As for the *Changchun Neijing Gong* (Eternal Spring Inner Landscape Technique), it was a basic cultivation method of the Yellow rank.
According to the *Xuanyou Jianwenlu* (Records of Mysterious Netherworld Encounters),
Cultivation techniques are divided into four ranks: Yellow, Mysterious, Earth, and Heaven, based on their power, potential, and upper limit.
As for the cloth bag and the jade slip, he had already touched them seven or eight times.
The cloth bag felt soft to the touch; based on the description in the *Xuanyou Jianwenlu*, he guessed it might be a storage bag.
The jade slip was as cold as ice.
But he hadn't even reached the Qi Refining stage yet; he had no divine sense or magical power, so he couldn't open the storage bag, and he couldn't see the contents of the jade slip.
Qingchen guessed it might be a transmission jade slip.
These jade slips usually recorded precious cultivation methods or secret techniques, treasures coveted by cultivators.
Qingchen wrapped both inside his clothes, keeping them close to his skin; even if he didn't need them for the time being, they were the closest things he had to his path to immortality.
Not much time had passed when he sneaked back down the mountain through the secret passage.
The shouts of the vanguard still echoed in the direction of Beiman Mountain.
He didn't dare linger, taking a roundabout route back to camp, hiding his belongings in his personal bundle before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
.......
Three months later, the air in Tianjin still carried the stench of blood.
The battle at Beiman Mountain had claimed three thousand lives. The bandits' heads were piled up outside the city gates, forming a mound half a person's height.
Blackened by sun and rain, they were swarming with flies.
Eagle Master's head, in particular, was hung on an iron hook in the most conspicuous place on the city wall, the rope brittle from the sun.
Qing Chen, dressed in the blue robes of a seventh-rank official, stood at the west gate, holding a wooden road pass in his hand, but paying no attention to the passersby.
This official position was secured for him by Li Muyun, the city lord's son-in-law, who claimed that Qingchen had "commanded effectively, beheading several bandit leaders" in Beiman Mountain, thus achieving great merit.
Thus, he rose from a centurion in the cannon fodder army to the position of Assistant Commander of the West Gate.
But only Qingchen himself knew that his "merits" were entirely fabricated.
This was undoubtedly a rare opportunity for him.
However, Qingchen was indifferent to this; he had higher ambitions.
Back home, Qingchen closed the door, tossed his official robe onto a chair, and went straight to the inner room.
The room was sparsely furnished, except for a worn-out futon in the corner, its edges faded, and the window paper yellowed from the oil lamp.
He sat cross-legged, pulled out the *Changchun Neijing Gong* (Eternal Spring Inner Landscape Technique) from under his pillow, opened to a familiar page, and began to practice the hand seals within the manual;
—He had practiced this posture for three months.
This cultivation technique belongs to the wood element, emphasizing the perception of spiritual energy in the world.
Then, one guides this spiritual energy into the body, transforming it for one's own use.
According to the technique, a mid-grade spiritual root can sense spiritual energy within twenty days.
A high-grade spiritual root only needs ten days.
An earth-grade spiritual root is guaranteed to be formed within three days.
The legendary heaven-grade spiritual root, according to the *Xuanyou Jianwenlu*, was achieved by the fastest person in just one hour.
But what about him? For three whole months, he meditated day and night, and apart from numb legs and a sore back, he hadn't even touched a trace of spiritual energy.
He even suspected the spirit-testing stone was fake, examining it countless times, but the stone remained dark.
Only when he pressed it would it emit a slight yellow light—clearly the appearance of a mid-grade spiritual root.
"What's going on? Is the spiritual energy on Juexian Island so thin that even a mid-grade spiritual root can't absorb it?"
Qingchen cursed and slammed the book down on his lap.
A pile of Daoist scriptures lay on the table, all borrowed from the Tianjin Library, some still stained with ink.
"I never thought a brothel ruffian like me would be reading Daoist texts."
Based on his understanding of the cultivation method, this one actually borrowed the Daoist concept of the Small Heavenly Circuit.
It emphasized guiding spiritual energy into the dantian, connecting and circulating it through the Ren and Du meridians in a continuous cycle.
This maintained the yin-yang balance of the body, achieving the effects of self-cultivation, longevity, and health preservation.
During cultivation, the practitioner might experience various internal phenomena.
Such as seeing different colors of light, hearing strange sounds, and feeling subtle changes in the body.
These phenomena are actually direct reflections of the circulation of spiritual energy and the unobstructed flow of meridians within the body, and are important signs of the practitioner's gradual progress towards success.
This cultivation method, as a Yellow-grade method, is actually relatively simple to learn.
After thoroughly studying the Daoist Canon for three months, Qingchen had gained considerable insight into how to cultivate the techniques.
He knew that the reason he hadn't been able to sense spiritual energy was likely due to the extremely harsh environment he was in.
Juexian Island was located in the Canglang Islands of the Gouwu Sea's Moon Sea region.
The Gouwu Sea was a vast and boundless sea, divided into the Sun, Moon, and Star regions.
The Sun and Moon regions, known as the inner sea, had been cultivated by human cultivators for tens of thousands of years.
Countless immortal islands, like stars, dotted this sea.
The Star region, however, was an even more mysterious outer sea.
This place served as both a buffer zone and a massive battlefield between human cultivators and sea monsters, and also as a virgin land rich in resources.
Cultivators had only been stationed here for less than a thousand years, yet it had already nurtured countless rare treasures and precious resources.
It was a treasure trove of cultivation lands that could be continuously explored, but countless cultivators had perished there.
Therefore, Qingchen had only one path: to find a way to leave Juexian Island, enter the Canglang Islands, and step into the true world of cultivation.
And the only way to leave was through the Ningxuan Sect's boarding token.
Every thirty years, the Golden Core sect would send a spirit ship to take those with spiritual roots; the token served as their ticket.
Just as he was pondering this, a knock came at the door, followed by Li Muyun's voice: "Brother Qing, open the door!"
Qingchen stuffed the book back under his pillow and got up to open the door.
Li Muyun, dressed in a brocade robe and carrying a wine pot, wore a hint of displeasure on his face:
"You seem quite content as a Sima (military officer). Since you took this position, why haven't you visited my residence more often?"
The two entered the house and sat down. Li Muyun poured himself a cup of wine, his eyes still showing displeasure: "What? Now that you're an official, you look down on me?"
Qingchen held his wine cup but didn't drink.
For the past three months, he had devoted himself entirely to cultivation, losing interest in worldly pleasures and social obligations.
But looking at Li Muyun's face, which reeked of alcohol, a thought suddenly popped into his head!
Li Muyun was the city lord's son-in-law, and the city lord wielded immense power; perhaps…
This thought had barely formed when Qingchen gripped his wine cup tightly.
He suppressed his eagerness, a hint of apology on his face: "Brother Li is too kind. There have been many matters in the western city lately; I've been busy with border inspections and haven't had a chance to visit."
Li Muyun snorted and took a sip of wine: "What could possibly happen in the West City? It's just those porters and cart drivers..."
As Qingchen listened to Li Muyun's rambling, a thought gradually became clear in his mind.