Cultivating the First Stage

Third Stage: Divine sense strength is increased eightfold, unlocking the 《Divine Sense Shielding Art》 and 《Divine Sense Weaponry Art》.

《Divine Sense Shielding Art》: Defensive Spell

According to the cultivator's will, a divine sense shield can be condensed anywhere within the range of their divine sense coverage to defend against divine sense attacks.

《Divine Sense Weaponry Art》: Attack Spell

According to the cultivator's will, a divine sense weapon can be condensed anywhere within the range of their divine sense coverage. The more concrete and clear the weapon, the stronger the weapon attributes it inherits.

Fourth Stage: Divine sense strength is increased sixteenfold, unlocking the 《Divine Concealment Art》.

《Divine Concealment Art》: Functional Spell

The more one cultivates it, the lower the presence of their divine sense becomes.

At the peak of cultivation, even when projecting divine sense, cultivators whose primordial spirit cultivation is two major realms higher cannot detect it.

Notes:

The increase in divine sense strength and the effects of the accompanying spells are closely related to the potential and initial strength of the cultivator's primordial spirit, sea of consciousness, and divine sense.

The technique has extremely high requirements for the cultivator's primordial spirit, sea of consciousness, and divine sense; those who have not received the technique's recognition are forbidden to practice it.

Those who force themselves to practice it will, at best, struggle to even cross the threshold of the first stage and fail to learn the accompanying spells; at worst, they will be unable to bear the intensity of the technique, leading to damage to their primordial spirit.

After cultivating this technique, the recovery speed of divine sense will be accelerated.

It can be cultivated in conjunction with soul-nourishing wood, complementing each other to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

This was the most suitable technique selected for her by the soul-testing stone from among those she resonated with, based on her test results.

Gu Ningyun pulled out several other divine sense techniques to examine and immediately discovered the uniqueness of the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》.

First: What the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》 possessed, other divine sense techniques also had, but not completely, and certainly not with such powerful effects.

To be precise, other techniques seemed more like watered-down versions of the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》, while the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》 was like a sublimated, advanced version of them.

For example, some techniques could increase divine sense strength, but mostly only in the mid-to-late stages of cultivation, and at most by eightfold.

Some techniques also had accompanying spells, but very few integrated auxiliary, defense, attack, and utility into a single package like the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》.

Even if they did, those spells were far inferior to the ones in this technique.

Second: There were a few divine sense techniques as powerful as the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》, but they were mostly niche or specialized in only one or two aspects, like attack or defense, making them less compatible with Gu Ningyun herself.

She put the examined jade slips back in their places and held the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》 tightly.

As expected of a choice strictly selected by the soul-testing stone—completely trustworthy.

Sensing Gu Ningyun's decision, the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》 turned into a beam of spiritual light and sank between her brows.

The blue light of the soul-testing stone faded, and the divine sense technique area returned to silence.

...

Upon returning to the Spirit-Attuning Peak's Peak Master's hall, Gu Ningyun showed her divine sense technique to her master.

Yi Chu smiled radiantly. “Good, good, good! My disciple is wonderful. As your master, I will definitely refine the best and most suitable magic tool for you.”

Gu Ningyun was completely stunned. Did her master actually have such a lively side?

Yi Chu explained the nature of the soul, primordial spirit, and sea of consciousness, as well as the precautions for cultivating divine sense techniques, in meticulous detail.

Once he was sure she understood, he waved his hand to dismiss her.

Before leaving, Gu Ningyun left the soul-nourishing wood behind and went straight back to Pine Wind and Water Moon.

As for telling her master what kind of divine sense magic tool she wanted?

With her limited experience, she decided to forget about it...

Her master probably knew this as well, which was why he didn't ask for her input.

It was now the start of the Chen hour, and the day was bright.

When Gu Ningyun left Mount Wuji, she had sent messages to Wen Xuan and the others, and was now receiving their replies one after another.

The five of them agreed to gather at Punishment Peak in half a month.

At Pine Wind and Water Moon, the water lilies were half-bloomed, hazy within the mist kicked up by the waterfall.

Gu Ningyun simply took out her peach wood sword and practiced swordplay on the Sword-Training Platform all morning.

Having not practiced for two months, she felt a bit empty inside.

Once noon had passed, she cast a Cleaning Technique on herself to wash away the dust and entered the cultivation chamber.

She first took out the two jade slips left behind by the fat duck. After studying them in turn, she swiped her finger across her ankle.

The fingernail-sized silver puppy mark disappeared. Only Gu Ningyun knew of its existence.

She had successfully blocked the mark.

In her sea of consciousness, her mini primordial spirit sat in the center. Floating behind it were the 《Record of Primordial Stars》, 《Xiaoyao Wind Records》, 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》, and the merit bundle.

The divine-rank techniques concealed themselves, floating quietly. Only when Gu Ningyun's divine sense or primordial spirit touched them would they reveal their true forms.

Below the mini primordial spirit, on the floor of her sea of consciousness, invisible and colorless gas stretched and drifted.

This was her externalized primordial spirit power—her divine sense.

With a thought, the first stage of the 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》 slowly unfolded.

The mini primordial spirit sat cross-legged with its palms facing the sky. Gu Ningyun's mind instantly cleared, leaving only a single divine sense technique and half a sea of divine sense.

As the technique operated, the chaotic and disordered divine sense that originally occupied half of her sea of consciousness's floor began to flow according to a certain pattern.

The light and airy divine sense became increasingly condensed.

Unlike spirit energy cultivation, which required absorbing the spirit energy of heaven and earth from the outside, the soul itself seemed to be a world of its own, containing endless power.

After a cultivator began cultivating, their soul transformed into a primordial spirit, which was like opening a portal to this world, releasing this power.

Before cultivating a divine sense technique, this power was free and disordered, thin and fragile.

Cultivators could use divine sense to inspect the outside world, but it was limited to that.

Only by cultivating a divine sense technique could this power be truly refined and used;

only then could this world be developed, releasing more power, making the divine sense stronger, and accelerating its recovery.

The stronger the primordial spirit and sea of consciousness, the more power they could bear.

This was why better divine sense techniques had higher requirements for the primordial spirit and sea of consciousness.

After an afternoon, the divine sense gas in her sea of consciousness condensed to its limit, and a continuous stream of divine sense emerged from her primordial spirit, merging into it.

Suddenly, a drop of invisible, colorless liquid condensed from the gas and dripped onto the floor of her sea of consciousness.

Then came the second drop, the third, the fourth...

The gaseous divine sense liquefied, forming puddles and pools at the bottom of her sea of consciousness...

Endless power continued to flow from her primordial spirit.

The wind chimes in the cultivation chamber rang three times.

Three days passed. The invisible gas that once drifted in her sea of consciousness had long since vanished, replaced by a thin, invisible layer of liquid that did not yet fully cover the floor.

Though it was still invisible and colorless divine sense, and her primordial spirit was still at the early Foundation Establishment stage, the power contained within her divine sense was already twice what it was before!

When deploying her divine sense, she felt as if this power was entirely at her command.

The 《Xuan Yuan Soul Refining Art》 had reached the first stage.

The 《Divine Sense Object Manipulation Art》 was unlocked.

At this point, she had truly cultivated a divine sense technique. She no longer had to worry about her divine sense getting out of control, having insufficient divine sense power, or having an unstable foundation as her cultivation grew. She could now cultivate with peace of mind and break through to the mid Foundation Establishment stage.

She stood up from her meditation mat and tapped the wind chimes floating beside her.

These wind chimes had accompanied her for six years, from Tingfeng to Pine Wind and Water Moon.

The chime was crisp and pleasant, and every time she heard it, she felt a sense of peace.

With her divine sense cultivation on the right track, the next step was arrays.

Gu Ningyun planned to spend the next twenty-odd days studying arrays during the day and practicing the 《Divine Sense Object Manipulation Art》 in the first half of the night.

In the second half of the night, she would meditate on her core techniques, and in the morning, she would practice swordplay.