Chapter 61: Calamity of Divine Sense
Li Yan suddenly recalled the storage pouch containing the three spirit stones, and he respectfully asked:
"Seventh Senior Brother, what is this storage pouch? And how do you use it?"
Lin Daqiao glanced at Li Yan upon hearing the question. With a long arm, he picked up the storage pouch from the table again, pointed at it, and began to explain:
"Storage pouches are among the most commonly used item-holding artifacts in the cultivation world. They must be refined by artifact refiners who are well-versed in spatial techniques.
"Such artifact masters are quite rare on this continent. Even among the Four Great Sects, each sect typically has only three or four of them at most.
"Storage-type tools must at least be of the magical tool grade. Spirit artifacts and spirit treasures are not sufficient for storage purposes. Storage tools are also divided into low, middle, and high grades.
"The main difference between them lies in the size of their internal space. The kind of storage pouch we're using is the lowest grade, and its inner space is only about one to two zhang, so it can't hold anything too large.
"Also, you can't put living things inside because the internal space lacks air, they would simply suffocate to death.
"Of course, there are other storage tools or magical treasures in various shapes, some like rings, some like belts, some like bracelets. Their forms are strange and diverse.
"However, those types not only demand a much higher level of refining skill, but the materials needed to craft them are extremely difficult to obtain, unlike the more accessible materials used for storage pouches.
"The interior of a storage tool is an independent space, different from the space we currently occupy. Holding one is like carrying a private pocket dimension wherever you go."
Lin Daqiao spoke slowly. Seeing Li Yan listening attentively, he felt quite pleased and continued:
"Low-grade storage pouches have no protective function. That means any cultivator who gets their hands on one can take whatever is inside. So you must be careful and guard your storage pouch closely.
"However, this type of low-grade storage pouch also has one advantage, it is connected to a relatively close spatial fold. It's a small, narrow spatial rift near our current space.
"These small rifts cannot easily split further. Due to the suction effect from the surrounding greater space, the connection between it and our world remains relatively stable. So, if a storage pouch is destroyed, its contents are likely to fall into the real world instead of being lost to chaotic space currents.
"For mid or high-grade storage tools, they are essentially self-contained extradimensional spaces. Though their inner spaces are vast, the distance from our world is too great, and only through rare materials can a passage be stabilized.
"Users can imprint their divine sense on them and set restrictions. If someone else obtains it, they won't be able to open it unless they can safely erase that divine sense imprint.
"Otherwise, forcing it open will destroy the passage and cause a self-detonation, and the contents inside will most likely be destroyed or drift off into other spaces."
"Even the lowest-grade storage pouch is extremely precious. After all, it is still a magical tool. The average cultivator may never even own a decent spirit artifact or spirit treasure in their entire lives, let alone a magical tool.
"Even in great sects like ours, not everyone is given one. Usually, only formal disciples are issued storage pouches. Those outer servant disciples, though also part of the sect, do not receive one.
"In second-rate sects, usually only Foundation Establishment cultivators are issued storage tools. In my former third-rate sect, the entire sect didn't even have ten storage pouches in total."
At this point, Lin Daqiao's expression dimmed slightly. He thought of the martial uncles and seniors of his former sect who had cultivated their entire lives, yet still lived in worse conditions than even the outer disciples of the Four Great Sects. A faint melancholy welled up in his heart.
That was his birthplace, where his cultivation journey began. There were his first master and his earliest fellow disciples.
Li Yan had no idea what was on his mind. And even if he did, he wouldn't understand why a mere storage pouch could make the usually spirited Seventh Senior Brother suddenly turn quiet and introspective. He simply watched as Lin Daqiao's tone grew more somber as he spoke, as though lost in thought.
But it wasn't appropriate to ask. So he waited in silence.
After a pause, Lin Daqiao calmed himself and continued:
"Although the artifact refiners in the Four Great Sects can craft low-grade storage pouches fairly quickly, the demand within each sect is enormous. And given their status, how could they be expected to constantly craft what to them are low-level tools?
"So, most of the storage pouches we use are purchased from cultivation clans. These clans, unlike sects, are family-based but still consist of cultivators.
"They pass down cultivation through generations and many powerful clans can rival the great sects. The smaller ones, like second and third-rate sects, tend to align themselves under the Four Great Sects for protection.
"These cultivation clans each have their own way of survival, some specialize in alchemy, some in artifact refining, some in assassination, even hiring themselves out as killers...
"Among them are clans that specialize in crafting storage tools, passing down secret refining methods from their ancestors as their livelihood.
"Some clan artifact masters even surpass those in the Four Great Sects. But often these clans are weaker in combat and must rely on the great sects for protection."
Having said this, Lin Daqiao seemed to recover his spirit and pointed at the storage pouch.
"Junior Brother, using this pouch is simple. To store an item, split your divine sense into two parts, one to enter the pouch, and the other to lock onto the item you wish to store. Merge the two streams of divine sense and focus your will on the item entering the storage space. That's it.
"To retrieve an item, send one stream of divine sense into the pouch, lock onto the desired item, and as you withdraw your divine sense, think of where you want the item to appear. It's very simple, just a matter of practice."
He looked at Li Yan.
"I wonder if you can currently extend your divine sense outside your body. Usually, one must reach the third level of Qi Condensation to project divine sense. However, there are two exceptions.
"One is for those born with an exceptionally strong divine sense, once they generate spiritual power, they can forcibly project their sense.
"The other is for those who cultivate techniques that enhance divine sense, allowing it to extend beyond the body even before reaching Qi Condensation third level.
"If you can't yet project your divine sense, I can help retrieve the items inside for now, so you can use them when needed. You're already at Qi Condensation second level, so I imagine it won't be long before you can use the pouch yourself."
He then looked closely at Li Yan. He was curious about the power of the "Fractured Poison Body," a rare constitution. Though he had heard much about its various abilities, each person who possessed it displayed different results. He didn't know whether this physique also enhanced divine sense.
Li Yan scratched the back of his head.
"Seventh Senior Brother, I think... I can project my divine sense!"
Since learning of his cultivation level from Li Wuyi that morning, Li Yan hadn't had time to properly test it. But on the way here with Lin Daqiao, he couldn't contain his curiosity and secretly tried releasing his divine sense.
He discovered, to his amazement, that his divine sense could indeed leave his body, extending outward to a distance of about three zhang. In that moment, everything in the direction he probed, every blade of grass and bamboo stalk, every insect and leaf, every breeze and wisp of mist seemed to fall within his grasp. It was a wondrous feeling.
This went unnoticed by Lin Daqiao only because his cultivation was not deep, and because Li Yan had deliberately directed his divine sense elsewhere, releasing and withdrawing it in an instant.
Had it been someone like Li Wuyi, a Foundation Establishment grand cultivator, the presence of a weaker divine sense nearby would have been detected immediately.
After listening to Lin Daqiao's explanation, Li Yan thought it over for a moment, then decided to speak up.
Naturally, his goal was to be able to use the storage pouch more conveniently. As for the reason, he would simply attribute everything to the so-called "Fractured Poison Body." No matter who suspected anything, he could just push the blame onto that.
By now, he had begun to understand a few things about the "Fractured Poison Body." Even the sect itself couldn't make sense of its origins or nature, so any side effects arising during cultivation would be seen as plausible.
Lin Daqiao was briefly stunned upon hearing his words. He had asked purely out of curiosity, but now that Li Yan had confirmed it, he was genuinely shocked.
"Junior Brother, are you serious? You're saying your divine sense can already leave your body?" he asked, a bit urgently.
Li Yan had underestimated the kind of shock a divine sense cultivation technique could provoke and even more so, the consequences it might bring.
In this world, techniques that could enhance divine sense weren't useless, they were simply exceedingly rare. Since ancient times, such methods had nearly disappeared.
A cultivator with strong divine sense not only advanced in cultivation several times faster than normal, but also possessed combat strength far beyond their peers.
It was said that thousands of years ago, a Foundation Establishment cultivator once stumbled upon a fragmented manual for cultivating divine sense.
The methods for training divine sense were notoriously brutal, a major reason they had nearly died out. Pure divine sense cultivation involved grinding one's spiritual consciousness down inch by inch.
It was akin to placing one's soul on a massive grinding stone and slowly wearing it down. Since divine sense was essentially a person's spirit core, even minor damage could bring unbearable pain, let alone deliberate grinding.
Most cultivators who couldn't endure such torment ended up mad, crippled, or dead.
Yet that Foundation Establishment cultivator possessed extraordinary willpower. Relying on the fragmented manual alone, he endured what was like torture from the depths of hell, and actually managed to cultivate his divine sense to a level thirty percent stronger than those of his realm.
Do not underestimate what thirty percent could do. From then on, even in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, he could hold his own against three or four peers at once without being defeated. Against late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, he could still put up a fight and even if he lost, he could escape unscathed.
To understand the magnitude of this feat: in normal circumstances, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator could crush a mid-stage one like squashing a bug, unless the latter held some extraordinarily powerful magical tool or treasure.
Later, when this cultivator reached the late Foundation Establishment stage, he was said to be capable of contending with a "pseudo-Core Formation" cultivator, someone who had half a foot already in the Core Formation realm. Such figures were essentially invincible among Foundation Establishment practitioners.
But there are no secrets that can stay buried forever. Eventually, word spread that he had cultivated divine sense using a fragmented manual. Cultivators began hunting him in teams, hoping to seize the manual for themselves.
Despite repeated ambushes, he managed to escape each time, which only enhanced his fame and attracted even greater danger.
Eventually, news of the manual reached several Core Formation experts, who became highly interested. They left their secluded abodes and scoured the lands for him.
In the end, he was cornered by two early Core Formation cultivators. It was said he even escaped their grasp several times, enraging them greatly.
Only after they unleashed several grand magical arts were they finally able to capture him. Yet afterward, the two Core Formation cultivators claimed they had never obtained the manual.
When they performed the soul-searching technique on the Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was said that his soul immediately detonated the moment the search began.
Whether this was true or not, no one could say. Some believed it. Others thought the two Core Formation cultivators made it up to avoid attracting attention, especially from Nascent Soul ancestors who might come after them for the secret.
Regardless of the truth, not long after, those two Core Formation cultivators vanished from the world of cultivation. No one ever saw them again.
Such is the power and allure of divine sense techniques.
Lin Daqiao had asked the question on a mere hopeful impulse, but now that Li Yan had confirmed it, he found it hard to believe.
Li Yan had spoken up because he thought he had a reliable excuse, and seeing the storage pouch had only increased his eagerness to use it.
But upon seeing Lin Daqiao's reaction, Li Yan though unaware of the deeper reasons, immediately felt he had spoken too rashly. Frustration rose in his heart as he berated himself for being so impulsive.
Since the words were already spoken, he could only nod meekly in acknowledgment.
Lin Daqiao saw him nod and confirmed it for himself. After a while, he sighed, looking at Li Yan with a tinge of envy in his eyes.
He knew that even a Nascent Soul expert would find this information useless, because the "Fractured Poison Body" left no traces and could not be imitated.
"Junior Brother," he said, pointing to the small sword on the table, "try using the method I taught you to put this sword into the storage pouch."
(Chapter End)