My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Ye Qingfeng continued, "However, I do know a little bit of the art of enlightenment."

He reached out and gently tapped the jujube tree next to him.

The jujube tree was standing there quietly.

Branches stretch out, leaves droop, and dates hang.

The sunlight shone on it, making it look red and white, like a painting.

The jujube tree trembled slightly the moment Ye Qingfeng's finger touched the trunk.

It wasn't the wind that blew it—there was no wind that day.

It was trembling on its own, as if it were stretching, or as if it had suddenly woken up after sleeping for a long time.

Then, a branch stretched out.

It wasn't blown here by the wind, nor was it controlled by anything; it stretched out on its own.

The branch slowly, slowly bent down in front of Ye Qingfeng, its leaves unfurling one by one as if to greet him.

The largest jujube at the very top is a bright red, like a small lantern.

It shook gently, as if to say, "Eat me."

Ye Qingfeng did not eat.

He reached out and touched the jujube, then looked at Yun Songzi.

Another branch of the jujube tree also moved.

It reached out towards the pine cones, slowly and deliberately, as if testing them.

It reached out and stopped about a foot away from Yun Songzi, then the topmost jujube swayed towards Yun Songzi as if to say, "Want one too?"

Yun Songzi did not move.

He stared at the outstretched branch, at the swaying jujube, for a very long time.

His mind was buzzing.

"Spiritual manipulation" means he is using his divine sense to control the stone.

The spirit possesses him; he is using his divine sense to control the plants.

But this jujube tree is moving on its own.

No one controlled it, no one gave it any instructions, it started moving on its own.

It has become conscious.

Ye Qingfeng touched it, and it came to life.

It's not possession, it's giving life.

This is enlightenment.

This is the legendary art of enlightenment.

Yun Songzi's throat moved slightly.

He recalled what he had read in the ancient texts—the art of enlightenment, a supernatural power that only ancient great beings could master.

To imbue all things with one's own spirit.

Every blade of grass, every tree, every stone, and every tile can be transformed.

This is not something an ordinary person can do.

Those ancient texts say that the art of enlightenment is even more difficult than the art of sword control.

Sword control is a technique where a person wields a sword, but the sword remains a sword.

Enlightenment is the process of imbuing something with spirit, turning it into a living being.

This is creation, this is birth.

This is the work of a deity.

He raised his head and looked at Ye Qingfeng.

The person was still lying in the rocking chair, squinting, with a slight smile on their lips, as if nothing had happened.

But those two techniques just now—the sword control technique and the enlightenment technique—had shattered his understanding.

His previous underestimation of him had now vanished completely.

There are no such people in the vast mountains.

There are very few outside.

This person practices the orthodox way of cultivating Qi, and has already achieved a considerable level of skill.

But he wasn't afraid.

He still has some trump cards up his sleeve.

If they really fight, it's uncertain who will live and who will die.

His spiritual cultivation and his divine soul form are the culmination of decades of arduous practice.

He didn't believe that this person could withstand even those things.

Yun Songzi took a deep breath and was about to speak when Ye Qingfeng spoke first.

"Master Yun has come from afar, using both magical artifacts and possession techniques. I dare to ask you to demonstrate something to me."

Yun Songzi's words stuck in her throat.

He looked at Ye Qingfeng, and Ye Qingfeng looked at him.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Yun Songzi nodded: "Please."

Ye Qingfeng picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of tea.

His movements were slow and casual, as if he were entertaining guests in his own backyard.

The tea soup flowed from the spout, pale golden in color, clear and bright, with a faint glow.

The cracks at the bottom of the cup are clearly visible, resembling a dried-up riverbed.

Steam rose from the rim of the cup, meandering and drifting like an invisible snake.

He pushed the cup of tea toward Yun Songzi, to the center of the table, then withdrew his hand and leaned back in his chair.

"Please have some tea," he said.

Yun Songzi stared at the cup of tea, momentarily stunned.

He thought Ye Qingfeng was about to unleash some amazing move, but it turned out to be just a cup of tea.

Invite him for tea?

He looked at the cup of tea, then at Ye Qingfeng, feeling somewhat puzzled.

But he didn't think much of it and reached out to pick up the cup of tea.

He stopped just before his fingers touched the side of the cup.

He didn't stop on his own; his hand just wouldn't obey him.

No, it's not that it's not obeying orders; it's that his hand is clearly reaching forward, but the cup of tea is getting further and further away.

It's not the cup that's moving, it's the distance that's changing.

There were only a few inches between his hand and the cup, but those few inches felt like a vast distance.

He stretched out an inch, and the cup moved a foot away.

He stretched it out again, and the cup went even further.

His hand was stretched out as far as it could go, but it was still an arm's length away from the cup.

Yun Songzi frowned, something seemed off.

He withdrew his hand and stared at the cup of tea for a few moments.

Then he closed his eyes and spread his divine sense to the fullest extent, enveloping the table, the cup, and the cup of tea.

His intuition told him that the cup was right there, in the center of the table, less than three inches from his hand.

That's right, divine sense wouldn't lie to him. But he clearly couldn't reach it just now.

It seems the trick is hidden here, but it's far from enough to stump him with mere illusion magic.

His divine sense expanded significantly to confirm the position of the teacup, and then...

He opened his eyes and reached out his hand.

This time, he was faster and more forceful.

His hand shot out like an arrow, heading straight for the cup of tea.

I still haven't encountered it.

The cup was still there, completely still.

His hand remained an inch away from the cup.

Yun Songzi withdrew his hand, his face darkening.

He looked at Ye Qingfeng, who was still lying in the rocking chair, his eyes squinting and a smile on his lips.

A surge of anger suddenly welled up inside him.

This is illusion.

It must be an illusion.

He closed his eyes and pushed his divine sense to its limit.

His image faintly appeared behind him.

The three-zhang-tall shadow appeared and disappeared in the sunlight, like a mountain.

The shadow had no face, no outline, just a blurry mass of gray.

But as it stood there, the surrounding air seemed to grow heavy.

The jujube tree leaves rustled, not from the wind, but from the oppressive aura emanating from its shadow.

Lu Yang's legs felt weak, and Shen Zhaoyue's hands gripped the knife hilt tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Yun Songzi's divine sense surged forth like a tide, sweeping over every corner of the courtyard, every leaf, and every jujube.

His divine sense swept back and forth across the table more than a dozen times, and across the cup of tea more than a dozen times.

There were no flaws.

That cup of tea, that table, that cup, every drop of liquid in that cup of tea—all were clearly visible in his mind.

This shouldn't be! How could there be such a realistic illusion? He couldn't see any flaws at all!

He opened his eyes, looked at the cup of tea, and remained silent for a long time.

His image was still standing behind him, but he suddenly found it ridiculous.

The Dharma form he had spent forty years creating looked like a snowman built by a child in front of this person.

He accepted the Dharma image.

The enormous shadow swayed and shrank back into his body.