At night, clear moonlight spilled down.

Lin Zheyu lay leisurely on a lounge chair in the courtyard, with several plates of pastries and a jug of wine floating beside him.

"Wine," Lin Zheyu said softly.

The floating jug drifted slowly to his lips, as if held by invisible hands, on its own.

"Heh, this kind of control feels pretty good." Lin Zheyu chuckled as the jug floated back to the side.

This was not spiritual sense, but an ability that came from a sufficiently strong soul. Lin Zheyu called it spirit force. He tested it and found it could extend less than ten meters from his body, making it of little use in combat. Still, its unique nature made it quite interesting to him.

As his spirit force spread out, it became like his eyes, shifting his perspective into a god's-eye view. This felt different from the Perception Domain. The Perception Domain formed a black-and-white three-dimensional image in his mind based on external sensing, while spirit force perception felt almost the same as seeing with his eyes. Suddenly, his expression changed. The floating wine jug and pastries returned to the table beside him.

"Come in," Lin Zheyu said calmly.

Outside the courtyard, Yu Qing was just about to knock when her hand froze midair, surprise flashing across her face.

"Young Master, these are the materials sent by Lord Xie Biao," Yu Qing said respectfully as she placed them on the table.

Lin Zheyu glanced at Yu Qing with interest. Under his spirit force, she appeared completely bare before his eyes.

"Mm, you may leave."

Lin Zheyu nodded and dismissed her. He had long moved past such crude amusements. Having seen far greater beauties, he did not find a woman like Yu Qing very interesting.

A useful ability, though its output is not even as strong as what a Blood Qi realm martial artist can put out. I guess it's not very practical in combat. It's time to cultivate spiritual sense. I wonder if any of those storage pouches contain techniques similar to the Origin Returning Art.

Of the eight storage pouches he had obtained in the demon god barrier, only one had been opened. The rest could not be accessed without spiritual sense. After finishing the Meridians and Acupoints Condensation Technique, Lin Zheyu began reading the books Yu Qing had just delivered. They were not cultivation techniques, but texts related to immortals, Dao, and Buddhism.

Lin Zheyu knew little about the Immortal Dao. He was unfamiliar with other cultivation techniques, but after studying the Origin Returning Art for some time, he had gained a fair amount of insight. Unlike martial cultivation, this technique focused on the soul and mana rather than strengthening the body. The body only improved alongside the growth of spirit power.

At the beginning, the Origin Returning Art required developing a sense of qi and practicing meditation. Once one could sense qi, one could absorb spirit power from the world, while meditation strengthened the soul. However, Lin Zheyu's spirit and soul were already strong enough to form a spiritual form on their own, so he did not need this step.

"Clear distracting thoughts and steady the mind. Return the mind to its origin and gather the soul..." Lin Zheyu murmured as he flipped through the texts.

The Origin Returning Art was difficult to grasp. He could understand each word, but when combined, the meaning eluded him. Lin Zheyu read deep into the night, hoping these texts would help him understand the obscure phrases and cultivation methods within the technique.

The night was quiet, filled with the faint chirping of insects.

"Mm, I get it!"

Lin Zheyu's eyes lit up with realization. He felt he finally understood how to cultivate it.

"Origin Returning Art... I'll just call it the Origin Returning Technique."

Lin Zheyu sent out a thought, intending to extract the parts of the Origin Returning Art related to consolidation and turn them into a separate technique.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 2]

[Skills: Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps (Third Stage: 89%), Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art (Second Stage: 100%), Primordial Wuji True Technique (Third Stage: 78%)]

A few breaths passed. Lin Zheyu checked the data in his mind. There was still no trace of the Origin Returning Technique.

"Damn, I understood it wrongly..." Lin Zheyu shook his head, speechless.

Immortal cultivation and martial cultivation were two entirely different systems. Although Lin Zheyu had strengthened his spirit and spiritual soul through the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art to the point of forming a spiritual form, he knew almost nothing about the soul-related methods of the Immortal Dao.

The Origin Returning Art was not an introductory manual for beginners. Lacking basic knowledge of immortal cultivation, Lin Zheyu could only figure things out on his own and encountered many difficulties. Without fully understanding the manual, he could not form a corresponding set of data in his mind.

"I'll sleep for now and continue tomorrow."

Lin Zheyu put away the books and went back into his room.

***

"Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle! Ha, you're really not dead!" Huang Youwei shouted excitedly from outside the courtyard.

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Lin Zheyu shot him a glare and lowered his head to continue reading the manual in his hands.

After returning to the sect, his life returned to its usual calm. Lin Zheyu spent almost all his time studying the Origin Returning Art. It had to be said, different fields were like different mountains. Cultivation was no different. Trying to figure out an unannotated immortal cultivation technique on his own was extremely difficult.

Even with his strong martial foundation and experience, he still could not grasp the threshold after several days. Still, he felt he was close. By reading various texts and drawing from legends of the Immortal Dao and demon myths, he began to understand certain terms. With his own interpretation and verification through his cheat, he felt he could figure it out within two more days.

"Hehe... Well, I thought something had happened to you," Huang Youwei said with an awkward grin. When he first heard the bad news, he had been quite upset.

"Relax, your martial uncle is tough to kill. By the way, why haven't I seen Senior Sister Wenzi?" Lin Zheyu asked. He had not seen Guo Wenzi since returning.

"Martial Aunt Wenzi and Martial Uncle Chen Ding left the sect some time ago to join the Demon-Suppressing Army," Huang Youwei replied.

"No wonder I haven't seen her," Lin Zheyu nodded.

He had heard of the Demon-Suppressing Army. It was one of Great Wei's strongest forces, established to hunt yaos and demons and eliminate demon puppets, hence its name.

Huang Youwei leaned closer and asked cautiously, "Martial Uncle, I heard you broke through to the Force Transformation realm?"

He had thought Lin Zheyu would master the Primordial Wuji True Technique, take first place on the Hidden Dragon List, and ascend to the Force Transformation realm as the unrivaled number one of the younger generation. He had not expected things to turn out differently.

"Mm." Lin Zheyu nodded, offering no further explanation.

"Ah? That's such a pity. With your natural talent and comprehension, you would have had a great chance to take the top spot on the Hidden Dragon List in a few more years," said Huang Youwei, sighing regretfully.

"What's there to regret? Have you even condensed your true intent yet? And you still have the leisure to pity your martial uncle?"

A familiar voice rang out. Lin Zheyu looked up and saw a burly figure approaching.

"Ah, Martial Aunt Gu! I-I'll head back first. I'll come again next time!" Huang Youwei looked up, saw Gu Ye, and hurriedly slipped away in a panic.

"Why is he so afraid of you?" Lin Zheyu asked with a smile. Aside from when facing his parents, he had rarely seen Huang Youwei act like that.

"Hehe, I've beaten him enough lately that he's scared. Martial Uncle Huang thought he wasn't shaping up and told me to discipline him and push him to train properly," Gu Ye said with a grin.