Chapter Forty: Uncanny Mental Strength

Liu Pan possessed a certain understanding of alchemy. However, if he truly wished to ascend to the pinnacle of the alchemical path, the knowledge in his mind was of little use to him. Most of what he knew concerned fire-based alchemy, yet he possessed an Extreme Cold Physique. This meant that if he sought to reach the summit of alchemy, he could only do so through water-based methods.

Unfortunately, Liu Pan’s knowledge of water-based alchemy was limited. After all, it was a niche branch of the discipline. Not only was there little about it in his own books, but he had scarcely seen it mentioned in the writings of others. Fortunately, Liu Pan was currently only studying the fundamentals. Even if he were to attempt refining pills, they would not be of any advanced grade, and he could use ordinary flames and the fire-based techniques available to him.

When it came down to it, the only method Liu Pan could utilize at present was fire-based alchemy with regular flames, for he had no understanding of water-based methods. In a place like the Bright Sun Sect—a second-tier sect—such an esoteric approach as water-based alchemy simply didn’t exist.

Thus, Liu Pan could only hope to embark on the path of water-based alchemy after his cultivation grew strong enough to join a greater sect.

Following Elder Lin to the rear hall, Liu Pan’s eyes swept across the space, a hint of wonder flickering within them. Dozens of shelves took up two-thirds of the room. Only the foremost two shelves held books; the rest were densely packed with medicinal ingredients. Before the shelves stood two three-foot-tall cauldrons, their exteriors blackened from repeated use. Beside them were several large bundles of finely split pale violet wood, no doubt fuel for the fires.

It was Liu Pan’s first time seeing alchemical tools and such an abundance of ingredients in person. Until now, he had only encountered such things in writing.

“This is where I usually refine pills,” Elder Lin explained, his steps unbroken as he approached one of the shelves lined with books. He casually drew out a volume and handed it to Liu Pan. “I believe this book will be useful to you at this stage.”

As Elder Lin handed him the book, Liu Pan’s body trembled almost imperceptibly. He accepted it with both hands, bowed respectfully, and said, “Thank you, Master.”

Elder Lin smiled at Liu Pan’s gratitude. “Though you’ve come today, it will be some time before you actually begin refining pills. For now, study well here. You may find other books on these shelves that will benefit you.”

With that, Elder Lin cast Liu Pan a deep look, then turned and strode back toward the front hall, leaving Liu Pan alone.

Liu Pan fell silent. In truth, while he genuinely intended to learn alchemy from Elder Lin, it was not because he understood the importance of the art, nor because alchemy would aid his cultivation. Rather, he was always considering contingencies and possible escape routes.

There are no rehearsals in life; every moment is broadcast live. Success is live, and so are failure and death. Therefore, Liu Pan had to anticipate the unexpected.

He was not the protagonist, Liu Kuang. He lacked the golden finger known as Yan. All he had was his understanding of this world, and he could only make more careful plans. Only by doing so could he choose the most reliable path to reach the summit.

Liu Pan knew that, with his Extreme Cold Physique, the only way to reach the apex of alchemy was to cultivate the water-based path. Yet he still chose to learn from Elder Lin, because for him, possessing a supply of pills would provide peace of mind.

As for Elder Lin—

After a long silence, Liu Pan sighed softly, cast aside his jumble of thoughts, and fixed his gaze on the book in his hands—“The Fundamentals of Spiritual Power Manipulation.”

As the title suggested, the content was an introduction to the basic use of spiritual power. Liu Pan flipped through it, and within a quarter of an hour, he finished the entire volume.

It was indeed basic—besides an overview of spiritual power, the only technique described was using it to expand one’s perception of the surroundings.

Yet, despite the simplicity, Liu Pan was thrilled. Once he mastered using spiritual power to sense his environment, he would possess the “divine sense” of a Martial Master.

With “divine sense,” the only difference between him and a Martial Master would be in raw energy cultivation; in all other respects, there would be little distinction. Against cultivators below the Martial Master realm, even if he remained at the first stage of Martial Disciple, as long as he didn’t encounter some heaven-defying genius, he would have little to fear!

Understanding this, Liu Pan couldn’t wait. He sat down cross-legged on the spot and began practicing the spiritual power manipulation technique described in the book.

Spiritual power could be used as divine sense, but it was not, in itself, divine sense.

Closing his eyes and focusing, he soon sensed a faint, shallow “little lake” between his brows, just as the book described.

The moment he sensed this little lake, Liu Pan was stunned. He hadn’t expected that his spiritual power was already at the “Lake Formation” stage.

The strength of spiritual power at awakening is determined by the soul’s innate power. The stages are Dripping Water, Gushing Spring, True Lake, and Heavenly Sea, each subdivided into nine minor levels. The gulf between levels is vast, not to mention the difference between stages.

Most ordinary cultivators awaken their spiritual power at the first, second, or third tier of Dripping Water. Only a rare few with exceptionally strong souls awaken with more powerful spiritual strength. Yet, even in the texts Liu Pan had read, the strongest initial awakening was only at the Dripping Water stage’s peak.

Given that his spiritual power felt abnormal, Liu Pan had estimated he might be at the Gushing Spring stage at best. Who could have imagined that he was already at the True Lake stage? To think that in his own novel, when Liu Kuang awakened his spiritual power, he only reached the seventh tier of Dripping Water!

Wasn’t this too outrageous? At this moment, Liu Pan was thoroughly dumbfounded. The little lake between his brows was faint in color, but unmistakably a lake.

After a long while, Liu Pan collected himself and, following the book’s guidance, began expanding his spiritual power outward. Although he saw that his spiritual power had formed a lake, he was still hesitant to believe he had truly reached the True Lake stage, so he decided to test whether it matched the range described in his own story.

One hundred meters. Two hundred. Three hundred...

His spiritual power rapidly expanded, and within moments, covered a radius of three thousand six hundred meters.

Once again, Liu Pan was stunned. He didn’t know exactly how far his spiritual power reached, but judging from its range, he realized it was indeed at the True Lake stage.

Judging by the color of the lake between his brows, he guessed he was at the first or second minor tier of the True Lake stage.

Awakening directly at the first or second tier of the True Lake stage? Was he about to shatter the very premise of his book? This was simply too exaggerated!

By now, Liu Pan’s spiritual power enveloped the entire Medicine Peak, and even reached halfway across the two neighboring mountains. Vaguely, he felt his consciousness drifting with his spiritual power, touching every part of its range.

He saw Elder Lin reading in the front hall, saw Zhu Jiangyang lurking suspiciously outside the hall, saw Zhou Qin snoring away in a small hut, and saw the outer disciples tending the medicinal fields on Medicine Peak. Everything within the range of his spiritual power—every person, every object—Liu Pan saw it all with clarity.

After a long while, Liu Pan finally came back to himself. He hesitated a moment, then set aside the question of his spiritual power’s stage and began to savor the sensation of using it, while also observing the people and events within its range.

Though his spiritual power scanned Elder Lin, the elder showed no sign of awareness and continued reading as before.

Liu Pan understood why Elder Lin could not sense his spiritual power. To detect it, one either had to reach the Martial Emperor realm and master the void around their body, or possess spiritual power themselves.

As for Zhu Jiangyang outside the hall, Liu Pan was puzzled—this second senior brother didn’t seem to be up to anything proper. What was he doing, sneaking glances into the hall? Frowning, Liu Pan scanned the area but found no sign of Wang Dadao within his range.

It was early morning; it was one thing for Wang Dadao not to greet Elder Lin, but to not even be on Medicine Peak was strange. Liu Pan frowned again, glanced at the lurking Zhu Jiangyang, but could make no sense of it and decided to let it go.

He then checked on Zhou Qin, snoring away in the little hut. Thinking of Zhou Qin’s cheerful nature, Liu Pan couldn’t help but smile.

As for the outer disciples tending the herb fields, Liu Pan gave them only a cursory glance before losing interest.

A quarter of an hour later, Liu Pan withdrew his spiritual power in a single thought. Opening his eyes, a smile traced his lips.

Though it was somewhat absurd to possess True Lake stage spiritual power, Liu Pan had no trouble accepting it. After all, it was a boon, not a burden. The stronger his spiritual power, the greater his aptitude and the better his chances of survival in this world.

After a moment’s thought, Liu Pan turned his attention to the books on the shelf. With a single thought, his spiritual power expanded again, enveloping the volumes.

Spiritual power could serve as divine sense, but in truth, it was far more formidable. Divine sense could only perceive the shape of things, not their contents. Spiritual power, however, could carry the consciousness of its user to observe, and even directly read, objects.

For example, when it came to the books before him, divine sense would reveal only their existence, while spiritual power could reveal their very contents.