Jiaojiao’s eyes were fixed on Zhou Bai in the picture, ready to take him out as soon as he became mentally unstable or collapsed.
Zhou Bai looked at the ticking countdown and first spent 100 points of Laziness to recover his anxious and somewhat abnormal spirit.
Then he calmed down and thought to himself, "Abnormal? Could it be that Jiaojiao has become distorted? Or is this…the second trial?"
He glanced at his panel, where he now had 30,130 Laziness points remaining.
During the 30 days in this dream, he had used Laziness points several times to cope with mental instability, and he roughly estimated the costs of Laziness treatment for such conditions.
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"Basically, after staying here continuously for 10 days, I need to spend around 500 Laziness points to treat the mental instability."
"If I stay longer, it will consume more points, but I haven’t tried that."
"With the current amount of Laziness points, I could stay in this dream trial for nearly two years. Even accounting for the worsening of my state of mind over time and the increasing cost of treatment, I should be able to hold on for a year without any issues."
"If this is the second trial, it’s impossible for it to allow me to stay for such a long time."
"If something really did go wrong, Christina, controlling my body from the outside, would also find a way to save me."
At this time, Zhou Bai was thankful that he had had the foresight to give control of his body to Christina before entering the dream.
Having figured all this out, he settled down a bit, closed his eyes, and fell asleep again.
...
Ten days later in the dream.
Zhou Bai suddenly felt a jolt in his body, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in front of a woman.
The woman in front of him had her long hair tied into a bun, dressed in a palace costume, with a serious face looking meticulous.
Although she looked very much like Jiaojiao, her temperament was completely different.
"You’ve done well, Zhou Bai. You have passed the trial," the woman said, her gaze filled with admiration. "To remain calm in such an environment, you indeed have some hope of cultivating the Five Supreme Divine Powers."
Zhou Bai asked in surprise, "Are you…the Grand Elder?"
Jiaojiao gave a slight smile: "I’ve become mentally and physically distorted, only able to split my consciousness, alternating between waking and sleeping over time."
As she spoke, Jiaojiao waved her hand, and the scenery before her eyes changed, with five tall peaks rising from the ground, appearing right in front of him.
Zhou Bai looked up and saw that the names of the Five Supreme Divine Powers were inscribed on these five peaks.
At the same time, he could see numerous shining points, with nearly a hundred dots twinkling on the peaks.
Jiaojiao introduced solemnly, "The Five Supreme Divine Powers are the highest secrets of Qingtian Dao Sect, the foundation upon which our sect was established, involving the profound mysteries of Heavenly Dao. These five thousand-meter peaks represent the progress of cultivation; only after reaching the summit can one possibly begin to cultivate these five Divine Skills."
Zhou Bai looked toward the peak representing Ice Soul Freeze Light and saw that starting from the base of the mountain, there seemed to be stone walls inscribed with various Taoist skills such as Ice Soul Divine Light, Finger Ice Thunder, and Bone-Chilling Freeze placed at intervals along the path.
The same was true for other peaks, with each one recording ten Taoist skills from bottom to top.
"For example, if you want to cultivate Ice Soul Freeze Light, you have to start climbing from the bottom, master the ten Taoist skills above, lay a solid foundation, and only after reaching the summit can you truly begin to cultivate Ice Soul Freeze Light."
"But even these ten Taoist skills are each more difficult and dangerous than the last."
Zhou Bai looked towards the top of the mountain, and his gaze seemed to stretch across countless distances, directly seeing the dot of light on the summit where one name was written: Jiaojiao.
He looked towards the peaks of the other four Divine Powers, and at the top of each, the shining dot bore the name Jiaojiao.
"You’re not wrong," sighed Jiaojiao. "Since the distortion of Heavenly Dao a hundred years ago, not a single person has been able to inherit my legacy and cultivate the Five Divine Powers within this dream.
"Even within the past hundred years in Donghua City, only around a hundred people have been able to truly practice the Twilight Taoist Skill, and most of them relied on their cultivation level, forcibly practicing it after reaching the fourth or fifth realm."
Zhou Bai frowned and looked toward the peak representing the Tianhe Star Explosion. Besides Jiaojiao, the highest dot was flickering on the tenth Taoist skill.
"Galaxy Sword Song... Yun Chonghe... is it the principal? Has he also not been able to master the tenth Taoist skill of the Tianhe Star Explosion series?"
Zhou Bai looked at the names within the dots on the other peaks, and apart from Jiaojiao, no one else had reached the summit to master the Five Divine Powers.
Jiaojiao sighed again, "It’s easier said than done. After the distortion of Heavenly Dao, all Taoist skills were twisted, and the more profound and exquisite they were, the greater the influence.
"If they could be safely used after modifications, that would be fine. But the Five Divine Powers and the related Twilight Taoist skills have not been modified, and their side effects are extraordinarily severe."
Zhou Bai was curious, "What kind of side effects exactly?"
"Mental madness and physical distortion," Jiaojiao replied. "The madness is rooted in the Five Divine Powers and the Twilight Taoist skills associated with them. Each time these Twilight Taoist skills are practiced, one is contaminated with that madness.
"That’s why one can only practice for an hour at most, and a maximum of fifty times. If the practice exceeds one hour or the number of times surpasses fifty, there is a great likelihood of falling into complete madness. Therefore, each person can only enter to practice each Twilight Taoist skill a maximum of fifty times. If they can’t master it within these fifty attempts, then they have no hope for the rest of their life."
Zhou Bai was taken aback and wondered whether his Laziness treatment could cure such madness. If so, he wouldn’t mind trying to practice the Twilight Taoist Skill, and even the Five Divine Powers.
"Moreover, each use also places an immense burden on the practitioner," continued Jiaojiao. "Heavenly Dao will whisper in your ear, and the more times you use it, the closer your state gets to distortion, irreversibly so.
"Thus, although the Twilight Taoist Skills are powerful, they cannot be used recklessly. They are only to be employed in dire emergencies."
Zhou Bai’s heart skipped a beat again. If the mental issues from practicing could be treated with Laziness, and likewise the side effects of using them, then wouldn’t he be able to practice and use the Twilight Taoist Skills without limit?
’Brilliant,’ he thought.
Subsequently, Jiaojiao went on to introduce the characteristics, functions, and directions of the Five Divine Powers. Then she looked at Zhou Bai and asked, "How about it? Have you decided which Supreme Divine Power you want to cultivate?"
Zhou Bai looked back and forth between the peaks representing the Five Supreme Divine Powers, and for a moment, he seemed to hesitate.