The Great Freedom Celestial Demon was a bit shocked. He suspected that Zhang Chen was the reincarnation of some ancient being, and not just any old being, but one with an extremely illustrious history among them.
He had lived for billions of years and had never heard anyone say that someone could master the Power of Time. Even those Immortal Sect Ancestors hadn’t achieved that.
Zhang Chen glanced at the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, too lazy to bother with this mysterious character. He chose to maintain an air of mystery in front of him to inspire more awe in the Great Freedom Celestial Demon’s heart.
Zhang Chen scrutinized the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu branches before him, feeling a bit puzzled. Why hadn’t there been any change with the ten years of Power of Time he had imbued?
"The growth of the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu is calculated in billions of years. Your Power of Time is too weak to cause the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu to change," the Great Freedom Celestial Demon said from the side.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen immediately understood, yet he wasn’t anxious. He could add ten years to the Jianmu branch each day, making a hundred years in ten days. When thousands or tens of thousands of years go by, the Jianmu branch would eventually change.
Then Zhang Chen looked at the book wrapped in the Earth’s Primordial Magnetism and took the book to the fire basin to examine it carefully.
For books, Zhang Chen felt it was better to memorize them in his mind. The Technique for collecting Sun Essence also needed to be carefully studied on his own.
Zhang Chen had almost photographic memory by now. He watched book after book, throwing each one into the fire basin to burn into ashes, disappearing into Heaven and Earth, to prevent missing any interlayer within the books.
It had to be said these were indeed hidden by the Ancestral Master of Longevity, containing many Divine Technique practices that operated using Earth Vein Qi, which were very beneficial to Zhang Chen.
Days passed by. After a month of reading underground, when all the books were burned to ashes, the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu branch finally showed new changes.
On this day, under Zhang Chen’s Power of Time, a tiny bud finally sprouted from the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu.
"Three hundred years for just one bud to emerge. If depending on the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu to evolve on its own, I’m afraid I’ll be waiting forever," Zhang Chen internally ridiculed as he looked at the grain-sized bud.
But given the persistence over a long period, with 365 days in a year allowing for 3,650 years of gain and 36,000 years in ten years, the accumulation amounted to a gigantic astronomical figure, enough to cause a qualitative change in the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu.
"Unfortunately, it’s still too slow for me." Zhang Chen looked at the newly sprouted bud, feeling a bit anxious. The time was too slow, and he only had five years to live; he couldn’t wait.
This leaf had just sprouted; who knows how many years it would take to grow fully? It only increased a few strands of Innate Qi per day, providing limited assistance to him.
"I need to seek more opportunities." Zhang Chen murmured, looking at the last trace of ashes in the furnace. He took out the Golden Book obtained from Dugu Qiu and studied it in his hands.
"I remember at the thatched cottage, Fox Fairy Nannan placed the Golden Page on the table, and it automatically dropped experience points and skills. Why is there no change when it’s with me now?" Zhang Chen pondered as he touched the Golden Page: "Could it be that Fox Fairy Nannan, being a Demon Beast, stimulated it with her aura, causing it to drop experience points and skills?"
Zhang Chen hypothesized, then circulated his Magical Power, infused it into the Golden Page, and the next moment saw a cluster of Golden Light fall off.
[Skill discovered: Sun Collection Skill. Would you like to acquire it?]
[Note: The Sun Collection Skill is inherited from a very ancient era, engraved by a nameless Divine Demon before death, capable of absorbing Sun Essence to cleanse the soul and bones.]
"Acquire!"
Seeing the skill drop, Zhang Chen’s eyes lit up. His Blood Control Technique could absorb Taiyin Essence. If he could also absorb Great Sun Essence, cultivate Sun True Flame, and combine it with his Sun Embers, who knows what kind of power that would unleash.
[Skill 22 (Unranked): Sun Collection Skill (0/1000)]
[Note 1: The Sun Collection Skill is inherited from a very ancient era, engraved by a nameless Divine Demon before death, capable of absorbing Sun Essence to cleanse the soul and bones. When cultivated to a profound level, a blaze of Great Sun Flame could be nurtured, having the Divine Power to burn mountains and boil seas.]
[Note 2: When cultivated to the Great Success Realm, it can have mysterious effects with Sun Embers and True God Golden Light.]
"Interesting indeed!" Zhang Chen’s gaze fell on the skill interface after the Sun Collection Skill, a gleam of light in his eyes: "Finally a normal skill, not one of those point-consuming ones. Sun Collection Skill starts at one thousand points, which, while a lot, is still manageable for Zhang Chen."
Thinking this, Zhang Chen looked at his points. After a month of accumulation, he had already accumulated 300,000, enough for an upgrade.
A mere thousand points, just a drop in the ocean.
[22 Skill (Entry-Level): Sun Collection Skill (0/10000)]
[Note: You can collect a strand of Great Sun Essence every morning]
The simple skill interface introduction made Zhang Chen’s heart stir: "Right now, I seem to have a feeling that as long as I stand under the sun, I can collect Great Sun Essence. But what’s this about only being able to collect a strand of Great Sun Essence every morning?"
Moreover, Zhang Chen could see that his Golden Finger’s upgrade this time wasn’t about levels, but rather divisions like Great Success and Minor Achievement, akin to the Mountain Moving Seal, which explained a lot of issues.
"Only one strand per day?" Zhang Chen raised an eyebrow, and the next moment, Zhang Chen activated the Earth Escape Technique, appearing atop a mountain outside. At this moment, purple light flowed across the sky, marking the dawn.
With a thought, Zhang Chen saw a strand of purple light being absorbed through his mouth and nose, pouring into his Spiritual World, cleansing his three primordial and seven corporeal souls, causing them to undergo a mysterious change that was too faint for Zhang Chen to perceive directly.
As that strand of purple Great Sun Essence was absorbed, Zhang Chen’s soul felt a sense of fullness, not because he could not continue absorbing Great Sun Qi, but because his soul’s ability to digest had reached its limit. If Zhang Chen continued to absorb Great Sun Essence, he would be overwhelmed by the purple essence.
"Pure Yang?" Zhang Chen stood on the mountain peak, contemplating the purple sunlight. With his experience from reading countless books, he was no longer as ignorant as before.
"Cultivators of the Divine Soul Dao emphasize refining the Yang God, purging Yin Qi, while Immortal Dao cultivators practice Primordial Spirit, merging Yin and Yang. Daily absorption of Great Sun Purple Qi will aid the Pure Yang of my soul, and combined with the Moon Collection Technique, will offer unbelievable benefits for my future Immortal Dao Primordial Spirit cultivation." Zhang Chen mused.
"However, the level of Sun Collection Skill is still too low." Zhang Chen thought, continuing to upgrade the Sun Collection Skill.
Being able to absorb only a strand of Sun Purple Qi Essence daily wasn’t Zhang Chen’s fault, but rather the low level of the Qi Collection technique.
As Zhang Chen’s thoughts flashed, the Golden Finger Interface began to change again:
[22 Skill (Minor Achievement): Sun Collection Skill (0/100000)]
[Note: You can absorb Great Sun Essence at noon]
The interface introduction remained simple, but the next moment Zhang Chen sensed a warm current emerging from the void, rushing into his soul, causing an inexplicable transformation as if his soul had undergone special restructuring, allowing it to accommodate more Sun Essence.
Then Zhang Chen continuously absorbed the purple Qi from the sky, and the strands flowed incessantly towards him, pouring into his mouth and nose, into his soul, ceaselessly cleansing it.
The purple light in the sky grew brighter, until the sun fully rose above the horizon. At that moment, as the true sunlight was absorbed into his body, Zhang Chen noticed the difference between the morning light and Great Sun Purple Qi.
These were two completely opposing forces. The Great Sun Purple Qi cleansed the soul, while the morning sun advocated soul transformation with an authoritarian power. As Zhang Chen absorbed the sun’s Qi, his soul was imbued with traces of the sun’s aura.
"Incredible! The morning sun’s Qi carries the Power of Growth, full of vitality, fostering the growth of all things, thus capable of transforming my soul." Zhang Chen considered, "Through the sun’s transformation, my soul will better adapt to the solar power, absorbing more of it for cultivation."
Zhang Chen pondered: "With the Minor Achievement level of Sun Collection Skill, I can absorb the morning purple Qi and the morning sun’s power. Following this logic, once the skill reaches Great Success, won’t I be able to continually absorb the noon sun’s power? For Perfection, absorbing the setting sun... wait, the setting sun doesn’t exist, so what is Perfection?"
Instead of rushing to upgrade, Zhang Chen continually absorbed the Sun Essence from the sky. As the sunlight approached noon, he felt the transformation of solar power. The Power of Growth became more domineering until noon, when it completely transformed into a powerful Machismo Power, capable of cleansing all evils in the world. Only after Zhang Chen absorbed the last strand of morning’s growth sunlight, his soul was full and could absorb no more.
"I wonder what remarkable effects Great Success level Sun Collection Skill will have." Zhang Chen looked at the Golden Finger Interface, and the next moment it upgraded:
[22 Skill (Great Success): Sun Collection Skill (0/1000000)]
[Note: You can absorb an entire day’s Sun Essence.]
[Do you wish to upgrade?]
"Upgrade!"
The introduction remained simple, leaving Zhang Chen astonished. Then a surge of warm current filled his body, and his soul underwent another inscrutable transformation.