Chapter 10: Qi Refining

Pill Island, cave dwelling.

Fang Qing sat cross-legged, gazing at the several brand-new books placed before him.

One of them was clearly Water Scripture Annotations, containing everything from the first layer of “Drawing Spiritual Energy into the Body,” all the way to the ninth layer of Qi Refining at great perfection, and even sections on how to establish the foundation.

After lending out the original copy, he had first sworn that it would not be transmitted further, then painstakingly copied it stroke by stroke himself in the Heavenly Book Pavilion.

“Rumor had it that after Foundation Establishment, one’s divine sense could leave the body, and any technique could be recorded in jade slips—one sweep and it would be memorized, without all this trouble…”

Fang Qing shook his head and turned his gaze to the other medicinal and alchemical texts.

Comprehensive Guide to Spiritual Medicines, Flying Waterfall Alchemical Canon…

These had also been recommended by Zeng Shu and were basic texts for water-method alchemy.

Fang Qing planned to memorize them first and familiarize himself with the medicinal properties before anything else.

As for alchemy? Naturally, that had to be placed further down the list.

“The most urgent matter is still entering cultivation. Otherwise, even going out is inconvenient—I can’t use artifacts… I’d still have to take boats like a mortal.”

Fang Qing opened Water Scripture Annotations to the first page and saw a diagram of the human meridians.

“My body belongs to the Ancient Shu world. Hopefully there won’t be any problems.”

He committed it to memory in silence, then looked toward the incantations that followed.

The first step in cultivating immortality was “meditative contemplation and sitting in oblivion.” Through entering a meditative state while seated, one drew in a strand of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

If that strand of spiritual energy could be completely absorbed into the body, circulate through the meridians and acupoints, and finally return to the dantian to become magical power, then the process of “Drawing Spiritual Energy into the Body” was complete, and one became a Qi Refining first-layer cultivator.

Of course, it sounded simple, but doing it was extremely difficult.

Just memorizing that meridian diagram alone took Fang Qing quite some effort.

As for the many specialized terms in the incantations, they made his head ache. He had no choice but to return to the Heavenly Book Pavilion to borrow many medical texts and Daoist classics, and on the first and fifteenth of each month attend public lectures, shamelessly asking senior brothers and sisters for guidance. Only after more than a month did he finally manage to fully comprehend the first-layer incantations.

…

“Alas… compared to me, disciples born into Foundation Establishment immortal clans or Qi Refining families truly have the advantage in this regard. They start far ahead.”

Fang Qing sat cross-legged, looking at the contribution points on his disciple token with deep emotion.

New disciples were customarily given a one-year adaptation period upon entering the sect, but daily expenses—and even asking questions—were impossible without spending contribution points.

By now, things were already getting a bit tight.

“I need to hurry and cultivate my way into the Dao. Once I become a Qi Refining cultivator, I can go to Ten Thousand Treasures Island to take missions, earn contribution points, and then exchange them for spirit stones, spiritual medicines, and other cultivation resources…”

Outside the cave dwelling, moonlight flowed like water.

On a bright yellow meditation cushion, Fang Qing sat cross-legged, silently circulating the incantations for sensing spiritual energy.

Ever since he had confirmed that he fully grasped the first-layer incantations of Water Scripture Annotations, he had meditated cross-legged every day, attempting to sense the spiritual energy in the void. He had already vaguely grasped it, and yesterday he had almost completed the final step, but his emotions had surged too much, causing all his efforts to fail at the last moment.

“Today, I will definitely succeed!”

Holding onto that belief, Fang Qing entered the state of sitting in oblivion, selfless and selfless.

Just as all distinctions between self and world vanished, he sensed strands of coolness within the void.

Following the incantations, that coolness poured into his body through the acupoint between his brows, traveled down the great dragon of the spine, and coursed through his limbs and bones.

Immediately afterward, it was as though his breathing shifted from mouth and nose to innate embryonic respiration. The pores all over his body opened at once, greedily inhaling and exhaling spiritual energy.

Boom!

Large amounts of spiritual energy circulated within his body. After several great circulations, they finally rushed into a mysterious place within his abdomen.

“The dantian opens, magical power is born!”

“Drawing Spiritual Energy into the Body—success!”

Feeling the strand of icy-cool black-water magical power within his dantian, Fang Qing opened his eyes.

“This…”

In an instant, he discovered that it was as if his nearsighted eyes had been fitted with glasses—the entire world had become much clearer.

Not only that, with a slight twitch of his ears, he could hear the faint rustling of small insects crawling several zhang away.

“A cultivator’s keen ears and sharp eyes… indeed completely different from martial training, more like… human evolution?”

“I can now be considered a Qi Refining first-layer cultivator.”

“Next, it’s just a matter of continuously accumulating magical power. Once the first layer reaches perfection, I can attempt to break through to the second layer of Qi Refining…”

“The reason the first-layer incantations took a month to comprehend was because I had no foundation. Now that everything is filled in, relying on my own comprehension and occasionally seeking advice from senior brothers and sisters, fully mastering Water Scripture Annotations shouldn’t be a problem…”

“And with magical power, I can cultivate spells and refine artifacts… truly stepping beyond the mundane.”

Fang Qing let out a satisfied sigh.

If this were the Ancient Shu world, who knew how long he would have wasted away? Unlike here, where he was almost escorted all the way through. He could not help but sigh at how simple and honest the local customs were.

However, although he already possessed a Green Leaf Boat artifact, and the final section of Water Scripture Annotations also appended several Qi Refining–stage spells, this was not what Fang Qing was most concerned about.

“The Dao-Birth Bead!”

With a thought, the Dao-Birth Bead spun swiftly. Within his dantian, that strand of black-water magical power instantly dissipated, transforming into the purest “Primordial Qi.”

“Hmm? In terms of conversion efficiency and quality, it’s far higher than the power I cultivated through ten years of Red Sand Hand! As expected—magical power really is more advanced than brute force?”

Fang Qing circulated it slightly, converting all the magical power into Red Sand Hand internal strength.

In an instant, his palms shifted from white to red, then from red back to white, cycling seven times. Faint, indescribable force gradually formed.

“External release of true force… the innate martial expert that has almost vanished from the secular martial world?”

Fang Qing lightly struck out with a palm. The force shot outward, crossing three chi through the air and striking the stone wall of the seclusion chamber, causing stone dust to fall in簌簌.

“And this was achieved with Red Sand Hand, a third-rate martial art found everywhere… an innate martial Dao?”

“Unfortunately, to cultivators, innate martial artists are nothing more than slightly larger ants… a single spell is enough to deal with them.”

He circulated the Dao-Birth Bead once more, converting all his internal strength back into the black-water magical power of Water Scripture Annotations, yet felt that his magical power increased by only a negligible trace.

“Roughly equivalent to several days of meditation… and that was ten years of Red Sand Hand power!”

“As expected, in the world of cultivation, martial arts truly have no future.”

“At least… the martial Dao I’ve come into contact with is completely crushed.”

…

Several days later, Pill Island.

Before the cave dwelling, Fang Qing was visibly excited as he took out a green leaf–shaped artifact from his robe.

This was the standard-issue artifact given to disciples by the Azure Sea Sect—the Green Leaf Boat, capable only of slow flight, considered a low-grade first-tier artifact.

He had spent an entire night and finally succeeded in refining this artifact.

“Rise!”

Fang Qing formed seals with both hands. The green leaf continuously expanded, eventually transforming into a flat boat half a zhang long and several chi wide, suspended in midair.

He leapt onto the Green Leaf Boat in a single bound and began unsteadily attempting to fly.

At first, Fang Qing’s flight path was extremely chaotic. Several times he nearly fell off, though fortunately he wasn’t flying too high.

“This feeling of free flight is truly different from riding an airplane or being carried by someone else.”

As he gradually became familiar with it, the Green Leaf Boat’s speed continuously increased, and he began to play with various maneuvers.

Flying forward, backward, diagonally, upside down…

Occasionally, with a sudden burst of speed, he would plunge into the clouds and emerge from the other side.

“Haha… riding the wind like this is truly exhilarating. It’s just a pity my magical power is running low.”

Feeling the thin magical power within his dantian, Fang Qing shook his head, fixed his direction, and descended onto Ten Thousand Treasures Island.

The highest-cultivation elder on this island, Elder of Ten Thousand Treasures, had already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment. The Administrative Hall under his control was a place that Azure Sea Sect disciples simply could not avoid.

The Administrative Hall stood on the largest flat ground of Ten Thousand Treasures Island—a towering and majestic ancient bronze hall with eight doors, each of which currently saw large numbers of disciples entering and exiting.

As Fang Qing walked inside, he was immediately drawn in by the lively scene.

Many Azure Sea Sect disciples even set up stalls directly along the roadside, trading with spirit stones or bartering goods.

On the bronze plaza, more than ten massive bronze pillars rose into the sky, with all kinds of runes flashing with radiant light.

【Herb Garden No. 17, Lakeside Wilderness Area. Recruiting one spiritual planter. Requires mastery of Minor Cloud and Rain Technique. Compensation: three hundred contribution points per year.】

【Long-term recruitment of spiritual farmers. Compensation: one hundred contribution points per year.】

【Wanted Notice: the Three Fiends of Sea Madness, late-stage Qi Refining or Qi Refining at perfection. One head rewarded with one thousand contribution points…】

【Long-term purchase of Azure Dragon Carp. Generous rewards…】

…

With a single glance, Fang Qing saw all kinds of missions and bounties.

Some were issued by the sect, others privately posted by elders or disciples, leaving one dazzled by the variety.

“Guarding and bounty missions… require combat. I’m still a small fry and can’t handle those.”

“I can only look at production and construction tasks first… but the pay for spiritual farming is way too low, isn’t it?”

Fang Qing turned to the alchemy-related tasks. The rewards were generous, but unfortunately, he didn’t know a single alchemical method.

After searching for a while, he barely found a somewhat related one:

【Mission: Refine three hundred bundles of ‘Azure Spirit Silk.’ Mission reward: two hundred contribution points if the employer provides raw materials;

five hundred contribution points if self-provided…】

Reading further, Fang Qing learned that this “Azure Spirit Silk” needed to be refined from a spiritual plant called “Heavenly Azure Hemp,” washed and processed in cold springs.

Its texture was tough yet flexible, light and breathable—an excellent material for refining inner armor and gauze-type artifacts.

And the best cold springs of the Azure Sea Sect were all located on Pill Island. As a Pill Island disciple, he could still take advantage of them.

“This should be a benefit specifically reserved for Pill Island disciples, right?”

“Then what’s there to hesitate about? I’ll take it.”

Fang Qing immediately took out his disciple token to accept the mission, then collected several bundles of Heavenly Azure Hemp and carried them all the way back to his cave dwelling.

Because he hadn’t anticipated needing to bring back raw materials on the return trip, the Green Leaf Boat ended up overloaded. His magical power nearly failed midway, and he almost plunged straight into the lake…