The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#338 - Secret Power

Even though it wasn't yet winter, Lu Jing already felt a bone-chilling cold.

It made his whole body shiver.

Moreover, the crucial thing was that Lu Jing still didn't know where the problem lay.

Unlike the previous anomaly with his inner strength, this time he hadn't come into contact with any cultivation manuals from beginning to end, and he didn't even know what mystic power was.

This also led to him being completely ignorant of the current situation within his upper dantian.

Fortunately, he wasn't experiencing this for the first time, and after a brief moment of panic, Lu Jing forcibly calmed himself down.

The immediate priority was to figure out what exactly was filling his Niwan Palace.

Although Lu Jing had an answer in his heart, he still held onto a sliver of hope before drawing a final conclusion, hoping it was something else.

For example, maybe that inexplicably appearing Qi had expanded on its own, and if he could expel it from his Niwan Palace, he might be able to return to his original state.

Thinking of this, Lu Jing didn't want to wait any longer and directly pushed open the door and ran out of his small courtyard.

He first went to the Scripture Repository, knocking on the door and waking up Xuan Ji, who was still sleeping on the second floor.

The latter was startled by his solemn expression, and coupled with Lu Jing's late-night visit, Xuan Ji's face immediately changed, "Could it be that Supervisor Guo has changed his mind again?"

"It's not about you," Lu Jing shook his head, "I'm here to find a copy of 'Mystic Power Unveiled'."

"'Mystic Power Unveiled'?" Xuan Ji was very surprised. Lu Jing had been to the Scripture Repository quite a few times because he was being punished to organize books, and he would occasionally borrow books from here.

However, Xuan Ji had never seen him read any books related to mystic power cultivation. The only close instance was when Lu Jing asked her to help him find some records of problems occurring during Niwan Palace cultivation, and Lu Jing had specifically said not to bring him any books with cultivation methods.

Therefore, Xuan Ji didn't expect Lu Jing to specifically ask to borrow 'Mystic Power Unveiled' tonight.

This was the most important book used by Professor Zheng during his lectures, but it wasn't written by him, but by a predecessor from the Celestial Surveillance Bureau eight hundred years ago named Bai Ke.

Bai Ke collected various studies on mystic power left by predecessors and compiled them into this 'Mystic Power Unveiled' for later generations to use. Subsequently, 'Mystic Power Unveiled' underwent no less than dozens of revisions, and the current version used by the academy is actually almost a different book from the original.

Both accuracy and ease of understanding have been greatly improved, making it the perfect choice for mystic power beginners.

Although Xuan Ji had doubts in her heart, she didn't ask much, but got up and placed a candlestick on the table in front of Lu Jing, and then lit the lamp oil inside.

Lu Jing had already reached out and received a scroll of 'Mystic Power Unveiled' that flew over.

After thanking Xuan Ji, he couldn't wait to turn to the first page.

He saw written on it:

— Mystic, should not be lightly transmitted, difficult to speak of, the so-called mystic power, is the hidden and unspeakable power, cultivators use mystic power to perform divine and ghostly deeds, but among them, the outstanding, also have many misunderstandings about mystic power, know its use, but do not know how to use it.

The preface at the beginning should have been written by that senior Bai Ke, and Lu Jing was quite moved after reading it.

According to the book, this Senior Bai spent ten years organizing the works of his predecessors and thirty years traveling around the Nine Provinces to investigate the origin of mystic power.

Only then did he write this book, and he also warned future generations not to treat the words in the book as golden rules, but to have their own thoughts, and also welcomed future generations to revise and edit his book.

Lu Jing felt that only a few true scholars in his previous life could achieve this attitude and mind.

He was about to continue reading, but suddenly remembered something, and the hand turning the book froze there.

He hasn't been able to determine whether the things in his Niwan Palace are mystic power.

If it wasn't mystic power, and he read 'Mystic Power Unveiled' and instead cultivated mystic power, then that would be a real joke.

Or maybe those things are indeed mystic power, but referring to his previous situation when cultivating the Lesser Vajra Strength, what if he saw the cultivation method on 'Mystic Power Unveiled', and then his mystic power started to run according to the routes recorded in the method?

So, after thinking about it, Lu Jing closed the 'Mystic Power Unveiled' in his hand and asked Xuan Ji on the opposite side.

"Have you read this book?"

Xuan Ji nodded, "I've read it. I can't leave this Scripture Repository, so my usual pastime is reading. I've read basically all the books here."

"Then do you know what mystic power is?" Lu Jing continued to ask.

Xuan Ji nodded again, "Are you asking about the explanation in 'Mystic Power Unveiled'? That Senior Bai believes that the reason why mystic power is so magical is because it didn't originally belong to this world."

"Doesn't belong to this world?" Lu Jing was stunned.

"The operation of all things has rules. Whether it's spells, formations, or talismans, the reason they can work is because they break this fixed rule and then reshape it." Xuan Ji tried to explain it in a simple and understandable way.

"So, mystic power seems very similar to inner strength, but its essence is completely different. The vitality of heaven and earth has existed from the beginning, so it is easily utilized. There are many people in this world who practice martial arts, and as long as they undergo simple breathing exercises, they can take the vitality of heaven and earth for their own use.

"But mystic power is not possible. Mystic power is an external force. There is no definite conclusion about where mystic power comes from, but more and more evidence points to mystic power originating from mystic realms."

"Mystic realms?" Lu Jing felt that these two words sounded familiar, and then he remembered that the last time Guo Shouhuai came to the Scripture Repository, it seemed that he was looking for books related to mystic realms.

"Mystic realms are the most dangerous places in this world. The mystic power there is very concentrated, and there are monsters appearing, very powerful monsters. At the same time, because there is too much mystic power, reality will also be distorted to a certain extent. If you are not careful, even very powerful cultivators will die there," Xuan Ji said.

"However, the Celestial Surveillance Bureau has never stopped exploring and researching mystic realms. After all, most people now believe that mystic power has infiltrated the human world from mystic realms. This process is very slow, possibly lasting tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years, before the human world has the current concentration of mystic power."