Chapter 1751: Gains Amidst the Unexpected

‘Although the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief is miraculous, its ability to breach restrictions ultimately has its limits…’

Li Yan mused inwardly. As his cultivation realm continued to ascend, the dangers and difficulties he encountered grew increasingly formidable. In the past, problems that seemed insurmountable—riddles he could not hope to solve—could now often be swept away with a mere flick of his sleeve, requiring no magical treasures at all. Consequently, many of his artifacts were called upon far less frequently than before.

However, when Li Yan encountered a problem he truly could not resolve through his own power and turned once more to his treasures, he often found their original capabilities somewhat lacking, as if they were struggling to keep pace with his growth.

Despite the lack of immediate progress, Li Yan did not withdraw the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief. He maintained his focus, keeping the silken cloth firmly draped over the target.

Two hours later, Li Yan, who had been entirely concentrated, suddenly felt his brow twitch. The Heaven-Stealing Kerchief, currently shrunk to a tiny speck, abruptly flew away. In the spot it had covered, a minuscule hole had appeared. The moment the kerchief departed, the hole began to contract, threatening to seal itself.

Without hesitation, Li Yan thrust a thread of Divine Sense inside. After a swift sweep of the interior, a look of joyful surprise surfaced on his face. Within less than three breaths, he withdrew his Divine Sense. The tiny hole, looking like a pale white dot, snapped shut and vanished, leaving the surface exactly as it had been.

Li Yan glanced at the brocade kerchief floating beside him, which had returned to its original size, and a smile touched his lips. Then, with a soft sigh and a flicker of thought, he put the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief away.

He understood more clearly than ever that as he progressed, the relative power of the kerchief would only wane, and he possessed no means to enhance its inherent abilities. Furthermore, the path of formations remained one of his weaknesses. Had his attainments in that field been greater, he might have broken the restrictions on the dark red blade long ago.

However, the hundred arts of cultivation were each vast and profound; a cultivator’s time was finite. Li Yan simply did not have the luxury to delve into every discipline. Just by coming to Huangqi Valley, he had already set aside many aspects of his cultivation, as the Dao of Alchemy occupied the vast majority of his time.

Shaking off these thoughts, a flash of light appeared in his hand, revealing a blank jade slip. He sank his Divine Sense into it and began recording.

A short while later, he ignored the dark red blade hovering in the air and focused entirely on the newly recorded jade slip. His expression shifted through a kaleidoscope of emotions. What he had seen within that pale white restriction was the manual for controlling the dark red blade—or rather, a foundational cultivation method.

Through the preface of this manual, Li Yan learned the blade’s origin. It was not an artifact refined by the middle-aged cultivator he had slain. Rather, that man had obtained it by chance, much like Li Yan himself. The manual recorded within was a technique called “Micro-Intent.”

What caused Li Yan’s expression to fluctuate so wildly was the realization that this was an exceedingly rare method for tempering one’s Divine Sense.

Micro-Intent was a foundational auxiliary art for Divine Sense. It did not increase the quantity of one’s Divine Sense; instead, it was a specialized method for training its precision. Using the dark red blade was, in fact, a form of exercise designed to hone one’s minute control over Divine Sense.

The art was divided into three stages: the first was Entry to the Micro, the second was Stirring the Micro, and the third was Absence of the Micro. Although it did not strengthen the Divine Sense itself, it significantly boosted the lethality and piercing power of Divine Sense attacks.

To use a simple analogy: at the first stage, a Divine Sense Spike formed by the practitioner would be three times stronger and more resilient than before. At the second stage, it would be six times stronger, and at the final stage, nine times.

The Daoist path emphasized that “Nine-Nines Return to One.” Once this final stage was reached, the training was complete. The mysterious dark red blade that Li Yan had valued so highly was actually nothing more than a training tool for the Micro-Intent art.

As he processed this, Li Yan’s heart surged like a turbulent sea.

‘To think this is merely an auxiliary art for training Divine Sense and a small supporting tool… Who could have created such things?’

At that moment, Li Yan realized the implications. The origin of this artifact was far from simple. It was highly likely that there existed a sect dedicated entirely to the cultivation of Divine Sense.

He had always assumed the dark red blade was the primary flying treasure of a late-stage Void Refining cultivator. To discover that such a formidable artifact was merely a “foundational auxiliary tool” for a disciple’s entry-level training was staggering. He could only imagine the world-shaking Divine Sense techniques such a sect must possess.

Soul and Divine Sense techniques were among the most sought-after and elusive treasures in the cultivation world. Even the Kui Water True Scripture owed its status as a top-tier manual partly to its inclusion of such elements. However, the Kui Water True Scripture was not a dedicated Divine Sense manual. This was the first time since beginning his journey that Li Yan had truly encountered a technique focused solely on the Divine Sense.

Though it was only an entry-level auxiliary art, Li Yan had witnessed the power of the dark red blade. Its flight speed and concealment alone had filled him with delight. Now, this discovery set his mind racing.

He thought back to the middle-aged cultivator. That man almost certainly did not belong to such a sect. Had he possessed a more powerful manual, he would surely have owned a correspondingly more powerful artifact, rather than using an entry-level training tool like the dark red blade as his primary flying treasure.

The realization sent a chill down Li Yan’s spine. He had believed that with his current strength, even if he couldn’t defeat a late-stage Void Refining cultivator, he could at least escape. After fleeing the labyrinth formation, he felt somewhat confident in his survival. Recalling the event now, he realized it was only thanks to his habitual caution that he hadn’t invited disaster.

Just as he possessed means that surpassed his peers, others did as well. He didn’t know to what extent the middle-aged cultivator had mastered the Micro-Intent art. Their Divine Sense strength might have been comparable, but in terms of lethality and finesse, Li Yan was undoubtedly inferior.

Divine Sense attacks, like those targeting the soul, were traceless and eerie—a sinister method that was nearly impossible to defend against. If Li Yan hadn’t used poison to weaken the man first, poisoning even his Nascent Soul before striking suddenly, who knew what the outcome would have been?

Li Yan didn’t know how much of the man’s Divine Sense potency remained after he was poisoned. In the world of cultivation, such unknowns were often fatal.

In truth, he didn’t even realize that the middle-aged cultivator had indeed attempted a Divine Sense attack the moment the controlled female cultivator was exposed. However, the target hadn’t been Li Yan, but the woman herself. When the man’s Divine Sense invaded her sea of consciousness, she had immediately sensed the problem. But by then, Li Yan had already used Phoenix Soars to reach the man’s back, and the cultivator’s soul was shattered by Li Yan’s heavy strike.

At that point, the man couldn’t even condense his Divine Sense; merely ejecting his Nascent Soul had exhausted the very last of his strength.

None of this was a mere coincidence. It was the result of Li Yan’s long-standing habit of being cautious and prudent. Thinking back on it now, he could only feel a lingering sense of dread.

Li Yan studied the Micro-Intent art several times. It was not only an auxiliary cultivation method but also the manual for controlling the dark red blade. Furthermore, the blade’s concealment properties required a specific Divine Sense manipulation. Li Yan wouldn’t be able to master it at will in a short time. He would have to reach the first stage, Entry to the Micro, before he could truly utilize its speed and stealth.

The thought of another task gave Li Yan a headache; his time was already spread thin. Nevertheless, he felt it was necessary to carve out some time for this art. For now, he could only use the dark red blade in a crude, forceful manner, which naturally wouldn’t yield much power.

Once he had sorted through the situation, Li Yan felt quite satisfied. This manual was truly an unexpected boon.

The techniques of the Five Immortals Sect could strengthen the Divine Sense, but the methods of control they offered were standard. He wondered if more specialized techniques would appear in the later stages of the manuals. He hadn’t had the chance to ask Dong Fuyi, but for the moment, he lacked any techniques specifically targeting Divine Sense.

After some thought, Li Yan decided to rename the dark red blade the “Cloud-Piercing Blade,” as a tribute to the “Cloud-Piercing Willow” that had accompanied him for countless years.

After stowing the Cloud-Piercing Blade and the jade slip, Li Yan waved his hand again. With a series of crisp clacks, forty-nine formation flags appeared in the air. Gazing at the dense array of flags, he raised his hands and began casting incantations. Under his control, several flags sank into the corners of the room and vanished.

Another day passed. Li Yan sat in his cultivation chamber, his face etched with exhaustion. Researching this formation had consumed a vast amount of his mental energy. The final result wasn’t perfect, but it was effective.

He could now control seven of the flags to form a small-scale “Misty Array.” Misty arrays differed from illusion arrays or mixed phantasmagoria. A misty array generally projected a reflection of reality. Although only one reflection was real, the scene itself existed. Once someone stepped into the trap, they would be repeatedly teleported within the same area. The scenery they saw while wandering was the same, but they simply couldn’t find their way out.

An illusion array, however, presented things that mostly didn’t exist—scenery conjured by the array or environments birthed from one’s own state of mind. A mixed phantasmagoria was a combination of the two, possessing greater power but being significantly harder to refine.

After his research, Li Yan could only activate seven flags to set up a simple misty array. He felt that with his limited attainments, while he might not be able to break it, a true expert in formations likely could. He had found the “barrier nodes” of the seven-flag array after some searching, which meant the formation had loopholes. If a node could be found, the array’s effectiveness would plummet, providing an easy path for an enemy to dismantle it. This was due to his lack of mastery.

As for the “vortex noose” that had once appeared above his head within this formation, he still couldn’t figure out how to manifest it. He could only set it aside for now.

‘This formation can only be considered barely usable for now. I’ll wait until I return to the sect to consult my Master or Second Martial Uncle. With their cultivation, they should be able to fully activate it…’

Li Yan thought to himself. He found the formation very practical, but recalling its full power brought the woman Ming Qi to mind. She had broken this very array in an instant, even after it had been fully deployed.

‘Does she possess a treasure similar to the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief? Or is she herself a master of formations?’

Thinking of Ming Qi led him to reflect on their interactions. Not only was she incredibly intelligent, but she also harbored many secrets. However, Li Yan leaned toward the theory that she was an expert in formations. If she had a treasure like his, how would she have found the specific barrier node of the misty array? Of course, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that her treasure had detection capabilities. Such things existed, but treasures with multiple miraculous functions were far rarer than even the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief.

He renamed this misty array “Ghostly Traces.”

After resting for another five days, Li Yan once more set out for the Elite Mission Hall.

Time flew by. Li Yan’s figure was rarely seen in his own courtyard. Two years later, on a certain day, he finally ceased all missions. The deacons at the Elite Mission Hall, who had grown familiar with him, wouldn’t see his face again for a long time.

Li Yan had finally cleared his schedule to focus on the Micro-Intent art!

After years of relentless effort, taking on one dangerous mission after another, he had submitted his final mission the day before and received the necessary sect contribution points. Looking at the accumulated total in his token, Li Yan finally breathed a long sigh of relief. He had qualified to enter the Inheritance Ancient Hall.

His purpose for coming to Huangqi Valley had finally taken another massive step forward. For the next few months, all he had to do was wait while he cultivated. As for the final outcome, he could only take it one step at a time and do his absolute best to achieve his next goal.