Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

"I'll take this."

Lu Changsheng extended his hand and seized the Void Divine Crystal. It was enormous, almost like a stone tablet. It carried the dense, unmistakable aura of the Void Divine Stone, yet its surface shimmered like a flawless gem.

"What a massive piece!" Lu Changsheng exclaimed, his voice filled with emotion. "What a massive piece of Void Divine Crystal! Given its size, once the surrounding Void Divine Stone veins have fully absorbed it in a few hundred years, it could easily nurture a large-scale Void Divine Stone vein."

What Lu Changsheng obtained this time was far beyond anything he had imagined. A Void Divine Crystal this large was extremely rare and hard to come by.

Having secured the Void Divine Crystal, Lu Changsheng tucked it away into his spatial treasure. However, he was not about to end things here. The crystal had already nurtured a Void Divine Stone vein, and with the sacred beast flood dragon dead, he had no intention of leaving those Void Divine Stones behind.

"Rise."

At his command, the entire valley shook.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Five Elements Decomposition swept across the valley, tearing the earth open to reveal Void Divine Stone after Void Divine Stone. He gathered each one into his spatial treasure, and only stopped after two hours.

Hmm? Suddenly something was off, Lu Changsheng whirled around.

"A most impressive concealment technique. Even my Sense Domain couldn't detect a thing. Still, a sliver of your aura ended up leaking." His eyes settled on an ordinary little tree in the distance. "Come on out! Surely you don't intend to take my divine ability head-on?"

There was clearly no one near the tree, and no spirit beasts either. There was nothing there, not even a trace of aura, making it look as though Lu Changsheng had lost his mind.

Even after he spoke, there was still no movement. And at this point, he could not be bothered to waste any more words.

Buzz...

He activated the Mental Black Hole. As the dark vortex twisted through the air, a figure suddenly emerged from behind the tree.

"Hold on, Fellow Daoist, hold on!"

It was a martial artist in black robes, whose aura was almost completely concealed. Even standing right in front of him, Lu Changsheng could hardly sense his presence.

"Oh? Finally willing to show yourself? Your concealment technique is impressive. I would never have noticed you had your aura not leaked. Now, explain yourself. Why were you hiding there? If your explanation isn't clear, you can disappear along with that flood dragon."

The black-robed martial artist's heart tightened at Lu Changsheng's words and quickly tried to explain himself. "Fellow Daoist, this is all a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Lu Changsheng asked coldly. "What misunderstanding?"

"Actually, I've been hiding here for a long time, not just these few hours, but nearly ten days already. The news that there was a Void Divine Stone vein beneath this valley had long reached the Deep Space Merchant Association, which I belong to. However, with the flood dragon guarding it, ordinary people couldn't investigate, so the Deep Space Merchant Association found me and had me use my stealth art to slowly scout the Cloud Chart Mountain Range.

"My stealth art is very special. Even Martial Saints rarely detect me, but I still did not dare reveal the slightest trace of my aura. If the flood dragon sensed me, I would have been done for. I could only remain hidden and wait for an opportunity to investigate after it left.

"Unfortunately, that opportunity never came. Instead, I encountered you, Fellow Daoist. I was afraid that revealing myself would cause a misunderstanding, so I remained hidden. But then I was so shaken when you unleashed your divine ability against the flood dragon, I ended up spilling a trace of my aura. And then you detected me."

Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly. What the man was saying sounded plausible; he had most likely been here for quite a while now.

"Well, I've destroyed the Void Divine Stone vein, and I have the Void Divine Crystal as well," Lu Changsheng said. "Doesn't your merchant association plan to take it back?"

The black-robed martial artist's face twitched. He forced out a smile and quickly said, "You must be joking, Fellow Daoist. The Void Divine Stone vein in the Cloud Chart Mountains belongs to no one. Since you've claimed it first, it naturally belongs to you now. How could my merchant association think of taking it from you?

"Besides, even if our merchant association sent a Martial Saint, there would be no guarantee of subduing the flood dragon, let alone seizing the vein. Only someone with your extraordinary divine abilities could slay the flood dragon and claim it. So whether it's the Void Divine Stone vein or the Void Divine Crystal, both are rightfully yours. The Deep Space Merchant Association would never think of taking it from you."

As he spoke, the block-robed martial artist was doing his best to suppress his shaking. Hah, coveting the Void Divine Crystal or the Void Divine Stone vein? That would be suicide. Even the flood dragon has been blasted to death by the man standing before me. The merchant association wouldn't stand a chance.

If it had been a Martial Saint who killed the sacred beast flood dragon, bowing his head and stating his stance would probably have been enough. But this was different. The Divine Ability martial artist in front of him had killed a sacred beast flood dragon, which meant he could defeat someone at the Martial Saint level. This was an astonishing secret capable of shaking the heavens, and he was genuinely afraid that Lu Changsheng might silence him to keep that secret from spreading.

Lu Changsheng saw through the thoughts of the black-robed martial artist at once. Truthfully, the idea had crossed his mind, but it was not really necessary.

He had indeed killed a sacred beast flood dragon as a Divine Ability martial artist. So what? He possessed three immeasurable divine abilities, so there was nothing unreasonable about him killing a sacred beast above his cultivation level. Besides, the other man did not even know his identity. Even so, Lu Changsheng decided to leave him with a warning.

"I don't want to hear any news about me in the Cloud Chart Mountain Range spreading across the Sacred Earth."

"Yes, rest assured, Fellow Daoist. I will keep my mouth shut," the black-robed martial artist assured him.

Lu Changsheng said no more about that. He turned away and turned into a streak of light, vanishing beyond the horizon.

"Whew..." The black-robed martial artist finally let out a breath of relief.

I somehow made it out alive... If he could kill a sacred beast flood dragon while in the Divine Ability Realm, he can't be an unknown figure. But who could possess such terrifying strength? Those three divine abilities... they seem to surpass any supreme major divine ability I've ever known.

Afraid that Lu Changsheng might change his mind, the black-robed martial artist did not dare remain in Cloud Chart Mountain Range any longer. He departed at once, carrying with him a memory he knew he would never forget.

***

Martial Saint Institute, Cave Residence No. 1.

Lu Changsheng returned smoothly to his cave residence at the Martial Saint Institute. The trip to Cloud Chart Mountain Range had taken about a month, not too long by his standards.

He took out the massive piece of Void Divine Crystal at once. It was finally in his hands. Now he wondered just how far it could elevate his Ten Directions Saint Body.

Closing his eyes, Lu Changsheng began to refine the crystal.

One day, two days, three days, four days, five days...

As the days passed, Lu Changsheng's Ten Directions Saint Body improved visibly. He spent ten full days refining the crystal before he finally opened his eyes and called up his Status Panel to check his condition.

[Status Panel]

Host: Lu Changsheng

Comprehension: 361,400 (Praised for a Hundred Generations)

Primordial Hole Saint Body: Not forged yet (46%)

Five-Colored Divine Light Saint Body: Not forged yet (57%)

Ten Directions Saint Body: Not forged yet (63%)

Seeing that the Ten Directions Saint Body had already reached sixty-three percent, Lu Changsheng thought, Not bad. It's reached sixty-three percent without me using any auxiliary materials. If I use them, the Saint Body will continue to improve.

A sharp gleam crossed Lu Changsheng's eyes.

Auxiliary materials were easy enough to find; the real problem was the cost. Those materials demanded a large number of spirit stones, and while he still had several hundred thousand on him, that would not be nearly enough.

Fortunately, the Void Divine Crystal was not all he had walked away with from the Cloud Chart Mountain Range. He had also claimed an entire vein's worth of Void Divine Stones. Even though the vein had yet to fully mature, the amount of Void Divine Stones he got from it was astonishing.

Void Divine Stones were always in demand, and as long as he was willing to sell them, finding buyers would not be a problem.

With that thought in mind, Lu Changsheng left Cave Residence No. 1 and headed straight for the outer division. The outer division housed the Exchange Hall, where every kind of transaction could be made, Void Divine Stones included. Furthermore, several merchant associations kept permanent branches there, which meant he could sell whenever he chose.

At the Exchange Hall, Lu Changsheng found one of the larger merchant associations and sold off a portion of his stones—but only a small fraction. Void Divine Stones were prized for refining spatial treasures and always in short supply, so even that small portion brought in several million spirit stones.

With additional spirit stones on hand, Lu Changsheng went on a shopping spree. Forging all three Saint Bodies called for a wide range of auxiliary materials, and though they were costly, he spent without hesitation and bought in bulk, walking away with nearly everything he needed.

After a full day of shopping, he looked over the materials packed into his spatial treasure. Satisfied, he returned to Cave Residence No. 1.