13: Spiritual consciousness arises

Having mastered the "Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture" and the Palm Thunder Divine Ability, Li Muchen was in no rush to achieve quick results and did not immediately begin high-intensity cultivation.

With Foundation Establishment just completed, although his Dao Foundation was solid, his True Yuan still needed time to fully stabilize and replenish. Suddenly practicing a more profound Cultivation Technique would be like biting off more than he could chew, which could easily damage his Foundation.

Although Palm Thunder was powerful, its consumption was also significant. Furthermore, its execution placed a considerable burden on both his Meridians and mind, requiring gradual practice.

He focused his primary energy on studying and understanding the Profound Truths of the "Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture," especially regarding the opening of the "Purple Mansion" and the nurturing of "Spiritual Sense."

According to the True Scripture, the Purple Mansion is located deep within the center of the eyebrows, also known as the Upper Dantian or the Niwan Palace. It is the location of the human body's Spirit Treasury, the place where the spirit and Soul converge and sublimate. For ordinary people, the Purple Mansion remains in a state of unopened Chaos throughout their lives, and their spirit is dissipated.

When a Cultivator reaches Foundation Establishment, their True Qi (True Yuan) is abundant, their blood and energy are vigorous, and their spirit grows accordingly, giving them the qualification to sense and initially open the Purple Mansion.

Opening the Purple Mansion primarily depends on "visualization" and "sensing."

Li Muchen sat quietly in the Spirit Gathering Formation every day, discarding distracting thoughts and sinking his mind. He first guided his True Yuan to run for several cycles along the meridian routes recorded in the "Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture," which were several times more complex and subtle than the "Basic Guidance Technique." Once his True Yuan was active and his mind was clear, he concentrated all his intent on the Ancestral Aperture between his eyebrows.

He visualized a space of unopened Grandmist Chaos within the center of his eyebrows, dark, deep, and silent. Then, using his clear and bright spiritual intent from Foundation Establishment as a lamp, he cautiously shone it toward that Chaos.

At first, there was no reaction. Other than a slight feeling of pressure at the center of his eyebrows caused by the concentrated intent, there was nothing else.

Li Muchen was not discouraged. He knew well that cultivating the mental level was harder than physical True Qi and required even more slow, meticulous work, Opportunity, and Comprehension Ability.

He persisted every day, sometimes at dawn when the sun first rose and the purple Qi came from the east, sometimes at night when the moonlight was like water and all was silent, and sometimes at noon when the sunlight was fierce and Yang Qi was at its peak, feeling the subtle influence of the world's breath on his spirit at different times.

The Light of Merit continued to emit a warm and tranquil intent, protecting his mind and allowing him to avoid irritability and fatigue during long periods of focus.

Seven or eight days passed in this manner.

On this midnight, the moon was hidden, the stars were sparse, and the mountain wind was slightly cool.

As usual, Li Muchen entered meditation on the bluestone formation base in the Main Hall. The True Yuan within his body flowed like a trickling stream, slowly and steadily along the new Cultivation Technique route. His aura faintly resonated with the Spirit Gathering Formation and the vitality of the ancient cypress tree outside the hall, gradually entering a state of self-oblivion.

When he once again condensed all his spiritual intent and cast it toward the Chaos between his eyebrows, a sudden change occurred!

Perhaps his mind was exceptionally clear tonight, perhaps the days of accumulation had finally reached fruition, or perhaps the subtle nourishment of the Light of Merit had reached a critical point... Deep within that visualized Chaos, he "saw" a tiny, extremely faint, yet real point of "light"!

That light was not physical but a feeling, an existence. It was as small as a mustard seed, yet it carried an indescribable sense of clarity, purity, and agility, as if it were the purest manifestation of his own spiritual Origin.

At the very moment he saw that point of light—

"Boom!"

It wasn't a sound, but a vibration originating from the depths of his Soul!

Within the Ancestral Aperture, that tiny light suddenly erupted! It wasn't an explosion-like expansion, but rather like the dawn piercing the night or a clear light dispersing the mist, illuminating and pushing open a small patch of chaotic darkness in a gentle yet unstoppable way!

A tiny, illusory, yet real "space" was opened deep within the center of his eyebrows!

This was—the initial opening of the Purple Mansion!

In an instant, Li Muchen felt a marvelous change in his "perspective." Even though his eyes were still closed, he could "see" his own seated body, the faint green light of the formation patterns flowing on the bluestone base beneath him, the thin specks of Spiritual Qi light floating in the hall's air that were a hundred times clearer than before, and he could even "see" the trajectory of his True Yuan as it flowed like a pale silver stream through his much more translucent Meridians!

This was not physical vision, but a brand-new perception—a combination of all-around, no-dead-angle "Internal Vision" and "External Perception"!

Spiritual Sense!

With the initial opening of the Purple Mansion and the preliminary condensation and sublimation of the spirit, Spiritual Sense was born! This was a higher-level sensory ability than the five senses, an extension of mental power!

An indescribable joy welled up in Li Muchen's heart. He tried to control this newborn Spiritual Sense.

With a slight thought, his Spiritual Sense extended outward like invisible tentacles.

One zhang... two zhang... three zhang... the scenes within the Main Hall became perfectly clear. The texture of the dust on the offering table, the tiny dew drops condensed on the spiderwebs in the corner, and even the minute cracks inside the clay body of the broken statue were all "clearly" reflected in his mind.

Five zhang... his Spiritual Sense reached outside the hall. The veins of every leaf on the ancient cypress tree, the night dew clinging to the leaves, and the ball of green vitality growing stronger every day inside the trunk all seemed to be right before his eyes.

Ten zhang... his Spiritual Sense covered nearly half of the Taoist temple's courtyard. He could "see" the spirit spring eye in the Spirit Well slowly rotating, emitting a soft, pale blue water-spirit Qi;

He could "see" the invisible energy field of the Spirit Gathering Formation drawing weak Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Well and the surrounding environment, gathering it in the Main Hall;

He could "see" the pale green, tranquil halo emitted by the heart-clearing grass in the vegetable patch; he could even vaguely "see" three feet underground, the slow crawling of earthworms in the soil and the faint fluctuations of plant roots absorbing water and nutrients.

Fifteen zhang... his Spiritual Sense began to feel sluggish and blurry, as if looking through a layer of frosted glass. This was the current limit of his Spiritual Sense's external range, about fifty meters.

Li Muchen retracted his Spiritual Sense and slowly opened his eyes. Although it was only the initial opening of the Purple Mansion, his Spiritual Sense was weak, its range was limited, and continuous external release consumed a lot of Mental Energy, this was undoubtedly an important milestone on his path of cultivation!

With Spiritual Sense, he could not only perform more detailed internal vision and control his cultivation, but he could also perceive the outside world with a perception far exceeding that of ordinary people. Whether it was searching for medicinal herbs, scouting terrain, or dealing with potential dangers, he now had a great advantage.

He tried to use the rudimentary application methods of Spiritual Sense recorded in the "Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture."

Under the enhancement of the "Spirit Eye Technique," his vision became even sharper with the assistance of Spiritual Sense. He could see in the dark as if it were day and could even vaguely see through some non-physical energy flows.

The "Qi Identification Technique" made his perception of various auras even more acute. He could clearly distinguish the pure clarity of the Spirit Well's water vapor, the vibrant vitality of the ancient cypress tree, the Soul-soothing Qi of the heart-clearing grass, the mixed Spiritual Qi gathered by the Spirit Gathering Formation, and he could even faintly feel the extremely weak but incredibly heavy "earth qi" coming from deep within the ground beneath his feet.

This was just the beginning. As the Purple Mansion further opened and grew, and as his Spiritual Sense continued to strengthen, he might truly be able to achieve Divine Sense scanning, telekinesis, and spiritual intuition warnings in the future—the uses would be infinite.

Li Muchen suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued to stabilize this newly opened Purple Mansion. Following the True Scripture's methods, he guided a wisp of True Yuan upward, merging it into the Purple Mansion space to blend with and nourish that point of original spiritual light. At the same time, he also converted part of the absorbed Spiritual Qi into Divine Yuan to nourish his Spiritual Sense.

In the following days, Li Muchen's cultivation entered a new stage.

During the day, he would still spend some time on physical labor, tending the vegetable patch, repairing the Taoist temple, practicing fine control of his True Yuan, and cautiously practicing Palm Thunder—mainly focusing on controlling its power and reducing consumption, with his targets changed to more durable mountain rocks or empty, uninhabited areas.

At night and dawn, his meditation remained unshakable. The efficiency of the "Returning to Origin Qi Refining Method" from the "Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture" was far beyond what it had been before. With the addition of the Spirit Gathering Formation and Spirit Stones, both his Dantian's True Yuan and the Purple Mansion's Divine Yuan were steadily growing. Especially the Purple Mansion; that tiny space, under the continuous nourishment of Divine Yuan, was becoming "solid" and "bright" bit by bit at an extremely slow pace, and the strength and perception range of his Spiritual Sense were also improving imperceptibly.

Time in the mountains was quiet and fulfilling.

The ancient cypress tree in front of the hall looked different almost every day. New leaves grew in layers, and on the blackened, withered trunk, new tender bark had already connected into patches. Although the whole tree still maintained its weathered appearance, its internal vitality was already far beyond that of ordinary trees.

Li Muchen nourished it daily with Wood-Attribute True Yuan, and his connection with the ancient tree grew stronger and stronger. He could even vaguely feel the simple emotional fluctuations of "joy" and "dependence" transmitted by the ancient tree.

The vegetables in the patch were growing well, a vibrant green. The heart-clearing grass was even more lush, its pale green halos connecting together as its tranquil fragrance filled the Main Hall, greatly benefiting Li Muchen's nurturing of his Purple Mansion and the refinement of his Spiritual Sense.

Although the Taoist temple was still simple, the well water was always clear, the plants were flourishing, and it was full of vitality—a world of difference from the death-filled, dilapidated scene of a few months ago.

One day, while Li Muchen was using his Spiritual Sense to meticulously "observe" the leaf structure of a heart-clearing grass plant, trying to understand the principle behind its emission of tranquil Qi, the edge of his Spiritual Sense suddenly twitched.

He "saw" Zhao Desheng walking toward the Taoist temple on the mountain path, accompanied by two people.

One was Zhao Desheng, but the other was a middle-aged man he didn't know, wearing a neat but not expensive shirt and trousers and glasses, holding a notebook. He was talking to Zhao Desheng as they walked, his eyes occasionally scanning the surrounding mountain forests and the vaguely visible outline of the Taoist temple with a look of scrutiny and curiosity.

Li Muchen's heart stirred slightly, and he retracted his Spiritual Sense.

What was meant to come would eventually come.

The peaceful days in the mountains seemed as though they were about to be broken again.