Chapter Fifty: Advancement to Six-Star Spirit Master

After dealing with the matters concerning the "Falcon" mercenary group, Lu Zhe returned to the inn where he was temporarily staying.

Upon arriving, the first thing Lu Zhe did was sit cross-legged to recover the spiritual energy he had expended during his flight. The amount consumed this time was greater than he had anticipated—almost eighty percent of the energy stored in his spiritual core had been depleted. It must have been the result of intense usage coupled with inadequate recovery.

Without delay, Lu Zhe settled into his practice. With the completion of the hand seals, he began to breathe deeply, opening all the pores of his body to absorb the spiritual energy from the heavens and the earth. Time passed slowly; more than an hour had gone by since he started, yet his breathing remained steady, showing no sign of ending his cultivation. This spoke to the tremendous spiritual depletion he had suffered.

With each breath, the spiritual energy from all things began to swirl around him, then entered his body through his pores, traveling along his meridians to where his spiritual core lay, and was absorbed therein.

Lu Zhe’s exhalations and inhalations were exceptionally even, without the slightest disturbance, a testament to his mastery of the cultivation hand seals.

At last, after an hour and a half in his meditative state, Lu Zhe ceased absorbing the spiritual energy clustering about him. His throat rolled, and a stream of impure air burst from his mouth, rising to the ceiling before vanishing without a trace.

He opened his eyes, a gleam flashing forth before quickly fading within his gaze.

Lu Zhe sprang up from the bed, threw a few quick punches to loosen his muscles and bones, then opened the door and descended.

In the main hall of the inn, he took a seat at a random table, ordered a few dishes, and began his dinner.

As he ate, he suddenly heard a group behind him discussing the morning’s incident—the kidnapping of Huo Lang. He listened closely; indeed, they were talking about what had happened that morning.

Lu Zhe smiled faintly, raised his brows, and continued eating without comment.

After finishing his meal, he swiftly returned upstairs to his room, opened the window, and sat sideways on the sill, gazing up at the distant moon hanging in the sky.

The moon above was like a silver disk, casting gentle, silvery light across the land, making travel at night easier. As he stared, Lu Zhe recalled a moment when he had seen such beautiful moonlight before—on the hill behind Old Liu’s courtyard, with Xue Ling’er. That night’s moonlight was just as lovely and soft as tonight’s.

“Is she well? I wonder how Xiao Bai is doing,” Lu Zhe murmured to himself as he gazed at the moon.

Just as he was admiring the moonlight, he felt the spiritual energy gathering around him, and was startled. Then, as if realizing something, he whispered, “This... this is a sign of advancement.”

He immediately slid down from the sill, hurried to his bed, and sat cross-legged to cultivate.

The cause of Lu Zhe’s advancement was likely due to his recent intensive cultivation and the repeated use of his spiritual energy throughout the day. The period after one has exhausted their energy and sits to cultivate is when advancement is most likely; though, such progress still relied heavily on luck, which explained why true experts on the continent were rarer than phoenix feathers—precious because they were so few.

As Lu Zhe entered a deeper state of cultivation, the spiritual energy swirling around him increased dramatically, eventually forming a massive vortex above his head. From the center of the vortex, a powerful stream of spiritual energy shot down toward him, which he absorbed.

His hand seals shifted rapidly—from crossing both hands, to clenching them tightly, then forming a sword gesture with his left, his right palm facing upwards, supporting the base of his left hand at his chest, focusing intently to absorb the spiritual energy.

This particular hand seal was taught to him by Elder Ye when he broke through to three stars. Ordinary hand seals were used for normal recovery and cultivation, but this one was far superior when advancing, providing significant assistance.

Lu Zhe devoted his entire mind to guiding the flow of spiritual energy along his meridians to his spiritual core and controlling its absorption. He dared not be careless, especially at such a critical moment. Even the slightest mistake could cause the energy to run wild within him, resulting in chaotic spiritual energy and a failed breakthrough. If he failed now, who knew how long until his next chance? Missing an advancement was minor compared to the risk of spiritual energy damaging his meridians—internal injuries were far harder to heal than external ones. Thus, utmost care was essential when absorbing external energy.

Lu Zhe’s spirit was fully attuned to the flow of energy and the workings of his spiritual core, absorbing every bit.

The enormous vortex above his head spun rapidly, sending torrents of spiritual energy from its center to Lu Zhe, who absorbed it swiftly.

His spiritual core became like a bottomless pit, devouring the massive flow entirely, and yet, it seemed insatiable, eager for more and greater energy.

After absorbing such vast amounts, his spiritual core began to expand visibly, swelling from the size of a ping-pong ball to twice that, radiating beams of light as it grew.

Lu Zhe strained to control and compress the energy within, preventing any leakage. A single lapse would render all his efforts in vain.

The core kept expanding, and Lu Zhe kept compressing, locked in a tense standoff. At the same time, he had to split his attention to guide the energy, so busy he barely managed to keep up.

Finally, his persistence paid off. The swollen core, after emitting a dazzling light, began to contract, eventually returning to its original size.

Lu Zhe, eyes tightly shut, suddenly opened them, a beam shooting forth, then expelled a large breath of impure air. A powerful aura surged from his body, rattling the curtains. The vortex above his head vanished as his core returned to normal.

He rose from bed, stretched his muscles and bones, then looked up at the bright moon outside and said quietly, “Six stars.”

Climbing through the window onto the roof, he found the night deep and the cool breeze brushing his black robes. He gazed up at the luminous moon—now the night was clear, the stars sparse, and the moonlight spilled down like water, as if the heavenly river itself was pouring onto the earth, bathing the land in pristine beauty as if one stood upon the moon.

Lu Zhe looked up at the distant moon, took a deep breath of the night’s cool air, exhaled softly, then his eyes sharpened as he gazed at the sparse stars, and murmured, “Shangguan Yijing, I have taken another step toward you.”