After leaving the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Chen Ye did not immediately take his disciples home.
He led Qing Jun and Zhiwei, continuing to stroll around the market.
"Master, will that Aunt Mao come to find us again?"
Qing Jun shook the silver bell, unable to part with it, her little face full of bright anticipation.
Indeed, mother and daughter are connected at heart.
Even though Qing Jun did not know Mao Qingzhu was her mother, she was innately fond of this female cultivator.
Chen Ye patted Qing Jun’s little head and said warmly, "She will, once the time is right, she will definitely come."
"Then... why did she give Master so many good things?"
Qing Jun asked again with a face full of curiosity, the clever little girl squinted her eyes,
"Did Master promise her something! Let Qing Jun guess... She likes Qing Jun and Senior Sister so much, could it be that Master wants to sell us? That’s why she gave Master treasures!!"
Thinking of this,
the little girl was stunned, forgetting to shake the bell.
Her voice suddenly lowered, nervously:
"Master, then... let’s give these things back to Aunt, okay... Master, listen to Qing Jun, we shouldn’t take advantage of others..."
Chen Ye seriously pinched his chin:
"How could Master bear to sell his disciples?"
The little girl peeked at Chen Ye:
"You can’t bear it, huh... sigh, really can’t do anything about Master."
Chen Ye nodded, "Of course I can’t bear it! Master is just waiting for Qing Jun to become chubby, then I’ll make braised girl to eat."
"!"
"Of course, steaming is also nice."
"Woo!"
The little girl wailed.
Chen Ye fell into thought.
Mao Qingzhu’s gift today was undeniably significant.
The United Sword, Divine Sense Technique, these items alone are enough to make an ordinary Loose Cultivator jealous.
She gave so selflessly, besides her entrusted feelings, does she have deeper considerations?
"Alright, alright, maybe... she sees that I have extraordinary potential and wants to invest early."
Chen Ye said half-jokingly.
"Hmph! Master isn’t amazing at all! Master is just a big bad guy!"
The still-angry little girl immediately retorted, her little mouth pouting high.
Zhiwei quietly listened from the side, unlike Qing Jun, she was not as lively and inquisitive.
But in those dark eyes, there was also a curiosity about Mao Qingzhu’s identity.
Chen Ye walked around the market with his two disciples, buying them many little trinkets and snacks that weren’t seen every day.
Only then did the little girl’s puffed cheeks deflate slightly, and she continued to tirelessly shake her shabby bell.
The slight ripple in Chen Ye’s heart caused by Mao Qingzhu’s appearance gradually settled down.
Upon returning to the small courtyard on Shunshui Street, the sky was nearing dusk.
Chen Ye instructed his two disciples on how to use their newly acquired flying swords.
Indeed, the Canchen and Xiaohan twin swords were extraordinary.
Once in hand, one could feel the spiritual power contained within, and on the sword’s body, star patterns seemed to flow, particularly fitting for the two of them.
"What grade are these flying swords..."
Chen Ye examined the two small swords.
The sword bodies were about two feet long and felt light in hand.
Unscathed, they appeared unremarkable.
But when drawn, one could see the blade shimmering with faint starlight, not made of ordinary iron.
He tried bringing the two swords close together, seeing that they emitted a slight hum, and the starlight on the blades brightened a bit.
"Good swords!"
Chen Ye couldn’t help but praise.
Though not very knowledgeable about sword artifacts, he could tell these two swords were no ordinary items.
"These two swords might be flying swords at the magical treasure level..."
Chen Ye pondered inwardly, even feeling a bit envious of his two disciples.
A Tier One Upper Grade magical artifact is already considered precious in the market, with a hefty price tag.
Let alone a Tier Two magical treasure?
However, to effectively wield a Tier Two magical treasure, one needs to use Divine Sense to refine it.
Without Divine Sense, they can only be used as magical artifacts.
Even so, their might far surpasses that of magical artifacts nevertheless.
Zhiwei channeled the Frost Splendor Record, injecting spiritual power into Canchen.
The sword body immediately emitted an icy blue glow, like a cold starry splendor, cold and aloof.
But Qing Jun seemed a bit struggling; although she had stepped into the First-Layer of Qi Cultivation, her spiritual power was thin, making it difficult to fully activate Xiaohan.
The little girl reddened her face, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, but the flying sword just trembled slightly and remained motionless.
"Master... it doesn’t listen to me!" Qing Jun, a little discouraged, lowered the sword.
Chen Ye laughed, "Your cultivation is still shallow, it’s normal to find it hard to control. No need to rush; just keep practicing diligently."
This sword to Chen Ye was small, but it was almost half the size of Qing Jun.
The little girl grasped Xiaohan with both hands tightly, not willing to give up, putting all her strength into it.
"Eee-yah!!"
"Zing!"
The sword’s body glowed with spiritual light, like a galaxy cascading vast and boundless.
She actually managed to activate Xiaohan successfully!
"Hmph! Will you listen or not!" The little girl angrily pounded the sword hilt.
"Hiss—"
Watching the flying swords in the hands of his two disciples shimmering with brilliance, Chen Ye couldn’t help but feel envious.
But since it belonged to his disciples, he naturally wouldn’t forcibly take possession of it.
...
As night fell, Chen Ye instructed his two disciples to rest early.
He himself went to the cultivation room, eagerly taking out the warm jade scroll, which had been gifted to him by Mao Qingzhu, the "Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique."
His heart was burning with excitement.
This technique was the first well-known cultivation technique he had encountered in the game’s storyline!
It was the same Divine Sense Technique used by the World-Ending Demoness Xu Qingjun!
Chen Ye recalled the game’s setting; compared to Qingjun’s future status and her sky-reaching cultivation, the rank of this Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique was not considered the top-class divine skill.
At least, compared to those supreme Taoist texts that could easily destroy the heavens and reverse the universe, it seemed much simpler.
However, its special attribute was that the upper limit of the Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique was exceedingly high.
This might sound contradictory: a technique that is not of the highest grade but has an incredibly high upper limit?
In reality, it wasn’t so.
This could be explained by the content of the technique.
What are the Seven Luminaries?
They are Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, and Saturn, as well as the Sun and the Moon.
The first five are also called gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, corresponding to the basic Five Elements origins of the Cultivation Realm.
To illuminate these first five stars, one must have the corresponding spiritual roots to draw upon the power of the stars. Using the essence of the Seven Luminaries to refine and nourish one’s soul.
The trick lies in that the more spiritual roots one has, the poorer the aptitude.
With the Five Spiritual Roots, establishing a Foundation is hard enough, let alone lighting up the five stars?
Therefore, those who can cultivate the Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique to a profound level mostly possess little spiritual root aptitude.
Hence, when this technique was originally created,
it wasn’t intended for cultivators to light up all five stars; they only needed to illuminate the stars corresponding to their spiritual roots.
Until Qingjun burst onto the scene, practicing this technique and, with her extraordinary aptitude, lighting up all five stars.
This made what was considered an insignificant Divine Sense Technique gain fame across the vast Cultivation Realm!
However,
even if a cultivator cannot light up all five stars, the Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique is still a top-tier Divine Sense Technique in the Yan Kingdom’s realm.
"Fortunately, I have the Five Spiritual Roots."
Chen Ye slowly opened the jade scroll.
Because he was still at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, he did not yet possess Divine Sense, and couldn’t probe the jade scroll with it to understand the full essence of the spells.
But the Divine Sense Technique included visualization images for cultivators to preliminarily train their Divine Sense, preparing for the late-stage Qi Cultivation.
And this stage is precisely when a cultivator lays their foundation!
The deeper the visualization, the deeper the Divine Sense foundation in the future will be.
The jade scroll opened with an immense star map, the Seven Luminaries hanging there, complex and mysterious.
Just looking at this star map could make one feel an inexplicable tug and touching of the soul.
Under the lamp, the star map on the jade scroll seemed to come alive.
The seven main stars weren’t static; they gently revolved within the inch-sized space of the jade scroll, following some intricate and unfathomable trajectory, echoing and attracting one another.
Starlight flowed, light and dark intermingled, as if the entire universe’s miniature was condensed into this small jade scroll.
Chen Ye took a deep breath, striving to discard distractions, immersing his entire mind in the visualization image.
In an instant, everything around him seemed to disappear.
The light in the cultivation room, the sound of the wind outside the window, even his own body... all perceptions became blurred, with only the vast starry sea before him growing more and more real.
He immersed his whole being in this starry ocean, wanting to visualize a clear image of a star from the vast star map.
However, the visualization process was extraordinarily difficult.
His Five Elements Spiritual Roots became his biggest hindrance in focusing.
When he attempted to concentrate and visualize the verdancy and vitality of Saturn, the heat of Mars would uncontrollably surge and disturb his concentration;
when he tried to capture the liveliness of Venus, the sharpness of Mercury would stab painfully into his consciousness.
This singular star map was too grand and complete, the powers of the Seven Luminaries interweaving and flowing, making it impossible for him, with his current soul strength and the chaotic perception of Five Spiritual Roots, to successfully detach and clearly visualize any single star, let alone more stars.
His spiritual power was quickly consumed during this attempt, the swelling pain from his sea of consciousness growing more intense.
"The limitation of aptitude... indeed."
Chen Ye tiredly opened his eyes, his head aching as if splitting, and he promptly ceased the visualization to prevent damage to his Divine Soul.
He had used all his strength, yet couldn’t capture even a stable illusion of a star, only a chaos of light and shadow and a tearing pain in his mind.
Never mind lighting up five stars in the future; he probably couldn’t even lay a proper foundation!
Just as Chen Ye was feeling disheartened, a faint prompt suddenly appeared in the depths of his consciousness:
[Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique (Visualization Chapter): Proficiency +1]
Chen Ye was stunned.
"Proficiency? Even visualization can increase proficiency?" He stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
He hadn’t even started practicing the Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique, only preliminary visualization, yet he hadn’t expected that even without practicing the full technique, proficiency could be increased!
What does having Five Spiritual Roots matter? What does difficulty in visualization matter?
He, Chen Ye, has a proficiency panel!
"There’s always a way out!"
Chen Ye let out a long sigh of relief, putting down the jade scroll without becoming overly fixated.
On the path of cultivation, haste makes waste.
He stood up, stretching his muscles.
As the night deepened, the daytime bustle and noise of the market were swallowed by the cold night’s silence, leaving only the patter of light rain outside the window.
"At this moment... having a computer would be amazing."
A bit... lonely.