Chapter Fifty: The First Form of Spirit Refinement

The house vanished, and so did Little Su. In truth, the moment the window shattered, she had already realized it was nothing more than a dream. How desperately she longed to linger a little longer in those bygone memories, but alas, it was nothing but a vain hope.

Gu Weiyu wiped the tears from her face and stepped onto the newly appeared path.

An ancient and simple room materialized before her.

She pushed open the door and found that, aside from a single meditation cushion, the room was otherwise empty. More curiously, this room had two doors.

After some thought, Gu Weiyu sat down before the cushion.

She slowly closed her eyes, and the technique “The Eight Wilds Mountains and Seas Manual” began to circulate within her body of its own accord.

As she cultivated, Gu Weiyu realized that the spiritual energy here was exceptionally dense. The energy she absorbed here far surpassed what she could gather even in Yanxi Hall.

Her meridians quickly filled with spiritual power. Sensing the abundant energy within, she couldn’t help but smile—what an unexpected delight.

She had a feeling that, given three days, she could break through to the seventh level of Qi Refinement.

Time slipped by. The spiritual power in her meridians surged ever more fiercely; joy welled up in her heart—she hadn’t expected to reach a breakthrough so quickly.

She calmed herself and began guiding the river of spiritual power in her meridians toward a new barrier.

Over an hour later, Gu Weiyu slowly opened her eyes. For a fleeting moment, a spiritual light flashed within her gaze before returning to normal.

“Whew—success!” Rising from the cushion, she felt the exhilaration of having broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refinement.

Little did Gu Weiyu know, this room was meant merely for the participants to rest, yet she had seized the opportunity for a breakthrough.

The room stood empty. After a moment’s thought, Gu Weiyu walked to the other door. Upon opening it, she found herself in another chamber.

In this room, ten jade slips floated in midair, glowing with a faint green light, like fireflies playing in the dark.

Gu Weiyu gazed at the jade slips, thinking, are these illusions as well?

“These jade slips are all real!”

A distant, ethereal voice resounded abruptly in the room. “But whether you can obtain them depends on your own abilities.”

Gu Weiyu was startled—there was someone else here? She carefully surveyed the room, but aside from the jade slips, she saw no one.

“Who are you?” she asked, her body tense. “How can you know my thoughts?”

“You have already passed the first two trials set by my master. If you pass this one, you will gain my master’s legacy,” the voice replied, though it dodged some of her questions.

Master? A spark lit in Gu Weiyu’s mind. “Are you an artifact spirit?”

A tinkling laugh sounded. “You certainly know a lot. But I am not an artifact spirit. You may call me Little Book.”

Little Su? Gu Weiyu’s mind wavered. “Little Su, how can I obtain these jade slips?”

“Not Little Su, Little Book! I cannot say more; you must figure it out for yourself.” With that, the voice fell silent.

Gu Weiyu scratched her head and began to examine the jade slips whirling about the room.

Soon, she noticed that while most of the jade slips were lively, a few were relatively “quiet,” floating almost motionless in place.

She chose one of the quieter jade slips, positioned herself beneath it, and instantly cast a spell—Vine Summoning!

A vine appeared out of thin air, curling toward the jade slip.

“What?” To her astonishment, the vine could not touch the jade slip, as if it were nothing but air—though she could plainly see it right there.

She tried with the vine several times, but failed each time.

Perhaps the jade slips could not be obtained with vines, she reasoned. If it were that simple, the legacy would be too trivial.

Would spiritual power work? She tried reaching for a slip with her awkward Object Manipulation Technique, using spiritual energy to probe.

She managed, with effort, to catch one of the jade slips, but when she tried to control it, she found that her spiritual power could not influence its movement at all.

No spells, no spiritual energy. Perhaps it required divine sense?

Gu Weiyu racked her brain, then, on a whim, extended her divine sense to tug at the nearest jade slip.

To her surprise, the unmoving jade slip actually shifted slightly under her divine sense.

Was this the way?

Energized, Gu Weiyu focused her mind and tried to control the floating jade slips with her divine sense.

Her spiritual awareness wound around a jade slip, gently pulling it toward her. As the jade slip drew closer, she relaxed, but it immediately drifted away again.

“Really?” Gu Weiyu gazed helplessly at the ceiling—she had been so close!

Manipulating objects with divine sense was far harder than with spiritual power. Taking a deep breath, she once more extended her divine sense, wrapping it around the jade slip and pulling it carefully toward herself.

Closer and closer.

This time, Gu Weiyu maintained her focus. When the jade slip was less than a meter away, it suddenly turned into a streak of light and shot toward her.

Gu Weiyu was dumbfounded. Where had the jade slip gone?

She looked around instinctively—had it flown back?

But counting the jade slips in the room, she saw that one was indeed missing.

“Fool!” Perhaps unable to bear her ignorance any longer, the voice sounded again. “That jade slip has entered your sea of consciousness.”

Gu Weiyu was astonished. Could the jade slip be a spiritual treasure, entering her very mind?

But there was no one to answer her questions.

The room was silent, save for the nine remaining jade slips darting about.

She took in her surroundings, then sat cross-legged on the floor and closed her eyes to explore her sea of consciousness.

Within, a faint green jade slip now floated quietly in a corner.

So this was the jade slip from earlier? She instinctively touched it with her divine sense, and four green characters appeared—First Form of Spirit Refinement.

First Form of Spirit Refinement! Excitement brightened Gu Weiyu’s eyes as words began to flow continuously from the jade slip.

“The method of refining the spirit is a technique I created to strengthen and wield divine sense. In cultivation, the refinement of spirit is paramount, and the methods of divine sense are of utmost importance. I have recorded my insights here, hoping that those destined in posterity may learn from them…”

A quarter-hour later, Gu Weiyu slowly opened her eyes. She had never imagined the jade slip would contain a spiritual cultivation technique.