Divine Sense

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, six years had passed.

Inside a cave dwelling by a stream halfway up Jade Spring Peak, a valiant young man sat cross-legged with his eyes shut, his breathing even and deep.

Strands of water-blue energy flowed in through his nose, mouth, skin, and other parts of his body, gradually gathering within the twelve meridians before passing through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and entering the Guanyuan Acupoint three inches below his navel.

The Guanyuan Acupoint, also known as the dantian, was the foundation of all cultivators.

Half an hour later, a burst of force erupted from his body and spread in every direction. The youth opened his eyes, his face brimming with delight, and muttered, "Heaven never disappoints those who persevere. I've finally broken through to Qi Refining Layer Four."

The youth was Wang Daoyuan. Now sixteen years old, he had just broken through to Qi Refining Layer Four. Thanks to his "head start," he ranked somewhat above average among those his age.

Having reached Qi Refining Layer Four, he could begin cultivating his divine sense.

Divine sense was the power emitted by the soul. One was born with divine sense, and its strength was closely tied to the strength of one's soul. Cultivating divine sense was also a process of strengthening the soul.

Even if cultivators did not deliberately train their divine sense, it would gradually improve as their cultivation realm rose. Of course, with a cultivation method, it could improve far more quickly.

The relationship between divine sense cultivation and the soul was like the relationship between spiritual power cultivation and the physical body.

Wang Daoyuan had grown up on Jade Spring Peak. For more than ten years, all he had learned and seen had been knowledge of cultivation, so he naturally understood the importance of divine sense. Thus, after briefly stabilizing his realm, he hurried straight for the Scripture Repository.

The Scripture Repository stood west of Jade Dragon Spring, which was the Spirit Eye of Jade Spring Peak's spirit vein. Jade Spring Peak had also received its name from Jade Dragon Spring.

Beside Jade Dragon Spring stood a thousand-year-old extraordinary pine, and the Scripture Repository was beneath that pine.

Before the Scripture Repository lay an old man with snow-white hair and beard, reclining in a lounge chair with his eyes closed in false sleep.

The old man was named Wang Jize. He was of Wang Daoyuan's great-grandfather's generation, a Supreme Elder of the Wang Clan, and the sole remaining fruit of the Ji Generation.

Below the Wang Clan's Ji Generation, each generation spanned fifty years. Even the youngest members of the Ji Generation had been over one hundred and twenty years old, and had long since achieved nirvana.

Ordinary people had a lifespan of no more than a hundred years. Qi Refining cultivators had unobstructed meridians and vigorous blood and qi, and did not fall ill, so their lifespans were slightly longer than ordinary people's—one hundred and twenty years. Foundation Establishment Cultivators lived two hundred and forty years, Violet Mansion Cultivators five hundred years, Golden Core Cultivators a thousand years...

Wang Jize's circumstances were unusual. It was said that he had once possessed Foundation Establishment cultivation, but had been ambushed while away from the Lineage and nearly crippled. Gravely injured, he had fled desperately back to the Lineage and ultimately preserved his life, but his cultivation had fallen to the Qi Refining Peak, unable to advance another inch.

Though he no longer possessed the strength of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he had once been one after all, and his lifespan was longer than that of a Qi Refining cultivator. That was why he was still alive now.

Yet this great-uncle's complexion was rosy, his eyes gleamed with sharp light, and his aura was calm and deep. How did he look like someone carrying grave injuries?

After Wang Jize's realm fell, he had remained the guardian of the Scripture Repository, refusing to involve himself in worldly affairs.

Among Lineage cultivators, regardless of cultivation level, greetings were determined only by seniority.

Faced with an elder of his great-grandfather's generation, Wang Daoyuan naturally did not dare be negligent. He straightened his clothes, walked up to Wang Jize, and bowed respectfully. "This junior, Wang Daoyuan, greets Great-Uncle."

"So it's you, little fellow." Wang Jize opened his eyes and spoke kindly. "Not bad. You've broken through to Qi Refining Layer Four. Your aura has only just stabilized, yet there's no trace of superficiality. Your foundation is very solid. It seems you haven't spared yourself any hard work.

"The path of cultivation—good talent merely makes the road easier to walk. How far one can go still depends on perseverance and opportunity. Though your aptitude is poor, if you are willing to work hard, you may not be unable to achieve something."

Wang Daoyuan bowed once more. "Thank you for your instruction, Great-Uncle!"

Wang Jize waved his hand. "No need to be so restrained. You've just broken through to Qi Refining Layer Four. You came to seek a method for cultivating divine sense, didn't you?

"Our Wang Clan is but a small household, with no particularly powerful cultivation arts. As for divine sense cultivation methods, we have only one, and it is with me. Memorize it and return to cultivate. Remember well: do not pass it on to others.

"To learn this method requires one hundred Family Contribution Points. Underage clan members are exempt from the Contribution Points."

With that, he took out a Jade Slip and handed it to Wang Daoyuan.

Family Contribution Points were the currency used within the Wang Clan. They were awarded according to the contributions clan members made to the Lineage, and could also be exchanged for Spirit Stones. One Spirit Stone could be exchanged for one Contribution Point.

Wang Daoyuan placed the Jade Slip against his brow. A moment later, a scripture appeared in his mind, titled the Soul Tempering Art.

Holding the Jade Slip in both hands, he returned it to Wang Jize. He bowed again and said, "This junior has memorized it."

Wang Jize put away the Jade Slip and said, "You are studying the path of Talismans, so divine sense is even more important to you. The strength of your divine sense directly affects the success rate of refining Talismans. Return and cultivate diligently. If you have any doubts, you may come here and ask me."

After Wang Clan disciples reached fourteen years of age, they had to study the Hundred Cultivation Arts so long as it did not affect their cultivation.

For clansmen with aptitude like Wang Daoyuan's, Foundation Establishment was hopeless. Most devoted their energy to the Hundred Cultivation Arts, earning resources and preparing for the next generation.

Wang Daoyuan was no exception. At fourteen, he began studying the Hundred Cultivation Arts under the clan elders.

After trying several crafts, Wang Daoyuan found that he had fairly good talent in alchemy, talisman crafting, planting, and other fields. But a person's energy was limited, and it was impossible to study many crafts at once.

After weighing his options, Wang Daoyuan ultimately chose talisman crafting. Though its profits were far inferior to alchemy, Talismans could directly increase one's combat strength.

He knew full well that with his talent, if he wanted even a chance at Foundation Establishment, he could only pour every ounce of effort into improving his cultivation. He simply did not have much time to practice spells, so his personal combat strength would not be high. He could only make up for it through external means.

Talismans were the only means of directly increasing combat strength without relying on one's own cultivation. Using a Talisman required only a little divine sense or spiritual power. Even Qi Refining cultivators could easily use second-tier Talismans with power comparable to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's strike.

Moreover, compared with alchemy and artifact refinement, talisman crafting cost far less, making it suitable for a poor man like Wang Daoyuan.

After making his choice, Wang Daoyuan followed Ninth Great-Uncle Wang Zhide, an elder skilled in talisman crafting, to learn the craft.

Over the past two years, he had learned how to use several kinds of spirit herbs to make Talisman Paper, how to use Demon Beast blood essence or Cinnabar to make Spirit Ink, how to recognize all kinds of common tier-one Runes, and how to practice drawing Talismans.

Naturally, when practicing talisman drawing, he only used ordinary mortal brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Talisman Paper and Spirit Ink could be sold for money, so they could not possibly be squandered on apprentices.

Wang Daoyuan was no obedient little darling. After a year of study, he had learned to make Talisman Paper and Spirit Ink, basically mastered the common tier-one Runes, and asked clansmen traveling outside on business to purchase an Inferior Talisman Brush for him. He then officially began crafting Talismans.

Perhaps because he had a foundation from learning talisman drawing under an old Daoist priest in his previous life, Wang Daoyuan's talent in Talismans was far stronger than he had imagined. In only three days, he successfully crafted a Tier One Low-Grade Talisman...

Wang Daoyuan returned to his cave dwelling and immediately began studying the Soul Tempering Art. After all, it concerned how far he could travel on the path of Talismans in the future, so he could not afford to take it lightly.

The Jade Slip did not contain much, only a little more than five thousand words. The first thousand or so explained some basic knowledge and techniques for using divine sense. The next thousand or so formed the main text, recording the specific methods for cultivating the soul. The remaining three thousand words or so were cultivation experiences left by the clan elders.

This was also a manifestation of the Lineage's foundation. With these experiences, cultivators would avoid many detours.

After reading through it, Wang Daoyuan gathered his thoughts and began the first step of divine sense cultivation—Inner Vision.

A person's soul was hidden in the Niwan Palace between the brows, also known as the Sea of Consciousness. All divine sense cultivation took place within the Sea of Consciousness.

Therefore, before cultivating divine sense, one first had to use Inner Vision to examine the Sea of Consciousness and find the place of cultivation.

Following the method recorded in the Soul Tempering Art, he gathered his thoughts and focused his intent upon the Niwan Palace.

In less than a moment, Wang Daoyuan saw a gray and hazy world. Looking in every direction, all he could see was gray haze, as though it had no end. This was the legendary Sea of Consciousness.

When he looked upward, he suddenly discovered that the bead passed down through his former sect from his previous life was actually inside his Sea of Consciousness.

His divine sense extended toward the bead and actually entered its interior, where there was unexpectedly a space of its own.

It was a hemispherical space, with roughly ten mu of land on the ground and thin spiritual energy within.

Outside the space, there was gray, hazy mist everywhere.