Chapter Seventeen: The Secret of Interconnected Divinity

  "Of course, not all living beings can withstand the power of a cursed seal. Although a cursed seal can greatly enhance a being's life force, without a strong physical body to support it, using a cursed seal to suddenly boost one's life force is no different from suicide! After all, one must think of the source when drinking water - the body is the foundation of strength. Without the body's support, the power brought by the cursed seal is but a fleeting illusion, and will wildly drain the potential within the body, leading to the being's sudden death!"

  It was through Yue Changsheng's explanation that Li Xiao finally understood why Guo Xueyuan had to take an entrance exam despite being a new student.

  The strength of the spiritual power directly affects the casting of the curse, and Li Xiao has a deep understanding of this. The strength of the power is proportional to the physical function, so humans with a punch force of less than 500 kilograms do not have the qualifications to enter the National Academy and embark on the path of cultivation.

  Li Xiao was also relieved that he had gained a lot of strength from the Year Beast, otherwise he would have been completely eliminated by Guo Xue Academy.

  "The incantation seal, due to its special nature, requires that every single sound and rhythm be accurate, or else the incantation seal will lose its effect and fail. This time, I will impart all of the methods for casting the incantation seals in the entire Secret Pavilion to you, so remember them well."

  For a whole day, Li Xiao was in the Secret Pavilion, exerting his extraordinary talent that surpassed ordinary people, and completely engraved all 365 talismans on the second floor of the Secret Pavilion into his mind.

  At this moment, Yue Changsheng looked at Li Xiao's performance and couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.

  For those who have just entered the Imperial Academy, the real difficulty is not talent, but memory. The 365 intricate incantations, with the longest one consisting of hundreds of seals, even took Yue Changsheng half a year to memorize and master.

  And all these seals, some students spend their whole lives and still can't fully master them.

  "Alright, today's lesson ends here. Remember, although you have mastered these seals, your spiritual strength is too weak. Even if you cast them, you can only cast the simplest five or six seals at a time, and no more than three times in a row. Otherwise, your spirit will collapse, and your soul may disappear at any moment, resulting in complete physical death!"

  Yue Changsheng's expression turned stern as he warned Li Xiao.

  He nodded his head, and Li Xiao remembered the master's teachings in his heart.

  "Alright, it's getting late today, you can rest here. I'll come back tomorrow and teach you the way of spiritual cultivation."

  Yue Changsheng put the books he had picked up back on the bookshelf, Li Xiao nodded in response, and when he looked again, Yue Changsheng's figure had already disappeared.

  Before he could even recall what he had learned today, Li Xiao felt a pang of hunger in his stomach. Suddenly remembering that after having breakfast with Nie Liang and the others near their residence, he was brought here by Master Yue Changsheng and hadn't eaten again since then.

  Now thinking about it, I suddenly feel weak all over, and my stomach is unbearably hungry.

  Just thinking of going out to find some food, a student brought up a bowl of rice on the second floor.

  "This is a meal for disciples, it was Master Yue Changsheng who instructed me to bring it up. You must be Li Xiao, the junior fellow disciple, please have some."

  Li Xiao was overjoyed and said:

  "I haven't eaten for two meals, I'm starving to death, thank you brother."

  Li Xiao took over a bowl of rice, although there was only cabbage and tofu on top, Li Xiao ate it extremely fragrantly.

  After eating a bowl of rice, Li Xiao felt much more comfortable.

  "Look at how hungry I am, I forgot to ask, what's your honorable surname, senior brother?"

  The man who sent rice to Li Xiao laughed:

  "Li Xiao was being polite, when I first entered this national academy, I wasn't even as good as my junior brother! As for me, Wang Ziyuan, back then when I entered the national academy, facing the cafeteria food, it was extremely difficult to swallow at first. However, now that I've gotten used to it, I feel uncomfortable if I don't eat a meal."

  With a common topic, the distance between them suddenly narrowed a lot.

  "Master said that there are nine layers of spiritual realm, but I really don't know about this and also don't know what kind of realm Master is in now?"

  The two of them chatted for a while before Li Xiao started asking some questions he didn't understand.

  "Reaching the spiritual realm is the first step in cultivation, and as a junior brother who has just entered the academy, it's normal that you're not clear about it. Although there are nine levels of spiritual realm, advancing each step is extremely difficult. In previous years, if one could raise their strength to the third level of spiritual realm within the first year of entering the national academy, they would be considered an absolute genius and would receive special training in the year-end assessment, with a chance to compete for the title of core disciple in the future. For students who have just entered the academy, it's common to quickly enter the first level of spiritual realm, but to break through to the second level, aside from time, one needs a certain amount of innate talent. As for me, although I've wasted seven years, I'm only at the fifth level of spiritual realm now, and naturally can't be compared to geniuses of the same year."

  The prince shook his head, the Nine Layers of Spiritual Communication seemed simple, but in reality, it was extremely difficult to cultivate. In a year's time, most students could only enter the second layer, and this student had cultivated for seven years, but only reached the fifth layer. No wonder the strong ones who transcended the ordinary were the top existence in the Wu Chu State, it turned out that the path of cultivation was so difficult.

  Taking a deep breath, Li Xiao had never thought that he would be able to embark on the path of cultivation so smoothly since he knew he was going to take it. The 365 talismans were all memorized by Li Xiao in just one day, which is a miracle for all the students of Guo Xueyuan! Similarly, with the talismans already memorized, Li Xiao had more time to practice his mental skills and eliminate his weaknesses earlier, which was the capital of Li Xiao's cultivation journey.

  After Wang Zi Yuan left, Li Xiao slept in the second floor of the Secret Chamber.

  On the second day, Li Xiao got up early and recalled the familiar incantation in his mind once again. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he used his spiritual energy to apply a seal to himself.

  According to Yue Changsheng, the ultimate goal of applying the curse seal is to use the power of the curse seal to cleanse oneself, so that the effect of the curse seal remains forever in the body. When all 365 curse seals are applied, it will be the day of great success for Tonglingjiu!

  The seal was placed on his body, and Li Xiao sat steadily on the ground, slowly feeling the power of the seal. What surprised Li Xiao was that after the seal was applied, a force did not spread throughout his body, but instead surged towards his arm, finally entering the tip of his finger, specifically at the position of the Shaochong acupoint.

  Li Xiaozhong clearly remembered that the last time he used his curse seal, when he woke up, the power of the self-mutilating scripture also fell into this Shaochong acupoint. Similarly, this time the power of the curse seal also flowed here. Could it be that the self-mutilating scripture was meant to connect the meridians and become a powerful martial artist?

  Li Xiao couldn't help but smile wryly. His goal wasn't to practice martial arts, but rather to cultivate his spiritual energy at a higher level. However, the current situation made it difficult for him to control himself, after all, the power was within his body and he had no dominance over it.

  "Li Shidi, did you sleep well last night? I brought some food for you."

  The prince brought a bowl of food, with a smile on his face, and walked up.

  "Thanks, brother. The environment here is great, warm in winter and cool in summer, how can one not sleep well? I just woke up and happened to be a bit hungry, so I won't be polite."

  Since I came into this world, these two days are the best and most comfortable meals I've had.

  Li Xiao ate up all the rice, wiped his mouth clean, and only then asked Wang Ziyuan:

  "Big brother, I see you're in this secret chamber and don't go out. Don't you need to go to the academy to study?"

  The prince heard this and burst out laughing:

  "This junior brother is worrying too much. A cultivator who has reached the fifth level of Tongling doesn't need to go to a school to cultivate, they can just practice on their own. This is an accumulative process that requires constantly using mantras and mudras to support oneself, there are no shortcuts."

  "I see, I've learned something from you, junior brother."

  Li Xiao nodded, and at this moment, Yue Changsheng's figure stepped onto the second floor of the Secret Pavilion. Wang Ziyuan and Li Xiao paid their respects with a bow, and after bidding farewell, Wang Ziyuan took the bowl and went down.

  "I heard that a prodigy has emerged in the academy, who has already broken through to the first level of Tongling after just one day of cultivation and is highly valued by the elders. You should cultivate well."

  "Yes, young one obeys."

  Yue Changsheng nodded and said:

  "Today I will point out to you the method of spiritual cultivation. After you have practiced it, you can go back and cultivate on your own, without needing my guidance again."

  Li Xiao heard this and understood the importance of this spiritual tempering method. He immediately responded and became serious.

  "The spirit is the foundation of a monk, and the strength of the spirit can also be called willpower. The stronger the spiritual power, the more vigorous the soul's power will be. A person's soul is like an ordinary person themselves, and their spiritual power is equivalent to an ordinary person's overall ability. The stronger one's body is, the stronger their physical functions will be in all aspects, and the overall strength that bursts out will naturally be very powerful."

  Through Yue Changsheng's explanation, Li Xiao came to know that spiritual strength was the power of a person's soul will bursting out, and the two were closely related, indispensable.

  "The refinement of spiritual power is the tempering of the soul, requiring willpower to transcend the physical body, touching the natural world, transforming the soul, and reaching a realm of ascension."

  This time, Yue Changsheng took Li Xiao into the third layer.

  There were also many books here, placed on the bookshelves. Yue Changsheng pulled out the first one, which had a few words written on it - Tong Shen Jue.

  "The Tongshen Secret is the fundamental method of our country's academic spiritual cultivation. You will unlock it."

  Yue Changsheng handed the book to Li Xiao. Taking over the book, he opened it to the first page, and a few dozen words appeared before his eyes.

  "The human body is the bridge, the soul is the root, heaven and earth are the furnace, refining the soul and communicating with the divine!"

  Sixteen words opened, Li Xiao's heart skipped a beat as he looked down.

  The book talks about taking the soul as the foundation, spiritual will becoming oneself, breaking free from the shackles of the physical body, merging with the natural world, using the spiritual power within heaven and earth to temper one's spirit, causing the soul's foundation to transform, and greatly increasing one's spiritual will!

  "I'll help you get through this once, so be sure to remember the trick!"