A First Glimpse of the Way

The muscles on Hao Sansi's face twitched. He raised a hand to wipe the wine from his face and said bitterly, "You little brat, what are you doing?"

"My throat hurt, and I couldn't hold it in. The injuries from last time probably haven't fully healed, and I can't stand the smell of cooking fumes. I'll head back first, Master, please forgive me!" With that, he darted back to his room like a wisp of smoke. Yue Qianchou patted his chest. His master was nearly two hundred years old—who would have thought even he would start singing along? Though what he had just done was unintentional, it had still been a grave disrespect.

"Master is a good man!" Thinking of how Hao Sansi had cared for him lately and had never excessively thrown his weight around as a master, Yue Qianchou could not help sighing. Instead, his own foul reputation had dragged Hao Sansi down. He sat cross-legged on the bed and continued his futile efforts.

"Eh... what's this?" Yue Qianchou, who had entered a state of emptiness, abruptly opened his eyes. His lips trembled as he forced out two words: "Spiritual Qi!" Unable to believe it, he closed his eyes again. It really was Spiritual Qi! The substance contained in the air that made one feel refreshed and clear-headed drifted about like countless joyful little sprites.

Yue Qianchou was trembling with excitement. It had been almost a year. The dull, flavorless meditation every day, the endless mockery and scornful looks—had they truly not mattered? He had persisted through it all, firmly believing that he would succeed someday.

Happiness had come too suddenly. He did not dare think any further and steadied his emotions, casting aside all stray thoughts. The Xuantian Art, familiar beyond familiarity, began to circulate. Air was drawn in and exhaled; since he could sense the Spiritual Qi he absorbed, he could retain it as well. It slowly entered his eight extraordinary meridians and circulated stiffly through them. His entire body was like a precision machine. After the scattered Spiritual Qi circulated several times, it transformed into an unbroken stream of True Qi, pouring into his dantian like rivers flowing into the sea.

He absorbed Spiritual Qi with increasing smoothness, guiding it through his body in an orderly fashion under the Xuantian Art. His dantian, which had originally been shriveled into a small lump, swelled like a balloon as Spiritual Qi poured into it. Yue Qianchou immediately felt warmth spread through his whole body, so comfortable that he let out a faint moan.

Compared to the mundane world, Qingguang Mountain's Spiritual Qi was naturally as different as heaven and earth. Otherwise, cultivators would never have coveted it and claimed it for themselves. Yet filling one's dantian in a single breath was not something that could be achieved in a short time. Immersed in bliss, Yue Qianchou lost all sense of time and focused wholeheartedly on absorbing Spiritual Qi. In the blink of an eye, two days passed, and he remained utterly unaware.

His disciple had not come out to eat for two days. Could it be because he had sprayed wine all over him and was frightened? Hao Sansi was faintly worried. Those who truly did not need food were cultivators who had reached the Core Formation stage and could abstain from grain. If an ordinary person went several days without eating, it could cost them their life.

"Am I really such a petty master?" Hao Sansi had let his thoughts run wild and felt somewhat displeased. He decided to counsel his disciple. He went over and pushed open the door without a word. Yue Qianchou was sitting cross-legged on the bed, a smile on his face and a luminous sheen on his forehead. He did not look like someone who had gone two days without food at all; his spirits were excellent.

"The... the Xuantian Art is... is absorbing Spiritual Qi!" Hao Sansi's mouth instantly fell open wide enough to stuff in a fist, his face filled with shock and disbelief. Trembling, he extended a hand and released a stream of white True Qi from his palm. The white True Qi spiraled as it drifted into Yue Qianchou's nose and mouth.

There was no need to think further. His disciple had already entered the gateway of the Xuantian Art. Tears streamed down Hao Sansi's aged face. Had Heaven truly opened its eyes at last? When he had accepted Yue Qianchou at the Qingguang Grand Hall, it had merely been because he feared Sect Master Brother would be unable to save face. He had not wanted to embarrass his senior brother, so he had simply gone with the flow and done him a favor. Otherwise, no one would have accepted a disciple utterly devoid of cultivation aptitude.

Accepting such a disciple was the same as not accepting one. Qingguang Sect had stood in the Cultivation World for thousands of years, and this sort of thing had happened more than once or twice. Which elder in the sect did not want their descendants to live to a hundred? But what did entering Qingguang Sect amount to? They all achieved nothing, dying despondently before reaching a hundred years of age. The lessons of those before them stood vivid before their eyes: for those without cultivation aptitude who wished to cultivate, the uncrossable chasm lay right there.

At first, Hao Sansi had not cared much. He had treated Yue Qianchou as no more than a disciple for odd jobs. But as time passed, Yue Qianchou's tireless diligence and unwavering perseverance moved him. He had also deeply felt the unwillingness and bitterness in his disciple's heart. But what could he do? He had no way at all to help. He could only treat Yue Qianchou a little better, hoping his disciple could spend these few decades of life happily.

Was it truly that Heaven rewarded diligence? Hao Sansi silently wiped the tears from his face. Seeing the smile on his disciple's face, he felt greatly comforted. He then went out and left the door ajar before sitting cross-legged outside it. He would guard his disciple. This was the crucial moment of entering the path, and he absolutely could not be disturbed.

As the saying went, the sea embraced a hundred rivers; because it had tolerance, it became great! When cultivators first entered the path, it was the critical moment to inflate and shape the dantian. The more Spiritual Qi the dantian could absorb in its early stages, the greater its capacity would be, and that represented a higher future in cultivation. At such a moment, how could Hao Sansi dare be the slightest bit careless?

Cultivation in the Cultivation World was divided into five ranks: Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Tribulation Transcendence. Generally speaking, if one could not inflate the dantian for more than two days, it would likely be difficult to even reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in the future. More than two days meant Foundation Establishment was possible; more than three, Core Formation was possible; more than four, Nascent Soul was possible; more than five, Tribulation Transcendence was possible. Though they were only possibilities, other causes of failure could not be ruled out. Still, this estimation was basically accurate in the Cultivation World.

When Hao Sansi had first entered the path, he had inflated his dantian for more than four days. He had now reached the Nascent Soul Early Stage. His disciple had already been inflating his dantian for more than two days, so reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm should not be a problem.

After Yue Qianchou had sat on the bed for two days, he felt that his dantian had already swelled into a round ball. The speed at which he absorbed Spiritual Qi also seemed to have slowed. He wanted to use more Spiritual Qi to blow this balloon a little bigger, but his heart was willing while his strength fell short. He had read about inflating the dantian in the Xuantian Art manual and understood it well enough, but he had reached his limit. Just as he was about to finish his cultivation, he suddenly felt something moving around inside his chest. It seemed drawn by the True Qi in his dantian and slid toward it.

When that thing burrowed into his dantian, something was forcibly squeezed into the already small space, making it feel as though it would tear apart. Yue Qianchou instantly broke out in sweat from the pain, yet he could neither cry out nor make a sound. His mind boomed, and an image appeared within it. Amid a hazy whiteness, a golden sphere floated there and slowly began to turn. Yue Qianchou instantly understood. Was this not the golden pearl the white fox had given him that day?

Feeling the pain from when his dantian had just been invaded, he could not help staring blankly. Could the scene in his mind be the inside of his dantian? The golden pearl spun, driving the white True Qi within his dantian into strands of white silk before drawing them into itself.

"Damn it!" Yue Qianchou was horrified. The golden pearl had almost completely sucked away the True Qi in his dantian, while the dantian that had only just been inflated and had not yet taken shape was slowly collapsing. If this continued, all his earlier efforts would have been in vain. He wanted the golden pearl to stop, but it simply would not obey his control.

"Damn your grandmother! A whole year of bitter effort, and I'm back to square one in a flash." Yue Qianchou hurriedly circulated the Xuantian Art. An endless stream of Spiritual Qi was drawn in, transformed into True Qi, and poured into his dantian.

Though the golden pearl looked small, it was like a bottomless pit. It absorbed however much True Qi he gave it. Yue Qianchou had no idea what it was, so he decided to stake his life against it. If he did not seize this chance to prop up his dantian before it took shape, then he could forget about ever attaining a high cultivation level in this lifetime. He pushed the Xuantian Art to its utmost limit and desperately absorbed Spiritual Qi while the golden pearl sucked with all its might. Man and pearl were locked in a deadlock.

The third day passed. Hao Sansi had never expected his trash disciple to possess a bit of talent after all. He released True Qi again, and Yue Qianchou swiftly absorbed it. Knowing that his disciple was still inflating his dantian, he continued faithfully standing guard.

The fourth day passed, and True Qi was still being absorbed. Hao Sansi was somewhat astonished.

The fifth day passed. Hao Sansi trembled faintly with excitement. What did this mean? It meant his useless disciple might have the potential to reach the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Not just in Qingguang Sect—even in the entire Cultivation World, how many people possessed such talent? He no longer dared meditate. He stood guard at his disciple's door, vigilantly watching the surroundings.

The sixth day passed. Sweat appeared on Hao Sansi's forehead. How could this be possible...

The seventh day passed. Hao Sansi began to feel uneasy. Could his disciple have encountered some problem in cultivation? The moment he cautiously released True Qi from his palm to probe, it vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, shooting straight into his disciple's nose and mouth. Hao Sansi wiped the sweat from his forehead. How could a disciple who had only just entered the path possibly store Spiritual Qi at such a rate in his dantian?