Chapter 17: Who Can See the Little Little Tian Shu First?

The wonders of cultivating the Dao and seeking immortality were things Seeing Ji You had actually known about back in Yuyang County.

But this was the first time in his past or present life that he had truly come into contact with martial arts and felt the visceral thrill of a real strike.

In particular, the way spiritual energy participated in martial techniques felt incredibly wondrous to him.

And so, in a daze, one day when the evening glow had already soaked through the horizon, Seeing Ji You emerged from the Sword-Testing Forest and headed to the Immortal Dining Hall to eat. Constrained by his empty coin purse, he only ordered a portion of stir-fried Immortal-Gathering Sprouts and cold-dressed Golden Spirit Grass to soothe his rumbling stomach.

I wonder if Xiang Kuangcheng has spent all his money yet? I should go show some concern for him another day...

When a person eats until they are stuffed, it's uncomfortable; the same goes for a coin purse. Seeing Ji You couldn't bear to see a suffering coin purse, feeling that even if he were stuffed himself, he had to save it.

After eating, the bandit Ji returned to his courtyard.

There were still charcoal embers left from last night in the stove, now burned to a pale white. Seeing Ji You cleared away the ash, put in new charcoal, and used spiritual energy to ignite it. Then, he soaked a towel in hot water to scrub himself down and took the opportunity to wash his face.

Bathing in ancient times was extremely inconvenient; most people used wooden tubs. But Seeing Ji You was used to showers, so he planned to rob some money in a few days, go to the blacksmith shop to have a perforated water pot made as a showerhead, and bathe with the pot.

After scrubbing clean, Seeing Ji You changed his clothes and headed toward the Enlightenment Field against the direction of the encroaching night. He discovered that the Enlightenment Field under the sunset glow was already packed with people.

Among them, some were popping spirit pills with one hand and forming hand seals with the other, their spirits wandering beyond the heavens.

In particular, Chu He and Lu Qingqiu had been sitting in the Enlightenment Field for an entire day. All around them were empty pill bottles that had hit bottom, lying scattered on the ground, along with some spirit stones that had been drained of their spiritual light.

The outer courtyard disciples of the Heavenly Academy all aimed to enter the inner courtyard.

And once one sensed the Little Little Tian Shu, the spot in the inner courtyard was basically a done deal, so no one would waste time.

Yet, as those who had perfected the Lower Three Realms, they should have been the most insightful, but at this moment, they were racking their brains and still couldn't sense the Little Little Tian Shu.

The matter of cultivating immortality was truly mysterious beyond words.

However, even if they couldn't sense the Little Little Tian Shu, they naturally had other methods.

That was to continuously stack auxiliary pills, not demanding to sense the Little Little Tian Shu, but first trying to sense the Heavenly Dao.

And so, after this day, there was already a streak of profound light between Lu Qingqiu's brows, and the one between Chu He's brows was even brighter.

The first realm of the Upper Five Realms is called Profound Understanding. As the name suggests, it means to understand the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao. Each time the sensing deepens, the Heavenly Dao will provide a feedback of profound light.

Once nine streaks of spiritual light gather between the brows, the practitioner is considered to have successfully broken through the threshold of the Upper Five Realms.

These two had contemplated for a day and seen the instant when the world first opened from nothingness to existence. This counted as catching a glimpse of the threshold, and they had already exhausted their supply of pills.

Seeing Ji You passed by the crowd, found a spot among them, and sat down on the ground.

His spiritual essence had problems, but his spiritual sense and insight were still passable. Although he didn't know if he could break through a realm, he could naturally attempt to seek the Dao.

And as he sat down, dozens of students nearby couldn't help but break out of their meditative state and open their eyes slightly.

"Is that the wild private cultivator?"

"He wasted a day in the Sword-Testing Forest, and finally remembered to seek the Dao?"

"Without spirit pills for assistance, and willing to waste most of his time practicing useless martial techniques, it's truly baffling."

"After all, he came from a remote place. This is probably just a whim. Little does he know that by falling behind others by a step, he will only be able to look at their dust for the rest of his life."

Chu He and Lu Qingqiu also heard the surrounding discussion, but didn't even lift their eyes.

At the same time, Seeing Ji You began to release his spiritual sense, heading with all his might toward the boundless deep space to explore the faint light in the dark ignorance.

This was the method of sensing that Cao Jiaoxi had spoken of.

He had sought out Cao Jiaoxi last night to preview the Dao-seeking process, but Cao Jiaoxi's explanation was vague and couldn't be described in detail, only saying that once you've sought the Dao, you've sought the Dao.

Seeing Ji You asked again how one could be sure they had sought the Dao.

Cao Jiaoxi said again that once you've sought the Dao, you can be sure you've sought the Dao, which angered Seeing Ji You into snatching two taels of silver from him as punishment.

Old Cao, having been robbed, was indeed much more sincere, telling him to try his best to let his spiritual sense go to higher places to search; the closer to the sky, the stronger the sensing.

But flying one's spiritual sense to the sky was a matter that consumed extreme amounts of spiritual energy and physical strength. Most people couldn't persist for even half an hour before having to stop and rest.

But once this thought was loosened, all previous efforts were wasted, and one had to start over from the beginning.

The only difference was Chu He and Lu Qingqiu, who could use spirit pills and spirit stones to replenish quickly, naturally being much faster than others.

At 5:45 PM, Seeing Ji You slowly opened his eyes, his forehead already beaded with hot sweat, realizing that seeking the Dao with spiritual sense was even more strenuous than practicing martial arts.

"No wonder everyone says the Upper Five Realms is a process that requires piling up pills."

"Only people like Chu He and Lu Qingqiu, who start by taking medicine and using stones, can have the strength to continue when they are about to be exhausted..."

However, Seeing Ji You had vaguely heard that pills that could directly act on spiritual sense could only be refined by the Pill Sect within the Seven Great Immortal Sects. Because they were rare goods to be hoarded, the price was exorbitant, and even those with slightly ordinary family backgrounds couldn't afford to try.

Let's continue.

Seeing Ji You closed his eyes again, his spiritual sense continuously flying to the sky.

His method was a bit clumsier than others: each time, he had to go a bit higher than the last, using this to break through his limits.

But the boundless deep space was truly boundless, yet human strength always had its limits.

After several attempts, Seeing Ji You felt each time that his skull was about to split open.

At this moment, some other exhausted disciples opened their eyes, panting as they looked at Seeing Ji You.

"He's been contemplating for half an hour at a time?"

"Can't Lu Qingqiu and Chu He both contemplate for half an hour? What's there to be surprised about?"

"He came here after practicing martial arts, having already exhausted his physical strength. When physical strength is weak, spiritual sense is empty, yet he can still persist for half an hour."

"Look at his pale lips and you'll know; he's already at the end of his rope. Look at Chu He and Lu Qingqiu again; after taking medicine, their Dao-seeking time far exceeds an hour. How can he compare?"

Hearing this, the crowd looked over and saw the identical spiritual light between Lu Qingqiu and Chu He's brows flickering.

As for Seeing Ji You, although he had tried repeatedly, he had not touched the threshold.

Previously, someone had secretly said the three of them were rivals, and Chu He had sneered at them.

Now there was no sickness, and it really wasn't just anyone who could be a rival to the Chu family.

However, at this moment, the bandit Ji's brows suddenly smoothed out, his face slowly relaxing, causing his cheekbones to drop slightly.

But soon, his smoothed brows suddenly furrowed tightly again, and from then on, they never loosened by even a fraction.

Lu Qingqiu was already exhausted at this point; she slowly opened her eyes, looked at Seeing Ji You, who was sweating on his forehead, and after observing for a long while, looked at Du Zhu beside her.

"How long is his session?"

"The first time was close to half an hour, the second time half an hour, and now it's already exceeded that."

Exceeded half an hour? Lu Qingqiu frowned upon hearing this.

She didn't use spirit stones to store energy, and she could only manage half an hour at a time herself.

This Seeing Ji You had already wasted a day practicing martial arts and came here physically weak, yet he could still persist for more than half an hour. It seems he still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

He wasted a day practicing martial arts today, but he surely won't go again tomorrow. If he also seeks the Dao from morning till night, he might be able to far exceed her own Dao-seeking time without taking pills or using stones.

This is the importance of taking pills and using stones.

Just at this moment, Seeing Ji You suddenly let out a breath, lowered his head to pant for a long while, feeling a bit dizzy.

He had flown higher this time, but he also knew that trying to advance even half a step further would be difficult. However, this was an excellent way to exercise the strength of his spiritual sense, and it was also very beneficial for his martial techniques.

His spiritual sense consumption today was too great, and with no pills to replenish it, he could only stop here...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====