Chapter 13 – Advancing to the Third Realm: Mindscape Sky Burial City

Mu Lin: “What’s this?”

Zong Xiu: “This is Spirit Gathering Leaf. Next time you attempt to sense spiritual energy, you can place these leaves under your tongue. This will increase your chances of sensing the spiritual energy.”

These words made Mu Lin pause for a moment, but soon he waved his hand and said:

“This is too precious. I can’t accept it.”

“Brother Mu, I’ve already succeeded in sensing it, so I no longer need it.”

“…Then consider it a purchase from me.”

In the end, after some bargaining, Mu Lin bought the Spirit Gathering Leaves at seventy percent of the market price.

What he didn’t know was that after he left, Zong Xiu smiled.

“Recovered some losses…”

Clearly, this visit to Mu Lin wasn’t purely out of friendship; he also intended to sell the remaining Spirit Gathering Leaves in his possession.

Since the other students from wealthy families in the class had their own resources, his Spirit Gathering Leaves weren’t easy to sell.

The only one who could buy them was Mu Lin, who had earned some Spirit Stones the day before.

Mu Lin was unaware of this scheme, though even if he had known, he wouldn’t have minded.

In friendships, while camaraderie is ideal, without equal ability and status, how can there be genuine friendship?

If it weren’t for his display of Paper Folding the previous day, and the fact that his Paper Folding carried the essence of a Master, Zong Xiu’s relationship with him would have inevitably drifted further apart as the gap between them widened.

This time, regardless, Zong Xiu sold him the Spirit Gathering Leaves he needed most at a low price. Mu Lin owed him this favor.

In the afternoon, upon entering the classroom, Mu Lin immediately took out a fresh Spirit Gathering Leaf and placed it under the tip of his tongue.

“Hum…”

As saliva mixed with the Spirit Gathering Leaf, a peculiar sensation suddenly emanated from the leaf, causing Mu Lin to shudder.

At the same time, he also sensed the surrounding spiritual energy.

Unlike with the Fish Oil Paste, this time, Mu Lin’s connection to the spiritual energy was no longer limited to a small point between his eyebrows. Instead, his entire body could sense the presence of the spiritual energy.

More importantly, he could perceive that the spiritual essence of the Spirit Gathering Leaf dissipated very slowly.

“This one is even more effective than a whole bottle of Fish Oil Paste. I made the right purchase!”

Upon discovering he could sense spiritual energy, Mu Lin began circulating the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art while continuing to feel the energy.

He could sense spiritual energy continuously being drawn into his body, circulating along the path of the Ouroboros within him.

But after three cycles, Mu Lin was dismayed to find that his rate of absorbing spiritual energy was low, and the conversion of ordinary spiritual energy into Black Mist Magical Power was also inefficient.

Combined, this meant he had to cultivate several times just to increase a tiny wisp of Black Mist Magical Power.

“Too slow!”

“With this pace of cultivation, I’d need at least fifteen days to increase my Black Mist Magical Power to an amount equivalent to the spiritual energy produced when refining the Blackwater Profound Serpent Essence Blood.”

It’s worth noting that during that absorption, Mu Lin had only converted ten percent of the energy into magical power (the remaining twenty percent strengthened his physical body).

“Ten percent in fifteen days—if I were to fully absorb all ten portions, that would be one hundred and fifty days.”

“Half a year for a single drop of blood…”

At this moment, Mu Lin understood why, in the cultivation world, among the four essentials—Wealth, Companions, Methods, and Location—Wealth ranked first.

Resources were indeed incredibly important for cultivation.

Of course, he also realized this was related to his poor Spirit Root Talent. If he had a First-Class Spirit Root or the legendary Celestial Spirit Root, he could rely solely on absorbing spiritual energy to match the speed of refining essence blood.

But he did not possess such a fine Spirit Root.

Amidst the bitterness, Mu Lin continued his cultivation.

After the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, the effects of the Spirit Gathering Leaf dissipated, and Mu Lin… once again became unable to sense the external Spiritual Energy.

Regarding this, Mu Lin said nothing.

He already knew that his Spirit Root Talent was poor. The speed of Sensing Spiritual Energy depended on the body’s compatibility rate with it. Because his compatibility rate was low, it was normal for his sensing to be slow.

  ”Zong Xiu has Second-Class Spirit Root Talent and consumes Spirit Gathering Leaves daily, yet he still needs two to three days. As for me, at best seven or eight days, at worst ten days to half a month…”

Considering that an A-grade evaluation required Spirit Awakening within seven days, and a B-grade evaluation only allowed Thirty-Three Heavens, while those with Third-Class Spirit Roots like them would consume half that time just on Sensing, Mu Lin truly understood that the A and B evaluations were not prepared for those with Third-Class Spirit Roots.

Or rather, they were not prepared for the poor boys among the Third-Class Spirit Roots. What they could strive for were only C or D evaluations.

This harsh reality… made Mu Lin sigh a little, but he did not resign himself to fate.

After cultivation, Mu Lin first folded some paper flowers and figures, honing his Paper Folding skills.

After half an incense stick’s time, feeling sufficiently rested, Mu Lin immediately closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Having already meditated once in the morning, this time, the progress of his Mindscape – Sky Burial City had reached the 2nd Realm – Proficient (749/800).

That is to say, with one more meditation session, this Cultivation Method of his would advance to the 3rd Realm.

Sword, blade, Spear, bow… Coffin.

Meditating in order, now, what Mu Lin was about to meditate on was the final item: the house.

Due to insufficient mental energy, Mu Lin dared not make it too extravagant. Relying on imagination, he visualized an ordinary folk house with a small Courtyard.

No flowers, no trees, and no furniture. Since it was merely an empty shell, this step was quite simple for Mu Lin.

Soon, he had visualized a folk house.

Then, he let the house collapse and visualized it again.

And so, as time passed, Mu Lin repeatedly visualized the folk house and continuously made it collapse.

In this cycle of meditation, construction, destruction, meditation again, construction, and destruction, Mu Lin became increasingly familiar with the folk house. His visualization grew smoother and smoother, until finally, with almost a single thought, the folk house could be visualized in his Sea of Consciousness.

By this point, the folk house was only one step away from solidification.

“Hum…”

After Mu Lin meditated a few more times, finally, the folk house solidified completely within his Sea of Consciousness.

Henceforth, unless Mu Lin actively forgot it or his soul suffered a blow, this folk house would reside permanently in his Sea of Consciousness.

The folk house was essentially the last thing Mu Lin constructed. With its completion, Mu Lin’s cultivation of Mindscape – Sky Burial City in the second realm was also fully perfected.

Consequently, a special enlightenment emerged from Mu Lin’s true spirit.

He inexplicably understood that to advance Mindscape – Sky Burial City to the third realm, he needed to combine the nine visualized objects together.

This point was also recorded in the secret teachings of Mindscape – Sky Burial City.

However, even if ordinary people knew how to advance, this combination process would inevitably be a lengthy one.

When it came to Mu Lin, things were extremely simple. As he practiced once more, gaining +1 proficiency, the nine objects within his Sea of Consciousness automatically combined.

“Boom!”

In his meditative state, Mu Lin clearly perceived the nine objects merging together, using the last visualized “commoner’s house” as a foundation.

Swords, bows and arrows, armor, coffins… all entered the rooms of the commoner’s house.

The entry of these numerous items transformed the nine objects observed by Mu Lin from separate entities into a unified whole.

This unity allowed Mu Lin’s Mindscape – Sky Burial City to advance to the third realm.

Before Mu Lin could even sense what abilities the third-realm Sky Burial City possessed, a special change occurred within his Sea of Consciousness.

After the many objects converged into one, Mu Lin’s commoner’s house and all the items within it trembled simultaneously.

Amidst this tremor, power separated from the nine objects and gathered together in the center of the house.

This converging power formed a sphere of light, and then Mu Lin discovered that his consciousness had appeared within it.

“This is… my soul spirit!”

“Wait, Soul Manifestation—isn’t this an ability that only appears at Spirit Awakening Perfection, or even upon entering the Gushing Spring Realm?”

(End of Chapter)