48: Chapter 48 [Learning Precise Control of Spiritual Power]

At five o'clock in the morning, Chen Zhen opened his eyes right on time.

He did not get up immediately, but first used Internal Vision on his Dantian.

That warm, solid spiritual power hung steadily deep in his lower abdomen, having become a fraction more refined than yesterday.

With a slight shift of his will, the spiritual power flowed to his fingertips like an extension of his own arm, and a faint, almost invisible white light welled up in his palm.

This was the Qi Refinement Stage.

He sat up, glanced at the alarm clock, and smiled silently.

After the Breakthrough, his body's perception of time had become increasingly precise; he no longer needed an alarm clock to wake up naturally at his preset time.

Putting on his clothes, he scanned the room.

Notes from last night's review were scattered on the desk, there was fine dust on the floor that had drifted in from the window, and a thin layer of dust had accumulated on the leaves of the pothos plant in the corner.

With a thought.

Cleaning Spell.

Consuming 1 point of spiritual power, an invisible ripple spread out from him as the center.

The papers on the desk automatically gathered into a neat stack, the dust disappeared without a trace, the pothos leaves became bright and lustrous, and even the air felt a bit fresher.

The entire process took less than a second, and the room was as clean as an Advanced hotel model room.

Chen Zhen nodded with satisfaction.

This is what you call living.

...

During his morning run, Chen Zhen began consciously experimenting with the fine control of spiritual power over his body.

He first ran one kilometer at his normal speed, feeling every detail of his muscle exertion, breathing rhythm, and heart rate changes.

Then, he split off a faint wisp of spiritual power, guiding it to flow along the meridians in his legs.

The effect was immediate.

His steps became lighter, his landing steadier, and the fatigue in his muscles was noticeably delayed.

It wasn't an explosive acceleration, but an overall "optimization."

It was like adding higher-quality lubricant to a machine that was already running well; the efficiency improvement felt natural.

By the third kilometer, he tried distributing the spiritual power evenly throughout his entire body.

A warm sensation spread from his Dantian, like a warm current permeating every muscle and every joint.

His breathing became deeper and longer; the air he inhaled seemed to reach the deepest parts of his lungs, and when he exhaled, it carried away the turbid Qi from within his body.

He accelerated, sprinting for the last five hundred meters.

His footsteps were so fast they barely left a mark on the wet, slippery road, yet his breathing remained steady.

He stopped when he reached the Riverside; his face wasn't flushed, and he wasn't panting, with only fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

That was normal metabolism, not fatigue.

The system panel popped up at the right moment:

[Morning Run Quality 'Excellent']

[Health Dimension Experience + 42]

[Cultivation + 0.55]

[Spiritual Power natural recovery rate slightly increased: Daily + 0.1 points (Current 5.6 / day)]

Another small step forward.

Chen Zhen wiped away his sweat and looked toward the willow tree.

The old man wasn't practicing his boxing today; instead, he was squatting by the Riverside, his fingers dipped into the river water, eyes closed, seemingly sensing something.

He walked closer, and the old man opened his eyes: "You're here? You ran quite fast today."

"I tried using spiritual power to make some adjustments."

"Hmm, you're on the right track." The old man stood up and shook the water off his hands. "The Qi Refinement Stage is the phase for laying the foundation. The most important thing isn't how strong your spiritual power is, but how precise your control is. How many strands of spiritual power can you split off to do different things at the same time right now?"

Chen Zhen thought about it: "I've tried controlling both legs and my breathing at the same time; three strands."

"That's not bad, enough for when you're just starting."

"Today, I'll teach you a little trick to practice control."

He pulled three small pebbles from his pocket, each the size of a glass marble, with irregular shapes.

"Use your spiritual power to support them and make them hover in mid-air."

The old man said, demonstrating it himself first.

The three pebbles slowly floated up from his palm, hovering in front of his chest, arranged in an equilateral triangle, steady and secure, without even a wobble.

"Don't use your hands; use your will." The old man emphasized. "Spiritual power is emitted from your palm like an invisible hand supporting the pebbles. It might shake at first, but it will become steady with practice."

Chen Zhen took the pebbles and learned to spread his palm.

Concentrating his will, he split three thin streams of spiritual power from his Dantian, guiding them along the meridians of his arm to his palm, then emitting them from his palm.

The first pebble wobbled as it floated up, half a foot above his palm.

The second one fell as soon as it left his hand.

The third one didn't move at all.

"Don't rush." The old man said. "The output of spiritual power must be steady, and your will must be calm. Do it one by one."

Chen Zhen took a deep breath and started again.

This time, he focused on one pebble first.

He adjusted the output of spiritual power to just the right level to support it.

Too much would send the pebble flying; too little wouldn't be able to support it.

After finding that delicate balance point, the pebble hovered steadily in the air.

He held it steady for five seconds, then added the second one.

With the experience from before, the second one also successfully hovered.

But he couldn't control the distance between the two pebbles well; one moment they were too close and almost collided, the next they were too far apart.

"Adjust the range of your spiritual power field." The old man instructed. "It's not three chopsticks sticking into three meatballs; it's a net scooping up three meatballs. The size and shape of the net are up to you."

Chen Zhen understood.

He no longer treated the spiritual power as three independent "threads," but imagined it as a soft, moldable "membrane" wrapping around the three pebbles.

Sure enough, it was much easier to control.

All three pebbles finally hovered, arranged in a not-quite-standard triangle above his palm.

He held it for ten seconds, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

It wasn't physical exhaustion, but the consumption from high mental concentration.

"That's enough." The old man nodded. "Practice this every day from now on, starting from ten seconds, and slowly increase the time. When you can perform a set of Tai Chi while supporting the pebbles without dropping a single one, your control will be considered to have entered the basics."

Chen Zhen withdrew his power, and the pebbles fell back into his palm.

In just this short while, his mind was actually somewhat exhausted, but the consumption of spiritual power in his Dantian was minimal.

It seems that fine control is more mentally draining than crude output.

[Learning Fine Control of Spiritual Power]

[Health Dimension Experience + 38]

[Cultivation + 0.28]

[Acquired Status: 'Initial Glimpse of Spirit Control' (Spiritual power control precision + 5%)]

Another new status.

Chen Zhen put the pebbles away.

The old man said he could keep them; he should practice with them every day.

"Go on then." The old man waved his hand. "Remember to practice when you get back, but don't overdo it. Control is a slow, grinding process; you can't rush it."

On the way home, Chen Zhen bought breakfast.

Soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks, and he specially brought a bowl of tofu pudding for his mother, with chili and cilantro added—that was how his mother loved to eat it.

...

For his morning study, Chen Zhen decided to test the limits of the Eye-Brightening Spell.

He first did practice problems normally for half an hour, recording the amount completed and his accuracy rate.

Then he cast the Eye-Brightening Spell.

Consuming 3 points of spiritual power, a cooling sensation spread through his eyes.

The world became extremely clear once again.

This time, he specifically observed some extreme situations:

The printing defects on the edges of the book pages that could almost only be seen with a magnifying glass, insect eggs on leaves fifty meters outside the window, and even the direction of the finest palm lines on his own palm.

Everything was clearly visible, and without effort.

He opened his physics problem bank and found a few final-question problems from previous years.

The characteristics of these problems were complex diagrams, dense annotations, and hidden conditions.

Under the enhancement of the Eye-Brightening Spell, the problem-solving process became much easier.

It wasn't that the problems became simpler, but that all the information was clear at a glance, without needing to repeatedly read and confirm.

The speed at which he constructed physical models in his mind also became faster because the quality of the visual input information was extremely high.

In half an hour, he finished the amount of problems that usually took an hour, with 100% accuracy.

[Efficient learning in the 'Eye-Brightening Spell' limit state]

[Learning Dimension Experience + 155]

[Cultivation + 0.92]

[Eye-Brightening Spell Proficiency + 5 (Current 6 / 100)]

[Special Note: Spell proficiency increased, spellcasting consumption slightly reduced (Current consumption: 2.9 points)]

The consumption had decreased by 0.1 points.

Although it was negligible, it was a good sign.

It meant that as long as he continued to use it, the Spell would become increasingly "smooth," and the consumption would become lower and lower.

He glanced at his remaining spiritual power: 5.7 / 10 (it had recovered a little naturally).

He could still use the Eye-Brightening Spell one more time, or use the Cleaning Spell or Water Condensation Spell.

But he decided to save it.

Spiritual power is like a savings account; it must be used with a plan.

...

At noon, his mother stewed braised pork belly; it was fatty but not greasy, melting in the mouth.

Chen Zhen ate two bowls of rice, squinting his eyes in satisfaction.

"I'm going to the Library this afternoon, I might be back late tonight." His mother said. "The community has a book club, and they asked me to help organize it."

"Okay, stay safe."

"I know."

After finishing the meal, Chen Zhen took the initiative to wash the dishes.

A single Cleaning Spell took care of it, saving time and effort.

In the afternoon, he planned to go to the Secret Base to try cultivating that pot of Mint with spiritual power and, by the way, study the new clues from Engineer Gu.

...