Ye Qingchen slowly adjusted his mentality and then repeatedly recalled Qin Chuan’s movements in his mind.

Meanwhile, Qin Chuan silently watched Ye Qingchen without urging him or offering any reminders.

As the saying goes, "A master leads you to the door, but practice is up to the individual." Sometimes, all that is missing is that flash of inspiration. Even if Qin Chuan demonstrated countless times, it would be in vain if Ye Qingchen could not grasp it. Moreover, every person’s perception of nature’s spiritual energy is unique. Nature’s spiritual energy is like a mirror; it reflects a Martial Artist’s own nature when they communicate with it. This was also the fundamental factor that differentiated the strong from the weak within the Martial Emperor Realm. Therefore, even if Qin Chuan shared all his insights with Ye Qingchen, they might be of no use to him.

Ye Qingchen had actually established a resonance with nature’s spiritual energy last night without realizing it. Now, having calmed his mind and spirit to communicate with it once more, that clear sensation emerged again. He continually released his Soul Power to create a stronger resonance, and in front of him, nature’s spiritual energy became more active.

This scene surprised Qin Chuan as well. Although he already knew his Junior Brother was extremely perceptive, he didn’t expect him to achieve such a feat after watching only once. Qin Chuan recalled that he had only established a resonance with nature’s spiritual energy when he was at the Seventh Layer of the Martial King Realm. Afterward, it took him nearly half a year to reach the stage Ye Qingchen was now at. Yet, Ye Qingchen was only at the Fourth Layer of the Martial King Realm and had just established resonance last night. His performance this morning was so astounding it made Qin Chuan doubt himself. Am I still the genius everyone says I am?

However, this was still only a small step toward what Ye Qingchen needed to master. Currently, nature’s spiritual energy was only in harmony with Ye Qingchen; it could not yet be controlled by him. But Qin Chuan believed that the most difficult step had been taken. Soon, his Junior Brother would create another miracle!

Before long, an hour had passed, and the prototype of a light sphere finally materialized in front of Ye Qingchen. However, the spiritual energy contained within the sphere was extremely loose and far from powerful. After all, each wisp of nature’s spiritual energy seemed to have its own will. The fact that it was now responding to Ye Qingchen’s control was already incredible; to expect these wisps to fuse together so easily was wishful thinking.

Qin Chuan swallowed hard. Achieving this much already made Ye Qingchen far stronger than most Martial Artists who had mastered control over nature’s spiritual energy while in the Martial King Realm. The nature’s spiritual energy Ye Qingchen could now harness was being controlled only by his Soul Power; if he used his own Spiritual Energy to aid it, the effect would be immediately apparent. By Qin Chuan’s estimate, the nature’s spiritual energy Ye Qingchen was currently controlling could amplify his own power by at least thirty percent!

But Ye Qingchen was still not satisfied with the result. Compared to the light sphere that Qin Chuan had condensed, his own seemed like a toy.

Ye Qingchen activated his Dual Pupil Martial Soul, constantly recalling the details of Qin Chuan’s demonstration as his Soul Power continued to surge forth.

Another hour passed, and finally, a light sphere the size of a watermelon coalesced in front of Ye Qingchen. After that, no matter how hard he tried, he could not refine the sphere any further.

By now, Ye Qingchen’s Soul Power was nearly exhausted. His head felt dizzy, and he could no longer focus. He had no choice but to direct the sphere in front of him toward the Tortoise Shell Beast. But once the sphere left his control, Ye Qingchen lost his connection to it. He could only watch helplessly as it continuously lost energy during its flight. By the time it reached the Tortoise Shell Beast, only half of its energy remained.

As expected, it was easily blocked by the beast.

At this point, Ye Qingchen finally collapsed, his Soul Power completely depleted.

Qin Chuan, who had been so shocked by Ye Qingchen’s performance that he’d gone numb, saw him faint and hurried over. He took a Spirit Pill for restoring Soul Power from his robes and administered it to Ye Qingchen.

After an hour of recuperation, Ye Qingchen finally recovered. He looked at Qin Chuan with guilt and said, "I’m sorry, First Senior Brother, I’ve disappointed you. After all this time, I still haven’t grasped its essence."

Qin Chuan’s mouth twitched violently. It had taken him a full two years to achieve what Ye Qingchen just did, and at that time, he was already at the Peak of the Martial King Realm! If this performance is considered a disappointment, then I might as well give up on cultivation entirely.

However, Qin Chuan knew this wasn’t the time to praise Ye Qingchen, so he could only offer comfort. "It’s alright, Junior Brother. Take your time. You’ll succeed eventually."

Ye Qingchen nodded, stood up again, and began a new round of attempts.

He tried again and again, each time depleting his Soul Power and collapsing from exhaustion before taking a brief rest. Despite the repeated failures, Ye Qingchen never grew discouraged. Instead, he learned from each failure, making new progress with almost every attempt.

After a full day and night, Ye Qingchen finally succeeded in killing the Tortoise Shell Beast before him. The final result was far from ideal—the Tortoise Shell Beast had been blown to smithereens in the explosion—but Ye Qingchen couldn’t hide his elation and began to dance with joy.

Having been in a state of shock over Ye Qingchen’s progress for a full day and night, Qin Chuan felt a great sense of relief at his success. I should compare myself less with my Junior Brother from now on. Otherwise, it’ll be too easy to damage my conviction. However, Qin Chuan didn’t hold back his praise for Ye Qingchen’s success, which made the already ecstatic Ye Qingchen even happier.

Afterward, the two rested briefly before beginning new trials.

「...」

When they returned to the Divine Wood Academy half a month later, Zhu Liang and Cheng Lu were astonished. In just half a month, Ye Qingchen had actually broken through to the Fifth Layer of the Martial King Realm. Such a speed of advancement was truly enviable.

Faced with the surprise of his two Senior Brothers, Ye Qingchen didn’t feel any pride. Only he and Qin Chuan knew what sacrifices and experiences he had endured during that half a month. Compared to what he had gained in this time, advancing to the Fifth Layer of the Martial King Realm was nothing at all