The golden light blocked the study hall door like a wall. Hui Shuo tried to squeeze forward for a long time, but couldn't even take a single step in. Seeing that Wang Yao had already slipped through the door, he got anxious and took out the wooden fish, about to knock on it.
"Don't bother, there's only one room inside. Since you can't get in, just stay at the door. I'll come out when I'm done." Wang Yao hurriedly stopped Hui Shuo. This was the South Gate of Heaven, and he didn't know if Hui Shuo's wooden fish sound could be heard. If it was heard, it would cause trouble.
This is, after all, the realm of immortals. If a monk sneaks in and starts chanting scriptures, the patrolling celestial generals will probably be busy again. Anyway, those immortals don't seem to be able to see Hui Shuo's presence, so he might as well just hide here and play hide-and-seek, quietly absorbing some of Hui Shuo's spiritual energy.
“Oh…” Hui Shuo glanced around the study hall and confirmed that it was indeed just a room. He didn’t insist on going in. Wang Yao saw him and sat down cross-legged in front of the study hall.
"Move a little to the side, be careful someone comes by, don't block their way." Wang Yao told Hui Shuo to sit by the door so that he wouldn't be blocking the entrance to the study hall.
"Father and Mother, you should go quickly. I'll wait for you outside the door." Hui Shuo nodded, moved to another spot, sat down cross-legged again, and said to Wang Yao.
"Don't run around. This is the land of immortals. The rules are very strict. They'll chop your head off or stomp your feet at the drop of a hat, and they'll even use an axe to chop you up! My skills are meager. If something really happens to you, I can't save you." Wang Yao glared at Hui Shuo to scare him.
"I understand, I won't run around." Hui Shuo nodded repeatedly, a look of fear on his face.
Wang Yao walked into the study hall, stood there for a few minutes, then turned around, pushed open the door, and looked at Hui Shuo. He saw Hui Shuo there with his head down, eyes closed, and lips moving as if he were reciting scriptures, completely unaware that he had returned.
He glanced around at where Hui Shuo was sitting, making sure that unless the immortals were straying off course or deliberately acting drunk, they wouldn't easily bump into him. Only then did he feel a little more at ease. He smiled slightly and turned to walk into the study hall again.
Wang Yao had already studied the first two display boards in the study hall, "Fearless Childhood" and "Determined Youth," but the next one was "Unyielding Youth."
The scene depicts a young boy battling a water monster that resembles both a fish and a snake. Lightning flashes and thunder roars in the sky, while below lies a vast, turbulent ocean with towering, turbid waves. The young Heavenly Emperor stands suspended in mid-air, his handsome face displaying a serious and righteous expression.
The fish-like, snake-like monster was leaping from the water, poised to pounce on the Heavenly Emperor. Although the monster had a head that resembled a carp, the Heavenly Court's painters were extremely skilled, and with just a few strokes, they painted the fish head to be incredibly ferocious. It was clear that the monster was not a kind creature willing to be a fish.
The text on one side says that after the Heavenly Emperor embarked on the path of cultivation, he eliminated demons and monsters and did many great things that shocked the human world. The picture on the display board shows the Heavenly Emperor's deeds of eliminating the Hunhe River monster.
The introduction concludes with a quote from the Heavenly Emperor: "The struggle against monsters is not about romance, dinner parties, or gambling. Never forget, if you show mercy to a monster, it will cruelly devour you!"
Wang Yao stared at the quote for a long time, seemingly understanding something, and then sat down cross-legged to begin absorbing spiritual energy.
With a system level of 12, his spiritual power level had reached 24. Wang Yao had also mastered 12 immortal arts: summoning wind, summoning rain, freezing ice, drawing lightning, electric snakes, paper puppets, intimidation, body tempering, mind questioning, spiritual perception, taming, and fortification.
He understood the general purpose of some of these magical arts just by their names, but he didn't quite understand others and needed to consult the system prompts. Some he even had to wait until he returned to the human realm to try them out and figure them out.
He learned from Xi Fu's introduction that every eleventh magic spell is a matchmaker's innate skill, and the magic spell "Questioning the Heart" is the twenty-first magic spell he has mastered. According to Xi Fu, this is another matchmaker's innate skill, just like the magic spell "Good Person".
Wang Yao paid special attention to the immortal technique "Questioning the Heart." Unlike the vague prompts for "Good Person," the system's prompts for this immortal technique were different. He immersed his mind in the immortal technique, and what appeared in his mind was a line with hooks at both ends, like a fishing line.
"Level 1 Mind-Reading Technique: You can ask the other person a secret they hold dear." The system notification appeared.
It seems that this immortal technique "Questioning the Heart" is similar to the immortal technique "Sensing," except that "Sensing" is about understanding the secrets of people's actions, while "Questioning the Heart" is about exploring the secrets of people's hearts. Wang Yao thought to himself after reading the system prompt.
Wang Yao didn't bother guessing about the other immortal techniques, because he had already spent too much time absorbing spiritual energy this time. He never expected that even though his cultivation level hadn't reached the Foundation Establishment stage, the amount of spiritual energy he needed could already be described as massive.
It takes more than 2 million spiritual power to go from level 12 to level 13. After that, the spiritual power required for each level up doubles. When he broke through level 20 and reached the late stage of Qi Refining, he actually used more than 500 million spiritual power.
However, the spiritual energy consumed later was not too exaggerated. After reaching 500 million, each level required an additional 10 million spiritual energy points on top of the previous level. Even so, it was still quite terrifying!
He needed over 540 million points of spiritual energy to level up from 23 to 24! Over 540 million points of spiritual energy! It all disappeared in an instant when he leveled up, and then he slowly absorbed it back. Good heavens, Wang Yao finally understood what it meant to cultivate without end.
Even though the spiritual energy numbers in his mind kept jumping up, he could still guess that this absorption of spiritual energy was definitely not something that could be done in a day or two. Moreover, time passes faster in the Immortal Realm than in the Human Realm, so he really had no idea how much time had been spent.
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