Light Fortress
Chapter 732 - 4: Sparring

Chapter 732: Chapter 4: Sparring

From the moment he saw Bai Shu’s lips slightly curl up,

Gu Shen knew that "tempering spiritual power" was not as simple as he had imagined.

The next moment.

A "boom" resounded!

The Golden Divine Domain suddenly enveloped him, and the mist inside the tomb vanished in an instant... replaced by three Blazing Light Realms gradually overlapping each other.

"There are no shortcuts in cultivation... If you want to advance further in your spiritual power, you need to withstand more intense oppression."

Bai Shu slowly extended a finger, pointing it towards Gu Shen.

The Golden Divine Domain was like a calm lake.

At that moment, a pebble was dropped.

From the tip of Bai Shu’s finger, a golden ring rippled out.

But this ring of ripples didn’t disperse; instead, it contracted—

"What is this?"

Gu Shen’s pupils contracted slightly, the golden ring drew him into it, and as the golden ripples shrank bit by bit, his spiritual power began to be squeezed.

The feeling was like... going blind.

His vision was no longer vast.

For Spiritual Transcendents, their "eyes" aren’t actually that important, because even if they close their eyes, they can still see the world clearly...

For Transcendents of the other two systems, the cultivation of origin matter precedes spiritual cultivation.

For Spiritual types, it is the opposite.

Cultivating the mind is more important than cultivating the body!

This was also why Gu Changzhi initially asked the Wine God to be a "blind man," and why the Wine God found it so painful... Back then in the Golden Divine Domain, Gu Changzhi asked the Wine God to close his eyes and also to consolidate his spirit.

Now, Gu Shen was beginning to understand how the "Wine God" felt.

This ring of golden ripples eventually floated to the forehead... turning into a "Golden Hoop".

Gu Shen’s spiritual power was imprisoned within the shell of the Divine Sea, and that strand of Chi Huo, under the effect of the "Golden Hoop," struggled to ignite before helplessly extinguishing.

If Gu Shen’s spiritual power was considered mid to upper level of a Ninth Layer Transcendent,

then the pressure applied by this Golden Hoop... should be at the level of "Top of the Ninth Layer." Gu Shen felt he could contend against it but with extreme difficulty, and driving Chi Huo out of his body was immensely tough.

Of course.

This was with Bai Shu holding back.

If Wu activated the Battle Fire’s Divine Power and exerted his full strength, this Golden Hoop... could likely crush the Spirit Sea of a Titled Spiritual cultivator!

"Do you feel the oppression?"

Bai Shu smiled and said, "With this ’Golden Hoop’ on, your spiritual power will be restricted within a very small range... but this is not a bad thing. The pressure of this Golden Hoop is not as great as you imagined, only a bit stronger than your current stage."

"I feel it..."

Gu Shen took a deep breath.

He clenched his fists, somewhat uncomfortable.

His previously free-flowing spiritual power could "clearly see" a hundred meters around him... but now, he probably couldn’t even "release at will."

He gave a wry smile and muttered, "In this state, if I were to fight, it would be quite inconvenient."

"When I was young, I followed a teacher in practicing the art of weapon combat, and before teaching me, he bestowed upon me such a ’Spiritual Strainer.’"

Bai Shu said, "For Transcendents, the deeper you go in cultivation, the more you’ll rely on the feedback of ’spiritual power,’ because the speed of human eyes cannot compare to that of spiritual power... and this, in turn, can become a weakness."

Gu Shen held his breath, listening intently.

"The truly top fighters can master ’Complete Flash,’ and you... are always just a bit short of ’Complete Flash.’"

Bai Shu glanced at Gu Shen and said calmly, "This is not because your cultivation mentality is insufficient. ’Complete Flash’ is a treasured technique reserved for the blind, and the more you see, the harder it is to learn."

Gu Shen fell silent.

Indeed... in this past year, his cultivation could be described as smooth sailing, cultivating his mind in Spring Rain Temple, his origin in Qingzhong, and Divine Temple Mountain, but making little progress in body techniques.

He had not sparred with Shen Li infrequently over the year.

Clearly, the mindset of a "spectator" did not help Gu Shen fully comprehend ’Complete Flash.’

Now, after hearing Bai Shu’s words, Gu Shen finally understood why he couldn’t grasp ’Complete Flash.’

"The more you see... the harder it is to learn..."

Gu Shen silently repeated the phrase in his heart.

Bai Shu withdrew the triple-layered Golden Divine Domain, and at that moment, the tomb returned to its true appearance.

This inner tomb, in Gu Shen’s eyes, was originally "entirely within sight."

All Array Patterns were disassembled and understood by Gu Shen.

These mists, under the sweep of spiritual power, were easily deciphered.

But now...

This mist completely obscured Gu Shen’s sight.

He lost his vision.

Even Bai Shu, who wasn’t far across from him, became hard to see clearly...

"Actually, at this stage, you should not have been given this ’Golden Hoop.’

Bai Shu’s voice wafted through the mist, his gentle laughter followed, "But I have never seen a genius who could leap two major realms beyond their own strength with spiritual power, reaching this step is already a result of fate, talent, and effort combined... But have you really reached your limit?"

This Golden Hoop imposed a significant mental oppression on Gu Shen.

Previously, his spiritual power operated very smoothly and easily.

But now.

As the Golden Hoop tightened, he had to constantly run "Spring Awakening," with the complete assistance of Spring Breathing, to ensure his state of mind remained calm.

"Whew..."

Gu Shen took a deep breath and reached out to touch the Golden Hoop on his forehead.