Spiritual Light Like the Sea

"Instructor, we have to travel tomorrow, why are you still not resting?"

Pei Ruyi left the banquet and walked to the corridor. She suddenly saw Cao Jinsong, who had left earlier, sitting at a stone table in the courtyard.

At that moment, he was surrounded by broken porcelain shards.

From the faint patterns on the shards, it could be seen that this seemed to be a vase that Magistrate Fang cherished greatly.

Cao Jinsong was currently refining spiritual energy at his fingertips, concentrating it into a rice-sized ball, and chanting incantations at a whole vase on the stone table.

Judging from the sweat on his forehead, he seemed to have been trying for a long time.

"I'm trying to infuse spiritual energy into the vase and leave it there. Infusing it is extremely easy, but leaving it is incredibly difficult. I only succeed once or twice out of ten times."

Pei Ruyi listened and asked with some confusion, "Is this a new cultivation technique?"

Cao Jinsong, with trembling hands, cautiously approached the vase. "Ruyi, have you ever considered that if this matter is so difficult, how did Ji You manage to nurture a young girl until her spiritual light reached the crown?"

"This..."

"Spiritual energy is the origin of heaven and earth, containing the power of the Heavenly Dao. The five Hall Masters of the inner court are like this, able to refine spiritual energy to the point of doing their bidding. If Ji You didn't succeed by sheer luck, I don't think it's just the upper five realms, but perhaps even the Immortal Approaching Realm is not a problem for him."

As he spoke, the vase in front of Cao Jinsong suddenly couldn't bear the strain and exploded from the middle, scattering shards all over the ground. All that remained was Cao Jinsong's grim expression.

He had been in the upper five realms for many years. Although he had been stuck in the initial Profound Connection Realm without further progress, he was still one realm higher than Ji You.

Moreover, the lower three realms are the realms of the self, while the upper five realms are the realms of various laws. The control of spiritual energy between the two was already vastly different, yet the final result was astonishing.

This either meant Ji You was too monstrous, or he himself was too foolish.

Cao Jinsong naturally did not admit to being foolish, so the only explanation was that his newly accepted disciple had more potential yet to be discovered.

"Immense fortune..."

"Ruyi, this child will easily enter the inner court, and might even have a chance to become a direct disciple of one of the five Hall Masters."

Hearing this, Pei Ruyi let out a dry laugh.

Being at Perfection of the Lower Three Realms before the age of twenty was indeed extraordinary, but she felt Cao Jinsong was exaggerating a bit.

After all, in the path of immortality, countless people have amazed the world. Take being at Perfection of the Lower Three Realms before the age of twenty, for instance. This year, the Seven Great Immortal Sects found ten such individuals, and the Celestial Academy alone accounted for two.

Yet, even with that, including Ji You, the three of them were still somewhat ordinary among the younger generation.

One must know that the Young Master Jian of Spirit Sword Mountain achieved Perfection of Cultivation at the age of ten, the direct disciple of Dao Seeking Sect entered the upper five realms at twelve, and other direct disciples from various immortal sects were all monstrous talents.

Ji You was one year away from reaching the age of twenty, and his "Perfection" was merely reaching the threshold to meet them.

As she was contemplating, she saw Cao Jinsong in the courtyard suddenly frown, then abruptly stand up and look towards the south of Yuyang County.

"Instructor, what happened?"

"Ruyi, do you not sense that the spiritual energy here seems to be surging south with all its might, even beyond my control?"

"?"

Pei Ruyi was slightly stunned, then she passed through the corridor, exited the Yuyang County office, and headed straight for the southern valley field where Ji You was located.

Under the night sky, everything in Yuyang County was shrouded in darkness. Only the valley field was illuminated by countless lights, casting a fiery red glow on the surroundings, as festive as a landlord's wedding.

The valley field was surrounded by a crowd of commoners, their figures appearing indistinct from afar.

In the darkness beneath the lights, their faces could not be seen clearly, but their thin frames and tattered clothing were roughly discernible.

Amidst this brilliant light, seventy-two young children knelt on the valley field, calling out "godfather" in clear, childlike voices, and then kowtowed.

Perfection of the Lower Three Realms was not a profound realm, merely the initial stage of immortality, with not many things that could be done.

However, the reputation of the Celestial Academy was still somewhat useful, as it was, after all, part of the Great Xia Sacred Sect.

And according to Great Xia law, godchildren were also family and should be protected. He didn't know if this would be useful, but it was better than nothing.

If he were fortunate enough to find a way to repair his Spirit Core and enter the upper five realms, his deterrent power might be even greater.

Ji You, sitting in the front, remained silent for a long time. He looked at the young children and suddenly burst into laughter.

He might not have been able to save the children suffering from leukemia in the end, but he could still try to save another group of children.

As Ji You was thinking this, for some reason, the night sky above suddenly brightened.

Then, countless spiritual lights appeared over the valley field, pure as white stars, drifting like fireflies, and gradually gathering here.

Moments later, the entire valley field was as brilliant as a sea of stars, which could not help but leave Ji You in awe.

"What is this?"

"Whoa..."

"I don't think I ate any mushrooms this time... did I?"

Ji You looked up, and after a few breaths, he was slightly stunned, somewhat astonished.

Because he realized that these lights were not appearing out of thin air, nor were they from the sky. They seemed to be coming from the seventy-two young children in front of him.

Each of these children had a spiritual light at the center of their brows, which had flown into the sky at that moment, and then a single spiritual light descended.

Before Ji You could react, they began to fly towards him incessantly, entering his body.

He frowned and instinctively began to dodge, only to find that he couldn't avoid them at all.

After a long struggle, all the spiritual light in the sky had vanished. Only then did Ji You begin to examine himself internally, discovering that a chaotic mass of light had formed above his shattered Spirit Core, swirling like mist, strand by strand.

At this moment, he felt an uncontrollable immortal aura boiling around him, surging towards the heavens and churning under the vast starry sky.

It was also at this precise moment that the blood-red gash spanning the horizon inexplicably became even more ferocious.

Pei Ruyi, who had arrived from the county office, stood not far away, gazing at him blankly.

She couldn't see the sea of starlight that had filled the sky earlier, nor could she perceive the surging aura, yet she still frowned slightly, sensing that Ji You's presence was vastly different now.

As the top disciple of the outer court, Pei Ruyi had seen many disciples from various immortal sects.

But she found Ji You's current state truly peculiar.

Is it... immortal aura?

Pei Ruyi's brow furrowed deeply.

She didn't know why that thought had popped into her head and felt a moment of bewilderment.

Mortals, upon seeing cultivators, would respectfully call them Immortals. Even cultivators themselves referred to themselves as Immortals, as if they were not of the same race as mortals.

However, in reality, if a cultivator couldn't ascend with a hearty laugh, they couldn't truly be considered an Immortal.

Pei Ruyi had certainly never seen an ascended predecessor, so she couldn't possibly know what true immortal aura was. Yet, gazing at Ji You's ethereal, shifting aura, the thought involuntarily surfaced.

No, I must be overthinking it...

Without a hearty laugh and ascension to the Immortal Realm, how could someone in the mortal world be filled with immortal aura?

"Ruyi, this child is certainly extraordinary."

"Perhaps he could even become a direct disciple of one of the five Hall Masters."

"..."