After silently entering, Ji Yuan immediately released his divine sense, enveloping the entire manor.
The actions of dozens of people within it were as if they appeared before his eyes, and not even the slightest change in expression could escape this meticulous observation.
In an instant, he discovered the cultivation sect occupying this manor.
There were a total of fifteen cultivators, with only one in the second realm, the rest being in the first realm.
A sect of this strength did not even have its own mountain peak. They usually found a place in a county town as their sect's base, or built a courtyard in the wilderness.
However, in most cases, such small sects preferred the former, as early stages of cultivation were inseparable from the necessities of life.
Moreover, the resources required for cultivation did not fall from the sky; cultivators needed to find ways to earn them or trade with others.
At this moment, none of these dozen or so cultivators were cultivating with focus. Instead, they were indulging in various pleasures.
The household slaves and maidservants of the manor's original owner had all been kept, along with a sum of wealth that was considerable even for cultivators, enough for them to indulge freely.
Ji Yuan casually swept his divine sense over them and then gently shook his head, about to turn and leave.
Such cultivators, indulging in pleasure and unrestrained desires, gave him no desire to act.
It was better to leave them for now, to let Zhao Yuebai and others practice on them later, making the best use of them.
However, suddenly, his expression shifted slightly, and he retracted his step.
Under the shroud of his divine sense, a place resembling a woodshed suddenly appeared before his eyes.
After a moment of contemplation, Ji Yuan blurred, his figure disappearing from his original position. When he reappeared, he was already in a woodshed within the manor.
In this small courtyard, a girl no more than thirteen or fourteen years old was chopping wood, her face covered in dust.
Her small palms were already covered in thick calluses, and her thin body was clad in a simple coarse cloth, shivering slightly in the cold of the approaching winter.
Yet, despite the courtyard and room full of dry firewood, the girl dared not light a brazier to warm herself.
It wasn't fear of a fire, but simply that she dared not. If the steward discovered it, a beating would be the least of it, and she might also be punished by having no food for the day.
Ji Yuan watched the girl before him in silence. Under his divine sense, he could naturally tell that her actual age was fourteen.
However, perhaps due to long-term lack of food, her physique was as thin as that of an eleven or twelve-year-old.
What concerned Ji Yuan the most was a faint, almost imperceptible trace of Dao charm emanating from the girl.
This trace of Dao charm was likely only detectable by divine sense from a peak second-realm or even a third-realm cultivator.
Without removing his concealment spell, he quietly watched the girl chopping wood, his gaze constantly appraising her.
Let alone an ordinary mortal, even a cultivator in the late stages of the Spirit Guiding realm would not possess Dao charm.
Unless a cultivator had comprehended a Dao principle in advance and thereby successfully entered the peak of the Spirit Guiding realm or even the Dao Comprehension realm, they would not possess Dao charm.
For example, Ji Yuan himself only began to cultivate Dao charm after comprehending the Way of the Sword and breaking through to the peak of the Spirit Guiding realm with it.
Yet, the girl before him was indeed an ordinary person. Not only did she possess no cultivation, but her physique was also much weaker than that of ordinary children.
Even so, there was only one possibility left...
"Innate Dao Body?"
Ji Yuan murmured to himself, though his voice was audible only to him.
The so-called Innate Dao Body referred to a person born with a trace of Dao charm, their talent and potential determined by the strength of the Dao charm they possessed.
But even the weakest Dao charm ensured a future achievement of at least the third realm. Those who were born with powerful Dao charm could even cultivate to the Golden Core realm with a single trace, encountering no bottlenecks.
Such a constitution naturally coexisted with the Dao from birth. From the womb, their soul and physical body were nourished by Dao charm. Once they began cultivating, their progress would be extremely rapid, encountering no bottlenecks before a certain stage.
"However, it seems to have a defect..."
After observing for a moment, Ji Yuan discovered that the girl's Innate Dao Body appeared to have a serious flaw.
He soon understood that it was likely due to insufficient nutrition in the womb, preventing this innate Dao charm from being perfected.
And in the more than ten years since her birth, for various reasons, the girl's physique had been in a state of extreme weakness. Not only could it not provide a strong physical body to nurture the Dao charm, but it also required her to overdraw her own strength to reciprocate.
It was precisely because of this that only an extremely faint trace of this Dao charm remained, and it was showing signs of collapse, causing it to emanate its aura before its owner had even begun cultivating.
Otherwise, before an Innate Dao Body began cultivating, it would be difficult for outsiders to detect the innate Dao charm within, unless a cultivator at the peak of the third realm or higher intervened.
At this moment, Ji Yuan evidently felt a sense of cherishing talent. A girl with an Innate Dao Body, even with inherent defects.
However, as long as she could be supplied with sufficient medicinal pills in the future and continuously nourished by spiritual materials to fill the congenital deficiencies, even if the damage could not be fully repaired, it could be restored to seventy to eighty percent.
With this, given time, she would at least be able to achieve the third realm, and even possess formidable combat power among those in the same realm.
However, Ji Yuan did not act immediately. After all, this manor was covered by a formation. If an ordinary person disappeared out of thin air, the cultivators here would surely notice.
With a slight carelessness, it could arouse the suspicion of the rebels, leading to many unpredictable variables.
If this resulted in more casualties, it would truly be a sin.
After thinking for a moment, he divided a powerful stream of divine sense, quietly attaching it to the girl.
However, it did not merge into her body, but silently attached itself to a string of wooden beads on her wrist.
Then, Ji Yuan quietly withdrew and returned to a temporarily hidden courtyard.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, slowly closed his eyes, and connected to the divine sense attached to the string of wooden beads.
In an instant, he seemed to return to the manor, and with the perception of his divine sense, it was as if he was once again beside the girl.
Then Ji Yuan observed the girl's life for the greater part of the day. Of course, for some more private portions, he immediately withdrew all his divine sense, not daring to pry in the slightest.
And as the day progressed, his sympathy for the girl grew stronger. Even after witnessing tens of thousands of refugees, he could not help but sigh for her.