Divine Sense, Qi Refining

"After only a few days, he has already gained a modest reputation. This little fellow is indeed a talent. Once he reaches Qi Refining, perhaps he can be recruited into the society..."

The young man pondered briefly, glanced at the stone house once more, then turned and took a step. His figure vanished in a flash.

Time flowed like water, babbling onward.

Under Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan's deliberate arrangements, the number of unfamiliar students Zhu Yu taught each day gradually increased, and the scope of his lessons grew broader and broader. At the same time, the students' standards became increasingly uneven.

Feats like Xun Su and Ni Ying opening their Divine Seas in a single day became rarer and rarer.

It was not because the quality of the lessons had declined, but because fewer and fewer disciples were newly entering the Sect.

Even so, among the new disciples, Zhu Yu's reputation did not diminish but instead continued to grow. According to Xiang Sui, students wishing to attend his classes were already booked several days in advance.

Zhu Yu accumulated more and more Spirit Stones, yet he was not stingy with them. Aside from cultivation, teaching, and times when he could not affect his physical condition, he spent all his remaining hours in the Sutra Lecture Hall, absorbing the foundational knowledge of the immortal path like a sponge, ravenous with thirst.

Seven days later.

With a stir of thought, Zhu Yu summoned his information panel.

[Attributes: Body 1.1, Soul 9.8]

Several days had passed. With the aid of Soul Dispersing Pills and Meditation Fluid, he had condensed a full fifty-five Soul Particles, bringing his soul to 9.8. He only needed to condense one more Soul Particle for Divine Sense to be born.

"Phew... Divine Sense..."

Zhu Yu drew a deep breath, calmed his excited emotions, closed his eyes, and entered meditation.

Within the dim space of his consciousness.

The hazy outline of the Three-Ring Pattern emerged. Just as before, his thoughts aligned with a certain frequency, steadily and unhurriedly tracing out the Three-Ring Pattern.

A faint glow bloomed as invisible soul power surged together in a swarm.

When the Three-Ring Pattern transformed into pale golden motes and vanished into the indistinct Divine Sea.

A ripple suddenly spread through the dim space of consciousness. Under its influence, Zhu Yu felt his scattered awareness slowly gathering and merging.

Until, at a certain instant, a strange power came into being.

Pop... It was as though some kind of barrier had been broken. The darkness receded like the tide, revealing the figure of a handsome young man in black robes seated cross-legged on a bed. Centered on him, everything within a foot of his body became visible down to the finest detail.

"So this is Divine Sense. What a peculiar feeling..."

Joy rose in Zhu Yu's heart.

It felt as though he were an outsider gazing at himself.

The hairs on his exposed skin and the patterns of his clothing were all plainly visible. Countless motes of light in every color also drifted and bobbed around him.

Feeling the affinity conveyed by the green and yellow motes, Zhu Yu said delightedly, "Wood and Earth Spiritual Energy..." He vaguely felt that with a mere stir of thought, he could draw them into his body.

But he did not dare guide Spiritual Energy into his body yet.

According to the Basic Visualization Method, if one had not yet forged a place to bear Spiritual Energy, drawing it into one's body would result in the Spiritual Energy blasting apart the Divine Sea, corrupting the flesh, and turning the cultivator into a humanoid spiritual entity.

"Next comes manifesting the Three-Ring Pattern..."

After silently sensing it for a while, Zhu Yu withdrew his Divine Sense and opened his eyes. As if recalling something, regret appeared on his face as he sighed inwardly, If only I had transmigrated here earlier...

Only ten days remained before the one-year deadline. At his current cultivation speed, leaving one day to break through to Qi Refining, he could likely condense one hundred and fifty-four Soul Particles before the final deadline.

In other words, even in the best-case scenario, he could only fuse one hundred and fifty Soul Particles into soul threads, manifest the Three-Ring Pattern, and break through to Qi Refining.

In the past, Zhu Yu would naturally have been more than satisfied with that.

But ever since learning that the more Soul Particles one accumulated and condensed before advancing to Qi Refining, the greater the increase in cultivation after the breakthrough, he had found it impossible to feel happy.

Take Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan, for instance.

During his free time, Zhu Yu had once curiously asked them how many Soul Particles they had condensed.

The answer was that one had condensed over five hundred Soul Particles and planned to break through after reaching seven hundred, while the other had condensed over two hundred and planned to break through after reaching three hundred.

At that time, one of them would leap directly to Late Qi Refining, while the other would rise straight to Middle Qi Refining. As for him, he could only break through to Early Qi Refining. The gap between them was far more than a mere sliver.

Moreover, cultivation after Qi Refining was far more difficult than before Qi Refining!

Qi Refining cultivators opened the Mysterious Pass within the human body. When condensing Soul Particles in meditation, they would naturally draw Spiritual Energy into themselves. A cultivator needed to soothe the Spiritual Energy to keep it from growing restless while also splitting their attention to draw the Three-Ring Pattern. The difficulty spoke for itself.

"Alas..."

Zhu Yu shook his head, casting aside his stray thoughts. His gaze fell upon the dog-eared booklet of the "Basic Meditation Diagram" on the table, and an idea suddenly stirred in his mind.

"Eh, now that I've condensed Divine Sense, will the True Sight Eye change..."

Once the thought surfaced, it could no longer be suppressed. With a stir of thought, he brought up the deduction and analysis information of the "True Sight Eye."

[First-rank low-grade spell "Gold-Chewing Iron-Eating"]

[Gold-Melting Iron-Dissolving Stomach Meridian Map, spiritual items required for spell construction, deduction and analysis in progress "65%," estimated time "forty-one days"]

[Storage Auxiliary Stomach Meridian Map, spiritual items required for spell construction, deduction and analysis in progress "86%," estimated time "five days"]

The time needed to analyze spells had been cut in half compared with before.

A realization surfaced in Zhu Yu's heart. The "True Sight Eye" would grow alongside the strengthening of his soul. Now that he had condensed Divine Sense, not only had its deduction and analysis effects improved, but it could also deduce and analyze two methods at once.

"Growing alongside the strengthening of my soul..."

After understanding this, Zhu Yu's eyes shone with delight. Just as expected, the "True Sight Eye" had not disappointed him. After his joy subsided, he silently said in his heart:

"Establish a model. Analyze the 'Basic Visualization Diagram,' from minor mastery to major mastery."

As the thought fell, another panel appeared.

["Basic Visualization Diagram" minor mastery → major mastery, analysis progress "1%," estimated analysis time "two months."]

"Two months..."

Zhu Yu nodded in satisfaction.

He had not merely listened to other courses in the Sutra Lecture Hall; he had also attended quite a few lessons on the "Basic Meditation Diagram." Though they were not as meticulous as his own lectures, he had still gained much by drawing inferences from one instance to another.

It was foreseeable that if he obtained more information, the analysis time would continue to shorten.

Dismissing the panel, Zhu Yu looked through the crack in the window toward the dome. Seeing that only three full moons had appeared upon it, he took out a Soul Dispersing Pill and swallowed it, then filled a bottle with Meditation Fluid and drained it in one gulp. Closing his eyes, he focused his mind and sank into meditation.

He did not know how long passed.

Knock, knock...

The sound at the door roused him from meditation.

"Is it time already..."

Zhu Yu let out a soft breath, opened his eyes, and listened to Liang Kuan chattering endlessly outside. He smiled, rose from the bed, and pushed open the door.

"Greetings, Teacher Zhu."

The five people outside immediately cupped their hands in greeting.

Zhu Yu took a look and found them somewhat familiar. They seemed to be students from the second batch of classes. A warm smile filled his face as he gestured them inside.

"Young brothers, you are too courteous. Please."

The group filed inside one after another. Before long, Zhu Yu's voice lecturing could be heard from within.

Time slowly passed.

When nine full moons rose over the dome.

The door slowly opened, and Zhu Yu, Xiang Sui, and Liang Kuan walked out at an unhurried pace, arriving beside a patch of grass that emitted a faint phosphorescent glow.

"Junior Brother, you've condensed Divine Sense?"