「Several days later.」

Fiery sunlight streamed down from the sky. The mid-March weather was mild.

Most passersby wore light jackets or fleece-lined sweatshirts.

The lid of a steamer basket at a breakfast stall was lifted, releasing a plume of hot steam. A hurried commuter bought just two steamed buns before rushing toward the platform.

Watching them squeeze onto crowded trams and buses, several unemployed, middle-aged men squatted by the roadside, their faces haggard and full of envy.

They once considered such a crowded, bustling life to be a torment, but now, it was something they desperately longed for.

Just then, a spring breeze rustled the ginkgo trees in the greenery strip, whose branches were slowly sprouting new leaves.

The haggard, envious men lowered their heads again, scrolling through job postings on their smartwatches or scanning group chats for notices about temporary, daily-wage odd jobs.

Witnessing this scene from his apartment rooftop, Lu Chao was silent for several moments.

Finally, he pushed aside his distracting thoughts.

He sat down cross-legged in the sunlight and began his training.

Over the past few days, his spiritual energy had recovered.

He seized the opportunity to enter the Flow State again, finally achieving a true initiation into the[Fixed Star Observation Method].

And now, slowly closing his eyes, he peered into his own mindscape.

It was a vast, boundless darkness, without a single speck of light to be seen.

But soon, as he followed the essential principles of the method, he began to construct a vision.

A wisp of crimson light began to blossom within the dark mindscape.

At first, it was faint, like a tiny flicker of flame.

But as he deepened his concentration, meditating on his target—the sun—the faint flicker of flame gradually grew stronger, transforming into a crimson orb that rose to hang suspended in the center of his mindscape: a red sun.

It was the image of countless sunrises and sunsets he had witnessed in Ring City, the most vivid picture etched into his memory.

Though it was still ethereal, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch, it still cast out faint rays of light, dispelling the gloom and gradually illuminating every corner of his awareness.

’So, this is visualization...’

Gazing at this ethereal sun, Lu Chao finally understood the true meaning of visualization.

He then carefully inspected his own state. Although there were no major changes, he could still sense a subtle difference.

While visualizing the sun, his consciousness seemed more resilient, as if all his scattered Spiritual Power had been gathered together, becoming more focused and potent.

It was as if he now had a certain resistance to spiritual attacks, allowing him to regain his senses more quickly.

’It’s only the very beginning, yet it already has such a profound effect.’

Lu Chao nodded. ’As expected of a cultivation method for Spiritual Power,’ he thought.

After all, he had only just reached the initial stage.

The crimson sun he visualized had form but no substance. It looked completely ethereal and required his constant concentration to maintain; it would silently collapse the moment his focus wavered.

To be considered successful and reach the first realm, [Crimson Fire], required other supplementary techniques.

Such as what he was doing right now.

This was the very reason he had come to the rooftop to train.

HUM!

Focusing his mind, he made an attempt, following the principles of the Observation Method.

His seated body remained motionless, but as he slowly circulated his Martial Arts Power, the sunlight washing over him no longer just passed by. Instead, it felt as though some kind of energy was being quietly left behind.

Focusing, Lu Chao could feel it.

Threads of warmth from the sunlight were being drawn in, gathering at the acupoint between his eyebrows. This was the key to practicing the [Fixed Star Observation Method].

After the initial breakthrough, one had to practice daily for a sufficient amount of time—drawing in the celestial light and using Martial Arts Power to guide the sun’s warmth to stimulate the acupoint between the brows.

This process also required special spiritual techniques to refine the warmth, thereby granting the visualized object in one’s mindscape a trace of true substance.

Lu Chao understood clearly that this could not be accomplished overnight.

It required patient, long-term accumulation to gradually induce a fundamental transformation in the visualized object within his mindscape.

Only when the visualized object in his mindscape truly solidified and existed perpetually could he be said to have truly mastered the first realm, [Crimson Fire].

By then, it would have no effect even if his mind was on other things, and he would constantly benefit from a passive resistance to spiritual attacks.

As the thought passed, Lu Chao refocused and looked inside his mindscape again.

Looking closely, he could see a faint change in the ethereal crimson sun. It was as if an invisible current was flowing into it, gradually deepening its red hue.

Time ticked by, second by second. Lu Chao remained seated on the rooftop, as steady as a silent reef, unshaken by the wind or the noise of the city below.

He remained this way for half an hour.

Then, a swelling sensation and a faint, stinging pain came from between his eyebrows.

Taking this as his cue, he promptly stopped his training.

"Hah!"

He exhaled a breath of stale air, which traveled a full meter before being scattered by the breeze.

A sharp glint flashed in Lu Chao’s eyes. Sensing the changes in his condition, he nodded to himself in satisfaction.

Drawing in the celestial light wasn’t most effective at high noon when the sun was blazing. Instead, it was a gradual process. One had to let their Spiritual Power and the acupoint between their brows slowly adapt to this tempering force, progressively increasing the duration and intensity of the sunlight.

Although he hadn’t experienced a massive breakthrough from this single session of training, he could still feel his spiritual reserves become fuller, achieving a state of complete and vibrant vitality.

’This is only the beginning.’

’I wonder when I’ll be able to reach the first realm, [Crimson Fire].’

A flicker of anticipation in his eyes, Lu Chao turned and headed back inside.

It was just a little past seven in the morning; he had been up for a while.

"Damn, you’ve been grinding way too hard lately."