Why is this third diagram so strange? The manual clearly states that each diagram will reach perfection once it hits 60 points. The previous two diagrams were indeed like this—every time he reached 60 points, there would be a sense of saturation. But with this third one, something unexpected happened. Even at 62 points, there was still no feeling of saturation. Could this be related to “spirit awakening”? Or perhaps he simply didn’t have the talent for spirit awakening?

In fact, William Carter’s guess was basically correct—he truly didn’t possess the talent for spirit awakening...

William Carter hesitated for a moment. According to the manual, as long as one diagram reached 60 points, he could move on to cultivate the next one. Should he keep working on this third diagram, or just ignore it and start cultivating the fourth?

“If 60 points isn’t enough, I’ll go for 80. If 80 still isn’t enough, I’ll push to 120. I refuse to believe I can’t reach perfection if I persist.” In order to gain the ability of “spirit awakening,” William Carter was determined. He would rather waste time and not cultivate the fourth diagram than give up on perfecting this third one.

Having made up his mind, William Carter once again stopped all other training and focused solely on cultivating this strange third diagram.

Day by day passed, and the time spent on the third diagram slowly increased: 70 points, 80 points, 100 points, 120 points, all the way to 150 points. William Carter was shocked to find that there was still no sense of saturation, and spirit awakening still hadn’t appeared.

With the time to prepare medicine for the third young lady approaching, William Carter reluctantly decided that if there was still no saturation at 200 points, he would give up. His time was too precious to waste. As for “spirit awakening,” he could only accept that it was not meant for him.

Three days later, on the day before the medicine preparation, William Carter extended the time to 179 points. The final point ticked by, second by second: 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 59 seconds.

60 seconds!

In that instant, William Carter suddenly heard a sound in his mind like an eggshell cracking. Countless points of light gradually appeared from within his body. William Carter was astonished to discover that these points of light were actually the vital energy he had painstakingly cultivated over nearly two months!

As soon as these points of vital energy appeared, they immediately transformed into a series of fine, overlapping silver ripples, spreading out like a web throughout his entire body.

The moment these silver ripples appeared, William Carter’s head buzzed with a sudden shock. He stared blankly at the silver ripples, and an extremely familiar feeling surged up inside him. As soon as this feeling appeared, it immediately faded away like the receding tide, no matter how hard William Carter tried to hold onto it—he was powerless...

As the points of light continued to appear, the evolving silver ripples pulsed back and forth inside and outside William Carter’s body, layer after layer, endlessly. The first to be affected were William Carter’s meridians, then even his muscles and bones gradually began to vibrate within the silver waves.

Each time a silver ripple faded, a new point of light would immediately emerge.

Tingling, soreness, weakness... all sorts of indescribable sensations flooded back to William Carter’s consciousness from every part of his body. It felt as if countless tiny insects were gnawing at him inside and out, making him unbearably uncomfortable. At this moment, the resolute part of William Carter’s character came into play again. He gritted his teeth hard, vaguely sensing that if he couldn’t endure this now, the vital energy he had worked so hard to cultivate over the past two months would be lost forever—a price he could not afford.

Fortunately, William Carter didn’t have much vital energy to begin with. After a certain point, the points of light stopped appearing, and the vibrations of the silver ripples gradually faded and weakened, finally gathering at William Carter’s forehead to form a rippling, glowing circle that slowly merged into his body.

Immediately after, an invisible wave surged outward from William Carter as the center: 20 meters, 30 meters, 50 meters, 100 meters, 140 meters, 180 meters...

It rushed out to 200 meters, then suddenly contracted: 200 meters, 100 meters... 10 meters!

This cycle of expansion and contraction continued, sometimes shrinking to a range of thirty to fifty meters, sometimes expanding beyond two hundred meters. After several repetitions, it finally stabilized at around one hundred meters.

At this point, William Carter opened his eyes. A flash of silver lightning flickered in them, and every movement within a hundred meters instantly registered in his mind.

“This... is spirit awakening?” William Carter was stunned, still feeling a lingering sense of fear from what had just happened.

However, William Carter found it odd. According to the description in the internal Ascension Technique, spirit awakening could greatly enhance perception, but at most only up to fifty meters. Yet he could sense a hundred meters. Moreover, the silver ripples evolved from his vital energy gave him a sense of perfect harmony. He didn’t know why his vital energy had turned into silver ripples, but deep inside, it was as if a voice was telling him that those silver ripples were truly his own...

In a daze, a strange realization suddenly welled up inside him—

If vital energy could continue to evolve into silver ripples, it would be a qualitative leap, a true ascension... He extended his right index finger and gently released his vital energy, but unfortunately, the silver ripples never appeared again.

Unable to figure it out, William Carter attributed these mysteries to the crystals of Prison Island.

Putting his thoughts away, William Carter checked the vital energy within his body. When the vital energy had turned into points of light and dispersed from his body, he had truly feared it would be lost forever. Only when the silver ripples evolved from his vital energy finally merged back into his body as a glowing circle did he feel at ease. Now, upon careful inspection, he found that it had not diminished.