Stone Turtle

Ji An paced back and forth through the cramped room with his hands behind his back, round after round.

After who knew how long, he slumped onto the meditation cushion, his gaze vacant.

As a seasoned reader of Qidian immortal-cultivation novels, he had seen plenty of transmigration stories and had once fantasized about how glorious his life would be if he ever transmigrated.

But when transmigration truly came, his heart was filled with panic.

There was no system, no old grandfather mentor, and not a single unusual object anywhere on his body. He had simply transmigrated here stark naked.

An ordinary person would not become amazing just by changing worlds, unless he came with a cheat. But he had none.

His parents were gradually growing old. His disappearance would make them terribly sad, wouldn't it? Fortunately, the first insurance policy he had sold as an insurance agent had been a life insurance policy for himself, with his parents as beneficiaries.

He even wondered whether the young woman he shared an apartment with would only discover "him" after he started to smell.

As the sun slanted westward, the lingering sunset was red as blood. Light passed through gaps in the leaves and scattered mottled crimson across the window lattice, its dazzling colors reflected in Ji An's eyes.

"Though the day is late, smoke and rosy clouds still blaze brilliantly; though the year grows old, oranges and tangerines still send forth fragrance. Thus, when gentlemen reach the end of the road and their later years, they should all the more rouse their spirits a hundredfold."

Ji An recited softly, pumping himself up. If he did not know how to hypnotize himself, he would have quit a job like insurance sales long ago.

Since things had come to this, he decided to eat first.

His circumstances could no longer be changed. He had to do his best to fit into this world. After all, an opportunity for immortal cultivation and eternal life was something he had not dared dream of in his previous life.

He did not think of running away to evade his debts. With the methods of immortal cultivators, he might evade the first day, but not the fifteenth.

Only by successfully stepping onto the path of immortality could he find a way to live. He did not have much time left.

The Dao Academy did not provide food. Those of good birth naturally had servants deliver prepared delicacies up the mountain, while someone like him could only fend for himself.

Using a chipped bowl, he scooped half a bowl of rice from the rice jar, calmly picked out the black grains within, then ladled water from the water vat and washed it vigorously several times before putting it into the large iron pot on the stove beneath the wooden shed beside the house.

Ji An added a bowl of water to the iron pot, then skillfully kindled the fire and fed it wood.

Orange-red flames rose from the firebox. He searched through his memories for the method of opening his meridians and began pondering it.

The art was called the Flowing Water Meridian Opening Art. Among the Dao Academy's Meridian Cultivation Methods, it was utterly ordinary, with nothing outstanding about it.

Yet even such an art was a profound method in the eyes of independent cultivators. That was also why so many people sharpened their heads to force their way into sects.

Perhaps because his souls had fused, Ji An did not find the art difficult or obscure. Once he calmed down, he discovered that his thoughts were far keener than before, and the obstacles in the art that he had once been unable to understand no matter how much he pondered them now yielded without effort.

Ji An silently recited the art again and again. With the accumulated knowledge of two worlds, he actually began to savor a trace of its true spirit.

The Meridian Cultivation Method emphasized the natural flow of water. When the former owner of this body had taken the Meridian Opening Pill, his mind had been impatient and agitated, clashing with the art.

The medicinal power produced when the pill dissolved could not be guided properly, so he had naturally suffered qi deviation.

Could my cheat be the increase in comprehension brought by the fusion of souls?

Delighted, Ji An tossed several arm-thick pieces of firewood into the firebox, then jogged out to grab a handful of wild vegetables. He rinsed them hastily and sprinkled them with salt.

Once the rice was cooked, he hurriedly shoveled it into his stomach and returned to the room without even washing the bowl.

He immediately slid the bolt into place, then dragged over the table and braced it against the wooden door.

Though his heart was pounding with excitement, Ji An was in no hurry to cultivate. After washing his hands and face, he changed into clean clothes, lit incense in the burner, and slowly sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion.

The former owner of this body had gone wrong while circulating qi through his meridians because his emotions had been too stirred. Life came only once, so he had to take it as a warning.

He closed his eyes, calmed his spirit, and sat quietly for a while before beginning to softly chant the Meridian Cultivation Method.

As he chanted it over and over, his body and mind gradually relaxed.

Half an hour later, Ji An's heart was utterly tranquil. He silently recited the art and guided his inner qi to circulate along the path described in the Meridian Cultivation Method.

Though taking the Meridian Opening Pill had failed to open his meridians, it had not been entirely useless.

His inner qi had now reached the limit of what his body could contain. He did not need to worry that insufficient inner qi would prevent him from opening the Dantian Ancestral Aperture. As long as his spiritual intent was complete, he would surely be able to cross the Mystic Gate.

Outside the window, the Full Moon had just risen, its slanting rays falling across the window lattice. A breeze passed by, and the shadows of the trees swayed gently.

After a long while, Ji An stopped.

Today's qi circulation was far smoother than before. Where his intent went, qi arrived; it truly felt like a river flowing downstream, free of any obstruction.

It seemed he could almost touch that mysterious and unfathomable spiritual intent, yet he could never seize that flash of inspiration. It was like scratching an itch through a boot, unbearably frustrating.

He slowly rose to his feet, clenched his fists, and lightly pounded his legs, which had gone numb from sitting too long. Then he paced to the window and pushed it open with both hands.

The moon hung high in the center of the sky. Soft light like water poured into the shabby room, spilling a patch of bright, clear radiance across the floor.

The mountain breeze came slowly, leaves rustling. The chirping of insects rose and fell in rhythm, and everything outside was brimming with life.

When the cool breeze swept away the restlessness in his heart, Ji An replaced the incense in the burner and sat back down on the meditation cushion.

He calmed his spirit and settled his qi, drove away distracting thoughts, then once more circulated qi through his meridians.

Before long, he stopped again.

This time, the qi flow came in fits and starts, meeting frequent stagnation as it turned and circulated. It had completely lost the true meaning of Flowing Water naturally following the current, so he simply dispersed the inner qi he had been guiding.

Ji An understood that obsession had taken root in his heart. The harder he tried to seize the mystery, the farther he strayed from comprehending the spiritual intent.

Water could not be grasped.

He let out a long breath and steadied himself, focusing all his attention on his long, drawn-out breathing. Once his heart had calmed, he silently recited the art again and guided his inner qi.

This time, he persisted for even less time. The qi flow actually began to slip slowly out of his control.

Ji An decisively stopped circulating qi. He understood that although he appeared to have calmed down, the obsession in his heart had not been cast aside. If he forced himself to continue, he would inevitably meet the same end as the former owner of this body.

Only by letting go of his obsession and guiding inner qi with an ordinary heart could he possibly comprehend the mystery within the art.

But once obsession was planted, how could it be easily cast aside? Time was too tight. The string in his heart remained taut; it was not something he could relax simply because he wished to.

Ji An stood and scooped water from the basin in his hands. Coming to the window, he gazed at the bright moon that had fallen into his palms and sank into thought.

He recalled the smoothness of his first qi circulation, trying to find why it had gone so effortlessly then.

As he pondered, his fingers, pressed tightly together, gradually relaxed, and the water slowly dripped down.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Ji An's mind.

When he had first guided his inner qi, he had not held too many expectations. Most of his attention had been on silently reciting the art, after all, this was his first time operating an immortal-cultivation method in this life.

He closed his eyes, let his hands hang naturally at his sides, and began silently reciting the Flowing Water Meridian Opening Art without guiding his inner qi.

At some point, a dark cloud drifted overhead, and the mountain forest bathing in moonlight fell into darkness.

"Rumble—"

Thunder rolled across the heavens.

"Patter, patter—"

Immediately afterward, dense raindrops poured down like beans tipped from a winnowing basket, pattering against the roof, the ground, and the leaves.

The rain made similar yet different sounds. Its patter upon leaves was somewhat crisp, while the rain striking the roof sounded more muffled.

At that moment, Ji An stopped reciting the formula and simply listened to the lively sound of rain. His spiritual awareness seemed to leave his body and rise higher.

Countless threads of rain fell from the heavens, and all of Little Cang Mountain vanished into the rain and mist.

Thousands upon thousands of ripples stirred across the tranquil lake of his heart. Without being guided, his inner qi began to move on its own, slowly flowing along the path of the Meridian Cultivation Method.

After completing one full circuit through his body, it gathered in his dantian. Following a brief accumulation, it spread once more through his limbs and bones.

Again and again, endlessly without cease.

His inner qi rose and fell like ocean tides, circulating faster and faster, lingering longer and longer in his dantian.

The heavy rain gradually stopped. Drops of water fell from the leaves into puddles, their clear ding-dong sounds like heavenly music.

After an unknown length of time, when the vast inner qi had accumulated to a critical point, the Ancestral Aperture Sea of Qi in his dantian, which had been closed since before his birth, suddenly trembled and opened a narrow crack.

Like a gigantic dragon drawing in water, it swallowed the inner qi that had nearly burst him apart.

In the blink of an eye, all his inner qi vanished without a trace, leaving his body utterly empty.

Then a stream of Pure Spiritual Qi burst forth from the Ancestral Aperture.

At the same time, Ji An's sinews and bones gave a clear ringing cry. The Pure Spiritual Qi circulated throughout his body, and one qi meridian after another, which had not existed before, emerged.

The Ancestral Aperture opened, and immortal meridians appeared!

Ecstasy surged through Ji An's heart as he emerged from that mysterious state.

Just then, his consciousness was abruptly dragged into a cold, silent darkness.

All sound vanished here, and time itself seemed to have stopped flowing.

He was like a small insect sealed in amber. Tragically, he still retained his consciousness, yet could not control his body at all.

Just as he was at a loss, a gentle glow rose from the center of the darkness, and a turtle with a complete Bagua pattern on its shell emerged.

Li and Kan define North and South, Zhen and Dui define East and West—it was the Later Heaven Bagua.

Damn, isn't this the strange stone I picked up in the mountains? Someone offered a hundred thousand to buy it!

As the Stone Turtle appeared, Ji An's consciousness returned to his body, and a stream of information surfaced in his mind.

Master: Ji An

Dao Resonance: 0

Spiritual Spark: 0

Spells: None

My cheat has finally arrived? You brought me here just because I wanted to sell you?

Fine, you win.

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