Studying techniques

After successfully ascending to the Yuan Shu Realm once again, Lin Shi sought out a secluded cave deep in the mountains to cultivate in seclusion. She spent a full twenty years raising her cultivation to the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage. Afterward, she began to delve into various unorthodox but remarkably effective spells and formations.

In the tranquil cave, Lin Shi sat cross-legged, her palms facing upwards on her lap. A misty aura, almost tangible white, enveloped her, with faint glimpses of color and gold. Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, her face flushed crimson, and blood trickled from her seven orifices.

As Lin Shi's spiritual energy circulated wildly within her body, she felt a sharp pain in her sea of ​​consciousness and dantian. Her identical nascent soul struggled desperately, as if trying to break free of its restraints. Then, the tiny nascent soul split in two, gradually becoming two even smaller nascent souls. These two smaller nascent souls continued to split, until finally, they divided into eight smaller nascent souls. Eight semi-transparent phantoms slowly peeled away from her body one by one, then returned. The newly separated primordial spirits were still unstable, trembling like newborn chicks, emitting a faint light, but each time they entered and exited her body, they became more solidified.

"Successfully split and replicated the Nascent Soul!" Lin Shi thought to herself with secret joy. But before she could even adjust to the simultaneous existence of several Nascent Souls, the spiritual energy from the outside world seemed to be summoned, transforming into a raging storm that frantically attacked her body, while simultaneously vying to transform into specks of light and penetrate her meridians. This violent spiritual energy both relentlessly assaulted her body and the eight fragile Nascent Souls, and continuously helped repair her wounds and cracks... all of which caused her excruciating pain. Lin Shi gritted her teeth, desperately trying to prevent her body and Nascent Souls from exploding.

Lin Shi's efforts paid off. After a while, the violent spiritual energy became docile and stopped impacting her body and nascent soul. Once the intense pain had subsided considerably, Lin Shi channeled her spiritual power to form a shield, enveloping each of her small nascent souls. Gradually, each small nascent soul stabilized temporarily.

After the eight nascent souls had truly stabilized, Lin Shi tried again, causing one of the nascent souls to split into two identical golden cores. This time, the pain was much less, and Lin Shi quickly created two golden cores as she wished. After that, she tried to let the seven nascent souls and two golden cores each occupy a dominant position. Her cultivation level fluctuated as a result. However, she quickly mastered the corresponding methods, allowing her seven nascent souls and two golden cores to freely switch dominant positions.

After finishing all this, Lin Shi opened her eyes. Her sea of ​​consciousness stretched outwards, but there was nothing unusual within a hundred miles around.

Lin Shi then began another experiment. Relying on the ethereal nature of her primordial spirit, she sent seven small nascent souls out of her body simultaneously to explore the area within a hundred kilometers, before summoning them back.

This technique for splitting the nascent soul or golden core is undoubtedly a secret art of the Dream Heaven Small World, similar to a heretical cultivation method. For cultivators who practice this technique, success is considered a good outcome, but failure inevitably leads to either death and the dissipation of their cultivation, or being plagued by inner demons, going insane, and being unable to advance any further in their cultivation.

Ye Ruxue risked using this method to split her golden core, disguise herself as a cultivator with lower cultivation level, and exchanged merit for offspring. Lin Shi, however, used this method to improve her personal cultivation and attack and self-defense capabilities.

Cultivators and mortals are the same. People who look gentle and weak may sometimes be outwardly gentle but inwardly strong, while those who appear cold and strong may be outwardly fierce but inwardly weak.

Having mastered the Nascent Soul and Golden Core splitting techniques, Lin Shi turned her attention to studying formations. She attempted to integrate some formations from the Dream Heaven Small World and the Blessed Heaven Small World, and gradually, she successfully tested some formations with even greater destructive power. The ancient formations existing in the Blessed Heaven Small World also gave her some inspiration, allowing her to refine some formations that could trap higher-level cultivators even if they were one level higher.

When Lin Shi ascended from the Blessed Heaven Small World, she was able to single-handedly kill as many as thirty cultivators from the Lower Realm Hunter Alliance, which was her first attempt at the new formation. After she went into seclusion to study it, the functions of the fusion formation were further improved, and its destructive power was further enhanced.

Before leaving the seclusion, Lin Shi attempted to use the technique of possession, attaching one of her nascent souls to a flower or plant. If she hadn't already known, she might not have even been aware that her nascent soul had been attached to it.

Finally, after thirty years of seclusion, cultivating and studying various unorthodox spells and formations, Lin Shi emerged from seclusion. Concealing her aura and figure, she traveled to various cities in the Yuan Shu Realm to gather the latest news.

Lin Shi then went to the monks' inn, which was very crowded.

"Have you heard? The Lower Realm Cultivator Hunting Alliance has recently recruited a new batch of members. It's said that their size has grown to several hundred or even a thousand."

"Didn't some cultivators kill them before? Why haven't we heard any news about it lately?"

"The cultivators who might have fought back were far fewer in number than those from the Lower Realm Cultivator Hunting Alliance; they've already perished. If all the cultivators who fought back are dead or gone into hiding, the Lower Realm Cultivator Hunting Alliance will rise up again. It's pitiful that some of the Lower Realm cultivators who painstakingly ascended to the Yuan Shu Realm didn't even have time to dream about the future before losing their lives. Their souls were destroyed, with no chance to be reborn."

"Tsk tsk."

Discussions about the Lower Realm Cultivator Hunting Alliance were everywhere. Besides that, there were also stories of grudges and feuds among other sects and cultivation families. Occasionally, Lin Shi would hear the names of some rising young geniuses and their latest achievements.

Lin Shi couldn't help but sigh. She knew all too well that the path of cultivation was a one-way street filled with thorns and suffering. On this path, the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest were the essence, and struggle was the norm. The vast cultivation world was like a giant chessboard, where every cultivator wanted to be a player, but each cultivator could only become a piece, pushed by the hand of fate, actively or passively participating in the competition for various cultivation resources.

In the smaller worlds of the cultivation realm, because there are fewer cultivators, cultivation resources are relatively less scarce, and the struggles don't reach a fever pitch. However, in a middle-level world like the Yuan Shu Realm, the number of cultivators has increased, and cultivation resources are no longer sufficient. As cultivators' cultivation levels and strength grow, their demand for cultivation resources increases daily, inevitably leading to conflicts of interest and unequal distribution.

In the Realm of Destiny, various sects, cultivation families, and high-ranking rogue cultivators have transformed into opposing yet occasionally cooperative forces vying for cultivation resources. Like dragons emerging from the sea or tigers descending the mountain, they engage in a life-or-death struggle for the supreme immortal opportunities, rare spiritual treasures, and the power to control heaven and earth. In direct confrontations, swords flash and magic explodes like a dazzling galaxy. Outside of direct combat, various schemes and plots intertwine, manipulating everything and leading to an uncontrollable final outcome.

The struggle for resources, the clash of ideologies, and the entanglements of old grudges are like taut strings on a musical instrument, potentially leading to the downgrading of the Great World and the Middle World, and even the demise of the Small World. At that point, no one, whether a remote small sect, a minor cultivation family, or a small rogue cultivator, or a powerful sect, a large cultivation family, or a high-ranking rogue cultivator, will be able to remain uninvolved. Just like the Dream Heaven Small World, which was downgraded from a Great World to its current status as a Small World.

In the struggles among cultivators, the strong mostly teeter on the brink of life and death, while the weak struggle for survival in despair. Cultivators may appear ethereal and otherworldly, but their hearts are consumed by greed and desire. A careless glance, a seemingly ordinary word, can ignite a bloody massacre. The cultivators of the Lower Realm Hunter Alliance, nearing the end of their own lives and with no hope of advancement, actively seek to rob lower realm cultivators of their future.

This is so unfair to the cultivators from the lower realms who have gone through countless hardships to ascend to the upper realms! Many cultivators, once pure and kind, wholeheartedly seeking immortality and helping humanity, have gradually lost themselves in the harsh reality. They may have lost family, lovers, sects, and close friends in the struggle for cultivation resources, even burying their own conscience and kindness, ultimately becoming the very people they once despised who actively harm other cultivators.

Even so, Lin Shi, as a lower realm cultivator who had successfully ascended to the upper realm, still wanted to uphold her Dao heart and original intentions, listen to her inner voice, and do her best to help lower realm cultivators who had just ascended to the upper realm find a way to survive. She wanted to do her best to fight back against the members of the Lower Realm Cultivator Hunting Alliance, which could never be completely eradicated, and gain cultivation improvement and mental refinement from it.

This realization and unwavering Daoist resolve allowed Lin Shi to vaguely sense the laws of heaven and earth, accelerating his cultivation progress.