Chapter 33: Spiritual Energy Tide, Birth of Divine Sense

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“A spiritual energy tide!”

The moment he sensed a sudden surge of spiritual energy beneath him, Shen Lian immediately realized what was happening.

This must be the spiritual energy tide that Steward Wang Yang had mentioned.

He had actually encountered it—right at the critical moment of his breakthrough. As expected, he was a man favored by fate.

The tide, however, was far too violent.

From the meditation cushion beneath him, the spiritual energy gushed forth like a small snake, coiling and spiraling right up through his lower body.

There was no way to block it.

...

At that moment, it wasn’t just the Yunmeng Market; the spiritual veins beneath the Changhe and Nanjiang markets were also being stirred.

Currents of spiritual energy bubbled up from the ground. First and second-tier spirit-gathering arrays were like breached dams before the surging tide, releasing vast amounts of energy.

The itinerant cultivators in the markets, seeing spiritual energy erupt, immediately sought places to cultivate.

In some spots, fierce fights broke out over the most abundant points of spiritual emergence.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators overseeing the markets were in a panic, dashing about in confusion, unable to comprehend the cause of this phenomenon.

The earth scarcely trembled, the mountains hardly shook, yet the eruption of spiritual energy clearly signaled that something was amiss.

...

Courtyard No. 23, Block D.

With the blessing of the spiritual energy tide, Shen Lian’s own spiritual power had reached saturation.

Predominantly fire spiritual energy, supplemented by the other four elements, circulated through his body, washing over his physique time and again.

After retraining in the Five Energies Returning to the Origin technique, his spiritual power had doubled in strength compared to before. Coupled with the tide’s assistance, his sixth-level Qi Refining cultivation was now incomparably solid.

A Barrier-Breaking Pill slid down his throat, melting swiftly within the cocoon of his spiritual energy and transforming into a dense medicinal force. His meridians began to sting.

This was the power of the Barrier-Breaking Pill at work.

Vast medicinal force, carrying spiritual energy, surged into his meridians, easily shattering the bottleneck of the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Having broken through, the medicinal power and spiritual energy rushed into his dantian, transforming into the five elements’ spiritual energy for his own cultivation.

A Qi Refining cultivator opens their meridians, gathers spiritual energy in the dantian, and when the energy within liquefies to fill a square inch, it means they are ready to attempt Foundation Establishment.

In a moment of clarity, Shen Lian saw the intricate network of meridians within his body.

Crimson fire energy threaded throughout his form, the other four types of spiritual energy clinging to it, but their quantity and quality were too meager to form a full five-element cycle.

Upon retraining the Five Energies Returning to the Origin, when he returned to the first level of Qi Refining, Shen Lian had sensed the birth of his divine sense.

At first, this budding divine sense was still somewhat entangled with his body, requiring gradual adaptation and practice to wield.

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A seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator’s divine sense could generally extend about thirty zhang.

Now, Shen Lian’s divine sense spread outward from his residence.

The neighbor’s house downstairs, whom he hadn’t seen in years, was shrouded in a hazy array that blocked his senses; nothing within could be detected.

Soon, his divine sense drifted further.

Ten zhang… twenty… thirty… forty… it finally halted at around forty-nine zhang.

Such strength of divine sense was comparable to an ordinary ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator.

But compared to those who had lingered at the ninth level for years, or the inner disciples of a sect, he was perhaps still lacking.

“Hmm—”

As his divine sense extended beyond his residence, Shen Lian frowned.

“What’s going on out there?”

Why had the spiritual energy outside his home increased so much?

Though it couldn’t compare to that within his own room, the street outside his courtyard was filled with cultivators in meditation—mostly at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, with a few early-stage ones crowded into the corners.

Shen Lian also noticed that more cultivators had gathered outside his courtyard than the neighboring ones.

Some were even bold enough to sneak into the courtyard proper, three figures picking their own spots to sit and cultivate.

He had thought he alone enjoyed this favored spot, but it seemed fortune was shared by all; he was just one among many chosen by fate. He had never seen such a disappointing spiritual energy tide.

Having secluded himself for retraining these last few days, something must have changed outside.

Shen Lian mentally connected the market lockdown and the Biyu Sect disciples’ wildland assignments.

He reached into his storage pouch for a transmission talisman, intending to message Weng Xia for news, but in the end did not.

This time, he set the talisman on the table, rather than stowing it away again.

With so many cultivators crowding outside, going out now would draw too much attention.

This was the central district of the market; even cultivators who usually lived on the outskirts—at early or mid Qi Refining—had flocked here to cultivate, and the Biyu Sect’s enforcers had not come to drive them away.

Most likely, the enforcers themselves were busy cultivating.

Calming down, Shen Lian quickly analyzed the situation.

The entire market was at a standstill, everyone focused on cultivation.

He had just broken through himself and decided to consolidate his realm at home.

The spiritual energy tide lasted a whole day; only then did the cultivators outside the central courtyards finish and depart.

By the second day, even those not yet finished dared not linger, and the streets returned to normal.

Sensing no one cultivating outside, Shen Lian set aside the secret technique he’d been studying.

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He had been poring over this divine sense technique.

He had alternatives for cultivation methods, such as the Five Energies Returning to the Origin, but for tempering his divine sense, there was only this one method.

Shen Lian had never considered giving it up.

This technique, during the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, included an offensive art called the Soul-Grasping Seal.

When the divine sense reached a hundred zhang, it could be forged into a rudimentary seal, capable of shattering an opponent’s soul.

As the divine sense grew stronger, the Soul-Grasping Seal could manifest as a phantom of the Violet-robed Demon, devouring a cultivator’s soul and memories.

The old fiend had used this very technique on him before; fortunately, he’d had a divine sense talisman for protection, and the fiend had possessed a demon serpent—this human technique did not fully suit the serpent’s body.

Divine sense techniques were so precious that only the three great sects of Chu possessed them, and rumor had it all three sects practiced the same method.

Even so, only true disciples and elders were permitted to study them, showing just how rare they were.

For cultivators without such arts, the only way to strengthen divine sense was through dogged effort, or by resorting to extreme measures.

Shen Lian did not care that this was a demonic technique; if it could increase his own foundation, it was a good technique.

Besides, was it only demonic cultivation that took lives? Righteous arts killed as well.

Techniques themselves are neither good nor evil; only people are.

“The Five Energies Returning to the Origin requires condensing the five elemental energies in the organs. I’ll need to gather elemental treasures to lay the foundation in my organs.

“As for the Blood-Refining Soul-Forging technique, it uses one’s vital blood to nourish the soul, from which divine sense is born. I’ll need more meat and blood-replenishing pills.”

With that in mind, Shen Lian produced a storage pouch, from which emerged three first-tier demon beasts.

Henceforth, he would eat more meat, replenish his blood, and strengthen his body.

“Brother Shen, are you there?”

The transmission talisman on the table glowed.

Shen Lian put the secret manual into his storage ring. He dared not wear the ring openly when going out, so he strung it on a cord around his neck and affixed both divine sense and breath-concealing talismans to it.

“Do you need something, elder brother?” he replied to Weng Xia with the talisman.

If Weng Xia hadn’t called, Shen Lian was preparing to visit him anyway.

With the spiritual energy tide sweeping the market, he intended to sound Weng Xia out and see if it was time to implement his previous plans.

His admiration for Biyu Sect, a Golden Core sect, was boundless... He longed to contribute to its rise, to do his small part.