Chapter 247 - 241: Outer Sensing, Inner Sensing, Heart Sensing

Chapter 247: Chapter 241: Outer Sensing, Inner Sensing, Heart Sensing

Ink Garden, training chamber.

From the domed ceiling of the training chamber, a beam of light cascaded down like a waterfall.

Fu Juemin stood within this falling beam of light.

He stood with his eyes closed, his expression as serene as a jade statue. Dust motes drifted lazily in the light, casting his figure in a faint, lucid glow.

At some point, a few soft goose feathers began to drift silently down from the dome.

It was like snow—only lighter and slower, falling without seeming to disturb even the air.

But Fu Juemin, bathed in the light, moved.

Just before a feather could touch his shoulder or neck, he would subtly tilt his body, turn his head, or take a small half-step. His movements were minimal and unhurried, yet he always managed to narrowly avoid the trajectory of each falling plume.

It was as if he could see the shape of the wind, or had already heard the sound of their arrival.

Only when the last feather had silently landed did Fu Juemin open his eyes.

"So this is Gratitude?"

He exhaled slowly, his breath stirring the dust motes in the light into a gentle swirl.

His battle with the water monkey had allowed him to successfully break through to the Gratitude Sensing Realm.

He achieved Five Senses Clarity. His senses—sight, hearing, smell, and more—were greatly enhanced, and his body, from muscle and bone to flesh and blood, underwent a subtle but complete transformation.

This transformation was reflected on his character panel: his Attack, Defense, and Life Attributes had each increased by 1 point. His current Basic Attributes were: [Attack: 44, Defense: 31, Life: 21, Mana: 0].

Fu Juemin’s Basic Attributes were already high, so this three-point increase didn’t make a significant difference to his combat power.

What he felt most intensely was the change in "Perception" itself.

Take the feather-dodging exercise he had just performed. He had relied entirely on his perception of minute changes—the brush of airflow against his skin, the flicker of light and shadow across his eyelids—to evade the nearly weightless feathers.

Before reaching Gratitude, he would have been utterly incapable of this unless he activated Yao Ling.

Of course, the greatest benefit of this perception was its extraordinary premonition of unknown dangers.

’Before I reached Gratitude, I only knew the saying, "The cicada senses the autumn wind before it blows." Now that I’m here, I see that Gratitude itself is divided into so many levels.’

According to the Spirit and Body Cultivation Book, the most basic level of Gratitude is "Outer Sensing."

This allows one to "see in the dark," "find quiet amid noise," and "discern subtle tastes and smells"—which is the level Fu Juemin was currently at.

The intermediate level of Gratitude is "Inner Sensing."

At the Inner Sensing level, a Martial Artist can sense the presence of living beings’ auras within a certain range.

They can achieve Weapon Communication, reaching a state of "the weapon knowing the user’s intent" and even Man and Weapon Integration through long-term nurturing and use.

They can perform environmental imprinting, "engraving" the atmosphere of a place—where they have trained and lived for many years—onto their heart. They can then fuse this into their martial arts, cultivating a unique Momentum.

The highest level of Gratitude is "Heart Sensing."

Heart Sensing seeks mastery over emotions and the attachment of intent; it is an advancement of Inner Sensing.

This involves fusing intensely strong emotions into Martial Arts techniques or infusing them into weapons.

At this level, even a common, rudimentary technique can display power comparable to a top-tier Martial Art. A Wooden Blade or a rusty sword can cleave through metal and sever iron... The various wonders are almost inconceivable.

In Fu Juemin’s view, the state of Heart Sensing already touched upon the fringes of "mind affecting reality." ’Calling it "altering the properties of matter" might be an exaggeration,’ he thought, ’but it certainly has a hint of that flavor.’

On paper, the three major states of Gratitude—Outer Sensing, Inner Sensing, and Heart Sensing—seemed progressively more wondrous and bizarre.

And yet, quite a few Martial Artists of the Gratitude Sensing Realm had died by his hand recently. Thinking back, he couldn’t recall sensing anything particularly miraculous about them.

’It’s probably not an exaggeration, though.’

Fu Juemin flipped through the Spirit and Body Cultivation Book in front of him and, after some thought, arrived at a rather reasonable explanation.

’Most of the Gratitude Masters I’ve killed were only at the Early Stage of Gratitude, still at the Outer Sensing level.

The only one at the Great Success of Gratitude, Yu Zhonggui of Toad Palace, did use his Finger Gang to churn the air, creating a phenomenon like a small storm. That was certainly impressive enough.

Besides, he was extremely arrogant and underestimated me during our fight. He probably never even got to truly display much of the wonder of the Heart Sensing Level...’

Furthermore, the various abilities of Heart Sensing described in the Spirit and Body Cultivation Book were merely the heights a Martial Artist at this stage *could* potentially reach. Whether one could actually achieve them depended on the individual and their techniques.

The most crucial point was—

’It’s just as Uncle Tong said. The so-called Skin Polishing, Bone Forging, Blood Refining, Tongxuan, Gratitude, and even Heart Intent... they’re all just boundaries arbitrarily drawn by later generations to measure strength.

On a true battlefield of life and death, the methods don’t matter, only the outcome!’

’No matter how mystically you hype up Outer Sensing, Inner Sensing, and Heart Sensing, when it comes down to it, isn’t the real competition about strength, speed, and constitution?

If my attacks are stronger than yours, my moves are faster than yours, and I can take a hit better than you, the result is that you die and I live. Who cares if you’re at Outer Sensing, Inner Sensing, or Heart Sensing.

The so-called Outer Sensing, Inner Sensing, and Heart Sensing simply represent the degree to which a Martial Artist has excavated their mind’s perceptive power.

The deeper they dig, the stronger their mental power becomes, and the greater the force it adds when attached to their fists and feet.

Stripping away the lofty and mysterious veneer, the true core of the Gratitude Sensing Realm is just one thing: developing Consciousness and honing Perception.

Outer Sensing, Inner Sensing, and Heart Sensing are not only the three major stages of the Gratitude Sensing Realm, but also the directions for cultivation within it.

The abilities described at each level actually correspond to different forms of training methods.

’The further one goes on the Martial Dao, the more it feels like all rivers flowing to the same sea.

Take the Pharmacist Master Purifying Light Saber, for example. In its later stages, it requires forging a special Pharmacist Master Zen Blade. Every morning, you must use the blade to catch the first rays of sunlight, visualizing the blade’s body as lapis lazuli while absorbing the sun’s pure morning energy. Every evening, you hold the blade and recite the Pharmacist Buddha Sutra, feeling the rhythm of the Sword Scripture...

This is exactly the same as the ’Weapon Communication’ method of the Inner Sensing level.’

Fu Juemin was beginning to understand why many Martial Artists, after reaching Gratitude, would remain stuck in that realm for the rest of their lives.

The main reason was that after Gratitude, there were no longer any fixed cultivation methods.

A thousand people means a thousand paths, a thousand methods.

Everything depended on one’s own Talent, comprehension, and that little bit of indescribable luck or destiny.

’Seeing in the dark, finding quiet amid noise, discerning subtle tastes and smells... These are all common methods for honing Perception at the Outer Sensing level.’

’How long would I have to train like that to break through to Inner Sensing?’

Fu Juemin shook his head. He was used to rapid progress in his training and couldn’t stand the slow, grinding effort of gradual practice.

’Since it’s about enhancing Perception, I should be able to do it by adding points...’

’The only question is, which of the three Attributes—Attack, Defense, or Life—does Perception fall under?’

Back when Fu Juemin was stuck at the Blood Barrier, unable to break through no matter what, he had finally succeeded by adding points to Attack.

’It worked then, so it should work now.’

He could now save up one free Attribute Point in about ten days. He hadn’t been adding points frequently, mainly because the base values of his three Attributes were already very high; he had to save up three, four, or even five points to increase one of them.

For example, he was currently focusing on increasing Life, and even at the fastest pace, it would take a month just to add a single point.