The next morning, since Shrek Academy had already completed their matches in advance, no one went to the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena. Instead, everyone stayed at the academy to focus on cultivation.
Lin Jie woke up early, leaping up to perch cross-legged on the branch of a thick tree, facing the rising sun. He began circulating the mental cultivation method of the Purple Demon Eye. Wisps of faint purple qi from the horizon were slowly drawn into him, and his entire being seemed to be bathed in that purple radiance. His eyes glowed faintly with purple-gold light, and the Purple Demon Eye itself subtly progressed.
As those threads of purple qi entered his pupils, Lin Jie felt a slight sting in his eyes—but he endured it and continued. He had spent the entire previous night practicing the technique, and by now he had barely stepped through the door of initiation. Morning sunrise was the most optimal time to train the Purple Demon Eye.
As he continued to operate the method, the strands of purple qi gradually converged toward him. After tempering his eyes, the energy began flowing into his body, coursing through his meridians before ultimately settling deep within him.
When the purple qi passed through a mass of pale pink energy residing inside his body, that pink energy suddenly reacted, surging slightly in excitement. Originally the size of a baby's fist, it actively enveloped the purple qi, as if devouring it. Once it absorbed the strands of purple qi, the pink energy seemed to strengthen slightly.
Lin Jie could clearly sense the change in that pink energy, and his expression lit up with excitement. He knew full well how miraculous that energy was.
That energy had first formed when Zhu Zhuqing absorbed the immortal herb Love-Stricken Heartbroken Red. It had granted her a special dual cultivation technique. Lin Jie had asked her about it before, and Zhu Zhuqing had only replied that the method had inexplicably appeared in her mind during her breakthrough.
After their first union—when they consummated their love—this pink energy had split in two, one part remaining in Zhu Zhuqing and the other entering Lin Jie. Each time they dual cultivated, this energy strengthened.
Furthermore, as the energy cycled through both their bodies during their dual cultivation, it temporarily merged, traveling through their meridians and significantly enhancing their physical condition. More importantly, it strengthened their spiritual power as well. Lin Jie had even used this energy before—to infuse Xiao Wu's body with a strand of it for healing.
However, what puzzled Lin Jie was that despite his intimacy with Ning Rongrong, the pink energy had no discernible effect on her body when he tried channeling it into her. It simply did not resonate.
Half a year ago, the energy had been the size of a thumb. After consistent cultivation with Zhu Zhuqing, it had now grown to the size of a baby's clenched fist.
Originally, Lin Jie had assumed this energy only strengthened through dual cultivation with Zhu Zhuqing. Yet now, for the first time, he saw it respond to the purple qi drawn in during Purple Demon Eye training. While the enhancement wasn't as pronounced as during dual cultivation, the energy had clearly grown.
After the pink energy finished absorbing the strands of purple qi, it released faint white energy, which coursed through Lin Jie's body before ultimately flowing into his Sea of Spirit. The white energy was instantly absorbed by his soul, slightly strengthening his already formidable soul power.
Since spiritual power was directly correlated with soul strength, Lin Jie could feel a subtle improvement in his spiritual perception as well.
Just how strong his soul was, even Lin Jie didn't fully know. After all, his twin spirits had fused, and he had absorbed the twin soul remnants of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings. His soul strength was likely no weaker than that of a Spirit Sage like Flender—possibly even stronger.
As the pink energy processed more purple qi, it seemed to hunger for more. It flared up with a dazzling glow.
Normally, the purple qi generated at sunrise was incredibly sparse and difficult to capture—even Tang San could only absorb a tiny thread at a time to cultivate the Purple Demon Eye.
Up until now, Lin Jie had also relied on carefully snaring one wisp at a time.
But this time, after the pink energy flared, the surrounding purple qi began converging rapidly toward him. Seeing this, Lin Jie's heart stirred with excitement. If this continued, he might be able to break through to the Purple Demon Eye's first major realm—Survey —in no time at all.
Thanks to his naturally powerful soul, Lin Jie's spiritual power was also absurdly strong. His perception of detail was already far beyond ordinary Spirit Masters. Don't forget, his mental web—"Heart Net"—was a manifestation of his spiritual force.
Once he reached the next level, Detailed, his mental web would evolve even further.
To put it into perspective, when Tang San first trained Purple Demon Eye, his perception score might have been a mere 1. Reaching the Survey realm multiplied that to 10.
By contrast, Lin Jie's base perception might already be 50. Once he reached Survey, it would leap to 500.
He had begun from a higher starting point—his soul strength, spiritual power, and perception were already beyond Tang San's when the latter first cultivated the technique. Once Lin Jie's Purple Demon Eye matured, its effect would be monstrous.
As always, a technique's power also depended on when—and by whom—it was used.
Elsewhere in the academy grounds, Tang San had also risen early and was training his Purple Demon Eye beneath the morning sun. His spot wasn't far from Lin Jie's.
As Tang San circulated his technique and tried to gather purple qi from the rising sun, he suddenly noticed something strange.
The air around him had become saturated with unusually dense purple qi.
He was stunned.
Purple qi only appeared for a fleeting moment at sunrise and was already rare to begin with. Even now, Tang San could only capture the thinnest strands, which was why his Purple Demon Eye had only just reached the second realm, Detailed, after so many years of training.
But if this much purple qi had surrounded him every day, he would've long since broken through to the third realm—Mustard Seed.
Still, rather than overthink it, Tang San immediately focused. He operated the cultivation method at full power, desperately drawing in the sudden abundance of purple qi.
Back on his perch, Lin Jie continued refining the qi. His pink energy core drew in the strands of purple qi, which passed through his eyes—tempering them painfully—before circulating through his meridians and being absorbed by the pink energy. The pink energy refined it into white essence, which finally seeped into his Sea of Spirit, strengthening his soul once more.
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