Aksai activated Celestial Harmony, his primary body cultivation thod.
His muscles tightened, and a gentle hum resonated through his body as his Qi essence circulated throughout his body in a peculiar pattern.
The dual processes—studying and practicing—created a unique rhythm within him, one that required complete focus.
The technique was challenging, demanding exceptional awareness and control over one's bodily senses. It pushed Aksai to tap into the core of his physicality, seeking a deeper connection with the flow of Qi coursing through his body.
He felt the familiar warmth of his body cultivation thod. It was as if he were sitting beside a campfire on a winter night under the starry sky. Except, the feeling of warmth ca from within and not from any external source.
Hours passed, the chamber around him growing still, as if holding its breath. Aksai's brows furrowed, sweat glistening on his skin as he tried to grasp the elusive sensation the to described.
The Qi Sense was a state of heightened perception, a way to feel Qi not just within oneself but in the environnt, in the faintest pulse of life and energy around him. The technique described it as a way to form a bond between the living and non-living Qi around the world.
The technique described Qi essence as one of the most fundantal building blocks from which the boundless cosmos was ford. The living, the dead, and everything in between had their own variants of Qi stored within them.
This Qi essence allowed them to highlight their physicality in known existence. Without the Qi essence acting as a glue, the physicality of all that existed in the boundless cosmos would fall apart.
To awaken the Qi Sense, Aksai not only needed to feel the Qi essence within him but also the Qi essence around him. He could feel the Qi essence within him as he breathed in and out, as Qi essence was always transient in nature, just like air.
Thus, he needed to feel the "breath" of the world to understand the flow of Qi essence around him. If he could do that, he could follow the flow or the "breath of the world," which would enable him to unlock *Qi Sense*.
Unlike Spirit Sense, which Aksai could use easily after his Spirit cultivation base made sufficient progress, Qi Sense was sothing one needed to unlock on their own. It couldn't be achieved simply by progressing in the body cultivation path.
This was because most body practitioners focused all their attention on cultivating their bodies and locking the Qi essence within their flesh, which prevented them from feeling the "breath of the world."
Unless they were told to follow the instructions ntioned in the technique, the body practitioners would never do sothing seemingly as useless as dispersing their own Qi essence from their bodies. The act was similar to giving up on the extracted calories after one had their most sumptuous al.
"No wonder the martial artists from Sharang didn't have Qi Sense. Either they don't know about this technique or only a few powerful individuals were aware of this," Aksai thought to himself.
Why was the Qi dispersion needed? The answer was rather simple.
To unlock Qi Sense, one needed to be willing to disperse their Qi essence into the world so that they could follow its dispersion, observe the flow, and finally feel the "breath of the world." This process was tedious and boring, and it didn't produce imdiate results.
Thankfully, Aksai had already unlocked Spirit Sense due to his Spirit cultivation path. This ant he didn't need to spend countless hours dispersing and harnessing Qi essence in hopes of understanding the "breath of the world."
He could use his Spirit Sense to observe the Qi dispersion, which allowed him to perceive the "breath of the world" in a relatively short ti. Of course, he could only feel his own Qi essence and not the Qi essence that was hidden within everything around him. As such, he needed to not be complacent.
Aksai used his Spirit Sense whenever he could. He then began harnessing the dispersed Qi essence throughout his body and circulating it as per the guidance in the technique. He tried to extend his Qi essence into the surroundings around him.
Despite his Spirit Sense and neural link fabric advantage, things weren't easy for Aksai. There were many failures and monts where he ca close but fell short. However, Aksai remained undeterred and kept pushing forward.
Another hour passed. Suddenly, a shift occurred. The Qi essence that Aksai could control with his will seed to expand beyond his body.
His senses sharpened, and he felt the subtle vibrations of both living and nonliving things around him. He even sensed residual Qi—faint energy trails left by his own movents. It was as if a new world had opened up, hidden in plain sight.
He opened his eyes, blinking as the familiar chamber ca into focus, but now it looked different. Threads of faint, silvery light crisscrossed the room, revealing the hidden currents of Qi flowing through the space.
The technique had worked—he had unlocked Qi Sense.
Aksai felt an imdiate shift, as if his perception had been dialed up to a level he hadn't known existed. The cave space around him seed to blur montarily, and then everything snapped into focus, zood in as if he were examining every detail under a lens.
At the sa ti, he experienced a strange, floating sensation—a bird's eye view that felt like he was looking down at himself from above. It was an uncanny mix of clarity and detachnt, almost like an out-of-body experience.
He took a mont to steady himself, breathing deeply to get used to this new sense.
What was so different about Qi Sense?
If normal vision was like watching the world unfold through a glass pane, and Spirit Sense was akin to having an all-encompassing panoramic view with intricate detail, then Qi Sense was like flipping a switch to infrared vision.
However, instead of heat, this infrared-like vision showed the world in terms of vitality and essence.
Through his Qi Sense, Aksai saw two main color palettes that represented different forms of Qi essence. One palette painted the living—beings like himself, where Qi pulsed in vibrant, rhythmic waves.
Each breath, each heartbeat seed to light up with a subtle glow, showing life in motion. The other palette represented the nonliving, from the stone walls of the save to the trinkets scattered on the ground. These had a dimr, more static aura, a reminder that Qi essence still perated all things, even if it lacked the dynamism of life.
Aksai noticed that, unlike Spirit Sense, which allowed him to feel and see his surroundings in exquisite, hyper-aware detail as if surveying everything at once, Qi Sense revealed the inherent quality of life and inertness in his environnt.
It was not just a sharper view but a completely different perspective—one that spoke of the pulse of the world itself, the hidden truths of vitality and stasis.
He glanced around, taking in the silvery glow from his own body, seeing it flow and shimr with energy. In contrast, the cave walls radiated a more subdued, almost cold hue.
"Damn… this Qi-type vision is really sothing. I… I wonder if there are any uses of the Qi Sense apart from using it just like a Spirit Sense," Aksai whispered, the word coming out breathier than he intended. It felt like he was suddenly privy to a secret that the world had been keeping hidden from him all this ti.
"Wait… the vitality and stasis… perhaps…. Perhaps I can use it along with Druid's Curse. After all, I need to know about the vitality of my target before using it on them. Perhaps…. I can curse my opponents better using this technique."
This was more than just another cultivation skill. It could allow him to tap into his druid powers even better than before. And this was only the beginning. Qi Sense was a new way to understand his place in the cosmos and the essence that bound everything together.
Aksai remained seated, the stillness of the cave space wrapping around him like a blanket. He closed his eyes, letting the sensation of Qi Sense settle deeper into his awareness.
The novelty of perceiving the room in this way hadn't worn off, but he pushed past the awe to practice, honing his control. Each inhale and exhale beca a rhythm, a beat that synchronized with the ebb and flow of Qi around and within him.
Ti slipped by unnoticed as he focused on the subtleties of the technique. He began by sensing the energy within himself, following the familiar routes of his Qi as it circulated through the pathways defined by his body cultivation thod Celestial Harmony.
"I... I can't wait to get back to Martial World Sharang after I settle my affairs here," Aksai thought to himself as he concluded his practise.
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