Chapter 101 - 65: Controlling Qi and Divine Travel

Chapter 101: Chapter 65: Controlling Qi and Divine Travel

In the Grotto Heaven.

Li Yinsheng’s Soul hovered above his cross-legged Flesh Body. With a mere thought, his figure flickered in and out of existence erratically within a radius of thousands of feet.

Moments later, his Soul resurfaced. With a light tap of his hand, dozens of Sword Lights materialized silently.

"These Sword Lights..." Li Yinsheng looked at the clear, almost transparent Sword Lights before him, a flash of realization in his eyes.

When cast through his Soul, these Sword Lights consumed less Magical Power than if cast with his Flesh Body, yet their might was surprisingly greater.

After his Soul entirely left his body, only a hollow, human-shaped outline remained in the Sea of Consciousness where his Soul had resided.

Meanwhile, seventy percent of his internal Magical Power and Qingxuan Divine Light had flowed into his Soul.

Although he only had seventy percent of his Magical Power, he estimated that—disregarding the Body Cultivator aspect—purely in terms of casting Magic, his isolated Soul might actually outperform his Flesh Body.

The same amount of Magical Power circulated far more smoothly within his Soul than in his Flesh Body. It was almost as if the Magical Power flowed effortlessly wherever his thoughts went, entirely bending to his will.

Moreover, once his Soul left his body, his control over his Divine Sense multiplied instantly.

As a result, his execution and manipulation of Magic had elevated by several tiers.

Yet, compared to Magic, these changes in Divine Sense and Magical Power undoubtedly had a far greater impact on manipulating Magical Artifacts and Magical Treasures.

With his Soul detached, the power of any Magical Artifacts and Magical Treasures he controlled would inevitably skyrocket.

Furthermore, unlike the Flesh Body, the Soul possessed a speed that his physical form could never hope to match.

What constituted a mere "walk" for the Soul translated to flickering in and out of sight in the outside world.

Li Yinsheng’s Soul flicked a finger. Dozens of black and white chess pieces appeared around him, spiraling down to encircle his Flesh Body. In the blink of an eye, the Flesh Body vanished, and its aura was completely erased.

This was the Shadow Concealment Array.

After nearly a century of deduction by the Chess Soul, this Shadow Concealment Array had reached Great Success. It could be deployed in an instant, masking everything and every aura within its bounds.

However, Li Yinsheng’s Soul shifted with a thought, turning completely transparent. His aura vanished entirely with it, becoming even harder to detect than the Shadow Concealment Array below.

His Soul could easily locate his Flesh Body hidden within the Shadow Concealment Array, yet the Soul’s own Concealment capabilities far surpassed the Array itself.

It was ironic that an Array specifically designed for Concealment and Escape Form was outclassed in its own domain by the natural Concealment of a Soul.

The consumption of Magic and Magical Treasures decreased while their power surged. His Divine Sense had become sharper and more perceptive, his traces were harder to track, and his speed left his Flesh Body in the dust.

Li Yinsheng figured that if he were a typical Daoist—not a Body Cultivator—and possessed a Magical Treasure, his combat prowess while his Soul was out of his body would actually exceed the state when his Soul and Flesh Body were united.

But as he sensed the recovery rate of the Magical Power within his Soul, he noticed a drawback.

Although it was recovering, the process was pitifully slow, not even reaching five percent of the rate he enjoyed with his Flesh Body.

Even his Divine Sense, despite becoming far clearer and more agile, suffered a decline in its recovery speed rather than an increase.

It seemed the Flesh Body was still overwhelmingly vital to the Soul.

After flying a few more loops in the air, Li Yinsheng confirmed another detail.

As long as the Soul was outside the body, it constantly drained Divine Sense and Magical Power, though the consumption was negligible when remaining perfectly still.

However, any movement, no matter how simple, caused the drain on both to spike.

Fortunately, he currently possessed three hundred years of Cultivation, and his Heart Seal Scripture had reached the Sixth Layer. His Magical Power and Divine Sense were extraordinarily profound, so the current expenditure barely made a dent.

Even in this state of Soul detachment, he could still sense and control his Flesh Body.

Yet under such circumstances, the Flesh Body’s senses and movements were noticeably sluggish.

"Interesting. The Heart Seal Scripture explicitly states that its sole effect is to temper the Soul and expand the Sea of Consciousness and Divine Sense. There’s no mention of any flashy secondary abilities."

Looking at the palm of his Soul form, Li Yinsheng muttered to himself, "That means my Soul detaching from my body isn’t a direct effect of the Heart Seal Scripture. Instead, it’s a natural phenomenon that occurs once a Soul becomes sufficiently strong.

"No, it shouldn’t just depend on the Soul. Soul detachment requires the support of Magical Power, so there must be a threshold for that as well.

"At the very least, I absolutely couldn’t achieve this when I only had two hundred years of Cultivation."

Li Yinsheng found this new state highly novel. The sensation of a barrier being removed between himself and the world gave him the wonderful illusion of breaking free from a cage, as though he could merge seamlessly with heaven and earth.

He was just about to roam a bit more in his Soul form when he received a warning from the Grotto Heaven.

His slacking time was up. He needed to get back to his Cultivation, or else this session in the Grotto Heaven would be terminated.

Although there wasn’t much time left for this Cultivation session, every little bit counted. He couldn’t just throw it away.

Suppressing his curiosity, Li Yinsheng returned to his Flesh Body and prepared to resume cultivating.

However, upon re-entering his Flesh Body, he felt that something was slightly off.

Once his Soul returned, the unbridled sense of absolute freedom naturally faded, and his Divine Sense was no longer quite as pristine, but it didn’t seem to have entirely regressed to its original state either.

Although his Divine Sense and Magical Power regained a hint of sluggishness inside his Flesh Body, they were still far more agile than before he had ever experienced Soul detachment.

If he had to describe it, before his Soul detached, his Divine Sense and Magical Power had been weighed down by shackles.

Detaching the Soul was akin to breaking those shackles.

Now that he had returned to his body, the shackles were still there, but they were noticeably lighter and looser.

It was highly likely that both his Flesh Body and Soul had undergone a qualitative transformation through this experience of Soul detachment.

Having quickly figured this out, Li Yinsheng devoted himself entirely to his Cultivation.

...

Meanwhile, at the Shouyi Temple encampment on the Bamboo Forest Peak.

The blinding lightning dancing across the net gradually dimmed. By now, the Shouyi Temple Cultivators trapped within had mostly fainted from the relentless electrical strikes.

The Steward and the Vice Temple Master, who had received special "care" from Li Yinsheng, were out completely cold.

Mu Xiaoyu watched this scene with immense satisfaction, her hands resting on her hips.

She thought, "Serves you right! You bad guys actually tried to steal our Xuanzhen Temple! That’ll teach you a lesson!"

Her father had taught her since childhood that cities and territories were the foundation of one’s existence. Not a single inch could be yielded to others. If enemies dared to invade, they must be repelled by force of arms!

Back in the day, when the frontier Xiongnu grazed their horses on Dayong’s grasslands and pillaged border cities, her father had led tens of thousands of elite cavalry into years of fierce battles just to reclaim those lands.

Her father called it "expanding the frontiers."

Therefore, she felt absolutely no psychological burden about teaching these bad guys—who coveted the Xuanzhen Temple—a harsh lesson.

"Senior Brother, you’re so amazing," Mu Xiaoyu said, looking up at him with a hint of pride. "They definitely won’t dare to have any more designs on our Xuanzhen Temple now, right?"

Li Yinsheng, who had just emerged from the Grotto Heaven, was briefly lost in thought. Hearing Mu Xiaoyu speak, he raised a hand to pat her head.

"Heh, well... that’s hard to say."

He helped Mu Xiaoyu straighten her hair buns and said, "Given the Shouyi Temple’s usual style, they’ll likely find this insult hard to swallow. But it doesn’t matter. When the time comes, we will deal with whatever they throw at us."

Truthfully, he actually hoped the Shouyi Temple would come knocking for revenge.

Since their Vice Temple Master had been taken down so effortlessly, whoever came for revenge would surely be an elite figure on the level of a Daoist.

Although the Shouyi Temple boasted many Daoists, they probably wouldn’t mobilize a massive force over something like this. Besides, most Daoists spent the majority of their years in secluded cultivation.

If any Daoist did show up, it would most likely just be one or two ordinary ones.

In the Xuanzhen Temple, a senior who had become a Daoist through the True Blood Secret Scripture left behind a handwritten record. He noted that although he remained half a step away from the Tenth Layer for his entire life, his combat strength surpassed most Daoists.

Li Yinsheng felt that he and that senior both had their own respective strengths.

That senior had possessed vast horizons and profound knowledge, mastery in Magical Combat, abundant combat experience, and excellent Magical Treasures and weapons.

As for himself, he had reached the Eleventh Layer of the True Blood Secret Scripture and possessed three hundred years of Cultivation.

Therefore, Li Yinsheng felt confident. With his current Cultivation, his status as a Body Cultivator, the Sword Intent given by his Martial Uncle, the Yin Yang Cave Profound Array he had deduced to Great Success, and the Secret Technique from the Ninth Layer of the True Blood Secret Scripture...

When facing an ordinary Daoist, even if he couldn’t guarantee an effortless win, his chances of victory were at least substantial, right?

If he managed to secure another century of Cultivation as a reward, he would hit four hundred years of Cultivation.

Conversely, if the Shouyi Temple swallowed their pride, Li Yinsheng could only temporarily gaze in vain at the final two reward tiers of his Cultivation Aspiration.

Whether it was the Temple Master of the Shouyi Temple or their resident Daoists, they all presumably lived within the temple year-round.

Although he was confident that his current Cultivation wasn’t bad, charging straight into an enemy’s home base would be somewhat suicidal.

However, whether the Shouyi Temple actually sent someone for revenge wasn’t up to him.

Compared to uncertainties in the future, there were still some minor immediate issues to resolve.

Although he had wreaked havoc in the Shouyi Temple’s encampment, this was ultimately the Huang Bamboo Temple’s territory. Naturally, he owed Qi and Vice Temple Master Liang an explanation.

Holding Mu Xiaoyu’s hand, he spread his Divine Sense, letting it fall upon the mountain peak and the mountainside respectively.

Vice Temple Master Liang and Qi Jiushan were hurriedly flying over on their respective Magical Artifacts from two different directions.

Moreover, under Li Yinsheng’s Divine Sense probe, he noticed that Qi Jiushan’s Demon-Slaying Pestle was also carrying the stall owner who had been selling Cultivation Fruits earlier.

However, his attention wasn’t on that. Instead, he found himself drawn to the Bamboo Forest Peak itself.

Previously, while searching for the demon, he had swept his Divine Sense over this mountain peak quite a few times without sensing anything amiss.

But now, his Divine Sense had vastly increased and become far sharper. Releasing it once more, he felt that there was something slightly off about this mountain.

There was a peculiar oddity to it that he couldn’t quite put into words.