Chapter 17: Who Can Sense the Heavenly Book First?

Ji You had already understood the wonder of cultivating the Dao back when he was in Yuyang County.

But truly engaging in martial arts and feeling the real thrill of physical strikes—this was his first time in this life or his previous one.

Especially when spiritual energy was woven into martial techniques, it struck him as profoundly strange.

Thus, one evening, as the twilight stained the horizon, Ji You emerged from the Trial Sword Grove and headed to the Immortal Dining Hall for a meal; constrained by an empty purse, he ordered only stir-fried Gathered Immortal Sprouts and cold-mixed Golden Spirit Grass, soothing his rumbling stomach.

I wonder if Xiang Kuangcheng has spent all his money—I’ll go check on him another day…

When a person overeats, they feel unwell; the same goes for a money pouch. Ji You couldn’t bear to see a suffering money pouch—he’d rather starve himself to save it.

After eating, Bandit Ji returned to his courtyard.

The firepit still held embers from last night, now glowing white-hot; Ji You cleared away the ash, added fresh charcoal, ignited it with spiritual energy, then soaked a towel in hot water to wipe down his body and wash his face.

Bathing in ancient times was extremely inconvenient—most used tubs—but Ji You was accustomed to showers, so he planned to rob some silver in a few days and have a blacksmith forge a water jug with perforations to use as a showerhead, bathing with the divine vessel.

After wiping clean, Ji You changed clothes and walked toward the Awakening Ground against the tide of nightfall, finding it already packed with people under the fading sunset.

Some held spirit pills in one hand and formed hand seals with the other, their spirits wandering beyond the heavens.

Especially Chu He and Lu Qingqiu—they had sat in the Awakening Ground all day, surrounded by empty spirit pill bottles scattered haphazardly on the ground, along with spirit stones drained of their luminescence.

All outer-disciples of the Heavenly Book Academy aimed to enter the inner academy.

Once one sensed the Heavenly Book, an inner-academy seat was virtually guaranteed, so no one wasted time.

Yet as those who had reached the peak of the lower three realms, they should have possessed the greatest insight—but now they strained their minds yet could not sense the Heavenly Book.

The path of cultivation was truly mysterious beyond mystery.

But even if they couldn’t sense the Heavenly Book, they naturally had other methods.

That was to endlessly stack auxiliary pills, abandoning the pursuit of sensing the Heavenly Book, and instead seeking to sense the Dao of Heaven.

Thus, after this day, Lu Qingqiu’s third eye bore a faint dark glow, while Chu He’s was even brighter.

The first realm of the upper five realms was called Penetrating the Mysterious, meaning to comprehend the profound subtleties of the Dao; each deepening of perception granted a flicker of dark light as feedback from the Dao.

When nine such lights gathered at the third eye, the cultivator had successfully crossed the threshold into the upper five realms.

These two had meditated for one day, glimpsing the instant when heaven and earth first shifted from nothing to something—and they had already exhausted their pills.

Ji You pushed through the crowd and found a spot to sit cross-legged on the ground.

His spiritual origin was flawed, but his spiritual sense and insight remained sound; though he didn’t know if he could break through, he could still attempt to awaken.

As he sat down, dozens of students nearby broke their meditative states, blinking open their eyes slightly.

“Is that the country hermit cultivator?”

“After wasting a whole day in the Trial Sword Grove, he finally remembers to awaken?”

“No spirit pills to assist him, yet he wastes half his time practicing useless martial arts—it’s utterly incomprehensible.”

“After all, he’s from some remote backwater—this is probably just a sudden whim, unaware that falling behind even a step means he’ll forever be out of reach.”

Chu He and Lu Qingqiu heard the murmurs around them but didn’t even lift their eyes.

Meanwhile, Ji You released his spiritual sense, pushing it with all his strength toward the boundless void, seeking the faint glimmer hidden in darkness and ignorance.

This, as Instructor Cao had said, was the method of sensing.

He had pre-studied awakening last night with Instructor Cao, but Cao’s explanation was vague, unable to describe details—only saying that if you awakened, you awakened.

Ji You asked how one could be certain one had awakened.

Cao replied that if you awakened, you’d know you had awakened—enraged, Ji You stole two taels of silver from him as punishment.

The robbed old Cao became far more sincere afterward, telling him to push his spiritual sense as high as possible—the closer to heaven, the stronger the sense.

But projecting spiritual sense skyward was extremely draining of both spiritual energy and physical strength; most couldn’t sustain it beyond half an hour before needing to rest.

Yet once the focus broke, all progress vanished—he had to start over from the beginning.

The only difference with Chu He and Lu Qingqiu was that they could rapidly replenish with spirit pills and spirit stones, naturally progressing far faster than others.

At the hour of You, Ji You slowly opened his eyes, his forehead slick with sweat—he realized spiritual sense awakening was even more taxing than martial training.

“No wonder everyone says the upper five realms are a process built on pill stacking.”

“Only those like Chu He and Lu Qingqiu, who begin by swallowing pills and consuming stones, can sustain themselves when exhaustion nears…”

Yet Ji You had vaguely heard that pills directly acting on spiritual sense could be forged only by the Pill Sects within the Seven Great Immortal Sects—precisely because they were rare, their prices were exorbitant; even moderately well-off families couldn’t afford them.

Continue.

Ji You closed his eyes again, sending his spiritual sense soaring higher.

His method was clumsier than others—he aimed to surpass his previous height each time, pushing his limits.

But the boundless void truly was boundless, while human strength remained finite.

After several attempts, Ji You each time felt his skull would split open.

At this moment, more exhausted disciples opened their eyes, panting as they stared at Ji You.

“He sustained it for half an hour?”

“Lu Qingqiu and Chu He both last half an hour—what’s so surprising?”

“He came after martial training, already drained of strength—his physical weakness should make his spiritual sense feeble, yet he still holds for half an hour.”

“Look at his pale lips—he’s at his last breath. Compare him to Chu He and Lu Qingqiu, who after taking pills sustain awakening for over an hour—how can you compare?”

The crowd turned to see Lu Qingqiu and Chu He’s third-eye glow flickering dimly.

Ji You, though he tried repeatedly, had yet to touch the threshold.

Someone had once whispered they were rivals, but Chu He had shot him a glare.

Now it was clear—no one was just anyone’s match for a Chu family heir.

Yet at that moment, Bandit Ji’s third eye suddenly relaxed, his face slowly softening, his cheekbones sinking slightly.

But soon, his relaxed brow tightened again—and never loosened again.

Lu Qingqiu, now utterly drained, slowly opened her eyes, gazing at Ji You’s sweat-drenched forehead, observing for a long while before turning to Du Zhu.

“How long did he last?”

“First time nearly half an hour, second time half an hour—now it’s already exceeded.”

Exceeded half an hour? Lu Qingqiu frowned.

Without spirit stones to replenish, she could only manage half an hour herself.

This Ji You, after a full day of martial training and reduced to physical exhaustion, still held longer than half an hour—he clearly had some skill.

He wasted today on martial arts; tomorrow he won’t go again. If he dedicates himself to awakening from dawn to dusk, he might surpass even my awakening time without pills or stones.

That’s the importance of pills and stones.

At that moment, Ji You suddenly released his breath, slumped forward, panting heavily, dizzy and lightheaded.

He had soared higher this time, yet knew he couldn’t advance another inch—but this was an excellent way to strengthen his spiritual sense, beneficial to his martial techniques as well.

His spiritual sense was utterly depleted today, with no pills to replenish—he could only stop here…

(End of Chapter)