Chapter 50: Mastering Divine Perception

Good books, indeed.

After buying the books, Chen Mobai left Nanxi Market.

As he left, two cultivators emerged from the shadows of the street.

"Should we pursue him?"

"He Qun said he's at least at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation, and possibly a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, potentially concealing his true cultivation level."

"Then let's not pursue him."

"Let's wait a bit longer. His attire suggests he might be from a major sect. We've just managed to settle down in this market; it's not worth exposing ourselves for twenty spirit stones."

As he was carrying a large sum of money this time, Chen Mobai did not return to the city via the desolate mountain, but instead went back to his Water Mansion.

He sat upright on his meditation cushion, gazing at the twenty-two translucent, neatly cut spirit stones laid out before him, feeling an unprecedented sense of joy.

If he took these back to Diyuan Star and exchanged them at a bank, they would be worth 220,000 merit points.

However, Chen Mobai would certainly not deposit these spirit stones at the national bank. That would be an obvious invitation for the Immortal Sect to investigate him for unexplained wealth.

He picked up two spirit stones and placed them in his backpack, storing the rest in the Water Mansion.

Before returning home, he didn't forget to water the Qing Tong sapling.

He noticed the leaf buds were slightly greener than before, likely due to the adequate spiritual energy in the Water Mansion.

With that thought, Chen Mobai pressed the return-to-city button and, amidst a flash of silver light, returned to his room.

Good news arrived one after another.

The next day, while he was at school, he received a message from Qing Nü.

The message stated that all the medicinal ingredients had been cold-extracted, with only the final blending step remaining.

Chen Mobai, who had expected to be nervous, found himself surprisingly calm. This was perhaps the effect of a "thick wallet" boosting a man's confidence.

"When the time is right, all forces of heaven and earth align."

In the school's cultivation room, Chen Mobai continued practicing the "Nourishing Thought Forging Spirit Art" as usual. To his surprise, he had unknowingly broken through a bottleneck; the seed he had been visualizing had burst through the soil, sending forth a green sprout.

In that instant, he finally fully grasped the transformation of his mind and spirit.

"This is divine sense!"

Having experienced it once before, Chen Mobai remained remarkably calm this time. Inside the cultivation room, he introspected, observing multicolored spiritual energy slowly rotating like a vortex within him. However, this vortex was somewhat distorted, not perfectly smooth or circular.

After achieving divine sense, he could actively correct the circulation of spiritual energy within his body.

Following the tips explained by True Person Qingping, Chen Mobai slowly guided the spiritual energy into his dantian in a clockwise manner. He then used this method to correct the previously skewed vortex. After one full circulation cycle, the somewhat angular vortex was finally no longer as irregular.

He felt that with a little more time, he could fully shape the spiritual energy vortex in his dantian. Once completed, the Five Elements Art would automatically assist in condensing spiritual energy during its operation, significantly saving effort.

According to the Five Elements Art's course materials, forming this spiritual energy vortex could even increase the chances of Foundation Establishment.

Chen Mobai revered True Person Qingping's words as golden rules. Now that he had achieved divine sense and could perform this step, he sensed that his spiritual energy seemed to have been slightly refined.

"When the Qi-replenishing spiritual water is blended and ready, I'll tell Dad about this when I give it to him."

As he mumbled to himself, his phone's alarm rang, signaling that his time in the school's cultivation room had ended.

Chen Mobai stood up and left.

"I heard that the representative from Butian Dao Academy arrived today."

"The representative from Wuqi Dao Academy is rumored to be Master Bian."

"So, among the four great Dao Academies, only Jumang and Kunpeng are left. But they should arrive soon, as they also require a significant amount of time to arrange their entrance exam content."

As he walked out, a large group of students whose cultivation time had also ended gathered in small groups, exchanging the latest rumors they had heard.

"I've finally reached the fifth layer of Qi Condensation!"

A joyous shout rang in his ears. Chen Mobai glanced over and discovered it was his deskmate, Lu Hongsheng.

"Impressive, impressive."

"Congratulations, you're finally no longer at the bottom of the class."

Two female classmates in the class teased him, which was met with a retort from Lu Hongsheng.

"Initial gains don't count as true strength; it's the later, substantial growth that truly makes an impact. I've been building a solid foundation, achieving a natural breakthrough, unlike some who need to rely on pills, resulting in an unstable foundation. Who knows if they've even managed to stabilize their realm yet?"

As Lu Hongsheng spoke, his gaze subtly drifted towards Chen Mobai. He had always been resentful of Chen Mobai's breakthrough to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation during the holidays.

He had been holding his breath this entire time, determined to prove himself.

Moreover, he was a firm believer in the no-pill cultivation philosophy, convinced that spiritual energy cultivated naturally would be purer, making it significantly easier to liquefy during Foundation Establishment and thereby increasing the success rate.

"Old Chen, I've broken through today. Shall we go out for a good meal to celebrate?"

Seeing Chen Mobai ignore him, Lu Hongsheng immediately approached him, clearly intent on showing off.

However, Chen Mobai's cultivation realm was now significantly higher. Having already achieved divine sense, he could easily step into the seventh layer of Qi Condensation once his spiritual energy was sufficient. He suddenly felt an indescribable disconnect from these classmates who were still in the mid-stages of Qi Condensation.

"Another day. I've already made plans with a friend for today."

As Chen Mobai spoke, he turned to leave.

"Friends? Do you have any other friends besides us classmates? I'm happy today; let's all go together."

Lu Hongsheng walked over, intending to stop Chen Mobai.

However, Chen Mobai didn't pause his steps. The spiritual energy he released from his sixth layer of Qi Condensation instantly overwhelmed Lu Hongsheng's aura, who had only just reached the fifth layer.

"How is this possible..."

With his aura overwhelmed, Lu Hongsheng, who had been blocking the way, stumbled unsteadily.

Chen Mobai reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, steadying him.

"When you've just broken through, your emotions shouldn't fluctuate too much, or you could easily fall back to your previous state."

After saying this, he released his deskmate and left the cultivation room.

"When did this guy break through to the sixth layer of Qi Condensation!"

Lu Hongsheng stood rooted to the spot, muttering to himself, his face etched with disbelief.

"The sixth layer of Qi Condensation!? It might be more than that."

Song Zheng walked out. He had just exited one of the cultivation rooms himself and was about to leave, but unexpectedly witnessed quite a scene.

Others might not have noticed, but being at the seventh layer of Qi Condensation himself, he detected active divine sense fluctuations emanating from Chen Mobai.

This was a clear sign of having achieved divine sense, indicating that the bottleneck for late-stage Qi Condensation had been broken.

"It seems that, besides Yan Bingxuan, there's another person in the class worth noting."

Song Zheng recalled Chen Mobai frequently entering and exiting Old Man Ding's office. After a moment of contemplation, he turned to find his own teacher.