59: Lawful Sacrifice

Outside, the strange phenomenon above the Spirit Martial Hall had already attracted the attention of the entire Tianqing Domain. In the cloudy sky, a miraculous sight of the sun and moon shining together, and the stars reversing, appeared simultaneously. Even more astonishing was that chains of Law faintly emerged within these phenomena, as if the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth were paying attention to this Breakthrough. In the distance, several powerful Divine Senses were probing this way, but they were all blocked by the defensive Formation of the Azure Dragon Hall.

Feng Tianxiu stood outside the hall, his robes fluttering in the wind. Sensing the increasingly powerful pressure, he felt both shocked and delighted: "This kid... I fear he is about to create an unprecedented Spirit Refining Realm." He could clearly perceive that the Spiritual Qi within a radius of a thousand miles was converging toward the Azure Dragon Hall, forming a massive Spiritual Qi funnel.

In the cultivation room, Lin Yuan took out an ancient Jade Slip and pressed it against his forehead. This Jade Slip was entirely emerald green, with mysterious patterns carved on its surface; it was the 《Spirit Refining Essentials》 given to him by Feng Tianxiu, which recorded the core mysteries of breaking through to this realm. The moment the Jade Slip touched his forehead, a massive amount of information surged into his Sea of Consciousness like a tidal wave.

"So that's how it is..." Lin Yuan muttered to himself, his Divine Sense sweeping over the contents recorded in the Jade Slip. His brows furrowed slightly, forming a shallow furrow between them.

Ordinary Martial Artists start from the Awakening Realm. When their own power reaches 10,000 points of combat power, they can condense their Qi and blood into a 1-Star Spiritual Crystal, officially stepping into the Gathering Origin Realm. This process is like sowing seeds within the body; when a hundred Spiritual Crystals fill the acupoints, it is the Perfection of the Gathering Origin Realm. Lin Yuan looked inward and saw one hundred colorful Spiritual Crystals in his body, as bright as stars, each containing astonishing energy.

"But the Spirit Refining Realm is a completely different path." Lin Yuan frowned slightly, his fingers tapping his knees unconsciously. The Jade Slip recorded that the Spirit Refining Realm requires Mental Energy as a seed and Spiritual Power as nourishment. Ordinary Gathering Origin Realm Cultivators have at most 10-star Mental Energy and 100-star base combat power. To condense the lowest-level Divine Sense seed, they need to sacrifice 500 stars of energy they possess—this means they must either spend decades of hard cultivation, using Mental Energy to temper their acupoints and slowly condense and increase their Spiritual Power, or search for Heaven And Earth Treasures that enhance Mental Energy.

"No wonder the path of cultivation is littered with bones." Lin Yuan sighed softly, his voice filled with emotion. According to the Jade Slip: First-stage Divine Sense requires 100-star Mental Energy or 500-star Spiritual Power sacrifice; Second-stage requires 1,000 stars; Third-stage requires 10,000 stars; ...; Sixth-stage requires 10,000,000 stars; Seventh-stage requires 20,000,000 stars; Eighth-stage requires 50,000,000 stars; Ninth-stage requires 100,000,000 stars.

The gap between these is like the difference between clouds and mud. The so-called geniuses might spend their entire lives without even touching the threshold of a third-stage Divine Sense. Some Martial Artists, relying on great perseverance, spend decades using the method of tempering Spiritual Power with Mental Energy to accumulate it to the 500-star standard, only to condense the lowest-level gray Divine Sense, remaining at the Early Stage of Spirit Refining for their whole lives.

"The path of cultivation is indeed cruel." A bright light flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes, like the brightest star in the night sky. "But for me..." A confident arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.

In the cultivation room, Lin Yuan's consciousness sank completely into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness. This was originally a chaotic mental world, but at this moment, it was churning violently due to the soon-to-be-born Divine Sense seed. The ocean of Mental Energy kicked up towering waves, each wave shimmering with the brilliance of Law.

"According to the records, when ordinary Martial Artists condense a Divine Sense seed, their Sea of Consciousness is only a square inch of land." Lin Yuan's Divine Sense swept across his own vast and boundless Sea of Consciousness, like a god overlooking his own kingdom. "And here, for me... it's like a starry sky." His voice echoed in the Sea of Consciousness, stirring up ripples.

Above the Sea of Consciousness, the projections of the one hundred colorful Spiritual Crystals in his body flickered like stars. Even more astonishing were the thirty strips of Law light interwoven into a net, among which the silver strip formed by the Time Law was the most dazzling, almost running through the entire Sea of Consciousness like a galaxy spanning the sky.

"Let's begin."

Lin Yuan's mind moved, and 1,200,3500 stars of Mental Energy converged toward the center of the Sea of Consciousness like a hundred rivers returning to the sea. Under the acceleration of the Time Law, these Mental Energies condensed and compressed at a visible speed, forming a huge Mental Energy vortex. At the center of the vortex, space began to twist and deform, making "creaking" sounds of being unable to bear the weight.

"Condense!"

With a low shout, the massive Mental Energy collapsed with a roar, turning into a golden seed. The surface of the seed was covered with mysterious patterns, with Law fluctuations faintly flowing, emitting a soft light like a miniature star.

"Fifth-stage Divine Sense, gold quality." Lin Yuan felt the strength of the seed, but his brows furrowed slightly. "But this is far from enough." His gaze became sharp, like a sword drawn from its sheath.

He did not hesitate to draw upon the Supreme Extreme Realm bonus power stored in his body. This torrent of energy, equivalent to 50,000,000 stars of combat power, surged into the Sea of Consciousness, and under the transformation of the Divine Sense seed, turned into 10,000,000 stars of Mental Energy. The energy torrent, like a river flowing backwards from the sky, impacted the golden seed.

"Crack—"

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the golden seed, and dazzling red light burst out from the fissures, dyeing the entire Sea of Consciousness blood-red. When the light dissipated, the seed had turned into an alluring crimson red, its volume having shrunk by one-third, but its density had increased by more than tenfold, and more complex patterns appeared on its surface.

"Sixth-stage." Lin Yuan frowned slightly, feeling the hunger coming from the seed. "But it's still far from the ninth stage." His voice echoed in the Sea of Consciousness, carrying a hint of gravity.

Next, he began to sacrifice his base combat power. 25,000,000 stars of base combat power energy were stripped away and converted into 5,000,000 stars of Mental Energy through the Sea of Consciousness. The crimson seed greedily absorbed these energies, its color gradually shifting towards silver-gray, and the patterns on its surface began to flow, wriggling like living things.

"Now... it is time to use the power of Law." Lin Yuan took a deep breath, his gaze becoming firm.

He first chose the Law of Ice. This low-level Law, which had already been comprehended to 46%, began to be stripped away under Lin Yuan's control. Every 1% of comprehension stripped could be converted into 100,000 stars of Mental Energy; originally, one percent of Law could only be converted into 10,000 combat power, but now converting it into Mental Energy was a tenfold bonus. Sure enough, Divine Sense is the foundation for comprehending and exerting the power of Law; the power of Law and the Physical Body still cannot be perfectly compatible.

"Swoosh—"

With the extraction of the power of Law, Lin Yuan felt a sharp pain originating from his Soul. This was a hundred times more intense than physical pain, as if someone were scraping his Divine Soul bit by bit with a dull knife. His consciousness began to blur, and countless fragmented images appeared before his eyes. But he gritted his teeth and endured this inhuman torture.

When the 38% of the Law of Ice energy was fully infused, the seed finally broke through the critical point, turning into a silver-gray metal sphere. Fine Law patterns appeared on the surface of the sphere, with faint ice crystal patterns visible, emitting a bone-chilling cold.

"Seventh-stage Divine Sense, silver quality." Lin Yuan felt the strength of the qualitatively changed Divine Sense, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. His face was as pale as paper, but his eyes burned with an unyielding flame.