Chapter 66: First Glimpse of the Spiritual Web

Chapter 66: First Appearance of Spiritual Veins

Secretly puzzled, Qin Zhe suddenly discovered that a thread-like surge of spiritual energy had appeared within his body. It resonated with his existing thread of spiritual energy, overlapping and rotating as they flowed together.

Spiritual energy in his body existed in the form of threads?

Qin Zhe was utterly bewildered.

Previously, having only a single thread of spiritual energy with nothing to compare it to, he had instinctively assumed that as spiritual energy grew stronger, the spiritual energy thread would simply become thicker.

Right now, the spiritual energy obtained once again through allocating points still manifested as a thread, refusing to merge with the previous one. This truly left him scratching his head.

Was the spiritual energy inside immortal cultivators also in such a thread-like state?

Deeply puzzled, Qin Zhe stretched out one hand in front of his eyes and attempted to project his spiritual energy outward.

Normally, immortal cultivators could achieve spiritual energy projection after advancing to the second tier.

As a practitioner of both immortality and martial arts, he might just be able to do it too.

The process went very smoothly.

With merely a thought from Qin Zhe, the two spiritual energy threads inside his body obediently surged out from his palm, poking out two tiny tips.

This...

It seemed somewhat different from immortal cultivators...

Gazing at the tips of the spiritual energy threads in his palm, Qin Zhe felt a bit confused.

He did not know how spiritual energy existed within the bodies of immortal cultivators, but he was certain that when they projected spiritual energy, it was a single, unified stream, by no means divided into two distinct entities like his.

Just as Qin Zhe was preparing to study the spiritual energy tips further, the illusion cat curled up at the head of the bed yawned and sleepily opened its eyes.

Catching sight of the spiritual energy tips in his hand at first glance, the illusion cat let out a startled "meow," its fur standing on end as it leaped down from the upper bunk in a single bound.

Startled by the commotion, Qin Zhe watched as the illusion cat arched its back in a defensive posture, causing him to furrow his brow.

He and the illusion cat were already spiritually connected. Although they could not communicate directly through verbal thoughts, he could vividly sense the creature's terror.

Lying back at the head of the bed for a moment of reflection, Qin Zhe turned over, climbed down, and extended his palm, saying, "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. Tell me, have you ever seen these kinds of spiritual energy threads before?"

The illusion cat whimpered, shook its head, and slowly backed away to keep its distance.

Seeing this reaction, Qin Zhe roughly understood what it meant.

The illusion cat hadn't seen the spiritual energy threads before; rather, it simply sensed a threat and was reluctant to come into contact with them.

Quietly withdrawing the spiritual energy threads, Qin Zhe lowered his head in deep thought.

From his personal perspective, having an extra spiritual energy thread inside his body had noticeably increased his spiritual energy intensity, though overall it was only a minor enhancement.

Given the illusion cat's abnormal reaction to the threads, could it be that thread-state spiritual energy had a special effect on spiritual beasts?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a notification finally popped up on his status interface.

Notification: Successfully evolved two spiritual veins. Immortal-martial foundation established. Requirements for realm advancement met. Realm elevated. Added "Spiritual Veins" value to the status interface.

Additional Tip: Spiritual veins possess an innate suppression over spiritual beasts. They can be used to subdue spiritual beasts, as well as to nourish them.

Receiving this prompt, Qin Zhe raised his eyebrows slightly while sweeping his mind across the status interface, where he indeed saw a new numerical value.

Race: Human (30% Ancestral Atavism)
Talents: Counter-shock, Essence Conversion (0%), Unity of Heaven and Man
Potential Points: 0
Divine Sense: 1
Spiritual Energy: 2
Spiritual Veins: 2 (Attribute-less)
Realm: Second-Tier Immortal-Martial
Divine Ability: Blood-Burning True Self Technique

Having the status interface add a separate numerical category like this came as quite a surprise to Qin Zhe.

However, compared to that, what concerned him far more was undoubtedly the spiritual veins.

Spiritual veins were composed of spiritual energy, yet they were not pure spiritual energy; rather, they belonged to an entirely different system.

Following his advancement in immortal-martial arts, he had acquired something else entirely unrecorded in this world!

Without over-analyzing, Qin Zhe grabbed the illusion cat by the scruff of its neck, pulled it over, and once again summoned out two spiritual veins.

It was true that spiritual veins exercised innate suppression over spiritual beasts. The moment the illusion cat was picked up and had just prepared itself to be petted, it abruptly sensed the unannounced release of the spiritual veins and immediately began to struggle.

"Stop moving. This thing should be good for you. Let me try."

Qin Zhe coaxed it gently, carefully guiding the spiritual veins in his palm.

The illusion cat could understand human speech, and upon hearing this, it stopped thrashing, though it still shrank back into his arms in lingering fear.

Soon, under Qin Zhe's control, the spiritual veins wrapped themselves around the illusion cat's body.

Faced with this situation, the illusion cat grew so tense that it nearly opened its jaws to bite him.

Yet, as the spiritual veins enveloped its body, the illusion cat instantly relaxed, even radiating feelings of comfort.

Seeing this, Qin Zhe raised his eyebrows slightly. Sure enough, the status interface hadn't lied—spiritual veins could indeed be used to nourish spiritual beasts.

Merely after such a brief contact, not only had the illusion cat's emotions stabilized, but its aura was also faintly growing stronger.

It seemed that after graduation, he could perhaps raise spiritual beasts to make money. He just wondered whether spiritual beasts could break through their own limits under the nourishment of spiritual veins.

If spiritual veins could enable spiritual beasts to break through their limits, would he ever lack money again?

As Qin Zhe was thinking this with a blissful smile, the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open, and Gu Ming, who had spent the entire night in the cultivation room, walked in.

"Huh? Old Qin, why are you in the dormitory?"

Gu Ming asked, looking puzzled as he frowned. "Almost the whole academy is discussing you right now. What are you hiding here for?"

"There are no classes today, where else would I be if not in the dormitory?"

Qin Zhe replied, then asked, "You already know about it?"

"With so many people discussing it, and even someone in the academy setting up a betting pool, how could I not know?"

Gu Ming said with a lewd grin, "This time you're really going to be famous! The academy already had quite a few fan girls of yours. After today, who knows how many girls all over the country will be obsessed with—"

Before finishing his sentence, Gu Ming noticed the illusion cat in Qin Zhe's arms.

At that moment, the illusion cat had reverted to its doll-like, adorable appearance while enjoying the nourishment of the spiritual veins. Its slightly squinted eyes and pleased expression possessed a lethality capable of conquering people of all ages and genders.

"Oh, my god! Where did you get this cat? How can it be so pretty?"

Gu Ming's eyes lit up, and without a second word, he reached out to pet it.

The illusion cat was well-behaved, but only toward Qin Zhe.

Ever since it was bought yesterday, it had been petted for a long time without ever unleashing its innate illusion-weaving ability.

Going a whole day without using this natural power truly made it feel terribly uncomfortable!

Right now, the illusion cat was thoroughly enjoying the spiritual vein's nourishment when it was unceremoniously petted by a rough-looking guy. It simply could not tolerate this.

Consequently, tragedy struck Gu Ming.

Before Gu Ming could even retract the hand he used to pet the cat, his entire body suddenly stiffened, and staring toward the window sill, he cried out in alarm, "You... who are you people? Where did you pop out from?"

Hearing this, Qin Zhe instinctively turned his head, but how could there be any people in the direction of the window sill?

Glancing down at the illusion cat licking its paws, he belatedly realized that the cat had unleashed its ability on Gu Ming.

"Old Qin! Where did you go? Someone broke in!"

Gu Ming shouted, striking a martial arts starting posture on the spot and shouting in a deep voice, "Don't come any closer! I'm not someone to be bullied easily!"

Qin Zhe was startled at the sight. He had no idea what Gu Ming was seeing, but judging by his posture, the guy looked ready to throw hands with an illusion.

You've got to be kidding me!

How could he let him start a fight right here in the dormitory?

This fellow was already at the peak of the second tier. If he really let loose, wouldn't the dormitory be torn apart?