Chapter 96 It

With wisps of incense curling lazily into the air, Chen Yu gradually sank into a state of profound stillness.

As ripples stirred within his mind, his consciousness felt as though it were resting upon a soft cushion of cotton, catching the wind and soaring freely through the formless void.

His spirit radiated outward involuntarily, dancing and leaping incessantly within his Niwan Palace. Even the silver vortex, which had grown considerably larger by now, could not contain it, as it surged and vibrated throughout the inner sanctum.

Entering meditation once more, the first light of dawn was just breaking. A few breaths later, Chen Yu awoke, rubbing his somewhat throbbing brow. The experience, akin to a sudden flash of enlightenment, had flooded his mind with too many ethereal insights. Even having experienced such states several times before, he still found them a bit overwhelming to digest all at once.

Yet, this kind of pleasant trouble was not something to be shared with outsiders; revealing it would only invite envy and jealousy.

Out of the corner of his eye, a chestnut-red figure came bounding up to the front of the courtyard. It glanced briefly at the biped sitting upon the bluestone, then swaggered boldly through the courtyard gate toward the water vat. Immediately afterward, the distinct sounds of splashing water drifted over.

Ignoring it, Chen Yu immersed himself once again in his current concerns.

He picked up the incense burner. The Quiet Realm Incense packed inside still had a fair amount left—enough for two or three more uses. The incense sticks he had crafted earlier also had a few remaining, which would suffice for a little while longer.

However, using the incense sticks required a trip to the main worship hall. Mindful of his status as a registered Daoist temple abbot, it was only proper that he offer a portion of such fine incense to the Daoist Ancestors.

Setting aside whatever their intentions might be, the primary reason was that the square bronze cauldron inside the hall was simply more convenient for burning incense.

Gathering his thoughts, he focused his mind back upon his own physical body.

Not long ago, he had formulated a plan: to temporarily cease the cultivation of vital energy (*Qi*), utilize spiritual energy to nourish and nurture his body instead, and thereby thoroughly fill and complete his physical form from within.

The process could not be called difficult, though it did present a few minor hurdles. Yet, he had managed to devise solutions for them one by one, and overall, it had proceeded quite smoothly.

Now that the step of nurturing vital energy had entered the right track, the next phase simply required continuously combining spiritual energy with vital energy.

The growth of vital energy was not an issue for the time being; what occupied his thoughts was the subsequent stage of infusing it into his flesh and blood.

While not exceptionally difficult, it was undeniably tedious. Every single part had to be reached, and no corner could be omitted. Moreover, Chen Yu recalled that when he had previously undergone blood-cleansing, it was the transformation of his visceral organs that had triggered the entire process—affecting the whole body by pulling on a single hair. If he were indeed to infuse vital energy into his body later on, the changes in individual parts might not be dramatic, but when combined and stimulated to erupt all at once, the result would certainly not be simple.

"Healing herbs..."

He sighed softly. They were nowhere to be found. The medicinal powders sold in the pharmacies down the mountain were primarily aimed at dispersing blood stasis, nourishing the blood, eliminating dampness, and suppressing inflammatory fevers. While effective for slow convalescence, they were useless for his needs; he required rapid-acting medicine that took effect the moment it was consumed, much like the mutated peach.

Chen Yu could feel the five-colored energy bead within his body, enveloped by his mental power, along with the spiritual energy that slowly leaked from the specially reserved gaps and was devoured by the vital energy.

The former was growing slowly but steadily.

He would need to devote more energy to cultivation during this period, striving to discover a spiritual plant capable of healing injuries—especially internal ones—before all the vital energy within his body completed its growth.

It did not necessarily have to be a medicinal herb, he thought. While medicinal herbs might possess superior effects, their cultivation time was far too long; a single Heart-Bespoke Herb had taken months to bear ripe fruit. Furthermore, he currently lacked an abundance of spiritual liquid to squander.

The overall strategy remained unchanged: he would still look for plants with healing properties, but medicinal herbs would have to be put aside for now. Time was not particularly abundant, and he needed species that grew rapidly and possessed clear medicinal efficacy.

Did such plants exist? They certainly did.

In fact, one could say they were everywhere—scattered across Mount Qingtai and along the roadside woodlands, where the thriving weeds and wild flowers appeared entirely unremarkable.

Strictly speaking, their potency was vastly inferior to genuine medicinal herbs. However, Chen Yu did not mind, for he possessed spiritual essence to cultivate and mutate them.

Had not the otherwise ordinary weed-incense produced the Quiet Realm Incense from nothing at all?

...

However, rather than scouring the mountainsides to forage at random and wasting spiritual essence in a wide-net approach of trial and error, it was far better to pre-select candidates and focus exclusively on those possessing healing properties.

Although success could not be guaranteed tenfold, the probability of finding a suitable plant should still be significantly higher.

In addition, among the medicinal herbs he had discovered during his previous patrol of the mountain, there were a few biennial varieties. He had planted them near the vegetable garden, having not yet used spiritual essence to cultivate them. He planned to transplant them into the medicinal field together and observe the results.

With any luck, they would succeed.

He took a deep breath, continuing his breath regulation and mental calming. He organized the insights gained from his recent enlightenment, refined and improved his breathing technique, and once again attempted to infuse vital energy into his physical form.

...

On the twelfth day of the eighth month, spiritual essence happily increased by one.

Remainder: twenty-four grains.

Joy was evident on Chen Yu's face, a rare departure from his usual calm and detached demeanor.

Amidst an array of mouth-watering aromas, he stepped out of the kitchen carrying two brimming plates of stir-fried dishes prepared using up the very last of his chili paste: one of shredded ginger, and another of spiced meat.

The ginger came from those two rows in the vegetable garden. Although not much spiritual liquid had been sprinkled upon them after planting them in June, they had grown into tender ginger by August, and when bitten into, they lacked any harsh pungency.

Having pulled up a cluster, he intended to pluck a few more later to pickle and store in a jar, leaving the remainder to mature into old ginger by September before deciding on their fate.

As for the spiced meat... that brought to mind the half-side of a wild boar and the mountain chicken he had brought back to the mountain months ago.

Having lasted for several months—thanks to the presence of spiritual liquid, though mostly kept for casual indulgence rather than daily consumption—they were finally running low.

Today, coinciding with auspicious events, the wild boar had finally been completely finished off, following the mountain chicken.

With a couple of clinks, he added a small dish of wild fruits and a small dish of pickled wild ferns.

One had to admit that compared to the hasty meals he had bolted down over the past few days while buried in various tasks, today's meal could truly be considered lavish.

Of course, achieving true fullness through this food was out of the question. True satiation still relied on spiritual liquid, and even if the spiritual liquid were exhausted, there was still yellow-skinned millet to replenish vital blood; these dishes were never meant to fill an empty stomach.

Sitting at the table, Chen Yu ate while letting his thoughts wander. The reason he felt slightly excited this time was naturally not just because of the increase in spiritual essence.

The fluctuation of spiritual essence was nothing new to him; it condensed one grain every three and a half days, roughly amounting to forty double-hours. But this time was different. Having kept a close watch on it, Chen Yu discovered that only thirty-eight double-hours had passed since the last condensation of spiritual essence.

It was faster by two doublehours!

Two double-hours might not seem like much, but the change in the condensation speed of spiritual essence was something he could not afford to ignore.

The exact reason for this acceleration remained unclear. He had considered numerous possibilities and ultimately concluded that the effect of spiritual energy carried the highest probability.

Both his mind and his vital energy had been strengthened under the influence of spiritual energy. In his view, the mind was likely a derivative of consciousness, and that boundless ocean of consciousness was perhaps the condensation of awareness. The strengthening of mental power would undoubtedly be reflected within the sea of consciousness.

As for why his sea of consciousness was so vast, and why his spiritual power had been nurtured and strengthened even before consuming spiritual energy without showing the slightest anomaly in spiritual essence—those questions still awaited resolution.

The former eluded his comprehension, but he had vaguely grasped the latter. The strengthening of the mind by spiritual energy differed from that brought about by spiritual liquid or spiritual plants.

One emphasized quantity, while the other emphasized quality.

Furthermore, judging from the changes in his vital energy, Chen Yu sensed that the absorption of spiritual energy went beyond merely enhancing quality and quantity; there was another dimension of elevation as well.

It was precisely this yet-to-be-unveiled aspect that had truly impacted the spiritual essence.

"No, not just that!"

Just as he was thinking, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind. He chewed the food in his mouth mechanically, his bamboo chopsticks coming to a halt on their own.

Hundreds and thousands of attempts over the past months, along with the accumulated experience, gathered at this moment, surging and churning within his mind like waves.

Chen Yu laid down his chopsticks, his expression shifting—now knitting his brow in concentration, now relaxing in comprehension, only to encounter seemingly greater puzzles an instant later, until a look of sudden realization finally surfaced in a daze.

His right index finger tapped rhythmically against the table top as he murmured continuously.

Spiritual energy, vital energy, spirit...

Only now did he realize that although he had utilized these elements to transform his physical body and step into the self-created realm of internal essence-gathering, he seemed to have unconsciously excluded spiritual essence from this entire system long ago.

A long time ago—starting from the very first day he successfully cultivated spiritual energy.

Clearly, spiritual essence was the fundamental basis of everything!

Immediately afterward, his thoughts turned to the so-called 'core' he had discovered not long ago within the array patterns.

When extinguished, it dispersed; when activated, it concentrated.

Upon the Three Talents Array, how those three distant, separated array patterns suddenly linked together when acted upon by vital energy had always perplexed him.

Chen Yu had considered whether it was fluid dynamics, an external cause, or simply a change brought about by the infusion of vital energy.

Yet none of those explanations sufficed.

Now, perhaps, he had the answer—it was another entity altogether, hidden within the vital energy!

Vital energy, spirit, spiritual energy, and even embryonic breathing, spiritual plants, and array patterns all possessed it—or rather, they existed with it as their foundation.

Remove it, and the array patterns failed, rendering the formation incapable of activation.

Add to it, and the vital energy became 'plump,' the mind grew stronger day by day, and even the spiritual essence condensed more rapidly.

This was no novelty; it had always been there.

"Its origin..."

He closed his eyes, directing his gaze toward the flickering grains of spiritual essence scattered throughout his sea of consciousness. Did everything originate from here? Yet he vaguely felt something was amiss.

Chen Yu returned to the waking world, tangled in thought, when he inadvertently caught sight of the bowls and plates before him.

Did these... possess it as well?