73: Chapter 73 The Appearance of Spiritual Awareness

The antique cover had long since been worn smooth by the passage of time.

Yun Song stared at the Secret Manual in his hands, which he had obtained only after many adventures.

It stirred his emotions like surging waves, making it difficult for him to calm down for a long time.

Now, this long-dusty Secret Manual had appeared before his eyes once again.

A strong desire to try it, like a new sprout breaking through the soil, quietly sprouted in his heart.

The night grew thick like ink.

He saw off the last villager and gently closed the wooden door of the pharmacy.

Inside the house, it was as quiet as a deep, dark pool, with only the candlelight flickering in the breeze.

It cast flickering shadows, as if telling a silent story.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, attempting to enter meditation.

However, the thunderous "snore, snore" of the old village chief next door...

…was like a surging tide, crashing against his mind wave after wave.

No matter how hard he tried, he found it difficult to drive this annoying noise from his mind.

Helpless, Yun Song got up, put on his coat, pushed open the door, and walked toward the entrance of the village.

The moonlight was like water, gently spilling onto the country path.

Draping everything in the world in a dreamlike silver veil.

His figure was agile, and he leaped lightly onto the old locust tree at the village entrance.

Among the lush branches and leaves, he found a thick and sturdy branch.

He sat down slowly, legs crossed, like a composed old monk.

He immersed himself wholeheartedly in the world of the "Spirit Guiding Art".

Following the method of "Initial Perception of Spiritual Breath", he began his breathing Cultivation.

Time flowed quietly in the silence. An hour passed by quietly.

Bean-sized beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, which he wiped away casually.

He muttered to himself: "Do not be anxious, do not be impatient. The book says that one must enter meditation to perceive the particles of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. I must persevere."

Although he was anxious, he kept comforting himself, unwilling to entertain any thought of giving up.

When the moonlight of the second hour climbed onto his shoulders as gently as a sheer veil...

…he could no longer suppress the disappointment in his heart.

"Sigh!"

A heavy sigh escaped from his throat.

"Am I truly a person without a Spiritual Root, destined to have no connection with the path of Cultivation? Since I'm already here, I might as well try again!"

Until the third hour.

The turning point of fate always arrives inadvertently.

He suddenly felt a violent tremor at the top of his head.

A mysterious door was slowly opening.

In an instant, countless colorful particles appeared out of thin air around him.

Just like candle flames about to be extinguished, their light flickered uncertainly, revealing a hint of illusion between brightening and dimming.

They were sparse and scattered, drifting aimlessly.

Occasionally drifting leisurely past his forehead.

Then floating lightly into the distance, disappearing at the edge of his perception.

"This... could this be the legendary Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi?"

In his surprise, he opened his eyes wide.

But the moment he opened his eyes, the wondrous scene before him vanished without a trace, leaving only silent darkness.

He was filled with regret and slapped his own head hard.

He hurriedly entered meditation again, trying to recapture that fleeting Spiritual Qi.

However, despite his full concentration, he ended in failure.

On the horizon, the first ray of dawn, like a slender golden thread, quietly tore through the curtain of darkness.

Yun Song jumped down from the old locust tree and returned to the pharmacy.

Thereafter, he would arrive at the old locust tree every night to sit cross-legged on time.

At first, entering meditation was truly not easy for him.

Distracting thoughts were like mischievous children, occasionally intruding into his mind and wantonly disturbing his spirit.

But with his daily, unremitting Cultivation.

Entering meditation became increasingly easier, and he could soon enter the state.

In deep meditation, he could clearly perceive those colorful Spiritual Qi particles drifting between Heaven and Earth.

They were like lost elves, drifting individually, weaving and floating, chaotic yet wonderful.

After half a month of "Initial Perception of Spiritual Breath" Cultivation.

Yun Song clearly realized that he had successfully completed the first layer of Cultivation of the "Spirit Guiding Art".

But he was not satisfied with this, and in his heart, there was a longing for a higher level of Cultivation.

Therefore, he resolutely decided to try to Cultivate the second layer—Spiritual Qi Entering Meridians.

According to the Cultivation Technique, he calmed his mind and focused all his attention.

Attempting to guide the surrounding Spiritual Qi particles to break through the first Acupoint, the tianling acupoint.

As the Cultivation Technique operated, the flickering Spiritual Qi particles within a radius of ten feet were like mischievous children, refusing to obey.

But Yun Song was not discouraged in the slightest, and after hundreds of attempts.

Finally, the Spiritual Qi particles seemed moved by his persistence and began to slowly gather at his tianling acupoint.

When the Spiritual Qi particles entered the tianling acupoint, there was a slight stinging sensation at the tianling acupoint.

But this stinging did not last long before it disappeared.

In the blink of an eye, the Spiritual Qi particles lingering around had dissipated without a trace.

In the following days, he persisted in his Cultivation every day.

Every night, Spiritual Qi particles entered the tianling acupoint, and the stinging sensation was fleeting.

Day after day, month after month, half a year passed like a shuttle.

It never reached the state described in the second layer of the "Spirit Guiding Art", where there was a strong stinging sensation at the Acupoints.

For the past half year, the path of Cultivation had been like falling into a quagmire.

It seemed close at hand, but in reality, it was unreachable.

An indescribable sense of dissonance welled up in his heart, like a misplaced piece in a puzzle.

But for a moment, he really couldn't figure it out and didn't know where the problem lay.

He slowly opened the "Spirit Guiding Art" again.

The pages had been rubbed slightly curled by him repeatedly, and the edges were fraying.

At this moment, his gaze was like a treasure hunter eagerly searching for a Treasure Trove.

Hurriedly moving between the lines of the Secret Manual, unwilling to let go of a single stroke or punctuation mark.

Attempting to find the key answer to break through the current predicament from the dense text.

Page after page, he immersed himself in the book.

His brows were tightly furrowed, like two tangled ropes.

Fine beads of sweat unconsciously seeped out on his forehead.

Slowly sliding down his cheeks, wetting a corner of the page.

Just when he was about to be completely swallowed by despair.

His gaze inadvertently swept to the last page.

A line of inconspicuous small text was like a basin of charcoal fire in the cold winter day.

Giving warmth and comfort in times of cold and loneliness.

"To reach this Realm, one needs sufficient Spiritual Qi to succeed."

Yun Song was stunned at first, his whole body frozen as if under a freezing spell.

Immediately after, the confused expression was instantly replaced by sudden realization.

He slapped his forehead hard: "So that's it, so that's it! It was caused by insufficient Spiritual Qi."

Thinking of this, his eyes instantly lit up.

In those eyes that were originally dim, a flame of hope ignited at this moment.

Just like finally seeing a glimmer of dawn in the endless darkness.

If he wanted to Breakthrough to this Realm, the only way was to leave the village and go find a place with abundant Spiritual Qi.

He sat on the branch of the old locust tree, the breeze blowing gently, stirring his hair.

He looked into the distance, his mind carefully calculating where to go to find a place with abundant Spiritual Qi.

But upon thinking about it, a feeling of difficulty instantly welled up in his heart.

"In this vast world, where exactly is a place with abundant Spiritual Qi?"