Chapter 14 – Soul Manifestation: Cultivation Speed Increases Tenfold!

Regarding cultivation realms, the Daoist tradition naturally has its own hierarchical divisions.

Not only are there hierarchical divisions, but the Great Spirit Dynasty also registers and records the Daoists within its territory, granting them status and position.

Sensing, Qi Drawing, and Spirit Awakening—these are the initial three realms. Because these three realms represent the beginner stage, the Great Spirit Dynasty and various major sects generally refer to cultivators at this level as Daoist Novices or Disciples, meaning children who have just begun their cultivation studies.

After Spirit Awakening comes the three realms of the Spirit Sea: Gushing Spring, Heavenly Pool, and Spirit Sea.

During the Spirit Awakening stage, the mana of cultivators like Mu Lin is mostly in a mist-like form, such as the Black Mist Magical Power cultivated through Mu Lin’s Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art.

Entering the Gushing Spring realm involves condensing the mist-like mana into a liquid state.

Subsequently, cultivation in the three Spirit Sea realms involves continuously expanding the internal mana pool, allowing one’s mana to evolve and accumulate step by step from a spring, to a pond, to a lake, and finally to an ocean.

Since mana is the foundation and cornerstone of everything, the three Spirit Sea realms are also known as the Foundation Establishment realm.

At this level, cultivators already possess a certain level of strength, and the Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty collectively refers to cultivators in these three realms as Feathered Scholars.

After the three Foundation Establishment realms come Sha Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Gang Sha Unity.

Human power has its limits, while the power of heaven and earth is boundless. This stage involves using the Earth Sha Qi and Heavenly Gang Qi of the world to transform one’s mana.

After this qualitative change, mana becomes stronger, more powerful, and more mystical. Cultivators at this stage can already be respectfully addressed as Spell Masters.

After Gang Sha comes the Mortal Shedding Adept (or Expert). However, Mu Lin’s grandfather’s cultivation level was ultimately low, so the specifics of the Mortal Shedding realm were beyond his understanding.

Sensing, Qi Drawing, Spirit Awakening—Gushing Spring, Heavenly Pool, Spirit Sea—Sha Refinement, Gang Condensation, Gang Sha Unity, and the subsequent Mortal Shedding—these are the cultivation realms Mu Lin knows about.

However, cultivators cultivate not only mana but also Divine Sense.

Soul Manifestation is an ability that only emerges when one’s Divine Sense reaches Spirit Awakening Perfection or even the Gushing Spring realm.

Mu Lin didn’t understand why he had already manifested his soul spirit now.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to ponder for long before he discovered the reason.

“Mindscape – Sky Burial City!”

“Mindscape is inherently a cultivation method for training the Divine Soul and consciousness. As I steadily progress in this method, my spiritual soul naturally advances step by step. Reaching the 3rd level of Expert and having my soul spirit reach the Gushing Spring realm… is perfectly normal.”

Don’t think that just because Mu Lin cultivates easily, advancing soul spirit realms is simple.

Each effective cultivation session increases his method progress by one point, and it never regresses—this is why he surpasses ordinary people so quickly.

Ordinary people often make mistakes in their cultivation; if they can achieve ten effective training sessions out of a hundred attempts, it’s already considered good.

They also forget and get stuck at bottlenecks—every solidification of their visualized object is a minor bottleneck for them, and the final combination can hinder ordinary people for a long time.

It’s not as simple as placing swords, bows, and arrows into a civilian house to count as a successful combination. They must also merge into one, which is necessary for soul spirit manifestation. This step cannot be achieved through mere effort alone; without a bit of spiritual insight and opportunity, success is truly difficult.

Of course, others’ difficulties are theirs alone, and now is the time for Mu Lin to reap his rewards.

Although his soul spirit has only just manifested and cannot yet leave his body for nocturnal journeys, this still brings Mu Lin countless benefits.

The first and foremost benefit is the significant enhancement of his thinking ability.

The second is the ability to multitask.

“Although it’s only a preliminary manifestation, I can already split my attention four ways.”

The third point is the enhancement of sensing ability.

Specifically, after the soul spirit manifested, divine sense also derived from it. Because of this, Mu Lin could observe his surroundings in a full 360 degrees and even perceive things invisible to the naked eye.

Such as ghosts, and—spiritual energy.

Yes, after the soul spirit manifested and divine sense was born, the obstacle of sensing that had troubled Mu Lin was simply gone.

Now, he could clearly sense the existence of external spiritual energy.

  ”…”

This situation was something Mu Lin had not anticipated, and it left him with complex emotions.

After a long while, he finally let out a sigh.

“I really wasted money on those Spirit Gathering Leaves!”

…

After his lament, Mu Lin continued to sense the presence of spiritual energy. Then, through a series of observations relying on his divine sense and the knowledge from his past life, he even figured out the specific principles by which cultivators sense spiritual energy.

Previously, Mu Lin and others had weak divine souls and were unable to extend them outward.

Therefore, they used various methods to adjust the frequency of their divine souls or make them more sensitive, deepening their connection with the surrounding spiritual energy to achieve sensing.

Now, however, he was achieving miracles through sheer force, relying on his powerful divine soul to sense directly.

Of course, Mu Lin was not satisfied with this. Knowing the principles and having manifested his soul spirit, he could now directly adjust the frequency of his own soul spirit.

With just a slight adjustment, he made his soul spirit more compatible with the surrounding spiritual energy.

Then, he discovered that sensing and absorbing spiritual energy had become much easier for him.

Without hesitation, upon realizing this, Mu Lin immediately began the arduous cultivation of the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art.

This was also the first time he had entered a cultivation state without relying on external aids.

And then, he joyfully discovered something.

After his soul spirit manifested and his spirit grew stronger, the range over which he could absorb spiritual energy had also expanded severalfold.

Originally, he could only draw spiritual energy from within a range of thirty to fifty centimeters around his body into himself. Now, the spiritual energy within three to five meters around him surged toward him in response to his will, flooding into his body.

In addition to the absorption range expanding severalfold, Mu Lin also discovered another delightful fact that made his heart race.

His control over spiritual energy had also greatly increased.

Previously, with the assistance of Fish Oil Paste and Spirit Gathering Leaves, Mu Lin could absorb spiritual energy into his body, but not only was the amount small, most of it also moved uncontrollably and randomly within him.

He had to expend tremendous effort just to barely manipulate a small portion of the spiritual energy, guiding it along fixed meridian pathways.

But now, the situation was different.

Although the amount of spiritual energy flowing into his body had increased, his powerful mental strength allowed him to directly control the spiritual energy, making this tenfold-increased surge of energy circulate obediently and precisely within his body.

“…With an expanded absorption range and enhanced control, even though my Spirit Root talent is not high, by relying on sheer force to achieve miracles, my cultivation speed will still be over ten times faster than before.”

“Ten times that of a Third-Class Spirit Root… my cultivation speed is likely comparable to, or even surpasses, that of a Second-Class Spirit Root talent.”

Thinking this far, Mu Lin grew excited:

“A Second-Class Spirit Root has a great chance of successfully undergoing Spirit Awakening within the Thirty-Three Heavens and becoming a disciple with a B-grade evaluation from the Dao Palace.”

“So, my chance has come. Within thirty-three days, I too have the opportunity to successfully undergo Spirit Awakening!”

Once he confirmed this, Mu Lin’s eyes lit up.

“Grind, grind until I drop!”

Knowing he had the chance to become a Class B talent of the Dao Palace and freely enjoy all its resources, how could Mu Lin not be excited? As a result, his cultivation in the following days showed no signs of stopping.

(End of Chapter)