Chapter 43: Awakening

The minds of Li Zhirui and the other two sank into the scroll. The mysterious power contained within guided them through the life of the Divine Turtle, with the final image freezing upon the Divine Turtle suppressing the sea.

However, Li Shiqing, who was guarding the three of them in the outside world, noticed an incredibly dim, flickering spiritual light flashing on the turtle's back, on the verge of extinguishing. Had he not possessed exceptional cultivation vision, he might not have even noticed this light.

"What is that?" Li Shiqing frowned slightly, but he couldn't even discern whether the light was a good or bad omen.

Still, considering they had successfully withdrawn from the experience without issue, it likely wasn't anything bad—at least, it wouldn't harm the three of them.

Having observed the Divine Turtle for countless years within the painting, Li Zhirui had gained an understanding of the creature and began to formally practice the Visualization Method.

The first step of the technique was to visualize the island where the Divine Turtle was born within one's sea of consciousness.

Visualization, simply put, was a combination of observation and imagination: observing meticulously and then reconstructing it within the sea of consciousness.

It sounded easy, but Li Zhirui struggled to manifest the island in his sea of consciousness; every time he attempted it, the island would shatter. The other two faced the same struggle.

Every time the island shattered, it consumed a vast amount of the cultivator's divine sense. Li Zhirui, having the weakest divine sense among them, was forced to stop after only two failures.

After half a quarter of an hour, Li Shiren woke up, and another quarter of an hour later, Li Shilian also opened his eyes.

"Visualizing the Divine Turtle is likely not going to be that easy!" Li Shiqing sighed.

The *Divine Turtle Suppressing the Sea Painting* was divided into five steps. Condensing the island was merely the first; there were subsequent steps involving visualizing the turtle's egg, the emergence of the Divine Turtle, the turtle entering the sea, and finally, the Divine Turtle suppressing the sea.

But it made sense. How could a Visualization Method that contained methods of divine sense attacks be easy to master?

"Your divine sense consumption was too high. Hurry back and rest. The Visualization Method isn't something that can be learned easily; there is no need to rush."

Cultivation could never be rushed, especially a Visualization Method practiced within the sea of consciousness; a single mistake could result in soul damage.

Li Zhirui put away the scroll and left the backyard with his two elders. On the way, Li Zhirui asked, "Grandpa Shilian, when do you plan to observe the Divine Turtle Painting again? When that time comes, let's go to the Clan Leader together."

Choosing the backyard might be a bit troublesome, but Li Zhirui was even more reluctant to bring the two elders back to his small courtyard, because his courtyard did not have many spiritual herbs planted in it.

If they found out, Li Zhirui wouldn't be able to use the few spiritual herbs in his courtyard as an excuse for his future alchemy.

"Let's set it for once every seven days," Li Shilian said, turning his gaze toward Li Shiren.

Li Shiren had no objections to this. They hadn't even mastered the first step yet, so there was no need to observe the painting every day.

Having agreed on a time, the three parted ways. Practicing the Visualization Method consumed too much divine sense; even Li Shilian, who had the highest cultivation, found it difficult to endure and wanted to return to rest as soon as possible.

Over the next several months, Li Zhirui's daily routine consisted of studying two pill formulas and then attempting to visualize the island. If his divine sense was overextended, he would begin breathing spiritual qi to cultivate. Although his days were plain and ordinary, Li Zhirui found joy in them.

Furthermore, Li Zhirui discovered something: after consuming divine sense and then recovering through cultivation, his divine sense would actually strengthen. Although the effect was extremely subtle, it was like dripping water wearing away stone; with years of persistence, significant results would surely manifest.

Upon discovering this, Li Zhirui immediately informed Li Shiqing and the other elders, hoping it might help them.

As for visualizing the island, after several months of diligent practice and guidance from Li Shiqing, Li Zhirui showed faint signs of success.

As a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, Li Shiqing's divine sense was far stronger than the others. Moreover, over these months, he had used the pretext of secluded cultivation to delegate his authority to the elders.

He standardized the duties of the various elders, allowing each to manage a specific family affair and report to him once a month.

He did this because Li Shilian had found an opportune moment to tell Li Shiqing about the method Li Zhirui had proposed. Li Shiqing felt it was an excellent idea; in the future, he wouldn't have to be bogged down by trivial matters all day, leaving him no time for quiet cultivation.

However, Li Shiqing still did not hand the position of Clan Leader over to Li Shiren. It wasn't that he was greedy for power, but rather that Li Shiren was truly unfit for the role!

This wasn't an arbitrary decision by Li Shiqing, but a fair and correct judgment made after he had personally led Li Shiren through handling family affairs for a period of time.

There was no other way; until Li Zhirui grew sufficiently strong, the position of Clan Leader could only continue to be held by Li Shiqing.

"Chirp—"

One day, while Li Zhirui was tending to the spiritual herbs in his spatial dimension, he suddenly heard a faint cry. He looked toward the spiritual lake with eyes full of joy.

He saw Da Qing, who had been lying on a bluestone without moving for months, lifting its head and looking around. When it saw Li Zhirui not far away, it let out an excited cry.

Da Qing had originally been molting in the outside world, but because Li Zhirui had been preoccupied with practicing the Visualization Method and comprehending pill formulas, he was physically and mentally exhausted and didn't want to move, so he had brought the turtle into the space.

"You finally succeeded in molting!" Li Zhirui walked quickly to Da Qing, finally seeing the turtle clearly after its molt.

The once hard shell had become somewhat soft, and its body size was much smaller than before. Moreover, through this molt, Da Qing had broken through from the fourth level of Qi Refinement to the fifth level!

However, because a vast amount of mana had been consumed during the molting process, although Da Qing was at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, it did not yet possess the corresponding mana.

Li Zhirui didn't mind. He had enough spiritual fruits and pills on hand to allow Da Qing to recover quickly.

"Hungry, aren't you?" Seeing the longing look in Da Qing's eyes, Li Zhirui knew exactly what it wanted. He immediately took a large amount of spiritual fruit from his storage bag and said, "If it's not enough, I'll go pick more from the small mountain later."

Li Zhirui had planted over a dozen spiritual fruit trees in the space; it wasn't much, but it was enough for their annual consumption.

Da Qing nodded obediently and then buried its head in the mountain of spiritual fruit before it.

"Why do I feel like Da Qing has become much smarter?" Li Zhirui muttered to himself. The ancient texts never mentioned that a spiritual turtle's intelligence would increase after molting.

Unable to figure it out, Li Zhirui chose to let it go. It was a good thing regardless; the smarter Da Qing was, the better their coordination would be.

Only after Li Zhirui finished handling his business in the space did he realize that Da Qing had already fallen asleep.

Although Da Qing had successfully molted, its body was still in a relatively weak state and would need time to recover.

After placing freshly picked spiritual fruits in front of Da Qing, Li Zhirui quietly left the space to begin his daily cultivation. For the past few days, he had felt a premonition that he would soon be able to visualize the island!

Therefore, Li Zhirui had been exceptionally focused on his Visualization Method practice lately.

In truth, Li Zhirui's progress in the Visualization Method was not much slower than Li Shiren's; in fact, their progress was nearly identical, though the reason for this remained unknown.

Li Zhirui sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness, imagining the appearance of Great Rong Island. Through his efforts, an island began to take shape bit by bit within his mind.

He chose Great Rong Island because it was the most familiar to him, and Li Shiqing and the others were also visualizing Great Rong Island.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Zhirui snapped his eyes open. "I finally succeeded!"