Chapter 6: Drawing Qi into the Body (Please bookmark and follow)

Shao Heng understood immediately; the refreshing sensation she felt in the air was the concentration of heaven and earth spiritual energy rising.

She raised an eyebrow. At the very least, it seemed her ability to sense spiritual energy wasn't low?

Shao Heng’s gaze swept over the group, and she suddenly noticed that the jade tablet in Jiang Yunjiang’s hand was noticeably thicker than those held by the other eight, herself included.

"A perk of superior aptitude?"

Shao Heng certainly wanted to tell the elders directly that her aptitude wasn't as simple as it seemed.

But at this moment, she lacked detailed knowledge, had no clue where to start, and certainly had no clear, effective evidence.

Even if she were to be tested on the Origin Mirror again, she couldn't guarantee the result would be any different.

If nothing changed, she would likely be seen by these elders as someone throwing a tantrum out of unwillingness to accept reality, which would only be detrimental to her future.

Elder Zhao Tang gave a few more instructions and then said no more.

After all, the nine people present were no longer children; why should she waste her breath on information already contained within the jade tablets?

The three elders turned and left. A male disciple in yellow robes stepped forward and said to them, "Choose a cabin on the second level below the deck of the Cloud-Breaking Ship. In each room, you will find 'Bigu' pills; taking one will allow you to go three days without food."

After Jiang Yunjiang and the others thanked him, they headed toward the deck ladder to go to the second level.

It was now night. The red sun had vanished, and even the crescent moon was hidden behind clouds, leaving the surroundings dim.

They had not yet begun their cultivation, so they naturally needed a normal sleep schedule to ensure they remained energetic.

As Lu Shaojing walked over, he happened to pass close to Shao Heng. The corners of his lips curled up, and he immediately quickened his pace, then, as if he had walked too fast and lost control of his body, he lunged toward Shao Heng.

Although he was young, he was massive, already seven feet tall.

Had he made solid contact, Shao Heng would surely have been knocked to the ground and injured.

She reacted with lightning speed, employing footwork far more ingenious than Lu Shaojing’s, and then, as if by accident, she extended a foot and tripped him, sending him sprawling to the floor.

Shao Heng then said nonchalantly, "I only wanted to curse someone today, so I’ll spare you."

Lu Shaojing let out a low cry of pain, muttering foul language.

Several sect disciples still standing on the deck made no move to intervene.

Cultivators possessed extraordinary senses; even at night, they could see as clearly as in broad daylight. They all saw that Lu Shaojing had been the one to provoke the situation, and his current state was merely his own doing.

Shao Heng couldn't be bothered to waste any more effort on him. Seeing that the yellow-robed disciples ignored the scene, who cared about Lu Shaojing’s vulgarities?

She walked quickly to the deck ladder, went to the second level, chose a room, and shut the door tightly behind her.

The room was not spacious, simply furnished with a small bed and a set of table and chairs.

However, it did have a small window; sitting on the bed and looking out, one could see the clouds rushing past, which was quite interesting.

Shao Heng sat upright on the wooden chair and noticed a white porcelain bottle on the table.

She picked it up and shook it, identifying by the sound that there were three pills inside.

She poured one out; it looked no larger than a soybean and was brownish-tan in color.

"This tiny pill can keep me from eating or drinking for three days. Is this the stuff of cultivators?"

Shao Heng swallowed the Bigu pill and pressed the jade slip to her forehead. Streams of information poured into her mind.

Unlike her previous quick glance, she read carefully this time, firmly memorizing every word. It took her about a quarter of an hour to sort through all the information.

"The five great domains of East, West, South, North, and Center... I originally thought the vast Great Yan Dynasty was everything, but it is actually just a remote, spiritual-energy-poor corner of the Eastern Domain, called the Kunfan Domain by the human immortal sects of the East."

Her eyes were bright, unable to hide her excitement.

This jade tablet contained not only regional information but also many key points on cultivation.

"The cultivation systems of various races differ today, but they are all categorized into nine realms. The first three are Qi Refinement, Profound Connection, and Purple Mansion. For us humans, these correspond to opening up the three Dantians: the Qi Sea, the Jiang Palace, and the Niwan. Once these three Dantians circulate endlessly, one is reborn, casting the foundation of an immortal, and ascends to the fourth realm, 'Rebirth'."

"The first realm, Qi Refinement, requires drawing in heaven and earth spiritual energy to open the Qi Sea, planting the 'Yellow Sprout,' and condensing the first furnace of mana. This is what Elder Zhao called 'drawing qi into the body'."

Shao Heng set the jade tablet aside, her right index finger tapping rhythmically on the table as she thought quietly.

She recalled the ancient book she had read before, *Miscellaneous Talks on the Green Jade Dao*, which recorded: "Cultivation is the gathering of spirit into the body, using the body as a furnace to forge creation."

On that page, there was a note written by an unknown hand: "Once spiritual energy is refined and condensed by a cultivator, it becomes mana, measured in 'furnaces'."

The information in the jade tablet was even more detailed. The first realm, Qi Refinement, was the accumulation of mana. Drawing qi into the body and condensing the first furnace of mana would cast the Yellow Sprout.

The first, three-hundredth, six-hundredth, and nine-hundredth furnaces were the thresholds for the early, middle, late, and perfection stages of Qi Refinement, respectively.

Once a cultivator possessed nine hundred furnaces of mana, they had the foundation to attempt the next great realm, 'Profound Connection.'

With one thousand furnaces of mana as the upper limit, the more mana one possessed before breaking through, the more solid the foundation would be after ascending.

This jade tablet was produced by the Zhenyi Yuan Sect. Such a major sect had compiled information on its disciples over the past thousand years to provide a rough reference.

With the sect's annual stipend, those with inferior aptitude would need about sixty years to have a chance at reaching the late stage of Qi Refinement, while medium aptitude could shorten this to thirty years, and superior aptitude would take about three years.

"Inferior versus superior, sixty to three—that’s a twenty-fold difference in cultivation speed."

Shao Heng frowned, trying to factor in more variables.

"Disciples with medium and superior aptitude can enter the inner sect directly, gaining more resources and opportunities. But according to the jade tablet, those with strong aptitude have wider meridians, and combined with superior cultivation techniques, they require more spiritual energy at the same level... I wonder if these two points cancel each other out?"

She pondered for a while, but because she had just stepped into a brand-new world of cultivation and lacked sufficient common knowledge, she couldn't figure it out and set the thought aside.

Shao Heng rose from the chair and sat cross-legged on the bed.

Recalling the key points of Qi Refinement from the jade tablet, she sat with her five hearts facing the sky, trying to recite the mantra while emptying her mind.

"Quiet and void, sensing the wonders of the spirit; the source of all laws in heaven and earth..."

Shao Heng had always been able to understand obscure scriptures and classics without a teacher, showing she had excellent comprehension. Her silent recitation of the mantra was by no means ineffective; after only a moment, she truly tasted its wonders.

She closed her eyes, but she could clearly feel various colored light spots floating around her, mixing into clusters, shimmering and beautiful.

White, cyan, black, red, yellow.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth.

Except for rare, desolate places, heaven and earth spiritual energy might be imbalanced, but it always contained all five elements, suitable for any cultivator to breathe in.

However, cultivators would choose to absorb spiritual energy selectively based on their own aptitude, foundation, and the requirements of their cultivation techniques.

For example, a cultivator with an affinity for water practicing a soft, yin-based technique would find it difficult to cultivate in a place like a volcanic crater where fire-type spiritual energy was far higher than the other four. After absorbing fire-type energy, they would need to rely on the circulation of their technique to convert it into water-type mana through the mutual generation of the five elements before it could be used to increase their cultivation.

This undoubtedly required more time.

Shao Heng’s tested aptitude was not limited by the five elements, so she didn't need to worry too much for now; she could decide on a focus based on the techniques she would practice later.

Just as she had the thought, those clusters of spiritual energy light rushed toward her rapidly, like birds returning to the forest.