Cultivation: Meditation

"Turns out the founding patriarch was actually a cultivator with Five-Element Spiritual Roots!"

"Five-Element Spiritual Roots may cultivate slowly, but if you master your spells, you'll be formidable in a fight!"

The crowd erupted in discussion. Those disciples with Five-Element Spiritual Roots in particular looked immensely encouraged.

Although cultivating with Five-Element Spiritual Roots was somewhat slower, with enough effort, there was still a sliver of hope for Foundation Establishment.

And after Foundation Establishment, they could be far stronger than cultivators of the same rank.

"However, before reaching Foundation Establishment, you Outer Sect Disciples would do best to spend more time raising your cultivation. After all, cultivation is the foundation of everything."

Gu Yuan'an said solemnly, "That concludes our discussion of spiritual qi. What comes next is the true focus: how to harmonize and absorb spiritual power..."

Before they knew it, the two-hour lesson had ended. After Gu Yuan'an finished teaching, he mounted his sword and departed.

Watching his receding figure, everyone felt they had benefited greatly, yet still wanted more. Some were even reluctant to leave and simply sat down where they were, beginning to sense the spiritual qi.

After some thought, Xu Chunniang did not linger too long in the Lecture Room.

She returned to the Lecture Room in the eastern courtyard on the first floor, where she had stayed for a month.

Martial Uncle Gu had said that cultivation was best done somewhere quiet, secluded, and rich in spiritual qi.

Although the Lecture Rooms on the second floor were spacious, there were too many people. In terms of environment, they were actually inferior to the private Lecture Rooms on the first floor.

After entering the Lecture Room again, Xu Chunniang paused the teaching puppet, sat down cross-legged, and began sensing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth as Martial Uncle Gu had instructed.

Xu Chunniang slowed her breathing until it was as light and gentle as possible. As she silently recited the cultivation method of the Carefree Art in her heart, she sensed the flow of spiritual qi around her.

Several hours passed, but she felt nothing at all.

Xu Chunniang opened her eyes, somewhat disappointed. She had tried so hard to sense it, yet she had not felt even a trace of spiritual qi.

Martial Uncle Gu had clearly said that sensing spiritual qi was the most basic step. It was not particularly difficult; as long as one's heart was sufficiently calm, one would be able to sense it.

Could it be that her heart was not calm enough?

Xu Chunniang vaguely realized the crux of the issue. Although she had been trying hard to sense it, and her surroundings were quiet, she had kept thinking about sensing spiritual qi sooner. Perhaps she had been too impatient...

Having realized the problem, Xu Chunniang took a deep breath, adjusted her state of mind, and began meditating again.

This time, she no longer thought about how to sense spiritual qi. She merely slowed her breathing, closed her eyes, calmed her heart, and focused her mind.

As her breathing grew long and steady, Xu Chunniang felt her surroundings become ever quieter, while her mind grew increasingly clear. Her entire body seemed to lose all weight, floating lightly.

As her meditation continued, this mysterious and ineffable state deepened. Before long, she actually "saw" a tiny blue speck!

Xu Chunniang's mind trembled. This tiny blue speck was water-attributed spiritual qi—she had sensed it!

Yet the moment her mind stirred, the tiny blue speck vanished without a trace, and she was pulled out of that wondrous meditative state.

Xu Chunniang opened her eyes in frustration. She knew that she had become too excited after sensing the spiritual qi, and had frightened the tiny blue speck away.

"Stay calm. Keep your heart peaceful and your qi steady. Sensing spiritual qi is nothing at all. Only after harmonizing and absorbing the three kinds of spiritual qi into the body, then using the cultivation method to guide the spiritual qi through one complete cycle, can it be considered true Qi Introduction."

She had only just learned how to enter meditation and had seen a mere wisp of spiritual qi. She was still far from Qi Introduction!

Xu Chunniang reined in her emotions and entered meditation once more...

Xu Chunniang's life became regular again. Every morning, she went to the "Cultivation Method" Lecture Room to listen to the Foundation Establishment Uncle-Master teach. At all other times, she returned to the private Lecture Room on the first floor to practice meditation.

Whenever she attended class, she deliberately chose the most secluded corner. Moreover, no one dared act recklessly during the Foundation Establishment Uncle-Master's lessons, so things remained very peaceful.

This continued for a week. During that week, she still failed to achieve Qi Introduction, but she could sense more and more spiritual qi whenever she meditated.

Starting the day before yesterday, she had begun trying to harmonize the spiritual qi. Yet harmonizing spiritual qi was even more difficult, and she had made little progress so far.

After a week of lessons, she had finished learning the cultivation method of the Carefree Art.

Further lessons would not be of much help to her Qi Introduction. Xu Chunniang decided that starting tomorrow, she would stop attending class and focus wholeheartedly on Qi Introduction first.

Having made up her mind, Xu Chunniang took out her map and prepared to return to the dormitory. Living in the Lecture Hall was convenient for cultivation, but it brought many inconveniences to daily life.

Xu Chunniang left the Lecture Hall and headed toward the dormitories, passing the Scripture Lecture Pavilion along the way.

From afar, she saw a huge crowd gathered around the Scripture Lecture Pavilion. Only then did she suddenly remember that on the first and fifteenth of every month, a Golden Core Elder would come to the outer sect's Scripture Lecture Pavilion to expound on the scriptures, and every Outer Sect Disciple could attend.

That was a Golden Core Elder! The Foundation Establishment Uncle-Masters of the inner sect were already incredibly formidable and could fly on swords. Golden Core Elders were far more powerful still.

Xu Chunniang did not hesitate in the slightest. She immediately broke into a run toward the Scripture Lecture Pavilion.

The Scripture Lecture Pavilion was packed so tightly inside and out that not even water could seep through. Xu Chunniang had arrived too late and could not even squeeze through its doors. Still, many others like her had failed to get inside, and they all stood outside respectfully.

The Golden Core Elder had yet to arrive, and people began quietly exchanging gossip about the inner sect.

A thin, frail-looking man said in a low voice, "Have you heard? This batch of inner sect disciples has produced an astonishing genius named Shangguan Xue. They say she has an Ice-element Single Spiritual Root, and its purity has reached a rare ninety!"

"Gasp! Is that true? Then she must have been taken in as a personal disciple by a Golden Core Ancestor, right?"

The thin man who had spoken first smiled mysteriously, but shook his head. "No."

"No?" The others were astonished. "That can't be. With such excellent cultivation aptitude, how could she possibly not be valued?"

"Exactly. A few years ago, that Huangfu Tian had only Fire-Wood Dual Spiritual Roots, and his highest Fire Spiritual Root purity was merely eighty. Wasn't he still accepted as a disciple by the Golden Core Ancestor of Pill Peak?"

"And Wei Dawu, who entered the inner sect this year, has Gold-Fire Dual Spiritual Roots, with Gold Spiritual Root purity as high as seventy-eight. The moment he joined, he caught the eye of the Golden Core Ancestor of Artifact Refining Peak.

"If someone truly had a single Ice Spiritual Root with a purity of ninety, wouldn't the Golden Core Ancestors fight until their heads were cracked to claim her?"

"Exactly. You aren't just spinning a tale to fool us, are you?"

Faced with everyone's doubts, the thin man remained relaxed, with even a faint smile on his face.

"Everyone, I only said that no Golden Core Ancestor accepted that Ice Spiritual Root genius. I never said that a Nascent Soul Ancestor did not."

The moment those words came out, everyone was shaken.

"What? She was actually noticed by a Nascent Soul Ancestor? I've been in the Carefree Sect for fifty-six years, and this is the first time I've heard of anyone being accepted as a disciple by a Nascent Soul Ancestor."

"It is said that our Carefree Sect has two Supreme Elders at the Nascent Soul stage. Their hearts are devoted to the Great Dao, and they have ignored worldly affairs for a long time. They would not even emerge from seclusion unless the sect faced a crisis of life and death. Who would have thought they would take disciples?"

"Alas, I can only lament that our Spiritual Root talents are too poor. Forget Nascent Soul Supreme Elders—even Golden Core Elders look down on our aptitude!"

The crowd discussed it endlessly, their words filled with envy for genius disciples and helpless resignation over their own aptitude.