One of the Transmission Hall elders gasped, "Heart force!"

"Only a martial artist who can sense the heart force can make the Heart Monument tremble," another said, his voice filled with disbelief.

A third elder slowly approached the monument. "Quick, let's go and see. The heart force being sensed means a true inheritor scion has appeared."

As the elders made their way through the crowd, Lu Changsheng stood in front of the monument with a puzzled look. The surrounding disciples craned their necks, trying to see his score, but the monument's blazing light made it nearly impossible to read his heart scale.

The light gradually faded, and the Heart Monument eventually stilled. The number on its surface finally came into view, and low murmurs spread through the crowd as each disciple tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

"F-Forty-eight?"

"Am I seeing things? Is it really forty-eight?"

"Last time Lu Changsheng tested at the Heart Monument, his heart force was only thirty-three. That was just over a month ago. And now it's forty-eight?"

"Increasing the heart force by fifteen in a single month is no small feat. What has Lu Changsheng been doing?"

"At this rate, it's only a matter of time before he hits one hundred."

Disciples stared at Lu Changsheng with open astonishment, astonishment edged with envy. Any inner disciple understood just how difficult it was to raise heart force. Increasing the heart force by just a few marks in a year was already considered decent progress, and some cultivators could go several years without any increase at all. Those people had no hope of ever opening their Mind Space, but Lu Changsheng was different. At this rate, he had a strong chance of opening the Mind Space and advancing to the Divine Treasury Realm.

As the crowd chattered, Lu Changsheng was busy calculating. I've perfected the Starry Sky Domain and increased the heart scale by fifteen. Now, I still have the Waterfall Domain, Wave Domain, and Storm Domain. If bringing them to Perfection granted me an increase of fifteen each, then my heart scale would become ninety-three in total.

A heart scale of ninety-three was an incredible accomplishment, and most would leap for joy at that number, but Lu Changsheng frowned instead. He would still be seven marks short of one hundred.

Wait... His eyes suddenly lit up. The Sense Domain! I also have the Sense Domain, and if I can bring that to Perfection, I think my heart scale would reach one hundred!

The Sense Domain could not condense divine fortification, but that limitation had nothing to do with heart force. If it could still contribute to his heart scale, then reaching one hundred was no longer out of reach.

Now somewhat reassured, Lu Changsheng turned to leave, but he had hardly taken a few steps when an elder from the Task Hall stepped in his way.

The elder looked him up and down and said in a low voice, "Inner sect scion disciple Lu Changsheng, were you the one who just tested your heart force at the monument?"

Lu Changsheng nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"Good. Come with me." The Task Hall elder turned without waiting for a response and led him into a room inside the Task Hall.

Once the door was behind them, Lu Changsheng asked politely, "May I ask what this is about?"

An elder of the Task Hall was no ordinary figure, and only martial artists in the Divine Treasury Realm were qualified to hold such a position. Clearly, Lu Changsheng had not been brought here for something trivial.

The elder stopped and looked straight at him. "Did you sense heart force?"

Lu Changsheng paused for a moment, then met the elder's gaze. This was not something he had to hide, so he answered plainly, "Yes. I sensed heart force while contemplating my Domains and bringing one of them to Perfection."

At that, the elder's eyes widened. "Wait. You've achieved Perfection of a Domain?"

His reaction caught Lu Changsheng off guard. He frowned slightly, confused by the elder's astonishment. "Yes. I only sensed heart force after perfecting my Domain. Is there another way?"

The Task Hall elder took a deep breath. He had always known Lu Changsheng was talented, but not to this extent. To achieve Perfection of a Domain through pure contemplation and then use that to forcefully sense heart force was simply beyond what most people could achieve. In fact, reaching Domain Perfection was even more astounding than sensing heart force itself.

"Wow... You're really..." The elder did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had only come to confirm whether Lu Changsheng had sensed the heart force, and now he realized he had stumbled onto something far more astonishing.

As a Divine Treasury martial artist, the elder knew how difficult achieving Perfection of a Domain was. For Lu Changsheng to achieve it while still in the Divine Fortification Realm made it all the more unbelievable. Even among Divine Treasury Realm experts who had already opened their Mind Space and used it to contemplate Domains, reaching Perfection demanded immense time and effort, and success was never guaranteed. And yet, Lu Changsheng had already accomplished it.

The elder was sure that once Lu Changsheng accessed the Mind Space, he would instantly rank among the outstanding figures of the Divine Treasury realm. In his eyes, Lu Changsheng was a true inheritor scion in every sense.

The elder regained his composure and continued, "Lu Changsheng, perhaps you do not understand heart force fully. For most martial artists, the heart scale must climb to a certain level first, above seventy or so, before heart force can gradually be sensed. Only those with exceptional innate talent can sense heart force at a much lower level. As for perfecting a Domain, there are even Divine Treasury martial artists who can't contemplate their Domain to Perfection."

Lu Changsheng lowered his head and fell silent as the elder's words sank in. There were many who could eventually sense heart force, but those who could bring a Domain to Perfection were exceedingly rare. In other words, what he had achieved was far more difficult than simply sensing heart force.

Although Lu Changhsheng had unwittingly exposed his power to some extent, he did not feel particularly troubled. This was not something he could have kept hidden for long anyway. The moment he used his Domain, others would see it for themselves.

Moreover, in the Northern Region Heavenly Sect, where everything had to be fought for, the more talent he displayed, the more the sect would invest in him. From the treatment he had already received as a scion disciple, it was clear how highly the sect valued true geniuses.

Lu Changsheng lifted his gaze. "Elder, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"I mean to say, you can now be promoted to true inheritor scion!"

"True inheritor scion?" Lu Changsheng repeated, clearly puzzled.

He had been in the Northern Region Heavenly Sect for quite some time now, and having consistently used his Sense Domain to probe his surroundings, he was definitely not short on information. Even so, this was the first time he had ever heard of such a title.

"On the surface, the sect does not speak of true inheritor scions, but you can think of them as the most outstanding among the inner sect's scion disciples," the elder explained. "They are disciples with exceptional innate talent in heart force. They have a strong probability of reaching one hundred on the heart scale, opening their Mind Space, and advancing to the Divine Treasury Realm. Such disciples are known as true inheritor scions."

Lu Changsheng nodded, though he was still unclear about something. "If true inheritor scions are part of the inner sect, then disciples should have heard of them. But why does no one ever mention them?"

"The reason is simple." The elder's tone remained calm. "Once someone becomes a true inheritor scion, they almost always leave the sect."

"Leave? Like, they go down the mountain?"

"You could put it that way. Any inner disciple who can sense heart force has the potential to advance to true inheritor scion, meaning they have genuine hope of advancing to become a true inheritor. For such disciples, remaining at the sect's base actually hinders further growth. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Aside from Dao Comprehension Pills, the base offers little to help them improve, and even those pills lose their potency the more you take them. You've taken Dao Comprehension Pills yourself, so you'll know what I mean. After a certain point, the effects become minimal."

Lu Changsheng remained silent. The truth was, he had not experienced that at all. Every Dao Comprehension Pill he had taken had worked rather well. Regardless, there was no point in mentioning this.

Mistaking Lu Changheng's silence for agreement, the elder continued. "The difficulty of increasing heart force is also tied to the lack of spirit energy in the Northern Region. Although martial artists do not rely on spirit energy for cultivation, it still benefits us, especially when it comes to raising heart force.

"A place rich in spirit energy gives rise to spirit treasures that can directly enhance the heart force, and more importantly, the heart itself also grows more active in such an environment, better able to sense the spirit energy of heaven and earth. This greatly aids the tempering and refinement of the heart.

"In the past, the Northern Region had abundant spirit energy, so much so that it was once dominated by Immortal Masters. As you know, Immortal Masters cultivate by absorbing the spirit energy of heaven and earth, and in that era the Immortal Dao ruled over all, while the Martial Dao was far less prominent.

"But over time, the spirit energy between heaven and earth weakened, and not just here in the north. The same decline spread across the south, east, west, and central regions alike. As a result, the Immortal Masters' cultivation faltered. Some could not progress at all, while the more fortunate ones still advanced at a painfully slow pace.

"Now, only the immortal sects in the Central Region still maintain their legacy. Elsewhere, they have all but disappeared. The Immortal Masters you see in the jianghu today are, in truth, quite pitiful. Even with spirit root talent, most remain below the third layer of qi refinement. Breaking into the fourth layer is uncommon, and being powerful enough to join an immortal sect is even rarer."