Chapter Fifty-One: The Sharp-Tongued Little Book

Divine sense is of utmost importance to cultivators. The stronger one’s divine sense, the less one fears attacks targeting the mind during magical duels, and the less susceptible one is to illusions. Even more crucially, whether it is alchemy, talisman crafting, or forging magical artifacts, all demand a keen and powerful divine sense. It could be said that any outstanding alchemist, talisman master, or artifact forger possesses a divine sense far surpassing that of ordinary people.

Gu Weiyu’s eyes flew open, a fervent gleam blazing within them as she gazed at the jade slips suspended mid-air. At this moment, her heart blazed with excitement; this cultivation method was an extraordinary opportunity not to be missed! Her gaze settled on the relatively quiet trio of jade slips, and she quickly set her sights—deciding to tackle the easier ones first.

Once more, Gu Weiyu extended her divine sense toward one of the jade slips, gently drawing it toward herself. After a full quarter of an hour, the second slip finally drew within a meter of her body under her guidance, then, just like the first, transformed into a stream of light and entered her sea of consciousness.

“Refining the Spirit, Second Form!” Gu Weiyu’s heart surged with excitement as she saw the new jade slip appear within her mind. She opened her eyes, intent on seizing the third slip in one go. At that moment, however, a throbbing pain seized her head. Puzzled, she clutched her temples—she had never experienced anything like this before. What was happening to her?

“You’ve overused your divine sense!” A somewhat exasperated voice sounded in her mind, “You cannot continue, or you risk damaging your spirit—something you’d regret!”

Gu Weiyu was startled—damage to the divine sense was no small matter. “Little Book, what should I do?”

Yet the voice that had just spoken, Little Book, vanished again. Gu Weiyu sighed helplessly; it seemed she could not count on it. Enduring the throbbing pain, she forced herself to calm down. There had to be a solution; if not, perhaps a good sleep would help.

Suddenly, inspiration struck her. She recalled that the two jade slips she had just obtained seemed to contain methods for healing, nurturing, and strengthening the divine sense. She closed her eyes and reviewed the contents of the first form of Spirit Refinement within her sea of consciousness.

Sure enough, she found within it a method for restoring and nurturing divine sense, as well as techniques for its application. Following the instructions, she circulated her divine sense as described, and the effect was remarkable—after just one cycle, the pain in her head was greatly alleviated. Relieved, she continued the nurturing process, soothing her weary mind.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually, the pain vanished entirely. She could feel her divine sense growing stronger and more resilient with every cycle of the technique.

With the crisis averted, Gu Weiyu remembered that the jade slip also explained the practical uses of divine sense. She couldn’t help but probe deeper with her mind and study it carefully.

Unlike her own crude method of shaping divine sense into threads, the techniques in the first form of Spirit Refinement were exquisite and ingenious. For example, the Divine Sense Hook—transforming one’s divine sense into a hook to snatch objects quickly and efficiently, far superior to her previous method of forming a simple thread.

Beyond that, divine sense could be shaped into a blade or an awl to attack an opponent’s sea of consciousness, or even into a net, to shield and protect one’s own mind…

Gu Weiyu was astounded—so many uses for divine sense existed! She thought of the eight remaining jade slips in the room and decided to first master the Divine Sense Hook.

Forming divine sense into a sharp hook was not as simple as merely mimicking the shape; it involved creating a “hook” capable of latching onto or capturing special objects in unique circumstances. The method appeared straightforward, yet it took Gu Weiyu nearly half an hour before she could employ the Divine Sense Hook with reasonable proficiency.

Aiming at one of the jade slips suspended in mid-air, she sent out her divine sense, shaping it into a hook that instantly seized the slip and pulled it downwards.

Amazingly, where before the jade slip had been as slippery as a fish, it now fell obediently like a docile lamb, transforming into a stream of light that flew to Gu Weiyu.

However, limited by her own strength, after using the Divine Sense Hook four times, she felt her mental power waning and needed to once more nurture and restore her divine sense.

After eight cycles of nurturing, she used the Divine Sense Hook again to capture a green jade slip from the air. With the aid of this technique, she managed to collect the remaining eight jade slips in just two rounds—an efficiency far beyond her earlier attempts!

Once she had gathered all ten jade slips, something even more miraculous occurred: within her sea of consciousness, the slips reassembled themselves into a small, elegant green book—The Nine Spirit Refinement Methods.

Gu Weiyu was puzzled. There had originally been ten forms of Spirit Refinement; why was there only nine when combined? She delved into the green book with her consciousness, and was utterly stunned by what she found.

Where the jade slips had been dry and obscure, this little green book not only offered detailed textual explanations, but also included animated illustrations beside the text, vividly depicting every method of cultivating the divine sense.

She instinctively flipped to the section on the Divine Sense Hook and studied it carefully, immediately feeling sheepish—so that was how it was truly supposed to be performed! Following the animated instructions, she formed another Divine Sense Hook and discovered that this method was indeed more economical and efficient.

This little green book was truly extraordinary! Gu Weiyu couldn’t help but exclaim, “The Nine Spirit Refinement Methods are indeed a divine tome!”

“That’s right!” A proud voice sounded, none other than the mysterious presence from before. “I, Little Book, am the number one book in all the Four Seas and Eight Desolations!”

Gu Weiyu was astonished. “So you’re a book spirit?”

“Yes! I am the undisputed top book of the Eight Desolations—the book spirit of the Nine Spirit Refinement Methods!” Little Book’s immodest voice echoed through her sea of consciousness.

As it spoke, the words “Nine Spirit Refinement Methods” on the cover of the green book within her mind gleamed with dazzling golden light.

Gu Weiyu couldn’t help but laugh. This little green book certainly had an air of prestige!

The green book circled around her sea of consciousness. “Tsk tsk, this space is far too cramped. I can barely turn around!”

Gu Weiyu couldn’t suppress a twitch at the corner of her mouth. Why did it sound so smug?

“Ah, I suppose I’ll just have to lower myself to stay here,” Little Book said haughtily, its tone as insufferable as ever.

Gu Weiyu’s face darkened. If it’s so dissatisfied, why is it making itself comfortable in her mind?

Irritation flared in her heart, but outwardly her expression remained cool. “If you don’t want to stay, then get out!”

Little Book, which had been spinning in circles, immediately froze. Why had this little girl suddenly turned so fierce?

Get out? That was impossible! It had long since grown weary of being stuck in this room; now that it had finally found a living host, how could it let go?

“Don’t be angry, little one. Anger makes you ugly,” Little Book said, its tone suddenly much softer.

“You’re the one refusing to leave; it’s not as if I’m begging you to stay,” Gu Weiyu retorted.

“Yes, yes, it’s me! Absolutely me!” Little Book quickly replied, its tone obsequious.

Little Book was on the verge of tears—its sharp tongue had gotten it into trouble once again!