

Moreover, the effect seems to be several times better than using the Xuan Yuan Ancient Mirror directly.

"Based on this simulation, if I continue with my current cultivation method..."

"At that time, it will be impossible to achieve the Five Elements Foundation Establishment!"

Zhou Ling pondered the simulated situation and murmured to himself.

"However, this deduction is only based on one's own low-grade spiritual root aptitude."

"Now I have the opportunity to activate the Five Elements Thunder Body and can also use my talent to improve the grade of my Spirit Flame."

"Therefore, the premise of this simulation is still not accurate enough."

Zhou Ling continued.

I carefully experienced the situation I had just simulated.

The five elements spiritual power that he had condensed was already quite pure.

There are no problems with his spiritual consciousness either.

However, the difficulty of establishing a foundation in the Five Elements is simply too great.

With only two spirit flames to assist the spirit creature, it is clearly not enough.

After all, the first step of the Foundation Establishment process is the Mana Barrier, which is the condensation and compression of Mana into spiritual liquid.

The two spiritual flames I possessed did not provide ideal support for other types of magical power.

Therefore, the only option left is to find spirit flames with other attributes.

In addition, it is necessary to activate the Five Elements Thunder Body as soon as possible.

This will also increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment. "But this will require a large number of second-tier spiritual items!"

Zhou Ling said helplessly.

Thinking of this, he began to look forward to the Foundation Establishment Seed Assessment in about ten days.

Once you pass the assessment and become a true foundation-building seed, you will receive more resources in the future.

"This [Derive Illusion Simulation] should also be useful for deducing inscriptions!"

At this moment, Zhou Ling murmured again.

【Illusionary Realm Simulation】is not only able to simulate Foundation Establishment tests, but can also simulate actual combat, weapon crafting, and alchemy.

With this idea in mind, Zhou Ling was quite eager to try it out.

Unfortunately, his spiritual energy was already quite depleted, so he could only wait for it to recover before trying again.

Then, he began to sit cross-legged and meditate, practicing the "Qinghui Nourishing Spirit Technique" to restore his spirit.

With the aid of [Restore to Original State], by dusk, his consciousness had recovered to 90%.

It was already lunchtime.

Zhou Ling immediately sent a voice message to Wang Xin, asking her what she wanted to eat for dinner.
Wang Xin quickly replied, "Whatever Brother Ling eats, I'll eat too!"

Since Wang Xin started cultivating at Maple Leaf Mountain last year, Zhou Ling has been responsible for most of her meals.

Therefore, Zhou Ling also knew what Wang Xin liked to eat.

He then left the dormitory.

I bought another five catties of second-tier spirit beast meat, as well as other spirit foods, at the Taoist temple's canteen.

This meal cost another twenty-odd low-grade spirit stones.

[You are absorbing the blood essence of a demon beast. Physique sublimation +1, Blood Essence +1, One Yang True Body +1]

But the expense was still worthwhile.

Zhou Ling was just complaining that he had a small appetite and could only eat three or four catties of meat at a time.

You can only increase the value of the True Body of Yang by 3 or 4 points per day.

Of course, this is in contrast to the fact that his cultivation has progressed by leaps and bounds.

However, Zhou Ling did not dare to be careless.

They worried that this kind of improvement was different from cultivation improvement, and that it was not stable or pure enough.

So, after finishing the meal, I practiced the Dayang Fist several more times in the room.

Wang Xin sipped her spiritual tea and watched him practice his boxing.

After finishing his boxing practice, Zhou Ling was covered in sweat and felt that the room was still too small to fully utilize his skills.

"Xin'er, which techniques do you plan to study?"

After taking a shower and changing his clothes, Zhou Ling came out of the bathroom, sat on a wooden chair, drank a few sips of spiritual tea, and then asked Wang Xin a question.

School officially starts tomorrow.

According to the original curriculum of the Taoist academy, it means that we need to choose a course on technique training.

Although I have now entered the outer gate of Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, the course arrangement will not be much different from that of the original Xi Xia Dao Academy.

The main difference is the cultivation environment, where spiritual energy is more abundant.

The resources available to Taoist temples vary drastically.

"Right now, I mainly want to develop in the field of formations, but if I want to major in formations, I need to go to the second-class academy."

"Therefore, I will still focus on alchemy as my main skill, and use array formations as a secondary skill!"

Upon hearing Wang Xin's words, Zhou Ling frowned, knowing that this girl liked magic arrays.

If someone continues to cultivate elixirs now, it's probably because they want to be in the same dormitory as me.

He couldn't help but say, "Xin'er, if you like magic arrays, then go to the Second A Academy. After all, Instructor Hu is only good at alchemy and weapon crafting!"

Wang Xin shook her head. "I'll focus on learning alchemy first. As for magic arrays, I can audit classes later if I have the chance."

"Is this okay?" Zhou Ling asked.

He was well aware that at their current level, having a master to guide them and not having one were two completely different things.

With a mentor's guidance, one can often grasp things quickly and avoid many detours.

Without the guidance of a renowned teacher, relying solely on self-exploration leads to extremely slow progress and may even result in taking detours from time to time.

This is the advantage of the Dao Academy: it has abundant high-level cultivator resources.

Moreover, magic arrays are much more complex than inscriptions. They are not simply a matter of knowing the array patterns; they also involve astronomy, geography, spiritual veins, meteorology, and so on. They are quite intricate.

Based on the different objects to be deployed, they can be divided into four categories: weapon arrays, human arrays, earth arrays, and heaven arrays.

Weapon formations mainly consist of weapons, such as sword formations.

The Human Formation, as the name suggests, is centered around people.

Earth formations require the use of earth veins and spiritual veins to set up, and these are often large-scale formations, far more difficult than the previous artifact formations and human formations.

The Heavenly Array is even more difficult to set up. It is a star-sea array, and there are very few array masters who can set up the Heavenly Array, even in the Xuan Yuan Dao Academy.

Even though Xin'er has good talent, without the guidance of a renowned teacher, her progress will probably not be very fast.

"There won't be any problems," Wang Xin blinked her big, bright eyes and smiled gently.

Then, he asked Zhou Ling, "Brother Ling, besides inscriptions, what other techniques do you plan to practice?"

Zhou Ling thought about it. He originally planned to major in inscription and then learn some puppetry.

But on the first day of school, he witnessed Liu Yu's genius, who had mastered all three main techniques.

Others, such as Ye Zhilan, also specialize in more than two main techniques.

Should I also consider choosing another major technique besides inscription?
"Besides inscription, I plan to practice puppetry. Also, if time permits in the future, I'd like to learn some magic arrays or alchemy!"

"A puppet? What's so special about this puppet?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xin couldn't help but ask.

"It's easy to operate, easy to learn, and improves combat power!"

Zhou Ling said with a smile.

He naturally had nothing to hide from Wang Xin.

He mainly valued the combat effectiveness of puppets when he trained them.

After all, he still has a certain advantage in terms of his current spiritual cultivation.

"But as far as I know, this puppet consumes a great deal of spiritual energy!"

Wang Xin asked in confusion.

That's exactly what I value!

Zhou Ling replied.

"Well, if we want to improve our combat strength, we might as well continue to practice the Hundred Swords Formation!"

"After all, the Hundred Swords Formation is mainly controlled by divine sense."

Wang Xin shook her head, clearly not understanding Zhou Ling's choice for the moment.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ling's gaze shifted, and he couldn't help but ask expectantly, "Xin'er, are you able to refine a second-tier Hundred Swords Formation?"

This portable sword formation requires a formation master to set it up, and then one must use their own sword cultivation and divine sense to control the sword formation.

The first-tier Hundred Swords Formation can control eight first-tier high-grade magic swords and condense eighty sword beams, which is almost its limit.

However, if Wang Xin wants to use the second-tier Hundred Swords Formation, she will need to rearrange the second-tier Hundred Swords Formation.

It's just unknown whether Wang Xin is already able to independently set up a second-tier personal sword formation.

"I was only able to refine a second-tier portable sword array in the last few days."

"However, setting up a second-tier personal sword formation is far more difficult than setting up a first-tier one."

"Besides needing powerful divine sense to control it, you also need a second-tier sword array disc in your hand!"

Wang Xin picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and ate it, mumbling incoherently.

"A second-tier sword formation plate, is it difficult to forge?"

Zhou Ling couldn't help but ask.

He had a deep understanding of the power of the personal sword formation.

With the added benefit of his own understanding of sword intent and the [Sword Control] talent, he should now be able to perform even a second-tier sword formation.

Of course, he also knew that even with his high level of spiritual cultivation and the [Sword Control] talent, he was still at a disadvantage.

However, at most, one can only control two spirit swords at a time.

However, being able to control two spirit swords simultaneously is enough to overwhelm most cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Even dealing with Kim Sung will not be as difficult as before.

By converging two spiritual swords, it would be enough to easily defeat him.

Moreover, the sword formation mainly consumes spiritual energy, so it is very suitable for his current situation.

"A second-tier Hundred Swords Formation Sword Plate requires a second-grade weapon refiner to forge, and it also needs to have sword formation inscriptions carved on it, so it's quite difficult!"

After finishing the spirit cake, Wang Xin continued talking to Zhou Ling.

"Xin'er, do you have the inscription patterns used to forge this Hundred Swords Formation Plate?"

Zhou Ling couldn't help but ask.

There aren't many portable sword arrays on the market, and array plates like these are even rarer.

Wang Xin clapped her hands and nodded.

He then took out a jade slip from his storage bag and handed it to Zhou Ling, saying, "This jade slip contains information about the Hundred Swords Formation, including the crafting of the formation plate."

"However, it doesn't seem to be perfect!"

“Incomplete!” Zhou Ling frowned upon hearing this.

He then accepted the jade slip.

(End of this chapter)