Chapter 930: Future Plans P1

The sheer amount of information contained in the jade scroll was tremendous. It was also very thought provoking.

Aksai had not come across such information even after gaining access to Holy Land Torel and the Heavenly Poison Sect’s grounds. This was perplexing to say the least.

It could only mean that Aksai had not touched the core legacies contained within the Holy Land Torel and the Heavenly Poison Sect. And for some reason, neither Yelia, Velia or even the Dao Beast protector of the Heavenly Poison Sect had mentioned such details to him.

Aksai was not one to sulk on such matters. He figured that there must be some reasons behind Yelia’s silence. If there were some complications regarding the potential exposure to such information, it was better not to know such things in advance until the time was right.

Thankfully, that time had arrived with the arrival of imperial cultivators invading the subcontinent.

Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days.

Time passed like a flowing river.

Aksai remained seated beside the Demon Tree, his Spirit Sense moving rapidly through the jade scroll in front of him.

The information contained within Kalina’s Connate technique was far more profound than he had initially expected.

Every few moments, his expression changed slightly.

Sometimes his brows furrowed.

Sometimes his eyes widened.

And sometimes, he simply remained silent for several breaths as he processed another piece of information.

With Nuri assisting him, the enormous amount of information was being organized at an astonishing speed.

What would have taken Aksai weeks, or perhaps even months, to understand on his own was being broken down, compared, categorized, and connected to the knowledge he already possessed.

Then, suddenly, Aksai’s expression froze.

"Wait."

His gaze shifted toward a small jade bottle lying nearby.

Inside it were the strange pills he had taken from Kalina’s storage ring.

The same pills that had produced that bizarre illusion of a sea of flames.

He had initially thought they were some sort of auxiliary cultivation resource.

But he had not been able to determine their exact purpose.

Until now.

"Nuri."

[I am already analyzing them, My Liege.]

Aksai’s eyes narrowed.

A short silence followed.

Then Nuri’s voice sounded inside his mind.

[As per the information in the Eternal Sunfire Canon, the pills are Intent Refining Pills.]

[Their primary purpose is not to assist cultivation directly. They are cultivation resources specifically designed for practitioners of Connate techniques.]

Aksai stared at the jade bottle.

The illusion he had experienced suddenly seemed very different.

The sea of flames he had seen earlier.

The strange sensation.

The way his Spirit Essence had interacted with the illusion.

The vague connection he had felt with Kalina’s Connate Spells.

Everything suddenly clicked.

"So that’s what it was."

Aksai picked up the bottle.

"The illusion wasn’t meant as an offensive technique by making others consume the pill."

[Correct.]

Nuri continued.

[The illusion is constructed according to the elemental principles contained within the corresponding Connate technique. By experiencing and comprehending the illusion, a cultivator can deepen their understanding of the elemental laws related to their cultivation technique.]

Aksai’s eyes became brighter.

"In other words..."

He slowly looked at the jade scroll.

"The illusion is like a whetstone used to sharpen Intent."

That was exactly what it was.

These pills didn’t simply allow someone to experience an illusion.

The illusion itself was a carefully constructed environment designed to stimulate the cultivator’s comprehension.

A fire-element Connate cultivator could enter an illusion related to fire.

A water-element cultivator could experience the profundity of water.

Someone cultivating a Connate technique centered around another elemental law could similarly use the corresponding Intent Refining Pills.

The deeper the cultivator understood the elemental laws represented within the illusion, the more refined their Intent would become.

And that was only the beginning.

Even though Aksai was studying Kalina’s Connate technique by himself manually for a better understanding, it was better to ask Nuri some questions for an expedited understanding since she had already finished analysing and recording the technique.

"Can they also refine Intent related to specific Connate Spells?"

[Yes.]

Nuri’s answer came immediately.

[Certain higher-grade Intent Refining Pills are specifically designed around individual Connate Spells or branches of elemental understanding. Repeated comprehension allows the cultivator to refine the Intent supporting that Spell.]

Aksai’s fingers tightened around the jade bottle.

"That’s incredibly useful."

It wasn’t simply useful.

It was terrifyingly valuable.

Aksai suddenly understood why Kalina had possessed so few of them.

And why he had initially been unable to identify their purpose.

His previous understanding of cultivation simply didn’t have a place for something like this.

"Wait."

Another thought surfaced.

"Earlier, you said the higher-grade versions can also accelerate cultivation."

[Correct. However, that is not their primary function. Refer to Chapter 13, Mantras (verses) 43 to 66, mentioned in the Canon. ]

Aksai nodded and did what Nuri told him to.

The higher-grade Intent Refining Pills could significantly accelerate cultivation progress because deeper elemental comprehension naturally improved the efficiency of cultivation.

But that was merely a secondary benefit.

The real value was the refinement of Intent.

Because Intent wasn’t just some abstract concept.

It was a tool.

A very important one.

Aksai’s expression slowly became serious.

"The foundation..."

He murmured.

"The illusions help cultivators establish a stronger foundation based on refined Intent."

[Yes.]

Aksai leaned back.

Now the entire structure of Connate cultivation was beginning to make sense.

And with that understanding came another realization.

The difference between Connate techniques and the cultivation techniques used in the subcontinent was far greater than he had imagined.

Aksai looked down at his own Spirit Core.

"Those Innate Spell Cubes..."

His expression became complicated.

"So they’re considered defective techniques by the imperial cultivators."

The native cultivators of the subcontinent cultivated techniques that caused them to develop distinct Innate Spirit Cubes inside their Dantians.

Those cubes served as the foundation for casting Innate Spirit Spells.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong with the system.

It offered tremendous variety.

A cultivator could learn different spells from different elements and become a multispecialist.

That flexibility was the greatest advantage of Innate Spirit Spells.

But there was a price.

A very heavy one.