Comprehending a New Path

Chapter 90

As the flower bud gradually grew, under Li Changmeng's divine sense, the base of the bud began to swell. The plant started transporting liquid into the bud's base, forming the embryo of a fruit. 

During this process, the liquid thickened, and at this moment, the flower was in full bloom, completing its pollination. 

Once pollination was complete, the embryo of the plant entered the developing fruit, navigating through the viscous liquid to find its position. Then, the thick liquid gradually transformed into a fruit, swelling continuously and exuding a sweet fragrance. 

The accelerated growth came to an abrupt halt. 

Li Changmeng felt that this process bore an uncanny resemblance to a cultivator's path to forming a Core. 

The stage where the fruit gradually sweetened mirrored the process in other cultivation methods where the True Core solidified, transforming into a Golden Core. 

Maturity signified the attainment of the Golden Core stage. 

Following that, the seed within the fruit would break through the fruit's flesh, ushering in the birth of a new generation—Nascent Soul. 

Taking out the seed from the fruit, Li Changmeng once again accelerated its growth. He needed to observe this process repeatedly to see if he could find a way to refine it. 

Through countless cycles of rapid growth, the land around Li Changmeng became filled with these fruit-bearing plants. 

One or two plants were too slow—so he cultivated an entire field at once. 

This constantly sprouting and withering land soon attracted the attention of the local savages. 

To them, this was a land blessed by the gods. Food grew here at an astonishing rate before quickly withering away. As long as they remained in this place, they would never lack food. 

Li Changmeng paid no attention to the savages gathering the fruits, as long as they did not interfere with his observations. 

As time passed, the area expanded. Every moment, thousands of these plants bloomed and bore fruit, while thousands more withered and perished. 

Beneath the dying plants, new ones sprouted in an endless cycle. 

The natural cycle, under the effect of Li Changmeng's Growth Technique, had been accelerated countless times. 

He was like a mere spectator, watching this cycle of growth and decay unfold. 

Blurring his perception of time, he focused all his attention on the process of fruit formation. 

Countless cycles of fruiting, sprouting, and withering. 

Eventually, the fruit-bearing plants began to mutate. 

They no longer needed to worry about predators, disasters, sunlight, water, or nutrients. 

All they needed to do was grow, completely relying on Li Changmeng's continuous use of the Growth Technique. 

Their sole purpose became flowering, fruiting, and propagating the next generation. 

With this singular need driving their evolution, the fruits grew larger, containing more and more seeds. The plants no longer required fleshy fruit to attract other creatures for dispersal—only the seeds mattered. 

Ultimately, the plants transformed into an entirely different form. Upon sprouting, they grew stems at the fastest possible speed, immediately bloomed, bore fruit, and then ejected their seeds explosively. 

"This path…" 

At this point, Li Changmeng ceased his accelerated growth. By now, these plants could hardly survive naturally without his intervention. 

Stopping his technique, he looked around and realized that within a few miles around him, everything had been overtaken by these plants. 

"If cultivators are akin to these plants, then forming the Core, Golden Core, and even the Nascent Soul is all part of a natural life cycle. And the primary instinct of life is reproduction—this is the essence of it all." 

A flood of thoughts surged through his mind. 

His path to Core Formation should be a continuous process of accumulation. 

But what should he accumulate? 

Naturally, it was vitality. 

The Core Formation stage should focus on continuously strengthening one's foundation. The Golden Core stage should refine this foundation into a seed. And by the time one reached the Nascent Soul stage—it should erupt! 

"What is my foundation? Divine abilities and the Path of Flesh and Blood—these are my roots. So, what I need to do is not simply solidify my mana but strengthen my divine abilities and my Dao itself!" 

With newfound clarity, countless inspirations for his future cultivation method poured into his mind. 

Since this was an Absolute Spirit Zone, with nothing to disturb him, Li Changmeng immediately began deducing his future techniques. 

The first priority was divine abilities, the very foundation of incense-path cultivators. 

However, due to Li Changmeng's profound level of enlightenment, his divine abilities rarely had the chance to manifest their full potential. 

In his envisioned cultivation method, the focus was on enhancing divine abilities—turning them into seeds. 

What is a seed? 

A seed can grow into a complete and independent plant. 

Thus, divine abilities must be cultivated as seeds, allowing him to reach a state where he and his divine abilities were one and the same. 

This wasn't mere speculation—there was precedent. His Flesh Core had already become an extension of himself. Since his Flesh Core could serve as his clone, his divine abilities, which were inherently part of his body, should be even more capable of achieving this. 

The next step was the Path of Flesh and Blood—reaching the Fifth Realm of Enlightenment: The Path Manifested. 

This was the process of making one's Dao a fundamental law of the world, existing eternally within the heavens and earth. 

The fruit he had observed had given him significant inspiration. 

The Dao was not an abstract concept—it could be transformed into something tangible, something that could be absorbed and refined. 

If he could make his Dao a part of himself, then the Path of Flesh and Blood would become indestructible, and so would he. 

If this could be achieved, it would be vastly superior to ordinary Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivation methods. 

Even some Soul Formation cultivators might not reach the level of Manifesting the Dao. 

With a clear goal in mind, Li Changmeng's deductions advanced rapidly. This was far more difficult than creating a new spell. 

Fortunately, he could create multiple clones, exploring different possibilities from various angles. 

At last, after an unknown period, he had completed the deductions for the Core Formation stage of his new cultivation method. 

At some point, a simple hut had been built where he sat, and outside, numerous savages had gathered in worship. 

Taking a deep breath, Li Changmeng stood up. 

"Since this is a path I have forged myself, it should be called the Seed Cultivation Realm." 

"Originally, breaking through to Core Formation using the Spirit Refinement and Womb Transformation Technique would have allowed my body to be reshaped into an Incense Spirit Body through the cleansing of incense-wish power." 

"But the Seed Cultivation Realm takes this a step further—not only incense power but all foundational aspects of myself can be transformed into my being. I am that flower, carefully nurturing my own seeds." 

The new cultivation method he had deduced strengthened the ability of incense-wish power to enhance divine abilities, further stimulating their growth. 

Additionally, it incorporated the principle of the Core Formation method—sealing divine abilities and comprehended Dao within True Cores. 

Naturally, this would lead to the formation of multiple True Cores within his body. 

A True Core's essence was to construct a framework with the Dao, attach mana to it, and seal a fragment of one's soul within. 

Eventually, that fragment of soul would be nurtured into a Nascent Soul. 

However, Li Changmeng's new method allowed him to seal not only his soul but also his comprehended Dao, divine abilities, and even self-created techniques. 

The only requirement was that they must be something he fully mastered. 

Sealing a fragment of the soul would result in a Nascent Soul—but what would happen if he sealed other things? 

He had no idea. 

Multiple Core Formations required multiple dantians—otherwise, the True Cores might interfere with each other. 

For this, Li Changmeng already had a solution—he would simply grow more dantians. 

After all, dantians were merely flesh organs. Growing a few more was a trivial matter to him. 

His current humanoid form was only a convenient facade. His true form had long since transcended the concept of mortal life. 

Growing a few extra dantians was of no consequence.