*Bzzzt—*

The world changed.

It was no longer the familiar storage space cluttered with miscellaneous items.

Su Ming felt as if he had passed through a thick membrane, entering a gray, boundless expanse.

There was no light here, no sound, only a suffocating, heavy sense of oppression.

It was like standing amidst the ruins of a primordial era that had been annihilated for endless eons, facing the long river of time, feeling nothing but insignificance and solitude.

“This is…” Su Ming was so shocked he couldn’t speak.

“This is the Xuantian ring’s place of origin,” Lin Yu’s figure materialized beside him, his expression equally grave. “Or rather, the location of its dormant ‘spirituality.'”

He stretched out his hand, pointing towards the gray void ahead.

“Can you feel it? That emotion.”

Su Ming closed his eyes, quietly perceiving.

Sorrow.

Endless sorrow.

And also… a near-desperate waiting.

It was as if a voice, within the long river of time, was calling out a certain name over and over again, yet never receiving a response. That voice, from its initial anticipation, turned to disappointment, and finally transformed into this dead, silent grayness.

“It is waiting,” Su Ming blurted out.

“Indeed,” Lin Yu nodded, a flash of wisdom in his eyes. “And the one it awaits is definitely not human. The cadence of this emotional fluctuation is completely different from human soul resonance. If I hadn’t cultivated this ‘Spirit Nourishing True Explanation,’ making my soul body’s characteristics approach those of the spirit races, I would have been utterly unable to use this ‘Spirit Communication’ state to temporarily guide your divine sense here.”

“Master, you mean…” The speculation in Su Ming’s heart grew clearer. “The creator of this ring, or rather, the ring’s original owner, was from the spirit races?”

“Almost certainly,” Lin Yu’s tone was firm. “No wonder the formations within are so profoundly mysterious, even I find it difficult to fully comprehend their intricacies.”

As they spoke, Lin Yu’s expression suddenly shifted.

“This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity! Disciple, don’t just stand there wallowing in sentiment! This place is the ring spirit’s origin space. In this ‘Spirit Communication’ state, your perception will be amplified to the extreme, allowing you to glimpse a microscopic realm unreachable by ordinary means. This is ‘perceiving the minutest detail’! Quickly, take advantage of this excellent opportunity, look inward!”

“Perceiving the minutest detail?” This was the first time Su Ming had heard of this state.

“Correct! Ordinary introspection is merely a vague sensing of the flow of blood, qi, and spiritual energy, like viewing something through a veil. But ‘perceiving the minutest detail’ is an extremely profound method of soul power application. One can only enter this state for a brief moment, either by relying on a secret treasure or encountering a rare opportunity. In this state, you can observe your own meridians and acupoints as clearly as the lines on your palm, perceive the finest details, leaving no hidden flaws concealed! Quickly, turn your awareness back upon yourself!”

Turn awareness back upon himself?

Su Ming instinctively directed his divine sense towards his own body.

*Boom!*

Instantly, Su Ming’s soul was stirred, he could hardly contain himself.

What did he see?

It was no longer a flesh-and-blood body.

In his “eyes,” his own self had transformed into a vast and intricate three-dimensional star chart!

Meridians became surging blue rivers of stars, meandering through the endless dark void.

Acupoints resembled brilliant stars, rotating and breathing according to mysterious trajectories.

Even the flow of blood, the fibers of muscles, the texture of bones—everything was revealed in minute detail, clear to the extreme!

“This is… the realm of perceiving the minutest detail?” Su Ming was speechless with shock.

“Exactly! This is high-definition, uncensored introspection!” Lin Yu excitedly pointed out. “Don’t just stand there dazed, quickly look at the foundation of your Dantian’s Qihai! That is the location of your Dao foundation!”

Su Ming immediately cast his “gaze” towards his Dantian.

He saw that at the center of the Qihai, the spiritual energy vortex that he had previously perceived as merely a chaotic mass of qi now clearly manifested as a massive, slowly rotating blue spiral structure.

Countless tiny blue light points were arranged according to a golden ratio spiral trajectory, layer upon layer, as precise as a functioning galaxy.

And at the center of this galaxy, that tender green wood-element seedling gently swayed.

Su Ming could even see the fine hairs on its roots, greedily absorbing nutrients from the surrounding water spiritual energy, then transforming them into threads of vibrant green light points, feeding them back to the entire galaxy.

However, this supposedly flawless spiral structure was covered with dozens of subtle, hairline cracks resembling crazing on porcelain. Especially at the core foundation of the spiral, a distinct break and distortion was glaringly obvious, as if the center of the galaxy had been damaged, causing the entire spiritual energy vortex’s operation to carry a sense of laboriousness, its light uneven and dim.

“See that? These are the Dao foundation injuries left by that Foundation Establishment cultivator’s shockwave attack!” Lin Yu’s voice carried a chill. “They hinder the condensation and circulation of your spiritual energy at all times, making your cultivation efforts yield half the result for twice the work, and they are fatal hidden dangers when you attempt to break through to higher realms in the future! Ordinary elixirs are utterly incapable of repairing this kind of fundamental, root-level damage.”

Su Ming’s heart turned cold. So he had been carrying such a heavy burden all along.

“And there! Three inches below the left rib, that small tributary meridian!” Lin Yu pointed to another location.

Su Ming focused his gaze.

He saw that within the originally smooth blue river of stars, at a location of a small tributary meridian below his left rib, there was an extremely inconspicuous patch of gray shadow.

The flow of spiritual energy there was noticeably sluggish, like a hidden reef blocking a river, causing a slight turbulence in the surrounding current.

“This is…” Su Ming’s heart tightened.

“That’s the hidden injury left from your fall off the cliff,” Lin Yu said gravely. “Although the ‘Hundred-Herb Revival Pill’ healed the major damage, this clot of stagnant blood has remained stuck in the fine meridian. Normally you wouldn’t feel it, but at a critical moment, this little thing could cause your meridians to reverse and your efforts to be wasted!”

Su Ming broke out in a cold sweat.

If not for this “high-definition introspection,” this hidden danger would likely have remained buried, eventually becoming a fatal bomb.

“Now! Flush it open with water spiritual energy!” Lin Yu shouted sharply. “Use the ‘permeation’ power you just comprehended! Don’t force it, grind it away slowly!”

Su Ming dared not delay.

In this microscopic perspective, manipulating spiritual energy became exceptionally simple and intuitive.

With a thought, a slender stream of water energy split off, accurately rushing towards that patch of gray shadow.

He controlled the force and angle of the water stream, slowly chipping away at that “hidden reef.”

Threads of black impurities were carried away by the water flow, dissipating into the void.

A moment later.

As the last trace of shadow vanished, that tributary meridian suddenly became clear and unobstructed.

*Hum!*

Su Ming felt his body lighten, as if he had shed a heavy burden. The speed and smoothness of his internal spiritual energy circulation instantly increased by more than five percent!

“Excellent! First step complete!” Lin Yu’s voice also carried a hint of weary excitement. “Dao foundation damage cannot be restored in a day, but now that you’ve seen it, you can gradually work on it in the future. This experience of ‘perceiving the minutest detail’ will be of immense benefit to your future cultivation! Remember this feeling of controlling your own body!”

Just as master and disciple were immersed in this joy, the surrounding gray space suddenly began to tremble violently.

A repulsive force abruptly arose.

“Not good! Time’s up! My soul power can’t hold on anymore!” Lin Yu yelled. “Retreat! Retreat now!”

Su Ming felt his vision blur. That high-definition view instantly shattered, and his divine sense was violently flung back into his body by a tremendous force.

*Whoosh—*

Meditation room.

Su Ming’s eyes snapped open. He gasped for breath, his entire body already drenched in sweat.

But the light in his eyes was brighter than ever before.

“Master…”

“Don’t speak, let me recover…”

From within the ring, Lin Yu’s voice was as weak as a mosquito’s hum. Clearly, the operation just now had nearly drained all the soul power he had painstakingly accumulated. “Using ‘cheats’ also comes with a price… but it was worth it.”

Su Ming looked at the ring in his hand, his expression complex.

This night, he had not only broken through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, not only eliminated a hidden danger, but more importantly, he and his master had glimpsed a deeper layer of truth about this world.

Spirit races, ancient formations, microscopic perspective…

This path of cultivation seemed even more exciting, and even more… dangerous, than he had imagined.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep