Dark Cloud Qi Circulation Diagram

Man Xiongmu sat in a stone chair, picked up the teapot from the table, and poured himself a bowl of bitter tea. The tea was made from the leaves of the Bitter Bamboo outside the cave entrance. Bitter and cool in nature, it could clear the mind and brighten the eyes, making it quite distinctive.

After drinking his tea, he said to Wu Tian, "I didn't expect you to complete the Tongyou Spell so quickly. This rate of cultivation is already no weaker than that of an upper-grade Immortal root."

"Your dog is rather extraordinary as well. It may well be able to cultivate a Spiritual Beast Form and transform into human shape in the future."

He paused briefly before continuing, "On the path of cultivation, only after reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection and giving birth to a wisp of True Qi can one be considered to have entered the door."

"After Foundation Establishment comes Qi Nourishing. Qi Nourishing has four stages: Opening Acupoints, Meridian Opening, Form Condensation, and the Mysterious Pass."

"The time required to cultivate in the Qi Nourishing Realm is basically ten times that required in the Foundation Establishment Realm..."

Wu Tian couldn't help clicking his tongue when he heard this, his eyes widening.

Man Xiongmu let out a sigh as well. "For a lower-grade Immortal root, merely reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection takes more than ten years. To reach Qi Nourishing Perfection requires at least a hundred years. But that's only in theory. Unless one encounters a great opportunity, a lower-grade Immortal root can never cultivate to Qi Nourishing Perfection in a lifetime."

"With a middle-grade Immortal root, Foundation Establishment generally takes three to five years, so Qi Nourishing Perfection would require thirty to fifty years. In other words, as long as a middle-grade Immortal root cultivator painstakingly cultivates for several decades without pause, they will basically all have hope of entering the Cauldron Forging Realm."

"An upper-grade Immortal root also needs around ten years to reach Qi Nourishing Perfection."

"As for a supreme-grade Immortal root, one can complete Foundation Establishment in a hundred days and break through the Mysterious Pass within at most three years, reaching Qi Nourishing Perfection."

"Among the first four realms of cultivation, Immortal root aptitude is valued most highly. With insufficient aptitude, one is basically incapable of setting foot in the higher realms."

He set down his tea bowl. Perhaps he had recalled his own decades of bitter cultivation, for a trace of melancholy appeared on his face.

"My Immortal root aptitude is considered outstanding among middle-grade roots. I went up the mountain at five, completed Foundation Establishment in three years, cultivated Qi Nourishing for twenty-eight years, and spent thirty years in the Cauldron Forging Realm. Now, at sixty-seven, I only entered the Law Refining Realm last year."

"Sixty-two full years of bitter cultivation. Looking back on the past, it all feels like a dream."

"Seventy percent of the disciples of my generation are still trapped in Qi Nourishing. By now, some have descended the mountain, some have stayed in the mountains doing odd jobs, some have died at the mouths of fiends, and others have died of illness or old age."

"Among the fifth-generation disciples with middle-grade Immortal roots, there are more than a hundred after several decades of accumulation. Yet now, those who have reached Cauldron Forging Perfection and entered the Law Refining Realm number only a dozen or so."

"As for disciples with upper-grade Immortal roots, they are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. As far as I know, there are no more than ten among the fifth-generation disciples. Yet only one has broken through to the upper realm, while the rest remain trapped in the Law Refining Realm to this day."

Man Xiongmu's gaze fell on Wu Tian, and his tone turned solemn. "The path to immortality is rugged. It requires not only aptitude, but also decades of bitter cultivation day after day. With the slightest slackening, the road of advancement will be cut off."

"Yet even with an upper-grade Immortal root, the vast majority will be trapped in the Law Refining Realm and remain without hope of reaching the upper realm."

"The path of cultivation is as difficult as climbing to heaven. So what if one has an upper-grade Immortal root? After a hundred years, one will still turn into a mound of yellow earth."

"You were originally just an ordinary White Dog in the stockade. By fortunate chance, you awakened your intelligence, then nurtured Tongyou Qi, and afterward encountered an immortal opportunity. Only then were you able to enter Skull Mountain."

"Human cultivation is already this difficult. Compared with humans, the Demon Race faces even more obstacles."

"I don't expect you to cultivate into a Demon King. I only hope you won't fall into evil ways or casually take human lives. If you have the heart, protect White Dog Stockade a little in the future. That will count as repaying me."

"What do you say?"

Every word he spoke was earnest, and his tone was heavy with heartfelt concern.

White Dragon had originally been raised in the stockade. The White Dog clan was loyal by nature, and if he could achieve something in cultivation, then in the future he could provide the stockade below the mountain with another layer of protection.

There was no love in this world without reason. The reason Man Xiongmu was willing to teach Wu Tian cultivation, besides Zhu Yushuang's decree, was also because he came from White Dog Stockade.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Wu Tian listened intently, barked twice, and then slowly nodded.

Seeing such a humanlike gesture from him, Man Xiongmu couldn't help smiling. "Your aptitude is extraordinary. You became a fiend in just over a year. Even if you have no fate with becoming a Demon King in the future, becoming a great demon will be an ordinary achievement."

"As long as you don't provoke the handful of people on the mountain, you can run rampant through these wild mountain forests."

"Settle your mind and focus your spirit. Listen as I transmit the cultivation method to you."

He stopped wasting words and began pointing out the various essentials of the Qi Nourishing Realm one by one.

"The four stages of Qi Nourishing each have their own mysteries. The first, Opening Acupoints, is a water-milling effort. Even without any cultivation method, they can be opened through the passage of time."

"When the mind and spirit merge with True Qi, you can perceive the many acupoints. Use True Qi to wear away the turbid qi that has formed inside the acupoints after birth, and they can be opened one by one. There is no particular order to them."

"After all, this realm exists only to lay the foundation for Meridian Opening. Back then, I took only three years to open all three hundred and sixty acupoints throughout my body."

"Although the human body differs from the bodies of many demons, there is no difference in this step of cultivation. Even the fiends that grow in the mountain forests, though they do not actively temper their acupoints, will naturally open them once their Demonic Energy becomes powerful."

As Wu Tian listened to his guidance, he immediately merged a wisp of his mind with the Tongyou Qi inside his body. It was as though he had opened an eye within himself, allowing him to examine his internal organs and every limb and bone from another perspective.

Sure enough, as the Tongyou Qi circulated, he saw many nodes clogged and blocked by accumulated matter. Those should be the acupoints.

He merely swept over them with his True Qi, and much of the turbid qi covering the acupoints scattered. It seemed that one or two days of tempering would be enough to open them.

"So easy?" Wu Tian couldn't help feeling astonished. This was far easier than he had imagined.

After his True Qi circulated throughout his body, he discovered that the White Dog Form had only seventy-two acupoints in total, a far cry from the three hundred and sixty acupoints of the human body.

Of course, this also meant that he would spend less time in the Opening Acupoints stage.

Man Xiongmu naturally noticed his movements. He waited until Wu Tian came back to himself before continuing. "You should already have sensed your acupoints, right? There's nothing difficult about this stage; it's merely a water-milling effort. I also have some minor techniques for Opening Acupoints, which I'll pass on to you later. Of course, these techniques aren't particularly useful. They only slightly increase the efficiency of cleansing the turbid qi. They're better than nothing."

"The Foundation Establishment and Qi Nourishing realms both cultivate spell arts. Spell arts are formed from ancient sounds, and those ancient sounds are quite mysterious. When recited, they can shake the internal organs. Thus, during the Foundation Establishment Realm, much of that turbid qi has already been worn away."

"If you cultivate other spells as well, they will likewise have the effect of wearing away the turbid qi, making it even easier to open your acupoints."

Wu Tian immediately thought of the Thunder Sound Curse and Fire Pupil Curse he cultivated. The Fire Pupil Curse was nothing special, but the Thunder Sound Curse had specifically stated that it could cleanse turbid qi.

The small amount of turbid qi in my acupoints must have a great deal to do with the Thunder Sound Curse.

As he was pondering this, he heard Man Xiongmu say, "After Opening Acupoints comes Meridian Opening. Put simply, it means linking the acupoints together and forging the qi meridians, allowing True Qi to circulate through them until, over time, they become one."

"There are many particulars involved. The order in which the acupoints are linked, the locations through which True Qi circulates, and the speed are all crucial. At the slightest mistake, the acupoints may be injured. In a light case, you'll suffer injury; in a severe case, your path forward will be severed."

"So one of the benefits of joining a sect is that you can obtain Qi Circulation Diagrams studied and perfected by generations of predecessors."

"The Qi Circulation Diagram passed down through my Qiyun Cave lineage is called the Dark Cloud Qi Circulation Diagram. It involves sixty-eight acupoints and is closely connected with the Cloud Leopard True Form Diagram of the subsequent Form Condensation stage and the Cloud Leopard Body of the Cauldron Forging Realm. They are all part of a single continuous lineage."

Man Xiongmu looked at Wu Tian and smiled. "You originally have a dog's body, which resembles a leopard's body. You should be exceptionally compatible with the inheritance of my Qiyun Cave lineage."

"Although the Dark Cloud Qi Circulation Diagram is inferior to those Qi Circulation Diagrams that can connect more acupoints, you do not possess a human body. Even if I gave you a better Qi Circulation Diagram, you would be unable to cultivate it."

"Instead, my lineage is the most suitable for you."

"Moreover, once you forge your cauldron body, you can alter your aptitude and Root Bone. Even if your foundation is inferior to a human's, you can make up for it while forging the cauldron. For you, this is the best choice."

"Focus your mind. I'll transmit the Dark Cloud Qi Circulation Diagram to you now."