Chapter 342 Meditation
After about half an hour, Ethan realized he could move again, even though he was still super weak.
"Don't rush it, just sit tight," Francis said firmly after finishing the healing.
"Just sit here?" Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Remember you wanted to know about 'dividing consciousness'? Now's your chance," Francis replied with a smile.
"Chance? You mean meditate now?" Ethan was confused.
"Yep, I already told you how. It's up to you now. I'm off to prep some medicine for Jesse," Francis said, placing the Sun and Moon Beads next to Ethan before leaving.
"Thank goodness Asura Bloodhand didn't take you," Ethan muttered, enduring the pain as he pocketed the beads and thought about Francis's advice.
No matter how much he thought, Ethan couldn't figure it out. So, he decided to give it a try.
Before meditating, Ethan wanted to let Chloe and Sarah know he was okay. But when he pulled out his phone, it was smashed to pieces.
Luckily, he had told Sarah he was heading up the mountain, so they shouldn't be too worried. If they needed him, they'd come to Emerald Valley.
Feeling more at ease, Ethan started meditating as Francis had instructed.
It was a long process, and Ethan didn't expect to reach a state of complete self-forgetfulness.
Actually the pain forced him to focus entirely, which helped reduce it—a kind of instinctive reaction.
When he opened his eyes, he saw familiar faces in front of him.
Besides Francis, Chloe and Sarah were there too.
But Jesse, who should've been next to him, was gone!
"How's Jesse?" Ethan asked Francis anxiously.
"Don't worry. Jesse was taken back by folks from Celestia Vale. You might see him again," Francis said calmly.
"He just left like that?" Ethan sighed in relief, thinking the Celestia Vale people were pretty efficient.
"Ethan, are we invisible?" Sarah asked, clearly annoyed.
"I just didn't get a chance to ask. How long have you been here?" Ethan asked with a forced smile.
"You've got some nerve! You said you were going up the mountain but didn't mention staying so long. We couldn't even reach you! If Francis hadn't told us, we would've thought you were dead!" Sarah scolded, but her eyes were full of concern.
"Don't you know how long you've been sitting here?" Chloe asked, frowning.
"Have I been sitting that long?" Ethan looked at Francis, puzzled.
"It's been a full seven days and nights," Francis said with a smile.
"Seven days?" Ethan was stunned. He couldn't believe it!
He didn't expect to have meditated for seven days. That was a long time!
"What did you think? We couldn't reach you the next day, so we came up the mountain to find you. We've been checking on you every day. Luckily, you woke up today. If you hadn't, we would've woken you up even if Francis tried to stop us!" Sarah pouted.
"Francis, what's going on?" Ethan asked, staring at him.
"Why don't you ask yourself? Or feel your current state? Have you understood what 'dividing consciousness' is in these seven days?" Francis replied.
"State? Wait, my injuries are all healed!" Ethan realized he felt no pain and his super energy was back. He felt reborn and jumped up excitedly.
"My super energy is back. I've really recovered! Wait." Ethan suddenly noticed something was off.
"Francis, why can't I feel the Sea of Energy?" Ethan asked, wide-eyed.
"Why do you need to feel it?" Francis asked back.
"If there's no Sea of Energy, where does the super energy in my body come from?" Ethan asked instinctively.
"Feel it more carefully," Francis said, shaking his head.
Ethan focused on his body and discovered that although the Sea of Energy had disappeared, there were two round beads in his body.
"How did the Sun and Moon Beads get into my body?" Ethan blurted out, shocked.
"And?" Francis prompted.
"And, wait, how can I see the inside of my body?" Ethan was amazed to find he could clearly see inside his body. This vision wasn't with his eyes or the usual way of sensing with super energy. It was a real image in his mind through some consciousness!
"Haven't you always wanted to understand 'dividing consciousness'? Don't you know you already have divine consciousness?" Francis rolled his eyes at Ethan.
"Divine consciousness? This is divine consciousness?" Ethan suddenly understood, feeling it was incredible!
"The Sea of Energy has disappeared, but you have developed a Sea of Consciousness. Do you know what this means?" Francis asked.
"I feel stronger than before. Am I already a Half-Step Grandmaster?" Ethan felt the surging energy in his body and was overjoyed.
"That's right, divine consciousness is one of the essential conditions for reaching the Grandmaster level. That's why you couldn't progress before. Only when your strength reaches a certain level can everything fall into place," Francis nodded with a smile.