Chapter 16: Who Can Sense the Heavenly Tome First
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
The profound nature of cultivating the Immortal Way was something Ji You had long grasped, even back in Yuyang County. However, truly experiencing martial arts firsthand and reveling in the tangible thrill of combat was a new sensation, spanning both his past and present lives.
Especially when spiritual qi became intertwined with martial techniques, the novelty astounded him.
Thus, before he realized it, an entire day had slipped by. The sunset bathed the heavens in fiery hues as Ji You emerged from the Sword Testing Forest. He made his way to the Immortal Banquet Hall for a meal, where his empty coin pouch limited him to a simple dish of stir-fried Bud of Immortality and a cold platter of Golden Spirit Grass to appease his growling stomach.
[Has Kuang Cheng burned through his silver yet? I should check on him another day,] he mused, feeling a twinge of concern.
When people overindulge, they suffer, and Ji You extended the same empathy to his money pouch. Even if he overate, he felt compelled to rescue it from starvation.
After dining, the “Fierce Bandit” Ji returned to his courtyard, washed up, and changed clothes. He then set off toward the Field of Enlightenment, moving against the tide of the encroaching night. As he approached, he found the place still teeming with people under the lingering glow of twilight.
Among the crowd, some were popping spirit pills with one hand while forming incantation gestures with the other, their minds drifting beyond mortal realms. Most notable were Chu He and Lu Qing Qiu. They had been seated in the Field of Enlightenment all day, surrounded by empty pill bottles and scattered spiritual stones, their postures slouched with exhaustion.
These two, having perfected the Lower Three Stages, were supposed to possess the sharpest insight. Yet, they strained their minds in vain, unable to sense the Heavenly Tome. Cultivation was truly an enigmatic endeavor.
Still, even if they couldn’t resonate with the Heavenly Tome, they had alternatives. By stacking supportive pills endlessly, they could bypass the tome altogether and instead attune themselves to the Heavenly Dao.
By the end of the day, Lu Qing Qiu had already manifested a faint mystical glow at her brow, while the light at Chu He’s brow burned even brighter.
The first stage of the Upper Five Realms is called Mystic Enlightenment. As the name suggests, it entails comprehending the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao. Each deepened resonance with the Dao is rewarded with a mystical glow. Once a cultivator accumulates nine glows, they are considered to have stepped into the threshold of the Upper Five Realms.
After a day of focused meditation, Chu He and Lu Qing Qiu had caught a glimpse of the primordial moment of creation, the transition from nothingness to existence. This sliver of enlightenment had cost them all their pills.
Ji You bypassed the throng, finding a quiet spot among the crowd to sit cross-legged. His spiritual essence might have been flawed, but his spiritual consciousness and insight were intact. Whether or not he could breach new realms, he could at least attempt to comprehend the Dao.
As he settled in, the nearby disciples involuntarily snapped out of their meditative states, cracking their eyes open slightly.
“He spent four hours practicing martial arts, only to come here for enlightenment at night?”
“As expected, reaching perfection in the Lower Three Stages before coming of age requires immense diligence.”
“But without the aid of spirit pills, he wastes most of his time practicing useless martial techniques. Truly puzzling.”
“Coming from a remote backwater, he must have been struck by sudden inspiration. Little does he know, falling behind for even a moment means being left in the dust for life.”
Chu He and Lu Qing Qiu overheard the murmurs around them and found the situation favorable. After all, the competition for an Inner Court spot was fierce, and the weaker Ji You appeared, the better it was for them.
Meanwhile, Ji You began projecting his spiritual consciousness, reaching as far as possible into the boundless void, seeking a faint glimmer within the murk of darkness.
This was the method Instructor Cao had mentioned for sensing the Dao. Ji You had consulted Instructor Cao the previous night for a primer on enlightenment. However, the instructor had been vague, merely stating, “If you’ve comprehended it, you’ll know.”
Frustrated, Ji You asked how one could confirm they had comprehended it.
Instructor Cao’s response? “You’ll know once you comprehend it.”
This infuriated Ji You enough to snatch two taels of silver from the instructor as a penalty for such unhelpful advice.
The stolen Old Qiu indeed became more sincere, advising Ji You to focus his spiritual consciousness on soaring higher; the closer to the heavens, the stronger the resonance.
However, letting one’s spiritual consciousness ascend into the heavens is an exceedingly taxing endeavor, depleting both spiritual qi and physical stamina. Most practitioners cannot sustain it for even half an hour before needing to pause and rest. But as soon as one relaxes their focus, all prior effort is nullified, and they must start anew.
The exception was Chu He and Lu Qing Qiu. Using spirit pills and spiritual stones to replenish themselves rapidly, they naturally progressed much faster than others.
At three-quarters past the hour of You, Ji You slowly opened his eyes. His forehead was drenched with sweat, and he realized that comprehending Dao Enlightenment was even more strenuous than martial practice.
[No wonder everyone says ascending beyond the Lower Three Stages requires a mountain of pills.]
[Only people like Chu He and Lu Qing Qiu, who consume pills and stones from the outset, can continue when on the brink of exhaustion…]
Yet Ji You had vaguely heard that pills directly affecting spiritual consciousness were exclusively refined by the Pill Sect of the Seven Great Immortal Sects. Such rare commodities fetched exorbitant prices, beyond the reach of families with even modest wealth.
[Let’s carry on.]
Ji You closed his eyes once more, his spiritual consciousness persistently striving to ascend. His method was simpler but more grueling than others: pushing slightly beyond his previous limit each time to break past his boundaries. Yet the vast, boundless void above was truly infinite, while human strength was ultimately finite.
Each attempt left Ji You feeling as though his head was about to split open. Meanwhile, other disciples, drained of energy, had begun to open their eyes, panting heavily as they turned to observe Ji You.
“He can sustain his comprehension for half an hour?”
“What did you expect? Did you truly think his Lower Three Stages mastery at such a young age was just luck?”
“But the academy instructors always say martial practice consumes tremendous stamina, and poor stamina makes spiritual consciousness weak.”
“Look at the pallor of his lips—he’s clearly at his limit. Now compare him to Chu He and Lu Qing Qiu. They consistently exceed an hour each time, even with the aid of pills. That level is extraordinary.”
Hearing this, the crowd turned their attention to Chu He and Lu Qing Qiu. A faint celestial aura flickered intermittently at the center of their brows.
Ji You, however, despite numerous attempts, had yet to reach the threshold.
The three of them were competitors for this year’s inner court spots, but the outcome might emerge even before the final selection—it all depended on who could comprehend the Heavenly Tome first. For now, though, Ji You seemed far behind.
At that moment, a sudden relaxation spread across Ji You’s brow, causing his cheekbones to slightly slacken. But soon, his relaxed expression tensed sharply, and his brows furrowed again, not relaxing in the slightest thereafter.
By now, Lu Qing Qiu had reached her limit. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced at Ji You, who was sweating profusely. After observing him for a while, she turned to Du Zhu beside her.
“How long has he been at it each time?”
“The first attempt was close to half an hour, the second was half an hour, and now he’s surpassed a quarter of an hour again.”
[Surpassed half an hour?] Lu Qing Qiu fell silent.
Without replenishing with spiritual stones, she herself could barely manage half an hour and an additional three-quarters. Yet Ji You, who had already spent an entire day training in martial arts to the point of physical depletion, could still endure over half an hour here. It was worrisome.
To her, Ji You’s sudden interest in martial practice would surely deter him from returning to this field tomorrow. However, if he were to dedicate himself to enlightenment from dawn till dusk, the threat he posed would increase significantly.
Just then, Ji You exhaled a deep breath, letting his spiritual consciousness dissipate all at once. Lowering his head, he panted heavily, feeling lightheaded and dizzy.
This time, he had ascended higher than ever before but knew that advancing even a fraction further would be impossible for now. Nevertheless, it was an excellent method to strengthen his spiritual consciousness, which would greatly benefit his martial skills.
Having consumed far too much spiritual consciousness today and with no pills to replenish himself, Ji You had no choice but to stop for the day.