Mysterious Daoist Effigy

Li Qingyun sighed inwardly: "What a pity. You, He Xiao, can still rely on your family to obtain resources to aid your cultivation, but I am nothing but an abandoned waste!"

"Spiritual things like Qingyang Fish, I've only ever gotten two from Yuanbao's mouth. Even if the marquis's estate occasionally has a catch, or a lucky fisherman sells a spiritual fish to the estate, most of it falls into the hands of Cui and her son..."

Despite his lament, his face remained calm and indifferent, habitually maintaining the demeanor of the marquis's third young master, not showing any weakness.

But thinking of the Big Black Cat Yuanbao, whose whereabouts were unknown and whose life or death was uncertain, he couldn't help but miss and worry.

This spiritual cat of his could attract wealth—what a true pity!

After chatting for a while, He Xiao, flushed with wine, apologized and lay down on the bed without even taking off his shoes, falling fast asleep.

Snoring soon filled the room.

Listening to the snores and smelling the stench of alcohol, Li Qingyun felt somewhat helpless.

This place was no pure ground for cultivation!

"I'll adapt for a few days first, then see if I can get an independent dwelling. Lingbao Temple is all about wealth, with hints of it everywhere. If I'm willing to spend money, it shouldn't be too hard, right?"

At that moment, his whole body ached unbearably. He simply got onto the bed as well, naturally crossing his legs, and opened the booklet, intending to thoroughly read the essential techniques.

If talent is lacking, make up for it with wisdom!

He wanted to use his past life's wisdom and insight, by thoroughly understanding the cultivation method, to slightly compensate for his innate poverty.

Eh!

But just as he settled into a standard meditation posture, his face suddenly changed color, a faint flush spreading across his pale, bloodless handsome features.

Shock, confusion, surprise—his expression was rich with emotion for a moment.

"What is this?!"

At that moment, deep within his mind, a mysterious Daoist image suddenly emerged!

It looked somewhat like a sculpture, yet also like the projection of a real person. Its entire body emitted a faint, dim, mysterious light. It wore a jade crown and a Daoist robe, its brows and eyes lowered, sitting in meditation within a void. Its attire appeared very ancient.

A strange feeling rose in Li Qingyun's heart. Somehow, he felt this image projection had been forgotten for too long, like a statue in an abandoned temple no longer worshipped by anyone.

He tried to examine the face of this Daoist image projection, but his "Line of Sight" suddenly blurred, interfered with by some strange force.

Yet he vaguely felt that the outline of the projection's face seemed somewhat familiar—a familiarity like it looked very much like himself...

Behind the Daoist image projection was a profound darkness, so pitch-black it made his hair stand on end.

Li Qingyun felt there seemed to be some unknown shadows within that dark chaos. Driven by curiosity, his thoughts tried to "Flashed Past" the image to see what was there, but his "field of vision" was blocked again.

No matter how he tried, he couldn't cross the horizontal line where this Daoist image projection resided.

At the same time, a feeling of terror suddenly surged in his heart.

It seemed to hint that he must not look, must not think, or else an unpredictable horror would appear!

Li Qingyun had no choice but to suppress his confusion and curiosity, withdraw his "gaze," and focus again on the Daoist image projection.

At that moment, in front of the Daoist image projection, light flickered, and a small booklet gently floated in the air.

He immediately sensed it: "This is my Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art—it's been projected inside?"

Then, above the head of the Daoist image projection, a wisp of clear energy suddenly escaped.

At the same time, Li Qingyun felt a slight numbness in his chest.

The numbness was subtle, yet clear.

"Even If" it was just a trace, it immediately made him feel a distinct, faint warmth spreading through his body.

"A warmth like a hot spring emerging—that's the initial birth of mana from the Qi Absorption Art... Isn't this what the art describes as having cultivated mana?"

He became excited instantly.

The Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art absorbs qi of the fire-yang type from heaven and earth. When guidance and absorption are successful, one feels a sensation of bubbling hot springs within the body.

"I'm clearly a waste for cultivation. Could this image be cultivating in my stead?"

Just now, he had followed the technique's description, earnestly guiding and absorbing qi for a long time, with no results.

Now, sitting cross-legged, a mysterious Daoist image projection suddenly appeared in his mind, directly helping him cultivate a bit of mana!

And this state was ongoing!

Every time a wisp of clear energy emerged from the image's head, Li Qingyun gained a bit more mana within his body.

"It can ignore the comprehension level of the technique, ignore the limitations of this body of mine that lacks a Dao Bone Spiritual Root..."

"Three years. Have I finally awakened my golden finger?"

Joy welled up in Li Qingyun's heart, and he was filled with emotion.

After his soul had crossed over, replacing the drowned third young master of the marquis's estate, and learning that this world was one of immortal cultivation, his heart had been extremely fervent.

To cultivate his family's Yang Sha Refining, he had kept himself pure, politely declined the tender affections of many young ladies in Qinghe County, and never went to entertainment venues like brothels, stubbornly guarding his primordial yang.

He had even shown early signs of brilliance, successfully gaining the attention of his "cheap old father," the Marquis Qinghe. Of course, this also alarmed Cui and her son, inviting brutal suppression and attacks!

But it turned out he had been busy with nothing all along, never finding the correct way to open his golden finger...

"It's strange, too. I've meditated and breathed before, and there were no such phenomena. Could it be that meditation, combined with an authentic Daoist cultivation method, is what's needed to summon this substitute light projection in my mind?"

"Or perhaps the timing simply wasn't right before?"

Li Qingyun "gazed" at the cross-legged seated phantom within his mind, as well as the Qi Absorption Art Pamphlet before it, making wild guesses in his heart.

In the past, he had neither the ability nor the opportunity to come into contact with orthodox cultivation techniques. He had, however, learned a bit about the unorthodox paths that came with heavy costs.

But as for a transcendent technique that could truly be cultivated in full—within Marquis Qinghe's Estate, there was only that unorthodox Yang Sha Refining.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

While he was both surprised and emotional, Mana Glimmers kept emerging continuously from various points along his meridians.

A tingling numbness spread across his body, as comfortable and refreshing as soaking in a hot spring.

The mana seemed to be generated out of thin air, rather than drawn from the Sun Blaze Spiritual Qi outside the bamboo hut.

Throughout the entire vicinity of the bamboo hut, there was not the slightest fluctuation or gathering of spiritual energy.

Within his mind, that mysterious phantom of a Daoist statue, in a way Li Qingyun could not comprehend, continuously cultivated and supplied him with an endless stream of mana!

This was, truly, heaven-defying!

"This Daoist Master is about to strike it rich!"

Li Qingyun wanted nothing more than to burst into loud laughter.

A surge of heroic ambition swelled in his chest; he felt the Great Path was within reach, no longer lost or adrift.

Even the thunderous snoring of his roommate He Xiao sounded far more pleasant to his ears.

As long as he sat cross-legged, that phantom statue would automatically emerge deep within his mind and cultivate on his behalf!

What's more, he didn't even need to calm his heart or enter a meditative state—all external disturbances were irrelevant!

Bit by bit, mana sprouted from every meridian, like countless tiny specks of starlight flickering to life in the boundless, dark, and empty long night.

Dazzling and mysterious, it intoxicated and captivated him.

"So this is this humble one's arduous cultivation..."