Zhu Tian felt that something was different.
At that moment, he slowly opened his eyes.
In an instant, the world before him changed.
Spiritual energy flowed brightly in every direction, filling the sky, the land, the trees, the air, and even the empty space between all things. It had been invisible before, yet now it was clearly seen—like endless rivers of light crossing and pulsing, following laws that could not be explained with words.
Zhu Tian fell silent.
He felt as if his eyes had undergone something that, in modern terms, could be called an upgrade.
It was not simply seeing more clearly, but seeing something he had never been able to comprehend before. As though the world had peeled back a hidden layer right before his eyes.
His eyes… could now see energy.
Seeing this, Zhu Tian could not suppress the excitement that clearly showed on his face.
"So… this is spiritual energy," Zhu Tian exclaimed inwardly, filled with enthusiasm.
His heart pounded wildly. The feeling was hard to describe—a mix of joy, relief, and the certainty that what he had dreamed of for so long had finally become real. This was what he had awaited more than anything, even long before he came to this world.
Zhu Tian was far too excited to close his eyes again. He sat there, gazing at the world with this new perspective, observing every stream of spiritual energy that passed by. Some were gentle like mist, some surged like flowing rivers, and others pulsed slowly, as if they possessed life of their own.
Without realizing it, Zhu Tian spent more than two hours simply observing and understanding this sight. He watched how spiritual energy gathered in certain places, how mountains and trees seemed to absorb it, and how the surrounding air trembled faintly from its presence.
Every passing second felt incredibly precious.
Meanwhile, far from the hall where Zhu Tian was meditating, inside a hidden cave concealed behind a curtain of falling water, Qin Yuan was in the process of recovering.
The cave was simple—neither luxurious nor grand—just a stone cave shaped to suit the needs of a cultivator. The walls were rough, the floor flat, and at its center was a sufficiently spacious meditation area.
At this moment, the aura and spiritual energy within Qin Yuan's body were slowly stabilizing. Earlier, when he had been by Zhu Tian's side, he had used pills to conceal his condition and make himself appear fine. But now, the effects of those pills had completely faded. They had only masked his outward state, not healed his true injuries.
"Now that senior has given me time," Qin Yuan murmured softly, "I can stabilize my spiritual energy and begin healing the backlash injuries."
He patted the storage pouch at his waist.
In an instant, a pill bottle and several spiritual stones appeared before him, floating in midair. Without hesitation, Qin Yuan swallowed the pill. After that, he slowly moved his hands from top to bottom, directing the spiritual stones toward the four sides around him.
The stones stopped in their respective positions, forming a complex array.
"By using the Soul Foundation Restoration Array," Qin Yuan muttered as he gazed at the array he had set up, "I can recover at a fairly fast pace."
He fell silent for a moment, calculating all possibilities.
"At the fastest, I can return to my peak cultivation in a hundred years," he continued, "or at most, two hundred years."
Qin Yuan made these calculations with extreme care. If he truly had a long period of seclusion and no disturbances at all, he could actually return to his peak condition in just fifty years. However, Zhu Tian's presence made everything uncertain—not because of danger, but because of changes he could not predict.
The Soul Foundation Restoration Array was a high-level array focused on two main purposes: stabilizing an injured soul and repairing a cracked cultivation foundation.
The array worked by drawing in pure spiritual energy from the surrounding environment, then refining it through complex, layered circulation patterns. The refined energy was then guided into the sea of consciousness, calming the chaotic soul, sealing spiritual cracks, and reuniting fragments of consciousness that had previously been scattered.
At this moment, inside Qin Yuan's cave, the array began to operate.
Spiritual energy from the surroundings was slowly drawn toward the cave, flowing like a subtle current invisible to ordinary eyes. Seeing this, Qin Yuan nodded slightly. He then closed his eyes and entered a deep meditative state.
The gathered energy began to enter his turbulent sea of consciousness. Wave after wave of energy soothed the turmoil within, repairing the damage that had long eroded his soul.
After that, Qin Yuan only needed to wait.
In the final stage of this process, once the soul was fully stabilized, the flow of energy would descend into the dantian and the cultivation foundation. That energy would fill collapsed gaps, repair the core structure of cultivation, and restore it to a balanced state.
However, this process would not be short.
For three full days, Qin Yuan remained in the first stage—repairing his soul and the various damages to his body. During those three days, he consumed eight high-grade spiritual stones.
On a fifth-tier cultivation continent, that amount was considered extremely expensive—though for someone like Qin Yuan, it was still affordable.
Meanwhile, far away elsewhere…
In a forested region, two men dressed in Taoist robes could be seen flying across the sky. Their movements were relaxed, as if unhurried, yet their destination was clear.
"Are you sure the place is on this continent?" one of them asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked into the distance.
"Yes," the other replied briefly.
The first man chuckled softly. "Either way, if this isn't the place, we'll search elsewhere."
He paused for a moment, then continued in a mysterious tone.
"That is our opportunity."