The Examination Begins

Chu Bai slowly opened his eyes. For an instant, a deep gray glint seemed to flash in his pupils before vanishing. He felt power surging through him, utterly different from what he had known at Qi Refining First Layer.

If his Spell Power at Qi Refining First Layer had been a clear but slender stream winding through rocks, it was now a bottomless pool: still on the surface, yet astonishingly deep.

He did not hurry down the mountain. Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he turned his awareness inward once more.

Since his Origin Return Formula had reached proficiency, his meridians had been tougher than those cultivated through ordinary techniques. Now, washed by Second Layer Spell Power, they even showed a faint, jade-like luster.

More exciting still, the long nourishment bestowed by his [Food Injury Leaks Elegance] Fate Destiny revealed its true power at the moment of his breakthrough.

He could clearly feel that his perception—or rather, his Divine Sense—had undergone a qualitative leap.

He closed his eyes and stopped relying on sight.

Within ten zhang, the faint tremor of snowflakes landing, the rhythm of wind passing through dead grass, even the breathing of a few hibernating insects in the cracks between rocks—all appeared in his sea of consciousness like a three-dimensional image, down to the finest detail.

"So this is the 'Subtlety' that comes with the Second Layer?" A smile touched Chu Bai's lips.

He slowly raised his right hand and stirred his thoughts.

Hum!

Azure light flickered at his fingertip. In an instant, a three-inch Spirit Water Needle condensed, transparent throughout but marked with solid-looking spiral ridges.

After his breakthrough to Qi Refining Second Layer, the surge in the quantity and purity of his Spell Power had changed the needle. It no longer looked weightless; it had