Upon logging in, Song Miaozhu was greeted by a series of pinned announcements on the homepage—all posted by the Spirit Investigation Bureau Headquarters.
[SEIU HQ: [Updated] "Spiritual Energy Report: Stages of Absorption" (Click to View)]
[SEIU HQ: "Spiritual Energy Report: Effects of Spiritual Energy" (Click to View)]
[SEIU HQ: "Spiritual Energy Report: Methods of Absorption" (Click to View)]
These looked far more official than the previous report. She clicked on the first one, updated a week ago—"Stages of Absorption."
It outlined three major phases, further divided into nine sub-stages:
Phase One: Energy Merging with Creations
—Sub-stages: Energy Gathering → Energy Infusion into Objects
Phase Two: Energy Merging with the Body
—Sub-stages: Arms → Chest → Abdomen → Back → Legs → Head → Eyes
Each stage came with detailed descriptions of sensations and physical changes.
Eye infusion was split into early, middle, and late stages:
—Early: See ghosts.
—Middle: See colored spiritual auras on objects.
—Late: See auras on people—by colorful light—or cloaked in shadowy, gray-black death energy.
Most of this lined up with Song Miaozhu's own observations. The "colored auras" were clearly what she referred to as 'Spiritual Qi Aura'. But this so-called death energy… That didn't sit quite right.
She shared her thoughts with Zhao Huoyan, particularly the distinction between death energy and illness energy.
Zhao Huoyan listened thoughtfully and replied,
"Master Song, you should send this directly to the Bureau's feedback portal. If your insight proves correct, you'll earn Contribution Points. You can exchange those for money, or use them to connect with SEIU artisans and discuss your craft. They also give you access to internal perks and benefits.
The more Contribution Points you have, the higher your account rank goes—and more app functions unlock with it. Even your report on the resurgence of Spiritual Qi will eventually count toward your contributions."
"Even the reward system's in place already?"
The efficiency of a state-backed organization was staggering. She thought back to the crude, buggy interface of the Nether Commerce Division's app.No comparison. Not even close.
She found the feedback portal and submitted her notes: a concise explanation of the difference between death energy and illness energy. With the ticket still marked as "pending," she returned to the report and scrolled to the third major stage of Qi absorption.
"Energy merges into the Brow-Space (referred to as the 'Spiritual Platform'), forming crimson spiritual crystals. This generates controllable crimson spiritual energy, accompanied by a crimson glow between the brows."
The term "Spiritual Platform" (靈台) didn't surprise her. In Buddhist tradition, the lingtai or "spiritual platform" had long referred to the brow region, the supposed seat of insight, spirit, and wisdom.
Craftsmanship, at its core, was the expression of human wisdom. To call this space the Spiritual Platform felt... fitting.
She could also understand why they called the crimson energy Spiritual Qi. They probably hadn't yet distinguished between "Qi" and "Power" in this new cultivation era.
But the descriptions—crimson Spiritual Crystals, crimson Qi, crimson light—they all pointed to one thing: Everyone who had opened their brow space and developed spiritual power… had crimson-colored power.
That felt statistically implausible.
"How can everyone across the nation—across regions—have the same spiritual attribute? Could it be that in this revival of Spiritual Qi… attributes don't exist anymore?"
She'd long suspected as much.
Her own spiritual power resembled descriptions of fire-based power from ancient texts, but in essence, it felt completely different. Plus, the floating particles of Qi she absorbed were all identical—no elemental traits at all.
Now, seeing that others shared her experience, she felt her theory confirmed: Spiritual Power in this age… might be truly attribute-less.
She moved on to the second pinned post, "Spiritual Qi Report: The Effects of Qi."Most of it she already knew—Qi could strengthen the body, enhance health, and even heal disease.
But one section struck her.
"Do NOT inject controllable spiritual energy (i.e., spiritual power) into other organisms, especially humans. This causes irreversible harm instead of healing."
"So they're confusing spiritual energy (external) with spiritual power (internal)."
Spiritual Power was highly personal—not universal like ambient Spiritual Energy. Confusing those two concepts could easily lead to flawed—and dangerous—experiments.
She quickly submitted another feedback note titled: "The Distinction Between Spiritual Energy (Qi) and Spiritual Power."
Hopefully, the SEIU would adjust its terminology to reflect this critical difference. It'd help them refine their research—and help her too. After all, the better their system became, the more accurate information she would get in return.
"If misdirected spiritual power could harm… could it be weaponized?"
With ancient spells obsolete (except her papercraft secrets), this might be the foundation for new-era techniques. She jotted the idea down for later research.
The report omitted another discovery: spiritual power could replace food and sleep. But since she'd promised the Bureau access to her ancient texts, they'd learn eventually.
A few minutes later, her list of "pending feedback" showed another entry: "On a Newly Discovered Use of Spiritual Qi."
At last, she opened the final pinned report: "Methods of Absorbing Spiritual Qi."
Honestly, she hadn't expected much. She already knew how to absorb Qi, didn't she?
But once she started reading—her eyes widened.
She had always assumed only handcrafts could attract Qi.
The report stated:
"Any skill producing 'mental' or 'physical' works can draw spiritual energy. Handicrafts fall under the latter. Other confirmed methods include:
Literature; Music; Fine Arts; Traditional Medicine; Dance; Opera; Folk Arts; Acrobatics
The work 'itself' is the core attractor. The creator's contribution during production determines absorption efficacy."
Song Miaozhu exhaled. The world of cultivation was far broader than she'd imagined.
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