Chapter Thirty-Five: The Revelation of Spiritual Power

Liu Pan was thoroughly familiar with Celestial Peak. The last time he had come, as an outer disciple, he had to show the token permitting him to freely select a technique before ascending the mountain. This time, however, he simply walked up without a word—his face alone was enough. Status had changed, so had his treatment; Liu Pan understood this principle well. He wasn't surprised no one checked his credentials, and he strode straight to the summit.

About three hundred meters from the Technique Pavilion, Liu Pan suddenly paused, a subtle flash in his eyes. He adjusted his already tidy robes, as if to ensure proper decorum, then continued toward the pavilion.

Inside, the furnishings were the same as before. But this time, besides the white-haired elder behind the counter, Liu Pan saw another man: Liu Kuang.

Liu Kuang was leafing through the shelves. Sensing someone’s arrival, he turned and raised his brows, clearly surprised to see Liu Pan.

"Disciples personally chosen by the sect elders may select one technique free of charge every six months. You have two hours to choose," the elder said calmly from behind the counter, eyes still fixed on his book.

Liu Pan bowed respectfully, said nothing more, and headed straight for the second floor.

Seeing Liu Pan ascend, Liu Kuang's eyes flickered. He glanced at the elder, then hurriedly followed Liu Pan upstairs.

On the second floor, Liu Pan wasted no time, going directly to the shelf marked with the Water element. A quick glance revealed the very technique he sought: Sevenfold Water Essence Seal.

Without hesitation, Liu Pan took the manual, glanced through a few pages, confirmed it was the one he wanted, and turned to descend.

Liu Kuang was stunned. He had barely begun to consider how to approach Liu Pan or what to ask when he saw Liu Pan already heading downstairs with his selection, leaving him utterly bewildered.

Liu Pan cared nothing for Liu Kuang's confusion. His only desire was to leave with his technique as quickly as possible, for he realized he had inadvertently stumbled into the protagonist's scene, and his secret—the possession of spiritual power—might soon be exposed.

Descending, Liu Pan approached the counter and presented the Sevenfold Water Essence Seal to the elder with a respectful bow. "Sir, I have made my selection."

"So soon?" The elder raised his brows, accepting the manual but clearly expecting an explanation.

Liu Pan answered honestly, "I saw this technique during my last visit. I returned specifically for it, so there was no need to waste time choosing."

The elder continued to frown, his eyes flickering with thought. After a long pause, he glanced at the manual, then silently produced a white jade slip from behind the counter.

He waved his hand, and the jade slip floated in midair. As before, he traced it for a while, until it flashed with light and returned to his hand.

"Take it," he said, handing the jade slip to Liu Pan. After a brief pause, he added, "Chosen disciples of the inner elders may select one technique free of charge every six months. If you wish to acquire more, you must earn merit points by completing tasks in the Inner Sect’s Mission Hall."

"Thank you for the reminder," Liu Pan replied, taking the jade slip and bowing respectfully again. Without lingering, he left the pavilion and headed down the mountain.

After Liu Pan had departed for some time, the elder’s brows relaxed slightly. His eyes flashed, and he ascended to the second floor.

There, Liu Kuang was deep in thought, not at all interested in choosing a technique. In fact, he had already selected his manual before Liu Pan’s arrival and left it at the counter below.

"What is your relationship with that man?" the elder asked, frowning as he approached.

Liu Kuang was momentarily startled, unsure why the elder would ask such a question. He hesitated, then asked, "Is there a problem?"

"That young man is not simple," the elder replied, still frowning. "If you hold a grudge against him, the best course is to make him disappear quickly."

"No need. We have no quarrel, and he has helped me several times," Liu Kuang said, sensing the elder’s intent toward Liu Pan and quickly interceding.

"But I noticed he doesn’t seem to want to interact with you," the elder said, a trace of doubt in his eyes. His spiritual sense had covered the entire pavilion, so he was well aware of everything that transpired upstairs between Liu Kuang and Liu Pan.

"I don’t know why," Liu Kuang admitted, a hint of confusion in his gaze. After a moment, he added uncertainly, "I feel he’s deliberately keeping his distance from me."

Deliberately keeping his distance? The elder frowned again, unsure what to make of it. Since even Liu Kuang, the person involved, was unclear, how could he, an outsider, possibly know?

"By the way, you said he’s not simple. Did you notice something?" Liu Kuang asked, curious.

"I can't say for certain," the elder replied. "I just felt his actions were odd, though I can’t pinpoint the issue. However, I am ninety percent sure he possesses spiritual power. To awaken it so early—and with such strength—unless fate intervenes, his future achievements will be limitless." There was a hint of something different in his tone, as if lost in thought.

"Spiritual power?" Liu Kuang echoed, his eyes flickering before settling into confusion.

In truth, thanks to Yan’s guidance, Liu Kuang already knew Liu Pan would awaken spiritual power at some stage in his cultivation.

After all, Liu Pan’s soul could exist safely within the Da Huang Saber’s internal space. Perhaps this related to his extreme cold constitution and spiritual root, but without a powerful soul, even the most exceptional spiritual root would be useless if the Da Huang Saber did not recognize him as master—his soul would never enter its internal space.

The stronger one's soul, the greater the likelihood of awakening spiritual power; this was the consensus in the cultivation world after extensive research by its great powers.

Leaving the pavilion, Liu Pan relaxed once he was about three hundred meters away, shaking his head in silence.

He truly felt speechless; he hadn’t expected to encounter Liu Kuang at the Technique Pavilion. In fact, as he approached within three hundred meters, Liu Pan suspected Liu Kuang might be inside, because at that distance, there was spiritual sense enveloping the area.

For spiritual sense, a newly advanced Martial Master can cover a radius of about one hundred meters, while a perfected Martial Master reaches three hundred meters.

The elder in the pavilion was a perfected Martial Master, meaning his spiritual sense extended up to three hundred meters.

However, practitioners rarely use their spiritual sense to the maximum in daily life—it quickly leads to fatigue. So when Liu Pan felt the coverage approaching the pavilion, he sensed something was off.

Truthfully, Liu Pan need not have been so cautious. He could have acted naturally—gone to the pavilion, pretended to bump into Liu Kuang, browsed some manuals, exchanged a few words, and left without incident.

But Liu Pan genuinely wished to avoid entanglement with Liu Kuang. Moreover, seeing Liu Kuang inside made him realize he’d come to select his technique too soon—he had only broken through to the Martial Disciple realm yesterday.

To break through yesterday and select a technique today? If the elder, with his true identity and experience, failed to deduce anything, it would be truly strange.

Choosing a Yellow-grade technique indicated he could already control the outbreak of "Kingly Aura"—something impossible within a day without awakening spiritual power.

If he misused his free selection to pick a basic technique, it would clearly signal he was hiding something.

After all, he had already reached Martial Disciple realm. Why would a Martial Disciple come to the pavilion and select a basic technique instead of a Yellow-grade one? That would be tantamount to announcing he had a problem.

As for selecting a technique for someone else—ridiculous. The pavilion kept strict records and regulations: only the person who selected the technique could study it. If you wished to gift someone a technique, you had to give them the right to choose, not the manual itself.

Understanding that the elder would surely guess he possessed spiritual power, Liu Pan stopped considering whether to chat with Liu Kuang. Since exposure was inevitable, he chose the most extreme approach: select the technique as quickly as possible and leave, letting them speculate as they wished.

Liu Pan also believed that, thanks to Liu Kuang’s presence, the elder would not act against him. Besides, what if he possessed spiritual power? That was a mark of genius. Would the elder really destroy him for it? He had done nothing to offend.

With such confidence, Liu Pan acted boldly. It was this very boldness that made the elder find Liu Pan’s behavior odd, yet unable to pinpoint the strangeness.