Chapter 9: Obtaining a Spiritual Sense Art and a Body Tempering Art
Fang Yuan entered the Exchange Room.
After his identity token passed verification, the transfer platform automatically produced a Jade Slip.
It was precisely the first three layers of the Minor Yan Nine Truth Art.
He took it, then waited a short while before walking out of the Exchange Room.
Yu Jin had already left.
Fang Yuan made his way back to Treasure Peak at a leisurely pace.
Returning to the meditation chamber inside his Cave Dwelling, he took out the Jade Slip and pressed it against his brow to study its contents.
A vast flood of knowledge poured into his mind, causing his brow to furrow deeply.
It took quite a while before he managed to sort through the technique's contents.
"This is incredibly difficult."
As Fang Yuan read through the explanations, he saw that the entire technique required extremely precise, multi-angled control of one's Spiritual Sense. It was called the Nine-Character Formula, consisting of: Gather, Scatter, Sphere, Thread, Draw, Release, Spin, Condense, and Form.
The first three volumes covered the detailed cultivation content for Gather, Scatter, and Sphere.
Gather brought multiple strands of Spiritual Sense together into one mass; Scatter spread a single strand as wide as possible; Sphere gathered multiple strands together and then dispersed them evenly outward.
The demands on one's control of Spiritual Sense were extraordinarily high.
"No wonder Yu Jin said it takes two or three months just to reach the Novice level. For an ordinary Cultivator, the difficulty is truly immense. This technique demands talent, Spiritual Sense aptitude, and resources alike — it really isn't something just anyone can cultivate!"
Fang Yuan shook his head in amazement, then murmured softly.
"Decompose!"
He lightly tapped his finger on the Jade Slip.
Flash.
The Jade Slip transformed into a refined piece of Spirit Jade and a glowing orb of light.
He caught the orb.
[Item]: Minor Yan Nine Truth Art — Experience Insight
[Grade]: First-Tier, Supreme Quality
[Effect]: Contains the cultivation insights of the one who inscribed it regarding the Minor Yan Nine Truth Art.
He pressed it against his forehead.
Wave after wave of brand-new experience and insight poured into Fang Yuan's mind from thin air.
He came to understand all manner of techniques for controlling Spiritual Sense, and felt a sudden sense of clarity wash over him.
These insights encompassed the full contents of the entire Minor Yan Nine Truth Art, and the level of comprehension had already reached Major Mastery — clearly the work of a cultivator who had practiced the Minor Yan Nine Truth Art and replicated their understanding. Once again, luck had sided with Fang Yuan.
"So that's how it works! So it can be done like this!"
He turned his gaze inward toward his Sea of Consciousness.
Within the Sea of Consciousness floated strand after strand of refined Spiritual Sense, along with wisps of Soul Mist.
The number of Spiritual Sense strands had reached four hundred.
Each strand of Spiritual Sense appeared extremely thin and sparse within the Sea of Consciousness.
These were the Spiritual Sense passively gained upon breaking through each cultivation layer — one hundred strands per layer — which was nowhere near enough.
That was precisely why dedicated Spiritual Sense cultivation methods existed, to strengthen both the intensity and quantity of Spiritual Sense.
Fang Yuan now set his Spiritual Sense in motion.
Nine strands of Spiritual Sense gathered together at his direction, shifting into a spherical shape one moment and stretching into thread-like filaments the next.
The nine strands could also spin on their own and condense, ultimately taking the shape of a small Spirit Stone — specifically, the shape of a Low-Grade Spirit Stone used for cultivation.
This was the key of the Minor Yan Nine Truth Art: to mimic the form of a Spirit Stone.
Then, this Spiritual Sense shaped like a Low-Grade Spirit Stone began to absorb the scattered Soul Mist drifting through the Sea of Consciousness.
At the same time, the Spiritual Power within his body flowed through his Meridians and surged into the Sea of Consciousness, where it too was absorbed by the Spirit Stone.
Ten minutes later, the jade-stone-shaped Spiritual Sense collapsed back into nine individual strands.
But he could clearly perceive that each strand had become more resilient than before, and each one had grown slightly larger!
"So that's how it works!"
The entire Spiritual Sense cultivation process was under Fang Yuan's complete control.
This had been only a small test, yet the results were already visible to the naked eye.
Fang Yuan continued cultivating.
This time, he directed all of his Spiritual Sense strands to converge, guiding them to spin and condense until they took the form of a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.
The Spiritual Sense shaped like a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone immediately began absorbing the Soul Mist in the Sea of Consciousness to strengthen itself.
At the same time, the Spiritual Power within his body was mobilized and channeled into the Sea of Consciousness, where it was absorbed by the Mid-Grade Spirit Stone as well.
Just half an hour later, Fang Yuan was forced to halt his cultivation.
The Soul Mist within his Sea of Consciousness had been completely absorbed — not a wisp remained.
Only the humanoid soul at the very center of the Sea of Consciousness slowly and languidly released tiny traces of mist, gradually filling the void left behind.
Fang Yuan's Spiritual Sense returned to its original state. The four hundred strands he had started with had now become four hundred and one.
Moreover, each strand of Spiritual Sense had grown roughly one percent more condensed and stronger than before — a very significant improvement.
"The soul power I had accumulated in my Sea of Consciousness over who knows how long was only enough for half an hour of cultivation!"
His soul power had been entirely condensed into Spiritual Sense when he broke through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining. That meant this stockpile had been accumulating since the day of that breakthrough — and even after accounting for the consumption spent restoring Spiritual Sense in between, it still represented several days' worth.
"That's roughly enough soul power to produce one strand of Spiritual Sense per day. How could that ever be enough?"
"And on top of that, cultivating Spiritual Sense also consumes Spiritual Power. The difficulty of Spiritual Sense cultivation is even greater than I imagined!"
Fang Yuan scratched his head.
No wonder cultivating Spiritual Sense required both aptitude and resources.
"It seems I'll need to put alchemy on the agenda as well!"
Fang Yuan pondered inwardly.
"No rush — time to go to work."
Fang Yuan strolled leisurely to the rear hall and resumed his role as an unremarkable background figure.
Morning.
He had just seen off a group of Talisman Hall disciples who had come to deliver Talismans.
An old man then shuffled in at a leisurely pace.
"Oh, Senior Brother Li?" Fang Yuan spotted the old man and called out immediately.
Li Chenggong laughed heartily. "Getting along alright?"
"Not bad — it's not very hard!" Fang Yuan replied with a smile. "The work is actually quite relaxed. Senior Brother Li, do you have any instructions for me?"
"Ha, I was just passing by and thought I'd check in on you."
He turned to leave, but suddenly paused and looked back at Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan's expression shifted slightly. "Senior Brother Li, what is it?"
Could this man be a hidden expert who had noticed something off about him? No, that couldn't be right — he didn't have anything unusual going on right now. The moment he saw someone enter, he had stopped running the Mingqi Art.
Li Chenggong shook his head and said, "Your physical condition is a bit lacking."
He stepped forward and squeezed Fang Yuan's arm.
Fang Yuan gave an awkward smile. "I'm doing alright, aren't I?"
Li Chenggong shook his head. "Your Body Tempering strength is only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining equivalent — far too weak. I forgot to give you a welcome gift last time. Here, take this and cultivate diligently."
He handed over a yellowed, worn old book.
Fang Yuan looked at it curiously.
On the cover were written the three characters: "Cloud Body Art."
"This is the Yellow Grade, Upper Tier Cloud Body Art. Reaching the Novice level is relatively straightforward, but advancing further is quite difficult and extremely resource-intensive. Still, at the very least it will help strengthen your body in the early stages."
Li Chenggong said casually.
Fang Yuan's eyes lit up. "An upper grade Body Tempering technique? Senior Brother, this is far too precious — I can't accept it. Please take it back."
As he spoke, he took the Cloud Body Art into his own hands.
Li Chenggong's mouth twitched. "You little..."
He waved his hand and turned to leave. "Alright, I'm off to go fishing. I'll leave this place in your hands, Fang Yuan."
"Of course, Senior Brother Li — I hope you reel in a dragon!"
Fang Yuan called out with a grin.
"Ha! May your good wishes come true!"
Li Chenggong walked away with his hands clasped behind his back.
Fang Yuan picked up the Cloud Body Art and began flipping through it.
Inside was indeed a first-tier, upper grade Body Tempering technique, covering all the way to the Body Tempering Completion Stage.
This was truly a generous gift. If he were to exchange for the complete version using Contribution Points, it would cost at least ten thousand points.
He studied it carefully, examining the cultivation methods within.
He found the technique remarkable: in the early stages of cultivation, the resource requirements were minimal, but the further one progressed, the more resources were needed.
It was like a sea of clouds — a single small cloud is still a cloud, but to form a true sea of clouds, the resources required were boundless.
"The philosophy behind this technique feels somewhat similar to the guiding principles of the Luoyun Sect."
Fang Yuan had a vague sense that the Cloud Body Art was something extraordinary.
He shook his head. "It can't be that much of a coincidence. Cultivating this technique does have an easy entry point and can rapidly raise one's Body Tempering level — but by the time you reach the Late Qi Refining Stage equivalent, the resource consumption becomes staggering. An ordinary cultivator would need to switch to a different technique at that point!"
Fang Yuan casually tucked it into his Storage Bag and continued his relaxed shift at work.
The job really was easy. Retirement life wasn't bad at all.
Throughout his shift, the Mingqi Art ran automatically, and the Spiritual Power within his body steadily increased in an orderly fashion.
The first-tier, lower grade Mingqi Art was the technique given to every new disciple upon joining the Luoyun Sect, but its grade was still a bit too low.
Fang Yuan was considering whether he should switch to a different technique for cultivation.
"Hmm, something feels off."
Sitting at his post, Fang Yuan found himself unconsciously thinking about the contents of the Cloud Body Art, and instinctively tried to practice it a little.
He then discovered that the Spiritual Power within his body flowed like wisps of cloud, effortlessly merging into his flesh and blood, completing the first practice session of the Cloud Body Art with ease.
Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow. "These two techniques — are they a matched set?"
Puzzled, after his shift ended, Fang Yuan returned to his Cave Dwelling and took out the Cloud Body Art. The yellowed pages carried a sense of time's long passage.