novelbin Chapter 308 - 297: The Ritual’s Influence
Chapter 308 - 297: The Ritual’s Influence
"You have observed a complete Spirit God ritual. Inspiration +1000!"
"The influence of the Spirit God is beyond your imagination. As a bystander, you have received a blessing that increases your Spiritual Power daily."
"Current Divine Blessing Buff: +100 Spiritual Power daily until the inspiration in your heart fades."
"The remnants of the Hidden Mist Butterfly’s and Black and White Long-Armed Ape’s souls, which are attached to you, were also affected by the Spirit God ritual. Their remnant soul forms have been somewhat repaired, and both have entered a dormant state."
"Cyan Treasure observed the Spirit God ritual. Its inspiration has greatly increased, and its Spiritual Power has grown!"
"Ah Kun observed the Spirit God ritual. Its inspiration has greatly increased, and its Spiritual Power has grown!"
This barrage of story updates left Gu Ming dazzled. He had never imagined that just by observing the Spirit God ritual, he would receive such terrifying benefits.
’Maybe in the system’s eyes, the Spirit God ritual was far more powerful than what I witnessed?’
With this thought, Gu Ming brought his two Pet Beasts into a dream, entering the Dream Cultivation Space.
In the dream world, where time flowed more slowly, Gu Ming closed his eyes again to savor every detail of the Spirit God ritual that had just occurred.
And come to think of it, the Spirit God ritual he had witnessed was already slightly different from the ritual in his memory.
In his perception, the fluctuations triggered by the ritual Lu You conducted were utterly terrifying.
At the site of the ritual, the ripples of Spiritual Power were like tangible waves, surging and crashing outside the villa.
The tempestuous torrent was so strong it nearly caused the Spiritual Field of the entire school to fluctuate in response.
After all, it was the descent of a great being—the Spirit God.
Even a mere glance from a great distance was enough to alarm everyone at the university.
However, the system had only given an understated description of the ritual’s process.
The reactions of people outside were not recorded by the system.
Gu Ming secretly wondered about the long delay in the system’s plot update. ’Could it be that during that time, the ritual alerted the school and triggered a series of investigations?’
However, since he had interrupted the ritual in the real world just as it began, the ripples Lu You caused hadn’t been so terrifying.
The villa was also protected by an anti-scrying Array, which contained most of the aftershocks within the courtyard and prevented them from spreading.
This disparity between the two realities was likely why Gu Ming had to wait for a while; the system only updated the plot after the future timeline’s events had concluded.
The boost to Gu Ming’s Spiritual Power was a direct result of the powerful overflow from the Spirit God ritual, which had affected him most directly.
Lu You, being at the very center of the ritual’s storm, had received the most terrifying benefits of all.
This was likely the fundamental reason her Spiritual Power had doubled.
After reflecting on the differences in his memory, Gu Ming realized that the so-called 1,000-point surge in inspiration was far greater than he had imagined.
Now, just by briefly recalling the placement of the various materials used in the Array and the relevant principles of Array Art, everything suddenly connected, giving him a completely new perspective.
The next time he set up an Array, he could design it to be even more intricate, strengthening its summoning power and avoiding a near-failure like this time, where the summoning was delayed for so long.
And that wasn’t all. His thoughts seemed to have grown wings. He could now analyze the medicine Lu You had taken and deduce the changes in Daoist Skill it had induced as it flowed through her body.
The medicine that reduced insensitivity to Spiritual Power was especially worth digging into.
Lu You’s method of consumption had been too simple; she hadn’t fully unlocked the medicine’s potential.
Gu Ming had more inspiration than he knew what to do with, his mind racing with endless connections.
’So this is what a thousand-point surge in inspiration feels like?’ The more his mind raced, the more frightening it became.
He wanted to stop the train of thought, but his mind unconsciously continued its deductions.
As more and more thoughts crowded his mind, he soon opened his eyes.
He pulled out the Great Dao Gold Paper from his bedside and began to write and sketch, recording his flashes of inspiration.
The Wenquxing Ink left characters on the paper that shone with a golden light. Each word seemed to come alive, brimming with a rich Spiritual nature.
Cyan Treasure, affected by this, sat up straight and craned its head over to look, its eyes wide with amazement.
The more Gu Ming wrote, the more his excitement surged. He wished he could perform a Spirit God ritual for himself the very next day.
He only stopped writing before the Great Dao Gold Paper when his Spiritual Power was completely depleted, his face deathly pale.
Only then did he come to his senses. ’I’m in the Dream Space. My Spiritual Power is just depleted, that’s all. That’s why I’ve regained my sanity.’
’If this had happened in reality, the consequences would have been severe.’
Gu Ming let out a long breath. He visualized the Cyan Pine, honing his Divine Soul with his Cultivation Technique. He then used his Divine Sense Sword Body, slashing again and again to sever the distracting thoughts in his mind.
Slowly, he regained his full sanity, the anxiety and excitement fading away.
He sensed that his Sanity Value had dropped severely while he was recalling the ritual.
This realization sent a jolt of alarm through him.
’As expected of the Spirit God.’ Even the slightest overflow of the ritual’s influence had been enough to make him lose his senses.
If he were to continue down this path, he would almost certainly end up performing a Spirit God ritual himself.
But he held back. The god’s gift was so terrifyingly powerful that he felt uneasy accepting it.
’It’s more reassuring to rely on Power gained through my own Cultivation.’
In any case, he was now on high alert.
’Lu You’s success is the best possible news.’
Thinking of this, Gu Ming immediately woke from his dream and brought his two Pet Beasts to Lu You’s room.
「A short while later.」
Mouse Treasure opened the door, cracking it just enough to poke its head out and look at him, squeaking.
’What do you want in the middle of the night? A sneak attack?’
"No, I’m just worried about her. Mouse Treasure, can you wake her up and see if she’s okay?" Gu Ming said, concerned.
Gu Ming had just been lost in a frenzy. He had the Dream Space to slow time for him, but Lu You did not.
Mouse Treasure’s expression showed it understood. It seemed Gu Ming really did care about her.
Mouse Treasure turned, scurried back to the bed, and nudged Lu You, who was meditating and practicing her Cyan Pine Cultivation.
She opened her eyes, still immersed in her Visualization of Gu Ming’s Cyan Pine Skill. Seeing Gu Ming standing at her door, she jumped in surprise.
"Wh-what’s wrong?"
"No, it’s nothing. I’m just glad you’re okay."
Gu Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed Lu You hadn’t dwelled on it before bed and had simply started meditating with the Cyan Pine Skill. That Cultivation Technique itself had the effect of cleansing the mind and calming the spirit; after a few Circulations, it would naturally dispel any distracting thoughts.
Gu Ming hastily excused himself, leaving Lu You utterly bewildered.
Still, it was obvious that Gu Ming hadn’t knocked on her door in the middle of the night for a sneak attack, but because he was worried she might be suffering from the ritual’s aftereffects.
At this thought, Lu You grew restless, and the effectiveness of her Cultivation plummeted.
’No, no, I can’t let myself get distracted. I must calm my mind—’
Lu You shook her head.
’I’m the one desperately trying to catch up from behind. How can I let my mind wander?’
...
「A while later.」
Gu Ming returned to the dream and had Cyan Treasure and Ah Kun practice their techniques.
After they finished warming up, Gu Ming prepared a little something for his two Pet Beasts.
During the last international competition, he had recorded the Pet Beast data of another prodigy, Jiang Jinling.
Because of this, he could now have his two Pet Beasts spar against the Grass Spirit in his dream.
However, the battle ended quickly, and the result was stunning.
Both of his Pet Beasts were defeated; they couldn’t even touch their opponent.
The Grass Spirit, controlled by the system, laid down an Array at incredible speed. Various Daoist Skill Objects swayed gently, and it immediately immobilized Cyan Treasure’s Rootless Wood right at the start of the fight.
Even though Rootless Wood was incredibly powerful—sprouting from the void, indestructible, and capable of corroding all things while siphoning blood and Mana—it was immediately pinned by the Array the moment it appeared. Cyan Treasure was left in a predicament, with no techniques that could touch its opponent.
Even when Cyan Treasure scattered new Grass Seeds, the opponent’s Sword Qi seemed to have eyes, sweeping out with perfect Prediction to slice through the seeds just as they began to sprout.
Against the system-controlled Grass Spirit, even Cyan Treasure’s time-accelerating ability, the Plant Life Light Wave, proved useless.
It was the same story when Ah Kun entered the fray. It was immediately controlled, and the great wave from its Wave-Swallowing Technique was halted the moment it began to rise, rendering it completely ineffective.
The gap in their strength was staggering.
But such a gap was precisely what gave them the motivation to catch up.
The two Pet Beasts began to train frantically in the dream, using this powerful opponent to push themselves and grow under pressure.
As for Jiang Jinling’s Grass Spirit, the two Pet Beasts didn’t even dare to dream of defeating it until they learned how to break through its control-style Arrays.