Thinking of the fact that half of the jade had already been swallowed by him, he immediately sat down, steadied his mind, and focused on sensing the true culprit behind all of this—the mysterious ore.

After the jade entered his body, it did not pass through the digestive tract, but was instead directly drawn toward that mysterious ore. At the same time, his scattered spiritual energy suddenly surged like a breached dam, pulled violently by the mysterious ore and drawn into it. In an instant, his spirit, which had just recovered to a full state, once again fell into weakness. The overwhelming fatigue he had felt a day ago, which made him drowsy, now burst forth like a flash flood, threatening to completely extinguish his consciousness.

At this moment, the stubbornness that had always lurked within Chad Sullivan was triggered. He forced himself to hold onto his consciousness, focusing all his attention on the every move of that ore! Thinking that it was because of this thing that he lost four hours of cultivation time every day, and would even faint from time to time, and now it had made him swallow jade whole, turning him into something like a monster. For a moment, all the resentment he had accumulated toward this ore over the years erupted, transforming into a powerful surge of energy.

Resentment is also a form of spiritual power, and can even be stronger than ordinary spiritual energy. When this force burst forth, it instantly filled the gap left by his depleted spirit, completely dispelling the overwhelming fatigue.

Stimulated by this resentment, the mysterious ore, which had absorbed and stored a considerable amount of spiritual energy over the years, was immediately activated. It refined all of this spiritual energy, causing the scattered and unfocused energy to undergo a complete transformation. The vast and chaotic spiritual energy was continuously compressed and condensed within the ore, undergoing a qualitative change. When the spiritual energy that had been stored for three years was finally exhausted, the scattered energy was at last completely solidified, forming a strand of divine sense.

It was as if a body that had only ever sensed the flow of energy had suddenly condensed its first strand of true qi, truly completing a transformation from the illusory to the substantial.

Although this strand of divine sense was extremely weak—so weak that it could not even extend outside the body—it was, without a doubt, divine sense!

This was the kind of supernatural power that only those who had cultivated to the fourth level of Nascent Soul, whose mind and spirit were perfected and who had stepped into the realm of seeking immortality, could nurture—divine sense!

“So the purpose of this ore absorbing my spiritual energy was actually to help me nurture divine sense?”

Chad Sullivan was filled with doubt, not letting the sudden appearance of divine sense cloud his mind. Or perhaps, because his perspective was still limited to the Qi Refining stage, he could not truly appreciate how difficult it was for divine sense to be born!

While he was still puzzled, all the jade had already attached itself to the ore. Once the jade was drawn in by the ore, just like his pitiful spiritual energy, it began to be refined. Before long, it even showed signs of transforming from a solid state into an energy form.

What was astonishing was that the energy consumed in refining the jade was actually his strand of divine sense.

With a thought, Chad Sullivan immediately withdrew this strand of divine sense, pulling it out of the ore and returning it to his own sea of consciousness.

Deprived of the support of divine sense energy, the ore immediately ceased refining the jade. At the same time, due to insufficient energy, its mysterious pull on spiritual energy reappeared. His already depleted spiritual energy was once again absorbed, and the familiar, intense weakness surged over him once more.

“So this ore absorbs my spiritual energy to nurture divine sense, just to provide energy for refining these jades and iron objects…” Chad Sullivan frowned. If all his spiritual energy could be transformed into divine sense, he would certainly welcome it. However, who knew what the true purpose of this mysterious ore was? If it kept absorbing spiritual energy without limit, who could say what kind of mutation might occur…

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and his eyes lit up: “That’s right, Master once said that by continuously tempering a sword with one’s mind and spirit, a bridge can be built between man and sword. Swords are forged from iron ore and other materials—why not use my divine sense as my mind and spirit, and temper this ore, making it a part of myself? As long as I can control it, I won’t have to worry about it constantly absorbing my spiritual energy and causing me to faint from overexertion.”

With this thought, Chad Sullivan merged this strand of divine sense into the mysterious ore, quietly sensing its properties, its composition, and its wondrous effects.

For three years, the ore had absorbed Chad Sullivan’s spiritual energy, bringing their compatibility to an extremely high level. Although they had not yet reached the state of complete unity and mutual existence, it would certainly not reject the immersion of his divine sense.

As the divine sense poured in, a simple memory immediately surfaced in his mind.

Parasitism, refinement, devouring, growth.

The entire ore was like a parasitic lifeform, constantly absorbing the host’s spiritual energy, converting it into a mutated divine sense capable of refining minerals, and transforming those minerals into a strange energy he had never heard of, allowing itself to continuously grow.

This was an instinct for evolution!

Moreover, the further it progressed in its growth, the greater its demand for spiritual energy. If, at that time, you could not provide it with enough energy, then all that awaited you was the complete depletion of your spiritual energy and death from exhaustion!