My construction materials are weird

"Not bad, you're using your brain now. I thought once you had power, you'd be drunk on it and forget how to think?"

Just as the four were silent, a questioning voice cut through the layers of fog.

When the four came back to their senses, Xuan Huang was already in front of them.

"Greetings, Master Xuan."

The four of them shuddered, not expecting Master Xuan to arrive while they were talking.

It seemed the recent rumors were true, Master Xuan wasn't busy lately.

Perhaps after reaching a certain level, cultivation wasn't just about closed-door training all day, but also required the accumulation of time.

Refining the Azure Cloud Boat, opening stations, inspecting the Southern City, suppressing anomalies, refining the Purgatory, including suppressing the Millstone Anomaly, were all things Master Xuan had been doing recently.

This showed Master Xuan's recent state.

"True Intent isn't unattainable. There's a shortcut to quickly improving your magical artifacts. Do you want it?" Xuan Huang asked, looking at the four.

The question sent a chill down their spines. Were they going to be "favored" by Master Xuan again and have to do some experiments?

Otherwise, why would Master Xuan suddenly say they could obtain True Intent?

This didn't sound like an easy task at all.

But since Master Xuan asked, could they pretend not to hear?

"We want it. Please guide us, Master Xuan."

The four quickly agreed, afraid of falling behind and displeasing Master Xuan.

But in their hearts, they could only pray that Master Xuan's experiment would be easy this time.

"It's very simple. Look at this Purgatory. Isn't it a natural place for slaughter?" Xuan Huang asked.

After he asked, the four fell silent, their brains working at top speed.

Master Xuan hated mindless flattery and unthinking responses that resembled a 'servant's attitude'.

Therefore, any response had to be substantial, had to have their own thoughts, and had to truly understand, not just be a perfunctory echo.

Yan Lai's mind was still sharp. While the other three were still thinking, Yan Lai said, "Master Xuan, is your idea to slaughter anomalies?"

"Correct!"

Xuan Huang nodded, but didn't say more, signaling them to continue thinking, lest their brains rust.

Hearing Master Xuan's agreement with Yan Lai's idea of slaughtering anomalies, the other three's minds were instantly opened.

"Master Xuan, do you mean that the anomalies we slaughter can be annihilated within the Purgatory, and True Intent can be extracted?" Jiu Tong asked, following Yan Lai's words.

"Uh…" Sun Hui was very embarrassed.

"Master Xuan means that we don't need to put the suppressed anomalies into the Purgatory at all. We can completely slaughter those that can be summoned, those anomalies summoned by rituals," Abbot Minghui quickly added.

Sun Hui was called an idiot by Master Xuan, so he naturally thought of this point.

"Smart!"

Xuan Huang looked at Minghui with a smile, 'Truly brilliant'.

"Hoo."

The four took a deep breath.

"Master Xuan, we understand."

Seeing that they had understood, Xuan Huang began to explain.

"Let me remind you, not all the True Intent from the anomalies you kill will be given to you. A 30/70 split, you get 30%, the Purgatory gets 70%. How does that sound?"

After Xuan Huang asked, the four had no objections.

They didn't dare have any objections. Being able to get 30% was already very satisfying.

After all, the venue was provided by Master Xuan, and the annihilation, distortion, and extraction of True Intent were also done by Master Xuan's Purgatory.

Without these prerequisites, they wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Therefore, being able to get 30% was already very satisfying.

"We thank Master Xuan for his grace," the four said in unison.

"To be honest…"

Seeing that the four had agreed, Xuan Huang continued, "I actually don't like this kind of behavior. As you should know, every anomaly is a treasure. Completely annihilating them like this isn't the optimal solution."

"Therefore, I hope you don't blindly slaughter like rabbits. Some especially miraculous anomalies, anomalies with amazing characteristics, don't do that. Even if you can't use these special anomalies temporarily, you can store them, maybe they'll be useful in the future."

"Can you do this?"

Xuan Huang expressed his concerns.

The four were still immersed in the joy of being able to obtain True Intent.

But after hearing Master Xuan say this, the four felt ashamed. Master Xuan still saw further.

As Master Xuan said, anomalies were disasters in the eyes of ordinary people, but as cultivators, especially first-order Profound Transformation cultivators who had crossed the threshold.

They needed to have a broader perspective and needed to change their attitude towards anomalies.

Anomalies were not just disasters, in their eyes they should also be treasures.

This was the vision and demeanor of a great person.

Precious anomalies, that is, those with special properties and strange rules, if they were all annihilated and extracted without thinking, that was indeed not the best way.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master Xuan. We will keep it in mind. We can do it, and we will definitely live up to Master Xuan's expectations," the four responded.

"When they are summoned, if you can deal with them easily, you should try to test them and feel the characteristics of the summoned anomalies. There are many benefits to doing this.

… It can not only hone yourselves when fighting with anomalies, but also distinguish the characteristics of anomalies, and after distinguishing them, you can be clear about them."

"Of course, those ubiquitous anomaly rules, those that are not very useful, those that don't have any special anomaly rules, can be killed and annihilated."

"In short, distinguish them well."

The reason why Xuan Huang entrusted them like this…

… Mainly because he felt like he was being targeted.

That's right, he felt a bit targeted.

After Xuan Huang refined the Purgatory in the first instance, he began summoning.

He didn't immediately summon Corpse Fiends, but some widely circulated anomalies.

Such as the Pen Fairy, Dream Butterfly, Mirror Man, Mirage, Shadow, etc.

But after experimenting, he found that he couldn't summon the anomalies. The anomalies on the other side were as if the power was cut off, offline.

At first, Xuan Huang didn't think he was special.

He thought it was the influence of his will or luck, but after the Super Ego deduced it.

Will and luck only accounted for 90% of the effect.

The remaining 10% was that he was being covered by anomalies.

The cover here was like someone had cut off his internet cable.

To put it figuratively, the anomalies that could be summoned were like a small program in the network, and he was the person searching for the program.

When he wanted to search for some small programs, he was told that the program could not be connected.

This was bullying.

After a series of Super Ego deductions, 50% of it was because his will was too strong, especially after the first Life and Death Refinement of Will in the second order.

The powerful will was like a pulse radiating tyrannical energy.

Some weak anomalies couldn't withstand it at all, and were directly dispersed by this powerful will, so the causal chain of summoning couldn't be connected directly.

Will accounted for 50% of the inability to summon.

The remaining 40% was the condensation of luck, with the luck from the source of cultivators, as well as the condensation of luck from various sources of laws.

Xuan Huang had become a powerful insulator again.

Every anomaly was a fragment of rules. Don't look down on it as a disaster, but this disaster also had its own luck and trajectory.

When the small luck of a single anomaly touched Xuan Huang's powerful luck through summoning.

Luck had no wisdom. Luck only knew that these small anomalies were disasters, so it turned misfortune into good fortune and directly resolved it for you, disconnecting it.

Therefore, Xuan Huang became a huge contradiction.

His will is a powerful source of attraction, sweeping across the myriad worlds like a pulse. Logically, such blatant suppression would have made him a beacon in the eyes of the Anomalies.

Anomalies would constantly swarm towards such a beacon.

However, this pulse-like will is too strong; it's not a beacon, it's practically a sun.

The Anomalies operate by seeking out and killing these beacons. But killing this beacon would be suicidal.

Such a strong point of light, comparable to the sun, naturally triggers the Anomalies' self-preservation instincts, preventing them from approaching.

Furthermore, his luck provides insulation, resolving even minor anomalies and disasters.

This is the contradiction of Xuan Huang.

He is both a source of attraction and an insulator.

None of this is wrong, just a first attempt, a first inclusion, a first tolerance, a first glance!

Moreover, the attraction is ridiculously strong.

This causes Xuan Huang to fail in summoning Anomalies nine times out of ten, either due to the Anomalies' operational rules ignoring him, or his own powerful luck resolving the situation.

In reality, it's not anyone else's fault, but Xuan Huang's own.

In the beginning, he could indeed summon Anomalies. Back then, he was weak, the cultivators hadn't grown, and their numbers were few.

But over the past year, he has become stronger, the cultivators have become stronger, and their numbers have increased.

These three factors combined have made his luck too strong, preventing him from summoning.

However, after some thought, Xuan Huang firmly believes it's not his fault. Isn't there still a ten percent chance of summoning something?

Even if my own influence blocks ninety percent, what about the last ten percent?

Surely there must be some blind Anomalies that can be summoned, right?

Until he researched and discovered that even that last ten percent, akin to the 'one that escapes' in the forty-nine of the Heavenly Dao, had been blocked.

And the mastermind behind this block was none other than the luck operation represented by the Anomalies.

In other words, the combined luck of all the Anomalies had discovered Xuan Huang's cheat-like ability to turn misfortune into good fortune, and blocked him.

This made Xuan Huang very angry.

The ninety percent caused by my own strength is understandable, it's my own doing.

But what's with arbitrarily deducting my last ten percent chance?

Are you bullying an honest man?

Since he is being targeted and can't 'bully the small' by summoning Anomalies to kill, he'll have his disciples do it.

His disciples' wills aren't strong, and although their luck is stronger than ordinary people, it's far inferior to his own. Most importantly, their luck hasn't reached a level where the Anomalies' luck can detect it.

It doesn't reach the level where they would trigger the Anomalies' self-preservation instincts.

Therefore, Xuan Huang appeared before the four and personally taught them how to trick and kill Anomalies.

If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain.

However, through this summoning, Xuan Huang gained some understanding of his own strength and luck.

It turns out he's already so strong that he's being blocked by the Anomalies, blocked by the Anomalies' luck.

Isn't this a kind of achievement?

… … … …

"We understand."

The four understood Xuan Huang's meaning.

They asked again, "Master Xuan, can we just summon them directly?"

Since Master Xuan said so, and even said it personally in front of them, it meant that Master Xuan must be very free and came specifically to guide them.

It meant that Master Xuan wanted to see them act quickly.

"Yes, just summon them directly. I'll cover for you," Xuan Huang said righteously.

Actually, it was to see if they could summon anything.

"Master Xuan, have you not been in seclusion recently?"

Suddenly, Sun Hui asked.

The three were about to act, but upon hearing the 'bold' question from Sun Hui, they suddenly became very observant.

"The gap between each level is large. Even for me, in the Profound Connection stage of the second level, I wouldn't progress without any accumulation. Cultivation is one thing, but will tempering requires accumulation… I am indeed not as busy as before."

Xuan Huang saw through their intentions but didn't expose them, knowing what the four of them meant.

They wanted guidance and were trying their best to obtain it.

This behavior was for the sake of striving for progress and shouldn't be criticized.

After Xuan Huang finished speaking, the four finally confirmed that Master Xuan's cultivation was at the second level, Profound Connection.

To be honest, they didn't know how strong Xuan Huang was.

If Master Xuan said he was at the third level, Cave Profound, they would believe it.

If he said he was at the fourth level, True Self, they would make themselves believe it.

After all, they were all intelligent people who knew that Master Xuan's second level was different from the second level they understood.

Master Xuan was the kind of existence who could jump levels to suppress even in such a 'hierarchical' world of Anomalies.

In fact, they were overthinking it. Xuan Huang could indeed 'easily' deal with third-level Anomalies, but only in the Ruins Small World.

In the real world, Xuan Huang could only barely protect himself against third-level Anomalies, and only had enough leeway to attack or retreat.

He couldn't suppress third-level Anomalies in the real world yet.

After all, he was only at the first refinement of the Life and Death Will Refinement stage of the second level.

Of course, if one of his Supreme Treasures entered the third level, that would be another story.

"We have also felt it. We have felt you refining the Azure Cloud Boat and suppressing Anomalies… It's just that we are a little emotional. Even someone as great as you needs accumulation. After entering the Transcendent, we discovered that there is too much that needs to be accumulated…

…So far, the three of them have just comprehended the visualization diagram of the Profound Transformation stage. I still need some time…

…And after comprehending it, one still needs to comprehend the profound mysteries, which is another huge test…"

"Stop, just say what you want to ask directly."

Xuan Huang looked at the awkward appearance of the four and didn't have time to listen to their rambling. Just say it directly.

"Yes, as you command."

"Thank you, Master Xuan. It's like this, the heart governs fire…"

"Master Xuan, I'm interested in mountains and rocks…"

"Master Xuan, after you used the Three Great Divine Powers, I had some insights. Reversing Yin and Yang is too profound. Starting from the simple wood form…"

"Master Xuan, my magical artifact, the Martial Cauldron, refers to the Heaven and Earth Furnace and can also temper myself, but it's difficult to control it while tempering myself, like multitasking…"

"Master Xuan…"

Xuan Huang: "That's not right, you need to…"

Xuan Huang: "Mountains and rocks represent reality. To comprehend them, you need to integrate with them. Perhaps you can refer to the Way of Sitting and Forgetting, or you can try the method of silent meditation, behaving like mountains and rocks, thereby…"

Xuan Huang: "The reversal of Yin and Yang is vast and boundless, indeed not something you can comprehend at the moment. Life is everywhere, and starting with plants and trees is practical… In fact, the characteristics of Anomalies are also a kind of profound mystery. You can start with an Anomalous spiritual plant, or, as I said just now, get close to nature…"

Xuan Huang: "This is due to the will not meeting the standard. In short, it's that the will is not strong enough and the control is lacking. Go to the pagoda for more trials, or engage in exploitative battles…

…Body refinement lies in destruction, not in nourishment. It is rebirth after destruction, it is breaking out of the cocoon and becoming a butterfly. The key is destruction, even the destruction of self-destruction of the body…"

Xuan Huang: "I have many methods I can tell you, all kinds of seemingly beautiful and lofty methods.

But due to your talents, you can only use some clumsy methods, using a point to lead the whole, starting from the simple…"

Xuan Huang gave a series of outputs, and upon closer inspection, they were all clumsy methods, even a bit rustic.

But with their talents, this was the only way.

"We thank Master Xuan."

The four benefited greatly.

… …