Chapter 22

The first page was the title page, blank as snow, with only eight bold characters, exceptionally clear. No one who opened this book could possibly miss them.

Most people, upon seeing this scene, would surely first carefully ponder the hidden truth, then continue reading with an understanding of these eight characters. But Chen Changsheng was different. He did not continue to the next page but instead got up and walked to the bookshelf, found several books related to the Bone Washing, and quickly flipped through them. He discovered that the title pages of these books all had the same eight characters. Then he sat back on the floor and continued reading, his mind fully focused on the pages, with no distractions.

The text in the Bone Washing Treatise was very concise. He read it carefully and finished the first chapter in no time. This chapter discussed how to cultivate divine consciousness. He did not stop to think or try it out but continued reading. The subsequent chapters gradually became etched in his memory—mainly discussing the cultivation of divine consciousness, finding the life star, and guiding starlight into the body.

He finished reading in just half an hour, then closed the book and began to meditate with his eyes closed.

After more than ten breaths, he opened his eyes and began reading the book again.

This time, he read it even faster, finishing in just a few incense sticks' time.

Then he closed his eyes again and began to meditate on the content of the book.

After a few breaths, he opened his eyes and began reading once more.

He repeated this process several times, and the sunlight streaming in from the window remained as intense as ever.

He closed the pages of the Bone Washing Treatise for the last time and did not open it again.

He took out a pen and ink, did not refer to the book, and began to record his thoughts based on his memory.

In no time, the paper was filled with dense writing.

The moment he placed the pen on the inkstone, the entire content of the Bone Washing Treatise was etched in his mind, like inscriptions on stone.

The most crucial part was that this was not mechanical memory but true understanding.

This was Chen Changsheng's method of reading.

This method was very special, a valuable asset he and his senior brother had gained after more than a decade of diligent study—the old temple in Xining Town, though unremarkable, had a vast collection of books. To memorize so many books in the shortest time possible, they naturally needed some special abilities.

With this reading method, a book did not need to be read thick, then thin, and finally thick again—indeed, most of the books in the old temple in Xining Town were still as new as ever, but their contents had been completely memorized by the two of them.

The most important part of this method was the final step of note-taking, whether on paper or in one's mind, which was a reorganization and confirmation of the entire reading process. Only after completing this step could one say that the reader had fully transformed the book's content into their own knowledge.

Finishing the Bone Washing Treatise and closing the book was not the end. Learning and practicing were ongoing processes. While these could be done in the mind and on paper, what was the purpose of reading and learning? It was practice. His purpose in reading the Bone Washing Treatise was to successfully cleanse his bones and begin cultivation.

The first step in cleansing the bones was to condense divine consciousness—divine consciousness was the spiritual power of humans. In simpler terms, it was "thinking." As long as the thought was strong and focused enough, it would become a kind of power.

It sounded easy, as if one could imagine themselves freely moving in a magnificent landscape by just furrowing their brows, but it was not so simple. The formation of divine consciousness depended entirely on the strength of the spirit soul, which was purely a matter of innate talent and had little to do with effort. No matter how hard an ordinary person tried, could their spirit soul strength ever surpass that of a reincarnated celestial phoenix?

Chen Changsheng had been preparing to cultivate for many years. More accurately, since his body underwent a change at the age of ten, he had been silently waiting for this day. He knew there was a problem with his meridians, as his master had said he was ill—his nine segments of meridians could not connect, and his spirit soul could not circulate within his body, forcing it to be expelled through sweat. Although his master had used medicine to suppress it after he turned ten, preventing further loss of spirit soul essence, this was still a problem. Otherwise, the black sensing stone at the Heavenly Dao Academy would not have detected no divine consciousness within him.

If his spirit soul was not strong enough, how could he condense divine consciousness?

Without divine consciousness, how could he disperse it?

How could he take the first step in cleansing his bones?

Chen Changsheng did not feel disheartened like those who had just discovered they had no hope of cultivation, nor did he feel despair.

He firmly believed that countless wise people in the distant past had already solved this problem, as there were many people like him. In the Daoist texts he had read, there were often records of disappointed individuals finding ingenious methods to become supreme experts, such as Wang Zhice. However, he did not plan to do the same, as his meridian problem had no similar cases in the books—his master had said it was incurable, and that was his fate. He did not have the extra time to fight against fate and did not believe he could come up with a new ingenious method in a short time. He preferred to go with the flow and believed that he could condense divine consciousness and begin cultivation by following existing methods. He trusted the wisdom of his predecessors more than anyone.

"Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will become clear."

All books related to bone cleansing had these eight prominent characters. Clearly, these eight characters were the most critical part of bone cleansing, the part that the predecessors wanted to convey to future generations. But which book should be read?

Chen Changsheng looked at the densely packed table of contents on the back cover of the Bone Washing Treatise, at the various titles, some straightforward and others unconventional, and shook his head. He had not expected to continue his studies in Xining Town even after coming to the capital.

If in places like the Heavenly Dao Academy or the Star Plucking College, students who needed to break through the bone cleansing stage would naturally be told by teachers that the key to bone cleansing was to read a large number of related books to strengthen their spirit souls and thus condense divine consciousness.

The Bone Washing Treatise was just the outline. The true subjects to be studied were the forty-nine books listed on the back cover.

Of course, this did not mean that all students had to read these forty-nine books a hundred times to strengthen their spirit souls to the point of condensing divine consciousness. Most of the time, the process would be completed halfway through, with the reader's divine consciousness already condensed and the process finished.

This process was not necessarily better the earlier it was completed. If someone could condense divine consciousness after reading a book ten times, they would likely be the weakest cultivator in history. Conversely, the more books read and the more times read, the stronger the spirit soul would become, and the more difficult it would be to break through the final barrier. When they finally succeeded in condensing divine consciousness, it would be truly powerful.

If someone could read all forty-nine books listed in the Bone Washing Treatise a hundred times before finally condensing divine consciousness, they would have the best chance of achieving the perfect state of bone cleansing. However, this was extremely rare, and only those with innate talent could achieve it.

This was a very stimulating process. As time passed and the number of books read and the number of readings increased, one could hope to become a genius with powerful divine consciousness, but there was also a high possibility that one would never be able to condense divine consciousness and would remain an ordinary person.

Hope and disappointment would be amplified throughout the reading process, ultimately turning it into a huge gamble. No one knew the outcome of the gamble, and only after reading the books a hundred times would the result become clear.

"Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will become clear."

This was the meaning.

...

...

After reading the Bone Washing Treatise once, Chen Changsheng did not feel any changes in his body, did not sense his spirit soul, and naturally did not feel any divine consciousness. He did not immediately start reading the books listed on the back cover but began to do some calculations.

He believed his reading efficiency was higher than that of ordinary people, so he might not need to read a hundred times. Perhaps twenty or thirty times would be enough. There were forty-nine books in the commentary. Based on his average reading speed, he could read a maximum of seven books a day in the first round, finishing the first round in seven days. Even if his speed gradually increased over time, it would take at least half a year to finish reading all the books. Did he have half a year? No, so what should he do? This was the first time he felt troubled since coming to the capital.

If others knew about his current troubles, they would have different feelings, as it was clear from his calculations that he intended to read all forty-nine books before starting to condense divine consciousness. If he could condense divine consciousness, it meant that, consciously or subconsciously, he had always believed himself to be on par with, or even superior to, those geniuses.

No wonder Tang Sanshiu thought he was arrogant when they first met—he appeared quiet and polite, but in many aspects, he had an unwarranted absolute confidence, which made him seem extremely arrogant.

...

...

While he was thinking, a gentle breeze blew, and a shadow fell, blocking the words on the back cover.

Chen Changsheng looked up and saw a pretty little girl looking down at him with a cold smile.

He was sitting on the floor, so the little girl naturally had a height advantage.

The little girl was Shuang'er from the Eastern Imperial General's Mansion. She looked at the text on the page next to Chen Changsheng, understood what he was trying to do, and said mockingly, "Starting to cleanse your bones at fourteen, isn't that a bit late?"

Chen Changsheng replied solemnly, "The path of knowledge has its own timing; some start early and reach later, while others start late and reach first."

Shuang'er did not expect such a response, was taken aback, and then said disdainfully, "Forty-nine books, a hundred times, ten days. These were the numbers my young miss achieved when she condensed her divine consciousness at four. Starting late and reaching first? Where do you think you can reach?"

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment but did not know how to respond.