The disturbance in the Void-Concealing Pouch allowed Li Wuyang, on the verge of "bursting," to barely focus his mind.
With great difficulty, he sent his divine sense into the pouch.
Inside its spatial storage, the fragment of Luo Hou's God-Slaying Spear that he had obtained from the Witch Clan tribe, which had remained quiet all this time, was now trembling faintly and releasing wisps of extremely subtle black baleful qi. And that baleful qi seemed to be... devouring the excessively dense spiritual qi around it?
Although it devoured it very slowly, it truly caused the concentration of spiritual qi within the pouch's space to drop slightly.
At the same time, the jade slip he had snatched, which recorded the Innate One Qi Art, was also emitting a faint glow, seemingly resonating somehow with the dense spiritual qi outside.
"Devouring spiritual qi? A cultivation art?" Inspiration suddenly struck Li Wuyang!
His current problem was that his body, this "container," was too small to hold and transform so much spiritual qi. If he could expand the "container," or consume and divert the excess spiritual qi, wouldn't that solve it?
This God-Slaying Spear fragment could devour spiritual qi. Though it was slow, and its baleful qi was dangerous, perhaps it could serve as an emergency measure?
More importantly, there was the Innate One Qi Art! It sounded like a cultivation technique! With a technique, couldn't he actively guide and refine the spiritual qi for his own use, thereby solving the "container" problem?
He immediately tried to guide that wisp of baleful qi first. Carefully, he attached a thread of divine sense to it and attempted to draw it out of the pouch.
The process was exceedingly dangerous. That baleful qi was filled with an intent of slaughter and destruction; the slightest mistake could cause it to backlash. Fortunately, the Great Dao Imprint protected him. Purple radiance flowed around it, firmly suppressing the baleful qi's savagery, allowing him to barely succeed.
A tiny wisp of black baleful qi drifted from the Void-Concealing Pouch. As though alive, it began greedily devouring the spiritual qi around it. Within several yards of Li Wuyang, the spiritual qi concentration visibly dropped by a little!
The pressure on him immediately eased. Though he still felt terrible, at least he would not burst apart at once.
"It worked!" Li Wuyang was invigorated.
He did not dare use too much of the baleful qi, afraid of setting himself on fire, and immediately recalled it into the pouch. The urgent matter was learning the technique in the jade slip!
He took out the ancient jade slip, pressed it to his forehead, and focused with all his might.
His divine sense sank in.
Boom!
A vast amount of information flooded into his mind!
The Innate One Qi Art! It was not some earth-shattering divine manual, but rather the most basic and fundamental Great Dao method, directly pointing toward refining essence into qi and drawing qi into the body! It emphasized comprehending the one qi of heaven and earth, absorbing the innate source, consolidating one's foundation, nurturing one's origin, and laying a solid Dao foundation.
This technique was upright and peaceful, proceeding step by step. It was perfectly suited to Li Wuyang's current situation: "shallow foundations," yet "standing atop a treasure mountain"!
He immediately followed the technique's instructions, sitting with his five centers facing heaven as he attempted to sense and guide the chaotic, congested spiritual qi within his body.
At first, he had no idea where to begin. Spiritual qi ran wild inside him like untamed horses.
But the Great Dao Imprint rested within his sea of consciousness, giving him an understanding of "Dao" and "qi" far beyond that of ordinary people. Moreover, he was in a place of dense spiritual qi, and the external pressure became motivation as well.
Gradually, he caught a faint sense of qi! Following the circulation route described in the Innate One Qi Art, he tried guiding that thread of spiritual qi slowly through specific meridians.
It was a slow and painful process, like dredging a clogged river channel. Every circulation brought swelling pain through his meridians.
But he gritted his teeth and persisted.
After an unknown amount of time, when that thread of spiritual qi painstakingly completed one full circulation and entered his dantian, which had originally been completely empty, an indescribable sense of relief washed over him!
Though he had refined only an insignificant trace of spiritual qi, the congested, swollen pain he had felt before was noticeably reduced!
It was effective!
Overjoyed, Li Wuyang completely immersed himself in cultivation.
He was like a parched sponge suddenly thrown into the ocean, crazily absorbing and refining the Innate Spiritual Qi around him.
Huaihuai, Little Fire, and Yingying quietly guarded him nearby. Huaihuai and Little Fire also instinctively began absorbing spiritual qi to heal and cultivate, while Yingying happily absorbed the plant essence that benefited her.
Days passed.
The spiritual qi within Li Wuyang's body was continuously refined. A thread of pure Innate True Qi in his dantian gradually grew stronger, spontaneously nourishing and widening his meridians while strengthening his fleshly body.
His cultivation rose at a terrifying speed!
Drawing qi into the body... Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation... Spirit Refinement and Void Return...
Had other cultivators seen this, their jaws would have dropped! Such cultivation speed was simply unheard of!
Of course, this was also thanks to the latent aptitude of his Primordial Dao Body, the assistance of the Great Dao Imprint, and the terrifying spiritual qi concentration at the foot of Buzhou Mountain.
When Li Wuyang opened his eyes again, he felt utterly refreshed and at ease. Every movement brimmed with strength, while his sight and hearing had become extraordinarily sharp. He could even inspect the dantian within himself, where a lump of pure, condensed Innate True Qi the size of a pigeon egg rested!
"So this is... the peak of Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation?" Li Wuyang felt the changes within himself and found them hard to believe.
According to the Innate One Qi Art, after Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation came Spirit Refinement and Void Return, followed by Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal... Was he advancing like a rocket?
He tried breathing. The dense spiritual qi that had once suffocated him now entered his body. Though it still felt abundant, it no longer gave him the sensation of bursting apart. Instead, it was like sweet rain, automatically absorbed and refined by his body.
"Ha ha! Sure enough, knowledge is power! With the right approach, the spiritual qi of this primordial world is a supreme tonic!" In high spirits, Li Wuyang stood up and stretched, his joints cracking loudly.
He glanced at Huaihuai and Little Fire, who were still cultivating—or resting. Their auras had also grown much stronger, and Little Fire's injuries appeared to be more than half healed.
"Not bad, not bad! A disaster turned into a blessing!" Li Wuyang was very satisfied.
He took out the map and confirmed the direction once more. After crossing this plain, he would reach a place marked on the map called Myriad Spirits Market, said to be a neutral ground where cultivators of the surrounding races traded and exchanged knowledge.
"A market? It sounds like a beginner village!" Li Wuyang's eyes lit up. "Perfect. I can go see the customs of this primordial world, and while I'm at it... see whether I can pick up some treasures or gather some information."
He decided that his next stop would be Myriad Spirits Market!
(End of Chapter Ten)
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