Chapter 34: Departing in a Streak of Rainbow Light

"To be in a state of meditative stillness at all times—that is what we call 'Constant Stillness.' You are in Constant Stillness when you study, when you walk, when you eat, and even when you sleep."

"Constant Stillness is a marvelous and profound state. It offers many benefits and conveniences, which you will understand once you experience it for yourselves. I won't elaborate further for now."

"To give you the most intuitive example: those who have poor sleep quality and wake up to use the restroom in the middle of the night will not feel refreshed during the day, even if they sleep for nine hours."

"After reaching a state of meditative stillness, sleep quality improves significantly. Sleeping for six hours a day is enough to ensure high energy throughout the day."

"Those who have achieved 'Regular Stillness' can work efficiently all day with just four hours of sleep. As for Constant Stillness, two hours a day is sufficient."

So, meditate well, and grind hard! Everything is for the sake of grinding better, for the sake of outperforming the rest!

"Is the path of Spirit Refinement really that difficult?" Jiang Ju asked, looking concerned.

Jiang Ju had always been an optimist. She was optimistic and confident. Even before the spiritual energy revival, she was the type of genius who graduated from college at twenty and went straight into a doctoral program, finishing her PhD in just four years. After the spiritual energy revival, she awakened a talent that was the envy of many (and caused much hair loss), ranking among the elite even within the research institute. But at this moment, hearing the requirements for Constant Stillness, she finally began to lose her confidence.

"This is so unfriendly! A system like this is truly harsh on ordinary people!" Ning Fan couldn't help but remark.

"How could the path of cultivation—turning ordinary people into talents, talents into geniuses, and geniuses into peerless prodigies—be anything but difficult? If it were easy to achieve, that would be the real anomaly," Daoist Changkong said in a tone of seasoned seniority. At this moment, she finally looked a bit like an elderly person.

"Meditative stillness improves focus and increases the probability of sudden flashes of insight. In the state of Regular Stillness, one stays in a state of constant inspiration, occasionally achieving sudden enlightenment. In the state of Constant Stillness, one remains in a state of sudden enlightenment, occasionally reaching the state of 'Unity of Heaven and Humanity.'"

"Of course, don't think of sudden enlightenment or the Unity of Heaven and Humanity as something miraculous on their own. Can a primary school student who knows nothing and a learned scholar of the nation gain the same things from an enlightenment?"

"In the end, while enlightenment is wonderful, the extent of the harvest depends on one's own accumulation of knowledge and learning."

"Therefore, even if you achieve some success in Spirit Refinement in the future, you must continue to study hard. The saying 'live and learn' is absolutely true."

"When thousands of consciousnesses are completely integrated into a single whole, that is the moment they sublimate into spiritual power, and the moment you achieve the Fetal Breath Realm."

At this point, Xiong Yan looked at Lin Er, who was lost in thought. "Lin Er, for instance, is in this state. He is only a hair's breadth away from completely integrating all his consciousness and sublimating it into spiritual power."

Why were they considered the three great masters? Because the three of them had already reached the limits that mortals could attain in their respective fields!

Peng Bing practiced martial arts, and his skill was truly unprecedented. Even if Yang Luchan, Li Shuwen, or Sun Lutang were resurrected, they would not be his match. Even if Lu Bu or Xiang Yu were alive today, they still couldn't defeat him. It wasn't because he had greater talent, but because the environment was better, the nutrition was more adequate, and there was more knowledge available for study and reference. The environment in which Peng Bing grew up was far superior to theirs. It is no exaggeration to say that the former Peng Bing represented the true limit of humanity.

Daoist Changkong had achieved such a high level in Qi Refinement that it was unimaginable to ordinary people, truly achieving the feat of returning to youth. At over a hundred years old, she maintained the appearance of someone in their thirties; in the eyes of mortals, this was already transcendent.

Lin Er was also gifted in the path of Spirit Refinement, having long ago progressed from meditative stillness to Regular Stillness, and then sublimated from Regular Stillness to Constant Stillness through psychology, philosophy, religious studies, and other related disciplines. As a mortal, he had truly reached the end of the road.

But now, the times have changed!

"However, integrating consciousness to sublimate it into spiritual power comes with a price. Although spiritual energy has been revived, our world still follows the laws of conservation of matter and energy."

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed out of thin air. When the spiritual energy in the world is insufficient to support the birth of his spiritual power, it will actively extract nutrients from his body."

"Look at Lin Er's physique. Do you think there is much fat on him? Even if all that fat were converted into nutrients, would it be enough to allow him to achieve the sublimation of spiritual power?"

Before anyone could answer, Xiong Yan shook his head.

"Since ancient times, it is not as if no sages have reached this level. But the conditions were not met; there was not enough spiritual energy in the external world, and not enough internal nutrition to support the birth of spiritual power."

"If one forces a breakthrough, they will 'turn into a rainbow and depart,' leaving behind a few sarira relics on the spot. These are real sarira, not the cheap, mass-produced fakes."

Why turn into a rainbow and depart? Because the physical body is completely consumed during the burning process, converted into nutrients and absorbed by the spiritual power. But even after absorbing the entire physical body, it is still not enough for spiritual power to be born. Since the body is already gone, forcing a breakthrough is equivalent to suicide!

Only now did Lin Er finally understand where the sense of crisis came from.

"In the path of blood and Qi, without spiritual energy as a catalyst, it would take tens of thousands of years for the body to achieve transcendence on its own, and by that time, the bones would have long since rotted away."

"In the path of Qi Refinement, without spiritual energy as a catalyst, to turn the illusory into reality would likely also take tens of thousands of years."

"Only in the path of Spirit Refinement, theoretically, even without spiritual energy, one can achieve transcendence through the techniques of spirit cultivation and truly give birth to spiritual power—a transcendent force that cannot be directly observed at present!"

Therefore, for this reason alone, any nation or organization with foresight will invest heavily in the continuous research of Spirit Refinement methods. Because, if spiritual energy can revive, it means there may come a day when it fades away again. If we do not think about the future now, and only start considering what to do when spiritual energy vanishes on the eve of the Age of Dharma Decay, it will be too late!

Moreover, spiritual power itself has infinite uses. Once combined with technology, it has spawned countless new products and achievements, vastly improving productivity!

"You don't need to worry too much. As spiritual energy revives, the aptitude of newborns will improve, and the concentration of spiritual energy in the world will also increase."

"Therefore, in the future, the difficulty of giving birth to spiritual power will decrease. There might even be those who awaken spiritual power the moment they are born."

Having said this, Xiong Yan sighed. In the end, this generation is indeed the one with the worst aptitude. But looking at it from another angle, the descent of the Void Realms is also a great opportunity. Now, everyone can start from the smallest and easiest Void Realms and climb up step by step. By the time the new generation grows up, the small, simple, and easily accessible opportunities will have already been exhausted by the older generation.

All one can say is that the advantages and disadvantages of this generation are both very obvious.