Chapter 128: Half a Spirit Platform

“These rooms from left to right contain Contemplation Diagrams ranging from low-level to Advanced. Brother, I’m begging you, just pick a low-level one to test the waters.”

The liberal arts student pleaded earnestly, worried that his wallet would be completely drained.

Jiang Yan didn’t take advantage of him and chose an intermediate-level Contemplation room, glancing at the price.

“20 points per minute.”

“Twenty points per minute, which works out to 1,200 points per hour. That’s quite expensive.”

Jiang Yan only had 2,500 points on hand, enough for just over two hours.

Fortunately, there was a big sucker nearby.

The Contemplation room operated on a pay-after-use system, so Jiang Yan entered the room directly.

Outside, a Doppelganger stood guard over the liberal arts student to prevent him from skipping out on the bill.

“It’s fine. Ordinary people usually last about ten minutes before quitting. He’s a bit more impressive, so let’s assume he’ll observe for half an hour. That’s only 600 points. It hurts a little, but it’s still acceptable.”

Thinking this way, he felt much better.

“Sigh, I shouldn’t have struck up a conversation with him. How could anyone kill a demon with just a few Saber strikes? He must have been lying to me!”

In reality, Jiang Yan had told the truth.

Inside the room.

As soon as Jiang Yan entered, he looked around.

The walls were adorned with simple wallpaper, and directly opposite, a painting hung in a frame.

The painting depicted mountains and water, renowned for its brushwork. At first glance, it resembled an ancient literati landscape painting.

Black and white dominated the scene, with mountains and water side by side, a small boat gliding gently, and flowers, birds, fish, and butterflies.

It was quite ordinary.

At first glance, Jiang Yan only found it somewhat pleasing to the eye, unable to discern anything more from it.

Above the painting was a timer, showing that 30 seconds had already passed.

Although he wasn’t using his own points, Jiang Yan didn’t dawdle. He sat down on the cushion beneath the painting and began to observe.

[System Log Updated]

“You are observing a Contemplation Diagram. Your spirit is being guided.”

“You are observing a Contemplation Diagram. Your Spiritual Power has slightly increased.”

…

With just one glance, Jiang Yan’s vision was drawn into the painting, as if he were already immersed in the landscape, beside a sunken boat, listening to the gentle flow of water as a small boat glided by.

The world seemed to grow dim, and Jiang Yan became completely absorbed in the painting before him.

System prompts chimed incessantly in his ears, but Jiang Yan remained oblivious.

After opening all eighteen Apertures, his Talents in all aspects had reached the peak of humanity. Even without the [Heaven Rewards Diligence] buff, he could still quickly enter the state.

With [Heaven Rewards Diligence], it was as if he had Divine Power aiding him. Challenges that were difficult for all Martial Artists who had just entered the Spirit Platform were as simple as eating or drinking to him.

His consciousness gradually grew entranced, and Jiang Yan’s spirit became increasingly exhilarated. In a short time, he captured a trace of Qi.

It was a shadow-like existence, elusive yet undeniably real.

A tiny point of light appeared in Jiang Yan’s mind.

Faint, delicate, as if it would vanish at the slightest touch.

As time passed, the point of light gradually expanded, growing to the size of a fingernail.

His Spiritual Power continued to strengthen, and his focus sharpened. The point of light grew larger and larger in Jiang Yan’s consciousness.

Then, it stopped at the size of a basketball and ceased changing.

“That’s it?”

Jiang Yan was stunned, unable to comprehend.

“So, where exactly is my Spirit Platform?”

Jiang Yan saw the Spirit Platform but couldn’t locate where it was.

Was that even reasonable?

Time ticked by, and Jiang Yan found his Spirit Platform in an extremely short span, yet in the subsequent moments, he could no longer locate its position.

It was like telling a friend, “I went to eat barbecue today,” and when the friend asked where, you could only shrug and say:

“I don’t know, but I saw the barbecue stall and ate the barbecue.”

Baffling, completely beyond ordinary reasoning.

An hour later.

The liberal arts student outside had already started knocking on the door.

“Bro, stop observing already, I really don’t have many points left!”

“Normal people can’t last more than ten minutes—how is he still going?”

He was on the verge of tears.

Fortunately, Jiang Yan didn’t make things difficult for him. He only asked him to pay for one hour’s fee before allowing his Doppelganger to let him leave.

Jiang Yan didn’t have much time left. The 2,500 points in his account were only enough for him to use the Contemplation Diagram for 120 minutes.

He had to continue pondering earnestly where this so-called Spirit Platform was!

His gaze returned to the painting, and Jiang Yan immersed himself in it once more.

That faint point of light flickered again, like a candle in the silent night, brightening and dimming intermittently.

After an unknown length of time, Jiang Yan’s mind began to feel slightly dizzy.

[System Log Updated]

“Your Spiritual Power has slightly increased.”

As the dizziness gradually intensified, the scene in Jiang Yan’s consciousness began to unfold.

The Spirit Platform enlarged, and this time, Jiang Yan saw its appearance clearly.

It was bright, so bright it was blinding, like daylight suddenly breaking through the darkness, blazing and dazzling!

Shaped like a crystal-clear stand, colorless and flawless, as pure as a snow lotus freshly plucked from a snowy mountain, untouched by a speck of dust, exceptionally clear.

But…

“Why is there only half?”

Indeed, in Jiang Yan’s mind, he only saw half of the Spirit Platform; the other half was nowhere to be seen.

“Could it be that I was born with only half a Spirit Platform?”

Such an absurd thought arose in Jiang Yan’s mind, but upon careful consideration, it seemed unlikely.

So he continued his contemplation, his eyes losing focus as he stared at the wall painting once more.

This time, Jiang Yan found the Spirit Platform effortlessly.

This indicated that he had completed the first step of the Spirit Platform Realm, officially reaching the threshold of a fifth-grade Martial Artist.

However, since the remaining half of the Spirit Platform had yet to be found, Jiang Yan couldn’t be certain whether he was now a Spirit Platform Realm Martial Artist.

Half-step Spirit Platform?

There was no such term on Tianyuan Star.

“You are observing the Contemplation Diagram; your Spiritual Power has increased slightly.”

Another unknown length of time passed, and Jiang Yan felt his Spirit Platform becoming full, glossy, and continuously expanding.

While searching for the remaining half of the Spirit Platform, Jiang Yan had unconsciously begun cultivating!

The Spirit Platform was the vessel that contained Spiritual Power. Only by refining the vessel to become larger could it hold more Spiritual Power.

Jiang Yan’s half Spirit Platform had now grown from its initial fist-sized form to the size of a basketball.

As his Spiritual Power grew stronger, Jiang Yan persisted tirelessly in searching for the remaining half of the Spirit Platform.

One advantage of the contemplation room was that it allowed usage first and payment later. If one lacked points, they could simply owe them, without any interruptions during observation.

For Martial Artists cultivating Spiritual Power, external interference could be fatal!

Thanks to this, Jiang Yan could observe with peace of mind.

At worst, he’d just owe the points.

After searching for a long time, the Spirit Platform grew larger and larger, but the remaining half remained elusive.

“You diligently observe the Contemplation Diagram; your Spiritual Power has significantly increased!”

Boom!

An invisible surge of Qi erupted from the Spirit Platform, and Jiang Yan’s spirit felt as if it were floating among fragrant clouds, becoming incredibly exhilarated.

In his consciousness, the half Spirit Platform flickered intermittently, as a faint shadow began to appear in fragments.

A realm of daylight manifested, with familiar scenes constructing themselves one after another.

Jiang Yan did not know whether this world had descended upon the Spirit Platform, or the Spirit Platform had descended upon the world.

“This is… the Divine Martial Space!”

Above the dome, a half sun hung high in the sky.