"Why hasn’t he come out yet? How many days has it been?"
"It has been ten days... Breaking through the Third Layer of the Mystic Barrier is safer than the previous life-and-death barriers. However, if one becomes trapped within their own spirit landscape and cannot extricate themselves, there’s a danger of being stuck there for a lifetime."
Outside Chen Ku’s house. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel fire.net
At this time, four Grandmasters from Medicine King Hall had gathered: Yang Luochen, Shang Yunfang, Nong Baosen, and even Chai Bao. Each day, after finishing their duties, they came here to wait.
"’Mother? Uncle will wake up, right?’ Hu Zi’s small face tensed, and he nearly cried out, ’I want Uncle to wake up...’"
Within the Mystic Gate, Chen Ku seemed to be completely immersed in a warm ocean of spirit. His entire being felt as if it had returned to the womb, constantly absorbing the nutrients within the Mystic Gate.
He didn’t know how much time had passed before he felt a swelling sensation in his spirit.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
Instantly, the group of people surrounding Chen Ku’s house saw a flash of white light flicker inside.
"’Light in the room! This state only appears after receiving a great spiritual gift within the Mystic Gate!’ Yang Luochen blurted out. ’This kid... he truly is that one-in-a-million spiritual prodigy!’"
Just after Yang Luochen spoke, Chen Ku opened the door from the inside.
Seeing so many people around, Chen Ku was slightly startled and quickly greeted each in turn, "Masters, you’re all here... Has my retreat been very long?"
Yang Luochen said, then eagerly approached Chen Ku. With his large hands, he lifted Chen Ku’s eyelids and asked,
"’Tell me quickly, did you receive a spiritual gift within the Mystic Gate?’"
"’How should I put it...’ Chen Ku said, assessing his current state. ’After breaking through the Mystic Gate, my spiritual power has indeed increased unprecedentedly. But as for a gift...’"
He knew Ma Mingfeng had developed an extra ’eye’ within his Mystic Gate, but he himself had not.
Instead, a vast amount of spiritual power had simply emerged within his Mystic Gate.
"’No gift? How is that possible?’"
Yang Luochen frowned and said,
"’The moment you woke up, light filled the room! Clearly, when you opened your eyes, your spiritual power manifested as light escaping your gaze!’"
"’Say no more, Nephew Chen. Try focusing your spirit into your gaze and look at me,’ Chai Bao directly offered, not minding if Chen Ku tested it on him.
Chen Ku hesitated a bit.
"’Then, I hope Master Chai won’t take offense.’"
With that, he tentatively combined the spiritual power he had absorbed from the three great experts with the spiritual surge from his own breakthrough. Then, employing Ma Mingfeng’s Spirit Witness Skill, he looked at Chai Bao.
With that one glance, Chai Bao suddenly felt Chen Ku’s gaze become as deep as an oceanic abyss, like a black hole devouring everything. In a daze, his mind was unwittingly drawn deep into it...
The next moment, Chai Bao instinctively trembled. He quickly regained his senses, startled, and hastily looked around, asking,
"How long was I absent-minded?"
"’An instant!’ Shang Yunfang took a deep breath and replied sternly."
"’An instant...’ Chai Bao stared at Chen Ku in disbelief.
"’Just by reaching the Third Layer of the Mystic Barrier, the spiritual gift you received was enough to make me, a Meridian-Opening Realm expert, lose my senses for an instant! Isn’t this spiritual talent many times more formidable than that of the deceased Ma Mingfeng from the Fish and Dragon Association?!’"
Ma Mingfeng was reputed to be able to influence Third Realm Jade Skin Experts with his Skill of Witnessing, but he definitely couldn’t affect those at the Fourth Realm Meridian-Opening.
Martial Practitioners engage in Life and Spirit Dual Cultivation. As the physical body strengthens, it nourishes the spirit. A Fourth Realm Martial Practitioner possesses spiritual power equivalent to a Fourth Realm Ghost God; this power is simply unified with the body, not manifesting externally or being projectable.
Influencing a Fourth Realm Meridian-Opening expert while at the peak Second Realm Mystic Barrier... Even if it’s only for an instant, if the timing is right... with Chen Ku’s Divine Power and Stick Technique talent, wouldn’t he be able to sneak attack a Fourth Realm Expert? Shang Yunfang instantly perceived the advantage brought by Chen Ku’s spiritual breakthrough.
"’Absolutely not!’ Yang Luochen immediately exclaimed.
"’It’s just for an instant, merely exploiting a momentary lapse from a Fourth Realm expert. If you think you can challenge a Fourth Realm expert based on that, you’re undoubtedly taking your life too lightly.’"
"’Indeed,’ Chai Bao immediately cautioned Chen Ku.
"’Take me as an example. Although you affected my mind for an instant, you couldn’t have killed me. A Fourth Realm Meridian-Opening expert’s reaction speed, fueled by Inner Qi, is enough to completely dodge your attack. Of course, you can keep trying to influence me, but remember this: I can afford to make many mistakes. You, however, only need to make one mistake when facing my counterattack, and you’re dead.’"
"’Disciple will bear this in mind. I certainly won’t take such a rash risk.’"
Chen Ku immediately bowed his head.
He was well aware that his ability to influence Instructor Chai Bao, a Fourth Realm expert, didn’t stem purely from the spiritual power gained from his own breakthrough.
Rather, it was his own post-breakthrough spiritual power, augmented by the spiritual power he’d absorbed from Yan Longhao, Wang Mao, and Ma Mingfeng, that gave him such might!
His own spiritual power, from the breakthrough alone, would probably only be enough to resist Ma Mingfeng’s Skill of Witnessing and remain unaffected by it.
Moreover, if he wanted to use this Skill of Witnessing in combat, he would first have to relinquish the Transformations of the Flower Fox Mink, Centipede Viper, and Fire Beak Pot. He would then need to replace them with Transformations embodying the spiritual power of human experts.