His Heart Soul merged with heaven and earth. New insights, and even knowledge from his past life, continuously surged forth from Zhong Ming’s Sea of Consciousness.

’Stagnant water can’t be living water...’

’Water without flow is bound to stagnate because it lacks the ability to self-purify. In a conventional sense, this is also a form of death... Therefore, Qi Circulation isn’t the end of cultivation...’

’To make it truly alive, it needs to establish a cycle with the outside world... In cultivation, this is known as the Unity of Heaven and Man.’

The conventional external cycle involves interacting with the Spiritual Qi of the outside world through breathing, or through the Baihui and Qi Sea Acupoints.

Zhong Ming had already been able to do this.

But now, in his state of Enlightenment Void Spirit and having comprehended the Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water, he wanted to go one step further.

’Interacting with the outside world through breathing is too crude and inefficient... A true Cultivator influences the outside world with their will, replacing the heart of heaven with their own. That is the true Unity of Heaven and Man!’

’But that’s a realm only Golden Core Cultivators can touch. The requirements for one’s Divine Soul, Magical Power, and Dao Practice are far too high. There’s no way I can do that now...’

’So, could I make a simplified, ’lite’ version...?’

By integrating the various inspirations and pieces of information in his mind, Zhong Ming actually managed to come up with a novel approach.

’External... water source... interaction...’

’I can’t create a domain directly... But if a domain isn’t an option, would it be possible to create something that interacts with the outside world? Like... a mech?’

’Wait, things like mechs seem to exist in this world, too. Isn’t a Cultivator’s Dharma Aspect just another kind of mech? The highest level is the Divine Monarch Dharma Aspect, which is like a universe-class mech...’

After being cleansed by the Clear Sound Spring Stone, activating Mind Reading, and entering a state of enlightenment from his Cultivation Technique’s advancement, Zhong Ming’s mind was racing, and all sorts of strange and brilliant ideas continuously surfaced.

At this moment, he even connected the mechs of a sci-fi world with the Dharma Aspects of a Xianxia world.

And it had to be said, the two did indeed have similarities.

The mechs of a sci-fi world existed to protect fragile humans in space or during combat.

A Cultivator’s Dharma Aspect, similarly, served to protect the Cultivator’s physical body.

The only difference between the two was that mechs required various precious materials to construct, and the construction process also demanded a great deal of scientific knowledge.

A Cultivator’s Dharma Aspect, on the other hand, was constructed purely from Magical Power... ’Hmm, then again, to construct it completely, one also needs to understand a lot about Daoist Skills.’

Unable to construct a domain in the outside world, Zhong Ming set his sights on the "Dharma Aspect."

However, after a moment of thought, he shook his head.

’No, a Dharma Aspect... even the lowest-level one is beyond me. It requires far too much Magical Power... Taking a step back... making it into a piece of clothing? Oh, right, the Prison Fire Remnant Robe... I already have one...’

’My Affinity for Water makes water naturally drawn to me, so I can have currents constantly circling my body...’

’The Flow of Water lets me seamlessly transfer power from my body to the outside world, and from the outside world back into my body...’

’And Qi Circulation can make the external water currents form a self-sustaining cycle that I don’t have to worry about...’

As he thought and imagined, what Zhong Ming was doing was performing an Inference Technique.

Although he wasn’t creating it from scratch, he was relying on the Spirit Stream Finger: Water Dragon Technique, the Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water, and the Qi Circulation from the Longxi Breathing Technique to assemble a new Magic Technique.

But the difficulty of an Inference Technique was still extremely high.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been absolutely impossible for Zhong Ming to accomplish this.

Fortunately, he currently possessed not only Mind Reading and Divine Sound, but was also in a state of enlightenment. This allowed Zhong Ming to make some progress.

GUSH...

As currents of water converged on Zhong Ming, a Feather Robe slowly took shape, constructed by him and draped over his body.

This Feather Robe, formed entirely of water, was in constant motion. Alongside it floated several long sleeves and a few misty, flame-like clouds.

With such a Feather Robe draped over him, Zhong Ming looked even more like an Immortal.

However, as Zhong Ming awoke from his state of enlightenment and felt the Feather Robe on his body, his expression soured.

’It wasn’t a success. Or rather, it was only a partial one.’

During his recent enlightenment, Zhong Ming had put a great deal of thought into the construction of his Longxi Magical Robe.

According to his vision, this Magical Robe would be his external armor, capable of eventually evolving into a Dharma Aspect.

Because he had been so ambitious about its future, Zhong Ming had set many requirements for its abilities.

First, it had to have defensive capabilities... a goal Zhong Ming had only partially achieved.

With the Longxi Magical Robe, any attack aiming for Zhong Ming’s physical body would have to get past it first.

But since it was made entirely of water, it was perfectly suited for the Flow of Water. This meant that when any attack landed on the Longxi Magical Robe, most of its force would be deflected by the Feather Robe.

If an enemy’s attack was too powerful, the water droplets comprising the Magical Robe could even absorb the force and splash away, thus preventing Zhong Ming’s body from taking damage.

’The defensive capability is up to par.’

Beyond defense, it also had to function as a flight device.

At this thought, Zhong Ming focused his will.

BUZZ...

As he manipulated the watery Feather Robe on his body, aided by the surrounding misty clouds, Zhong Ming’s feet actually left the ground, and he rose into the air.

’This part was a success, too.’

But these two were the only functions Zhong Ming had managed to implement.

’Beyond defense and flight, I also wanted the Feather Robe to have offensive capabilities.’

As he thought this, Zhong Ming commanded the long sleeves around the Feather Robe, making them crack through the air like whips.

CRACK...