Chapter 101 - 100: Divine Hall
Chapter 101: Chapter 100: Divine Hall
In Spirit Realm Cultivation, after clearing the Inner Mansion Pass, the next step is to break through the Divine Hall Pass.
The human body has 366 acupoints. In addition to the common 365, there is one hidden acupoint named the Divine Hall.
It is the acupoint that stores Divine Sense, and is normally imperceptible.
Even a Martial Artist at Qi Realm Perfection cannot perceive its existence in the slightest.
Only after breaking through to the Spirit Realm, when one’s Spiritual Sense has surged, can one vaguely sense its presence.
But its precise location remains unknown.
Clearing the Divine Hall Pass requires finding this acupoint and opening a space within it capable of accommodating one’s Divine Sense.
Unlike other acupoints, trying to open this one with a conventional assault of Inner Qi is utterly pointless.
The only way is to condense all the body’s Inner Qi into a single point and detonate it in the area where one’s Spiritual Sense has detected the Divine Hall. In this way, one tries to blast it open, relying purely on luck.
However, this method is extremely dangerous and makes injury highly likely.
The slightest misstep can damage one’s foundation, severing their path of cultivation forever.
Thus, clearing the Divine Hall Pass is an incredibly difficult feat.
While a lack of Cultivation Techniques and Secret Medicine is what holds most people back from reaching the Spirit Realm, breaking through the Divine Hall Pass also requires a crucial element: luck.
Chen Li was quite lucky.
After a long while, he slowly stirred and woke.
The first thing he perceived was a sphere of light emitting a hazy glow, floating in the darkness deep within his sea of consciousness.
Within it, a phantom figure holding a staff sat quietly cross-legged in the center of the newly formed Divine Hall Acupoint. The figure’s form seemed to have solidified a bit, and the phantom of the Qiankun Ruyi Staff in its hand, linked to its aura, gently bobbed up and down.
The Divine Hall Acupoint was open!
Chen Li took a deep breath.
He never imagined that the Spirit Realm Fourth Level, the Divine Hall Pass, would be cleaved open in such an unexpected manner.
He had broken through two passes in a row!
A complete success in one fell swoop.
He slowly opened his eyes. A sharp glint shone within them, and his aura was as deep as the sea.
[Congratulations to the host for breaking through the Spirit Realm Fourth Level, the Divine Hall Pass. Reward issued: Pill Formula for the Sweet Wind Jade Dew Heaven-Repairing Creation Pill.]
’More medicine?’
Chen Li paused for a moment, then carefully examined the description.
It turned out that after clearing the Spirit Realm Fourth Level, the Divine Hall Pass, the next stage was called the Void Transformation Pass.
This pass was primarily for cultivating the Divine Sense, making the condensed Divine Sense transform from illusory to substantial.
However, Divine Sense was inherently formless. Ordinary elixirs were completely useless for cultivating it; one could only nourish it slowly over time.
Besides that, there was another method: igniting one’s Inner Qi to create a Divine Flame, then using that Divine Flame for Soul Refining to strengthen the Divine Soul.
But the danger of igniting one’s Inner Qi was different from that of opening the Divine Hall Acupoint.
Whenever one ignited the Divine Flame with Inner Qi, their meridians were inevitably scorched. Thus, they needed to constantly consume healing elixirs to repair them.
And this Sweet Wind Jade Dew Heaven-Repairing Creation Pill was a miraculous healing elixir.
Not only could it repair damaged or even severed meridians and acupoints, but it could also nourish and revitalize the Dantian, rapidly restore depleted Inner Qi, and even neutralize common poisons.
Looking again at the ingredients in the Pill Formula: Golden Wind and Jade Dew, Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng, Snow Lotus, Spirit Bamboo Fruit...
Even though Chen Li was a frequent customer at apothecaries, there were many ingredients he had not only never seen but had never even heard of.
’Looks like I’ll have to open my own apothecary.’
Chen Li shook his head with a wry smile.
However, before he could even go to his brother-in-law from the Bai Family to discuss opening an apothecary, the sound of hurried, frantic hoofbeats from the village entrance shattered his train of thought.
Chief He from the County Magistrate’s Office arrived at Chen Li’s home with a dozen saber-wielding government constables and got straight to the point. "Village Chief Chen, I need you to immediately organize the Village Braves from all the villages. Investigate whether two individuals have been in the Lingxi area in the last few days. One is named Xiao Zhong, the other Ye Buping."
Chen Li asked curiously, "Chief He, what’s happened?"
Chief He explained succinctly, "Some time ago, the major factions on Mirror Mountain fought a massive battle over an Inner Qi Heart Method. The casualties were innumerable. Who would have thought that in the end, two young outsiders named Xiao Zhong and Ye Buping would be the ones to luck out and get their hands on the Secret Manual."
"The last time they were seen was in the direction of Lingxi. The County Captain places great importance on this matter, so please, Village Chief Chen, ensure a thorough search of every village. Leave no stone unturned."
’There was no way he was actually going to investigate. After all, it had nothing to do with him. But since the Government Office had issued the order, he would just pay it lip service and make a show of complying.’
...
「That evening.」
Wang Shiming’s cowshed.
The air inside was thick with the heavy odor of livestock and the sour, putrid stench of fermenting fodder mixed with manure.
Countless motes of dust and swarms of flies danced in the air.
In the cowshed, two figures sat squatting on the threshold, completely oblivious to the filth.
"Ya Jiu, take a look... think this spot will work for the cut? Ah, it’s a little hidden. You think they’ll find it?"
A short, scrawny man holding a small knife stood up. The few sparse, rat-like whiskers at the corners of his mouth twitched as he spoke. He walked over to a gaunt water buffalo tied to a wooden post and gestured at its belly with the knife.
"You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
The other man, addressed as Ya Jiu, wore an extremely impatient expression. He pursed his thick, strangely sensual lips and complained in a hoarse voice, "What kind of half-baked ideas have you guys been coming up with lately?"
"Especially that old bastard He Liu, damn him! He spent a whole month stirring up a storm on Mirror Mountain, got a ton of people killed, and for what? The target never took the bait! Fucking useless! And now look, we’re the ones stuck cleaning up his mess!"
"So what do you think we should do?"
The whiskered man impatiently jammed his knife into the feeding trough and hopped on top of it to sit down.
Ya Jiu kicked a pillar of the cowshed in frustration, making the old ox shift its hooves nervously. "If you ask me, you and He Liu love all this plotting and scheming way too much. We may only be minor gods, but we’re still at the Spirit Realm! The two of us together, you really think we can’t take him? We should just find some dark and windy night, charge in, and kill the guy. Wouldn’t that be easier?"
"That’s an even shittier idea! Are you so sure the two of us could actually win against him? We worked our asses off to cultivate to the level of minor gods. I’m not about to throw my life away here."
Ya Jiu retorted, dissatisfied, "Shu Qi, you’re as timid as your god, and just as slow-witted. If we can’t beat him head-on, we can launch a sneak attack! We could kidnap his family and use them to threaten him, force him to kill himself."
Just then, a cautious, sycophantic voice drifted from outside the cowshed. "M-my two Upper Gods, dinner is ready. If you would please..."
It was Wang Shiming, bowing deeply from a distance, not daring to get any closer to the cowshed. His face was plastered with a subservient smile.
Several days ago, these two men with their strange appearances and bizarre abilities had suddenly appeared in Wang Shiming’s home.
They had subdued his entire family with a single move.
At the time, Wang Shiming had been scared out of his wits.
But when he heard them asking about Chen Li’s household and realized they were there for Chen Li, an immense, ecstatic joy instantly overwhelmed his fear.
He had tearfully recounted how Chen Li used his power to bully others, how he had been driven into a corner with no way out, practically pouring out his every last drop of resentment.
Shu Qi and Ya Jiu had only been looking for a decent house to occupy. They hadn’t expected to stumble right into the home of one of Chen Li’s enemies. It saved them a great deal of trouble, so they moved in on the spot.
...