(3.14, it's been a whole day since the second trial with no response. Who knows if they even work on weekends? Unbelievable.)
Another ten minutes passed.
Su Qi finally emerged from his meditative state.
The nine shimmering stars surrounding him flickered intermittently, signaling they had reached the limit of his current control.
According to the cultivation manual’s description, this was merely the first stage, known as [Glimpsing the Stellar Dawn].
Only when Su Qi could continuously manifest ninety-nine stars would he truly begin to grasp the fundamentals.
After completing this cycle, Su Qi didn’t rest—now was the critical moment.
Stages 1 to 4 were called Spark.
Stages 5 to 6 were called Candle’s Shadow.
A spark could ignite easily, but even if a candle burned itself out, it might not last till dawn to greet the morning light.
This was the origin of the stage names.
For most people, the sixth stage was the absolute limit of their lifetime potential—just like Li Hu.
Those with courage would venture into the Source Realm to seek a breakthrough.
Those without would settle into a quiet job and live out their days in peace.
The seventh stage of a Cardholder’s mental sea transformation was fundamentally different from the earlier stages.
Before the seventh stage, one only needed to convert Source energy into soul force and fill the soul sea to achieve qualitative evolution.
But breaking through from the sixth to the seventh stage required "overflowing Source energy, condensed into a sea."
In other words, one had to use unconverted Source energy to expand the volume of the soul sea—a process of "dilation."
Under normal cultivation, the sixth-stage soul sea’s capacity could no longer accommodate the shift from quantity to quality.
Only by raising this limit could one lay the foundation for the eventual transformation.
The time this process took varied from person to person.
Some might need ten or twenty years—or even longer—to condense it.
Others might achieve it in just a few years.
And then there were the rare prodigies, the true freaks of nature, who accomplished it in even less time.
Slowly, he submerged his consciousness inward, sensing the abundant Source energy within.
Guided by his will, he directed the scattered Source energy in his body to expand his soul sea.
Su Qi estimated it would take him one to two months.
Perhaps it was because his soul sea had been severely damaged years ago—after healing, it had become more resilient and could endure greater strain.
If the average person had to tread this path like crossing a narrow log bridge, cautious to avoid a single misstep that could damage their soul sea…
Then Su Qi was practically sprinting on flat ground.
Not that he’d call it a blessing—after all, the time spent recovering might have been longer than the process itself.
...
Late at night, the moon hung bright amidst a scattering of stars.
Su Qi pushed open the tent flap.
Pale moonlight spilled over him.
After the exertion of gathering Source energy and expanding his soul sea, Su Qi’s body and mind were utterly drained.
If someone asked Su Qi what the downsides of being a Cardholder were—aside from the financial cost—
He might answer: No matter how high you cultivate, even up to the twelfth stage, you can’t escape basic human needs like eating, drinking, and pissing.
Time to find a secluded spot to relieve himself and then get some sleep.
He walked about three hundred meters from the tent—
Like how guys instinctively leave an empty urinal between them in the restroom.
This was just beyond the edge of Old Li’s sensory range.
Unless Old Li activated a perception-enhancing card.
Just as Su Qi reached to undo his belt, his hair stood on end.
His soul sea trembled violently, screaming a desperate warning.
Something—some unseen force—was closing in on him from behind at terrifying speed.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
