Object Manipulation Technique

Ice blades cut across his body, causing unbearable pain. The cold sweat on Lin Xuan's forehead quickly froze as well. Enduring agony that ordinary people could scarcely bear, Lin Xuan cultivated with all his might.

Specks of light danced through the sky. These were spiritual energy, though under normal circumstances, even cultivators could not see it. Only when spiritual energy became pure enough could it be sensed.

What Lin Xuan needed to do was draw these specks of spiritual energy into his body. Such pure spiritual energy was far easier to refine into spiritual power.

Because he could see them, absorbing them was not difficult—but the prerequisite was enduring the agony of ice blades devouring his body.

One speck of spiritual energy after another was drawn into his body. Following his sect's cultivation method, Lin Xuan gathered them all into his dantian, where they formed a ball of spiritual energy.

Next came refinement. The ball of spiritual energy spun continuously within his dantian, shrinking in size while its color grew increasingly dense.

At last, it transformed into a strand of spiritual power and dispersed throughout his dantian.

Lin Xuan's endurance had reached its limit as well. He hurriedly turned and ran out of the Illusion Realm's range.

Collapsed on the ground, Lin Xuan gasped for breath, unwilling to move even a single finger.

This process repeated itself over and over for several hours. Only after night fell did Lin Xuan head toward the exit of the Heart Refining Path.

"Have you heard? That disciple without a Spirit Root went to cultivate on the Heart Refining Path."

"Mm, Uncle Ma supposedly saw it with his own eyes."

"Hmph, so what if he has perseverance? Ordinary people are destined to achieve nothing on the path of immortality. Trash will always be trash!"

On his way back, Lin Xuan happened to overhear people discussing him. Though those disciples noticed him as well, they did not care in the slightest and continued their sarcastic mockery.

Lin Xuan frowned, but he would not get angry, because it would accomplish nothing. In the Cultivation World, there was only one way to earn others' respect: strength. Rather than waste his anger here, he might as well go back, rest, and continue practicing.

After returning to his residence, Lin Xuan pulled open a drawer and took out the paper covered in cultivation methods.

The Object Manipulation Technique was a Spell that used spiritual power to move objects from afar. It was one of the most basic yet most important Spells in the Cultivation World, the foundation for using Dharma Treasures. Of course, Dharma Treasures were still far too distant for Lin Xuan, but he could practice this Spell first.

Circulate true essence, focus the divine sense, attach one's consciousness to an object, and make it move.

Lin Xuan practiced again and again throughout the afternoon. He had tried before, but failed. After cultivating on the Heart Refining Path for so many days, his spiritual power had grown somewhat stronger, which was why he made another attempt.

Several hours passed in the blink of an eye. He had kept his attention fixed on the cup before him until his eyes stung and his head swam. Lin Xuan rested briefly, then continued...

Heaven rewarded the diligent. Suddenly, the cup moved.

Though it was only slight, it had indeed moved. Lin Xuan did not stop. He circulated his spiritual power and continued practicing the Object Manipulation Technique until late at night, when he finally went to bed to rest.

The next day, Lin Xuan returned to the Heart Refining Path.

Thick mist filled the air, and ghostly shadows loomed everywhere. This time, the illusion was the Underworld. Countless Fierce Ghosts lunged at Lin Xuan, yet the youth turned a blind eye to them.

During this period of grueling cultivation, it was not only his strength that increased. Lin Xuan's mind had also become tougher and more mature, while his endurance had risen greatly. At the beginning, Lin Xuan could only remain in the terrifying Illusion Realm for several minutes. Now, though he ventured ever deeper and endured increasingly horrifying illusions, he could persist for an entire hour.

Ghosts and all manner of terrifying scenes surfaced in his mind. Every kind of crushing negative influence assailed him. Lin Xuan clenched his teeth against the pain and struggled to absorb spiritual energy as he cultivated.

After leaving the Illusion Realm's area of influence, Lin Xuan sat cross-legged on the ground and refined the spiritual energy he had absorbed, then performed a full circulation.

It traveled through his meridians before finally returning to his dantian. Lin Xuan completed nine cycles in total. Although allowing spiritual power to flow through the meridians could slowly increase it, it also placed an immense burden on the body. Ordinary disciples only did three cycles, but Lin Xuan had set himself the requirement of nine.

This was already close to the limits of the human body. The first three cycles were still manageable. By the fourth and fifth, his meridians ached and swelled. By the seventh and eighth, the pain was like blades cutting through him. As for the ninth, it was simply hellish agony. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans covered Lin Xuan's forehead, and pain made his body tremble uncontrollably, yet he persisted tenaciously. Several hours later, he finally completed his goal.

After finishing the full circulation practice, Lin Xuan entered the Illusion Realm once more.

And so the cycle repeated. Lin Xuan cultivated diligently on the Heart Refining Path, gritting his teeth and bearing the pain that normally only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators could endure through sheer unyielding will.

Lin Xuan sat cross-legged on the ground like an old monk in meditation. At this moment, a pale blue sphere within his dantian twisted and changed without cease. It was formed from gathered spiritual power.

Strands of spiritual power continued to pour into the sphere. After cultivating on the Heart Refining Path for a month, Lin Xuan felt that his cultivation had improved considerably. Once again, he launched an assault on the second layer of the Spirit Movement Stage.

For cultivators, every rise in realm brought a transformation in spiritual power. Lin Xuan was now at the most crucial stage.

Just a little more!

His divine sense spread through his entire dantian, searching desperately for the remaining spiritual power and injecting it into the sphere. Lin Xuan felt like a sponge that had been squeezed dry, yet was still desperately trying to force out a little more water.

Sizzle...

The spiritual power sphere changed again. Bolts of lightning appeared across its surface, and spiritual energy began to leak out. The sphere was on the verge of collapse.

Lin Xuan did not give up. He did his best to keep it stable, but he had already reached his limit. With a soft bang, the blue sphere burst apart. The gathered spiritual power dispersed, turning once more into strands as thin as hairs, evenly distributed throughout his dantian.