Chapter 128: Divine Awareness

Clutching a piece of driftwood, Yun Qing paddled with both hands and feet toward the bank. As she neared the shore, she utilized a jumping skill, leaping out of the water and onto the riverbank.

Dawn had not yet broken. For Yun Qing, the most pressing matter was not determining her location, but understanding the power of the Xiantian realm.

The Xiantian realm is a vital transitional stage between the Post-natal (Houtian) phase and the Qi Refining phase. One cannot practice Qi Refining techniques during this time; instead, one must practice the Xiantian chapters of a cultivation method to activate spiritual sense and reinforce the meridians, preparing them to withstand spiritual energy.

The area was a forest, and Yun Qing was deeply uneasy about the potential dangers.

"Liu Liu, when can I cultivate in my dwelling?"

"Once you draw a meditation cushion and build a dedicated cultivation room, you will be able to cultivate."

"What a hassle!" She had the cultivation room, but lacked the meditation cushion.

In less than two hours, an elite boss would arrive. Having leveled up so abruptly in a single day without the benefit of long-term cultivation, she feared she might not be able to defeat the boss. She had to master at least some Xiantian power to have any hope of protecting her villa, her cabinets, her farmland, and her Soul-Repelling Tree.

With only two hours left, she had to treat a dead horse as if it were still alive. Ignoring the danger, she found a rock by the river and began practicing the Xiantian chapter of the Universe Energy Circulation Technique.

When she first entered Rizhao Town, she had assumed it would take her months to reach the Xiantian realm. She had never expected to reach it in a single night.

As she performed a major circulation, her internal energy flowed along her meridians, slowly creeping toward her head, a region that had never been developed. Most people, when cultivating toward the peak of the Post-natal stage, undergo countless failed attempts and become intimately familiar with their techniques. Unlike Yun Qing, they are not forced into such dangerous cultivation without preparation.

Although she did not fully understand how to reach the Xiantian realm, she had spent enough time with the merchant caravan to hear Duan Mengrou and Zhang He discuss it often; those two had made thorough preparations to enter the realm. Yet, Yun Qing found that as she practiced, her internal energy entered her head to awaken her spiritual sense with surprising ease, nothing like the struggle the others described.

It was unexpectedly smooth. Without feeling any pain or discomfort, her spiritual sense was successfully awakened. With just a single thought, she could now utilize it.

Spiritual sense allowed her to perceive her surroundings; unlike the hazy sensation of projecting internal force, observing with spiritual sense was akin to using night-vision goggles.

Why was it so simple? Suddenly, it occurred to her that when she first transmigrated, she was in the state of a soul-corpse. Her soul had once been shattered in darkness, and the channels for spiritual sense had already been opened by that dark soul energy back then.

Ye Xiaolang had once said that all soul-corpses possess Xiantian strength, they simply do not know how to use it.

Yun Qing felt she had gained an epiphany. In an instant, many things became clear. Soul-corpses possess Xiantian strength because a power had once opened their spiritual sense and meridians, but because they lacked techniques and the ability to cultivate, they could not properly utilize that power. Post-natal martial artists often fought soul-corpses in groups because they feared the corpses might suddenly unleash their Xiantian strength. In the dungeon, the reason Ye Xiaolang dared to challenge a soul-corpse alone was that he clearly sensed those particular corpses only possessed the strength of the seventh level of the Post-natal realm. That was also why Ye Xiaolang had mentioned that their team member, Ye Mingyu, who had become a half-soul person, might have already attained the Xiantian realm.

Yun Qing closed her eyes, using her newly awakened spiritual sense to observe her surroundings. Concentrating, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the system functions were incredibly useful; her spiritual sense was linked to system prompts. Things she observed were displayed with text—names appeared for items like shepherd's purse or thistle as long as she focused on them.

She opened her eyes, and indeed, what she saw with her physical eyes matched the text displayed by her spiritual sense.

This "cheat" was too convenient. Yun Qing closed her eyes again to test the range of her spiritual sense. As someone who had just entered the Xiantian realm, her range was somewhat limited; she could observe everything within a one-meter radius in all directions. Hoping to see further, she concentrated her spiritual sense on a single point in one direction and found she could see things five meters away, but nothing further.

That was not all. She discovered that her spiritual sense was more useful than her vision; she could observe smaller particles in the air. Within her spiritual sense, she could see many tiny particles rich in energy. These particles were hundreds of times smaller than a strand of hair—they must be spiritual energy!

She had seen spiritual energy. Did this mean if she absorbed them, she would be drawing Qi into her body? She wanted to draw Qi into her body! She wanted it right now!

Yun Qing tried to absorb them, but they did not move toward her. Why wouldn't they come closer? How could she let the spiritual energy enter her body? Perhaps her desire was too intense, as even Liu Liu could sense it.

Liu Liu could no longer watch and spoke in her mind, sounding somewhat helpless: "Absorbing spiritual energy requires a corresponding cultivation technique, you know. You also know that Ye Xiaolang went to the Rogue Cultivator City to find immortal cultivation techniques."

Yun Qing laughed embarrassedly: "Hehe! Thanks, Liu Liu. I was just too excited."

Going to the Rogue Cultivator City to find immortal cultivation techniques had originally been her goal, but now that she possessed the Heaven-grade Wuji Sutra, that goal could change. Qin Feng had passed on the Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul stages of the Wuji Sutra to her, and the jade slip for the Qi Refining stage had dropped when Qin Yan died.

Now that she had spiritual sense, she could read the jade slip. A complete Heaven-grade cultivation technique was something countless people in the Central Continent craved, and yet it was all in the hands of someone who hadn't even reached the Qi Refining stage. If this news were to spread, she would likely be hunted by many throughout the Central Continent.

Yun Qing suppressed the urge to read the jade slip and practice the Wuji Sutra right then and there, and she also reined in her desire to continue testing her spiritual sense.

Concentrating, she meticulously performed the major circulation of the Xiantian chapter of the Universe Energy Circulation Technique, reinforcing her meridians to prepare them for receiving and absorbing spiritual energy.

In the forest, a black panther at the seventh level of the Post-natal realm was foraging for food. Following a scent, it found the person meditating by the river. The panther lurked nearby, eyeing the "prey" on the rock with hostility, yet the powerful aura radiating from that prey kept it from daring to approach.

In the distant firmament, a golden sun revealed half its face, draping the prey on the rock in golden morning light, making her appear mysterious and powerful.

The Xiantian realm—it was no match for this!

The panther that had followed the scent backed away step by step until it was out of the range of the prey's perception, then turned and fled back into the forest.

As the circulation completed, Yun Qing opened her eyes. The sun had risen at some point, and the sound of the rushing river was filled with the chirping of insects and birds. The environment was beautiful and refreshing.

Yun Qing checked her attributes. Her total HP had increased by 50 to 250; she now had the spiritual sense attribute, and all other stats had risen significantly, far better than her level 39 state. She had checked her attributes when she entered the dungeon at level 39, and this was a clear improvement.