The next day broke.
Zhong Bai slowly opened his eyes in his sleep and tried to get up, but the moment he moved, a wave of soreness surged through his entire body.
As memories came flooding back, Zhong Bai could not help but wryly smile.
Drawing thunder into the body almost cost me half my life. As expected, lightning has never been something easily controlled since ancient times...
Taking a deep breath, Zhong Bai did not dwell on it. After lying down for a full two hours, he finally felt the soreness in his body ease somewhat.
Sitting cross-legged, Zhong Bai narrowed his eyes and instantly sensed the changes within his body.
After the purple lightning passed through his meridians, they had widened considerably, and the impurities in his body had been further purged.
Most importantly, the original thunder cloud in his dantian had transformed into a faint, flickering thunder seal—this was his seed of thunder magic.
In the future, with continuous cultivation and advancement, once the thunder seal completely transformed into a physical entity, he could summon heavenly thunder for his own use at any time.
Now that the thunder seal is formed, the next priority is to raise my own cultivation.
Let's set a small goal: reach the first level of Qi Refining within three months!
At this thought, a brilliant smile finally appeared on the corner of Zhong Bai's mouth.
In truth, possessing the thunder seal in his dantian meant he could already be considered at the first level of Qi Refining.
However, the thunderous power within the thunder seal could not support infinite extraction by Zhong Bai.
Therefore, he needed to use the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to form a cloud of spiritual qi beside the thunder seal in his dantian, supplying it with spiritual qi in an endless cycle. As his cultivation rose and the thunder seal was continuously nurtured, infinite possibilities would open up in the future.
Starlight dotted the sky. This was the second month after Zhong Bai drew thunder into his body.
For a full month, Zhong Bai repeated the same actions every day: absorbing the spiritual qi between heaven and earth and refining it into his dantian.
At this very moment, Zhong Bai was ecstatic. In his dantian, a cloud formed from converging spiritual qi was rolling incessantly, echoing the thunder seal as the spiritual cloud finally took complete form.
With a crisp snap, the meridians inside Zhong Bai felt as though a river had just rushed through them. The spiritual cloud formed, and he entered the first level of Qi Refining!
Narrowing his eyes, Zhong Bai was extremely excited. He had spent a whole month crossing the threshold of the cultivation world.
In the words of his master, True Immortal Qianyuan, only by entering the first level of Qi Refining could one advance to study in the various halls of Mount Mao.
In fact, the techniques Zhong Bai needed to minor in after breaking through to the first level of Qi Refining had already been decided—they were the talismanic formations in the Talisman Hall!
As one of the three talisman sects, Mount Mao's mastery over talismanic divine abilities had been at the top of the Taoist sects since ancient times. Saying they were first might sound a bit arrogant.
Yet if they claimed to be second, absolutely no one on Mount Mao would doubt it.
Mist gathers into clouds, making one a Qi Refining master.
Clouds gather into rain, making one a Foundation Establishment True Person.
Rain condenses into a pill, making one a Golden Core True Monarch.
The pill nourishes its soul, making one a Nascent Soul Dao Lord.
The soul nurtures its spirit, making one a Soul Transformation Ancestor.
The spirit merges with the body, making one an Integration Grandmaster.
The body passes the thunder tribulation, immortal bones are born, and one is honored as a human immortal!
Sigh, the road ahead is long and far, I shall search up and down. Fortunately, what Zhong seeks in this life is merely the two words 'Foundation Establishment.' As for longevity and the like, I will just treat them as flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water.
Having broken through to the first level of Qi Refining, Zhong Bai felt joy while truly understanding why the saying "hear the Dao in the morning, and die content in the evening" was such a truth.
He had only spent a month, yet for those true monarchs and dao lords who routinely went into secluded cultivation for decades, Zhong Bai could hardly imagine how such years were endured.
In the Law Enforcement Hall.
True Immortal Qianyuan slowly opened his previously narrowed eyes and casually glanced in Zhong Bai's direction. The divine sense of a Foundation Establishment peak powerhouse easily discerned everything.
"Is Senior Brother Qianyuan not going to take a look?"
Beside him, Liu Gang, the second elder of the Law Enforcement Hall who had fallen silent earlier, spoke slowly.
Regarding the disciple taken in by his own chief senior brother, Liu Gang had not actually been optimistic at first. After all, wanting to step into the Foundation Establishment realm in twenty years was somewhat too difficult.
However, Liu Gang had also not expected that whether as the master, Chief Senior Brother, or as the disciple, Zhong Bai, both could unhesitatingly place their bets on the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Art.
This kind of courage moved Liu Gang.
With his insight as a Foundation Establishment late stage cultivator, Zhong Bai might have been slightly flawed in talent, but in terms of temperament, his heart for seeking the Dao was exceptionally steadfast.
After weighing these complementary traits, Liu Gang began to view Zhong Bai seriously, and even took the initiative to pay attention to him.
Third Elder Cui Cheng had no interest in the conversation between his two senior brothers.
Well, it was easy to talk while standing on the sidelines; Cui Cheng's own talent was ordinary, and back then he had barely managed to enter Foundation Establishment right at the transition period.
No matter how hard he tried over the years, he still could not break through to the Foundation Establishment middle stage, and could only continuously accumulate and attempt breakthroughs at the early stage.
Simply put, he could barely look after himself, so how could he have time to care about Zhong Bai...
True Immortal Qianyuan shook his head.
"Second Junior Brother, regarding the disciple Zhong Bai, Senior Brother does not wish to lend a hand in everything. What we chose back then was the Lightning Thunder Fist. Even now that we have established our golden cores—wait, established our foundations, who can truly know the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Art?"
"Let him explore it himself."
The subtext was very simple: whether praising Zhong Bai upon seeing him or not, they no longer possessed the qualification to point fingers.
The so-called knowing when you know, rather than forcibly explaining and pointing the way, it was better to remain silent and quietly provide a safe escort.
"That is true. Chief Senior Brother has considered it thoroughly. Speaking of which, now that Zhong Bai has stepped into the threshold of the first level of Qi Refining, his next step is to head to the Talisman Hall to learn the talismanic formations of crafting talismans, right?"
"Last month, Lin Fengjiao, the personal disciple of the Talisman Hall's chief senior brother, seemingly advanced another level. If Zhong Bai builds a good relationship with Lin Fengjiao, the future..."
Before Liu Gang could finish, True Immortal Qianyuan's gaze turned stern.
"Junior Brother, watch your words!"
Uh... Liu Gang was startled, immediately realizing what he had almost said, and nodded awkwardly. He had almost blurted out what was on his mind.
Although saying it aloud was not a big deal, Mount Mao concealed goodness knows how many old freaks. If one of those old freaks hiding in the other halls heard it, it would inevitably invite suspicion of driving a wedge between the various halls.
Therefore, even knowing the outcome was thus, one could only be cautious in speech and action.
The Talisman Hall.
Lin Junmen, serving as the chief elder of the Talisman Hall, currently wore a smiling expression as he looked at the youth sitting cross-legged beside him.
"Fengjiao, you don't need to be so restrained. Master has said that our Talisman Hall does not have that many rules; your rigid, by-the-book manner really needs to change."
"Uncle-Grandmaster, Fengjiao understands!"
Lin Junmen, whose face had previously shown joy, instantly turned somewhat awkward. "Fengjiao, you should address me as Master within the grand hall, and Uncle-Grandmaster only inside the small courtyard."
"Yes, Master!"
That was right, the relationship between Lin Fengjiao and Talisman Hall Chief Elder Lin Junmen was deeply rooted.
Lin Fengjiao's grandfather was Lin Junmen's older brother. As time flowed on, the Lin family now only had Lin Fengjiao's single surviving branch left.
It was not to say Lin Junmen practiced favoritism or partiality toward Lin Fengjiao. When Lin Fengjiao first entered Mount Mao as a disciple, his talent was outstanding, and elders from other halls had also wanted to take him in.
However, in the end, the matter was dropped because of the existing relationship between Lin Junmen and Lin Fengjiao.
He had entered Mount Mao five years ago.
Lin Fengjiao had also grown from that sixteen-year-old boy into the righteous-looking youth before him now.
"Forget it, we won't dwell on this issue. In a few days, Zhong Bai, the personal disciple of Law Enforcement Hall Chief Elder True Immortal Qianyuan, will enter the Talisman Hall to learn the talismanic formations of crafting talismans."
"At that time, the two of you will be together."
"Master's only requirement is that you maintain a good relationship with Zhong Bai..."
"As for the reason, do not ask further!"
"This disciple obeys Master's command!"
Lin Fengjiao kowtowed to accept the order. Smart as he was, he already knew what the reason must be.
Yet just like what happened in the Law Enforcement Hall, everyone silently kept it hidden in their hearts...
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