Cultivation

Will the progress bar... fail?

Was it because the other side was too strong?

Li Qi thought so.

But he immediately cast those thoughts aside.

There was no need to dwell on such pointless things. He should first see how cultivation worked—that was the proper path.

It was spring. Spring meant the stirring of all things. Its position was in the east. Its color was azure. Its note was Jue; Jue was the shining movement of qi. Its emperor was Taihao; Hao meant the great rising that set all things astir. Its god was Gou Mang, for things had only just begun to grow. Its Essence was the Azure Dragon; Mang meant budding.

Sacrifice was not simply kneeling down and begging. That was only a tiny part of it. According to the book of "Shaman," Li Qi first had to use ash and water, winding them in from outside the door and circling the room with them. This was called "Guiding the Dragon Home."

After that, he had to burn grass and branches. He grabbed a handful outside, lit them, then picked them up and waved them about. This was called "Fumigating Insects."

There were other rites as well, such as "stir-frying beans" and "Wu Yu," along with all the rituals of food and drink. Only after completing the entire sequence could it be considered a proper sacrifice.

Though he had no fried beans, he used rice cakes instead.

It should be fine.

Li Qi busied himself for nearly half an hour before finally finishing.

Then he sensed a strange change in his body.

The dragon-shaped constellation rising in the east cast a stream of qi into his body.

A peculiar power.

There was simply no way to describe what it was.

He only felt as if he had grown stronger? And then... there was a feeling of vibrant, teeming life?

That was only natural. Spring was when Heaven and Earth communicated, when all things began to grow, when yin and yang met. The Azure Dragon stood in the east among the Four Symbols; wood ruled the east and answered to spring. Wood meant contact: Yang Energy stirred, broke through the earth, and came forth. Water flowed eastward to give rise to wood. Wood spread upward and covered below—such was its natural nature.

Water had first been used to guide wood, bringing about Guiding the Dragon Home. Water gave birth to wood; qi could not be measured, yet things arrived in their season. Branches and leaves flourished, thick and lush as a forest, taking the abundance of wood. When wood brought forth life, spirit and Essence prospered, hence it was called Great Forest Wood.

This was a power that represented the breath of life, and it was also the power that his sacrifices and prayers could obtain at this very moment.

Li Qi felt all the exhaustion from the past two days of turmoil vanish,

His energy brimmed over, and even the depletion of primordial qi caused by the Ox-Strength Technique was healed!

His barren little world of the human body had finally welcomed its first wisp of qi from the outside world.

Like sweet rain after a long drought, vibrant life force flooded his body. Li Qi even felt as though he had grown taller.

A sudden insight rose in his heart, and even the world before his eyes changed.

He... had truly stepped onto the road of cultivation. He walked the Shaman Path of a Shaman, with Earthly Deity as his branch.

After truly drawing qi into his body, he felt that even his perception of the world had changed.

Guided by Great Forest Wood Qi, he seemed able to faintly see the different kinds of qi between Heaven and Earth.

Heaven had heavenly qi, earth had earthly qi, humans had human qi, demons had demon qi, and gods had divine qi. Different things possessed qi of different natures.

The various kinds of qi differed as well. Heavenly qi, for instance, had the Eight Winds. The Six Laws were heavenly qi, assisting Heaven and Earth in bringing forth all things. They were like music, harmonizing qi, transforming the myriad people, and fulfilling their natures and lives.

There was the qi of Taicu, which embodied the birth of all things.

Yin qi lay beneath the Yellow Springs, nurturing all things.

There were many, many more classifications of qi: summer heat qi, dew qi, mixed qi, and so on.

When different kinds of qi gathered together, they could produce different effects.

Just as humans were born endowed with the qi of yin and yang.

Thunder was the exhalation of Yang Energy.

Wu-earth qi could give rise to rosy clouds. Earth had no qi of its own; it arose through fire and manifested by borrowing the sun.

Clouds, meanwhile, were the qi of mountains and marshes.

The book of "Shaman" said: "Heaven, Earth, and all things are born of qi. Qi mingles, responds, and transforms to give birth to all things. Thus, wherever qi reaches, one may know the kind from which it emerged."

In other words, countless kinds of qi came together to bring forth this world. As long as one could distinguish the nature and abilities of every kind of qi, one could understand the origin of the world.

Take the four seasons, for example. They were formed by the circulation of the Six Qi, creating the four seasons. The four seasons were the result of six kinds of qi cycling in turn: yin qi, Yang Energy, wind qi, rain qi, dim qi, and bright qi.

As the saying went: "Heaven has Six Qi: yin, yang, wind, rain, dimness, and brightness."

Li Qi did not recognize most kinds of qi. With the explanations in the book of "Shaman," he could barely identify a small portion of them. But at this moment, he had no time to worry about that. He directed the Great Forest Wood Qi he had just obtained and opened his eyes to observe all the qi around him.

By attaching qi to his eyes, he could observe other kinds of qi.

Though doing so consumed qi, the expenditure was not great. Even someone like Li Qi, who had only just drawn qi into his body, could maintain it for an hour or so before it ended.

In this state, Li Qi could even see the nutritive qi and defensive qi around Shen Shuibi, who was still fast asleep.

They were both newly born qi. It seemed she truly had not lied. The qi around her was exceedingly weak and exceptionally new. He could tell that it was definitely the result of having been crippled and cultivating anew.

At the same time, he tried using the Ox-Strength Technique.

Now, his Ox-Strength Technique was no longer limited to ten minutes. Instead, it would only end when the qi within his little world of the human body was exhausted.

Of course, the limit of three uses per day still remained.

He now understood why there was a limit of three uses a day. It was because... that Earthly Deity, Jade Ox, did not want to lend strength whenever someone asked for it. That would make him seem too cheap... so if someone borrowed his strength three times in a row, he would refuse to give any more.

He really was... willful.

The Ox-Strength Technique driven by Great Forest Wood Qi seemed to have become more enduring as well. That was determined by the nature of the qi.

And he could sense the process too...

This technique did not come from nowhere. Whenever he activated it, he could feel a vague stream of qi passing through the void.

That was the divine qi of the Earthly Deity Jade Ox.

That divine qi bestowed the extraordinary abilities of thicker skin, abundant Yang Energy, and ample strength, allowing Li Qi to wield the combat power of one against ten.

Because the nature of wood qi was compatible with this technique, the new trait it brought made Li Qi feel that his endurance had become stronger. His explosive power had been fierce before, but he had always needed time to recover his breath. Now, he no longer needed to recover; he could throw out many punches at full force in one breath.

Having completed the sacrifice to the heavenly gods and obtained his first wisp of Great Forest Wood Qi, Li Qi immediately began the second round without hesitation: sacrificing to the Earthly Deities.

At this time of year, what Earthly Deities should be sacrificed to?

This was the time to sacrifice to the Five Sacrifices Gods.

What were the Five Sacrifices? They were the gate, the door, the well, the stove, and the central drain. Why sacrifice to them? Because they were where people entered and departed, where they drank and ate; thus they were made gods and sacrificed to.

But this too had its rules.

Why were the Five Sacrifices performed once each year? To follow the Five Elements.

Thus, in spring one sacrificed to the door. The door was where people came and went, and in spring all things first touched the door and emerged.

In summer, one sacrificed to the stove, the master of fire, by which one nourished oneself. Summer, too, was when fire reigned, nurturing all things as they grew.

In autumn, one sacrificed to the gate. Gates were used to close, store away, and fortify oneself. Autumn, too, was when all things ripened, preparing inwardly and guarding themselves.

In winter, one sacrificed to the well. A well was where water was born and stored deep within the earth; winter, too, was when water reigned and all things lay hidden away.

In the sixth month, one sacrificed to the central drain. The central drain symbolized earth at the center, and the sixth month was also when earth reigned.

Thus, the book of "Shaman" clearly stated: "In spring, sacrifice to the door."

Sacrificing to the door god was, in truth, sacrificing to the two gods Yulei and Shentu.

These two Earthly Deities excelled at dealing with evil ghosts, and thus were revered as door gods.

To sacrifice to them, Li Qi took out his willow branch.