Whoosh!

The blade flashed and blood spurted. Tang Jie’s body suddenly toppled forward, rolling onto the terrace. Only his lower left leg was left behind, lying quietly on the final step.

Bereft of leg and empty of strength, Tang Jie couldn’t even stand, only lie on the ground. Despite all that, he began to laugh.

He had gotten up here!

He had finally gotten up here!

Looking up at the sky, Tang Jie kept laughing, laughing louder and louder until all of the Water Moon Paradise echoed with his voice.

The Agriculture Hall disciples gawked at Tang Jie, Zhao Hui even mumbling, “Crazy! He’s crazy!”

To get onto the terrace, he had been willing to cut off his own leg! This had to be the first time in the nearly two-thousand-year history of the Basking Moon Sect that someone had done this.

After laughing for a while, Tang Jie finally sat up.

He propped himself up with his hands, crawled to his severed leg, and picked it up. After being cut off from the main body, the leg was like a stone on the ground, a weed in the field, no longer affected by the formation. Considering this, if one didn’t have to worry about one’s life, then cutting oneself into pieces and throwing them up the mountain to be reassembled was a decent way of getting up the mountain.

Picking up his severed leg, Tang Jie put it up to the wound. At his cultivation level, so long as he could get back the leg, he could easily connect it back.

But the prerequisite was that he needed enough life force. His body was so thoroughly emptied out that even being able to sit up and get back his leg was a miracle. There was no hope of his leg linking back to his body.

Fortunately, Tang Jie had another method.

He turned to Zhao Hui and the others and shouted, “Can you help me out a little?”

“Wh-what?” an Agriculture Hall disciple stammered.

“Get me some wooden sticks.”

This was simple. Although it wasn’t a reward he had earned, such things were worthless, so fetching them for him didn’t break the rules.

Someone came over with some wooden sticks and planks.

The Agriculture Hall disciples weren’t allowed to step onto the terrace or the steps, so they threw the things over. Thus, Tang Jie had to do the rest of the work himself.

Tang Jie gritted his teeth and used his trembling hands to tie down his severed leg to a wooden board before finally exhaling in relief.

He looked back at the Agriculture Hall disciples and said, “Many thanks.”

The disciples immediately replied that it was nothing.

Tang Jie smiled. “Then can I get my reward now?”

An Agriculture Hall disciple realized what he was talking about and said, “Oh, oh, right; what do you want? I’ll go and get it!”

“A Snow Mushroom,” Tang Jie replied.

Just like the Ginseng Essence, the Snow Mushroom was a life-saving restorative, perfect for use in the Tempered Will state.

It was clear that Tang Jie planned to take in powerful supplements while his body was emptied out and make a charge at Cognitive Creation.

As for his leg, he didn’t seem worried about it at all.

The disciple hastened to get the mushroom. Fortunately, they had already guessed that Tang Jie would want a Snow Mushroom, so they had already found a high-quality one. He was now going off to get it and deliver it to Tang Jie.

A 1800-year Ginseng Essence, a 1800-year Snow Mushroom, and a 1800-year South Prosper Seed… Although these were only three spirit plants, their quality was shockingly high. These three spirit plants were worth countless spirit herbs in the outside world, and Tang Jie had also brought in his own medicines, which included Jade Return Grass from the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. In the last ten years, the original body had used most of the spirit plants he had gotten on himself, with a small part being sold off to the Seven Absolutions Sect and the Basking Moon Sect. This Jade Return Grass was the first thing he had given to the avatar, for it was exactly what the avatar needed. This single item was extremely valuable, and it was no wonder the Mystic Moon True Lord had been so surprised.

But this item was for nourishment, not for saving a life, and it could even turn on the user and burn the body. Thus, it could not be used alone, only with life-restoring herbs like the Ginseng Essence. As the Ginseng Essence was not old enough, its medicinal power far inferior to the Jade Return Grass, Tang Jie had no choice but to get to 300 meters to get the Snow Mushroom.

After all, Jade Return Grass wasn’t actually a poisonous plant. It just had a few small side effects. Although it had ten thousand years of medicinal power, two 1800-year spirit plants were enough to deal with those.

It was very normal to make breakthroughs in the Water Moon Paradise, and those without this capability would never be able to make it up the mountain. For this reason, the Basking Moon Sect did not stop anyone from bringing in their own medicines. It was just that advancement was difficult, and the farther one went, the less able medicines were to address one’s problems.

Some problems could not be resolved by medicines, but Tempered Will definitely wasn’t one of them.

An emptied body needed nutrients, as much good stuff as it could get.

Tang Jie took out all his herbs and medicines and began to stuff them into his mouth.

Medicinal power turned into spiritual rivulets and flowed into his body, slowly filling up the emptiness. As the medicinal power seeped into every one of his cells, Tang Jie almost let out a groan of satisfaction.

But Tang Jie knew that this wasn’t the time to enjoy himself.

Now was the moment to make the charge at Cognitive Creation.

He focused his mind and began to gather his will to turn it into the Sea of Cognition.

In the Tempered Will state, one’s will was already solidified, but as it was distributed throughout the body, it could not create the Sea of Cognition.

Now that Tang Jie was completely focused, his will began to retract from his body.

It was a very strange sensation.

The location of a person’s consciousness was a very vague sensation. It was like being injured in the hand and being able to sense the location of the pain but not being able to describe it in any detail.

But when the will was tempered, everything changed.

It was like a pair of invisible eyes was using spiritual energy as a vessel to travel around the body, clearly taking in every part of the body.

It was somewhat similar to inward sight, but inward sight was a spell that only lasted for a short while, whereas the tempering of the will was a fundamental transformation. At this stage, the will became Spirit Will!

At this moment, one could say that the will went from illusory to real, and one could also say that it became—after sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind—a person’s seventh sense.

What all of these explanations were trying to say was that will became a real existence that could sense the outside world and also be sensed by the outside world.

This was Spirit Will!

As Tang Jie’s will withdrew from his entire body and gathered in the location of the Sea of Cognition, his exhausted body lost all support.

Tang Jie collapsed.

All of the medicinal power went to work, taking the reins from the will to support Tang Jie.

Tang Jie lay on the terrace like a rigid corpse.

At this moment, he could no longer move at all. All he could do was command his will.

As the will returned from the various parts of the body and gathered together, it formed a white fog-like existence.

This was the Sea of Cognition.

A sea formed from condensed will!

The process of Cognitive Creation was to condense and temper the will, and then gather it into a sea.

Having already entered the Tempered Will state, Tang Jie easily skipped the first step and entered the second.

Gathering the Sea of Cognition was originally an extremely troublesome process, but after everything Tang Jie had been through, it became very easy and relaxed.

One wisp of will after another appeared. This was his will attaching to spiritual energy and becoming Spirit Will, forming the Sea of Cognition.

Generally, the Sea of Cognition appeared like a mist. So long as it lingered and did not disperse, it was considered a success.

Tang Jie had already reached this step. In other words, he had already succeeded.

Once the Sea of Cognition was formed, the Spirit Will could be used. Like the eyes received light and the nose received scents, the Spirit Will was used for sensing spiritual energy.

The way that a person who had not reached Cognitive Creation “sensed” spiritual energy was like how a mortal felt the air. They knew of its existence and could use it, but it was difficult to go any further.

Cognitive Creation was like having a microscopic lens that allowed one to observe and sense from even closer.

Thus, Tang Jie felt a strange sensation that he had never felt before. He felt like he was in the middle of a great sea awash with spiritual energy.

There were a lot of impurities in this sea of spiritual energy, components that were useless to him.

He had never been able to sense them before.

Now that he could, he could choose what he wanted and what he did not.

In other words, he could absorb spiritual energy of even greater purity!

Not only that, when he cultivated in the future, he could use his Spirit Will to more sharply sense the changes in his body, reducing the detours he took and letting him improve faster.

This was the importance of the first tier of Cognitive Creation, its boon to cultivation.

This was also an important checkpoint one had to pass on the road to success.

Before Cognitive Creation, a cultivator cultivating was like a blind man walking. They could sense that the road existed, but they couldn’t see it. Cognitive Creation granted the blind man a tiny bit of vision.

But Tang Jie didn’t plan to stop here. The Sea of Cognition was still churning as it was tempered and refined, causing various phenomena.

Thus, everyone saw Tang Jie’s body begin to release white wisps of energy.

Spirit Will expansion!

This was a manifestation of a certain level of Cognitive Creation.

This white mist around Tang Jie was his Spirit Will. It danced in the air in the form of tentacles that grew longer and longer.

There were some Cognitive Creation cultivators among the Agriculture Hall disciples, and they knew that the length of the white tendrils indicated the maximum range of one’s Spirit Will. Spirit Will was not Divine Will and was not capable of breaking free of the body, so its range of effect was limited. The greater the range, the greater the area that one could sense and influence. This meant that one could control more spiritual energy, which meant that one could unleash more powerful spell arts.

This was one of the reasons the spell arts of Cognitive Creation Spirit Masters were so much stronger than those of Nine Revolutions Spirit Masters.

The white mist around Tang Jie expanded, growing longer and longer and showing no signs of stopping. All of the spectating Agriculture Hall disciples were dumbfounded.

“10 meters… 15 meters… 20 meters now…” someone gasped.

There was a limit to the length of a Spirit Will. Normally, an ordinary cultivator could reach a length from 10 to 12 meters. Only the more outstanding disciples could reach 15.

The disciples of the six major sects were the best of the best, so all of them could reach 15 meters. Only a few elites were able to hit 18 meters, and 20 meters was the standard for incredible geniuses.

Since Tang Jie had reached 20 meters with his Spirit Will, it meant that he could now be considered a genius of the Basking Moon Sect.

These few meters could not be underestimated.

With every meter the Spirit Will extended from the body, the amount of spiritual energy that could be influenced also increased.

And this could be calculated using the formula for the area of a circle.

When the Spirit Will had extended ten meters from the body, one could use the spiritual energy within 314 square meters.

At fifteen meters, the area was 706 square meters.

At twenty meters, one could influence spiritual energy in an area of 1256 square meters.

From the numbers above, one could see that even though one had only increased the distance by 5 meters, the area one controlled was more than doubled!

When this was converted into actual combat power, the difference was even greater!

And Tang Jie still showed no signs of stopping.

He continued to push forward.

Although the rate of lengthening slowed, the white mist was still firmly advancing, the threads dancing in the air.

21 meters… 21.5 meters… 22 meters…

Steadily and slowly forward.

“22 and a half meters!” someone shouted.

A large group of Agriculture Hall disciples had lined up on the two sides of the stone steps, constantly measuring with their hands to more accurately confirm the length of the Spirit Will.

Everyone was excited. 22.5 meters was an astonishing number, but it still hadn’t broken the Basking Moon Sect’s highest record.

The record in the Basking Moon Sect was 26.47 meters, and the record holder was none other than the current Sect Master, Ling Xiao.

“23 meters!”

The white mist of Spirit Will expanded again as an Agriculture Hall disciple called out.

“Brother Hui, what do you think?” someone asked Zhao Hui.

Zhao Hui replied, “A genius, already in the top 100 in the last one thousand years of the Basking Moon Sect.”

The Spirit Will continued to grow.

It had soon expanded by another half a meter.

Zhao Hui said, “Top 50!”

24 meters!

Zhao Hui: “Top 30.”

24.5 meters.

“Top 20!”

Zhao Hui’s voice was starting to shake. “Keep going! In another half a meter, you’ll be one of the top ten geniuses in the history of the Basking Moon Sect!”

Everyone nervously watched Tang Jie.

The Spirit Will’s advance had seemingly come to an end. Just like when Tang Jie was climbing the mountain, it didn’t grow a sliver for quite some time, but it also refused to fall. It stubbornly pressed forward, little by little, squeezing itself for all it was worth. Like a weed, it struggled to break free of the soil and reveal its little sprout.

Everyone could see that the Spirit Will was advancing at a turtle-like speed, unwilling to give up.

Finally!

“25 meters!” someone shouted.

“Wonderful!” Zhao Hui punched his palm, and everyone cheered to celebrate Tang Jie’s achievement, to celebrate that another genius had appeared in the Basking Moon Sect.

But the cheering quickly stopped for fear of disturbing Tang Jie. They held their breaths and continued to watch Tang Jie.

Sure enough, Tang Jie was like a cockroach, and his Spirit Will was like a snake. It stubbornly struggled forward a little more before finally drawing back.

Everyone sighed.

Tang Jie had ultimately stopped at the top ten, still one meter off from Sect Master Ling Xiao’s record.

“It should be about 25.4 meters, top seven or top eight,” a disciple commented.

“Regardless of his exact place, it’s still in the top ten,” someone else replied.

“But he managed to push out Martial Uncle Xiao.”

The crowd chuckled.

“Martial Uncle Xiao” naturally referred to Xiao Biehan.

Xiao Biehan couldn’t be considered some incredible genius. He had relied on fighting and slaughter to get to the finish line. Through his many battles, he came across countless fortuitous opportunities, which allowed him to push his Spirit Will to around 25.2 meters, barely getting him into the top ten.

This was why Zhao Hui said that getting to 25 meters basically guaranteed that one would enter the top ten.

Now that Tang Jie had entered the top ten, the Sword of the Basking Moon Sect had been pushed out. It was truly rather amusing.

Tang Jie’s Spirit Will could grow no longer, meaning that he had reached his limit.

A length of 25 meters meant that all of the spiritual energy in a radius of 25 meters around him could be controlled by him. Though it was not to the level where it was an extension of his body, he had gotten stronger in all aspects, whether it was consumption, power, range, or speed.

After reaching this step, he didn’t stop, continuing to improve himself.

The white spiritual energy didn’t disappear, drifting about in the air and letting out thin wisps of light.

Zhao Hui and the others were rendered speechless by this sight.

Spirit Will Transmission!

Gathering the will was the preparation for Cognitive Creation, condensing the Sea of Cognition was to formally begin Cognitive Creation, and Spirit Will expansion was a mature manifestation of Cognitive Creation, the middle stage. As for Spirit Will Transmission, it was the later stage of Cognitive Creation.

The meaning of Spirit Will Transmission was very simple. Condensing the Sea of Cognition allowed one to observe the world of spiritual energy, and Spirit Will expansion gave one the ability to influence this world. Spirit Will Transmission was the ability to transmit one’s thoughts to the spiritual energy world.

At the absolute limits of this method was the Divine Will, the Divine Connection, ten thousand arts coming forth with a single thought.

Of course, this was still far in the future. However, at this level, one could greatly reduce one’s required number of hand signs and hasten one’s casting speed.

These were the three major transformations effected by the three steps of Cognitive Creation, and they also signified major boosts in strength.

And Tang Jie had gotten through these three steps in one go, leaving all the Agriculture Hall disciples stunned.

Not even Sect Master Ling Xiao had been able to achieve such swift progress, had he?

At least Tang Jie did not push straight through this step as well.

The Spirit Will lingered for a while before finally returning to Tang Jie’s body.

Tang Jie exhaled and reluctantly stood up, muttering, “What a pity. In the end, it was all for nothing. I couldn’t reach the apex.”

These words almost made the spectating Agriculture Hall disciples fall over. This wasn’t enough for him?

By going from condensing the Sea of Cognition all the way to Spirit Will Transmission, he had done in two hours what took other people ten years!

Overcoming ten years in one step was incredible progress. What else could he ask for?

Even Zhao Hui couldn’t help but bitterly smile and say, “Junior Brother has such great ambitions! It is no wonder you were able to achieve so much! Admirable!”

Tang Jie shook his head. “None of you know what all this cost me.”

Yes, they didn’t know how much Tang Jie had worked for this.

For this Cognitive Creation, Tang Jie was even willing to give up his life to achieve perfection.

Entering the Tempered Will state had emptied his body to its limits, allowing him to borrow the medicinal power and thick spiritual energy of his surroundings to strengthen himself. It also allowed him to enter another state: the Hundred Tribulations Passage!

Pushing his body to the absolute limits was a near-death state, like someone starving to death. Moreover, Tang Jie had cut off his own leg, pushing him even closer to the brink of death. Otherwise, this couldn’t be considered gambling with his life.

In these circumstances, the Hundred Tribulations Passage Art finally activated, preserving his life and stimulating his potential.

The boost of potential and the abundant medicinal power allowed Tang Jie’s Spirit Will to grow much longer. Otherwise, there was no way his avatar had the aptitude to get this far.

If someone were to find out that this top-ten genius of the Basking Moon Sect was only an avatar, they would probably be so shocked that their teeth would fall out.

Finally and most critically, Tang Jie had used the Dao of Karma.

He didn’t use the Dao of Karma to increase his chances of achieving Cognitive Creation, for there was nothing that could be done about that.

Only with a cause could there be an effect; only with a seed could there be fruit.

Since he couldn’t plant the seed of sure success in Cognitive Creation, he naturally couldn’t harvest the fruit of sure success.

But he could maximize the effects of a successful Cognitive Creation, maximizing the boost to his potential.

Thus, the White Tiger essence blood was a seed, as were the gathered spirit plants, as was the Tempered Will state, as was the Hundred Tribulations Passage. Even cutting off his own leg was a seed!

He had planted seed after seed precisely so that he could achieve great success in Cognitive Creation.

So, he had succeeded.

Behind this miraculous success were all sorts of pains and efforts that those people simply couldn’t imagine!

—————————

Author’s Note: Yesterday, I said that Tang Jie had entered the Tempered Will state twice. This was a mistake. It should have been three times. I remembered incorrectly, so I’m correcting the mistake here. My apologies!

In addition, let me explain a few things that some people are still confused about.

With regards to the Dao of Wisdom, Tang Jie isn’t Shen Yi (the protagonist of Infinity Armament, a previous work of the author), and in this book, the Dao of Wisdom isn’t used for battle, but for learning the other Great Daos. It is the doorknocker for learning the other Daos. It’s because of the Dao of Wisdom that Tang Jie finds it much easier to comprehend the other Great Daos.

Tang Jie finally experiences his first major advancement in the Water Moon Paradise. Is it enough for him to go all the way?