Chapter 54: Taoist Sutra 00
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Zhou Bai thought to himself, You’ve really made a sudden turn. Watching Zuo Dao leave, Zhou Bai couldn’t help muttering, “You didn’t even tell me your room number…”

Zuo Dao turned around and said coldly, “I wrote it on the notebook. You better work hard and stop disgracing us.”

Although the process was a little beyond Zhou Bai’s expectations, the results were gratifying.

Especially after Zhou Bai returned to his dorm and flipped through the learning notes Zuo Dao gave him, he couldn’t help exclaiming at how detailed these notes were.

Not only did they explain every step of the process in increasing Degree of Taoification in detail, they also briefly explained all the related theories and even had notes on which textbooks to reference. Zhou Bai was shocked at their detail.

He’s really a nerd, Zhou Bai thought. He could probably sell these study notes as textbook material.

In the following days, Christina quietly practiced the second star point, Tai White, while Zhou Bai cut class during the day to raise Laziness and read Zuo Dao’s notes at night with Christina. Now and then, he went to the library to borrow related textbooks to read.

As for Zuo Dao, Zhou Bai didn’t go to him; after all, he didn’t want others to know his current skill level.

And besides, Zuo Dao’s notes were detailed enough, plus he had Christina to help fill the gaps in his basic theories. Christina learned even faster than Zhou Bai, as if she was continuously recovering her memory.

Zhou Bai had a lot of confidence in raising his Degree of Taoifcation.

***

A whole week passed like this. Not only did Zhou Bai make tremendous improvements in his knowledge of Degree of Taoification, but his Laziness also increased greatly, exceeding 3,000.

Degree of Taoification: 0%

Primordial Spirit Value: 99

Divine Map: Deva Nine Disasters

Laziness: 3,450

“The so-called Degree of Taoification measures the synchronization of humans with the Heavenly Tao. The more synchronized they are, the greater primordial spirit power they can master, and the more they can improve and become more powerful in all aspects…”

Zhou Bai closed Zuo Dao’s notes. He slowly shut his eyes. The comprehension of Degree of Taoification lingered in his mind.

Before the Heavenly Tao became distorted, when practitioners wanted to raise Degree of Taoification, they just had to meditate and breathe every day. In the process of breathing Spark, they would naturally gain information little by little regarding the Heavenly Tao, increasing their comprehension of it.

This information was hazy and hard to describe, but at the same time practitioners were safe and harmless.

In this kind of hazy Heavenly Tao, practitioners needed to continuously comprehend, summarize, describe, and turn the information into their own understandings in order to raise Degree of Taoification

After the Heavenly Tao distorted, this process became completely different.

In order to prevent practitioners from being infected in the process of practice, the entire Donghua City was enveloped in a protective formation. Almost all the practitioners had gone through primordial spirit adjustment since birth and had gotten rune vaccines.

That’s why the practitioners practicing inside Donghua City today basically couldn’t come into contact with Heavenly Tao information through breathing Spark. The triple protection blocked it all.

The new method Tao academies gave them was to directly read their summarized contents.

From Taoist Sutra 00 to Taoist Sutra 99 corresponded to Degree of Taoification 1–99%. They each represented the necessary knowledge and comprehension for each point of Degree of Taoification.

But they had been transformed into text that generations of strong individuals compiled using countless ciphers and metaphors that could be read and understood little by little. The text was much less harmless than contacting the Heavenly Tao directly.

But even so, when you actually increased your Degree of Taoification and synchronized with the Heavenly Tao, there were still many dangers.

Because the Heavenly Tao…is ubiquitous.

“Making an attempt shouldn’t be very dangerous. If you sense danger, just stop,” said Christina. “All sorts of learning, mental establishments, methods for clearing your mind—didn’t Zuo Dao write them down? You also memorized all sorts of methods to decode the ciphers and metaphors.

“And anyway, you’ve practiced up to the fifth star point. You have a strong physique, so your mental strength is naturally stronger too.”

Zhou Bai nodded. When students had strong physiques and vigorous energy, their mentality would naturally strengthen too as an effect. His willpower was stronger than in the past. Plus with Zuo Dao’s notes, trying to increase his Degree of Taoification was within reason.

So the next day, Zhou Bai went to library management early in the morning and applied to read Taoist Sutra 00.

Taoist Sutras 00 to 99 were forbidden from circulation because they involved knowledge for entering the Taoi. Zhou Bai could only read them by registering with his student ID.

Before you could read them, you had to go through a mental evaluation. Only after making sure there were no problems could you start reading.

But the entire process was simple, fast, and efficient as usual. Zhou Bai’s mentality was normal.

After Zhou Bai registered with his student ID and went through the application process, he was brought into a meditation room. Dense runes covered the room’s walls. Someone had written a giant “Calm” on the wall.

Just seeing it gave Zhou Bai a sense of peace and concentration.

Zhou Bai slowly walked to the center of the quiet room and sat down. Before him was a completely black book. It was Taoist Sutra 00.

“Phew…” Zhou Bai kept recalling the different mutated subjects he had witnessed in his mind; he couldn’t help growing nervous.

Christina encouraged him. “Don’t be nervous! If you die, I’ll take care of your dog. I’ll also take good care of your auxiliary system.”

“Shut up. Don’t interrupt my practice.”

Zhou Bai didn’t immediately open Taoist Sutra 00. Instead, he followed the method that countless people concluded in Zuo Dao’s notes: he sat in front of Taoist Sutra 00 and quieted his mind.

When practitioners saw the Taoist Sutra 00 for the first time, knowing that they were about to increase their Degree of Taoification, they inevitably got excited. However, this was bad for their ensuing practice.

That’s why Zhou Bai needed to sit quietly for a while and settle down before he read the Taoist Sutra.

He sat like that for half an hour. Zhou Bai felt like his emotions had calmed down. Then he reached out his hands and opened Taoist Sutra 00.

“The way of going into hiding has true impacts. Clear air is hazy and dim. The shadows of the heart silently judge the soul…”

Reading through the first page, Zhou Bai felt his primordial spirit quiver. Although he didn’t understand the meaning behind the words of the book, a mysterious, indescribable feeling had already filled his heart.

It was different from the information read directly from the current Heavenly Tao.

This was the compilation of comprehension of the Heavenly Tao. This was a human summary of knowledge of the Divine Tao.

But even after using countless metaphors and ciphers to analyze it into human language, it still had supernatural power.

Countless practitioners sacrificed themselves to compile this Taoist Sutra 00.

Zhou Bai quickly repressed the trembling in his heart. He followed the method described by Zuo Dao and countless textbooks, controlled his primordial spirit, controlled his breathing, and breathed Spark while reading.

His body and primordial spirit were breathing Spark, but Zhou Bai’s brain continually decoded the metaphors and ciphers written in Taoist Sutra 00 according to Zuo Dao’s notes and the knowledge he had learned from textbooks.

Just like past practitioners who breathed Spark and comprehended the Heavenly Tao, right now Zhou Bai used a method special to the era of distorted Heavenly Tao to breathe Spark and comprehend the Heavenly Tao.

As he analyzed more and more of the contents of Taoist Sutra 00, Zhou Bai felt his primordial spirit becoming more vibrant.

Degree of Taoification +0.1%!

With the increase in Degree of Taoification, he began hearing loud and quiet murmurings in his ears.