Chapter 386: Marks, Divine Power, Origin, and Crystal

"Student Ning! I must criticize you properly!"

Chen Shu looked seriously at Ning Qing beneath him, their faces only ten centimeters apart: "I can fully understand that you are in a period of cultivation and have a strong tongue desire, and I can also fully understand that I am delicious to look at and my tongue is excessively tasty, which is a great temptation for you, but you cannot bite with your upper teeth because of that! Look at how you bit me, it hurts to death!"

"..."

"One more time, and you absolutely cannot bite me again this time!"

"..."

"This time is not bad, be a bit more proactive next time."

"..."

"Didn't I tell you to be a bit more proactive? Why are you someone who doesn't listen when taught?"

"..."

Ning Qing stared at him silently, her eyes sparkling under the light, her lips incomparably rosy, yet her face wore an expression of "Do you think I'm paying any attention to you?"

"Now I will teach you a secret technique of the jianghu, which can only be unleashed by a Seven-Tier Cultivator. Do you want to learn it?"

"..."

"Very good, it seems you are already impatient."

"..."

"This move is called 'The Stirring', which is to tie the tongue into a knot. From your calm expression, I can see that you have already grasped its essence. Very good, once you reach the Seventh Stage and can partially change your body shape, we will unleash it simultaneously; that will be the ultimate bliss."

"..."

Ning Qing pursed her lips, squinting her eyes as she met his gaze, and finally spoke, her tone cold: "Mr. Chen is quite experienced."

"Ugh!"

Chen Shu's brain spun rapidly: "You know, Chen Banxia likes to eat river snails, and I've eaten quite a lot of them along with her. After long-term practice, it's only reasonable that I have some tongue skills... As for this theoretical knowledge, hey, it's all on the internet!"

"Heh..."

Ning Qing turned her head to the side, no longer facing him directly, to show her dissatisfaction.

Chen Shu also glanced out the window.

Outside was already a pitch-black expanse like ink.

"It's late."

Chen Shu simply lay down, burying his face in the curve of her delicate neck: "Qingqing, you are so soft, I'll just sleep like this tonight..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a force was transmitted.

Chen Shu was flipped to the side.

"..."

A dignified Six-Stage Martial Artist, who would neither be hurt nor damaged by being pressed, was actually this stingy.

Only the four words "bad personality" could describe it.

Chen Shu lay on his back looking at the ceiling, his hand groping under the quilt until he found Ning Qing's hand and held it. He had wanted to just fall asleep like this, but the cultivation he hadn't finished today bound him like shackles, forcing him to climb up and sit cross-legged on the bed with Qingqing to begin his Daily Cultivation.

He calmed his mind and focused on his Spirit Method.

The Spirit Saint mark on his waist emitted a faint light, its color constantly changing.

The mark itself was a part of the Plane Origin, the foundation of why a deity is a deity, far higher in quality than ordinary Spirit Power. At this moment, all the Spirit Power Chen Shu absorbed flowed through this mark, was imbued with Divine Power within it, and was purified into higher-quality Spirit Power.

This process...

It seemed to do more than just help people accelerate their cultivation; it also had the effect of adapting to the Plane Origin in advance.

Chen Shu couldn't help but raise a question.

However, as he was focused on cultivation, he temporarily suppressed it.

About four hours later.

Chen Shu finished his cultivation before Qingqing. As usual, he took out his Crystal and, following the depletion method, input the Spirit Power that had just filled his Spirit Sea into it—the Crystal remained like an unfathomable bottomless pit, accepting all the Spirit Power he input.

Chen Shu sensed it carefully.

In the past, when he input Spirit Power, the Crystal would not have any reaction, but today it rarely stirred a ripple.

It was like a drop of water falling into the ocean, sending out a circle of ripples in silence.

Compared to the more refined Spirit Power after reaching a High-level Practitioner status, Chen Shu felt it was more likely the effect of that trace of Divine Power.

In his view, all the Spirit Power-type energy he had come into contact with could be divided into four types:

First is Spirit Power; from the natural Spirit Power drifting between heaven and earth to the Spirit Power within the bodies of Low-level Practitioners and High-level Practitioners, the quality and type vary greatly, but essentially there is no change, and they can all be called Spirit Power.

Second is Divine Power related to the Plane Origin; it can actually be counted as Spirit Power, but under the influence of the Plane Origin, it has undergone a qualitative change.

Third is the Plane Origin itself.

Fourth is the energy stored in the Crystal.

The more Chen Shu came into contact with Divine Power and the Plane Origin, the more he could perceive that the quality of the energy in the Crystal was outrageously high.

Perhaps even higher than the Plane Origin.

No wonder it could take people across the universe.

"Sure enough..."

At the very least, Chen Shu had confirmed his guess—

The Spirit Power he usually input into it also had a certain supplementary effect, but it was too minuscule, so minuscule as to be negligible, until the Spirit Power input after reaching a High-level Practitioner status and carrying a trace of Divine Power, which was like a drop of water falling into the ocean.

But what was the use of such supplementation?

I'm afraid that even if one reached the Ninth Stage, or even became a deity, and input the Divine Power generated after fusing with the Plane Origin, the supplementary effect wouldn't be too great, right?

Only at this moment did Chen Shu barely perceive the despair of the Shengzu back then.

That was a person who missed home immensely; fate gave him a path to his hometown, but it also clearly told him that you would never reach the end.

The Spirit Power in his Spirit Sea had reached the depletion line.

Chen Shu decisively stopped.

At this moment, Ning Qing had also finished her cultivation, and Chen Shu handed the Crystal in his hand to her.

A moment later.

The two of them, feeling empty, lay on the bed.

Chen Shu stretched his leg over, forcibly intertwining it with Qingqing's slender, delicate long legs, and then began the mandatory pre-sleep conversation segment of the day; he raised a question that had popped into his mind during the cultivation process: "You say, people like Yan Keling and Wu Eiwei are also being heavily cultivated by the country, and you count as one too, but they don't have marks bestowed by gods; won't their cultivation fall behind?"

"Don't move your legs around." Ning Qing lay perfectly flat, eyes closed, looking like "I'm already asleep, don't bother me," yet she still replied, "How do you know we don't have them?"

"You have one?"

"I don't need one."

"Then what about them?"

"Maybe they do, maybe they don't; even if they don't, they will sooner or later."

"Where would it come from?"

"Who said a god can only split off a single wisp of Plane Origin? It just takes time, that's all."

"So that's how it is."

"However, the one on your roommate comes from Xing Kong Bi An, the source of the exotic beasts and the Imperial Sect's Divine Contract Secret Technique, coming from their god."

"I see..."

"Shut up, go to sleep."

"You're so cold!"

"Talk less."

"Fine, Secretary Ning, so cold even to the person sleeping beside you! It's a pity I let you kiss me for so long a few hours ago, you heartless woman!"

"..."

This time, there was simply no reply.

Chen Shu, meanwhile, lay there and continued to ponder.

If that were the case, then marks, gods, and Plane Origin would no longer have a one-to-one correspondence; the number of people obtaining marks exceeded the amount of Plane Origin... perhaps there would be a fierce competition over Godhood in the future?

Is this what the gods want to see?

April 13th, early morning.

"Pfft..."

Ning Qing finished brushing her teeth and spat out the foam, straightened up, and looked at the other person in the mirror.

That person was also looking at her.

The two stood side by side, looking at each other through the mirror.

They had been living like this for a while, but every morning when they stood together like this, looking at him in the mirror, she always had a wonderful feeling. It was as if because it was a new day they were welcoming together, this day had become a bit more wonderful.

"What are you looking at?"

That person's mouth was full of foam, his speech slurred: "Is it because I'm handsome?"

So narcissistic.

Ning Qing pursed her lips and did not answer this question, instead saying indifferently, "I have finished cultivating my Tongue Desire."

"Hm? Congratulations..."

"Thanks to you."

"Oh, you misunderstood, I was congratulating myself." Chen Shu hurriedly took a sip of water, swished it, and spat it out; his voice finally became clear, "When do you plan to start cultivating your Sense of Body?"

"There is also the Tongue Desire."

"How does one cultivate that?"

"Letting it be is fine."

"That works out, I plan to go to the Spirit Sect, it will probably take two or three days." Chen Shu said while washing his face.

"Have fun."

"Oh..."

Chen Shu wiped the water off his face, hugged Qingqing's waist again, quietly admired them in the mirror for a moment, then gave her butt a pat and went downstairs.

In the courtyard downstairs, the young girl was wearing watermelon-red shorts and a white tank top; the white drawstring of her shorts was untied, left hanging in front, and she was wearing a pair of flip-flops, revealing a pair of slender, fair legs, as cool as this early morning, and she was dragging a long water hose, watering the flowers her sister had planted.

According to her sister's requirements—

First, one must water it once with the most delicate sprinkler setting, and after it is thoroughly soaked, switch to the spray setting to rinse the flowers' branches and leaves.

The young girl seemed meticulous, but in reality, she often slacked off.

Sitting on the courtyard wall was a neighbor surnamed Zhang, resting his chin on his hand, maintaining the same posture, staring at the young girl watering the flowers. And the young girl was standing in front of a flower, holding the sprinkler head to water the flowers, having maintained this posture for a long time as well.

"Creak..."

The sound of a door opening came from behind.

The two turned their heads to look at the same time.

Chen Shu walked out from the house, full of energy:

"Morning, Xiaoxiao."

"Morning, brother-in-law."

"Morning, Lao Zhang."

"Morning, little Chen."

"Yo! You actually replied quite naturally!"

"Haha!"

"Xiaoxiao is watering the plants."

"Mm!"

"Diligent, very diligent."

"……"

The little girl was still holding the watering can; she turned her head to look at her brother-in-law, her gaze shifting slightly upward: "Brother-in-law, your hair has grown long, shall I cut it for you?"

"Is that so?" Chen Shu touched his hair, feeling it wasn't very long, "I'll cut it when I get back; I have to go to the Spirit Sect today."

"Is sister going?"

"She is not going."

"What are you going to the Spirit Sect for?"

"To test out some Spells and the like."

"For how many days?"

"Two or three days, it will be quick."

"Oh..."

"Shouldn't you move to a different spot? The water is already flowing out," Chen Shu pointed at her feet and reminded her.

"Oh..."

The little girl moved to a different spot and continued standing there.

As for things like watering flowers, the watering can in her hand would water them itself; her task was merely to bring the watering can to where it needed to go. After finishing, she would just give it a casual rinse; as for whether it was watered well or not, she actually didn't care much, it wasn't like she was the one who planted them.

Breakfast was provided by the neighbor surnamed Zhang; the neighbor surnamed Zhang had ordered takeout for them, and it had been like this for the past few days—she could be selected as a model neighbor of Yiguo.

After breakfast, Chen Shu headed toward the outskirts of the city.

After leaving the no-fly zone—

"Boom!"

His figure suddenly shot up into the sky.