The next day, after breakfast, he returned to the area behind the Taoist temple to practice the Wind Blade. This time, instead of firing invisible blades at an empty space, he directed them at a nearby meteorite. He wanted to test the power of the Wind Blade and see if it could slice through the rock.
Standing three meters away, he raised his hand and released an invisible blade. With a dull "thud," the blade struck the meteorite, sending stone chips flying and leaving a scar about half an inch deep and over a foot long.
He was overjoyed. If this invisible blade could leave a half-inch mark on stone, it would certainly be capable of severing flesh. He took another half-step back and fired again. This time, because he was half a meter further away, the blade left only a faint white mark on the stone. Unsatisfied, he channeled his spiritual power, recited the incantation silently, and fired another invisible blade with all his might.
"Thud!" Another dull sound echoed, and stone chips scattered. He rushed over to inspect the impact and found that the blade, powered by his full spiritual output, had left a mark almost identical to the one made from three meters away. He felt that the distance was still too short; ten meters would be ideal, as it would allow him to silently eliminate the ghosts from afar.
He stood in place, continuously channeling his spiritual power and firing blade after blade at the meteorite. Stone chips flew in all directions, and soon the rock was covered in a crisscrossing web of scars. As he continued to exert himself, his spiritual power began to wane. Feeling his Dantian nearly empty, he decided to fire one last blade before returning to the temple to meditate and recover.
Just as he released that final blade, he felt the spiritual power in his Dantian and meridians instantly drained. A sharp pain gripped his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning deathly pale. He slumped to the ground with a thud.
At the same moment he spat the blood, the meteorite nearby let out a sharp "crack" and shattered. From within the debris, a gray bead fell, bouncing toward him. As it rolled, it landed right in the puddle of his fresh blood.
Upon making contact with his blood, the gray bead transformed into a gray streak of light and darted toward him. Luo Jiang was startled; in his weakened state, he couldn't even move to dodge, and the light was moving far too quickly. It shot straight into the center of his forehead.
Terrified by something entering his head, he tried to reach up to touch his brow, but he lacked the strength even to lift his arm. He hurriedly used his Divine Sense to reach into his Storage Bag, pulled out a few spirit stones, held them in his hand, and began to cultivate.
Over half an hour later, having recovered most of his spiritual power, he used it to mend his internal injuries. Only when his energy circulated freely again did he feel at ease. He touched his forehead—it was neither painful nor itchy, and there was no discomfort in his mind.
Still uneasy, he used his Divine Sense to inspect his head. He found an image of a grain-sized gray bead floating within his Consciousness Sea. He communicated with his Consciousness Sea to pull the bead out. Once released, the bead regained its physical form, appearing as a round, peanut-sized sphere.
He gripped the gray bead, but it showed no signs of anything special; it looked like an exceptionally ordinary gray marble. Luo Jiang couldn't fathom why this object had entered his consciousness. He scanned it with his Divine Sense and saw nothing but gray mist inside, with no discernible boundaries.
As he studied the bead, a message flooded into his mind: "The Void Source Dao Bead. Originally a Source Dao Bead birthed alongside the Primordial Universe from the Void Universe, it is the origin of the Great Dao."
Another message followed: "This is a cultivation formula named the 'Yuandao Formula.' Only by cultivating the Yuandao Formula and reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage can one’s physical body enter the Source Dao Bead and become its master."
"So that's it! But what is this 'Void Universe'? And how did it derive the Primordial Universe? What even is the Primordial Universe? This is all too profound."
Luo Jiang knew nothing of these legends. He recalled the various books in the secret chamber and thought they might contain records. Ignoring that he was still outside, he retrieved the books from his Storage Bag and began to read through them.
After more than half an hour, he found a description of the universe's origin. Between heaven and earth, there was originally only void, devoid of all life—what later generations called the Void Universe. After countless epochs, the Void Universe birthed the "Dao," and from the Dao came the Primordial Universe. When the Primordial Universe shattered, it birthed the Chaos Universe, which brought forth Pangu. Pangu then used his axe to split the Chaos Universe, forming the world as it exists today.
After reading this, Luo Jiang understood the process of cosmic formation. He reasoned that since this gray bead was birthed alongside the Primordial Universe, it was a relic from the origin of the Great Dao, and the Yuandao Formula must be a cultivation method from that same era—surely far more powerful than anything in his Storage Ring.
"With a superior formula, why shouldn't I switch to the Yuandao Formula? Besides, once I reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, I can enter the Source Dao Bead and become its master. And judging by the space inside, it can hold so many things! If I don't seize this opportunity, I'd be a fool."
Driven by the prospect of these benefits, he stood up, hurried back to his room in the temple, set up a spirit-gathering array with his spirit stones, and sat cross-legged on his mat to practice the Yuandao Formula.
This was his third time changing cultivation formulas. Fortunately, he had experience, and as he was only at the Qi Refining 2nd Layer, changing the path of energy flow through his meridians was not overly difficult.
Half a day later, his cultivation stabilized at the Qi Refining 1st Layer as he switched to the Yuandao Formula. More impurities were purged from his body. Accustomed to this process, he cleaned himself, ate something, and returned to his room to continue practicing.
Five or six days later, he broke through again to the Qi Refining 2nd Layer and ventured back into the mountains behind the temple.
He wanted to see if the Yuandao Formula made any difference in the power of his Magic Arts compared to his previous cultivation. He found a stone about a zhang in size, stood three and a half meters away, and released an invisible blade. With a crisp "crack-crunch," the massive rock was instantly sliced in two.
"Whoa! Holy cow! That's vicious!" Seeing the rock split, he exclaimed in shock, immediately followed by pure elation. The Yuandao Formula was indeed several times more powerful than his previous method.
Before, when practicing his old formula, a Wind Blade would at most leave a half-inch scar on the stone. Now, at the same cultivation level, the difference in the formula alone allowed the Wind Blade to cleave the rock entirely.
He felt that switching to the Yuandao Formula was the wisest decision he had ever made, and he couldn't help but congratulate himself on his own brilliance—his master had clearly been right about him.
Overjoyed, he began to increase the distance. From three meters, he moved to six, and then to ten, each time successfully splitting large rocks with a single invisible blade. It wasn't until he reached twenty meters that the blade failed to cleave a rock entirely, though it still carved a deep, half-meter-long trench into it.
"Hmph! At this rate, I can take out ghosts from twenty-five meters away. This far exceeds my initial plans. Now, to practice the Fireball."
After muttering to himself, he cast a Fireball. As soon as it appeared on his fingertip, it was the size of a water vat. Channeling his spiritual power, the fireball instantly surged to the size of a house. Terrified, he quickly hurled it away. With a deafening boom, a massive fire ignited in the distance. The intense heat instantly melted the snow in the area, sending up white steam, and soon the melted snow began to spread across the ground.
The fireball burned for over a minute before the flames slowly extinguished, leaving the snow for dozens of meters around completely evaporated.
He waited a while for the heat to subside before running over to inspect the site. The stones and soil were scorched to a sulfurous state, a testament to the fireball's extreme temperature.
"My goodness! That's fierce. Next time I use the Fireball, I'll need to use less spiritual power, or I'll melt the very ground I'm standing on."
In the following days, he practiced these arts daily and learned new ones, such as the Water Cleansing Art, Invisibility Technique, Earth Evasion Technique, Rain-Making Art, and Healing Art.
He didn't stop until the New Year. By then, he had mastered these techniques so thoroughly that he could cast them instantly, without the need to silently recite incantations as he had before. He had truly reached the point where his mind and his actions were one; he could trigger any technique with a mere wave of his hand.