When the Spirit Returned to the Body, Fire Was Born in the Heart

Thoughts fell like light, sinking into his body and gathering into a spirit deep within his heart once more.

"When the mind and spirit return to the body, they're stained by the mortal world again. Not only does the body feel heavy, but worldly affairs are harder to perceive so clearly. No wonder everyone wants to ascend to immortality, sever their attachments, and roam free and unfettered!"

Inside the Secluded Courtyard, Chen Cuo opened his eyes. A thread of purple qi flowed across them, and he felt the weight of his body.

"In the First Realm, the mind and spirit reside within the Heart Temple. In the Second Realm, they can leave the flesh, as though casting off shackles and revealing one's true nature. It really does feel a little like shedding one's mortal form and ascending to immortality. Thoughts run without interference, as though freed from the mortal world, with all bonds severed. But now that I'm back in flesh and blood, I feel constrained, and even my Mind Thought has grown sluggish."

Sensation after sensation passed through his mind. Fragments of what he had experienced in the Second Realm surfaced one by one.

The Sixty-Four Gilt Characters shed a soft radiance. The insights they contained matched, one by one, what he had felt when his mind and spirit leaped free of his mortal shell.

"In the Second Realm of the Incense Way, the mind and spirit leap out of the body and exist independently. Thoughts are no longer restrained and move at tremendous speed, while one's true nature is laid bare. True intent and true feeling emerge. Freed from the bounds of the five senses, one can see a deeper world and comprehend its many mysteries. Combine those insights with oneself, and a Divine Ability should emerge. Divine