The Prodigies War

Chapter 20: The Wonders of Spirit Refining

Lin Xun originally planned on studying the Little Divine Meditation Art, but before he could start, his stomach suddenly grumbled.

At the same time, an indescribable feeling of hunger flooded his body like the tide. He couldn't care about anything else at that moment and darted into the kitchen to cook something up.

Only then did he realize that it was getting late and he hadn't had any food in the entire day.

His kitchen had been renovated and the friendly villagers had gifted him with pots and pans as well as marinated beast meat.

Lin Xun quickly cooked a pot of aeth grains, sliced some meat, and enjoyed them while squatting in the kitchen.

Aeth grains contained gentle aeth power and were an essential food for cultivation. However, for the majority of the villagers in Feiyun Village who didn’t cultivate, aeth grains were only used to exchange for other supplies. They were extremely precious and the villagers wouldn’t treat them as food.

As for the wild beast meat, they were all from wild animals in the mountains. They could satisfy a person’s hunger but couldn’t be compared to aeth grains

Unexpectedly, Lin Xun was still hungry even after devouring three pots of wild beast meat and ten bowls of aeth grains.

His sudden increase in appetite greatly surprised him but he couldn't help feeling happy since it was a sign that his body had changed and he needed more nutrition than in the past.

The more he ate, the stronger his body, mind, blood, and qi became. Legend had it that cultivators in the Ziyao Empire not only enjoyed huge amounts of aeth grains but also aeth vegetables and fruits as well as specially made pills.

As a cultivator, Lin Xun naturally understood the reason behind this.

However, a problem came to his mind when he finished eating and glanced at the half-filled bag of aeth grains and six chunks of beast meat left.

If he continued to eat like that three times a day, he could easily consume over three kilograms of aeth grains and ten chunks of wild beast meat daily.

Most importantly, Lin Xun still needed the Feiyun villagers to supply him with such foods. It would be fine if it were for a few days but it didn’t seem right in the long term.

“I can’t live without any food!”

Lin Xun sighed inwardly. As the people said, children from poor families had no resources to cultivate and their families could never afford the materials needed for cultivation.

This also aligned with the old saying that the four elements of cultivation were wealth, companionship, methods, and land. Since wealth was first, it showed how important it was in cultivation.

Not only that, cultivators required huge financial power to support their need for pills, techniques, treasures, and equipment for battles.

Lin Xun was now penniless. He had no other possessions other than some materials he had collected.

Therefore, he had to make some money in order to solve his current problem and for his cultivation in the future!

Of course, aeth grains and beast meat were equal to money in Feiyun Village.

The harvest of aeth grains required a long time and so Lin Xun could only focus on the wild beast meat.

Lin Xun knew the stronger members of Feiyun Village would hunt together in the mountains in the slow seasons. The fur and flesh that they obtained not only supported their daily needs but were also transported to the Qingyang tribe and exchanged for other supplies.

“Hunting? I can give it a try.”

Lin Xun made up his mind. He might not be able to hunt down powerful savage beasts but he could easily deal with ordinary ones.

In truth, Lin Xun was thinking about his future. He had to have money to reach the city of the Ziyao Empire in the future.

……

The night was dark.

Lin Xun sat quietly in his residence, trying to comprehend the several obscure and mysterious words flashing across like strands of light.

The Little Divine Meditation Art, a spirit refining technique, was divided into three great stages: Star Cycle, Moon Phases, and Sun Illumination.

The name ‘Little Divine Meditation Art’ indicated the importance of using the mind to understand the secret of spirit refining in order to sharpen a cultivator’s spirit and strengthen their soul.

It was a rare cultivation art!

The number of different types of cultivation arts in the world was as many as the stars in the galaxy.

But 99% of them were either arts to improve aeth power or for battle.

There were very few techniques that involved a practitioner's spirit. Moreover, the majority of those were only found in ancient clans and families and rarely seen on the market.

Generally, such techniques were called Spirit Arts and were highly desired by all cultivators.

The reason was that a cultivator had to start cultivating their spirit to consolidate their Lifewill once they broke through the True Martial, Spirit Dipper, and Spirit Sea Stages and reached the Heaven Ascension Stage!

Only a cultivator who had consolidated their Lifewill and mastered the control of their aeth power could become a true Heaven Ascension expert.

At that point, the practitioner could subdue cultivators below the Heaven Ascension Stage with the power of their Lifewill alone and make them tremble on their knees.

However, the Heaven Ascension Stage was far too hard for many to ever reach. It was rare to see even one in one thousand people reach that stage.

In the Ziyao Empire, those who possessed Heaven Ascension power could join the ranks of the top martial arts experts!

This demonstrated the importance of mastering Spirit Arts since it concerned whether a cultivator could successfully break through to the Heaven Ascension Stage.

The Little Divine Meditation Art, which Lin Xun obtained, could be called an unparalleled Spirit Art in the world.

It was no exaggeration to even say that not even one in a million cultivators of the True Martial Stage could practice a Spirit Art!

Lin Xun had followed Mister Lu everywhere since he was a child so he knew about the value of Spirit Art much better than other people.

After all, Lin Xun had another identity — he was a rune apprentice!

The carving of runes required the support of tremendous aeth power. Otherwise, it would be impossible to precisely control the coordination between the cultivator’s aeth power, rune ink, rune brush, and the vessel.

From what Lin Xun knew, the stronger a rune master, the greater that cultivator’s aeth power. This was indisputable.

After controlling his excitement and emotions, Lin Xun began to study the Star Cycle, the first level of the Little Divine Meditation Art.

As the name suggested, Star Cycle involved the cycle of stars.

Using their own self-consciousness, cultivators had to visualize the wonders of the great emptiness of the universe and the cycle of stars, and then, cross the path of stars and draw upon the brilliance of stars to refine their spirit.

Once the practitioner reached the perfection stage, that person could turn their mind-sea into the vast starry sky with one thought. The illumination of stars would allow their spirit to roam freely and prevent it from being imprisoned by evil desires or restrained by distracting thoughts. Ultimately, it could form spirit roots!

However, Lin Xun had only just started and naturally wasn’t at that level yet.

The Little Divine Meditation Art didn’t just consist of three great stages, the Star Cycle, Moon Phases, and Sun Illumination, it also involved the cultivation of the cultivator’s spirit. Each stage was profound and contained infinite mysteries. It was impossible to fully understand everything overnight.

As Lin Xun began to study the Star Cycle, a vast night sky emerged in his mind-sea. However the night sky was far and unreachable, and the stars were blurry and dim.

This was the image of the Star Cycle, and Lin Xun had to visualize this image with his mind and then explore further.

This was the so-called ‘visualization’.

The process of visualization was similar to a mirror in that it reflected a person’s self. This was the only method in the world to cultivate Spirit Arts, but there were different ways of visualization.

For example, Lin Xun was visualizing the image of the Star Cycle in his mind-sea. Only when he could light up all the stars in the night sky with his aeth power would he reach the Star Cycle’s perfection stage.

The night was quiet and the moon was shining brightly outside the window. The mountains were bathed in pure light, and the cicadas chirped in harmony. It was extremely peaceful.

Lin Xun sat cross-legged in his residence, silently thinking without any distractions. His pale and handsome face was particularly still and peaceful.

……

Time flew by and a night quickly passed. Morning rays lit up the world, dispelling the dark night.

Birds sang outside the window, a sign of a new day, and woke Lin Xun from his meditation. He got out of bed but he felt unusually energetic and his blood and qi flowed without obstruction.

After a night of training, despite failing to light a single star in the mind-sea, his mood was much better than before. His eyes and ears were much sharper and more sensitive. He could distinctly hear the subtle sound of water drops rolling off leaves and onto the ground.

This was a sign of his consciousness growing stronger. Lin Xun had never thought he would achieve such a visible result after only one night of practice. The Little Divine Meditation Art was indeed extraordinary.

Lin Xun pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard. After stretching his body, he practiced the Marching Army Fist Art until his body was dripping with sweat. He rinsed himself with the ice-cold water from the well. Both his body and spirit were full of vitality as though they contained inexhaustible energy.

However, a wave of hunger flooded his body like the tide. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. It was indeed a happy event that his body and spirit were growing stronger, but with it, his appetite had doubled. Indeed, nothing was perfect in the world.

Lin Xun was even more determined to find an opportunity to hunt in the mountains! Otherwise, he couldn’t fill his stomach with just the food from the villagers alone.

After breakfast, Lin Xun headed straight to villager Zhou Zhong’s residence. He had made plans to exterminate the worms in Zhou Zhong’s plantations earlier.

Zhou Zhong came out with a longbow and a huge blade on his back just as Lin Xun arrived.

“Big Brother Zhou Zhong, what are you doing?” asked Lin Xun.

“To collect some herbal ingredients that enrich blood and qi up in the mountains, and also do some hunting while I’m up there.” Zhou Zhong responded without thinking.

Soon he noticed that it was Lin Xun asking him. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “How could I forget that I’m taking you to the plantations to exterminate the worms today.”

Hunting?

What a coincidence!

Lin Xun smiled.