Chapter 156
The cultivation method recorded in the jade slip really was the Spirit Condensation Art.
It contained every secret: how to awaken the sea of Consciousness, condense the divine soul, and compress the Divine Sense.
It lined up perfectly with what dao friend (410.310) had explained in the info post.
It was worth the price.
But after reading the jade slip all the way through, Baek Cheong felt oddly unsatisfied.
'It feels like something’s missing.’
The method for compressing Divine Sense was as detailed as anyone could ask for.
She had carefully read everything from how to look into the sea of Consciousness to how to condense the divine soul.
The problem was that it ended there, leaving her wanting more.
Nowhere did it explain how to actually use the compressed Divine Sense.
‘Wait…’
Only then did Baek Cheong turn her gaze back to the first line of the jade slip.
Beneath the name of the cultivation method were the words Lower Volume (Lower Volume).
‘Lower Volume? Then that means there are others, right?’
Looking more closely, she saw that the Spirit Condensation Art was a cultivation method divided into multiple volumes.
What she had bought was only the Lower Volume.
After examining the jade slip a little more, she indeed found a section explaining the rest.
It was said that the Spirit Condensation Art was divided into the Lower Volume, Middle Volume, and upper Volume.
‘Why is it lower-middle-upper instead of upper-middle-lower?’
However, the Middle and upper Volumes were summarized only in a few brief lines.
The Middle Volume, it was said, allowed one to attack an opponent’s Divine Sense with compressed Divine Sense.
At the upper Volume, one could mold Divine Sense into tangible form.
‘Attack with Divine Sense?’
Baek Cheong’s eyes went wide as she read the explanation.
Divine Sense was a kind of mental power, an intangible perception.
It would be one thing if there were a separate cultivation method for attacking with Divine Sense.
But to attack an opponent with nothing but compressed Divine Sense, and even give Divine Sense a physical form?
‘Is that even possible?’
It was a level she could not even imagine.
Because the explanation was so short, there was no way to work out the principle behind it.
Still, even reading the words alone made it clear this was no ordinary cultivation method.
Unable to contain her curiosity, she immediately connected to the Nameless Forum.
She went straight to the Divine Sense compression info post that dao friend (410.310) had uploaded.
Since this was the same dao friend who had so readily explained the secret earlier, she figured they would answer again.
Baek Cheong left a new reply on the info post.
[Dao friend(913.14): Where can I find the Middle Volume and upper Volume of the Divine Sense Condensation Art?]
She waited a long while after leaving the reply.
But again, even after half a day had passed, no new reply appeared.
The dao friend who had so kindly explained the secret did not show themselves this time.
‘Huh. They suddenly went dark?’
With no answer coming, suspicion slowly raised its head.
It looked as though they had hidden the real goods, only sold her a sample, and then washed their hands of it.
It was a textbook scam, judging only from this situation.
‘Did I get baited again?’
But after she thought it over, it was hard to see it that way either.
What bothered her was the brief descriptions written for the Middle and upper Volumes.
They spoke of cutting enemies down with Divine Sense and molding Divine Sense into a physical shape.
At minimum, those were things that would only make sense for an Upper Realm great Cultivator.
In the Lower Realm, even a Deity Transformation Great Cultivator would not lightly dare reach for such a domain.
Using a cultivation method of that level as mere bait made no sense from the start.
Using common sense, it was difficult to simply conclude that it was a scam.
Above all, the biggest point was that the Lower Volume she had purchased was perfectly legitimate.
The Lower Volume had guided her to awaken everything from the sea of Consciousness to the divine soul.
It opened a path for her, a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, to compress Divine Sense and wield divine thought.
In other words, it was no different from an introductory manual that taught her how to take her first steps.
Starting from the very beginning, it handed her concepts she had never known.
There was no room to slip fraud or traps into something like this.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Once Baek Cheong had thought it through like that, her mind settled, even though the matter still left a bad taste.
There was no way to get the Middle and upper Volumes, so there was no point lingering on them.
The fire currently burning at her feet could be put out with the Lower Volume alone.
‘I should first properly learn what I bought.’
Baek Cheong shook off her regret and left the Nameless Forum.
No sooner had she disconnected than a faint headache returned without fail.
The Divine Sense that had been occupied was released, and her swollen Divine Sense once again pressed against her mind.
She rubbed her throbbing temples and steeled herself.
‘As the saying goes, if you focus your mind, nothing is impossible.’
She resolved that there was nothing she could not achieve if she gathered her mind into one point.
Baek Cheong immediately threw herself into the Spirit Condensation Art.
* * *
A full month passed.
Only then did Baek Cheong barely manage to learn the Spirit Condensation Art.
Awakening the sea of Consciousness was something she had already done long ago, so there was nothing difficult about it.
The problem was what came next: the divine soul.
As a domain normally handled only at the nascent soul stage, it was endlessly distant for someone at the Qi Condensation stage like her.
Condensing it was the second hurdle; even with her Minor Skill, it was hard to determine where her divine soul was.
Even if the Spirit Condensation Art pointed out the path, her realm was lacking, so progress was painfully slow.
Only after wrestling with it for an entire month did she catch the thread.
She had succeeded in becoming aware of her own divine soul, if only faintly.
“Ah…!”
At last, she had reached Divine Sense Condensation Art, 1st Level.
The achievement showed itself immediately in her Divine Sense.
Her Divine Sense, which had reached 35 jang, was compressed by half, shrinking to somewhere around 18 jang.
‘Whoa, it really shrank.’
She had been prepared for her Divine Sense to become smaller.
But as much as her Divine Sense had shrunk, it had grown densely refined.
When she surveyed the cave abode with her compressed Divine Sense, a sight she had never seen before unfolded.
Until now, her Divine Sense had only let her observe objects and people.
But now, even the flow of spiritual energy drifting through the air was clear, as if she could use Minor Skill on it in her hand.
She could read how the spiritual energy filling the room stirred and flowed in full.
‘So this is compressed Divine Sense.’
Once its density rose, it caught even the things her expanded Divine Sense had missed.
And the astonishing part did not end with sight.
'Let’s give this a try…’
Baek Cheong manifested divine thought with her compressed Divine Sense.
Then, faintly, she was able to stir and interfere with the surrounding spiritual energy.
In other words, she could push and pull spiritual energy without touching it.
On top of that, she could even send a Divine Sense voice transmission by loading her intent into Divine Sense and sending it far away.
Ordinarily, that was a talent one could only attempt at the Late Golden Core stage.
It was not a feat that a Qi Condensation cultivator could casually perform.
'If we’re only talking Divine Sense, haven’t I completely broken out of Qi Condensation?’
Though her realm remained at Qi Condensation, her Divine Sense had long since stepped far beyond its bounds.
The Divine Sense Condensation Art, Lower Volume did not end at the 1st level; it also contained the 2nd and 3rd Levels.
If the 1st level alone brought this much change, it was hard even to guess what would happen the higher she went.
‘What happens if I learn it all the way to the 3rd level?’
Suddenly, she recalled what dao friend(410.310) had told her.
Precious jade slips or magic treasures had Divine Sense restrictions placed on them to prevent unauthorized use.
But they had said that compressed Divine Sense could even pierce through those restrictions.
If she reached the 3rd level, that meant she could dig into and read even the things others had hidden away tight.
Once Baek Cheong thought that far, her mouth fell open.
'Isn’t this a Heaven-grade Cultivation Method?’
If it could accomplish this much with Divine Sense alone, then it was not something whose grade could be looked down on.
It made sense that the price had been as high as 50 high-Grade spirit Stones.
Of course, she could not simply be happy about it.
The side effect of Divine Sense shrinking still remained.
Moreover, to reach the 2nd level, she would have to compress the Divine Sense she had already compressed yet again.
Reaching the 2nd level alone would easily take several years, judging by her estimate.
‘The 2nd level is way out of reach.’
She had no desire to touch it right away.
More than anything, something else bothered her.
If her Divine Sense shrank even further from here, it would obviously affect her forum browsing.
The smaller her Divine Sense became, the more shallowly she could dig through the deep archives of the Nameless Forum.
'If I shrink my Divine Sense any more, it’ll only hurt my forum time.’
She had finally managed to control the Divine Sense that had been overflowing her vessel.
She had no intention of cutting into her forum browsing just to reach the 2nd level.
For now, she decided to be satisfied with having put out the immediate fire.
Now that she had brought her enlarged Divine Sense under control, she would no longer suffer headaches.
Her fear that she might ruin her health further as she raised her realm eased considerably as well.
‘This is good enough.’
A little while ago, she had also reached Qi Condensation, 9th level.
Having overcome such a major hurdle, she decided it was time to reward herself for all her hard work.
Baek Cheong connected to the Nameless Forum with a light heart.
‘Come to think of it…’
Before she connected, a sudden question occurred to her.
She had compressed her Divine Sense and become able to do things she could not do before.
Maybe she could try a new trick inside the Nameless Forum as well.
She decided to prod around the Nameless Forum with her compressed Divine Sense.
'If this goes well, maybe it’ll work?’
First, she stared intently at a familiar, easy target: a dao friend’s interface number.
She wondered if she might be able to trace the interface number and separately look through the posts they had written.
But no matter what she tried, nothing happened.
Even divine thought could not exert the slightest influence.
Then again, the Nameless Forum had been created by one of the Great Powers in the True Immortal Realm, so it was only natural.
'That’s a little disappointing.’
Baek Cheong pouted but went on exploring the Nameless Forum anyway.
After all, getting rid of the troublesome issue of Divine Sense Hypertrophy was already more than enough.
Browsing the forum in peace for the first time in ages tasted sweeter than ever.