378: Sudden Enlightenment Breakthrough

You stand at the bow of the boat, a gentle breeze brushing your face. No matter how brutal the slaughter below, not a ripple stirs in your heart.

The thousand-mile beacon fires, mountains of corpses, and seas of blood slowly blur in your eyes, finally becoming a simple scene.

Like two groups of ants fighting over a grain of sand.

What are they fighting for?

Perhaps a stretch of Spiritual Vein, a few mines, a trade route, a rare Heaven And Earth Treasure, or simply a hollow reputation.

This reminds you of childhood: two ant colonies fighting desperately over a bit of fruit pulp, antennae pressing against antennae, legs tangled with legs, neither side retreating.

Back then, it seemed amusing. Now, looking again, it just feels tedious.

What's the difference between the struggle on the immortal path and ants fighting over food?

Nothing, except the battlefield is a bit larger, the stakes are a bit heavier, and those who fall are no longer mortals but Dao bodies.

But at their core, that struggle for dominance, expansion, and life-or-death conflict has never changed.

Humans die for wealth, birds perish for food—desire knows no bounds.

In the eyes of these people, weren't you once just an ant too?

Now, looking again, your state of mind has completely transformed.

You can see through it because you stand high enough—high enough to disregard those meaningless conflicts.

But what if their struggle contains something that interests you?

Perhaps a true 'immortal' isn't defined by strength, but by the transcendence of one's state of mind.

In this endless torrent, find your own shore—unmoved by ants shedding blood, unconcerned by immortals clashing.

You withdraw your gaze, no longer looking, nor delving into those elusive thoughts.

The path lies beneath your feet; the Dao is found along the journey.

The path of Cultivation is long. This scene is merely a casual glance along the way.

But one day, if eyes from a higher place look down, watching you struggle to survive, scheme, and contend, might they view it like you watching ants fight—with a trace of detached understanding, even a hint of pity?

Especially since, in the future, Tianhuang Continent and the Liu Clan Immortal Family are bound to engage in a major battle.

When that time comes, what difference will there be from these ants below fighting over sand?

This thought makes your heart tighten slightly.

Suddenly, a sensation like an extremely fine thread brushes through your spiritual platform—so light it's almost imperceptible.

It's not a concrete thought, nor a clear insight, but more like an omen—

A faint, indescribable something quietly ripples deep within your Sea of Consciousness.

Instinctively, you halt all thoughts, relax your mind, restrain the Qi around you, and slowly close your eyes right there on the speeding bow.

Instantly, your mind becomes utterly still.

Not empty, nor nothingness, but a state of 'enlightenment'.

Like an old tree awaiting the first spring breeze, a dry well awaiting the first drop of rain.

In this extreme stillness and anticipation—

The Epiphany arrives.

The moment you enter meditation, an indescribable rhythm silently spreads outward, centered on the spirit boat.

Not power, but the resonance of Dao essence.

The battlefield below suddenly pauses.

Whether it's Foundation Establishment soldiers or Golden Core commanders, their hearts inexplicably feel vacant for an instant, as if gently brushed by something vast and serene, their killing intent even fading slightly.

Immediately after, across the entire Shattered Star Continent, many Cultivators with profound cultivation and keen senses simultaneously feel a stirring, sharply looking up toward the sky where you are!

To them, that patch of sky shows no bursting light, no changing winds or clouds, yet it feels different.

Like a Divine Pillar suddenly plunged into murky waters, all chaos is smoothed and illuminated by a higher, clearer 'order'.

As if the Law itself is pleased, gently responding to one who understands it.

You comprehend it, and it acknowledges you.

Your Primordial Spirit now feels as if soaking in a warm, wide river.

That river isn't made of water, but countless visible yet intangible threads of Law, twisting together as they flow.

Those previously baffling key points—like the Origin of Law, the foundation of spiritual power, life, death, and Reincarnation... vague sensations now, washed and illuminated by this 'river', suddenly become clear and simple.

Not learning something new, but finally understanding what was already there.

The barrier ahead wasn't 'shattered'—it dispersed like morning mist under the sun.

When you open your eyes again, there's no piercing light in them, only a lake-like calm.

Yet the aura around you has quietly transformed.

Your Primordial Spirit has grown more solid, your Divine Sense can reach far further, and your perception and grasp of the heavenly Laws have suddenly leaped to a new Realm.

Mid-Spirit Transformation!

Water flows naturally to form a channel; it follows logically.

Slowly raising your hand, you feel the surging power within your body—more robust and 'obedient' than before—as genuine surprise and joy gradually rise from the depths of your heart.

"Watching a fight... can lead to an Epiphany?"

"When did epiphanies become so easy?"

Previously, after five hundred years of Cultivation, you were still stuck at the Bottleneck of the Early Stage of Soul Transformation, thinking you'd have to endure much longer or wait for some special Opportunity.

Never imagining that just a passing glance, sparked by that fleeting thought of transcendence toward 'ants fighting', would touch a deeper rhythm of Law and trigger this rare, fortuitous Epiphany.

Epiphanies... are they really this 'simple'?

No, you know it's actually not simple.

It's because your state of mind reached the right level, your accumulation was sufficient, that seemingly ordinary 'glance' became the 'spark' that ignited everything.

Yet you can't help but wonder—what exactly is the catalyst for an Epiphany?

You immediately gather your thoughts, striving to recall that mysterious instant—

But the memory is like sand art washed away by water.

All the sensations during the Epiphany, those suddenly clear threads of Law, that wondrous state of merging with the Dao...

Now all blurred, as if viewed through frosted glass, impossible to grasp.

As if it were a brief yet real dream—upon waking, only a wistful warmth remains; the specifics of the dream have already scattered.

Beside you, Zhong Linger has long been stunned.

She watched you close your eyes, and then it seemed as if heaven and earth fell silent for an instant just for you.

Her cultivation is low; she can't sense that mysterious resonance of Dao essence. But she can clearly perceive that the aura around you has completely transformed in this short time.

It's the profound depth and majesty brought by a leap in life level—impossible to conceal.

When she realizes you've had an Epiphany and achieved a Breakthrough, her mouth hangs open, her eyes filled with awe bordering on reverence.

This... is a true Prodigy?

While traveling, watching a slaughter, and... having an Epiphany and breaking through?