The Rat Cultivator

Chapter 128: Innate Divine Ability

At that moment, Wu Yuan’s consciousness transcended his physical form, merging entirely with the spirit of Little Green Mountain.

First, he rode the omnipresent earth veins, using them as optical fibers to view his entire domain at once. He saw the ubiquitous rat hordes busily scurrying through the mountain forests, their movements chaotic yet purposeful. He saw the vibrant spirit plants thriving under the nourishment of the enhanced Spiritual Qi, each blooming with a distinct, radiant hue.

Then, his perspective shifted outward, drifting towards Wolf Mountain. He saw Little Wolf soundly asleep in his icy rock cave, his chest rising and falling in a rhythmic slumber.

He pushed his perception further, straining against the limits of his soul. But as he reached the boundaries of his territory, his consciousness slowed, becoming sluggish like a fly caught in amber.

In the distance, he sensed monstrous auras soaring to the sky—walls of impenetrable power that blocked his spiritual sight. The territories of the Great Demons were fortress-like, repelling his intrusion.

Ultimately, his vision was limited to his own backyard.

After an unknown amount of time, Wu Yuan’s perception snapped back like a rubber band, violently returning to his body.

Inside the treehouse, Wu Yuan opened his eyes. He looked dazed, almost lobotomized. He turned his head slowly, his gaze vacant as he scanned the familiar wooden walls, muttering incomprehensible gibberish.

Thwack!

A thick root suddenly lashed out from the floor, smacking Wu Yuan squarely on the back of the head.

The blow sent him sprawling face-first onto the floor. Wu Yuan struggled to push himself up, shaking his ringing head, but his limbs felt like jelly. He swayed unsteadily, drunk on spiritual exhaustion, before collapsing again.

He lay there, panting, unable to summon the strength to rise.

“That was close! That almost drained my spirit dry!” Wu Yuan gasped, a bitter smile twisting his whiskers. “This doesn’t feel like a legendary Epiphany at all! I didn’t comprehend the Dao or unlock the secrets of the universe… I just looked at a panoramic view of the mountain!”

“I really can’t take it anymore… I need to sleep…”

Wu Yuan dragged himself into his nest and instantly fell into a coma-like slumber.

He was so exhausted that he didn’t notice the critical changes occurring within his body.

The cyan light shrouding him flickered unsteadily, like a candle flame in a gale, threatening to extinguish at any moment. The surrounding Spiritual Qi tried to surge into him like a tide to sustain the light, but the vessel was leaking. The light brightened briefly, then dimmed again, lacking the high-grade fuel necessary for the transformation.

Suddenly, the Karma Pearl within Wu Yuan’s body erupted with a blinding purple radiance.

[Purple Intelligence: Innate Divine Ability evolving. Lacking support of High-Grade Spiritual Qi. WARNING: Innate Divine Ability will degenerate into a standard spell.]

The Karma Pearl paused.

Golden light swirled across its surface as it consumed every scrap of Spirit-Gathering Power Wu Yuan had stored up. The energy converged on the notification, distorting reality, rewriting the text in real-time!

Finally, the intelligence stabilized:

[Purple Intelligence: Innate Divine Ability evolving. Lacking support of High-Grade Spiritual Qi. The Azure Radiance Grotto-Heaven will consume Grotto-Heaven Power to assist the Host in condensing a Divine Ability Seed.]

Having completed its negotiation, the Karma Pearl fell silent.

Meanwhile, the cyan light on Wu Yuan’s body was fading to nothing.

“Ah!”

A heavy sigh echoed within the treehouse—the voice of the Azure Radiance Grotto-Heaven.

“You actually encountered such a tremendous Fated Chance? An Innate Divine Ability…”

“Forget it. I’ll lend you a hand. I am gifting you precious Grotto-Heaven Power! Don’t let me down later, you gluttonous rat!”

A stream of deep cyan, incredibly dense Spiritual Qi materialized from the void, flooding the treehouse.

The dying light on Wu Yuan’s skin drank it in like a starving man finding water. It exploded outward, surging three feet from his body and casting the entire room in a deep, emerald hue.

Then, the light swirled, condensing back into Wu Yuan’s body. It vanished without a trace, sealing itself deep within his core.

“Mmm!”

“That was a really refreshing sleep!”

Wu Yuan rolled around in his nest, savoring the comfort before lazily crawling out. He stretched his limbs, preparing for a big yawn.

As he took a step forward, his body rebelled. His coordination was completely shot.

Splat!

He accidentally performed a full split, his groin slamming into the wooden floor.

“Gah!”

Wu Yuan grimaced in pain, staring blankly at his crotch.

“Thank goodness I cultivate the physical body,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “Otherwise, that would have sent me straight to heaven! What exactly happened while I was sleeping? Why won’t my limbs obey me?”

Afraid to stand up again, Wu Yuan sat on the floor and turned his attention inward.

“What’s this?”

As soon as his demonic sense stirred, he perceived a cyan seed hovering deep within his mind—specifically, in his Sea of Consciousness.

This cyan seed was covered in dense, intricate spirit runes that shifted like a living painting, flickering in sync with his heartbeat. The complexity of these runes dazzled him; they were far superior to any Bloodline Spirit Runes he had ever seen.

At that moment, the Karma Pearl transmitted a packet of information.

Wu Yuan’s eyes widened.

“This is a Divine Ability Seed!”

“The Divine Ability is still evolving, but it’s definitely related to perception!”

He immediately examined his skin. Sure enough, faint cyan runes were woven into his hide, like a thin layer of spiritual gauze.

“Is this the evolution of the Touch of Profound Spiritual Perception? It’s part of the Seed!”

These cyan runes matched the color of his fur perfectly, making them invisible to the naked eye. They formed a fine, net-like mesh—reminiscent of a spider’s web—located between his skin and flesh.

This net transformed his sense of touch into a high-fidelity radar.

Everything within a certain range of his body—airflow, temperature, humidity, Spiritual Qi fluctuations—was instantly and passively perceived.

Wu Yuan frowned, puzzled. “Is that all it does? The original spell could pretty much do the same thing, just with more effort.”

A thought struck him.

He summoned a rat demon guard into the treehouse.

As the rat demon approached, Wu Yuan narrowed his eyes, sensing the aura radiating from his subordinate.

“Full of goodwill and fear,” Wu Yuan noted.

He looked at the rat demon seriously. “In a moment, attack me with all your strength. Do not hold back. Aim to kill.”

The rat demon trembled. “Great King, I…”

“Do it!”

Wu Yuan turned around, exposing his back completely. He retracted his active demonic sense, relying solely on his body.

“Begin!”

The rat demon hesitated, gritted its teeth, and thought, I can’t disobey the King’s command. At worst, he’ll just beat me half to death later!

It immediately spat a golden needle spell towards Wu Yuan’s unprotected back.

The moment the needle materialized—before it even launched—Wu Yuan felt a phantom prickling sensation on his skin.

As the projectile flew closer, the skin on his back reacted autonomously. It trembled and rippled, the muscles beneath contracting and hardening to catch the impact.

Ping!

The cyan runes flashed. The golden needle didn’t even pierce the skin; it was dispersed upon contact, shattering into harmless specks of light.

Wu Yuan turned around, eyes wide with shock.

He hadn’t moved a muscle. It was all automatic. His skin had its own consciousness.

“Absolute Defense…” he whispered.