Chapter 149

He casually found a place to stay, Yan Buji sat down, waited a while without noticing any abnormality, and then took the book from his waist.

The ancient, plain books seemed no different from some old books in the mortal realm, except they felt extremely supple to the touch....

"Is this... human skin? No, it must be mixed with some coarse fibers, but the main material should still be human skin."

Yan Buji examined the nameless human‑skin book carefully, tried to probe it with spiritual perception and found no abnormality, and became somewhat curious.

"Why did that mad beggar give me this book?"

Yan Buji opened it gingerly, because of the precedent of the Nether Book, he was cautious about such books of unknown origin.

After opening it, there was no sign of anything unusual.

Yan Buji examined his own body two or three times carefully, then focused on the written text above.

"Stone‑breaking secret technique? Dividing‑gold Blade, Misaligned Jade Knife... Peering‑the‑Nether Eye?!"

Yan Buji was startled for a moment, quickly turned to the contents, and began reading carefully.

A moment later, Yan Buji inhaled deeply: "There are such miraculous books in this world? They are a cultivation legacy specifically targeting Mutant Force source stone?!"

He couldn't help but praise it; although this book—or rather this legacy—contains only a few tens of thousands of characters, it details how to locate Mutant Zones, how to find Mutant Force source stone, the classifications of various Mutant Force source stone and the stone‑breaking methods, the two unique Accumulation Device forging techniques, and that eye technique, together forming a remarkably complete legacy!

"Impressive. According to what's written here, if I cultivate Peering‑the‑Nether Eye, even the lowest‑grade Mutant Force source stone will clearly reveal whether it contains other items... And what's even more amazing is that Peering‑the‑Nether Eye can directly observe the existence of Mutant Zones!"

Although Yan Buji knows little about Mutant Zones, he also knows that such places clearly have risk proportional to reward—the more dangerous, the greater the gain.

Practice or not?

Yan Buji looked at the cultivation method for Peering‑the‑Nether Eye; it does not conflict with his Three‑Flower Pupils and even aligns to some extent!

Because Peering‑the‑Nether Eye requires the cultivator to actively absorb Mutant Force to remodel his eyes in order to cultivate the eye technique!

But unlike the Three‑Flower Pupils, Peering‑the‑Nether Eye can only employ Mutant Force for its various wonders and cannot be driven by mana.

But this brings a big problem.

He can barely suppress the Mutant Force within his Three‑Flower Pupils now, because they are a fusion of two Mutant Eye types, already a heavy burden for Yan Buji.

Having finally limited the Mutant Force to his left eye, if cultivating it instead triggers the Mutant Force in the Three‑Flower Pupils to erupt, wouldn't that be disastrous?

Even if Peering‑the‑Nether Eye can consume Mutant Force, that doesn't guarantee safety.

The strength of Mutant Force isn't measured by quantity; it's unpredictable when it will suddenly erupt, and it's unknown what impact such eruptions will have on the body.

After pondering for a while, setting aside why that mad beggar gave him the stone‑breaking secret, the key is whether he truly needs the stone‑breaking secret.

"I'll hold off on cultivating Peering‑the‑Nether Eye; this secret is odd. I've never heard of any cultivator who can make good use of Mutant Force. Using Mutant Force is like walking a tightrope over a cliff, a fire‑in‑the‑chest act; having the Three‑Flower Pupils is enough for now. Unless I reach the Lianqi Fifth Layer and can wear down the Mutant Force in the Three‑Flower Pupils, then trying the cultivation would be safer."

Peering‑the‑Nether Eye, as the core of this stone‑breaking secret, is extremely important. If Yan Buji later has the fortune to find a Mutant Zone and practice it, that's fine; for now there's no need to take on extra burden.

However, the descriptions of various Mutant Zones and Mutant Force source stone pleased Yan Buji; new knowledge flowing into his mind always brings him joy.

Besides that, the forging methods for the two Accumulation Devices aren't too difficult; each device consists of five Accumulations, so he only needs to find the Spiritual Material mentioned above, refine it into an Accumulation, and then he can attempt to combine them.

"Dividing‑gold Blade, Misaligned Jade Knife... these two Accumulation Devices are probably only the most primitive forms. Looking at their forging methods, they should be combinable into a new Accumulation Device, but since it's not recorded, we must wait until we have the chance to forge both before trying."

Accumulation Device!

Yan Buji obtained some basic knowledge and secrets of Accumulation Device forging from the Departed Path, and was told that several special locations contain extremely precious Spiritual Material.

Of course Yan Buji didn't believe it; if such a good thing truly existed, could he tell himself?

Perhaps they'd just be waiting to send him to his death.

Yan Buji now finally understands the process of completing an Accumulation Device:

Step one: find suitable Spiritual Material and, using his own mana or Spiritual Fire aided by a special forging secret, refine the Spiritual Material to purify it;

Step two: directly cultivate the purified Spiritual Material within his body using mana, making the material even purer while infusing his own vital essence so the Spiritual Material acquires his aura;

Step three, also a crucial step: determine what form the refined Spiritual Material should take.

That is, at this step, the cultivator must, using his imagination, design concept, or an Accumulation Device blueprint, fundamentally alter the shape and nature of the Spiritual Material and, via the secret, refine it into an Accumulation;

Step four: combine all the refined Accumulations, and an Accumulation Device is formed.

Moreover, for cultivators in the Lianqi Phase, most can only possess one or two Accumulation Devices they have refined themselves. Accumulation Devices obtained by other means usually cannot exert the full power of their original forger, losing several degrees of strength.

But if the Accumulation Device is refined into Accumulations by oneself, it can fully unleash its intended power!

There are many subtleties, such as how to design one's own Accumulation Device, the differences between an Accumulation Device built from an Accumulation diagram and one conceived personally; these are all worth Yan Buji's time to experiment with.

"I already have Spiritual Material on me, so I can try refining Spiritual Material into Accumulations ahead of time. However, those three First‑Tier Spiritual Material are too expensive; I'll wait until I have experience to craft the one that suits me best."

Now, Yan Buji is idle, so while gathering news about the Third Princess, he also tries refining various First‑Tier Spiritual Material into Accumulations.

His own cultivation of the Spiritual Fire technique is aided by Spiritual Fire, and with his deep Nine‑Turn cultivation power, his refining speed into Accumulations is faster than that of ordinary cultivators.

Of course, choosing the Accumulation Device is crucial; Yan Buji currently lacks a good Accumulation diagram, and the diagrams for Dividing‑gold Blade and Misaligned Jade Knife miss some crucial Spiritual Material, so he must try to conceive an Accumulation Device himself.

Whether in cultivation or forging Accumulation Devices, this world always encourages cultivators to try on their own rather than follow the paths of predecessors.

Following the predecessors' paths may avoid some detours, but some earth‑shaking, soul‑moving cultivation techniques and Accumulation Devices are precisely those that some cultivators discover when they lose the correct method and go astray!

Yan Buji doesn't think he's particularly lucky, but he dares not even try, and he still feels sorry for the Spiritual Stone and Spiritual Material; that will only make his future path even more arduous.