Chapter 44 : I Knew It…
Chapter 44: I Knew It…
After seeing off that senior brother from the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion, Long Tao returned to the courtyard with a heavy mind.
The only good news was that the other party had not pressed him.
After learning that Long Tao was at a critical stage of breakthrough, the senior brother showed great understanding and stated that neither the task nor the report was urgent.
For the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion, this was more like an idle move on the board—if it bore fruit, all the better; if not, it did not matter.
Still, the succession of events left him feeling somewhat restless.
He casually found an excuse to explain a couple of lines to Luo Yusi, then slipped back into the room, planning to seize the time to regulate his breath and accumulate strength for the more crucial breakthrough in the afternoon.
“Ah… when I first transmigrated, I found myself in a cultivation world and dreamed all day of sword flight, immortality, and carefree freedom… and what happened? Damn it, I changed worlds, yet I still couldn’t escape the fate of being an ox-horse writing reports?”
Lying on the hard plank bed, he could not help muttering softly, growing more stifled the more he thought about it.
Such a vast immortal sect, and the only place that valued his “talent” was actually the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion that handled documents and administrative affairs! Damn! If he had known it would be like this, why had he insisted on begging his parents to let him come to the sect to cultivate? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay in Qinglin Town as a carefree rich young master, holding Xiaoying in his arms, eating, drinking, and having fun for decades—wouldn’t that have been sweet?
Of course, complaints were complaints.
Long Tao would never allow this negative mood to affect serious matters.
He vented by pounding the bedboard twice, then took several deep breaths, slowly suppressing the agitation through meditation.
Only after he felt his state of mind return to calm did he push the door open again.
……
After asking Luo Yusi to step outside, the man and the spider once more arrived beside the simple formation set up in the morning, preparing for the afternoon breakthrough—“Sea-Eye Stabilizing the Origin.”
The name sounded rather abstruse, but the principle was not difficult to understand.
The “Spiritual Energy Collapse” triggered in the final stage of the morning’s “Hundred Meridians Spirit Infusion” would form a core point with weak gravitational pull at the center of the dantian—this was commonly known as the “Sea Eye.”
The afternoon’s task was to fully mobilize the mental power of one’s Divine Soul, carefully guiding and controlling this newly born “Sea Eye.” Using its attraction, he was to firmly draw the recovered and newly refined spiritual energy around it into orderly circulation, preventing the precious spiritual energy from dissipating, and ultimately stabilizing this fragile energy structure completely.
At this step, pills were basically of no use.
Whether the “Sea Eye” could be stabilized depended entirely on the cultivator’s own Divine Soul strength and mental control.
If the Divine Soul was too weak, not only would one be unable to restrain the “Sea Eye,” one might even suffer spiritual backlash.
In the worst case, it could damage the mind and leave one muddleheaded.
Long Tao had never been confident in his Divine Soul strength.
However, according to what Elder Wu had told him after checking earlier: although it was on the weaker side, as long as he concentrated his mind, was not afraid of failure, and tried a few more times, this step of “Sea-Eye Stabilizing the Origin” would eventually be passed.
He took a deep breath.
Within the silent yet reassuring encirclement of Luo Yusi’s spirit threads, he closed his eyes once more, sinking all his focus into the dantian and beginning to guide that nascent, extremely unstable “Sea Eye.”
However, as the process progressed, he was surprised to discover that things seemed… far smoother than imagined?
That tiny “Sea Eye” at the center of the dantian was extraordinarily “docile” within his mental perception, as if it were innately and perfectly compatible with his Divine Soul.
Guiding the spiritual energy to circulate, stabilizing the structure… everything proceeded in orderly fashion, naturally and effortlessly.
The anticipated backlash or signs of loss of control did not appear in the slightest!
Even he himself found it unbelievable.
According to the blood-and-tears experiences of countless predecessors, this step of “Sea-Eye Stabilizing the Origin” was extremely prone to mishaps and placed high demands on Divine Soul strength.
Once one felt insufficient control during the first attempt, most people would decisively give up to protect their minds, then try again after recovery.
Elder Wu had stated clearly in class that nearly ninety percent of disciples could not complete “Sea-Eye Stabilizing the Origin” in a single attempt.
Usually, it took two to three tries—the first to accumulate experience, and only then could they succeed in one fell swoop.
Yet he had… succeeded in one go?
When he sensed that the “Sea Eye” within the dantian had fully stabilized, slowly and powerfully pulsing on its own like a heart and drawing in spiritual energy, Long Tao finally opened his eyes slowly, still carrying a hint of disbelief.
What met his gaze was Luo Yusi’s face, all six eyes filled with excitement and astonishment.
“Long Tao! You’re amazing!” Her voice trembled slightly with excitement; she even forgot to add the word “Daoist Friend.”
“You actually succeeded in this step in one try! I’d already prepared myself to accompany you for two or three attempts!”
“Is… is that so?” Long Tao himself was a bit dazed.
He scratched his head.
“Maybe… my luck really was pretty good…”
It seemed Luo Yusi was genuinely happy for him, so excited that she even forgot her form of address.
“This isn’t just luck!” she said earnestly, admiration shining in her six eyes.
“If the Divine Soul isn’t strong enough, it’s very hard to restrain the ‘Sea Eye’ in one go.
Long Tao, although your spiritual roots are ordinary, perhaps… you have a unique talent when it comes to the Divine Soul!”
Hearing this consolation, Long Tao did not really believe his Divine Soul could be that strong.
He was more inclined to attribute it to the “Sea Eye” formed in the morning having just happened to be in an extremely stable, perfectly controllable state—purely good luck.
As for “talent in other aspects”… the moment he thought of that, images involuntarily surfaced in his mind of a future spent staying up late in the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion writing reports, drowning in all kinds of sect trivialities like a corporate ox-horse.
The small bit of pride that had just risen from the successful breakthrough instantly plunged back to the bottom.
“Then… I’ll take your kind words,” he replied with some lack of enthusiasm, then remembered the proper matter at hand.
“By the way, for the compensation for these two times of guarding, I—”
“What are you talking about!” Luo Yusi immediately interrupted him, her tone carrying a hint of reproach.
“That stalactite essence you gave our brother and me last time was of such high value, and we still don’t know how to repay you! It’s just guarding you twice—how could we possibly accept your compensation?”
She paused, her tone turning gentle yet firm.
“In short, as long as you need a guardian in the future, just come find me!”
Looking at Luo Yusi’s sincere and heartwarming smile, Long Tao was savoring this rare sense of fellow-sect affection when a voice he least wanted to hear sounded again in his mind.
【Emergency Task: Compete for the Secret Realm Spirit Pet】
【A secret realm has suddenly appeared to the southeast of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, at the entrance to the Azurewood Demon Forest. Deep within it is currently nurturing a top-grade spirit beast: the egg of the Yaoguang Azure Phoenix. Please proceed to the location of the egg to check in, and ensure that the Child of Destiny, Nan Yuchen, is acknowledged as master by this spirit beast.】
【Task Reward: None】
【Failure Penalty: Soul Lamp value reduced by 25 points】
【Current Soul Lamp Value: 24】