The moment the light flared in Lucian's eyes, he began to frantically recall the runes he had seen from that strange, elevated perspective.
As the mystical state faded, the fine details of the runes began to blur in his mind. to capture what remained of the impression, Lucian raised his hand. His fingers traced the air in rhythmic patterns, attempting to reconstruct the glowing sigils he had witnessed.
Most of his attempts collapsed before the stroke was finished, the energy dissipating into nothingness.
After several moments of failure and repeated effort, he finally dropped his hand, exhaling a long, weary breath. "I think... I've memorized it."
Lucian stood up, adjusted his breathing, and gathered his thoughts. Channeling a significant amount of his Yuanqi, he began to sketch in the air once more. This time, a pale green rune manifested.
He opened his eyes and studied the flickering, somewhat unstable character. To his surprise, once he stopped feeding it energy, the rune didn't vanish. Instead, it began to spontaneously draw in spiritual energy from the surrounding air before stabilizing.
A light breeze began to swirl around the rune, gradually forming into a miniature green whirlwind.
However, once the whirlwind reached a certain intensity, it lost its cohesion and burst outward. The resulting gust of green spiritual energy sent the bamboo leaves above him into a frantic rustle. Emerald leaves drifted down from the canopy like tiny skiffs bobbing on a turbulent sea.
Comparing the rune he had just drawn to the vast, earth-vein patterns he had seen earlier, Lucian felt there were still many flaws—points where the flow felt stagnant or jarring.
"It's unstable! It needs refinement."
Lucian hit a bottleneck. A single rune only produced the effect of a basic "Gale Technique," which felt somewhat underwhelming. But he knew this was only the beginning. He sensed that if his comprehension deepened, he might be able to derive a Taoist art that could rival, or even surpass, the legendary God-Slaying Thunder Bolt.
Unfortunately, for the next month or two, he was at a dead end. He would have to return to his "slacker" ways to accumulate more rest duration. More importantly, he needed to determine if he could even trigger that state again. This was the first time he had converted over thirty days of rest into such a short, intense burst of cultivation, and he wasn't sure if the effect was a guaranteed result of the conversion ratio or a one-time stroke of luck.
"Hmm? If I keep this up, I might break through again soon. I'm at the peak of the third level, just a hair's breadth from the fourth."
Lucian was genuinely shocked by the fullness of the Yuanqi within his body. "I only hit the third level a few days ago, and I'm already knocking on the door of the fourth? This speed is absurd. I suppose I should start preparing for my focus-object—my Dharma treasure."
He began to run through the options in his head. "Most of the Nine Heavens Divine Weaponsare already claimed. Tianyais with Shui Yue, destined for Xueqi. I definitely can't get my hands on Dragon Slayer, and Moxue is with Shiniang. It looks like I'll have to forge my own sword."
If anyone else knew that a boy who hadn't even reached the fourth level of the Jade Essence Realm was already plotting to acquire or rival the Nine Heavens Divine Weapons, they would likely laugh themselves hoarse. But Lucian knew his own worth. Why fear anything when you have a cheat?
"Forget it for now. I've seen plenty of weapon-forging techniques in those 'idle books' anyway."
Thanks to Tian Buyi's hands-off teaching style, most Big Bamboo Peak disciples forged their own weapons. He remembered that in the original story, Du Bishu eventually refined a set of magical dice for himself.
Rustle—rustle—
Suddenly, Lucian heard a faint scuttling sound behind him to the right. It wasn't the sound of a human treading on bamboo leaves, but rather the sound of small claws scratching against the foliage.
He wasn't particularly concerned. In a mountain forest this vast, small animals were common. He remembered Zhang Xiaofan finding the monkey, Xiao Hui, in a similar fashion—though that encounter had involved a fair amount of pain for Xiaofan.
Curious, Lucian walked toward the sound to see this brave little creature. "As long as it isn't a snake," he muttered. He had a deep-seated loathing for anything legless and slimy.
As he cleared the bamboo, the creature's form came into view.
"Huh. A strange species of turtle I've never seen before."
Before him was a turtle about the size of a palm. Its head bore faint golden runes, and its tiny, bead-like eyes had flecks of gold in the pupils. Upon closer inspection, its shell featured nine slightly raised plates with intricate, hair-thin patterns etched into the grooves between them.
Lucian's approach triggered its alarm. It stared at him intensely, taking a wary step back, its entire body coiled in a defensive, almost aggressive posture. The golden runes on its skin began to emit a soft, divine glow.
"This is a find," Lucian's eyes narrowed with interest. "A turtle this extraordinary... it clearly belongs with me."
He laughed softly. He had thought about tracking down Xiao Hui, but the monkey was too mischievous; Xiaofan had spent half his time with a head full of lumps from pinecone attacks. A rare turtle, however, was the perfect companion for a slacker. They could nap under the sun together. If he eventually fed it treasures from the Celestial Emperor's Treasury, he might even raise a Divine Beast on par with the Spirit Venerable water kirin.
Lucian crouched down, using his most soothing tone to coax the creature, unsure if it could even understand him. "Hey there, little guy. Want to come with me? I have great food."
"Wait... this aura is so familiar."
As he got closer, Lucian realized the turtle radiated a scent—a spiritual resonance—identical to the earth veins he had just perceived. The aura was currently dissipating, growing fainter by the second.
Lucian's brow furrowed. He had just finished sensing the mysteries of the earth, and now a turtle linked to those same earth veins appeared. If there wasn't a connection, he'd eat his own shoes.
The little turtle seemed to sense Lucian's lack of malice. The golden glow faded, and it stopped retreating. It even crawled forward a fraction, though it still kept a safe distance.
Gulu~
It made a soft sound. Lucian stopped overthinking the connection and reached out a hand tentatively, aiming to pat the top of its head. "That's it. Come with me and you'll never go hungry. You can sleep all day, and I'll build you a custom pond."
The turtle initially stretched its neck to dodge, but then, perhaps sensing the lingering earth-vein aura on Lucian's skin, it stopped resisting. It allowed Lucian's hand to rest on its head and even gave his palm a gentle nudge.
Lucian scooped the turtle up, letting it sit in his palm as he examined it further.
"Heh, you're actually quite good-looking. I wonder how big you'll get? If you grow large enough, maybe I can use you as a mount—experience what Tang Sanzang felt crossing the Heaven-Reaching River. Just... don't drop me in the water."
Man and turtle stared at each other. As Lucian stroked the cool, hard shell, a thought struck him.
"I need to give you a name. In the story, the spirit monkey is called Xiao Hui (Little Gray). Since you have nine plates on your shell and a connection to the legendary 'Nine Palaces' (Jiu Gong) formations, I'll call you..."