Awareness

Liu Dingchun shook his head. "None left."

Hearing this, Li Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. Aside from the three of them, no one else in the Ninth Battalion of the Ninth Army should know that Ding Chen was the Ninth Prince Ning Chen.

Of course, the Great General of the Ninth Demon Suppression Army also knew Ding Chen's identity.

Although Pei Menglong was powerful, he probably hadn't met the Ninth Prince.

"You just said there were three thousand demons in Blood River Forest, led by a Demon Man? What's going on?" Li Sheng raised an eyebrow.

Liu Dingchun nodded. "That's right. Pei Menglong said it himself and even asked our Head Chef Army to take care of those demons. I refused."

"Why refuse!"

Li Sheng glanced at Liu Dingchun. "This young master still needs to earn merit. You go find Pei Menglong and tell him that the Head Chef Army will send a hundred-man team to assist them in eliminating the demons."

"Alright."

Liu Dingchun nodded, feeling very strange. He couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Sheng, if I may be so bold."

"Go ahead."

"I don't know how Ding Chen offended you, but why are you targeting such a minor figure like him?"

"Brother Liu, it's best not to be too curious." Li Sheng's eyes flashed coldly. He continued, "Just send people to tell me any news about demons ahead. The rest is to help me report military merits."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Liu Dingchun nodded repeatedly.

Although his official position was higher than Li Sheng's, he couldn't stay in the military camp suffering forever. Sooner or later, he would have to retire and take up other official positions in the court, and then he would have to climb up step by step from a small place.

If he could befriend Li Sheng, he could skip many detours.

Cook Soldier Barracks.

Ding Chen went to find Liao Zipeng to collect seventy-four healing pills, distributing one to each person.

Everyone was reluctant to take them and carefully hid them, planning to take them out and consume them when they were injured on the battlefield next time.

Afterward, Ding Chen and Chen Xian sent the thirteen severely injured cook soldiers to the disabled soldiers' camp.

Once the thirteen men recovered from their injuries, they could apply for retirement.

Returning to the camp, Ding Chen didn't idle around. He immediately led sixty men in training.

It wasn't until evening that Liao Zipeng had Second Lieutenant Lu send over thirty-nine men.

The situation was the same as last time.

All thirty-nine men were injured, but their limbs were intact. As long as they recovered, they could still go to the battlefield.

After assigning personnel, Ding Chen led everyone in blood cultivation.

Chen Xian found Ding Chen and came to his side, asking, "Brother Ding, what realm comes after the Jade Sea Realm?"

Ding Chen was surprised. "You don't know?"

Chen Xian nodded awkwardly.

Ding Chen was even more surprised. This guy didn't even know the cultivation realms, so how did he reach the Jade Sea Realm?

"I only know Awareness, Dao Foundation, and Soaring. I don't know anything beyond that."

"Awareness, Dao Foundation, Soaring?"

Chen Xian repeated the words. The reason he asked Ding Chen was that he wanted to get a general idea first, which might save him experience points when deducing subsequent cultivation techniques.

Ding Chen nodded. "I don't fully understand Awareness and Dao Foundation either, but I've heard that once the Dao Foundation is established, one can soar through the air and even stand suspended, looking down on everything."

"As far as I know, only one in ten thousand people in our Great Ning Dynasty can reach the Soaring realm."

Chen Xian exclaimed, "That's not a small number, is it? The Great Ning Dynasty has billions of people."

Ding Chen shook his head. "It's said to be billions, but in reality, it's only a little over seven billion. What I said was one in ten thousand among martial artists."

Chen Xian: "…!"

If it was one in ten thousand among martial artists, then the number wasn't too large, but it wasn't small either.

The Great Ning Dynasty valued martial arts, and there were over two billion martial cultivators.

By this calculation, there were also over two hundred thousand people who had reached the Soaring realm.

Ding Chen nodded. "There are indeed over two hundred thousand people, but they are not all at Demon-Slaying Pass. There are the Demon Suppression Department of the court, the city defense armies in various places, and the martial arts sects, etc."

"In front of Demon-Slaying Pass, there are at most fifty thousand people who have truly reached the Soaring realm."

Chen Xian frowned. "Is the Soaring realm that difficult?"

Ding Chen said, "It's not just difficult, it's extremely difficult. Do you know the Little Overlord Pei Menglong in our Ninth Battalion?"

Chen Xian nodded. "I've heard of him."

Ding Chen said excitedly, "He is a martial cultivation genius. He is twenty-five years old, in the Soaring realm, a major general in the Ninth Battalion, commanding three thousand Demon Suppression Army soldiers, with a formidable strength that rivals a lieutenant general."

"If you can achieve Awareness, establish a Dao Foundation, and reach the Soaring realm, once a lieutenant general finds out, they will promote you to Captain at the very least."

Saying this, he patted Chen Xian on the shoulder. "Keep working hard."

Chen Xian is currently in the Jade Sea Realm, and his prospects of reaching the Soaring Realm in the future are very promising.

If he could reach the Soaring Realm and obtain a Captain position before this battle ends.

Upon returning to the capital, he would surely receive commendation from Emperor Ning.

Even if he returned to his hometown to serve as a military official, he would be quite impressive.

In contrast, he might not be able to make a name for himself.

Looking at Chen Xian's retreating back, Ding Chen sighed inwardly.

He lowered his head and looked at the thumb-sized jade gourd in his palm, muttering, "Jade Gourd, oh Jade Gourd, why is my destiny so difficult?"

In the military tent.

Chen Xian sat cross-legged and summoned his status panel.

Currently, his [Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique] was at the perfect completion stage, and his Jade Sea Realm was also complete. To enter the Awareness realm, he needed to continue deducing the [Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique] to find the subsequent cultivation method.

[After one hundred months of diligent deduction, your Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique's subsequent Awareness cultivation method deduction has failed.]

[After three hundred months of day and night study, your Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique's subsequent Awareness cultivation method has a clue.]

Chen Xian's eyes lit up. He had been constantly contemplating Awareness, and after spending four hundred months, he finally had a clue.

If he hadn't asked Ding Chen, relying on his own blind deductions, he might not have found a clue even after a thousand months.

Finally, after spending 3000 experience points, Chen Xian deduced the cultivation method for the Awareness realm. The name of the technique was slightly changed to [Ox Demon Spirit Flame Art].

[Martial Art: Ox Demon Spirit Flame Art (Beginner)]

[Experience: 3776 points]

Staring at the panel, Chen Xian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He stared at the content of the cultivation technique displayed on the panel and studied it carefully, quickly understanding it.

The so-called Awareness realm is about opening the upper Dantian, which is the Sea of Consciousness in the center of the forehead, to generate spiritual consciousness.

This allows one to perform internal and external observation.

Internal observation allows one to perceive the meridians, bones, muscles, and skin within the body's Jade Sea. External observation allows one to see places that are beyond the line of sight, much like eyes.

The process of forming spiritual consciousness is dangerous. In mild cases, it can lead to intermittent mental instability, and in severe cases, it can directly result in idiocy.

Because the gate to the Sea of Consciousness is quite solid, it needs to be forcefully opened with vital energy. Excessive force can damage the spiritual consciousness within the Sea of Consciousness, while insufficient force cannot break through to Awareness, thus preventing entry into the next realm.

Therefore, this realm requires patience; it is truly a matter of slow and steady effort.

Chen Xian, with his panel, was not concerned and began to upgrade the [Ox Demon Spirit Flame Art].

In the blink of an eye, 2000 experience points were added to the cultivation technique, bringing it to the beginner stage. However, his cultivation realm did not improve, and the gate to the Sea of Consciousness had not been broken through.

Nevertheless, the amount of vital energy in his Jade Sea had doubled, indicating an overall improvement.

[Martial Art: Ox Demon Spirit Flame Art (Beginner)]

[Experience: 1776 points]

Looking at the remaining experience points, Chen Xian gritted his teeth and upgraded it by another 1000 points.

[After one thousand months of diligent practice, the gate to your Sea of Consciousness has begun to loosen.]

A panel notification appeared before his eyes. Before Chen Xian could even look, he heard a deafening cracking sound from the center of his forehead.

Following that, a three-dimensional human figure appeared in his mind. A crack appeared on the circular door, like a mirror, in the center of his forehead.

Chen Xian's head felt a bit dazed from the impact. He quickly rubbed his forehead and then focused on the remaining 766 experience points, using all of them to upgrade the [Ox Demon Spirit Flame Art].