Qin Fengming did not know that if anyone else had cultivated this method like him, then upon completing the first layer and circulating this Greater Celestial Circuit, their meridians would surely be torn apart, leaving them crippled for life. It was even quite possible they would die on the spot.
Cultivating this kind of method generally required a sect elder or master to teach the proper techniques. From the very beginning, one had to continuously circulate the Greater Celestial Circuit, guiding the still-weak spiritual energy through the meridians. As the spiritual energy grew stronger, the meridians would expand accordingly, preventing them from rupturing under the strain of excessive spiritual energy.
How could Qin Fengming have known that the so-called internal cultivation method he practiced was actually the most basic Five Elements Cultivation Method of the Cultivation World? Even his so-called internal energy was actually what the Cultivation World called spiritual energy.
According to the cultivation method, circulating the spiritual energy in the dantian through the meridians could improve their flow. Once the meridians became unobstructed, they could absorb more energy from heaven and earth and transform it into spiritual energy. Circulating the Greater Celestial Circuit was a mandatory lesson in cultivation. At the same time, it could also temper one's "thoughts."
The so-called "thoughts" were a cultivator's "spiritual sense." In other words, they were one's perception, which was exceedingly important to cultivators. Spiritual sense could perceive anything nearby, allowing one to "discover" an opponent before they even appeared and prepare in advance.
In fact, ordinary people also possessed spiritual sense, but they could only perceive things within a few meters. Martial arts experts had a much wider range of perception, able to sense things more than ten or even dozens of meters away. But none of that could compare with a cultivator.
Just like the young master of the Zhang Family, who had quickly discovered Qin Fengming through sweeping the area with his "spiritual sense."
The first time Qin Fengming circulated the Greater Celestial Circuit according to the nameless formula, it consumed a great deal of his spiritual sense. After completing one cycle, he already felt dizzy and heavy-headed. If he forced himself to continue, it would inevitably damage his body. He was well aware of this. Thus, he did not dare circulate it a second time.
After this experience, Qin Fengming became even more diligent and hardworking in his cultivation.
He also frequently practiced "Internal Vision," constantly observing the changes in the five-colored energy within his dantian. "Watching" that energy steadily increase filled Qin Fengming with immense delight.
The days passed one after another, and in the blink of an eye, a year and a half went by. For a teenager in his early teens, cultivating alone for such a long time would have been unbearable unless he possessed exceptionally resolute willpower.
During these nearly two years, apart from diligently cultivating the nameless formula, Qin Fengming had also undertaken two missions.
One was to hunt down a notorious bandit. In a single night, the bandit had slaughtered an entire wealthy household in Baiyang Town, seventy li west of Yumen City, leaving no one alive. Such a cruel and bloodthirsty person had aroused the fury of the entire martial world of Yingzhou Prefecture. They had jointly issued a Jianghu Order, determined to kill him.
Qin Fengming, along with Seventh Senior Brother and Ninth Senior Brother of Dark Night Hall, received the order. The three of them pursued the bandit for more than twenty days, finally intercepting him in the mountains bordering Yingzhou Prefecture and Taihu Prefecture. After a desperate battle, they joined forces and killed him.
The other mission was to escort a batch of ore from a mine at the border of Yingzhou and Wuling Prefecture back to the sect.
When they were nearing Luyu City, they encountered the bandit gang that occupied the area, the "Five Tigers Gang," and fought a major battle. Second Senior Brother wounded Third Brother of the Duan Family, Duan Xizheng, frightening the members of the Five Tigers Gang into retreat. They then returned to the sect without incident.
Although those two missions had ended with danger narrowly averted, they were still rare experiences for Qin Fengming.
Over the course of that year, he had already successfully cultivated the first three layers of the nameless formula. Now, whenever he used Internal Vision to inspect his dantian, he discovered that the five-colored energy had multiplied several times compared to a year earlier. When gathered together with his spiritual sense, it was already as thick as a chopstick. This change left him thrilled beyond measure.
Following the method described in the latter part of the booklet, he had also learned a technique called the "Ice Bullet" spell.
He could condense several small, ice-ball-like spheres from the five-colored "internal energy" within his body. Once propelled with a secret technique, they could not only punch a small hole through a tree, but also freeze the area surrounding the point of impact. Their power was truly astonishing. This skill was something the internal energy taught by his former master could never have accomplished.
All of this was cultivation Qin Fengming had pursued in secret. He had never revealed any of it before others.
One day, after finishing his sword practice, Qin Fengming returned to his room and planned to practice the nameless formula. To his speechless surprise, no matter how he gathered his thoughts, he simply could not calm his mind. This had never happened during the past year.
Qin Fengming knew that one could not force the cultivation of internal energy; otherwise, one might suffer cultivation deviation and have one's meridians torn apart. Seeing that things were like this today, he had no choice but to abandon his cultivation for the day.
He walked out of the room and looked toward the distance. All he saw were layer upon layer of mountains, their peaks rising and falling in an unbroken stretch, extending beyond the limits of sight.
Suddenly, his heart stirred. He had been here for several years, yet he had never entered the depths of the mountains.
He was only seventeen or eighteen, an energetic youth by nature, and the distant mountains immediately sparked his interest. Since he had nothing to do that day, he made up his mind to explore the distant wilderness.
With that thought, Qin Fengming no longer hesitated. He strapped his treasured sword to his back, descended Rosy Cloud Peak alone, and followed Luoxia Valley toward the depths of the mountains.
At first, there was still a small path to follow through the valley. After traveling more than ten li, however, every trace of the road had vanished. All that met his eyes were shrubs, tangled vines, ravines, and sheer cliffs. But such difficulties were nothing to Qin Fengming.
Whenever he encountered a small ravine or cliff, he directly used his Lightness Skill to cross it. When thorns blocked his way, he cut a passage through them with his treasured sword. At times, he even used the Azure Cloud Maze movement technique, leaping across the treetops.
After two hours, with Qin Fengming pressing onward without stopping, he had already traveled nearly forty li into the mountains.
Along the way, he encountered many forest creatures, such as elk and musk deer. When these animals saw Qin Fengming approach, some were not afraid in the slightest. Even when he came within several zhang of them, they did not warily flee.
Clearly, humans had rarely set foot here for many years. Even these animals had lost their usual vigilance and no longer recognized danger.
After traveling for another hour, Qin Fengming had entered nearly fifty or sixty li into the deep mountains.
His former master, Zhang Li, had once said that fog would seal off the mountains once one ventured fifty li inside. Yet Qin Fengming had now gone this deep without seeing even a trace of fog, which left him thoroughly puzzled.
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