"So, what are you going to make me do now?" Yuan asked the masked man, who stood before them with his hands clasped behind his back.
However, the masked man didn't say anything and merely took a seat in the lotus position, and he would remain as still as a rock without uttering a single sound for the next few minutes.
This caused Yuan to raise his eyebrows. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for or how long this would take.
"Are we still waiting for something to happen?" He decided to ask Jin Xi, who looked at him with a slight frown.
"Seriously? The trial has already started," she said, taking him by surprise.
"What? Where? What's the rules?" He continued asking.
Jin Xi pointed at the masked man and said, "Figure it out yourself."
After saying that, she returned to staring at the masked man's figure with an admiring expression on her pretty face, looking like a little girl before her idol.
"..."
Yuan no longer bothered with her and also took a seat.
'What am I supposed to do? I don't sense anything from him.' He wondered to himself as he stared at the masked man, pondering about the trial.
The masked man had no aura, his breathing was so subtle that it was almost nonexistent, almost as though he was on the verge of death.
Many minutes later, still having no idea about the trial, Yuan turned to his companions for assistance.
'Do you guys know what is happening here?'
"No idea." Feng Yuxiang responded without hesitation.
"I also don't know." Lan Yingying shook her head inwardly.
"..."
Xiao Hua's response took a little longer, "Although he seems to be cultivating, the spiritual energy around him is completely still, so that's not possible. Perhaps he is training Sword Aura? Xiao Hua can't tell because she cannot sense it."
"That's what I thought at first as well, but I cannot sense an ounce of Sword Aura from his body." Yuan shook his head.
He began walking in circles around the masked man as he pondered more about the Sword Temple's purpose.
However, no matter how much he racked his brains, he was unable to grasp the situation.
Eventually, Jin Xi snapped, "Stop pacing around Master like he's some kind of object at an exhibit! Show some respect! You're also disturbing me by blocking my view!"
Yuan shrugged, "What can I do? He's literally left no clue about this trial, and I cannot figure it out."
Jin Xi facepalmed and sighed, "Why did the Master even show himself to an idiot like you?"
"That's quite harsh… But can you really blame me here? This trial is different for everyone, so it's not like I can prepare for this."
After sighing again, Jin Xi spoke, "Listen up, I will only say this once."
"What you're doing right now is pointless. You'll never get anywhere even in a million years at your current pace. If you want to understand the situation, stop looking at the surface and start looking deeper."
"Stop looking at the surface and look deeper?" Yuan repeated in a mumbling voice.
He turned to look at the masked man again.
'His breathing… The sound of his heartbeat…'
Yuan suddenly entered a trance where he was completely focused on the masked man, paying attention to the pace of his breathing and even the rhythm of his heartbeats.
However, Yuan felt that wasn't enough, but he didn't know how to look deeper.
Then, almost as though an invisible lightning bolt had struck him and gave him divine epiphany, Yuan subconsciously started using divine sense in a new way.
Normally, one expands their divine sense outwards to see as much and as far as possible, but Yuan did the opposite and condensed his divine sense until it only had the masked man in its sight, allowing him to see the masked man like he was looking through a microscope.
Unfortunately, he was only still able to see the exterior.
Immediately, Yuan tried something different.
This time, he condensed his divine sense even more, and he used it to enhance his own eyes.
Yuan's eyes quickly widened with surprise.
'I can see… I can see everything! From his muscles to the bones! I can even count his blood cells individually!'
<You have learned Divine Gaze>
[Divine Gaze]
[Rank: Divine]
[Description: Allows you to see the world in its purest form]
"Divine Gaze… What a powerful technique…" Yuan mumbled out loud.
Jin Xi raised her eyebrows and spoke, "Huh? You just learned how to use Divine Gaze?"
"That's right." He nodded.
"How surprising. Given your talents, I thought you already learned it. Guess I overestimated you a little. Anyways, don't get too happy just yet. Learning Divine Gaze isn't the true purpose of this trial."
"Eh? It isn't?" Yuan looked at her with wide eyes.
And since he still had Divine Gaze activated, he accidentally glimpsed at Jin Xi's bountiful body for a brief second before it stopped working before he could even deactivate it.
"Che."
Jin Xi sucked her teeth in a disdainful manner.
"The first thing you do after learning Divine Gaze is to peek at a maiden's body? You're the worst."
"I didn't do that on purpose…" Yuan quickly apologized to her.
Then he asked, "By the way, did you block my Divine Gaze? I cannot see through you even though it's still activated."
"Just like how you can use your Divine Sense to block others' Divine Sense if you have superior Soul Strength, you can block others' Divine Gaze with Divine Sense. After all, Divine Gaze is essentially Divine Sense, and they both require Soul Strength."
"The only reason you can use Divine Gaze on Master is because of the nature of this trial, so don't think for a second it'll work on everyone, especially those stronger than you." Jin Xi lectured him.
"I see…"
"Anyways, you're still in the middle of the trial. Don't disturb me again until you're done."
After saying that, Jin Xi returned to staring at the masked man.
"..."
Now that he learned Divine Gaze, Yuan realized that she'd been using it on the masked man this entire time. This realization sent shivers down his entire body since she was technically looking at him, but he decided to ignore it and returned to focusing on the trial.