Late at night, in Lin Yi's room.
He wasn't practicing.
Blue Star lay in a wasteland where Source Energy was scarce. It had no history of using Source Energy, much less any manuals for cultivating it.
If he wanted to cultivate "properly," he could only wait for the assessment to begin, obtain a basic cultivation method from the Spirit Shine Crystal, and then use Source Energy Crystal Cores to cultivate efficiently.
But being unable to cultivate didn't mean he couldn't strengthen himself.
He planned to make the most of this window of opportunity, before the Divine Spirit Avatar arrived and Blue Star was covered by its Divine Kingdom Projection, while everything was still impossible to trace, and improve his physical condition.
After all, there were plenty of high school students with good physiques. One more wouldn't stand out.
Lin Yi lay quietly on his bed and closed his eyes.
His powerful Soul Origin, like an invisible, precision probe, meticulously scanned his young body.
The distribution of his muscle fibers, the density of his bones, the transmission efficiency of his neural networks... Every detail appeared clearly in his mind.
Drawing on his deep understanding of life-form evolution from his previous life, he rapidly devised an optimal, highly efficient "nourishment" regimen.
Outside, the summer night remained stifling, and the cicadas chirped without pause.
Lin Yi's breathing, however, grew long and took on a special rhythm.
With each inhalation, he seemed to draw in the faint, almost nonexistent energy particles drifting through the air.
In Blue Star's energy desert, their effect was a mere drop in the ocean, but they could still naturally nourish every cell.
With each exhalation, metabolic waste quietly left his body.
Lin Yi controlled his muscles, making tiny tremors and stretches imperceptible to the naked eye. Like a master of internal martial arts, he gently yet thoroughly awakened his body's potential.
He spent more than two hours regulating and training his body with his self-created breathing method. Only when a heavy fatigue settled over him did he get up, wash up, and prepare to rest.
Moonlight filtered through the curtains and cast dappled shadows on the floor.
Though Lin Yi's body was tired, his soul remained as clear as daylight.
He closed his eyes and regulated his breathing to ease his physical fatigue, while reviewing what he had gained that day.
"The Qitian Battle Armor has been settled. Next..."
He had only just begun to sort things out when a strange pull suddenly came from deep within his soul.
Lin Yi's eyes flew open, but he realized he was no longer lying in his familiar bed.
An endless expanse of chaos surrounded him. There was nothing beneath his feet, yet he stood firmly in place.
Most uncanny of all, a faint purple mist filled the space, flowing slowly like a diluted nebula.
"What is this..."
Lin Yi warily surveyed his surroundings, silently on guard.
Just then, a pinpoint of light suddenly appeared at the center of the space!
As it gradually grew clearer, it revealed a jade pendant floating in the air.
It was the very Ancient Jade that had turned to ash in his palm that day!
The Ancient Jade was now intact, its surface shimmering with mysterious violet-gold patterns. They weren't still; they writhed slowly like living things, sometimes forming abstruse runes, sometimes transforming into the paths of stars.
Lin Yi's heart jolted. He could clearly feel the faint purple mist in the space slowly seeping out from the Ancient Jade, thread by thread.
"So you didn't disappear after all..."
Lin Yi murmured inwardly and instinctively drifted forward.
But when he came within about three feet of the Ancient Jade, he was struck as if by lightning.
A flash of insight entered his consciousness like a bolt of lightning.
Somehow, he knew about the space.
It was a special dimension formed by the Ancient Jade within his Soul Origin.
The purple mist was "Spiritual Enlightenment Qi," created by the Ancient Jade absorbing and transforming the universe's primordial power. He could absorb it at will, and the amount absorbed determined how long his state of "sudden enlightenment" would last.
In that state, his comprehension would increase exponentially. Whether he was studying cultivation methods, devising combat techniques, or solving problems, he could reach an almost divine level of insight.
"Improved comprehension... sudden enlightenment..."
Even Lin Yi's Soul Origin trembled slightly beyond his control.
Having experienced breakthroughs through the Star Dust, Star Core, and Star Vortex levels, how could he not understand the value of sudden enlightenment?
How many powerful figures had remained trapped at bottlenecks for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, before dying in despair? Was it a lack of resources? A lack of willpower?
Neither.
They were missing that fleeting spark of insight.
And this Ancient Jade could actually create a state that was otherwise impossible to find, no matter how desperately one sought it!
"This is simply..."
Lin Yi let his thoughts run wild for a while before gradually calming down.
For now, he only knew what the purple qi did. Its specific effects still needed to be tested.
Besides, the purple qi in the Ancient Jade's space was extremely faint. If he used it once and then had to wait a very long time, it might turn out to be useless.
To understand the effects and cost of the Spiritual Enlightenment Qi more precisely, Lin Yi decided to conduct a small experiment.
He first looked around, then fixed on a target.
"You'll do."
He focused intently, gathering his Soul Power into invisible, precise "fingers" and carefully reaching toward the tiniest wisp of purple mist drifting at the edge of the space.
The wisp twisted slightly as if it were alive, carrying an indescribably mysterious aura.
Lin Yi gently touched it with the "fingertip" of his soul. Then, with a thought, he opened the door of his Soul Origin just a crack and slowly drew in the isolated wisp of purple qi.
Boom!
The moment the purple qi entered him, Lin Yi's consciousness seemed to be thrown into the heart of a supernova.
It wasn't an impact of energy, but a flood of information, a lightning bolt of thought.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely, while his Thought Speed surged exponentially. A vague Source Energy formula from his memories instantly became clear. Its derivation and its connection to the laws of the universe unfolded with crystalline clarity.
A small question that had troubled him in his previous life—how to reinforce Source Energy with the rules of the universe to improve structural stability—now had an answer, as simple and obvious as one plus one equaling two.
But this state of understanding the universe and thinking like a god lasted only a fleeting instant.
Almost as soon as the thought arose and the answer appeared, the boundless clarity ebbed away like the tide, and his consciousness returned to its normal speed within his Soul Origin.
Lin Yi's soul trembled violently. A trace of lingering regret showed in his eyes, but they shone brilliantly.
"One second... Just one second..."
He had precisely gauged how long the state lasted: exactly one second.
One wisp of purple qi bought one second of sudden enlightenment.
He immediately turned his awareness toward the Ancient Jade.
The space where he had taken the wisp of purple qi seemed to have caved in ever so slightly.
He focused on the rate at which the Ancient Jade itself produced purple qi.
The patterns on its surface flowed as it slowly began to release purple qi once more.
Lin Yi silently counted the time.
After half an hour, he used the amount of newly generated purple qi to calculate the result.
"One day!"
It took a full day for the consumed wisp of purple qi to be completely replenished.
Lin Yi's heart sank at first, but then a fiercer fire flared within him.
One second was nowhere near enough for a Star Vortex-level problem or profound inheritance. But if he patiently saved it up over time, it could still prove enormously useful.
After all, a Star Vortex-level being could live for a hundred thousand years!
Having learned what he wanted, Lin Yi followed the information imprinted in his consciousness and used his mind to touch and activate the Ancient Jade.
An irresistible repulsion swept over him, and Lin Yi suddenly opened his eyes in bed.
He immediately scanned his body again and again. First, he confirmed there was nothing unusual. Then he entered and exited the Ancient Jade's space twice more.
In the end, he verified one thing: he didn't need to send his entire consciousness into the Ancient Jade's space. Sending in just a sliver of intent worked just as well.
And when he used the purple qi inside the Ancient Jade's space, the rest of his body and his Soul Origin remained completely unchanged.
Only after his concerns had been put to rest did Lin Yi's lips finally curl into a smile.
"One wisp of purple qi, one second of sudden enlightenment. One day to produce a wisp."
He lay on the bed without turning on the light, gazing at the ceiling in the darkness as he thought to himself:
"I'd originally only planned to pretend to be a genius, score highly in the assessment, and secure a better starting point for myself and Blue Star, along with a few more cultivation resources. But now... who can say I'm pretending?"
Before you continue