The class bell rang, and it was already around 5 o’clock.
Li Shangyan went with his three good brothers to a small restaurant near the south gate of the school for a little get-together.
Naturally, they rode in Li Shangyan’s big Range Rover.
“Damn! Riding with the boss is still the best. This is a real man’s ride!”
Fan Yi was in the passenger seat. As he ran his hand over the interior, he said enviously,
Zheng Yuan said, “As the saying goes, if you don’t work hard when you’re young, you’ll grow up driving a Xiali. If you can endure the hardest hardships, you’ll grow up driving a Range Rover.”
“The boss didn’t even endure the hardest hardships, and he’s already driving a Range Rover!”
Li Shangyan laughed and cursed, “How do you know I haven’t suffered? But don’t be jealous either. Work with me for a year or two, and everyone will have a Range Rover!”
The reason Li Shangyan treated them so well was partly out of brotherhood.
When he was at his lowest, it was these good brothers who stayed by his side.
On the other hand, there was also a feeling of repaying a kindness.
A few days ago, if it hadn’t been for his heartbreak and the guys dragging him out for drinks, he wouldn’t have had the chance to soul-travel.
Although Li Shangyan still didn’t know the reason for his mixed transmigration, at least it had something to do with drinking.
“Boss, really?” Xie Junlei was also willing to call Li Shangyan boss.
“Haha! How about calling me adoptive father?” Li Shangyan said with a wicked smile.
“Get lost…”
“Damn it, trying to take advantage again…”
“It’s not impossible, as long as I really get a big Range Rover…”
“Traitor!”
“Unfilial son!”
“Haha!”
The group joked and laughed for a while, thoroughly enjoying the carefree life of college.
Especially when money was no longer a worry.
However, after the meal, Li Shangyan did not return to the dormitory with them.
His reason was that there were still things to handle, and he needed to prepare in advance for his sworn brothers’ future careers.
As for the real reason, naturally there were some things they still could not see.
Although they were brothers, they were not close enough to share every secret.
Arriving again at the presidential suite of the Four Seasons Hotel, Li Shangyan took out a piece of jade of ordinary quality.
If this jade were placed in the Cultivation world, it should be roughly the level of a low-grade Spirit Stone.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, constantly recalling the cultivation essentials of the Qi Refining Art.
The Qi Refining Art was the most basic cultivation technique of the Xuan Yuan Sect, yet it was also one of the easiest techniques to guide someone onto the path of cultivation.
Li Shangyan wanted to try whether he could cultivate in the Blue Star world today!
He hadn’t tried in the past few days because he was not yet familiar with the way of cultivation and was afraid of going astray and suffering Qi deviation.
But today, with Ye Ziyuan’s guidance and the time he had spent studying the Qi Refining Art, he already had some confidence.
Li Shangyan sat with his eyes closed and legs crossed, using his mind to continuously sense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
However, after a long time, Li Shangyan had gained nothing.
But he did not get discouraged.
His body was now merely mortal flesh, with not a trace of spiritual energy inside, so he still could not absorb spiritual energy from the Spirit Stone.
As he continuously adjusted his breathing, he gradually entered a state of emptiness.
Li Shangyan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Each breath seemed to be engaged in some subtle exchange with the surrounding air.
He realized that although the spiritual energy on Blue Star was so thin it was almost negligible, that did not mean cultivation was impossible.
After all, the path of cultivation was inherently defying heaven. If he could not even overcome such a small difficulty, how would he step onto the great path of cultivation in the future and achieve supreme Immortality?
In his mind, he once again recalled the subtle techniques Ye Ziyuan had taught him for guiding spiritual energy, as well as the detailed explanations in the Qi Refining Art about sensing and absorbing spiritual energy.
He began trying to perceive his surroundings in a more delicate and sensitive way, as if every pore on his body were opening, greedily capturing the faint fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air.
Time passed second by second. Inside the Four Seasons Hotel presidential suite, it was so quiet that only Li Shangyan’s steady breathing could be heard.
Suddenly, he felt an unusual coolness seeping from the jade in his hand, slowly flowing into his body through his palm.
Although this strength was so faint it could almost be ignored, Li Shangyan clearly felt its presence. It was an unprecedented freshness and vitality.
“I succeeded!”
Li Shangyan rejoiced inwardly, knowing that he had taken the first step in cultivation: sensing spiritual energy and guiding it into his body.
Although it was only a tiny wisp of spiritual energy, it was a breakthrough of great significance to him.
He continued maintaining his current state, carefully guiding this weak spiritual energy to circulate within his body.
Following the guidance of the Qi Refining Art, he attempted to gather the spiritual energy in his dantian, the core place where cultivators store spiritual energy.
However, this process was far more difficult than he had imagined. The spiritual energy was like a group of mischievous sprites, wandering unpredictably through his meridians, sometimes gathering, sometimes scattering, difficult to tame.
Li Shangyan did not give up. With his indomitable will, he adjusted his breathing again and again, guiding the spiritual energy along the predetermined path.
Each failure gave him a deeper understanding of the way of cultivation; each attempt brought him one step closer to success.
He did not know how long had passed, but when the first wisp of spiritual energy finally stabilized and gathered in his dantian, Li Shangyan felt his entire body shake, and an unprecedented sense of comfort surged through him.
He slowly opened his eyes, which shone with barely concealed joy and excitement.
Although this was only a small breakthrough, for him it was a huge leap on the path of cultivation.
He suddenly stood up, feeling the faint spiritual energy fluctuations within his body!
He had finally succeeded!
All things are difficult at the start. Once he successfully took the first step, the rest would be a snowball effect.
Li Shangyan sat cross-legged again with his eyes closed, emptying his mind and body while carefully absorbing the spiritual energy from the jade.
At the same time, he focused on sensing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
However, Li Shangyan discovered that the space between heaven and earth was like a murky pool.
What he sensed was all turbid qi, and he never found the kind of spiritual energy that would clear his mind and spirit.
He tried for a long time, but gained nothing.
“Strange, does this world not have spiritual energy?”
“That shouldn’t be right. Otherwise, the jade wouldn’t contain spiritual energy.”
“Maybe it’s because the location is wrong? Or maybe the timing is wrong?”
“As the saying goes, heaven and earth resonate, yin and yang unite, and all things are born!”
“Next time, I’ll try on a mountaintop at dawn.”
After thinking it over, he gave up on the idea of absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth and instead focused on absorbing the spiritual energy in the jade.
As cultivation progressed, the spiritual energy in his body gradually changed from a faint current into a noticeable warm flow.
He had already reached the 1st layer of Qi Refining, though he had only just barely entered this stage.
As the spiritual energy in his body continued to increase, streams of filthy mud and grime actually began to emerge from the surface of his skin.
It was as if he had not bathed for a long time and had suddenly scrubbed himself clean.
Li Shangyan hurried to the bathroom and spent a full half hour before finally washing the filth off his body.
In the past, a man would only need 5 minutes to shower.
After showering, he felt his body gradually becoming lighter, with a refreshed and clear feeling.
It felt somewhat like that Sage Time feeling!
Suddenly, Li Shangyan’s heart stirred. He snapped his fingers, and a faint flame ignited on his hand.
This was a spell he cast according to the Fireball Technique recorded in the Blazing Fire Art.
He did not summon a fireball, only a little flame.
That flame did not cause him the slightest pain; instead, it gave him a warm feeling.
“Does this mean I’ve become an esper? Haha, but I’m still too weak right now. I can only light a cigarette.”
After playing with the fire excitedly for a while, Li Shangyan once again entered a state of seclusion cultivation.
At the same time, his consciousness also left this place and headed for the Cultivation world.