Chapter 56: Mid Level Enlightenment (fixed)
Xiang Yu clutched his head as an overwhelming torrent of enlightenment flooded his mind. Though only 200 points separated him from the next stage, these final points felt more significant than all his previous gains combined. Thousands of insights flowed into his consciousness, creating the sensation that his brain was expanding, contracting, and contorting in impossible ways.
The intensity threatened to completely overwhelm him. Usually by this point, the stabilizing effect of his sutra would have tempered the experience, but this time was different. Though his sutra momentarily cleared his mind, the sheer volume of insights instantly submerged his consciousness once again.
The sensation persisted far longer than ever before. Hours seemed to pass, then days, then weeks—time had lost all meaning as the storm of revelations continued unabated. When the tempest finally subsided, he exhaled deeply, surprised to find it was still night. Despite feeling as though countless ages had passed, not much time seemed to have passed in the physical world.
As the intense pressure receded, it left behind a crystalline clarity unlike anything he’d experienced before. His mind felt completely transformed, as though his old consciousness had been replaced with something new and vastly superior. Was this what improving a natural talent felt like? His comprehension had finally ascended to the mid level.
Though the advancement had been agonizing, the results were unquestionably worth the suffering. With merely low-level comprehension, he had achieved a perfect technique in less than a month—an extraordinary feat by any standard. The possibilities with mid-level comprehension seemed limitless, filling him with genuine excitement.
Following this transformation came another wave of insights, less overwhelming but still profound. His cooking skill had advanced from eighth grade to seventh grade, flooding his mind with new knowledge: qi manipulation techniques, methods for controlling spirit flames with greater precision, novel recipes, and refinements to existing approaches. Everything he knew about cooking had been elevated to a higher tier.
He sensed that his culinary creations would now provide even greater benefits when consumed, though he would need to test this tomorrow to know by how much exactly. Curiously, his spirit fire no longer seemed to improve from his cooking practice. Still, with the substantial points still available for doubling, he wasn’t concerned. Besides, now that his cooking had broken through to a new grade, this might change.
A final insight materialized in his mind—clearer, more focused than the others. He saw himself standing, knife in hand, executing a single downward slash. No unnecessary movements, no elaborate flourishes, just a pure, perfect strike. This... this was true perfection.
Opening his eyes, Xiang Yu marveled at this newfound mastery. Even without holding a knife, he could sense the flawless quality of his technique. No testing was necessary—he simply knew.
His other techniques had advanced significantly as well. His sword mastery stood at the threshold of perfection, requiring just one more push to cross that boundary. His iron body technique had begun its journey toward perfection, and he could already feel the dramatic increase in his body’s durability. Not just his skin but his internal organs were being reinforced, growing stronger by the moment. He wondered with genuine curiosity how powerful his physical form would become once this technique reached perfection.
The phantom footwork had progressed through nearly half of the minor success stage. At this pace, it would surpass the halfway mark before the next settlement.
His scriptures showed remarkable development as well. The sutra had gained almost two hundred points and wasn’t that far off from the halfway point, putting mind level two within reach. Most significantly, the Mountain Heart Scripture had advanced to the sixth layer, triggering a corresponding breakthrough in his body refining realm. The speed of his progress was truly astonishing—he hadn’t even had time to fully appreciate his fifth layer strength before advancing further.
He could feel his body actively growing stronger with each passing moment. Deeply satisfied with the day’s achievements, he summoned his complete status display:
...
[Name: Xiang Yu]
[Realm: Body: 6th Layer; Mind: Level 1]
[Species: Human]
[Spiritual Root: null]
[Enlightenment: Mid (0/2000)]
[Battle Instinct: (784/100,000)]
[Spirit Flame: Abyssal Void Flame: 7th Grade (182/30,000)]
[Professions: Cook: 7th Grade (0/300)]
[Techniques: Mid-grade Phantom Footwork: Minor Success (80/200); Low-grade Iron Body Technique: Great Completion (0/1000); Basic Knife Technique: Perfect; Basic Sword Technique: Great Completion (720/1000)]
[Scriptures: Mountain Heart Scripture: 6th Layer (0/600); Mountain Heart Sutra: Level 1 (380/1000)]
[System Function: Double Exp (Cooldown: 24hrs)]
A surge of pride welled up within Xiang Yu as he admired the "Perfect" status of his knife technique. After admiring his stats for several minutes, savoring each advancement, he decided it was time to practice the Mountain Heart Sutra.
Though he had no clock, Xiang Yu could estimate the time by checking the countdown until his next settlement. From what he could tell, two hours had already elapsed—his enlightenment breakthrough to mid-level had consumed far more time than anticipated. The memory of that overwhelming torrent of insights sent a chill down his spine. If advancing from low to mid enlightenment had been this dangerous, what might happen when he eventually progressed to high level? The thought reinforced his determination to prioritize his mind cultivation, creating the mental fortitude necessary to withstand future breakthroughs.
Without further deliberation, he assumed his meditation posture, back straight, hands resting lightly on his knees. The moment he closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, his consciousness flowed smoothly into his spiritual sea—the transition now happening in an instant.
Upon arrival, he immediately noticed the illuminated area within his spiritual sea had expanded once again, this time considerably pushing the darkness further toward the periphery. The gentle ambient light that emanated from the void itself now encompassed a much larger radius around him. Though this phenomenon intrigued him, he remained focused on his cultivation rather than investigating the change.
With the Abyssal Void Flame burning steadily on his spiritual forehead, protecting him from mental demons, he immersed himself completely in the sutra’s practice. The flame’s black radiance, punctuated by tiny white sparks like distant stars, cast a protective aura that allowed him to explore the depths of meditation without fear of being consumed by the void.
Time lost all meaning as he remained in this profound state of cultivation, only returning to physical awareness when the first light of dawn filtered through his window. After stretching his body to dispel any lingering stiffness, he eagerly summoned his system interface to review the night’s progress.