Spiritual Practice
After returning to the dormitory, Wang Yanfei closed the door, hung his cloak aside, and leaned against the bed in a relaxed manner. Recalling everything in the hall, his eyes subconsciously fell on his hands, and then he felt that the strange energy in his body seemed to become more active.
He focused his attention, and two tentacles silently stretched out from behind. Compared with before, the tentacles became much longer and stronger, and even emitted a faint sonic boom when swinging in the air. Wang Yanfei tried to control them, and the two tentacles danced flexibly in the room, grabbing the water cup beside him and handing it to him.
"It seems related to 'Spirit,'" he murmured, sipping water while recalling the increase in his panel attributes.
Feeling the inexplicable energy surging through his body, Wang Yanfei sat on the bed and decided to practice cultivation as per Goldwater's instructions. He took a deep breath, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his attention on imagining a blue dot in his mind.
Soon, a warm sensation spread from his chest throughout his body, like a gentle stream enveloping him. The spiritual energy within him flowed smoothly with each breath, while the blue dot in his mind seemed to inhale and exhale in sync with him. This feeling was extraordinarily comfortable, gradually leading his thoughts into an indescribably peaceful state.
Time passed silently during his cultivation. When Wang Yanfei opened his eyes again, he was startled to find that the sky outside was completely dark. Glancing at the time, he realized he had unknowingly cultivated for ten hours straight.
"So long..." he muttered, stretching and feeling an unprecedented lightness throughout his body.
Just then, a faint tightness in his chest emerged, accompanied by that familiar summoning sensation. Wang Yanfei raised his head as the space before him began to distort. Twelve cards silently materialized, radiating their characteristic dark golden glow.
His eyes sharpened as he stood up and reached for the cards, a mix of anticipation and apprehension filling his chest.
The moment the card turned over, a faint energy overflowed from the card surface. The pattern above appeared - it was a picture of a figure surrounded by countless tentacles, and then a line of strange words emerged:
"Encircled by the tendrils of the God of Oblivion, mortals may briefly transcend the mundane."
At the same time, he felt a subtle change in his body, and a brief sense of lightness spread from his limbs. Just as he tried to experience it carefully, this feeling only lasted for a second, and then disappeared without a trace.
He glanced at his prosthetic body, his mouth twitched, and he cursed in a low voice: "God of Oblivion, damn!"
The panel did not show any major changes, and he even wondered if the enhancement just now was an illusion. The effect of this card seemed to increase the physical attribute a little bit, but it only lasted for one second, which was really speechless.
"Neither here nor there," he murmured with a complicated expression. While used to the randomness of Fate's Gift, this card's effect still left him feeling peculiarly indifferent.
Quickly adjusting his emotions, he thought to himself, "At least it was a positive effect...sort of."
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Over the next five days, Wang Yanfei's feelings of frustration gradually gave way to resignation. On the first day, upon drawing the "God of Oblivion's Tendrils" card again, he was so exasperated that he nearly cursed the so-called "gift" out loud. Yet, as the same result repeated day after day, he slowly grew accustomed to it.
"It seems the God of Oblivion has taken a liking to me," Wang Yanfei thought through gritted teeth. Each time he drew a card, the brief enhancement would occur, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a minute at most. The effects were mild, offering no significant advantage.
Nevertheless, his spiritual cultivation progressed smoothly during these five days. The accumulation of spiritual energy proved more fluid than he had anticipated. Each time he meditated, the spiritual energy within him circulated faster and more effortlessly. By the fifth day, he could distinctly sense a heightened awareness, even a faint perception of the spiritual energy around him.
His progress was reflected on the panel:
[Name: Wang Yanfei
Race: Human
Attributes:
Body: 0.9 (adult standard is 1)
Spirit: 2.1 ↑ (adult standard is 1)
Ability: Gift of Fate
Skills: Tentacles, Spirituality
Refresh Time: 8:34:23]
Wang Yanfei's life gradually became calm during this period. Daily practice, dining in the cafeteria and worship at the church constituted his temporary daily routine. The worship of the spiritual church was still held in the hall, and the bishop's voice was still deep and full of ritual, but he noticed that no new people had joined the organization recently. The members of the church seemed to be a closed circle, mechanically carrying out a fixed process every day, which seemed a bit weird.
Goldwater initially accompanied him to the dining hall during the first few days but soon deemed it unnecessary as Wang Yanfei grew familiar with the environment. He didn't mind the solitude.