Chapter 19: Divine Ability

The pale golden runes only appeared as Li Zhen approached, and their anomaly within the dragon heart suggested a strong likelihood of connection with the Chaos Divine Dragon.

After a moment’s hesitation, he still reached out to touch the pale golden runes.

He sensed no danger, and considering the dragon heart’s urgent yearning for these runes, he deemed it worth taking a slight risk.

In the instant Li Zhen’s hand made contact with the pale golden runes, they flowed along his arm and swiftly integrated into his body, quickly reaching the dragon heart.

A piece of information was then received by the dragon heart, becoming known to Li Zhen as well:

It turned out that these pale golden runes were left by the mother of the juvenile Chaos Divine Dragon, which had been killed by Ding Zhenren. On the day of her child’s death, the Chaos Mother Goddess Dragon sensed the imminent peril through their blood bond.

By the time she expended great energy to cast a secret spell and locate the young dragon, its blood connection to her had become hazy and unclear.

If the young dragon hadn’t been killed in the Xian Nation but rather in another realm—the Yao Kingdom—its soul would have dissipated entirely upon death, leaving behind only the dragon heart.

Separated by an entire world of space, even with the bloodline connection of the Chaos Divine Dragon, the Chaos Mother Goddess Dragon couldn’t accurately determine the young dragon’s fate.

So, the Chaos Mother Goddess Dragon forcefully breached the spatial barrier. Being too powerful to traverse space herself, she sent a Spatial Divine Rune into the Xian Nation at the exact location where her link to the young dragon had weakened.

The conditions for receiving this Spatial Divine Rune were extremely stringent—it required possessing the young dragon’s bloodline.

Li Zhen, bearing the young dragon’s heart, perfectly met these conditions, allowing him to receive the Spatial Divine Rune.

By stripping away her own Spatial Divine Rune, the Chaos Mother Goddess Dragon paid a steep price: centuries would pass before she could recover such a divine ability. This was only possible because it was innate to the Chaos Divine Dragon lineage.

For other demon races daring enough to detach their divine abilities in this manner, they’d essentially forfeit that power forever.

Given the bloodline of the juvenile Chaos Divine Dragon, acquiring spatial divine abilities on one’s own would likely not be possible until reaching adulthood.

However, with a ready-made spatial divine rune at hand, one could awaken their space-related abilities ahead of time.

This was precisely what the Chaos Mother Goddess Dragon had intended. Regardless of any mishaps befalling her young offspring, possessing such spatial powers would grant them a chance to return home.

It was a testament to a mother’s profound love—willing to sacrifice everything for her child’s well-being.

From the information received, Li Zhen comprehended this underlying reason.

He also sensed the additional capability within the dragon heart—a unique spatial ability.

Generally speaking, even upon awakening spatial powers, individuals would first master the most fundamental aspects of such abilities.

But the Chaos Mother Goddess Dragon aimed solely for her youngling’s safe return. Thus, when stripping away the spatial divine rune, she sealed all other spatial capabilities, leaving behind only one specific spatial divine power.

This remaining power allowed traversing the barriers between world spaces—to forcefully create a spatial portal from the Xian Nation’s realm directly to that of the Yao Kingdom.

Naturally, utilizing this spatial divine power to breach these dimensional barriers required the young dragon to elevate their mastery of it significantly.

However, Li Zhen now realized that transporting a Qi Refinement cultivator like himself through spatial barriers using his spatial divine ability wasn’t particularly challenging. All he needed was to master this ability.

The weaker the existence, the easier it was to traverse spatial barriers.

This unexpected benefit brought immense joy to Li Zhen. With all aspects of the spatial divine ability already in his mind, he merely had to continually familiarize himself with it. He believed it wouldn’t be long before he reached mastery.

Obtaining the spatial divine ability also revealed another advantage: his Dragon Heart Space had increased tenfold, reaching 10 cubic meters.

As he emerged from the cave, his footsteps were noticeably lighter.

With over three hours left before the scheduled gathering time, Li Zhen decided against going home for lunch. Instead, he enthusiastically began strolling down the streets, filled with curiosity.

While the virtual streets on the cultivators’ network offered comprehensive functionality, they couldn’t quite match the experience of physically entering brick-and-mortar shops.

Browsing these shops not only satisfied his own curiosity but also served as practical application for subjects such as introductory herbal medicine and basic spirit materials studies.

When passing by the Nine Heavens Group’s magical artifacts specialty store, he hesitated briefly before deciding to step inside.

The Nine Heavens Group’s magical equipment store was indeed one of the best in Yunxi County, offering an extensive collection of cultivator spiritual artifacts.

“Welcome!” The female clerk recognized Li Zhen’s uniform from Second High School and greeted him with a bow.

Li Zhen sensed faint fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from the clerk. Whether due to his newfound spatial divine ability or not, he could perceive these fluctuations much more keenly than before—perhaps hundreds of times more so.

Unaware of his own condition, if he had informed Han Wenqin about it, she would have realized that this heightened perception was akin to having the Celestial Eye Technique permanently activated on himself.

In truth, despite being incredibly weak, he possessed a top-tier divine ability—the Spatial Divine Ability. Even though it was forcibly awakened and paled in comparison to true mastery, as a divine ability, its impact on him was profound.

Judging by her aura, Li Zhen estimated the clerk’s cultivation level to be at the first layer of Qi Refinement.

Hiring a cultivator as a salesperson truly showcased the grandeur of the Nine Heavens Group’s magical equipment store.

“I’m just browsing,” Li Zhen replied, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the clerk’s enthusiasm, especially since she was also a female cultivator.

“Our Nine Heavens Group holds an annual auction at year-end,” the saleswoman said before stepping back. “If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, there might be more options then!”

“Annual auction?” Li Zhen pressed. “Are there any details on the items up for bid?”

The annual auction was the most significant event of its kind. The local branches of the three major groups in Yunxi County hosted one every two years at most, as it was rare for them to hold more than a single auction per year.

Yunxi County’s purchasing power was simply too limited to support additional annual auctions.

“We only have partial information, and even these items may change!” she replied.

Without needing Li Zhen to ask, she used her identity bracelet’s face-to-face function to send him a list of available auction items.

Li Zhen scanned the store, taking note of current prices for various spiritual artifacts before leaving.

He glanced at the auction materials on his identity bracelet while walking towards the Going Beyond Swordplay club. Both were on the same street, not far apart.

Among the confirmed auction items, he spotted two ‘Boundary Breakthrough Pills’.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that this ‘Boundary Breakthrough Pill’ would be one of the main attractions at the auction. It was clear he had underestimated its value.

Based on the Qi Channeling ratio—approximately twenty percent—he estimated that about one in five people were cultivators.

This vast population of cultivators produced a significant amount of cultivation resources. However, some more precious items were inherently rare. Faced with such high demand, even these abundant resources seemed like a drop in the bucket.

Take the Boundary Breakthrough Pill as an example. For early-stage qi refiners seeking promotion to mid-stage, roughly ninety percent of the twenty percent of Yunxi’s population who were cultivators fell into this category. Their need for the Boundary Breakthrough Pill was most acute.

Additionally, even though the pill’s effectiveness diminished when used by mid-stage qi refiners aiming for late-stage advancement, there would still be those willing to give it a try.

If it weren’t for being cautious, Li Zhen would have considered auctioning his own ‘Boundary Breakthrough Pill’.

Continuing to review the auction materials, he suddenly found himself drawn to another featured item.

This piece was called the ‘Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk’, capable of gathering and transforming spiritual energy from all five elements.

If Li Zhen could obtain this ‘Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk’, his cultivation speed would at least double. Unlike the risky enhancements from consuming pills, this boost would come without any hidden dangers.

However, gazing upon the marked feature item—the ‘Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk’—Li Zhen knew he couldn’t afford such an extravagant purchase.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely out of reach. If he sold some of the spirit artifacts on him, or even just the second-grade low-tier Winged Wood, not only could he easily acquire the ‘Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk,’ but also several other spirit items besides.