Chapter 40: Awakening
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Li Zhirui and the other two deeply immersed their consciousness into the scroll, experiencing the life of the Divine Turtle through the mystical power it contained, until the last image settled on the Divine Turtle Calming the Sea.
However, Li Shiqing, who was acting as their protector outside, noticed a dim, flickering Spirit Light on the back of the Divine Turtle that seemed on the verge of extinguishing. If it weren't for the exceptional vision of cultivators, he might not have spotted the Spirit Light at all.
"What is that?" Li Shiqing furrowed his brows, unable to determine whether the Spirit Light was good or bad.
But considering he had managed to extract himself smoothly and without any issues, it probably wasn't anything bad, at least not harmful to the three of them.
After observing the Divine Turtle in the painting for countless years, Li Zhirui gained some understanding of it and began to formally practice the Visualization Skill.
The first step of the method involved visualizing the island where the Divine Turtle was born within the Sea of Consciousness.
Visualization, simply put, is observation and imagination—meticulously observing, then imagining it within the Sea of Consciousness.
It sounded easy, but Li Zhirui struggled to form the island in his Sea of Consciousness; every attempt to visualize it ended in fragmentation, and the other two experienced the same issue.
And every fragmentation of the island consumed a significant amount of the cultivators' Divine Sense. Li Zhirui, having the weakest Divine Sense among them, had to stop after only two failures.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Li Shiren woke up, and after another quarter, Li Shilian also opened his eyes.
"It seems that visualizing the Divine Turtle won't be easy," sighed Li Shiqing.
The "Divine Turtle Ocean-Suppressing Chart" is divided into five steps: forming the island is just the first step, followed by the visualization of the turtle egg, the Divine Turtle's birth, the Divine Turtle Entering the Sea, and finally, the Divine Turtle Calming the Sea.
But then again, it seemed normal. How could a Visualization Skill that included Divine Sense Attacks be so easy to master?
"You have expended too much Divine Sense, go back and rest. The Visualization Skill is not so easily learned; there's no need to rush," he advised them.
Cultivation, especially one like the Visualization Skill that works within the Sea of Consciousness, must not be rushed. One careless mistake could result in injury to the Spiritual Soul.
Packing up the scroll, Li Zhirui left the backyard with his two seniors. On the way, Li Zhirui asked, "Elder Shilian, when do you plan to observe the Divine Turtle Diagram again? When you do, let's go to the Clan Leader together."
Choosing the backyard might have been somewhat inconvenient, but Li Zhirui was even less willing to bring the seniors to his own small courtyard, where he hadn't planted many Spiritual Medicines.
If they found out, he would no longer be able to explain the occasional Spirit Pill he crafted with the few Spiritual Medicine plants in his yard.
"Let's make it once every seven days," said Li Shilian, turning his gaze towards Li Shiren.
Li Shiren had no objections. They hadn't even completed the first step, so there was no need to visit and observe the Divine Turtle Diagram every day.
Having agreed on a time, they parted ways. The Visualization Skill drained Divine Sense significantly, and even Li Shilian, the one with the highest cultivation level, felt overwhelmed and wanted to rest as soon as possible.
In the following months, Li Zhirui split his days between studying two alchemical scripts and visualizing the island. If he overtaxed his Divine Sense, he would commence cultivation to absorb Spiritual Energy. Though his days passed uneventfully, Li Zhirui found joy in his routine.
Moreover, Li Zhirui discovered something else: after depleting his Divine Sense and restoring it through cultivation, his Divine Sense slightly strengthened. Although the effect was minimal, constant gradual improvement over a long time could yield significant results.
After making this discovery, Li Zhirui promptly shared it with Li Shiqing and the other elders, hoping to assist them.
As for visualizing the island, several months of diligent practice combined with Li Shiqing's guidance faintly signaled the prospect of success to Li Zhirui.
As a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, Li Shiqing's Divine Sense was far more powerful than the others, and over these months, he had also handed over his duties to the elders under the pretext of secluding himself for cultivation.
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Standardizing the responsibilities of the great elders, each managing certain affairs of the family, and then reporting to him once a month.
The reason he did this was because Li Shilian found an opportunity to tell Li Shiqing about the method proposed by Li Zhirui, and he thought it was a very good idea. From then on, he wouldn't need to be entangled in mundane affairs all day, without any time left for peaceful cultivation.
However, Li Shiqing ultimately didn't hand over the position of clan leader to Li Shiren, not because he was reluctant to relinquish power, but because Li Shiren was really not suitable for the role of clan leader!
This was not a rash judgment from Li Shiqing, but an impartial and correct assessment given after handling affairs with Li Shiren for a period of time.
There was no way around it; until Li Zhirui had grown up, the position of the clan leader could only continue to be held by Li Shiqing.
"Chirp—"
That day, while Li Zhirui was taking care of the Spiritual Medicine in the space, he suddenly heard a faint calling sound and looked towards the Spirit Lake with joy in his eyes.
There, lying on a bluestone and motionless for several months, Da Qing lifted its head and looked around. When it saw Li Zhirui not far away, it let out an excited chirp.
Originally, Da Qing was molting in the outside world, but because Li Zhirui had been practicing the Visualization Skill and contemplating alchemy decisions, and was utterly exhausted in both body and mind, he really didn't want to move, so he brought it into the space.
"Finally, the molting was successful!" Li Zhirui hurried over to Da Qing and only then fully saw the appearance of Da Qing after its molting.
The once-hard shell had become somewhat soft, and its body was much smaller than before. Moreover, following this molt, Da Qing had advanced from the fourth level of Qi Cultivation to the fifth!
However, due to the consumption of a large amount of mana during the molting process, although Da Qing was now at the fifth level of Qi Cultivation, it lacked the corresponding mana.
Li Zhirui wasn't concerned about this; he had enough Spirit Fruit and Spirit Pills in his hands to enable Da Qing to recover quickly.
"Are you hungry?" Seeing Da Qing's longing gaze, Li Zhirui knew what it wanted. He immediately took out a large amount of Spirit Fruit from his storage bag and said, "If it's not enough, I'll go pick more from the hill later."
Li Zhirui had planted a dozen or so Spirit Fruit Trees in the space, not many, but enough for their annual consumption.
Da Qing nodded obediently, then buried its head and began to devour the pile of Spirit Fruit in front of it, which was stacked up like a small hill.
"How come I feel like Da Qing has become much smarter?" Li Zhirui mumbled to himself, but there was no mention in the records of spirit turtles gaining increased Spiritual Intelligence after molting.
Unable to understand the reason, Li Zhirui decided to let it go; after all, it was a good thing. The smarter Da Qing became, the better they would cooperate with each other.
After Li Zhirui finished dealing with the matters in space, he found that Da Qing had already fallen asleep.
Although Da Qing had successfully molted, its body was still in a rather weak state, and it would need some time to recover.
Leaving freshly picked Spirit Fruit in front of Da Qing, Li Zhirui quietly left the space, ready to start today's cultivation. In recent days, he had a premonition that he would soon be able to visualize an island!
For this reason, Li Zhirui devoted extra attention to the cultivation of the Visualization Skill the last few days.
It could be said that Li Zhirui's speed of practicing the Visualization Skill was not much slower than Li Shiren, or rather, the progress of the two was not much different. The reason for this was still unknown.
Li Zhirui immersed his consciousness into the Sea of Consciousness, visualizing the appearance of Da Rong Island. With his efforts, an island began to take shape bit by bit within the Sea of Consciousness.
The reason it was Da Rong Island was because Li Zhirui was most familiar with this island, and Li Shiqing and the others also visualized Da Rong Island.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Zhirui abruptly opened his eyes, "Finally, it was successful!"