Chapter 34: Don

Spiritual sense is a mysterious thing.

It arises automatically when a cultivator draws spiritual energy into the body and completes the Microcosmic Orbit to reach Qi Refining Level One.

As the cultivator’s cultivation base improves, spiritual sense gradually grows stronger.

No special cultivation is required.

Beyond its indispensable role in alchemy, talisman crafting, and array formation, spiritual sense also provides tremendous advantage in combat.

Moreover, the strength of spiritual sense determines the depth of one’s enlightenment.

Yet, this can also be cultivated!

But cultivation methods for spiritual sense are exceedingly rare, so most cultivators never specifically train it.

He Pingsheng accidentally obtained a fragmented spiritual sense cultivation scripture, which he strengthened into two complete texts.

And when he opened them, the first page of each bore a large character: 【Tian】.

Combining this with the 【Tian】 characters on the previous Fire True Method and Eternal Spring Qi Circulation Scripture, he deduced it must indicate the scripture’s rank.

Of course, whether that’s true is merely speculation.

Doesn’t matter!

It doesn’t affect the summary or content that follows.

What to do?

“Cultivate it…”

He had nothing else to do anyway.

Improving his cultivation base was impossible—no resources.

So… better start training spiritual sense first.

He Pingsheng took out the 【Mystic Gate Stillness True Scripture】 again, skipped the summary, and began reading the first section: 【Qi Refining Section】.

In this spiritual sense cultivation method, like cultivation base advancement, each realm has twelve layers.

After half an hour of familiarization, He Pingsheng began spiritual sense cultivation.

He guided a thread of spiritual sense from his mind sea, passing through the meridians of his soul.

“Ah…”

The next instant, He Pingsheng screamed in pain.

Spiritual sense cultivation differs from regular cultivation.

During regular cultivation, no intense pain arises—but during spiritual sense cultivation, it does.

He Pingsheng gritted his teeth and began again.

“Ah…”

Another cry of agony.

But he persisted, failing again and again, until one day later, he successfully guided the spiritual sense from his mind sea through his entire soul in a full cycle.

Spiritual Sense Level One achieved!

Night fell. He Pingsheng ate a little, then shut the stone door.

He was exhausted!

When cultivating Qi Refining, fatigue vanishes—but spiritual sense cultivation is different. Afterward, one feels dazed, as if the soul had been drained, craving sleep.

Yet before sleeping, one task remained.

He Pingsheng casually tossed the 【Paper Crane】 he’d bought from the stall into the Treasure Basin, then shoved the basin under his bed and fell into deep slumber.

The next morning, he awoke feeling refreshed and clear-headed.

Boom…

The next instant, his spiritual sense extended outward.

The range of his spiritual sense had increased slightly.

To put it simply, before, his spiritual sense covered roughly ten zhang around him.

Now, it reached about fifteen zhang.

The increased range wasn’t the key—the key was that He Pingsheng felt his spiritual sense had improved in quality: sharper, more agile.

Excellent!

He hadn’t expected such results after just one day of cultivation.

By the way…

He Pingsheng quickly bent down and yanked the Treasure Basin from under the bed.

He glanced inside: wow, two!

Correct!

The paper crane he’d thrown into the basin had now become two.

He Pingsheng eagerly seized both paper cranes in his hands.

Previously, each paper crane had only one activation left.

Excellent—now he could activate them twice.

He Pingsheng gently swept his spiritual sense over the paper cranes.

Then…

“This…”

He Pingsheng gasped and leapt off the bed.

Twelve times!

Correct!

Each paper crane now had twelve activations—twenty-four total.

Moreover, each activation still lasted one day, but the paper crane’s flight speed had doubled.

That meant, where it previously took two hours to fly from Spirit Herb Valley to Mount Matou Market, it now took only one.

“So these paper cranes have ranks too!” He Pingsheng narrowed his eyes.

“Then… should I consider selling one?”

“It’d fetch a good price, right?”

He Pingsheng was short on cultivation resources.

Cultivation is cultivation—method, companion, wealth, land; without wealth, what’s the point?

“Store…”

He Pingsheng put both paper cranes away, set them aside, and focused entirely on spiritual sense cultivation.

A month passed in a flash.

Autumn wind howled; leaves in the valley turned yellow.

When He Pingsheng reached Layer Two of the Qi Refining Section, withered-mwood True Man returned to Spirit Herb Valley.

His face was pale, his wrinkles deeper.

“Cough, cough, cough…” Seeing He Pingsheng, he coughed lightly and said: “Little He… have you completed the task I assigned you?”

“Master!” He Pingsheng replied: “Completed. Last month, I gathered ten and a half vials of pollen, and under Brother Wang Dun’s guidance, delivered them to Shopkeeper Liu at Fenghe Manor in Mount Matou Market!”

“Here is the official seal from Shopkeeper Liu!”

He Pingsheng handed the paper to Withered-mwood.

“Good,” Withered-mwood nodded, examining the seal. “You did well.”

“He Pingsheng, you’re a fine lad—but pity,” Withered-mwood said as he tucked away the seal. “Pity you’re primarily a Fire Spirit Root—you can’t stay long in Spirit Herb Valley.”

“Fine. Next year, when I plant Sunfire Flowers, I’ll call you back to help.”

“You may leave.”

Huh?

Leave?

Was he being kicked out already?

He Pingsheng was dazed.

These past months in Spirit Herb Valley had been quite pleasant.

“What?” Withered-mwood asked. “Do you have something else?”

He Pingsheng bowed. “Earlier, I worked in the Alchemy Chamber on Xiuzhu Peak. I know they dump all their plant ash into a valley. If Master permits, I can collect all of it and use it as fertilizer for Spirit Herb Valley’s plants!”

“Plant ash can enrich the soil!”

“Hmph…” Withered-mwood snorted coldly. “He Pingsheng—don’t give me any stupid ideas!”

“Plant ash to nourish spirit plants?”

“Are you brain-damaged to think of such a scheme?”

“Or are you just trying to sneak over there to find something?”

Withered-mwood’s gaze sliced across He Pingsheng like a blade.

He Pingsheng’s heart tightened: This…

Correct!

He had indeed harbored selfish motives.

He hoped to scavenge some discarded pills there, securing enough resources for future cultivation.

But in Grand Void Gate, who among the cultivators is a fool?

The higher one’s cultivation base, the sharper one’s mind.

Often, a single thought is enough to grasp the core truth.

He Pingsheng dared not meet his eyes, only bowed his hands and said, “I apologize for my rudeness…”

“Go!” Kumu waved his hand.

He Pingsheng quickly withdrew.

After watching He Pingsheng leave, Kumu True Person’s pupils suddenly contracted, and in an instant he rode his sword through the air to the spot where ash had been dumped on Xiuzhu Peak.

“This boy would never come here without reason—could it be… that something unusual truly lies here?”

Kumu True Person’s spiritual sense erupted open, scouring the surroundings.

He carefully pried apart the ash at the foot of the mountain.

There was nothing inside.

Only ash, and a few ruined elixirs.

“It seems I overthought this,” Kumu Daoist shook his head. “Just an outer disciple—even if he has ulterior motives, it’s unlikely to be any kind of opportunity!”

“Forget it, forget it!”

“Wasting my time!”

Kumu True Person shook his head and left Xiuzhu Peak.