"Taiyi Starshine" was a spell that employed divine sense to form an illusory heavenly eye between the brows. Shining like a star in the heavens, it could see through illusions and disguises, and even discern the true nature of formations and the flow of spiritual veins.
Its greatest strength, however, was that once Taiyi Starshine had been mastered, every use tempered and strengthened the practitioner's divine sense, laying a solid foundation for the Illumination realm as well.
The key to Foundation Establishment lay in whether one's divine sense could control the surging true essence and condense one's Dao foundation. Within the Five Lotus Sect, disciples who had mastered Taiyi Starshine had a far higher success rate in Foundation Establishment than their peers.
It was tantamount to possessing an extra spiritual aid for Foundation Establishment.
Thus, apart from cultivating the Purple Glow Art and contemplating the Whirling Illumination realm, Li Yu currently devoted most of his energy to Taiyi Starshine.
Following the method in the Taiyi True Explanation, Li Yu guided a strand of divine sense to the space between his brows, imagining it as his third eye, and began with the simplest exercise: internal observation.
Gradually, his internal organs, extraordinary meridians, and even his dantian and acupoints began to appear in his mind, one after another.
Previously, his divine sense could only sustain this internal observation briefly, and what he saw was blurry. Now, however, everything was as clear as the lines on his palm.
Once internal observation succeeded, it meant he had crossed the threshold of Taiyi Starshine.
It seems my comprehension is fairly decent.
Although it had already been a month since he obtained the Taiyi True Explanation, mastering Taiyi Starshine in such a short time convinced Li Yu that there was nothing wrong with his aptitude. His forty years in the outer sect had been squandered because of the gutted version of the Taiyi Scripture.
After mastering Taiyi Starshine, Li Yu eagerly used the spell to observe and scan his own body, as excited as when he had first seen the Galaxy Platform.
He discovered that although the Purple Glow Art had healed his meridians, some injuries remained deep within his flesh, and some of his acupoints were obstructed.
These posed little problem during Qi Refinement, but they would affect his chances of success in Foundation Establishment.
Foundation Establishment united vital essence, qi, and spirit to forge the fundamental Dao foundation. The body's vital essence was one of its sources. If the body had defects, even a successfully established foundation would be flawed, requiring far more time and effort to remedy in the future.
Li Yu used Taiyi Starshine to mark the obstructed acupoints one by one. This consumed a great deal of divine sense, but also tempered it in return.
At dusk, he went outside and found a small earthen rise, where he used the Purple Glow Art to draw in great sun ascendant purple qi and treat his acupoints.
Before long, evening arrived, and a tall, thin, lean-faced old man walked toward him.
Li Yu stopped cultivating the Purple Glow Art and looked over.
"Master Lu, you're back." Jin Ling's voice rang out. She stood in her doorway and waved to the old man.
The old man was the other resident here, Lu Dan. He came from the Western Lands and had joined the Orthodox School in his youth to study rites and music. In middle age, he had traveled ten thousand miles, uniting knowledge with action. In his later years, he had come to the Eastern Lands to preach the teachings of the Orthodox School throughout its kingdoms.
But the Eastern Lands were, after all, the birthplace of the previous dynasty. They were rather resistant to the doctrines of the Orthodox School from the Western Lands, so no ruler had been willing to employ Lu Dan.
Only the Zhao Kingdom had a more accepting culture. Several Bird Masters here had received Lu Dan courteously and invited him to teach the Orthodox School's doctrines at the schools in their home villages.
Cuckoo Dove Village was one of them, and Lu Dan lived here while teaching in the village.
"So you are an immortal cultivator of the Five Lotus Sect." After hearing Jin Ling's introduction, Lu Dan greeted Li Yu very courteously.
"Please, you're too kind. Since you are a disciple of the Orthodox School, sir, let us simply address each other as fellow Daoists." Li Yu waved his hands repeatedly.
As the foremost religious order in Mountain Sea, the Orthodox School of the Western Lands had inherited the ancient sages' scriptures from the Tianxia Dynasty. Both its strength and its influence were several times greater than those of the Five Lotus Sect.
Anyone capable of entering the Orthodox School would possess, at the very least, the aptitude of a True Disciple in the Five Lotus Sect.
Yet from Li Yu's observations, Lu Dan's cultivation was only at the third level of Qi Refinement.
Could he be a disciple the Orthodox School weeded out?
"A nearby neighbor is better than a distant relative. Since fate has brought us together under one roof, fellow Daoist, we should live in harmony from now on." Lu Dan smiled and accepted Li Yu's suggestion.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Lu Dan took his leave. Li Yu watched him return to his room, though he left the door open.
Soon, Jin Ling brought Lu Dan a bowl of rice with a few vegetable leaves added to it, and he began eating without ceremony.
Just as Li Yu was wondering about this, Lu Dan finished his meal, took out a book, and began teaching Jin Ling to read.
So it's her tuition. Li Yu understood.
Early the next morning, Li Yu finished cultivating the Purple Glow Art and opened his eyes, just in time to see Lu Dan stretch lazily and walk outside.
As the two exchanged greetings, Jin Ling brought a bowl of rice porridge out of the kitchen for Lu Dan.
After eating, Lu Dan questioned Jin Ling about what he had taught her the previous evening, assigned her some more work, then headed for the village school with his hands clasped behind his back, looking pleased.
Holding the empty bowl to take back to the kitchen, Jin Ling glanced at Li Yu.
Just as Li Yu rose to return to his room, Jin Ling suddenly brought out another bowl, walked up to him, and offered it to him.
Looking at the chipped earthenware bowl, half full of porridge, and Jin Ling's apprehensive expression, Li Yu thought of many things. In the end, he smiled and reached out to accept it. "Thank you, young lady."
Li Yu had almost forgotten when he had last eaten a meal. Ever since entering the Five Lotus Sect, he had taken grain-abstaining pills for all three daily meals to gain more time for cultivation and studying spells, never once letting up.
The porridge was bland, though it contained some finely chopped green vegetable leaves. Li Yu ate it with relish.
After finishing, Li Yu set the empty bowl aside and asked, "Young lady, what method does your village use to test spiritual roots?"
"They wave a five-colored feather fan," Jin Ling said, glancing at the bowl and biting her lip.
Li Yu had heard of such fans. They were magical artifacts made from the feathers of spirit birds with the five elemental attributes. When waved before a mortal, the spiritual roots within their body would automatically resonate with the feathers. The feathers corresponding to whatever spiritual roots they possessed would light up.
This was also the earliest method of testing spiritual roots in the Eastern Lands.
"The spiritual energy in those five-colored feathers dissipates over time, so the results might no longer be accurate. I've cultivated a spell that can examine spiritual roots. Would you be willing to let me take a look?" Li Yu asked.
Hearing this, Jin Ling's eyes lit up. She nodded rapidly and was about to kneel before Li Yu.
Li Yu immediately waved his sleeve to stop her, drawing her in front of him with a gentle breeze. "Hold out your right hand, palm upward."
Jin Ling obediently did as he asked and opened her little hand.
Li Yu saw scar after scar across her palm. These were the marks she had acquired
while helping her mother gather mulberry leaves, chop firewood, and even work in the fields.
Most had healed, but some were still fresh.
Li Yu fell silent for a moment, then extended his right index finger and touched her palm.
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