Cultivator from the Modern World

In terms of originality, Shen Long's gifts should definitely come out on top of everyone else. However, he couldn't think of one that was within his capability of making. Since there wasn't electricity in the cultivation world, the majority of technology products could not be made, even if their designs were simple.

Shen Long couldn't just buy random spiritual herbs neither for a couple of reasons. Not only that that was an extremely lazy option, he could only purchase them in the palace, and hence those were definitely not unique. The quality of those herbs was pitifully low as well, so Daoist Fireblade would definitely not use them. It would also be too cheap as a present.

"What can I get for Master? At his level of cultivation, nothing cultivation-related would be useful for him anyway. There are so many things that the cultivation world lacks, but there aren't many that I can actually make! I must think of something that can be useful for Master. If we can then mass-produce the item, everyone will benefit..." Shen Long continued to think as hard as he could, though nothing came to his mind.

Time continued to tick as Shen Long continued to stare at the ceiling. He sat on his bed cross-legged, not moving an inch. Shen Long scanned through his memories of all the modern inventions that didn't require electricity. After a while, he had finally thought of one that would be extremely useful, yet it was simple to make.

(Can you guess the item?) :-)

"That's right! A compass! How did I forget that!? It's so easy to make as well! I'm such a genius! All I need is a pin, some water and a container. I probably can't make it extremely pretty, but it will do the job! Since there's no way of telling directions here, this is going to be so useful for everyone. Hahaha! I'm such a genius!" Shen Long said as he smiled excitedly.

He quickly tested it out as he magnetized the needle by rubbing it against his shirt. Just from the knowledge of electrostatic forces, he could easily make a compass. Although it looked nothing like a normal compass, it still worked perfectly fine. This worked because there was still gravity in the cultivation world, and the magnetic fields still travelled from south to north.

Feeling slightly anxious, he quickly sent Daoist Fireblade a spiritual message to apologize. "Hello Master, I'm really sorry that I missed the training session just now. I was feeling unwell, and I forgot to inform you beforehand. Please accept my apology..." Shen Long was sure that Daoist Fireblade received the message, but there was no reply.

Shen Long grabbed himself some food before he went back to his residence. It was still 8 o'clock, and Shen Long desperately wanted to test out his sword art. So he decided to sneak into the training ground before going to bed. To his surprise, he couldn't see the formation, and the area had returned to its original appearance.

He picked up the twin swords from the weapon rack as he attempted the first stance of the [Melodies of Nine Sole Swords] again. Arcs of sword light danced around Shen Long as it generated an aura that was much more refined, compared to before. His improvements were, of course, caused by the enlightenment session as he got the opportunity to study the gigantic sword.

However, Shen Long struggled to merge the two swordplay styles together. Although there were huge improvements, he still had a long way to go, in order to achieve that perfect balance. Shen Long still couldn't figure out how to blend in the two opposing elements, and the sense of a melody was still absent from his sword art.

Referencing back to the sculpture in his memory, he attempted to stimulate that in his own sword art. His fusion was always lacking something; the two opposing element - fast and slow - are cancelling each other out, instead of complementing each other.

Shen Long continued to ponder on the problem, but he still couldn't see where the problem lied. He spent way too little time on the sculpture of Balance, hence his comprehension towards the Dao had barely improved. Even with his improvement in the Dao of the Sword, he still couldn't understand the concept behind the sword art.

Even worse, Shen Long was also slowly forgetting the sculptures that he witnessed from the enlightenment. The image in his head became blurrier and blurrier. This was perfectly normal as those monumental sculptures were physical manifestations of the Dao. Even though Shen Long was favoured greatly by the universal essence, he was still not permitted to forcefully "memorize" the sculptures as that went against the natural laws.

By the time Shen Long finished his cultivation, he had already completely forgotten about the details of the gigantic cross beside its shape. The more he thought about it, the less he could remember. Learning the lesson the hard way, he wouldn't think about the gigantic sword he saw earlier until he was stuck on a bottleneck.

Without the sculpture of balance, Shen Long attempted to continue to train in his sword art. It wasn't long until it was 10 o'clock as Shen Long hurried back to his residence. He hadn't made much progress on the fusion, but he could still feel that he was getting closer to it. This, however, didn't satisfy Shen Long and he was disappointed at himself.

On his way back home, he thought about what his Master told him yesterday - to not cultivate to Demigod Realm. Because of his absence today, the answer had yet to be revealed. Shen Long was tempted to send a spiritual message to his Master but decided not to. After all, he was the one who skipped the training, plus, he didn't want to disturb his Master at night.

Shen Long continued to ponder on the reason behind his Master's words. He thought that his Master was going to send him some spiritual herbs, but he didn't receive any. Shen Long was also quite sure that ascending to Demigod realm didn't require a protector to keep watch as there weren't any tribulations.