CHAPTER 57: 56. INSIGHT IMPROVES, CONTINUE TO TAKE OFF!

Soon, the brilliance in Lei Jun’s palm flickered, and both red and blue disappeared.

Within his meridians, he felt searing heat and biting cold coursing together, yet distinctly separate.

The streams of heat and cold both settled upon Lei Jun’s Tao foundation.

Then, neither red nor blue light was seen. Instead, a golden and a silver glow reappeared, intertwining to form the Taiji Yin Yang Yu, which continued to rotate.

Apart from the familiar sensation of the Huo Sui Yang Yu, Lei Jun also felt a chill shooting straight to his forehead.

This chill cleared his head, and many of his thoughts and ideas seemed to become more transparent and understandable at this moment.

"This is the Water Marrow Yin Yu, the counterpart to the Huo Sui Yang Yu..."

Looking at the inconspicuous Cold Spring before him, Lei Jun took a deep breath. "Compared to Our Sect’s Xuanyang Cave Heaven, this place truly is unassuming. It’s amazing that Elder Sister could find it."

Yuan Mobai said, "Indeed, the heavens and earth are vast. How broad they are! It is precisely such places, which nurture Spiritual Treasures, that are hard to find. To come across one is a stroke of fortunate serendipity."

After Lei Jun had taken the Water Marrow Yin Yu, the chill from the Cold Spring gradually began to dissipate.

Yuan Mobai led Lei Jun in burning incense and paying respects to the mountains and rivers, praying to the sentient heavens and earth. Only then did master and disciple leave the place.

Upon returning to Qingxiao Temple, Lei Jun immediately began preparations for refining the Yin Yang Yu.

He sat cross-legged in the meditation room, first placing the Weiji Bowl in front of him. The Jiji Stone, meanwhile, was cradled between Lei Jun’s palms at his chest.

In his palms, the pattern of the Taiji Yin Yang Yu, interwoven in gold and silver, emitted a faint light.

The Jiji Stone, affected by the Yin Yang Yu in both palms, began to undergo a transformation.

Gradually, the Jiji Stone lost its solidity, turning into an ethereal ball of qi.

Within the qi ball, there seemed to be both flames and flowing water, circulating endlessly—water above, fire below—conforming to the Jiji hexagram pattern.

Lei Jun slowly lowered his hands, and the ball of qi between them fell into the Weiji Bowl before him.

Currents of vapor rose within the Weiji Bowl. It also began to vibrate on its own, its Spiritual Nature stimulated by the qi ball transformed from the Jiji Stone.

At this moment, the two seemingly opposed Spiritual Natures connected, head to tail, circulating endlessly.

Lei Jun then silently circulated the Mysterious Skill. Under the influence of his Mana, the gold and silver Taiji Yin Yang Yu in his palms disappeared, replaced by a red and a blue stream of light.

The streams of light, one scorching and the other freezing, both imbued with potent Spiritual Nature, poured into the small medicine bowl.

The four different types of Spiritual Energy, while repelling each other in pairs, also adhered closely.

Under the control of Lei Jun’s Mana, they gradually became indistinguishable, interchanging presence and absence, and blending into one.

Yuan Mobai did not intervene or speak, merely watching with a smile from the side.

In the end, only a plume of qi—not quite cloud, not quite mist—remained suspended in mid-air within the medicine bowl.

The ball of qi, half black and half white, also bore some resemblance to the Taiji Yin Yang Yu.

Lei Jun inhaled and exhaled deeply, practicing his Breathing Skills.

The half-black and half-white ball of qi was then absorbed into his body.

The next moment, Lei Jun felt a jolt throughout his consciousness.

The black and white ball of qi unexpectedly split in two: one half rose, and the other half sank.

Lei Jun’s Spiritual Soul and thoughts seemed to ascend with it, flying directly out of his physical shell.

He did not panic but silently contemplated the Taoist Scriptures and Taoist Laws.

Celestial Master Mansion cultivation emphasizes both body and soul, a dual cultivation of life and spirit.

While not like the Alchemical Cauldron Sect’s Sacred Land, Pure Yang Palace, where they cultivate by refining the Yang God for distant travel, the Talisman Sect also has its own cultivation methods for transforming thoughts into spirit.

Lei Jun silently circulated the Mysterious Skill. His Spiritual Soul, having left his physical shell, hovered above his head, neither dispersing nor wandering.

He could still sense every change in his physical body.

After the black and white ball of qi split, the rising half carried his Spiritual Soul upwards, while the sinking half settled upon his Tao foundation.

On his Tao Foundation Altar, a brilliance now flickered. In its radiance, it simultaneously manifested aspects of water and fire, achieving a balanced and harmonious state where yin and yang complemented each other.

Above Lei Jun’s floating Spiritual Soul, streams of light also continued to rise, weaving into a Black and White Tai Chi Diagram overhead.

As the Taiji Yin Yang Yu rotated, Lei Jun felt his Spiritual Soul, thoughts, and consciousness become unprecedentedly clear and agile.

He spoke, chanting in a melodious voice:

"The true Dharma is non-dual; true oneness is the ultimate nature."

As the Taiji Yin Yang Yu rotated, Lei Jun’s Spiritual Soul descended once more, returning to his own body.

Spiritual Soul and physical body became one, aligning above and below.

The moment they made contact, a flash of Spirit Light seemed to appear in Lei Jun’s consciousness.

The Spirit Light illuminated his Spiritual Soul, making it transparent inside and out, shining into the minutest details.

Without Master Yuan Mobai uttering a word, Lei Jun knew that he had succeeded.

His Comprehension had not only surpassed its original superior grade but had taken another leap beyond the outstanding grade that was above superior, directly reaching Clear Insight.

In that instant, many previously unclear aspects of his past cultivation became transparent and lucid.

Not only that, but the confluence of the four great Spiritual Objects also acted upon his physical body, in addition to elevating Lei Jun’s mind and Spiritual Soul.

Within Lei Jun’s Tao Foundation Altar, the illusory radiance on the Altar now coalesced into a tangible reality.

Lei Jun’s Altar astonishingly transformed into two layers.

Upon the lowest square Altar, a new, second, octagonal Altar layer was added.

With this single day’s achievement, not only had Lei Jun’s Comprehension improved, but his cultivation level had even risen to Law Platform Second Layer!

"Four-in-one indeed surpasses three-in-one by a great margin. All that waiting was not in vain," Lei Jun said as he slowly concluded his cultivation, letting out a long breath.

If he had only obtained the Huo Sui Yang Yu, Weiji Bowl, and Water Marrow Yin Yu—three Spiritual Objects—while his superior Comprehension could have been elevated to the outstanding level, it would still have fallen short of the higher Clear Insight level.

Nor would it have been possible to boost Lei Jun’s cultivation realm from Law Platform First Layer to Law Platform Second Layer.

"Indeed. After all the hard work and patience, it was well worth it."

Beside him, Yuan Mobai smiled. "To gather four mutually enhancing Spiritual Objects through such serendipity is itself a rare and fortunate destiny."

He stood up and came to Lei Jun’s side. "Based on your original superior Comprehension and your Spiritual Body and Root Bone, I, as your master, initially estimated it would take you about twenty years to complete the Altar Stage. Now, it seems everything has been greatly accelerated."

Lei Jun replied, "This is all thanks to your help, Master, and Senior Sister’s assistance."

According to previous estimates, without other special factors, progressing from Law Platform First Layer to Law Platform Second Layer would have taken him about seven years.

And advancing from Law Platform Second Layer to Law Platform Third Layer would have taken about twelve years.

Not considering the difficulty of breaking through to the Fourth Layer of Heaven and overcoming its catastrophic abyss, the total time for these two steps would have been around twenty years.

But now, with the help of the four great Spiritual Objects improving his Comprehension, although it did not simultaneously improve his Root Bone, it did help Lei Jun leap directly to Law Platform Second Layer. This significantly shortened the time required for his future cultivation.

Furthermore, with his Comprehension leaping two steps from superior directly to the Clear Insight level, his future cultivation would inevitably benefit immensely.

The time to advance from Law Platform Second Layer to Law Platform Third Layer will also be reduced by more than half!

"Outstanding Comprehension," Yuan Mobai continued to smile beside him, "is also described as ’understanding at a touch, grasping instantly.’

"Clear Insight Comprehension, then, is described as ’inferring three from one example, understanding by analogy.’

"In Our Sect, since ancient times, most improvements and innovations to Taoist Laws and Talisman Scriptures have been accomplished by senior members who possessed Clear Insight Comprehension or even higher levels.

"If you have any new ideas regarding Spells, you can now boldly pursue them. Go ahead and try them out."

Lei Jun also smiled. "Disciple has precisely that intention."

After breaking through to the Third Heavenly Layer Altar Stage, Lei Jun did not rush to cultivate his life-bound Third Skill.

It wasn’t a case of decision paralysis; rather, he had some concepts he wished to verify.

Talisman Sect cultivators at the Second and Third Heavenly Layers, when using Spirit Talismans, generally can only use them one at a time, regardless of the type.

Otherwise, they would struggle to control them, both in terms of Mana and mental focus.

Talismans connect Heaven and Earth, borrowing power from Nature’s laws.

Activating a Spirit Talisman is, in essence, using it to communicate with the Global Spiritual Qi; thus, being divided in intent is naturally unacceptable.

Knowing how to select the appropriate Spirit Talisman at the right moment, how to use it, and how to make multiple Spirit Talismans—whether identical or different—work in concert, is one of the essential lessons in Actual Combat Spellcasting for Talisman Sect cultivators.

Throughout the generations of senior members in Our Sect, there has been no shortage of those with ingenious ideas and sufficient creativity to attempt making multiple Spirit Talismans effective simultaneously.

However, their approaches were all relatively orthodox.

Lei Jun, however, wanted to try some unconventional methods.