"Finally... I've finally broken through..."
The moment Shi Lei finally made the breakthrough, his heart surged with boundless emotion.
One had to realize that he possessed only mixed Spirit Roots of four attributes, meaning every single increase in his cultivation level and every breakthrough in his realm was exceptionally difficult.
And yet, here he was, having actually done it once again!
"What kind of incredible fortune have I managed to obtain?!" Shi Lei marvelled continuously in his heart.
For now, he did not open his eyes, remaining focused on consolidating his cultivation realm.
Suddenly, he felt as though the entire world had fundamentally changed.
"Is this Divine Sense?" He began to perceive a completely brand-new ability awakening within his body.
Previously, whether during the Qi Refinement Early-stage or the Qi Refinement Mid-stage, he could only attain a vague outline and a fuzzy perception of his internal condition—the utmost limit of what his Spiritual Sense could reach.
Yet everything was completely different now; he could now see the internal state of his body with absolute clarity.
Whether it was his heart, his stomach, or his intestines, he could perceive them all in meticulous detail.
Even with his eyes closed, he could still clearly see every inch of his skin, every single hair, as well as the color of his muscles, and feel the hardness of his own bones.
He could distinctly see every single drop of blood in his body flowing slowly from his heart through the blood vessels and meridians to the rest of his internal organs. One could say this level of perception completely surpassed the technology of Blue Star's X-ray scans.
When Shi Lei turned his attention to observe the herbs and Spiritual Plants once more, the exact same thing happened. Those medicinal herbs and spiritual rice stalks appeared to be magnified by dozens of times right before his eyes.
"Truly marvelous."
After adapting slightly to this newly acquired ability, Shi Lei withdrew his Divine Sense and continued to inhale and exhale the mist-like Spiritual Energy, consolidating his cultivation realm. He did not want to miss out on any of the enhancements brought by the mist-like Spiritual Energy.
Every person possessing Spirit Roots required comprehension of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth upon entering the path of immortality; what was needed at this stage was "Spiritual Sense".
Through Spiritual Sense, one could perceive the dots of spiritual energy light scattered between heaven and earth. The moment a person could draw these spiritual energies into their body, they gained cultivation and became a true Cultivator.
Therefore, "Spiritual Sense" could be regarded as the most fundamental perceptive ability of a Cultivator.
As for "Divine Sense", it could be understood as an advanced version of "Spiritual Sense", though distinct differences existed.
Once a Cultivator's cultivation broke through the Qi Refinement Early-stage and advanced past the Qi Refinement Mid-stage, their Spiritual Sense would certainly grow stronger and their perception become more acute, but Divine Sense still would not be born.
Only when cultivation reached the Qi Refinement Late-stage would "Divine Sense" be naturally conceived within the body.
"Spiritual Sense" could only be described as a vague induction of spiritual objects in heaven and earth by a Cultivator.
"Divine Sense," however, was entirely different. Not only would its perception of celestial and spiritual items become exceptionally clear, but it also possessed a faint ability to manipulate spiritual energy and spiritual objects.
Though at the Qi Refinement Late-stage, the utility of this ability was almost negligible.
At most, it could manipulate some very small objects or some fundamental matter.
Attempting to manipulate huge and heavy items, or trying to stand upon a Flying Sword and soar through the air, proved exceedingly difficult.
Of course, if one practiced specialized techniques for object manipulation and sword control, that would be a different matter entirely. After all, such foundational arts were extremely time-consuming to practice and offered zero gains in terms of realm and power; hence, only mortal martial artists who could not acquire proper techniques or rogue cultivators who could not afford them would bother studying them.
Generally speaking, very few people went out of their way to practice these.
Most importantly, the disciples of the vast majority of immortal sects—whether they belonged to major cultivation sects or imperial dynasties and aristocratic cultivator families—typically possessed far more profound methods of object manipulation via Divine Sense within their inherited Cultivation Manuals. Such skill-sets formed the absolute optimal path for cultivating Divine Sense.
As the mist-like Spiritual Energy gradually dissipated, Shi Lei temporarily halted the operation of the Changchun Formula and once again slowly savored the wondrous uses of his Divine Sense.
First, he used his Divine Sense to sense the pillar of light and the artificial rockery in the middle of the room once more...
Yet still, he made no major discoveries. Aside from seeing them with greater vividness and detail, he noticed that both the rockery and the beam of light had extremely tiny, strange runes attached to their surfaces. Beyond that, nothing else was revealed.
Next, Shi Lei shifted his attention to the surrounding vine walls of the Vine House...
He discovered that the vine-woven walls of the room had likewise become visible down to the finest detail.
Their antique coloration, every single texture, and every tiny point of light could now be seen with much greater clarity.
Furthermore, he sensed that he seemed to share a vague, indistinct connection with the Vine House itself...
Shi Lei felt rather puzzled, wondering from where precisely this connection to the Vine House originated.
Suddenly, he realized that even without touching the walls with his palms, he was still able to perceive the scenery outside. A surge of pleasant surprise washed over him.
Right now, he cast his gaze slowly through the vine walls and began observing the outside world.
All the sights outside were now vividly displayed before him.
One could say the environment within the Demon Python's lair was extremely harsh. The ground was littered with bleaching fragments of bone and skeletal remains, and the entire lair was shrouded in a grim, eerie, and utterly terrifying aura of gloom. Moreover, it was accompanied by the mist continuously exhaled from the Demon Python's belly, blending a dense, fishy stench with the foul rot of the lair into a concoction that made one's stomach churn in perpetual nausea.
"What is this Demon Python up to?" Shi Lei watched the motionless Demon Python coiled in the center of the lair, feeling quite perplexed. He projected the power of his Divine Soul toward the Demon Python, which was currently exhaling spiritual mist, wishing to observe the beast in greater detail.
The next instant, Shi Lei felt his body grow light as a feather, and a massive creature suddenly materialized right before his eyes.
He and the Demon Python found themselves staring directly into each other's eyes!
"..."
This development caught Shi Lei so off guard that he was struck utterly dumbfounded...
"I—I—I came out?!"
"..."
Meanwhile, the Demon Python was even more bewildered beyond belief?!
A gaze of utter confusion flickered within its monstrous pupils...
It seemed to be muttering, "Why is there a human inside my snake lair?"
"Where did this human come from?..."
"Bizarre?..."
"It's as if he just appeared out of nowhere?..."
"???..."
In short, the Demon Python's mind was filled entirely with question marks???
...
The air inside the snake lair froze instantly, and time seemed to halt in that exact moment...
Shi Lei felt as though his heart had skipped a beat. Confronted with the gigantic beast pressed face-to-face against him, his pupils dilated to their absolute limit...
"Oh, mother of mine! Where is the Vine House?" Shi Lei screamed frantically in his mind. Right now, only that house could serve as his sanctuary.
At that moment, Shi Lei suddenly sensed the presence of the Vine House emanating from his chest. Though puzzled, he immediately swept his Divine Sense toward his own chest...
Sure enough, the Vine House Space instantly manifested within his Divine Sense, and he immediately willed himself to enter it.
As soon as Shi Lei entertained that thought, his entire figure vanished without a trace from within the snake lair in a sudden flash.
From the moment he locked eyes with the Demon Python to the instant Shi Lei's entire body disappeared, barely a single breath of time had passed.
When the beast opened its massive jaws, intending to inhale the "little bug" before it, it ultimately discovered that it had lunged at empty air, leaving not a shred of the "little bug's" shadow anywhere in sight.
The duration was so brief that the Demon Python had not even managed to react. Discovering that the tiny crawling creature that had just appeared before it had vanished just as abruptly instantly drove the Demon Python into an extreme frenzy of agitation and rage. A foul-smelling black whirlwind of gale-force winds erupted from the giant python's maw, shattering the skeletal remains scattered across the entire lair into pulverized dust within a fraction of a second.
Then, shaking its massive head, the colossal creature wrenched its entire body from the spot and began writhing rapidly, darting out of the lair in a flash as if it would refuse to rest until it tracked down that little bug from a moment ago.