The Qi Vortex Forms

Mu Bai sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion in his room, his eyes tightly shut and fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

He had maintained this posture for a full six hours, circulating the true qi within his body through the pathways of the Star Picking Art for hundreds of cycles.

Now!

Mu Bai abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam shooting from them.

His hands swiftly formed seals, and all the true qi within his body, like soldiers hearing a command, surged toward his dantian.

This was his seventh attempt at condensing a qi vortex. He had abandoned the previous six halfway through for various reasons, but this time, he felt better than ever before.

Compress!

At a thought, the true qi in his dantian began to contract rapidly.

Mu Bai could clearly sense the gaseous energy that had once filled his entire dantian becoming condensed at an astonishing rate, its density constantly increasing.

Pain followed. It was as though someone had clamped his internal organs in iron pincers, as though countless steel needles were travelling through his meridians.

Mu Bai gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging, yet he did not dare slacken in the slightest.

He knew this was the only path to breaking through to Xiantian.

Rotate!

When the true qi had been compressed to its limit, Mu Bai suddenly changed his approach.

Under his precise control, that highly compressed mass of true qi began to spin along a particular trajectory—slowly at first, then faster and faster.

It was as though a thunderclap had exploded in his mind.

Mu Bai's entire body shook violently. He felt a tiny vortex suddenly form within his dantian. All the true qi was drawn into it, yet it continuously gushed forth from the vortex's center.

Even more wondrously, once the qi vortex formed, it seemed to gain a life of its own. It began circulating independently, no longer requiring him to maintain it deliberately.

Did I succeed?

Mu Bai could hardly believe it as he inspected his dantian inwardly.

A stable qi vortex was indeed slowly rotating there, exactly as the Grand Elder had described.

But strangely, he did not experience the process of true qi transforming into true essence that Master had spoken of—normally, once a qi vortex formed, it would generate immense pressure, compressing gaseous true qi into liquid true essence. That was the mark of entering the Xiantian realm.

What was going on?

Mu Bai rose to his feet and stretched his body, which had stiffened from sitting too long.

He could clearly feel that his strength had risen by a great margin—the existence of the qi vortex had improved the quality of his true qi by at least twofold, and its circulation had become much faster as well.

With a casual wave of his hand, five condensed streaks of blue true qi tore through the air, leaving deep marks in the wall. Their power was considerably greater than before.

I've clearly formed a qi vortex, so why haven't I broken through to Xiantian?

Mu Bai frowned and paced back and forth through the cultivation room.

This situation had clearly gone beyond the Grand Elder's explanation. Perhaps even Master had never encountered it.

A thought flashed through his mind—could it be that, because he was a transmigrator, some sort of barrier existed between him and this world, preventing him from breaking through normally?

The thought made his heart tighten.

If that was truly the case, seeking Master's help might expose his greatest secret.

Mu Bai clenched his teeth and decided to search for a solution himself first.

Outside the window, it was already broad daylight.

The Langya Family's Scripture Repository was a seven-story tower with upturned eaves and pointed corners, ancient and solemn in appearance.

It housed the cultivation methods and classical texts accumulated by the Langya Family over a thousand years, one of the family's most important foundations.

Mu Bai stood before the Scripture Repository, looking up at the towering structure.

As the Grand Elder's personal disciple, he had permission to enter the first three floors. That alone was treatment most family members could only dream of.

Greetings, Senior Brother Mu! The disciple guarding the entrance bowed respectfully. What texts would you like to consult? This disciple can find them for you.

There's no need. I'll look myself. Mu Bai waved a hand and walked straight inside.

The interior of the Scripture Repository was even more spacious than it appeared from the outside.

Rows upon rows of sandalwood bookshelves stood in neat order, filled with bamboo slips, Jade Slips, and paper books.

The faint scent of ink mingled with the fragrance of sandalwood, calming the mind and spirit.

Mu Bai went directly to the third floor, the section dedicated to martial realms and methods of breakthrough.

Over the next month, he spent almost all his time there.

He entered the repository early each morning and returned only late at night. Mu Bai devoured every text related to the Xiantian realm, not even sparing obscure folk remedies and miscellaneous discussions.

Yet as he read further, Mu Bai's heart sank ever deeper.

Every text clearly recorded that forming a qi vortex meant entering Xiantian, and that true qi would naturally transform into true essence under the vortex's pressure.

Not a single book mentioned a case where someone formed a qi vortex yet failed to break through.

Could it really be because I was a transmigrator? Mu Bai rubbed his throbbing temples, bitterness filling his heart.

Late one night, a month later, Mu Bai was the only one left in the Scripture Repository.

He slumped beside the bookshelves, surrounded by piles of books he had pored through, his eyes bloodshot.

Over the past month, he had barely rested, relying entirely on his cultivation to hold himself up, yet he had still found nothing.

Perhaps... I should try a different line of thought.

A spark of inspiration suddenly flashed through Mu Bai's mind.

Since this world's texts could not explain his condition, why not try some of the concepts from the webnovels of his previous life?

Those cultivation systems born from authors' wild imagination might just give him some inspiration.

The Nebula Stage from Star Transformation... the genetic primal energy from Swallowed Star... the liquefaction of magical power from A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality...

The more Mu Bai thought about it, the more excited he became, and he immediately began trying all sorts of methods.

He tried using Spiritual Power to stimulate the vortex, hoping to accelerate the conversion of true qi; he tried creating one at the center of the vortex; he even risked injecting a thread of Soul Power into it...

Yet these attempts either had no effect at all or destabilized the vortex, nearly injuring his dantian.

During his final attempt, the intense pain forced Mu Bai to give up, and a trace of blood even seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Still not working...

Mu Bai leaned dejectedly against the bookshelf and closed his eyes in exhaustion.

"How am I supposed to do this?"