On the afternoon of the fifteenth day of experimentation.
Lu Yuan sat in the shade of the backyard wall.
Having just finished a round of stance training, his breathing had yet to settle, but the Blue Silver Grass was already summoned in his palm.
Perhaps it was because his blood circulation was livelier after physical activity, making the flow of soul power smoother than usual.
Perhaps the continuous days of stimulation had finally reached a tipping point.
Or perhaps it was mere coincidence.
He controlled a strand of soul power, brushing it gently across the leaf at the frequency he had spent the past few days identifying as having a slightly higher chance of resonance.
At the same time, his other hand dropped a microscopic speck of purified Starlight Vine liquid precisely onto the intersection of the leaf veins.
In that fleeting instant, the soul power fluctuations and the energy of the liquid seemed to achieve a strange, harmonious synchronization.
Lu Yuan concentrated with every ounce of his being.
And then, he “saw” it.
Not with his eyes, but a visual sense perceived through soul power.
Inside the phantom image of the limp Blue Silver Grass, near the tip of one leaf, a microscopic energy pathway that had originally been dim and blocked was lightly knocked open.
Immediately after, a faint, almost imperceptible pale blue luminescence flashed at the tip of the leaf for the briefest moment.
It really lasted for only a split second.
Its brightness resembled the most distant firefly on a summer night, its duration so short it made one doubt whether it was an illusion.
In less than a second, the luminescence vanished, and the leaf tip returned to its pale green state, devoid of any visible change.
Yet Lu Yuan knew it was no illusion.
His soul power probe had clearly caught that instantaneous dispersion of energy.
It was faint and brief, but its nature…
was fundamentally different from the soul power he injected or the Starlight Vine liquid.
It was a light that was far more contained and dense.
It was the Blue Silver Grass’s own, self-stimulated, extremely faint expression of soul power.
He froze in place, holding his breath completely.
The phantom image of the Blue Silver Grass lay quietly in his palm, as though that fleeting glimpse of light had never occurred.
The courtyard was dead quiet.
Distant roosters crowed, and the wind whistled softly through the wild grass.
Lu Yuan slowly exhaled the breath he had held for so long.
He lowered his head to gaze at the still unassuming blade of grass in his palm.
Within those overly serene eyes, an almost burning light reflected for the very first time.
Though it was as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind…
Light, in the end, had shone through.
He did not immediately attempt a second try.
Instead, he withdrew his martial soul, stood up, and patted the dirt off his trousers.
He could not afford to be greedy.
In that single moment just now, his soul power consumption had been far greater than usual.
A subtle sense of exhaustion rose from deep within his body.
The feedback from the Blue Silver Grass itself indicated that this kind of activation was exceedingly fragile; forcing consecutive stimulations would very likely damage the energy pathway that had only just loosened.
He walked back inside and shut the door.
Sitting at the small table, he pulled out his charcoal pencil and coarse paper.
*Date: Day 15 of experiment.* *Phenomenon: Autonomous pale blue luminescence observed at the leaf tip, lasting approximately 0.7 seconds.
Brightness level: extremely weak.
Soul power consumption: approximately three times that of a standard single stimulation.
Accompanied by minor mental fatigue.* *Possible triggers: 1.
Increased soul power activity following physical exertion; 2.
Cumulative effect of continuous low-frequency stimulation; 3.
Brief resonance achieved between soul power fluctuation frequency and liquid energy injection.* He set down the pencil, his index finger tapping rhythmically on the tabletop.
*Resonance.* The word jumped out from his memory banks.
Energy waves of different frequencies, when overlaid under specific conditions, produced stronger or unique effects.
In that moment just now, his soul power fluctuations, the energy attributes of the Starlight Vine liquid, and some sleeping rhythm within the Blue Silver Grass had likely happened to align.
It was mostly luck.
Reproducibility needed to be verified.
He required more data.
And far more precise control.
However, his current resources were only enough to maintain the status quo.
His supply of Starlight Vine liquid was running low, his soul power growth remained slow, and his physical foundation was still far too weak.
*Consolidate first,* he decided.
Over the next few days, Lu Yuan adjusted his experimental rhythm.
He conducted deep stimulation only twice a day, selecting early morning and dusk when his physical state was at its peak.
During other times, he continued basic soul power nourishment and frequency exploration, but reduced the intensity, focusing primarily on observation and documentation.
The Blue Silver Grass did not produce a second flash of luminescence.
Lu Yuan felt no disappointment.
He had never expected to succeed overnight in the first place.
That single flash was like touching the first wall inside a dark maze—though he did not yet know where the exit lay, it at least proved the existence of the wall.
His records grew increasingly detailed.
The slate slab became covered in symbols and curves that only he could comprehend.
Lu Qinghe noticed the change in his son.
It wasn’t that his behavior was drastically different—he remained just as quiet, spending most of his time in his room or the backyard.
But occasionally, Lu Qinghe would catch his son staring blankly at his open palm, his gaze intensely focused to a frightening degree.
Once, he couldn’t help asking, “Xiaoyuan, why do you keep staring at your hand?” Lu Yuan pulled his hand back, his tone calm.
“I’m practicing soul power control.
Father, how are you feeling today?” The topic was casually brushed aside.
Lu Qinghe scratched his head.
“Not bad.
That vortex is spinning much more stably now.
It’s just that…
I still get hungry very fast.” “Mhm,” Lu Yuan nodded.
“Now that your soul power is active, consumption is higher.
Hold on a bit longer, I’ll think of something.” He didn’t specify what he would do, nor did Lu Qinghe press further.
There existed a tacit understanding between father and son; some things didn’t need to be spelled out too clearly.
Days trickled by.
The Soul-Gathering Grass seeds were carefully buried in a corner of the backyard by Lu Yuan, enclosed in a small ring of broken tiles.
Aside from watering them daily, he performed no special treatment.
He was waiting—waiting for the right opportunity, and for a few more resources to gather in his hands.
The trade with Shopkeeper Liu remained stable.
Three bowls of soup in exchange for grain and salt.
Lin Xiu’s complexion looked much healthier, and her back was a bit straighter when she worked.
Everything was slowly climbing uphill.
Until the evening of the twenty-second day since the experiments began.
Lu Yuan finished his final session of soul power nourishment.
Just as he was about to retract his martial soul, the Blue Silver Grass in his palm suddenly trembled softly.
It wasn’t a flash from the leaf tip.
Rather, the entire phantom image wobbled slightly, like a candle flame flicking in the wind.
Immediately after, an extremely faint yet clearly discernible suction force emanated from the core of the Blue Silver Grass.
It was actively absorbing the free-floating soul power from the environment!
Though it was excruciatingly slow—so slow it was almost negligible—it was night and day compared to its previous stagnant, passive state.
Lu Yuan’s heart leaped violently.
Maintaining his soul power output, he sensed it with absolute focus.
The suction lasted for roughly ten breaths before gradually fading back into tranquility.
The phantom image of the Blue Silver Grass showed no visible change on the surface, but Lu Yuan could feel that the dim energy node at its core…
seemed to have lit up by a tiny sliver.
It really was just a tiny sliver, like a dust-covered pearl having a single speck of grime wiped away.
He slowly withdrew his soul power, opened his palm, and looked at the little blade of grass.
Dusk descended, dimming the light in the room.
The pale green phantom image of the Blue Silver Grass glowed softly in his palm, appearing ever so slightly more condensed than before.
Lu Yuan stared at it for a long time.
Then he closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and slowly released it.
The road ahead was still long.
But this first step—he had planted his foot firmly on solid ground.
From outside the window came his mother’s voice calling him to dinner.
Lu Yuan called back a response, retracted his martial soul, and pushed open the door.
At the dinner table, the porridge was thicker than usual, with a few drops of oil floating in the pickled vegetables.
Lin Xiu picked up a morsel of food with her chopsticks and placed it in her son’s bowl, saying softly, “Eat more.” Lu Yuan nodded and ate quietly.
After shoveling down a few mouthfuls of rice, Lu Qinghe suddenly looked up.
“Oh right, Shopkeeper Liu mentioned offhandedly today that Old Chen’s son over at the east end of town failed his martial soul awakening.
He’s throwing quite a fit.” Lin Xiu sighed.
“What a tragedy.
That child had such high aspirations.” Lu Yuan’s chopsticks paused for a brief moment, but he said nothing.
Failing a martial soul awakening was equivalent to being handed a different kind of death sentence in this world.
He thought of the Blue Silver Grass in his palm, and of that single faint ray of light.
*Knowledge is a key.
But a key isn’t limited to unlocking only one’s own door.* The thought flashed through his mind before he buried it back deep down.
It was still too early.
He hadn’t even fully picked his own lock yet.
Yet the seed had already been planted.
Night grew deep.
Lu Yuan lay on his wooden plank bed, not falling asleep immediately.
He held out his right hand, stirring his intent slightly.
The Blue Silver Grass surfaced, emitting a faint, gentle green light in the darkness.
He gazed at that tiny point of light until his eyelids grew heavy and slowly closed.
In his dream, there were no complex formulas or models.
There was only a single blade of grass, stubbornly holding up a tiny spark of light amidst the endless dark.
The light was fragile, yet it never flickered out.