Chapter 241 - 240: On the Verge of Intellectual Freedom! (Please Subscribe!)

Chapter 241: Chapter 240: On the Verge of Intellectual Freedom! (Please Subscribe!)

Translator: 549690339

Upon returning to the dorm, Du Gang, as usual, started his attempts to ignite the Divine Fire.

“Boom!”

The second Divine Fire barely emerged before it was blocked by an invisible force, struggling to light up but failing to do so.

Seeing this, Du Gang quickly took out a Rune Stone, held it in his hand and began to immerse it with his Divine Thought.

“Hum!”

A very concentrated yet massive Spiritual Power surged towards his godly consciousness.

This Mental Power, to Du Gang, felt like it was fanning a flame; ceaselessly adding momentum to his about-to-be-ignited yet impossible-to-ignite second Divine Fire.

“Power up!”

Du Gang’s eyes were tightly shut as he silently prayed. All he could do now was guide this Mental Power to continuously attack.

Luckily, the amount of Mental Power contained within the Rune Stone was substantial, almost equal to all the Mental Power he harnessed in his lifetime.

Indeed, although this Rune Stone was only a few centimeters long, the total amount of Mental Power it contained was equivalent to an entry-level God Spirit Level warrior.

“Hum!”

At this moment, his God-consciousness was incessantly resonating, an unknown force within was resisting, while the Mental Power pouring in from the Rune Stone was being continuously consumed.

However, to his surprise, this Mental Power did not merely vanish. After being exhausted, it slowly fortified the outer wall of his God-consciousness sea.

“Fortification?”

Du Gang was pleasantly surprised. This meant that the Rune Stone he was using was not going to waste.

Although fortification wasn’t as beneficial as direct absorption, it was still pretty good as it could enhance the defensive power of his Divine Thought. Hence, when faced with a stronger opponent, he could resist a bit more.

“Hiss! ~”

Suddenly, a spark flitted across his mind’s second Divine Fire.

“It’s working!”

Overjoyed, Du Gang realized that his current method really could help him ignite the Divine Fire.

Thus, he began to absorb the Mental Power within the Rune Stone more energetically. However, despite Mental Power being intangible, his God-consciousness sea seemed to have a bottleneck, and no matter how hard he tried, every surge of Mental Power injected into it was only so much.

“It’s alright, take it slow, the total amount of Mental Power within the Rune Stone is extensive!”

And so, Du Gang resolutely began to cultivate.

After an unknown length of time, his Message Jade Talisman lit up.

Upon opening it, he saw it was a message from Long Aotian.

“Du Gang, where are you? Why didn’t I see you in the first class?”

Only then did Du Gang realize that a night had passed. However, he did not receive any messages from Xiang Xinjian, which was normal. His Divine Sensor was always on, naturally knowing Du Gang’s every move.

“I’m cultivating in the dorm, what’s up?” With a divided mind, Du Gang nonchalantly asked.

“Kudos, you actually skipped class and Teacher Sword didn’t bother you...”

“If you have something to say, say it, otherwise, I’m hanging up!”

Du Gang didn’t want to talk much with him.

“Don’t hang up, don’t hang up, there’s something!”

Long Aotian quickly said, “The top brass asked me when you can produce Enlightenment in Dreams...”

You Gang sensed that most of the Rune Stone had been used now and responded, “I should be able to do it tonight...”

Igniting the Divine Fire could be done anytime, it was of utmost importance to firm up the business deal now in case of any unexpected circumstances later on.

Therefore, once he finished absorbing this Rune Stone, he planned to start crafting Enlightenment in Dreams.

Long Aotian was extremely happy, “Great, contact me when you’re ready...”

He was indeed very happy. This time, he got 2,000 access times to Enlightenment in Dreams. His family decided to trade 1,000 times with Yao Zijie for a Divine Artifact worth 10,000 Divine Crystals.

“10,000 Divine Crystals, that’s basically the price of a Second Rank True God Artifact, this is amazing...”

Moreover, this trade wasn’t exactly a swap. His family was going to create a customized artifact worth 10,000 Divine Crystals based on his needs.

If Du Gang were to craft Enlightenment in Dreams as soon as possible, he would be able to get his artifact sooner.

“There’s so much Mental Power in this Rune Stone. I bought it right after yesterday’s practical class and there’s still this much left. So, that means I can absorb one stone in almost one day?”

At this point, the frequency at which the Divine Fire within Du Gang was emitting sparks increased drastically. This indicated that he was near to igniting the Divine Fire.

He felt that the Mental Power in the Rune Stone was like a dryer.

His Divine Fire was like it was drenched in water, without even a spark, and this Mental Power was continuously drying it. Currently, the water on his Divine Fire felt almost dried up.

As time slipped away, Du Gang was eager to craft Enlightenment in Dreams, but such things can’t be rushed. It was more important to steadily ignite the Divine Fire.

“Boom!”

Finally, much to Du Gang’s anticipation, just before nightfall, the second Divine Fire successfully ignited!

“Finally, it’s lit!”

Du Gang breathed a sigh of relief, he was really afraid that the Rune Stone wouldn’t work, that would’ve been quite unfortunate.

“But there’s no growth in Divine Thought, it’s still only at 1 Pa.”

Ever since he advanced to the God Spirit Level, his scattered Mental Power had converged into one, forming Divine Thought.

“Now that I have two Divine Fires, it means that the efficiency of cultivating my mental power has doubled, and the speed of practicing Divine Thought has also doubled!”

Du Gang thought as he sent a message to Long Aotian.

Who knew, just a few seconds after sending it, someone knocked on the door.

Opening it to see, Long Aotian, Little Hawk King, Yao Zijie and others were all present.

“Du Gang, you finally finished cultivating, you have no idea how we got through this day, it was both exciting and anxious...”

Long Aotian started babbling as soon as he entered the door.

Du Gang ignored his nonsense and asked, “How many Divine Fires have you kindled now?”

“Me?”

Long Aotian was stunned, but quickly laughed, “I’m keeping a pretty good pace, basically kindling one Divine Fire every seven days, I’ve kindled seven Divine Fires now, only two short of nine...”

That many?

Du Gang was shocked, but quickly asked, “What about Divine Thought?”

“Divine Thought, it’s still at one Pa. You know how hard it is to cultivate Divine Thought, it requires too much mental power, as much as all the mental power required from scratch to the God Spirit Level...”

“This is just for one Pa of cultivation, I heard that the further you go, the more mental power it consumes...”

Du Gang pondered and said, “I’ve heard that after kindling three Divine Fires, you can hide your Divine Thought, and nine Divine Fires allow you to refine your thoughts into Divine Thoughts. I don’t know if it’s true or not?”

“True!”

Then, Yousheng spoke softly, “Before I lit nine Divine Fires, my efficiency in cultivating Divine Thought wasn’t high, I could only absorb mental power to cultivate...”

“But, after igniting nine Divine Fires, not only can I absorb mental power, but I can also constantly refine the messy thoughts in my mind, the efficiency is high, at least faster than my cultivation and tempering of mental power!”

Everyone was shocked, “Yousheng, have you reached nine Divine Fires?”

Yousheng nodded and smiled, “Not just me, the twin lolis probably reached the stage of nine Divine Fires a long time ago...”

Hearing this, everyone immediately turned their gazes towards the pair of twins.

“Sister, do you think they would taste good?”

“I don’t know, let’s try when we get the chance...”

Listening carefully, everyone was hearing their conversation for the first time. The content made everyone embarrassed and a bit scared.

“These two...”

Little Hawk King felt a toothache, as an eagle, he hated most to be eaten by others.

Du Gang was also speechless, these two didn’t show anything on a regular basis, but he didn’t expect them to cultivate so quickly, already having nine Divine Fires.

Moreover, given the way they constantly generate all kinds of bizarre thoughts, their speed of cultivating Divine Thought must be very fast.

He shook his head, looked at Long Aotian and asked again, “What about the Hidden God Acupoints? How many have you opened?”

“The progress on the Hidden God Acupoints is not that fast!”

Long Aotian sighed, “Though there are 108 Hidden God Acupoints, my efficiency of finding and opening them is not high. It basically takes a week, and I only have seven acupoints now...”

Hearing this, Du Gang asked, “Then did you cultivate Divine Power? How’s it going?”

As he only has one Hidden God Acupoint, the efficiency of practicing divine power is too low, so he rarely wastes his time on it.

Long Aotian shook his head, “I did practice, but efficiency is too low, despite the speed being seven times faster than before, it’s still too slow. My Divine Power has only reached 1 after more than a month, and it seems to be a long way from cultivating the second Divine Power!”

Du Gang nodded, feeling reassured after hearing this.

The past few days, he was unable to ignite his Divine Fire or open any Hidden God Acupoints. He’s been worrying about falling behind. Now it seems that cultivating Divine Thought and Divine Power is indeed difficult, and these people are still in the same state as him, though there’s some quantitative growth, no qualitative change has occurred.

For a unit like Divine Thought, each Pa represents a new level, and each additional Pa brings a completely different strength, a world of difference.

The same is true for Divine Power, each era is a new realm, each additional era brings a power that is vastly different from the previous one.

After studying with the system for these days, Du Gang knew more and more.

For instance, above the God Spirit Level, the determination of combat power is no longer such an abstract concept.

There’s now a complete method for determining combat power.

The most basic of which is the amount of Divine Thought and Divine Power.

In the state of God Spirit Level, without considering physical bodies, Divine Thought and Divine Power represent two different limits of the spiritual and material realms.

Other factors such as cultivation techniques, physique, mirage and so on can only be counted as bonuses, different according to the situation.

But the most basic is still Divine Thought and Divine Power, the values of these two units represent your lower and upper limits of strength.

For example, even if an ascendant on the first tribulation of God Spirit Level is extraordinary and possesses the top level physique, cultivation technique, and mirage, can he defeat a high-level God Spirit Level warrior?

Impossible. Even without these bonuses, just the Divine Thought and Divine Power alone can destroy him!

“Whoosh!”

At that moment, Xiang Xinjian appears.

Not only has he arrived, but he’s also brought two objects similar to Dreamcatcher Nets. They look exquisite, layer upon layer.

“Du Gang, these two Dreamcatcher Nets are the tools you’ll be using to experience Dao Enlightenment in your dreams today...”

“Once I activate the Dreamcatcher Net, you need to immerse your mind into it. When your world is no longer chaotic and specific spaces appear, you should start practicing your techniques...”

The bald man wasted no time and started explaining the method of Dao Enlightenment in dreams with the Dreamcatcher Net right after landing.

Du Gang listened carefully, nodding his head from time to time to show that he understands.

Soon, he finished explaining a series of details, “Did you understand? Do you want me to repeat it?”

Du Gang smiled, “Teacher, you know me, I have strong comprehension skills, there is no need to repeat, let’s just get started!”

Xiang Xinjian nodded, smiled, “Okay, since you say so, let’s begin. Everyone else, please step back, don’t interfere!”

Long Aotian and others quickly retreated, creating some distance.

Meanwhile, Du Gang, following Xiang Xinjian’s instructions, stood under the Dreamcatcher Net.

“Later, when the Dreamcatcher Net starts working, a hypnotic force will put you to sleep. Don’t resist it, just go with it!”

Du Gang nodded.

Soon, Xiang Xinjian started operating the nets.

“Boom!”

The Dreamcatcher Net flew randomly into the air, emitting a misty purple aura.

In an instant, the entire room was filled with this purple aura.

“Everyone else, don’t dream-follow this purple aura, or I will skin you alive!”

At the sound of Xiang Xinjian’s voice, Long Aotian suddenly sobered up.

He was initially planning to sneak in and see the excitement. He wanted to see if he could learn Du Gang’s saintly technique. But on hearing this warning, he gave up.

Du Gang quickly followed the instructions without resisting the hypnotic power of the purple aura and fell asleep.

“Swish swish swish!”

“Clap clap clap!”

Soon, he felt a very warm force wrapping him up, causing an uncontrollable shudder.

The next second, his vision blurred, and he found himself in a strange world.

Very strangely, the world before his eyes was where he grew up as a child.

He was sitting on the stone bench on both sides of the corridor inside the old block’s cool pavilion.

Without thinking too much, Du Gang quickly got up. Standing at the center of the pavilion, he began practicing the ‘Sky Breaking Stance’ technique.

After finishing his words, he asked back, “What about you?”

Du Gang laughed heartily, mysteriously replying, “I’m about to comprehend it, why would I give up?!”

Upon hearing this, not just Sun Wufan, but Yao Zijie and Yang Jun also didn’t believe him and laughed.

They all know the difficulty of Enlightenment in Dreams, it’s not something easily learned.

Nevertheless, Yao Zijie laughed and said, “Du Gang, let’s have a competition and see who can learn it first. I won’t lie to you, I really have gained some insight. I feel that after a few more times, I can grasp something...”

Du Gang instantly became interested, chuckling, “Then let’s have a bet. How can we not have a little wager for a competition?”

A bet?

Yao Zijie instantly furrowed his brows. He actually didn’t like gambling.

However, this time, he indeed grasped quite a bit and felt very confident about comprehension.

“What do you want to bet?”

At this moment, Du Gang also didn’t know how far Yao Zijie had gone in his understanding. He coughed once and said, “Big bets harm one’s well-being but small bets bring joy. Let’s bet one Source!”

“One Source...ten thousand Divine Crystals?!”

Yao Zijie was speechless, “Is this what you call a small and joyful bet?”

This was ten thousand Divine Crystals!

Equivalent to a hundred million Saint Crystals, he probably didn’t have ten thousand Divine Crystals even if he added up all his possessions.

He shook his head, saying, “Forget it, I won’t bet. Pretend I never said anything!”

A bet for others might be nothing more than a slight drizzle, with nothing to lose. But for him, it’s like risking everything!

After saying that, he directly entered the dreamland.

Seeing his response, Du Gang turned to Sun Wufan and Yang Jun, laughing, “How about you two? Want to try?”

“Forget it, I can’t compete with you!”

Both of them shook their heads and likewise entered the dreamland again.

“Boring!”

Having stayed here for over a month, Du Gang had also become somewhat agitated.

If he didn’t genuinely sense something, he might have sold his remaining chances to Yao Zijie as well.

“One more time! I’ll strive to comprehend it!”

Taking a deep breath, Du Gang once again entered the dreamland.

“Bang!”

It was still the same mountain peak as before.

“It’s going to rain...”

“It’s going to rain...”

The first sentence was the old man’s words from the mountaintop, while the second was Du Gang’s mimicked words.

It seemed like it was just a repetition, but the clouds in the sky rolled twice in a very peculiar manner.

“Rumble!”

“Boom, boom, boom!”

Not just that, the thunderous sounds in the sky also occurred twice.

“Splash, splash!”

“Splash, splash!”

Then, two overlapping rain showers slowly fell down.

“Finally mastered it?!”

A slight smile formed at the corner of Du Gang’s mouth.

Although he didn’t understand the specific principle, he indeed had mastered it.

To understand the specific principle, he would probably have to wait until he reached the True God Level.

Regardless, his objective was accomplished!

Outside.

At this moment, the Confucian scholar who was drinking wine with Xiang Xinjian suddenly shuddered.

“What’s wrong?”

Xiang Xinjian asked in confusion.

Li Rushi stared at Xiang Xinjian in disbelief and said, “Someone has achieved enlightenment in the dream I created!”

“What?!”

Xiang Xinjian immediately stood up, “Who is it? Du Gang, Yao Zijie, or Sun Wufan?”

“It should be Yao Zijie. The techniques of your academy suit him the best!”

Li Rushi shook his head: “I don’t know, I just know that someone has learned it, but I don’t know who it is...”

“Let’s go take a look!”

Xiang Xinjian promptly put away his wine cup and jug, rapidly flying towards the scene, with Li Rushi following closely behind him.

In a short while, both of them had arrived on the scene.

At this moment, three people were still sitting under the Enlightenment in Dreams, representing the Holy Confucian Academy.

None of Du Gang, Yao Zijie, or Sun Wufan had awakened yet.

“Which one of them is it?!”

Xiang Xinjian was extremely excited at this moment. After thinking for a moment, he took out the Communication Jade Symbol and sent a message to Vice Dean Ji Hetong.

In a short while, Ji Hetong rushed over.

“How is it? Who has achieved enlightenment?”

At this moment, his face was flushed with excitement and joy.

By coincidence, the students from both sides underwent enlightenment in the dreams at similar times in this instance.

In fact, this could be seen as a small competition between Penglai Academy and Holy Confucian Academy.

Furthermore, Ji Hetong had made a bet with a vice dean of Holy Confucian Academy on whose student would be the first to master the method.

Now it seemed that he had won!

Xiang Xinjian smiled: “I don’t know yet. Li Rushi sensed that someone has mastered the method, so we came over first!”

“Excellent, excellent!”

At this moment, Ji Hetong was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at the three of them, his gaze darting back and forth.

“Whoever it was, this will greatly boost the morale of our Penglai Academy!”

Hearing these words, Li Rushi couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.

Indeed, although the students from the Holy Confucian Academy weren’t the most outstanding, when they were sent here, it meant that the academy leaders had thought Yang Jun and others’ talents were already enough to surpass these individuals.

But looking at it now, it seemed the higher-ups had oversimplified things!

Someone here, their talent was clearly superior to Yang Jun’s, already having achieved mastery ahead of him.

“Boom, boom, boom!”

Soon after, a rumble. Very coincidentally, all three of them exited the dream state at the same time.

Xiang Xinjian promptly asked: “Yao Zijie, did you achieve enlightenment?”

In his opinion, Yao Zijie was most likely to have succeeded. This method matched the principles of the Holy Confucian Academy, and the Gentleman’s Sword that Yao Zijie practiced was highly suitable for cultivating this method.

Yao Zijie was taken aback, “Ah? I achieved some enlightenment, but I haven’t fully mastered the method yet!”

“It’s not you?!”

Xiang Xinjian paused for a moment, then quickly turned to Du Gang, excitedly asking: “Du Gang, was it you?”

Sun Wufan also realized what was going on at this moment, understanding the fact that one of the three had mastered the method.

Even though he knew, if it wasn’t Yao Zijie, then it must be Du Gang, at this moment, seeing Xiang Xinjian skip him entirely to direct his question to Du Gang, he felt somewhat annoyed.

Am I that lacking in talent in your eyes?

Even though this was only a silent soliloquy, Xiang Xinjian still heard it. He turned his head around and while coughing said, “Ahem, Wufan, it’s not that you’re not strong, it’s just that I don’t think this technique suits you. After all, it was comprehended by scholars...”

Wufan was left speechless.

“Alright, I get it. I probably still have seven or eight hundred chances left....”

He looked at Yao Zijie and said, “I’ll sell them all to you!”

Upon hearing this, Yao Zijie immediately broke into a smile.

At this moment, Du Gang also smiled and said, “I’ll sell the rest of mine to you too, Yao Zijie!”

By now, everyone had realized that it was Du Gang who had comprehended the technique!

“Very good! Very good! Very good!”

Ji Hetong said ‘good’ three times in a row and laughed. “Well done! You didn’t let our academy down! Good talent. Du Gang, you did very well. This time, I’ll announce it to the whole school, allowing you to show your face in front of everyone!”

Du Gang was stunned. He laughed and asked, “Dean, will there be any tangible rewards?”

“... ...”

Ji Hetong paused for a moment, then laughed, “Yes, on behalf of the academy, I’ll reward you with 100 merit points!”

That’s too little!

Du Gang devalued it. He earned 240,000 Divine Crystals this time, and now got only a meagre 100...

“If you find it too less, then let it be!” Ji Hetong, with a twitching corner of his mouth, said.

“No, no, no!”

Du Gang quickly said, “This is a reward from the academy to encourage outstanding students, how can it just be cancelled!!”

Even a mosquito’s meat is still meat. No way he’s not accepting it!

“Are you sure you comprehended it?”

Although he had already got the answer, Li Rushi still couldn’t resist asking.

How many times did it take?

A thousand times?

He remembered how long it took him to comprehend it...

Two years? Or was it three years?!

Du Gang smiled and replied, “I’ve comprehended it, however, it seems like I can only conjure a rainstorm...”

“Teacher, how do you guys operate that Divine Pen, with all that painting and writing stuff?!”

Li Rushi didn’t hide anything. First, he sighed in admiration at the young hero, then explained, “The most important thing in this technique is intention. Once you’ve comprehended the intention, using form becomes much simpler...”

“For instance, weakening speed, strength etc., these all fall under form. Here, I have a scroll with the basics of using form, take it and practice!”

Saying this, he took out an antiquated and fragrant scroll.

But Du Gang didn’t rush to take it. Instead, he asked, “Sir, this doesn’t cost anything, right?!”

Li Rushi’s mouth twitched, “If you don’t want it...”

“I want it! I want it!!”

Du Gang quickly stepped forward to accept it, coughed, and said, “I’m broke lately, so couldn’t help but ask...”

Following this, the dean indeed announced the news about Du Gang comprehending the Sage Technique to the whole academy.

Using group text message, he sent it to all students who are currently registered in the academy.

At this moment, let alone people like Long Aotian, even people from the previous generation and the generation before that had heard of Du Gang’s name.

In fact, many people had specially returned to the academy wanting to see him.

As for Du Gang, he had already returned to his dormitory.

The remaining eight hundred plus chances to enter the Enlightenment in Dreams, he had all sold to Yao Zijie, which totally earned him more than eight thousand Divine Crystals. Coupled with the previous seven thousand Divine Crystals, it was enough to buy another Source.

“I’ve got five thousand Divine Crystals left, seven Rune Stones, and seventeen Sources!”

This time, he asked Xiang Xinjian for a month’s leave, planning to use all these resources before leaving.

“The seven Rune Stones should be enough for me to ignite nine Divine Fires...”

“The seventeen Sources should also be able to open up seventeen God Acupoints!”

A joyful Du Gang thought, “This time after cultivating, I should be able to hide my Divine Thoughts, right?”

Then, no one would be able to see his thoughts!

Phew, am I about to attain mental freedom?!