That Which Is Sacred Yet Unknowable Is Called Spirit

The first four realms of the Main World's martial cultivation system were: Apprentice, Mortal Shedding, Artistic Conception, and Exterior Scenery.

An Outer Scenery Expert could draw upon external Spiritual Power with every gesture, stir changes in the heavens, command wind and rain, fly through the skies and burrow through the earth. A casual strike could turn the entire Imperial Capital Fifth Ring Road into a deep crater of ruins.

In Li Xijun's world, they were also absolute pillars of strength, powerful figures with ample privileges.

Forget ordinary people—even for former students of the thirty-three Martial Arts Universities and the Nine Schools Alliance, becoming an Outer Scenery Expert was the sort of dream that would make them wake up laughing, like their ancestral graves had caught fire.

There were two major hurdles to becoming an Outer Scenery Expert.

The first was the strength of one's Physical Body.

The second was Spirit Level, which trapped countless martial geniuses in torment, even dooming them to remain stuck for life.

In the current martial system, there was only one cultivation method that could raise one's Spirit Level, break through the shackles of the Physical Body, and reach Exterior Scenery.

That was to cultivate Outer Scenery Moves while in the Third Realm—Artistic Conception—and continuously comprehend the Artistic Conception within them. Once one's Artistic Conception reached mastery, this cultivation would raise one's Spirit Level to a relatively acceptable standard, allowing one to break through into Exterior Scenery.

Other than that, there was basically no other way!

As for external aids—

There were quite a few solutions for insufficient Physical Body strength. In particular, resources produced by Mythical Worlds, such as Adamantine Fruit, Dragon Blood, and Phoenix Gall, could rapidly strengthen the Physical Body.

Yet Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures capable of raising Spirit Level had rarely appeared among all the Mythical Worlds discovered so far. Even when they did appear, they were almost impossible to find on the market.

Every year, countless martial geniuses throughout the Federation began their youth full of vigor, admired by all throughout high school and university, their spirits soaring.

Yet in the end, they were trapped by their inadequate comprehension of Artistic Conception and their failure to meet the required Spirit Level.

This was precisely why the Federation College Entrance Examination placed such great emphasis on martial techniques, assigning them four hundred points of the total score. There were even frequent rumors of special admissions.

Because most martial technique geniuses in high school—

Either possessed naturally powerful spiritual force,

Or had exceptional comprehension of saber techniques, sword techniques, and the like, making it easy for them to achieve mastery of Artistic Conception in the Third Realm and break through into Exterior Scenery.

And now, in this world that had suddenly intersected with his own, there was actually a system for independently cultivating spiritual force.

Beneath his mask, Li Xijun could barely restrain his wild delight.

But when he tried to keep searching for information about Spirit-Refining Cultivators, there was nothing more.

No matter how he searched through this world's version of himself's memories, all he found were admiring remarks and rumors such as "Spirit-Refining Cultivators stand above all others" and "Spirit-Refining Cultivators can directly become officials and masters."

As for more detailed knowledge of the system and methods of getting started, he would need to purchase them from the Contemplation Society, the organization that officially managed Spirit-Refining Cultivators in this world.

According to the original owner's memories, the related books there were extremely expensive. A random volume cost dozens of silver dollars, while some cost over ten taels of silver.

Meanwhile, an ordinary laborer at Jinmen Wharf earned only fifteen to twenty silver dollars a month, roughly three taels of silver.

For the original owner, a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy who made a living selling newspapers, it was naturally a place he did not even dare glance at twice.

Li Xijun, however, did not mind in the slightest. He even relaxed at once.

After the Great Cataclysm in the Main World, Blue Star's surface area had expanded. Coupled with the existence of countless Mythical Worlds, most ordinary mineral resources had become extremely cheap, silver included. Buying five or six hundred taels of silver for a thousand yuan was effortless!

"Silver is great! I like silver as a general equivalent!"

"In this world, I can finally be rich by traveling between two worlds."

"And while I'm at it, I'll test the activation time and phenomena of traveling back and forth."

With that thought, Li Xijun no longer hesitated.

He took off his Nanofiber Suit and transformed it into a small black sphere, placing it directly inside the Mockingbird Drone's storage space. Then he controlled it to fly into a tree in the woods and hide there.

The next second, his entire body vanished into thin air, and he returned home to the Main World.

After returning, Li Xijun hurriedly found a set of clothes and changed into them.

Though it was somewhat embarrassing and wasteful, out of caution, Li Xijun would never bring any technological product taken to another world back to the Main World.

He looked at the clock on the wall and said with satisfaction:

"The flow of time is the same in both worlds, and the transit itself takes less than a second."

"That means I can treat it as a life-saving escape method."

"If I fail to get into a Martial Arts University, become cannon fodder on the front lines, and run into some life-or-death danger, I'll just bail."

In greatly improved spirits, Li Xijun found his phone and ordered fifty kilograms of silver along with several antique-style money pouches online.

Once again, only a little over ten minutes later, a large package appeared on the balcony.

After carrying it back to his room and opening it on the bed, a crisp clatter rang out. Bars of gleaming silver and small chunks of loose silver instantly took up nearly half the bed.

This silver, which no one on Blue Star Federation cared about, was incomparably adorable in Li Xijun's eyes now. He could not even resist lying atop it and thoroughly enjoying the feeling of being rich.

Ten minutes later—

A youth dressed in Western-style formalwear, looking like someone who had returned from studying abroad, appeared on the streets of Jinmen.

After crossing the main avenue and passing over a bridge, Li Xijun soon saw a row of tall Western-style buildings. Compared with the streets from before, this area was more prosperous and far cleaner and tidier. Steam cars passed by from time to time, and the people here were all impeccably dressed.

Amid this prosperity, a wooden Nine-story Ancient-style Pavilion was particularly conspicuous.

When Li Xijun entered, he found that the bustling noise outside vanished in an instant. It was as if this pavilion contained a world of its own.

The first thing he saw was a plaque hanging in the pavilion's main hall, inscribed with the words: That which is sacred yet unknowable is called spirit.

At a single glance, Li Xijun felt an immense and righteous aura wash over him, as though his entire being were about to ascend.

"Ahem! Young man, what brings you here?"

Only then did Li Xijun notice that at the end of the rows of bookshelves sat a middle-aged scholar in a long gown. He was reading today's Jinmen Daily at a Sandalwood Desk carved with Ruyi Cloud Patterns. Seeing Li Xijun staring at the plaque after entering, he finally spoke up.

"I'd like to buy some Introductory Spirit-Refining Texts," Li Xijun answered calmly, his pockets now full of money.

The middle-aged man in the long gown gave an "Oh." He was already accustomed to wealthy young masters who fancied they could figure out cultivation on their own by reading books.

He casually pointed to the bookshelf near the entrance. "They're in the middle row, first shelf. The prices are marked. Buy first, read later."

Following his directions, Li Xijun quickly found a thin volume on the shelf titled Introduction to Spirit Refinement.

When he saw the price of ten taels of silver written on it, Li Xijun could not help sighing. Ten taels of silver for such a thin book—no wonder the original owner had not even dared enter this place.

After paying the man ten taels of silver, Li Xijun went straight to a spot beside the bookshelf, squatted down, and impatiently began reading about this world's Spirit-Refining System.

The world was like a Sea of Bitterness, while the human Physical Body was like a raft crossing it. Yet the Sea of Bitterness was boundless, and the raft of the Physical Body ended at Blood Exchange. There was no road ahead, no way to cross the Sea of Bitterness. Only when the soul was firm could one resist the many bitter consequences of the Sea of Bitterness and swim to the Other Shore.

The path of Spirit Refinement had six realms: Orifice Opening, Spirit Condensation, Sitting Forgetting, Embryonic Breathing, Soul Out of Body, and Manifestation of Sagehood.