Night, at Wang Chen's residence.
After returning home, the very first thing Wang Chen did was immediately check if the Black Book deep within his soul had undergone any changes.
Everything else could wait.
Wang Chen's consciousness sank into his soul. Compared to before, when the Black Book's cover was dilapidated and tattered, the cover now looked slightly better, with some of its damaged spots restored.
Wang Chen couldn't help but grow excited.
In his heart, he thought:
"Just as I guessed! Elevating my status really does accelerate the Black Book's recovery speed. If that's the case, then I must keep climbing higher. I've already become Patriarch of the Wang Clan. The next step is to become a heavyweight figure in the Sun and Moon Empire, like Jing Hongchen. And after that… the master of the Sun and Moon Empire itself!"
Wang Chen firmly believed that as long as he continued to raise his standing, the Black Book would steadily restore itself. One day, he would stand at the pinnacle of this world, seizing his own destiny, unrestrained between heaven and earth.
Confirming his theory, Wang Chen began carefully examining the Black Book once more to see if the partial restoration had unlocked a new ability.
His consciousness probed deeper into the Black Book, observing. Soon, he discovered a new crystalline seal, formed from mysterious inscriptions.
This crystalline imprint was different from the first one.
Wang Chen immersed his consciousness in it and quickly understood its purpose.
The second crystalline imprint's ability was—Directional Deduction.
Previously, when Wang Chen put his skills into the first crystalline imprint, the direction of deduction and refinement was random. Now, with this new function, he could guide the process according to his own intent.
For example, if Wang Chen wanted to evolve his Tongmai Gong (Meridian-Opening Technique) toward a path that cultivated both body and spirit in addition to soul power, he could do so.
As far as Wang Chen knew, the truly powerful cultivation methods always cultivated the three treasures—essence, qi, and spirit—together.
But his current Tongmai Gong only increased soul power. It did nothing to temper his body or train his spiritual force.
He had long considered this a shortcoming. His soul power had advanced rapidly under Tongmai Gong, but his physique and spiritual growth relied almost entirely on the nourishment of the Living Gold.
Now, with the Black Book's third function, this flaw could be remedied. That made Wang Chen very satisfied.
The method of using the second crystalline imprint was the same as the first—infusing it with spiritual power, then inserting a skill recorded within the Black Book to initiate a directional deduction.
How far the deduction could go depended on both the potential of the skill and the strength of Wang Chen's spiritual power.
Without hesitation, Wang Chen placed his Tongmai Gong into the second imprint.
Guided by his intent and fueled by a flood of spiritual energy, the deduction quickly began—refining Tongmai Gong toward simultaneous cultivation of essence, qi, and spirit.
Before long, the deduction reached its current limit. To continue further, Wang Chen's spiritual power would need to advance to a higher realm.
So, he sat down, meditated, and restored his spiritual strength. Once replenished, he fed the newly evolved Tongmai Gong into the first imprint for perfection, pushing it to the utmost his spiritual power could sustain.
Finally, Wang Chen began to carefully study the new technique.
The revised Tongmai Gong now cultivates essence, qi, and spirit together.
While absorbing the world's energy, it could simultaneously temper the body and refine the spiritual sea between his brows.
After committing the new method to memory, Wang Chen couldn't wait to test it.
Experiments showed that the cultivation speed of soul power was the same as before. But the brilliance lay in how it now strengthened body and spirit at the same time—without slowing soul power training in the slightest.
This meant that from now on, Wang Chen's growth in physique and spiritual force would greatly accelerate, while his soul power still progressed at full speed.
After some practice, Wang Chen slowly opened his eyes.
Inwardly, he mused:
"The Black Book's abilities truly progress step by step. I wonder… will the next function be something different? Maybe a point-allocation system, or powers relating to time and space… or even the power of rules? I wouldn't be greedy, any of those would do…"
After tinkering a while, exhaustion set in. Having depleted his spiritual power and with the lingering weakness from his battle with Wang Yan, where he'd used the Ring Detonation Secret Technique, fatigue hit him hard.
Even though the Ring Detonation method had been improved by the Black Book to reduce its side effects compared to the Clear Sky Sect's version, backlash still existed.
After using it, his soul rings temporarily vanished, his soul skills became unusable, and his body was weakened by the explosive energy surge.
The detonated soul rings would gradually recover after one day, but only after twelve days would he be able to use Ring Detonation again.
Fortunately, thanks to the Living Gold, Wang Chen's life force was astonishingly vigorous, and his recovery speed was rapid. The explosive energy had damaged his body somewhat, but under his robust vitality, he healed quickly.
Thus, the weakened state could be ignored—but the soul rings still required time to recover.
Without soul rings, he couldn't use soul skills or secret techniques, which greatly reduced his peak combat power.
Still, as long as he had soul power, Wang Chen could employ Emperor's Presence, his supreme battle skill.
With Soul Emperor-level soul power, Soul Saint-level physique, Soul Douluo-level spiritual force, and his soul tool armor, Wang Chen could still fight at the level of a Soul Saint.
And once a day passed and his soul rings recovered, he could use soul skills again.
Twelve days later, the secret technique would also be available once more.
Before falling asleep, Wang Chen thought:
"Once I'm rested, I must put the Ring Detonation Secret Technique into the second imprint for directional deduction—to shorten its cooldown. Twelve days is just far too long…"
Meanwhile, as Wang Chen rested…
In a secret chamber within the residence of the deposed Crown Prince Xu Tianran—
Xu Tianran sat in his wheelchair. Across from him was a middle-aged man in a black robe, his short silver hair bristling like steel needles.
The man's features were handsome, with sharp brows, a straight nose, and a firm jaw. But his eyes were a deep violet, carrying a profound aura.
This man was Zhongli Wu—the illegitimate son of Ye Xishui and the former Holy Spirit Cult Master, Zhongli Old Ghost.