Chapter 578: Spirit Creation
"Heaven and Earth Inverted!"
A massive weight lifted from Dong Fang Sa's mind as he received the air crystal from Bai Mo's hand, a heavy stone finally settling in his heart. Eight years of meticulous scheming, every step of his elaborate plans, all culminated in today's action. A man's name casts a long shadow; manipulating such a terrifying figure had utterly drained his mental energy.
As the price for the entire plan, he had, all told, expended over five hundred years of his soul lifespan. From concealing heavenly secrets to setting up the grand array, and finally, to that inevitable 'strike,' every minute, every second, was a burning away of his life.
Merely concealing the heavenly secrets, preventing Bai Mo from detecting that he was being schemed against, cost Dong Fang Sa a tenfold price in lifespan. Over five years of concealment, he burned through fifty years of his lifespan.
Not to mention the countless heart-wrenching divinations expended to resolve various issues.
…
According to calculations by numerous supernatural biologists, the average expected lifespan of a fifth-tier cultivator is approximately one thousand years. Dong Fang Sa, who had barely crossed the threshold of the fifth tier, estimated he should have originally lived for about eight hundred and fifty years.
Even with a lifespan ten times that of an ordinary person, he remained deeply anxious.
Because years ago, the moment he painstakingly ascended to the fifth tier, Dong Fang Sa discovered that it seemed as if the entire world was rejecting him, resisting his continued progress.
…
As cultivation theory gradually refined, the concept of aptitude became increasingly clear in society.
To this day, no one knew what exactly determined a person's so-called "aptitude," yet many could clearly sense a distinct boundary within themselves.
When their cultivation approached this boundary, the individual's cultivation speed would begin to significantly decrease. The closer they got to the limit, the slower their progress became, until it nearly halted entirely.
…
Few would willingly watch themselves stagnate for centuries until death, and Dong Fang Sa, who yearned to forge his own path, was certainly no exception.
Although a fifth-tier superhuman could become the nominal governor of a city in the Federation, living a life of glory and wealth, this was not what he desired.
He would rather stake everything on gambling for a future of his own.
…
Also participating in this life-and-death gamble were the young people positioned at the eight directional array nodes.
Before accepting this mission, they already knew clearly that failure meant death, that looking back, there was only the Road to the Yellow Springs. But from their humble origins, they had no choice; to defy fate and change their destiny, this was their only opportunity.
…
"Spirit Tide, rise!" Dong Fang Sa's eyes bulged, blood-tears streaming from the corners as he struggled immensely to control the compass.
After Bai Mo willingly stepped into the compass's phantom image, the compass, which had been spinning rapidly and seemed ethereal, instantly slowed down, as if a Tyrannosaurus Rex had suddenly climbed onto a carousel, making even the act of spinning incredibly strenuous.
At the same time, strange substances began to seep from the edges of the compass.
The compass's phantom image, now transformed into a great millstone, seemed intent on grinding Bai Mo into Bai Mo powder.
…
"A brilliant conception, to set their sights on me and attempt to recreate the Spirit River Autumn of thirty years ago."
Bai Mo, at the center of the compass's black hole, had already abandoned his human form, allowing this entity named the Star Core Grinding Disc to strip away his power.
Yet, the millstone's power was too weak; even with all its might, it only managed to wear away the tip of the iceberg of this avatar's power.
…
"He really went in?!"
In Marinjoia, the capital of the Federation, all the council members watched the scene of Bai Mo willingly walking into the Heaven and Earth Millstone.
As a person of the highest level of concern, every shot of him after his avatar arrived on the Moon was tracked by dedicated teams.
They could hardly believe their eyes; such an obvious "inviting the gentleman into the jar" tactic had actually managed to trick him!
"Two possibilities: first, he really fell for it; second, he didn't care, or perhaps walking in might yield him certain benefits."
After confirming the authenticity of the footage and a brief moment of shock, the now calm council members quickly arrived at this conclusion.
"The person who set up the array is called Dong Fang Sa, the president of the Geomancy Research Society. His last power authentication result was 5-1." Dong Fang Sa's data file was immediately presented by the staff.
"Fifth-tier early stage, then? Quite courageous."
Within the Federation, research societies of countless names were innumerable. Far too many people wished to forge their own paths, to become founders of sects and ancestors of lineages, their names revered through the ages.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of these attempts were merely reflections in a mirror, flowers in water. Had Dong Fang Sa not possessed fifth-tier power, standing out like a crane among chickens amidst a flock of makeshift organizations, the council members likely wouldn't have even noticed such an association existed.
"So, do we need to—"
"First, let's wait and see. Everything hinges on breaking free of Earth-Moon orbit."
"That's right. This is merely one of his avatars; even if it's destroyed, it's nothing significant."
…
"At this rate, it will probably take half an hour to remove the impurities from this avatar," Bai Mo continuously calculated the Star Core Grinding Disc's power.
As Dong Fang Sa gradually began to draw upon the Moon's celestial power, the Star Core Grinding Disc's rate of dissolving Bai Mo finally reached a visually perceptible level.
…
Several years ago, Dong Fang Sa sensitively discovered that the power shrouding the Land of White seemed to vaguely separate into two layers.
One layer seemed to belong to the power of this world, while the other part truly belonged to a certain consciousness.
How similar this was to the combat style of them, the Feng Shui Spirit Masters!
When they fought, they similarly used Feng Shui arrays as a fulcrum, leveraging the power of heaven and earth to empower themselves.
From then on, an idea sprouted in his mind: perhaps these powers, which didn't truly belong to that person, were the fundamental reason he could display such overwhelming strength.
It was based on this conjecture that he gradually constructed the blueprint for the entire plan.
He intended to restore these powers, which appeared to belong to Bai Mo, into the free-floating spirit qi of heaven and earth, transforming them back into a small-scale Spirit River Autumn, and thereby alter his own aptitude!
Because big data indicated that the group of people with the highest average aptitude currently existing were precisely those who, during that year's Spirit River Autumn, personally faced the impact of the Spirit Tide.
After conceiving this plan, Dong Fang Sa had been constantly thinking about how it could truly be realized.
All the difficulties pointed to Bai Mo; he could not possibly sacrifice himself for this plan.
So he once again burned his life for a divination, intending to use ten years of his lifespan to find the answer.
The result was completely beyond his expectation; the divination surprisingly showed everything would go smoothly, that Bai Mo would not hinder it, and would even actively assist!.
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