Although Mo Tizhun had examined her with spiritual power, he was still an outsider who could only detect that her dantian was empty, not seeing as comprehensively as her internal vision.

She maintained a peaceful mind, following the spiritual energy into her dantian. Everyone had a sea of energy there—literally, an ocean of qi, where spiritual power gathered. Cultivators stored the spiritual energy absorbed into their bodies here, transforming it into internal elixirs, which is why the area below the navel was called the dantian.

What she “saw” here was a misty scene, appearing small as a mustard seed at first glance, yet boundless upon closer inspection, as if it could hide anything within.

Unfortunately, she found no trace of an internal elixir here. Mo Tizhun’s judgment was correct—her body lacked affinity with spiritual energy, and she was unable to attract it to stay long, let alone form an internal elixir. But if she had truly swallowed the turtle’s dragon pearl, the spiritual power contained within it would have been astonishingly abundant. If it hadn’t caused her body to explode then, whether she could control it or not, the pearl should have remained in her dantian.

Yet now, there was nothing here.

This proved that her earlier deduction might be true—what the turtle had made her eat wasn’t a dragon pearl at all!

She lingered a while longer, waiting patiently until the mist drifted away, finally glimpsing something else in the position where an internal elixir should grow:

It was a mark.

This mark appeared rust-colored, dim, and inconspicuous in the dark red sea of energy, almost missed even by her, the owner. Looking carefully now, she discovered that the mark’s shape resembled a turtle shrunk thousands of times, but with its body slightly curved, appearing as if its head and tail were connected. Unlike a snake’s flexibility, it could only position its head and tail facing each other.

This posture seemed strange at first glance, but the more she looked, the more natural and familiar it became.

It was truly bizarre—where had she seen this before? Certainly not in this world.

Feng Miaojun was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the trace of spiritual energy escaping her body, ending her internal vision state.

This mark was not a dragon pearl, nor did it contain much spiritual power. But she wasn’t discouraged and began practicing the incantation from page twenty-five of the “Steps to Immortality Manual” that she had memorized. Jumping from page seventeen directly to twenty-five was intentional.

This page existed only in Emperor Haoli’s original manuscript; later versions had removed it.

Normally, cultivators were nourished by spiritual power, cultivating both internally and externally. The stronger the spiritual power, the more robust the body needed to be to accommodate it. Otherwise, the power would burst one’s tendons and bones before even reaching the fist—how could one fight enemies then?

This page’s “Silk Extraction” technique explained how to analyze and extract power from the internal elixir for one’s use, seeking to be as gentle as spring rain, nourishing the body silently.

For other cultivators, using spiritual power was as simple as a thought, like controlling one’s fingers. Practicing this twenty-fifth technique was like needing to extinguish a fire with a fire hose but only finding a drinking straw—how much water could one possibly draw up?

Of course, Emperor Haoli’s intention in including it in the “Steps to Immortality Manual” wasn’t to mock people. In his era, countless fierce spirits and evil entities roamed freely, and this technique was well-suited for gradually analyzing and utilizing the power of powerful demonic beasts’ internal elixirs after capturing them. After all, the spiritual power cultivated by humans and demons differed fundamentally, requiring gradual refinement.

But a thousand years later, such powerful demonic beasts had retreated deep into mountains and forests, with ordinary people unlikely to encounter one in their lifetime—what was the point of practicing such techniques? Thus, this page had long been removed from current versions of the “Steps to Immortality Manual.”

When Feng Miaojun saw it, she treasured it immensely!

The strange power that killed the shark demon, she believed, originated from Yun Ya. If this judgment held—and now having ruled out the turtle’s dragon pearl, she was certain—Yun Ya was equivalent to a demonic beast to her, and if she wanted to become stronger, she must borrow power from his internal elixir.

For someone whose combat ability remained at a measly level five, trying to utilize the State Preceptor’s power was like humans putting a saddle on a giant whale, attempting to ride it like a horse—utterly presumptuous. Yet somehow, the turtle’s curse had helped her accomplish this impossible feat.

Therefore, she now needed to learn how to induce that power, making it both usable and harmless to herself.

Fundamentally, her physical body was too weak compared to the State Preceptor’s power; one misstep could injure her. This was why she tried every means to strengthen her tendons, bones, and meridians: the stronger her body, the more power it could accommodate.

As for whether Yun Ya would discover this or how he might react, that was temporarily beyond Feng Miaojun’s consideration. They were now far apart, separated by the Yao Kingdom, thousands of miles distant. Even if he discovered his spiritual power being stolen, how could he find her in the vast sea of humanity?

And even in the worst-case scenario, if he came looking for her, Mo Tizhun wasn’t to be underestimated—surely he could shield her?

Having thought this through, she contentedly prepared to trick Yun Ya’s internal elixir into transmitting spiritual power to her.

She sat upright, quietly drawing energy from her dantian according to the incantation.

After recovering from her internal injuries, she had repeatedly tried to draw upon Yun Ya’s power again, all failing, with her dantian remaining empty. Fortunately, after so many days of instruction from Xu Fengnian, she had a vague understanding of energy circulation, knowing that the most important aspect of using power was “natural harmony.”

Everyone’s diligent daily cultivation was ultimately for power to follow intent, a single thought controlling its coming and going freely, reaching a state of natural harmony.

When facing death that day, thinking of nothing, she had easily “borrowed” this power. Afterward, constantly fixating on it, she ironically couldn’t induce this power anymore.

Now, she needed to draw it out again and control the floodgates properly, managing the flow so the torrent wouldn’t destroy her little straw.

Following the “Steps to Immortality Manual,” she patiently practiced the silk extraction technique over and over. After who knows how long, her mind gradually sank into a state of forgetting both herself and her surroundings.

The “Steps to Immortality Manual” continued running slowly.

Then, a slight disturbance came from her dantian.

The sensation was extremely subtle, as if something was stirring, or a doorway had opened, allowing something external to enter.

Afterward, a sharp and cold power surged from her dantian.