Cultivation is a very boring and tedious thing. For An Chen to be able to calm down so quickly and enter a Cultivation state, then maintain it for so long, already shows a very good Heart-Nature.
In Cultivation, Heart-Nature is also very important.
People who can't settle down won't be able to Cultivate well.
Stories of Cultivation Geniuses neglecting their Cultivation due to indulgence in play are abundant in the Cultivation World, and the Grand Elder has seen quite a few.
He was worried that An Chen would be such a person, but fortunately, An Chen's temperament was very steady.
All signs were reminding the Grand Elder that the person in front of him was truly a Cultivation Genius.
As soon as he thought of this, the Grand Elder couldn't help but smile gleefully.
"I never thought that I, Old Qin, would also have the opportunity to nurture such a promising talent."
He had already begun to envision the future.
After two whole hours of envisioning, the Grand Elder had already envisioned Qingfeng Sect becoming a top power in the Eastern State, winning first place in the highest-level Sect Grand Competition, with An Chen representing Qingfeng Sect to crush the Geniuses and Prodigies from various states.
And he, too, would bask in An Chen's glory, breaking through to Soul Transformation Peak Stage or even Void Return with vast resources, becoming a famous big shot on the Nine Heavens Continent.
After half a day of foolish grinning, the Grand Elder finally came back to his senses.
It had been so long, wasn't An Chen tired?
He carefully observed An Chen, but found that An Chen was still engrossed in Cultivation, with no ripple of emotion on his face.
"This..."
Although breathing and meditation can allow the body to rest, there is still mental consumption, and after long periods of Cultivation, one will still feel fatigued, which is a symptom of mental exhaustion.
Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators have fragile Primordial Spirits, and the increase in Realm provides very little amplification to the Primordial Spirit, making it impossible to Cultivate for extremely long periods. Only after Spirit Nurturing can the Primordial Spirit compensate for some shortcomings, allowing Cultivators to Cultivate and go into seclusion for extended periods.
The Grand Elder recalled the first time he Cultivated like this.
He seemed to have only lasted less than two hours, and then he was too mentally exhausted to Cultivate, right?
This was with his relatively strong willpower; many Disciples of his generation only lasted about an hour.
If other things could be explained by good talent, then what about this?
The Grand Elder felt a bit unconfident.
He slowly approached An Chen, placed his hand on An Chen's shoulder, and released his Divine Sense to investigate An Chen's Primordial Spirit.
An Chen did not react to the Grand Elder's actions.
Cultivation was still more important.
The Grand Elder was such a big person; surely he wouldn't have any ideas about his body.
He could feel that he was not far from Breaking Through to the next stage of Qi Refining.
The first few stages of Qi Refining Realm improve very quickly; it's not unusual for some Cultivation Geniuses to reach Qi Refining third or fourth stage in a week.
However, the Grand Elder was not concerned about An Chen's spiritual power, nor how long it would take him to Break Through his Realm.
He was deep in thought, feeling An Chen's already somewhat formed and extremely powerful Primordial Spirit.
Is this the Primordial Spirit of someone who was a Mortal yesterday?
At the Soul Transformation Stage, a Cultivator's Primordial Spirit is fully formed, allowing the Cultivator to freely release Divine Sense. If the Primordial Spirit is not annihilated after death, one can survive by relying on it, and even reconstruct their Physical Body through some methods, or find a body for Possession and Cultivate anew.
The Grand Elder himself had just entered the Soul Transformation Stage, but his Primordial Spirit was already incomparably stronger than that of a Cultivator at the Spirit Nurturing Peak Stage. Even the strongest Cultivators at the Spirit Nurturing Stage did not have fully formed Primordial Spirits, a world of difference from Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators.
But An Chen's Primordial Spirit was almost formed right now.
The Grand Elder immediately withdrew his Divine Sense, and his hand on An Chen's shoulder also recoiled.
Directly touching someone else's Primordial Spirit is a very impolite act. A Cultivator's most vulnerable point is actually their Primordial Spirit; if the Primordial Spirit perishes, the person dies.
No one would willingly allow someone they are not familiar with to touch their Primordial Spirit.
The Grand Elder's first reaction was that An Chen was a powerful being from the Cultivation World, merely parasitic in his current body, and his act of probing the other party's Primordial Spirit was already a great disrespect.
If An Chen were to recover his former abilities in the future, he might not live long.
However, in Possession or Physical Body reconstruction, the Primordial Spirit should also be complete. And if it really were a powerful being from the Cultivation World, why would he come to this small place to suffer grievances?
So the Grand Elder quickly dismissed his previous thought.
Generally speaking, no matter how much of a Genius someone is, their Primordial Spirit will not be naturally powerful.
Some people's Primordial Spirits are very strong when they begin Cultivation, but that is not innate. Those are usually children of Cultivation families or descendants of powerful beings, who grew up consuming spiritual plants that could nourish the Primordial Spirit from a young age. By the age of sixteen, their Primordial Spirit would already be very strong, but not to this extent.
The Grand Elder's thoughts came to a halt.
What the hell was this guy in front of him?
Should he send him to Nine Heavens Academy for those old fellows to research?
The Grand Elder shook his head, driving that damned thought out of his mind.
No matter what An Chen was, he was now a member of Qingfeng Sect, and he absolutely could not be given away!
He would just assume that An Chen was a big shot who had injured his Primordial Spirit after reconstructing his Physical Body or undergoing Possession, leading to an incomplete Primordial Spirit.
If that were truly the case, then his kind guidance now would surely be remembered by him later.
While the Grand Elder was still trying to convince himself, An Chen suddenly felt some anomaly within his body.
The spiritual power in his Dantian seemed to have reached a certain limit, causing a tremor, and the spiritual power erupted from within.
His spiritual power compression also reached its limit in an instant.
An Chen felt a surge of comfort throughout his body. His Meridians were cleansed by the tremor of this spiritual power, and the Impurities and filth within them were washed away, even being expelled from his body through his pores. He could see some grayish-black small particles with his naked eye, which fell off with a rub of his hand.
An Chen finally understood what the Grand Elder meant by "you'll know when you Break Through."
So this was the feeling.
Now, he was at Qi Refining second stage.
The Grand Elder laughed heartily, patted An Chen's shoulder, and said things like "I wasn't wrong about you" and "the young are formidable," finally handing him a jade tablet.
An Chen immediately recognized the item.
A tongshen jade talisman.
However, he didn't say it aloud, as from the Grand Elder's perspective, he shouldn't know this.
"This is a tongshen jade talisman. You infuse spiritual power into it, and it can directly communicate with your Primordial Spirit without you having to actively release Divine Sense. It has many uses, but its most important function is to contact others. Come, remember your master's tongshen number. Listen carefully, okay? 1365..."
Then, the Grand Elder rattled off an 11-digit number.
An Chen's face darkened as he listened.
Before, he only thought this item was somewhat similar to a mobile phone, but now... he suspected there was a plagiarism involved here!