Lu Qinghe returned to his courtyard and fell into a deep, heavy sleep. He did not stir until the next day, when Wang Shan’s anxious voice jolted him awake.
He had barely stepped out of the courtyard before Wang Shan seized his arm and dragged him forward at a run.
“You really can sleep! Senior Brother Liu Hong is about to teach us cultivation methods-miss this and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Only then did Lu Qinghe remember. Senior Brother Liu Hong had said yesterday that he would teach them to read and explain the path of cultivation.
Lu Qinghe felt a flush of embarrassment. It was simply that he hadn’t rested properly in so long. The moment his guard dropped, he’d nearly slept through the most important event of his life.
By the time the two arrived at the Dao hall, dozens of children were already seated and waiting.
Wang Shan and Lu Qinghe found an open spot and squeezed in.
More children trickled in steadily until the entire hall was packed.
Before long, Liu Hong appeared in white robes and took his seat on the meditation cushion at the front.
Liu Hong spoke: “The Taixuan Sect was founded three thousand years ago. Today it has thousands of disciples, thirty-two Foundation Establishment True Persons, and three Golden Core Ancestors presiding over it.
It is one of the three great immortal sects of Zhao Kingdom. A single word from the sect can determine the fate of hundreds of millions.”
“You are Menial Disciples of the Taixuan Sect. You may obtain the first three layers of a Qi Condensation technique. These have been placed on the jade slips atop the stone tables in your courtyards.”
“Now I will explain the first realm of cultivation-the Qi Condensation realm.”
Every child focused with desperate intensity, afraid to miss a single word. This was the key to whether they could become immortals.
“Qi Condensation: Drawing Qi into the Body, opening the acupoints, tempering flesh and soul.”
“All cultivators must possess Spiritual Roots. Only Spiritual Roots can harmonize with the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. Without them, cultivation is impossible.
Likewise, the better one’s Spiritual Root, the faster one cultivates. A single Spiritual Root, for example, has the highest affinity with the world’s Spiritual Qi and can complete Drawing Qi into Body with ease. This is called a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
Next are dual Spiritual Roots. Because two elements share the body, Spiritual Qi affinity is halved, and cultivation speed is only half that of a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
Then triple Spiritual Roots-half the speed of dual roots. Quadruple roots halve it again. Five Spiritual Roots follow the same principle.”
Lu Qinghe’s heart went cold. By that logic, Five Spiritual Roots were half the speed of quadruple, a quarter of triple, an eighth of dual.
Compared to a Heavenly Spiritual Root-a sixteen-fold gap.
Every face in the hall turned grim. None of them had imagined the chasm between themselves and those blessed with superior roots could be so vast.
Most of those seated here possessed quadruple Spiritual Roots. A handful, like Lu Qinghe, had Five.
Liu Hong read their expressions and guessed their thoughts well enough. “There’s no need for despair. Spiritual Roots are only one factor in cultivation speed.
Cultivation follows the principle of ‘Wealth, Companions, Method, Land.’ Spirit Stones and Pills, for instance, can accelerate your progress.
Once you complete Drawing Qi into Body, you may accept sect assignments to earn cultivation resources and quicken your pace.”
“Good. Now I will teach you how to complete Drawing Qi into Body.”
Liu Hong began explaining the essentials. Every child listened with rapt attention.
Over the following half year, Liu Hong appeared punctually each day to teach them reading and writing, and to impart cultivation methods.
In the blink of an eye, eight months passed.
Lu Qinghe sat upright on his meditation cushion. The jade slip on the stone table recorded the first three layers of the Cloud Clearing Qi Refinement Art.
To obtain the later layers, one had to reach the third layer of Qi Condensation and become an Outer Sect Disciple.
Eight months. Lu Qinghe had studied those three layers until he knew them inside and out-every character committed to memory, forwards and backwards.
He had grasped the method within his first month in the sect and begun cultivating immediately. Yet after eight months, he still had not completed Drawing Qi into Body. He was one step short.
As early as three months ago, some Menial Disciples had succeeded and departed. Even Wang Shan had broken through a month prior and left for Artifact Refining Peak.
Now only a scattered few remained.
Lu Qinghe finally understood what Senior Brother Bai had meant. Cultivation was difficult-as difficult as ascending to heaven. For someone with Five Spiritual Roots, every single step was a climb toward the sky. Reaching mid-stage Qi Condensation in this lifetime would be a miracle.
Worse, Menial Disciples received nothing from the sect. Cultivation relied entirely on oneself. Outer Sect Disciples, by contrast, received Spirit Stones each month and Pills to aid their progress.
He had heard that Shi Rou from Stone Village completed Drawing Qi into Body in a single month, reached the first layer of Qi Condensation, and was already preparing to break through to the second layer.
Lu Qinghe steadied his mind. He believed that diligence could make up for poor talent. If others cultivated four shichen a day, he would cultivate eight.
He could feel it-Drawing Qi into Body was within reach. These next few days would decide it. Lu Qinghe continued circulating the technique, drawing the ambient Spiritual Qi toward himself, driving it against the sealed acupoint of his Dantian.
Persistence bore fruit. Three more days passed, and a crisp sound rang from deep within his body. The Dantian acupoint, battered by the ceaseless flow of heaven and earth’s Spiritual Qi, finally broke open.
One full cycle. A single thread of Spiritual Qi flowed into Lu Qinghe’s Dantian.
He nearly wept. Nine months of grinding, thankless effort-and at last, Return.
Streams of dark filth seeped from his pores. The Spiritual Qi was tempering his flesh and soul, purging impurities.
Lu Qinghe ignored the stench clinging to his body and turned his attention inward, examining his Dantian.
With Qi Condensation achieved, he could now extend his Divine Sense to inspect his own condition.
He sent his awareness inward. It was as though a new pair of eyes had opened inside his body, revealing the interior of his Dantian.
A faint wisp of Spiritual Qi drifted there, already dissipating. Lu Qinghe knew this was normal. At the first layer of Qi Condensation, one could draw Qi in but not yet condense it.
To store Spiritual Qi within the Dantian, he would need to reach the second layer.
Just as Lu Qinghe moved to withdraw his Divine Sense, he noticed something-a faint point of light hovering within his Dantian. He extended his awareness toward it. The instant his Divine Sense touched the light-
Vertigo seized him.
When Lu Qinghe’s senses returned, he was standing in an unfamiliar space.
A square of black earth, roughly one mu across. Nothing else. No sky, no walls he could discern-only dark, rich soil stretching to its borders.
“What is this place?” Lu Qinghe shouted, his voice cracking with panic. “Is anyone here?”
Only silence answered.
He searched frantically, circling the space again and again. No exit. No seam, no door, no passage out. He was trapped.
Despair crashed over him. He had only just succeeded in Drawing Qi into Body-and now this. Was he going to die here, sealed inside some unknown space with no way out?
“Calm down. Calm down!”
Lu Qinghe forced the panic down. He had weathered cruelty and cold indifference since childhood. His mind was harder than any boy his age had a right to possess.
He retraced his steps. He had completed Drawing Qi into Body. He had used Divine Sense to examine his Dantian. He had seen a faint point of light-and then appeared here without warning.
“The light point. It has to be connected to the light point in my Dantian.”
Lu Qinghe dropped to the ground and sat cross-legged. He sent his Divine Sense inward once more, searching the empty hollow of his Dantian. There-the faint point of light, still flickering.
His Divine Sense brushed against it.
He opened his eyes. He was back in his room, seated on the meditation cushion, exactly as before.