Chapter 3

Lin Yiming distributed one hundred taels of silver to the villagers and kept one hundred taels for himself, of course, along with the man's package.

Back at the shop, he closed the door.

Today's haul was not small! Although this was a world dominated by martial artists, Lin Yiming was not afraid. Of course, that man was not a formidable opponent; otherwise, he would not have dared to easily turn against him. A true powerhouse would not come to this remote and impoverished place to authenticate treasures.

Thinking about this, Lin Yiming smiled and shook his head.

He opened the package and found that besides the water-repelling pearl, there was another item inside.

It was a bronze-colored object, shaped like a dagger. However, it had no handle, only a thin blade. The blade was covered with intricate patterns and strange characters he had never seen before.

During his six years in the sect, Lin Yiming had read many books and almost gone through all the books in the sect. But the patterns and characters on this blade were something he had never seen before. There seemed to be a mysterious attraction in those simple patterns and characters, making it hard for him to look away.

"No, these are talisman patterns!"

Suddenly, Lin Yiming's gaze fell on a pattern on the blade.

"I remember this talisman pattern; it seems to be related to space!" Lin Yiming scratched his head.

In the many books of the sect, there were records of many strange and unusual things.

To better understand this world, Lin Yiming had once put in a lot of effort to read them.

He was certain that this was a talisman pattern, and a spatial talisman pattern... a treasure related to space? The origin of this thing must be extraordinary.

However, just because it had talisman patterns did not necessarily mean it was a treasure.

In the sect he used to belong to, many treasures had such talisman patterns, but those patterns were all failed ones, completely useless.

Lin Yiming held the blade and studied it for a long time but could not figure it out. He tried to use his mental energy to penetrate it to identify what kind of magical treasure it was, but found that his mental energy could not penetrate it at all.

"Whatever, let's attach a handle first."

Lin Yiming found a wooden handle from a pile of miscellaneous items and, after a lot of effort, finally attached it to the blade.

"I wonder if anyone will buy this thing. If not, I'll just use it to peel fruit."

Lin Yiming sat behind his appraisal table and casually picked up an apple. With his other hand, he lightly sliced the apple with the strange dagger.

His head buzzed, and he felt as if all his strength had been drained, almost collapsing to the ground.

However, before he could figure out what had happened, a shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.

The dagger sliced through the air as if it were a thin sheet of paper, creating a crack about a foot long and as wide as a bamboo skewer.

"This is a spatial rift!"

Lin Yiming's mouth dropped open in surprise, staring dumbfounded at the crack before him. A misty aura slowly wafted out of the crack, and Lin Yiming instinctively took a light sniff.

Instantly, a refreshing aura rushed into his nostrils. Lin Yiming felt as if every pore on his body had completely relaxed, reaching a state of extreme comfort. The energy that had been drained from him was instantly restored, and even increased... This feeling was like a cool breeze suddenly blowing in a hot summer, indescribably comfortable.

From this aura, he sensed the purest essence of spiritual energy.

This aura contains spiritual energy!

Lin Yiming's heart trembled. Back in the sect, he was a key talent, and because he could not draw in spiritual energy, the sect even had an elder personally infuse him with innate spiritual energy to help him draw in spiritual energy.

Innate spiritual energy was the spiritual energy cultivated by experts at the innate realm.

In the Shuiyao Sect, the most powerful were the experts at the innate realm.

But even innate spiritual energy was far less pure than the spiritual energy before him now. In fact, they were incomparable.

"Divine spiritual energy!"

Lin Yiming was completely stunned!

This spiritual energy, he had seen before, in the Shuiyao Sect.

Although it was just a tiny bit of spiritual energy, it was stored in a priceless jade bottle. Spiritual energy is intangible and easily lost, but it can be preserved in a jade bottle.

A trace of spiritual energy was so important to the Shuiyao Sect because it was divine spiritual energy, the spiritual energy of the celestial realm. It was one of the most important treasures of the Shuiyao Sect!

Legend has it that this divine spiritual energy was collected by the Shuiyao Sect's founding ancestor when he saw someone ascend to the celestial realm, causing a rift in the heavens, and a trace of spiritual energy fell from the celestial realm. The ancestor secretly collected this trace of spiritual energy and made it the sect's most precious treasure.

This trace of divine spiritual energy was kept in a jade bottle, and only the sect's geniuses could see it.

Back then, he was also a genius in the sect and was taken to the secret room where the jade bottle was kept.

In this secret room, due to the long-term placement of the jade bottle, the entire room was filled with the aura of divine spiritual energy.

Even the affected aura in the room, he still remembered the feeling of breathing in that air for the first time. It felt like soaking in a hot spring after a tiring day, making his entire body feel incredibly relaxed.

Now, he felt this aura again, and it was not just the affected external aura, but true divine spiritual energy!

Moreover, he could even feel that this divine spiritual energy was slightly purer than the divine spiritual energy in the Shuiyao Sect.

This is divine spiritual energy!

Back then, the Shuiyao Sect had the geniuses experience and feel the divine spiritual energy to motivate them, telling them that as long as they ascended, they could absorb this divine spiritual energy.

But now, he could already absorb this divine spiritual energy.

As Lin Yiming was surprised, the aura slowly drifted to his face and, with his breath, entered his body.

Instantly, Lin Yiming felt the spiritual energy flow through his body, as if his body was being washed by a stream, and all the impurities were flushed out. Then, the spiritual energy circled his body once and entered his spirit sea.

Lin Yiming could hardly believe it as he felt his body. He had actually drawn in spiritual energy; he must not be dreaming! He could still cultivate!

Lin Yiming raised his head and looked at the sky, and in the room, he could clearly hear the sound of his heart beating wildly.

"Six years, six years have passed, and I can finally draw in spiritual energy!"

Lin Yiming recalled his past.

Six years ago, the major sect in the county, the Shuiyao Sect, came to the village to recruit disciples. They tested the talents of all children aged ten to sixteen.

Everyone has a spirit sea in their body to store their own spiritual energy, but without guidance, no one could activate the energy within. The Shuiyao Sect tested the children's talents by guiding them to see if they could feel the energy within.

With a little guidance, any child who could feel the energy within would be taken away and admitted to the sect. Feeling the energy was the sign of entering the Spirit Sensing stage.

Everyone has their own energy within, and only by finding and activating it can one become a martial artist.

At the time of the test, including Nanlin Village, only three children in the surrounding villages felt their energy after a long time under the guidance of the Shuiyao Sect and were admitted to the sect.

Two other children, although they never felt their energy, were also admitted to the sect because the Shuiyao Sect believed they had the potential to feel their energy.

When it was his turn, because he was a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which translates to "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "a person from another world" or "a穿越者"), with the mind of an adult, the moment the other person started guiding him, the energy within him suddenly burst out.

None of the children tested could compare to him.

Thus, he was recognized as a genius and taken back to the sect. For the next six years, the Shuiyao Sect used every method possible but could not help him draw in spiritual energy.

The Spirit Sensing stage does not count as a martial artist. To become a true martial artist, one must draw in external spiritual energy into the body, continuously circulating it to change one's constitution, and during battles, merge the external spiritual energy with the internal spiritual energy to fight. Only then can one be called a martial artist.

This stage is called the Spirit Drawing stage.

In the end, after he turned sixteen and still had not reached the Spirit Drawing stage, they gave up on him.

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