***
When the brief flight ca to an end and their place atop the peak was reclaid, Great Elder Jianhai let out a light cough to draw their attention.
“At the Scripture Pavilion, you witnessed one of the everyday applications of Divine Sense, which already showed its significance. But Divine Sense isn’t just useful for convenience—it has many other uses, including one that is far more critical…”
He paused briefly, then continued in a firm tone, “…such as detecting ambushes. Renjiro!”
The mont the na was spoken, the air beside them twisted unnaturally—then, without warning, he appeared.
A flicker. A presence that hadn’t been sensed in the slightest. Renjiro materialized in their midst like a ghost, his face unreadable and his aura completely masked. He had slipped past them unnoticed, and the abruptness of it caused all four to react on instinct. Battle-hardened reflexes kicked in as Mikael and the girls instinctively retreated, their bodies already entering combat readiness.
Shink.
The crisp sound of a sword being drawn echoed in the air as Sangrelia left her sheath. At the sa ti, Alia and Kiara prepared their respective weapons while Lyra’s mana surged around her, gathering at her fingertips, ready to be unleashed in an instant. All four of them were aid directly at the position of the ‘enemy’.
It was only then that Mikael truly understood the gravity of what had just occurred. He hadn’t sensed anything—no footsteps, no aura, not even the faintest whisper of danger at the back of his mind.
‘If this had been a real enemy… we’d all be dead,’ he thought grimly. ‘Losing the Supernatural 6th Sense skill affected far more than I realized. I let my guard down because I was used to having it warn about danger ahead of ti, but now… there was nothing. If soone ambushed like this and I didn’t have ti to fully deploy my aura cloak and Weighless Wind—Explosive Style… I could actually be killed by soone at the lower layers of the Spiritual Foundation Realm.’
It was a sobering realization. A wake-up call to remain vigilant.
Fortunately, this ti it had only been Renjiro moving on their master’s command—or at least, that was the most plausible explanation Mikael’s enhanced mind had produced in the span of a quarter second. But had it been a true enemy, things could have taken a disastrous turn.
While these thoughts surged through Mikael’s mind in an instant, on the outside, the group was still retreating from the ‘enemy’, maintaining full combat posture. But as they began to understand it wasn’t an actual threat, they slowly ceased backing away. Their weapons, however, remained in hand, and the tension in the atmosphere lingered heavily.
All eyes were now fixed on Renjiro, the man who had effortlessly caught them off guard. Yet he seed completely unaffected by their wariness. A calm smile touched his lips as he glanced over each of them, his gaze briefly settling on Sangrelia. He looked toward Mikael and gave a small, respectful nod.
“Good sword,” he murmured, before vanishing just as suddenly as he had appeared.
A faint ripple in the air was all that remained of his presence—then even that was gone.
Jianhai allowed the silence to stretch, giving them ti to absorb the weight of what had just occurred. “This is the reality of lacking Divine Sense,” he said calmly. “In combat, it serves as your second pair of eyes—often your first. Cultivators who neglect its developnt beco easy prey, no matter how high their cultivation or how powerful their techniques.”
His gaze slowly swept across the group, eting each of their eyes in turn. “Without Divine Sense, being ambushed is not just a possibility—it’s a certainty. And that can easily lead to situations as grim as the one that would have happened, had it not been Renjiro sneaking up on you under my orders.” His tone remained firm, ignoring the grim expressions that crossed their faces. It was essential that the lesson struck deep. This wasn’t sothing they could afford to misunderstand.
After all, what was the use of being a powerful swordsman if soone weaker could assassinate you before you even had the chance to draw your blade?
With that thought in mind, Great Elder Jianhai continued, his voice calm but heavy with intent. “So of you may be thinking it’s unfair of to expect you to detect soone like Renjiro—whose cultivation realm far surpasses yours—especially when you’ve just broken through to the Spiritual Foundation Realm. By conventional logic, you wouldn’t yet have access to your Divine Sense, and you’d be right to think that.”
He paused for a heartbeat, then his tone grew sharper.
“But in the Cultivation World, fairness is an illusion. No one will care that you just stepped into the Spiritual Foundation Realm. No one will ask how young you are or how long you’ve trained. The only thing that matters is whether you are stronger or weaker than your opponent. The rest is irrelevant.”
He let his words linger, the silence that followed reinforcing his point far more effectively than any elaboration.
Then, seeing their nods and understanding gazes, he shifted to the next part without wasting ti. “I won’t lecture you further. It’s clear that you’ve grasped the essence of this lesson. So let’s move on to what’s truly important—learning how to control and refine your Divine Sense.”
He raised his hand, and with a casual motion, a manual materialized out of thin air. The cover was inscribed with glowing letters: Divine Sense Refining thod.
“This technique,” he explained, holding it up for them to see, “will allow you not only to learn how to control your Divine Sense, but also to refine it. As your mastery deepens, your Divine Sense will grow stronger—far beyond what is typical for your level. In ti, it will rival and surpass that of other cultivators who choose to ignore this crucial path.”
He then gently placed the manual on the grass before vanishing, leaving behind only a final statent that echoed through the air: “I won’t explain anything further. From here on, your understanding must co through your own efforts—for in the path of cultivation, one can ultimately rely on no one but themselves…”
Following their Master’s departure, Mikael and the girls approached the manual. There was only a single copy, ant for all four of them. Without hesitation, Lyra cast a spell that effectively ‘cloned’ the manual, creating identical copies so each of them could study it simultaneously. This approach was far more efficient than taking turns with the original and allowed them to progress at the sa pace.
The manual itself was divided into several detailed sections, the first of which served as an introduction. It thoroughly explained what Divine Sense truly was—its nature, its purpose, and the foundational principles behind its use.
Thanks to this section, they were able to grasp the basic concept of Divine Sense. At the end of the introduction, a concise summary provided a clear and structured explanation without diving too deeply into advanced theory:
{What is Divine Sense?
Divine Sense is a heightened ntal perception that awakens in all cultivators upon reaching the Spiritual Foundation Realm. Though it passively exists from that point onward, it remains crude and unfocused unless refined through specific cultivation techniques. Without such refinent, the user cannot intentionally direct, manipulate, or fully harness its latent capabilities.
Two Functional States – Passive and Active:
Passive State:
This is the default condition of Divine Sense. It functions as an enhanced sixth sense—constantly active, even without conscious effort. In this state, cultivators instinctively perceive dangerous intent, hidden threats, and subtle anomalies in their surroundings. As one advances in cultivation, this instinctual awareness may also extend to sensing rare opportunities or impending calamities.
It is also through the Passive State that most cultivators subconsciously sense the cultivation realm of others. This impression arises from spiritual presence—the unique rhythm and quality of one’s energy, which reveals their level of advancent. Because it happens automatically and without deliberate probing, it is not considered invasive.
Active State:
Active Divine Sense is invoked when a cultivator consciously extends their perception outward for a specific task. This includes scanning an area, interfacing with spiritual tools, detecting concealed objects, or interacting with formations. Unlike the passive state, this form of usage consus ntal energy and requires concentration.
In rare circumstances, where a cultivator hides their cultivation realm through artifacts or specialized techniques, Divine Sense may be actively used to penetrate these veils. However, doing so without consent is viewed as a serious breach of etiquette. Even if the target is significantly weaker, they will typically notice the intrusion, and their innate spiritual defenses will react instinctively.
Sensory Nature and Limitations:
In combat scenarios, Divine Sense serves as an indispensable tool. It enables cultivators to track swift movents, identify otherwise invisible techniques, and perceive subtle fluctuations in battlefield Qi with extraordinary precision. Instead of delivering a literal image, Divine Sense generates a ntal construct—an abstract map shaped by motion trails, energy currents, and the pressures that ripple through space.
Despite its reliability, Divine Sense has its limits. It cannot reveal detailed physical traits hidden beneath clothing or concealed by defensive barriers. Its perception is not visual in nature but energetic—less like traditional sight and more akin to a spiritual form of echolocation. It allows the user to sense form, flow, and intent, yet remains blind to superficial appearances.
On the battlefield, this ability grants a broad but imprecise awareness of one’s surroundings. For instance, it can help a cultivator estimate the number of nearby enemies and vaguely discern traits such as gender and general body shape. However, the clarity stops there—no intricate details are accessible. In this regard, Divine Sense is inferior to normal vision. Yet, it surpasses sight in another crucial way: it provides omnidirectional awareness of everything occurring within its range, independent of line of sight. That encompassing perception can offer a decisive edge amid the chaos of battle.
Every cultivator is also protected by an innate spiritual barrier that deflects deep, invasive inspection. This defense remains active even when unconscious or gravely weakened. Its strength scales naturally with one’s cultivation level, yet even imnse disparities in power seldom allow a full bypass unless the target willingly lowers their guard. Moreover, attempts to circumvent this defense are almost always felt and frequently rembered—regardless of whether they succeed.
Divine Sense and the Mind:
Divine Sense is intricately tied to the mind, though not in the straightforward manner one might initially assu. While it can be described as a form of ‘ntal projection’, its functioning is far more complex. The two—mind and Divine Sense—are undeniably linked, aning that strengthening one will, in turn, reinforce the other. A powerful mind contributes to the developnt of a powerful Divine Sense, and vice versa.
However, this relationship is not a one-to-one ratio. Divine Sense and the mind, while closely related, are not identical, which ans that their growth may not always progress at the sa rate. A cultivator could possess a mind with 100 units of strength yet have a Divine Sense asuring only 20 units. The reverse is also possible: one might have 100 units of Divine Sense but only 20 units of ntal strength.
At first glance, such disparity might suggest that the two are unrelated, but this is a misconception. In both scenarios, the stronger of the two has already played a significant role in supporting the growth of the weaker. If there were no connection between them, the weaker attribute wouldn’t rely lag behind—it might be virtually nonexistent, sitting at just 1 or 2 units of strength.
The fact that it had reached 20 units only confird the link between the Mind and Divine Sense—even if their growth didn’t occur at the sa pace. If there were truly no connection, the Divine Sense would have remained at only 1 or 2 units, not developed so far.
Evolution of Divine Sense:
Divine Sense may begin as a tool rooted in the Mind, but as cultivators ascend to higher realms, it gradually rges with the Soul—an evolution that only becos possible once the soul itself has been sufficiently tempered, shaped, and brought under control. This fusion unlocks far greater dinsions of perception and spiritual depth. At such advanced stages, Divine Sense undergoes a true sublimation, transforming from a re sensory extension into sothing far more profound.
The previous limitations and rules that once defined it begin to bend or vanish entirely. It is notably at this point that Divine Sense evolves to encompass all five senses, granting cultivators a kind of temporary omniscience within the boundaries of their Divine Sense's range. But that alone does not define its full transformation. The evolved Divine Sense also becos capable of perceiving lingering spiritual residue, tracking the flow of karma, and even catching faint glimrs of destiny—echoes of cause and effect that are usually hidden from mortal awareness.
As they remained engrossed in their reading, Lianyu quietly observed them from nearby. It didn’t take long for her to realize they wouldn’t be done any ti soon. Clearly bored out of her mind, she suddenly clapped her hands, breaking the silence and drawing their attention.
“Junior brother, sisters, I see that you’re really invested in reading this ‘book’,” she said, her tone dripping with disdain as she spat out the word book like it was a mortal enemy she had spent a lifeti fighting.
Then she added, “So I’ll leave you to your suffer–I an, reading. I have so very important business to attend to, like…” Her eyes darted around aimlessly in search of an excuse, until they landed on a particularly beautiful butterfly nearby. “Like going to admire this beautiful butterfly! Bye!”
With those parting words, their ‘Senior Sister’ vanished in an instant, leaving only faint traces of her presence behind. Despite her usual playful deanor, the display reminded them that their Second Senior Sister was far stronger than she let on.
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— End of Chapter —
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