Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies Chapter 1554: Transforming Myself into King

Zhang Yi handed the items over without the slightest hesitation.

Some things, no matter how valuable they might be, were utterly meaningless if he couldn't put them to use himself.

Better to let the professionals handle what they did best, while he reaped the benefits from the sidelines.

Besides, as long as the Deng family existed in the Jiangnan Region for even a single day, they would never dare to defy his will.

Even if they made some small moves behind the scenes, the benefits owed to Zhang Yi would still be delivered without fail.

Before long, Blizzard City dispatched the Yan Cloud Corps to transport the massive fossil of the ancient creature back via a special train, handing it over to the Dragon's Roar Guard of Shengjing who had arrived to receive it.

Zhang Yi didn't interact with them directly. The entire process was handled by Deng Shentong's people.

Because at this very moment, Zhang Yi was eagerly occupied with something else entirely.

That was, studying the original manuscript of the "Philosophy of the Mind" that had just come into his hands.

Because the further he progressed, the harder it became to obtain the Essence of high-level Transcendents. He could only seek answers through exploring his own potential.

It was an ancient text preserved in excellent condition, and he and Yang Xinxin studied it together.

Traditional Chinese characters and classical literary language. Neither of these was easy for him to comprehend.

Fortunately, the intelligent system could assist with translation, and Yang Xinxin was there to help interpret the meaning.

For several days, Zhang Yi and Yang Xinxin remained shut inside the research room without taking a single step out the door, devoting themselves wholeheartedly to studying everything recorded within the book.

And the information they gleaned left Zhang Yi's heart shaken to its very core!

The "Philosophy of the Mind" was Wang Yangming's lifelong culmination of his philosophy, the definitive masterpiece of the Philosophy of the Mind school.

It existed in two versions: the theoretical teaching edition circulated in the market, and this one, far more comprehensive, containing the guidance manual for Transcendent cultivation.

Wang Yangming referred to it as cultivating the Dao.

In the ancient era of the Huaxu Nation, people always called this pursuit of harmony between heaven and humanity, the attainment of supernatural abilities and extended lifespans, cultivating the Dao.

However, everyone's understanding of the Dao was different.

And in Zhang Yi's view, the so-called "Dao" that Wang Yangming had comprehended was, in essence, a method of seeking one's true heart within, achieving enlightenment in a single moment, and awakening formidable power.

In his book, Wang Yangming used the principle of investigating things to extend knowledge to explain the supernatural powers he had come to understand.

The greatest Dao is simplicity itself. Trace back to the source and preserve the heart.

I think, therefore I am. Heaven, earth, and all things reside within my heart. With a single thought, all things are born. With a single thought, all things perish.

Where the heart turns, all things can be controlled. From this, one follows the heart's desires and roams free and unfettered.

Wang Yangming devoted his entire life to arriving at this theoretical summary.

He never explicitly described his own abilities, only believing that he had comprehended the "Dao," exhausting the transformations between heaven and earth, and transforming himself into the king.

But now, through the eyes of Zhang Yi and Yang Xinxin, they could clearly recognize that this was the awakening of supernatural powers.

Three days and three nights of research produced an extremely peculiar sensation in the minds of Zhang Yi and Yang Xinxin.

They hadn't found any cultivation manuals or secret techniques of that sort.

In truth, every Transcendent's mutation was unique. It was impossible to form a standardized method of enhancing supernatural powers.

However, what Wang Yangming gave them was the most fundamental theory.

It was like building a house. One must lay the foundation first. The more solid the foundation, the sturdier the house, and the higher it could rise.

In the past, Zhang Yi, or rather, all the Transcendents in the world, had become Transcendents in a dazed and confused state, then fumbled their way to greater strength through their own individual understandings.

Now, at the very least, Zhang Yi knew where the source of his power came from.

Once the problem was identified, the direction forward became clear.

"What Master Wang Shouren said is almost exactly the same as what the Scholar of the Three-Eyed Tribe from the Nash Kingdom said."

Zhang Yi raised his palm, staring at his own dry, powerful hand. His fingers were slender and long, perfectly suited for gripping an exquisite dagger and plunging it into an enemy's chest or abdomen.

"The power of a Transcendent doesn't come from the outside world. It comes from within!"

"The body is a vessel. To become stronger, one must understand the vessel's shape and function. Some people are vases, some are leaking hourglasses, some are soup spoons. Only by understanding yourself first can you know where the road ahead lies."

As Zhang Yi murmured to himself, he closed his eyes, and a moment of enlightenment dawned within his heart.

The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.

These were words from Laozi's Tao Te Ching, speaking of how the Dao's principles are difficult to express clearly and fluently through language, requiring instead personal enlightenment in most cases.

After studying the "Philosophy of the Mind," a feeling of enlightenment welled up within Zhang Yi's heart.

This wouldn't directly make him stronger. It was merely a theoretical guiding method.

But Zhang Yi understood that this was a priceless treasure! The road ahead, he could now see it clearly!

Compared to him, Yang Xinxin beside him sat on the sofa, having remained largely silent all this time.

Her eyes were as calm and unruffled as black gemstones, with only the occasional flicker of an obscure, unreadable light passing through them, like a meteor streaking briefly across the night sky before vanishing.

She was far too clever.

If one truly spoke of natural talent, she might be the highest in the entire shelter, perhaps even surpassing Zhang Yi.

But she didn't enjoy combat. She preferred the role of a wise strategist orchestrating from behind the scenes.

Still, the lifelong learning of a sage from six hundred years ago had involuntarily drawn her into deep immersion.

She didn't close her eyes and contemplate the book's contents like Zhang Yi did. Instead, she stood up and silently slipped out of the room.

If it hadn't been for helping Zhang Yi interpret the text, she would have only needed at most half a day to finish.

Zhang Yi slowly opened his eyes after a long while, his entire being submerged in an extremely profound and mysterious state.

This involuntarily reminded him of the second year of middle school, when he was still a rebellious teenager, suddenly experiencing a flash of insight about the true meaning of physiology and health because of a single teacher's lesson.

He felt as though the world before his eyes, and even he himself, had become clearer.

Zhang Yi took out the two Essence powers he had obtained from Neon.

The Ultimate Evil Boy's Essence was completely intact, while Kami-musubi-no-Kami's Essence had lost a portion due to the lightning strike.

He absorbed both Essences into his body.

Then, he attempted to merge these powers.

Sure enough, after studying Wang Shouren's insights on Transcendent cultivation in the "Philosophy of the Mind," he began to grasp some techniques and skills.

The speed of merging had increased considerably compared to before.

At this rate, absorbing all of this Essence power would take at most two months now.

"It's not just that absorbing Essence is faster! Now that I've begun to understand my own power, my thinking has opened up when it comes to using my abilities."

"I am, therefore I think. I am the king of this world! This world is my own body."

"So where the limit of my abilities lies depends on my thinking. Depends on how vast my heart is!"

In Zhang Yi's eyes, light began to distort, splitting in two different directions, left and right.

The powers of time and space seemed to be slowly merging together.