Chapter 554 - 236: Golden Taotie, Heaven-rank Cultivation Technique

A searing pain exploded in his mind, threatening to tear his entire Sea of Consciousness apart!

Lin Ye shuddered to think that before the college entrance exams, with his Spiritual Power as it was then, this single jolt would have been enough to make him pass out instantly.

He took a deep breath. Looking at the two jade slips before him, he could barely contain his excitement.

The greater the difficulty, the more terrifying the effects would be once he finally got the hang of it.

No wonder Zhu Mingyi had given him over a month.

He had probably calculated that it would be impossible for him to get started in such a short period.

...

For the entire afternoon, Lin Ye immersed himself in the library, giving the *Chaos Qi Formulas* a thorough read from beginning to end.

He didn’t get bogged down in the deeper meaning of any particular sentence. Instead, he focused on building a broad, overall impression of the Cultivation Technique in his mind.

It wasn’t until Wei Song appeared at the door to remind him that night was falling and the repository was about to close that Lin Ye snapped out of it, pulling himself from that state of profound comprehension as if waking from a dream.

He returned to the Special-Level Resource Library.

Following his memory, he navigated to the corner with ease.

There lay the treasure with the second-highest convertible Evolution Point value in the entire resource library, surpassed only by that mysterious notebook.

It was a strange Crystal Stone, deep blue all over, with what looked like a river of stars flowing within it.

"This won’t help you at all right now."

Wei Song’s voice held a hint of confusion and heartache.

"Are you sure you want to pick this?"

Lin Ye nodded, his resolve firm. "This is the one."

Wei Song looked at Lin Ye, his lips moving as if to say something, but in the end, all that came out was a sigh.

He carefully sealed the ore in a special Force Field Container. As he handed it to Lin Ye, the resentment in his eyes was almost palpable.

Of course, Lin Ye knew the item was useless to him.

But he didn’t need it to be useful to *him*.

’It was all going to be handed over to the system anyway.’

By the time he stepped out of the elevator and left the main government building, night had already fallen.

Back at the hotel, Lin Ye saw Li Kai Nian in the lobby.

"Zhang Daoxuan and Dongfang Zhen went straight back to Ninghai after collecting their rewards. What about you? Planning to stay and have some fun in the Imperial Capital for a few days?"

Li Kai Nian seemed to have been waiting specifically for Lin Ye, and he updated him on the situation as soon as they met.

"I’m planning to stay here in the Imperial Capital and tackle this new Cultivation Technique I got."

Li Kai Nian didn’t seem surprised. He nodded. "In that case, I’ll head back to Ninghai first. Whenever you want to return, I’ll send a private jet to pick you up."

"There’s no need, Mr. Li."

Lin Ye shook his head. "I can get back on my own."

For him, going home was merely a matter of a thought.

The two chatted for a few more moments before Lin Ye bid farewell to Li Kai Nian and headed to a detached apartment that the Ministry of Education had specially arranged for him.

The apartment wasn’t large, but it had all the necessities and even came with a small, quiet courtyard.

As soon as he closed the door, Lin Ye could no longer contain himself.

He took out the sealed ore.

"System, convert."

[Ding! High-quality Spiritual Object detected: Azuresea Fragment. Can be converted into 51.5 Evolution Points. Confirm conversion?]

"Confirm!"

The moment he spoke, the dazzling Crystal Stone inside the Force Field Container in his hand vanished into thin air, as if erased by an invisible hand.

At the same time, the numbers on his system panel began to jump wildly.

[Evolution Points: 52.3] → [Evolution Points: 103.8]

’I broke a hundred!’

Lin Ye took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the elation in his heart.

Without hesitation, he opened the mechanism-ascension interface, his gaze immediately locking onto the purple-tier mechanism that had been with him for so long.

Taotie!

"Ascend!"

[Ding! 100 Evolution Points consumed. Mechanism: Taotie is ascending...]

[Ascension successful! Congratulations, Host. Your mechanism, Taotie, has been elevated to Gold-tier: Devouring Heaven and Earth!]

BOOM!

A pillar of impossibly brilliant golden light shot up from the system panel, instantly enveloping Lin Ye!

He felt his very soul being cleansed and elevated by the golden light!

On the panel, all the skills and traits previously marked as "Temporary" and "Passive" lit up at once. They then transformed into streams of light, merging completely into the very core of Lin Ye’s being.

[Temporary Skills: Crystalization, Shadow Scale, Soul-Catching and Dream-Planting]

[Passive Racial Traits: Furious Gaze Demon Suppression, Soul Melting Bone Erosion]

At this moment, everything truly became a part of him!

Lin Ye suppressed his excitement and slowly extended his right hand.

With a single thought.

A layer of dense, tough, pitch-black scales silently covered his entire arm. This was Shadow Scale!

Immediately after, a layer of brilliant, translucent purple crystal formed over the scales. This was Crystalization!

A drop of dark green liquid seeped from his fingertip, emitting a terrifyingly corrosive aura. This was Soul Melting Bone Erosion!

Finally, ripples of an invisible force field spread out from the center of his palm—the suppressive field of Furious Gaze Demon Suppression!

Now, he could use all the abilities he had obtained through Taotie simultaneously!

This was true integration, where all abilities became one!

After all that, Lin Ye suppressed his excitement and closed the system panel.

He took out the pitch-black jade slip and once again began to study his newly acquired Cultivation Technique.

...

「Seven days passed in a flash.」

For the entire week, Lin Ye was so engrossed that he forgot to eat or sleep.

He was either studying the Cultivation Technique or on his way to study the Cultivation Technique.

Supported by his Healing out of combat mechanism, he didn’t even need to eat or sleep, his Spirit always remaining at its peak.

He constantly shuttled between his apartment, the Ministry’s dedicated training grounds, and the residences of several old professors specially chosen by Zhu Mingyi.