In his perception, an increasing wave of coldness gathered within his body. Yet, after entering, these chills seemed to vanish without a trace, as if they had sunk into the abyss, leaving no mark behind.
This puzzled Fang Xiu. Where did the eerie energy go after entering his body?
Could it be the mind?
He involuntarily immersed himself in thought, allowing his consciousness to flow with the coldness, drifting toward an unknown place, as though a small boat had been cast upon a river, eventually merging with the vast ocean.
Here, Fang Xiu sensed a dim, gray heart, beating slowly. It seemed to be covered in a layer of dust, filthy and unclean, and all the coldness eventually burrowed into this heart.
Could the heart represent the mind?
No, that couldn't be right. The mind couldn't possibly be the heart.
The mind is shapeless; if it had assumed the form of a heart, it was merely a subconscious manifestation.
This is my mind. I should be able to control its shape.
With a thought, the gray heart slowly morphed into a sword, then a knife, and even transformed into Fang Xiu himself.
It was clear now that his assumption had been correct.
However, the shape of the mind was inconsequential. What truly mattered was awakening the spiritual essence.
Thus, the mind returned to the form of a heart.
As more and more coldness infiltrated it, the heart's beats grew more intense, and faint light began to emanate from within, but it was veiled by the dust that clung to it.
Fang Xiu patiently waited, and at last, the change occurred.
It wasn't the breakthrough of a bottleneck as described in fantasy novels; it was more like the natural unfolding of events.
Suddenly, the dust in one corner of the heart vanished, as if it had been wiped away by some unseen force.
From that corner, a dark, almost black light blossomed, like a miniature black hole.
This was the true radiance of Fang Xiu's mind.
In the next instant, all the eerie energy surged toward the exposed corner, converging into a blood-red light as if it were alive, and then it invaded the mind's corner.
The black and blood-red lights intertwined, the bloodlight seemingly attempting to taint the blackness, but no matter how they merged, the black light remained firm and undisturbed.
Finally, the bloodlight was entirely absorbed into the black light, and all fell silent.
At that moment, Fang Xiu felt a profound, transformative shift within himself.
In an instant, it was as if he had been cleansed by the dark light. His five senses became extraordinarily sharp—his vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste—all of them underwent a radical change.
If, in the past, the world appeared to him through a veil, now that veil was gone, and the raw, unfiltered world lay before him, exposed.
In addition to the enhancement of his senses, he felt his thinking and reflexes accelerate, as if his brain had been sharpened.
His physical strength did not increase significantly, but his control over his body had dramatically improved. Where an ordinary person might only access forty percent of their muscle capacity, Fang Xiu could now tap into more than eighty percent.
Muscle movement is governed by the brain, and the brain, in turn, is guided by the mind. Typically, a person can only access their full muscle potential in moments of extreme stress or life-threatening danger. But even then, most people fall short.
Take the example of the renowned Han general, Li Guang. During one patrol, he mistook a stone for a crouching tiger and shot an arrow with all his might, driving it three inches into the rock. Yet, from then on, no matter how hard he tried, he could never repeat that feat.
At this moment, however, Fang Xiu could summon that kind of strength at will. His body was unchanged, but his control over it had undergone a fundamental transformation.
As his physical condition improved over time, the power he could unleash would only grow.
Gradually, Fang Xiu opened his eyes. In his sharp, contrasting pupils, a flicker of black light appeared.
"Is this the spiritual essence?"
At that moment, he gained a deeper understanding of what it meant to awaken the spiritual essence.
The so-called spiritual essence is the product of the mind's intrinsic power being distorted by the eerie forces.
The mind itself possesses immense power, but this power cannot directly influence the physical world—it only exists within the realm of the intangible, like every person being a god within their own mental world. In that world, one can imagine anything and everything, yet it remains disconnected from reality.
The eerie force, however, serves as a bridge between the intangible and the tangible.
When the mind fuses with eerie power, it can impact the real world.
Of course, this doesn't mean that after awakening the spiritual essence, one can freely manipulate both the mind and reality at will.
Firstly, only a small part of the spiritual essence has been illuminated, not the whole. According to Fang Xiu's estimation, only about one percent of the mind had been activated, meaning the spiritual essence was only one percent lit.
Secondly, even if the spiritual essence were fully awakened, it wouldn't be as omnipotent as imagined. The mind is not the same as fantasy—it encompasses imagination, emotions, memories, and mental states.
The power of the mind is, in essence, the power of the inner self.
The stronger the mind, the stronger the spiritual essence. The key is that it must be infused with enough eerie power to affect the real world. Without this infusion, it remains inert.
All power manifests in its own way, and the manifestation of the mind's power is no exception. It reflects a person's inner most desires, their needs, and their cravings.
This is why every spiritual practitioner manifests a different ability.
A spiritual practitioner's ability is the manifestation of their mind's power, what is called the "mind's mirror."
But what is my ability?
Fang Xiu couldn't help but wonder.
Or rather, what is it that I truly desire?
With that question in mind, Fang Xiu began to channel his pitch-black spiritual essence.
In the next moment, he received a sudden surge of information and froze in place.
For his ability was… pain!
Is my heart filled only with pain?
Fang Xiu was startled. He continued to probe and soon obtained a more detailed description of his ability.
By attacking others, he could inflict pain upon them.
???
Fang Xiu was struck by the absurdity of it.
Is this really an ability?
Without this ability, if I punch someone, they'll still feel pain.
But when Fang Xiu began to use his newfound power, he was astonished to find that within the black spiritual essence, he "saw" his own death.
Moreover, a familiar sensation of agony surged within him—the same pain he had endured during each of his past deaths. This was not just physical pain but the torment of the soul.
All the negative emotions he had felt in his past, the pain from his countless deaths, seemed to be embedded within this black spiritual essence.
At this moment, Fang Xiu finally understood the nature of his ability.
It was the power to transfer the pain he had experienced to his enemies, making them feel his suffering.
"Hah... Hahaha..."
Fang Xiu suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Even Zhao Hao, standing nearby, was startled by the sudden outburst.
"Brother Xiu, did you... did you succeed?"
Fang Xiu didn't answer. He continued to laugh, his joy palpable.
This is incredible! This ability is beyond perfect!
Fang Xiu's heart screamed in exhilaration. He couldn't contain his excitement.
For this was exactly what he had longed for.
Since arriving in this world, he had died at the hands of the eerie countless times. Now, all those accumulated pains had transformed into a power that could be returned to the eerie.
To make the eerie experience the same suffering he had endured—what could be more exquisite than this?