Seeking Truth with a Sword

He brought over a thick, blank notebook, placing it on the table and preparing the inkstone, ink, and brush.

Then he retreated several steps, picked up the first material—a piece of purple Dushan Jade, held both ends of the jade with his hands, and raised it in front of him while silently reciting the text of the "Shangqing Linggan Chapter."

Just as in previous tests, whenever Li Ang channeled Spiritual Energy into his body, his brain would experience a slight tingling pain.

This must be what Xi Yangyu had described as the Skull-interrupted Sword trigram.

"Not holding any material, pain level, 1."

"Holding purple Dushan Jade Marrow, pain level, 1.3."

Li Ang put down the Dushan Jade, wrote two lines in the notebook, and then picked up the second material—a small piece of Chenyin Wood from Youzhou. Just like before, he silently recited the "Shangqing Linggan Chapter," felt the pain in his brain as he channeled the Spiritual Energy, and recorded it in the notebook.

"Chenyin Wood from Youzhou, pain level, 1.2."

Li Ang methodically tested different materials, taking breaks in between.

Chai Cuiqiao watched with wide eyes from the side and gradually came to understand. "Young Master," she asked, "are you recording the pain levels while holding these items?"

"Mhm."

Li Ang nodded indifferently and casually explained, "In the Cultivation World, there is a saying about the 'Innate Nature of Objects.' Different materials have different affinities with nature's spiritual energy. For example, Fine Gold and thousand-year-old peach wood have a higher affinity for nature's spiritual energy compared to ordinary rocks. Cultivators channel a certain amount of Spiritual Energy into Fine Gold and thousand-year-old peach wood, allowing them to easily float and move through the air following their thoughts, whereas the same amount of Spiritual Power can only make rocks slowly lift off, unable to perform agile movements. This material property should be similar to thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity."

Chai Cuiqiao curiously asked, "Electrical conductivity?"

"Electrical conductivity is a measure that indicates how well a material can transmit electric current. You can simply understand it as during a rainy day, lightning prefers to strike metal rather than stone," Li Ang casually mentioned. "And based on whether materials can conduct electricity, we can classify them into conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. In terms of Spiritual Energy, Fine Gold and thousand-year-old peach wood are excellent conductors of Spiritual Energy. The special armor created by the garrison that blocks Spiritual Energy is an insulator of Spiritual Energy. Materials that lie between conductors and insulators of Spiritual Energy, such as Jade, alloys, and Fine Steel, are semiconductors of Spiritual Energy."

A similar concept was discovered by the Academic Palace three hundred years ago, and they developed dozens of Spirit Gathering Arrays. These Spirit Gathering Arrays, made from various alien materials and arranged in specific patterns, accelerate the flow of Spiritual Energy in space, thereby speeding up the cultivation efficiency for those below the Candle Cloud Realm. However, as many materials gradually became scarce or declined in quality, the efficiency of conducting Spiritual Energy continued to decrease, and the use of Spirit Gathering Arrays also diminished.

"Before reaching the Qi Sensing Realm, novices holding alien materials can slightly accelerate the flow of Spiritual Energy within their bodies, but the increase is almost negligible," Li Ang stated. "However, the broken sword trigram in my head... well, it's quite sensitive. Even a tiny change in the flow speed of Spiritual Energy is transformed into clear pain. The more painful it is, the faster the flow of Spiritual Energy. The faster the flow of Spiritual Energy, the higher the material's conductivity of Spiritual Energy. So, by continuously testing, we can record the specific conductivity of each material. And what I'm doing now is like searching for lamp materials, finding the most suitable 'golden thread.'"

Li Ang slightly curled his lips with a hint of pride. Seeing Chai Cuiqiao still looking worried, he gently patted her hand and smiled, "It's okay, I know what I'm doing. I won't harm myself. Although I'm still unclear about the mysterious nature of the Spirit Vein in my head, the principle should be similar. If the Spirit Vein in my head is naturally broken and cannot perform its function of conducting Spiritual Energy, then why not externally connect one myself? Find the most suitable material, connect both ends of the broken Spirit Vein, and reconstruct a complete circuit."

As the final exam time approached, Li Ang maximized his efficiency. Apart from eating and sleeping, he continued testing and searching for suitable conductors of Spiritual Energy, creating countless samples for this purpose.

---

My idea is correct.

In the study, Li Ang was alone, checking the items on the table.

Today was the last day before the finals. Chai Cuiqiao, wanting to avoid disturbing Li Ang, had moved to Ji Linglang's large mansion in Huai De Square. This gave Li Ang space for solitary thought and experimentation.

After this period of exploration and experimentation, Li Ang deduced that the location of the Skull-interrupted Sword was likely in the frontal lobe area, just below the Superior Sagittal Sinus. Using conductors and semiconductors of Spiritual Energy, he crafted wearable antennas, hats, Head Rings, hairpins, and even glasses that could be worn on the head. These accessories, made from conductors and semiconductors, indeed helped conduct some of the Spiritual Energy and alleviate the stinging pain in his head.

So far, my tests show that the conductor with the highest Spiritual Energy conductivity is Fine Gold.

Li Ang picked up a gold thread twisted into a ring shape and murmured, "However, even Fine Gold can't perfectly conduct Spiritual Energy and eliminate the stinging pain in my head."

If one imagines Spiritual Energy conductivity like electrical conductivity, then Fine Gold has already proven to be the best conductor I can currently find. If this still isn't enough, then only two options remain. One, directly implant the Spiritual Energy conductor into the brain.