The first step in cultivation is to sense one's own Life Wheel and guide absorbed essence into the Sea of Bitterness to fortify it. For most, this is a laborious process of internal seeking. For Li Yao, it was a matter of system access. His innate Sea of Bitterness was a known coordinate.
Circulating the profound techniques of the deduced Yao Guang Scripture, the vast reservoir of essence accumulated by the Heavenly Book was directed into that coordinate.
A point of light ignited in his abdomen—a silent, inward explosion of potential.
Splash.
The sound was soft, the birth of an internal ocean. There was no external golden light or dazzling lightning. This was a system initialization, not a spectacle. His mortal body was the vessel; the extraordinary changes were contained within.
Zhang Chong watched, his composure shattered. He had planned to provide a detailed exegesis of the scripture to guide Li Yao through weeks or months of comprehension before the first attempt. The observed reality defied all standard cultivation timelines. Receipt, comprehension, and execution were instantaneous. It was less like learning and more like… installation.
Whoosh.
Elder Xun appeared beside him, having sensed the distinct fluctuation of a Sea of Bitterness being opened. "Report," his voice transmitted, tinged with disbelief.
Zhang Chong conveyed the facts tersely: scripture imparted, immediate cultivation, instantaneous breakthrough.
Elder Xun's gaze turned scrutinizing. The implication was clear: either Zhang Chong was lying, or they were witnessing a phenomenon that rewrote their understanding of aptitude. Seeing Zhang Chong's utter lack of guile, he accepted the latter. A cold shock, the kind that follows the recognition of a fundamental paradigm shift, ran through his two thousand years of experience. The Holy Son had taken three days. This was done between one breath and the next.
Elder Xun's initial assessment was invalidated. The variable—Li Yao's comprehension speed—was orders of magnitude greater than projected. The gap to the Holy Son wasn't just narrowed; it was potentially inverted in this specific, critical metric.
Li Yao's consciousness was fully dedicated to the process. The black seawater of his Sea of Bitterness surged, connected to a torrent of descending essence. Divine power bloomed, forcibly expanding the boundaries of his inner ocean. The roar of the tsunami was an internal metric of progress.
Hours later, the tempest subsided. The sea was calm, vaster, and filled with a new, potent energy—divine power.
Li Yao opened his eyes. His physical senses were sharper, his body lighter and stronger. He ran a diagnostic: successful integration of the Bitter Sea stage. A qualitative upgrade to his physical and energetic substrate. More importantly, with his enhanced physique, the Heavenly Book's passive absorption rate increased proportionally, now comparable to a Life Spring cultivator's active draw.
A critical control function was identified. Previously, the Heavenly Book acted as the primary sink for all incoming essence. Now, with the Yao Guang Scripture's circulation pathways active, he could consciously allocate essence flow. He could direct it all to his cultivation, or divert a portion to charge the Book. This presented his first strategic resource management decision.
The priority chain was clear:
Immediate Survival & Growth: Requires demonstrable cultivation speed to secure maximum investment from Rising Sun Island.
Long-Term Foundation: Requires the Heavenly Book's energy for future deductions and merging of other scriptures into his core Yao Guang framework.
The optimal solution presented itself. He would allocate the majority of naturally absorbed essence to his own cultivation, creating a visible "prodigy" effect. The substantial material resources he was about to receive—Source stones, spirit medicines—would be primarily fed to the Heavenly Book. Their dense, raw energy was far more efficient for charging it than diluted environmental essence. This way, he fueled both present spectacle and future potential simultaneously.
He stood, noting the presence of both elders. "I have disturbed Elders Xun and Zhang."
"Disturbance? This is cause for celebration!" Elder Xun's voice held a fervor that had been absent for centuries. The gaze he fixed on Li Yao was no longer that of a guardian assessing an asset, but of a strategist seeing a viable path to ultimate victory.
"From this moment," Elder Xun declared, his tone brooking no argument, "Li Yao's resource allocation will match that of the Holy Son. Any shortfall from the central treasury will be covered by Rising Sun Island's own reserves."
Zhang Chong felt a jolt. This was the old, ambitious Elder Xun speaking—the one who had once contended for the lordship of the Holy Land. Li Yao was no longer just a pillar; he was being positioned as a contender.
Li Yao processed the announcement. Holy Son-level resources. This solved the vast majority of his early-stage logistical constraints. The "resource scramble" he had anticipated was rendered unnecessary. It was an optimal allocation of capital to a high-return project—himself.
He performed a respectful bow, his expression one of calibrated gratitude. "This disciple thanks Elder Xun and Elder Zhang for your profound support. I will cultivate diligently."
The statement was true. His diligence, however, was not to "live up to expectations," but to execute his personal optimization protocol with maximum efficiency. The Yao Guang Holy Land, and Rising Sun Island within it, had proven to be a highly efficient supplier of the initial conditions he required. The partnership, for now, was perfectly aligned with his goals.