Cultivation

The internal cultivation method Qin Fengming practiced was merely the one his master, Zhang Li, had taught him back then. At the time, his master had said that this method was not a decisive-grade technique in the martial world and could only be considered above average...

Luoxia Valley naturally had quite a few secret manuals for internal cultivation as well, but the top-tier ones were not kept in the Scripture Repository. Those cultivation manuals were all the private possessions of the various elders and hall masters. Unless one was a direct disciple, they would absolutely never be passed on.

Just looking at the contents of the cultivation method in his hands was enough to make Qin Fengming feel completely at a loss as to where to begin. This clearly showed that the method was exceedingly difficult to practice. But it also meant that this cultivation method was unquestionably a top-tier one.

A resolute look flashed through Qin Fengming's eyes. He had already made up his mind: from now on, he would set aside half of each day to practice this nameless formula. He was determined to master this internal cultivation method.

With his decision made, Qin Fengming sat cross-legged on the bed, gathering his qi and focusing his mind. Following the first layer's cultivation formula from the nameless formula, he relaxed his entire body and began trying to absorb the unknown energy in the air.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, but to Qin Fengming's extreme disappointment, he had not felt anything at all during that time. This was completely different from the internal cultivation method his master had taught him before. The first time he had practiced that earlier method, he had felt a thread of warmth in his dantian, but this time he felt not the slightest thing.

Although he had made no progress whatsoever, Qin Fengming was not discouraged in the slightest. He knew that the more profound an internal cultivation method was, the more difficult it was to practice. This was a rule of martial arts. Just like the Azure Cloud Maze movement technique he practiced—who knew how many geniuses had lowered their heads before it?

Qin Fengming had always been decisive and strong-willed. This little setback had no effect on him at all. Instead, it made him even more certain that this nameless formula was extraordinary. Once he succeeded in practicing it, he would surely astonish the world with a single brilliant feat.

For five days straight, Qin Fengming still felt nothing. On the sixth day, after he had cultivated for more than an hour, he suddenly felt threads of coolness arise within his meridians. That trace of coolness slowly traveled through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, as though a wisp of cold air were threading its way through the meridians inside his body.

Although that trace of coolness was extremely weak, it still gave him a sudden lift. Joy immediately appeared on his face. However, the moment his attention wavered slightly, the icy sensation vanished without a trace.

After being stunned, Qin Fengming stopped cultivating and quietly savored the feeling from before. He had indeed clearly felt that thread of coolness. There was no doubt that this was the sensation of internal power taking shape. Although he did not understand why the internal power formed this time was cold, having experienced it greatly strengthened his confidence in the nameless formula.

During the next three hours, that icy sensation did not appear again. But this did not affect Qin Fengming's confidence in the slightest.

Because he had experienced that first sensation, Qin Fengming began adding an hour to his daily practice. During the cultivation that followed, he experienced that icy sensation three times over the course of two days. This made him exceptionally delighted, and he practiced the nameless formula even more diligently.

As the days passed, that icy sensation appeared again and again. The intervals between its appearances grew shorter each time, while its duration grew longer.

Two months later, almost every time Qin Fengming meditated, that icy sensation would accompany the movement through his meridians. Following a special route, it traveled through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and every limb and bone before converging in his dantian.

Although he could clearly sense that trace of coolness finally entering his dantian, and seemed even to feel a thread of icy qi existing inside it, no matter how he used the method he had previously employed to guide internal power, he could not release this cold internal power as he had with the internal power he had practiced before. This left him utterly perplexed.

Still, it could not be said that he had gained nothing. After more than two months of cultivation, Qin Fengming felt that his eyesight and hearing had both improved considerably. Even in pitch-black night, he could clearly see objects more than a dozen yards away. This was a sensation he had never experienced before.

On this day, after Qin Fengming finished cultivating his internal power, he suddenly remembered that the back of the little booklet introduced several techniques as well. He immediately took it out and read through it carefully. He found a technique called "Internal Vision." Following the booklet's instructions, he concentrated, closed his eyes, and focused on sensing the condition of every part of his body.

The instant he gathered his mind, some strange things suddenly appeared in his head. It was as if every part of his body had manifested within his mind—his bones, meridians, and flesh all looked as though they were right before his eyes. Frightened, he immediately opened his eyes, and that scene vanished at once.

Qin Fengming sat blankly on the bed, carefully savoring the sensation from before. A trace of understanding seemed to have dawned in his heart.

He slowly closed his eyes again and repeated what he had done before, carefully sinking his mind inward and sensing everything. Suddenly, that scene appeared once more. Because he had experienced it once already, he did not panic this time. Instead, he watched everything that happened with curiosity.

He clearly "saw" all his bones and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. In the area of his lower abdomen, there was an empty region, and within that region existed some qi. When he focused his mind to "look," he could even discover wisps of faint, five-colored qi drifting there. Those five-colored strands were exceedingly tiny; if he had not used his mind to "look," he truly would have been unable to detect their existence.

He savored the different sensation Internal Vision gave him from his previous practice of internal cultivation. He found it endlessly fascinating and practiced Internal Vision for half an hour straight.

When Internal Vision lost its freshness for him, a sudden thought struck Qin Fengming: he wondered what would happen if he ran through the formula once more now.

Thus, following the formula in the little booklet, he used his "intention" to gather those drifting five-colored strands of qi together.

After several attempts, the tiny strands of qi finally began to gather and merge. After who knew how long, all the five-colored qi fused together, forming a five-colored stream of qi as thin as a strand of hair.

Qin Fengming struggled to control that stream of qi. As he had done when practicing internal cultivation, he followed the circulation route recorded in the booklet and guided it through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Primary Meridians. Finally, it returned to his dantian.

As that thread of five-colored qi traveled through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, Qin Fengming felt a wave of tingling numbness wherever it passed, as though a small worm were crawling inside him.

Qin Fengming did not know that while he was controlling that thread of qi and circulating it through his entire body, he had already escaped a calamity. If he had not eaten that dual-colored fruit and had his meridians reforged, then at that very instant, even if he had not died, he would have suffered severe injuries.