Spiritual Qi Pipeline Transport Technology

Li Xiuchang already knew two of his four neighbors in the Eastern Geng District.

He felt both of them were extraordinary.

One was a ruthless individual who almost divined himself to death, and the other was a remarkable person whose talent and character had won over all the disciples of the Outer Sect.

Naturally, Li Xiuchang became curious about the other two neighbors he hadn't met yet.

On his way back, he began to subtly inquire with Senior Brother Zhang Wanzhi.

"Those two guys... I'll introduce you when I have the chance," Zhang Wanzhi said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "But it's not easy to get a meeting with either of them, especially Senior Brother Chen. I can't even remember the last time I saw him."

Hearing Zhang Wanzhi say this, Li Xiuchang immediately felt that the other two neighbors were also quite unusual.

But then again, who would live in the Eastern Geng District if they weren't eccentric?

Wait, if that's the case, doesn't that make me one too...

Back in the Eastern Geng District, Li Xiuchang thanked Zhang Wanzhi and returned to his house, number eighteen.

Watching Li Xiuchang's retreating figure disappear, Zhang Wanzhi turned his head to look at the white-bearded old man who had appeared beside him at some point, and asked with a smile:

"Old Gui, what do you think of this young fellow?"

He didn't expect "Old Gui," who practiced Mouth-Sealing Zen, to answer, and continued on his own: "He's quite to my liking after interacting with him. He's not someone who meddles in other people's business, but... having an outsider live here is ultimately inconvenient for us. We'll think of a way to persuade him to leave after a while."

After he finished speaking, he saw Old Gui extend a hand and begin to perform some sort of calculation.

Zhang Wanzhi cursed with a laugh, "You have to divine everything! How many more years do you have left to live? Are you really not afraid of death!"

He said it, but he didn't stop him.

He knew that what Old Gui was divining at this moment was definitely related to Li Xiuchang. Divining for a mere mortal without cultivation shouldn't cost Old Gui his lifespan.

But then, he saw Old Gui frown, as if hesitating about something.

A moment later, Old Gui took out a piece of turtle shell, and flames rose from his palm, scorching the shell.

Seeing this, Zhang Wanzhi's expression also became serious. In the art of divination, there was a saying: "For minor matters, use divination; for major matters, use prognostication." The "prognostication" here referred to burning animal bones or shells with fire to predict heavenly secrets.

Old Gui using this technique meant the matter was not trivial.

It also meant Old Gui was going to lose some lifespan again.

The turtle shell crackled under the flames, splitting into several lines.

Old Gui stared at the lines for a few breaths, and one of the three remaining black hairs on his head turned white.

"How is it? What did you find out?" Zhang Wanzhi asked quickly.

Old Gui opened his mouth but made no sound.

If this were twenty years ago, he would have blurted it out immediately. Fortunately, the Mouth-Sealing Zen restricted him now, preventing him from speaking.

The Buddhist Mouth-Sealing Zen was extremely powerful, not only restricting speech but also divine sense transmission.

Zhang Wanzhi thoughtfully handed over his Flying Sword: "Write on the ground."

Old Gui took the Flying Sword and had just made a couple of gestures on the ground when he suddenly realized.

What a malicious Flying Sword!

The Flying Sword in his hand felt like a venomous snake, scaring him so much that he quickly dropped it.

The Mouth-Sealing Zen was still useful; it could give him some time to calm down at critical moments.

Old Gui reached up, pulled the last two black hairs from his head, and waved them in front of Zhang Wanzhi, his face showing anger, as if saying, "Are you trying to kill me?"

Each of these last three black hairs symbolized one year of his lifespan.

Just divining the result had turned one hair white. If he were to reveal heavenly secrets, the loss of lifespan would be even greater. The remaining two hairs were simply not enough.

Perhaps halfway through revealing the heavenly secret, he would collapse on the ground.

He just liked to court death, he didn't actually want to die!

Facing death, he still knew what was more important.

Zhang Wanzhi smiled sheepishly and picked up the Flying Sword, saying, "I didn't consider it thoroughly."

You still have the nerve to smile!

Old Gui was furious. He recalled his twenty years of practicing Mouth-Sealing Zen, and it seemed he had aged faster than before.

While this was partly his own doing, the other fellows in the Eastern Geng District also bore some responsibility!

Every time they verbally advised him not to divine or speak carelessly, when they actually needed him, they were all eager to pry open his mouth with Flying Swords.

Since Old Gui was unwilling to reveal it, Zhang Wanzhi had to guess.

"What you just divined was probably related to Li Xiuchang. Let me guess... Li Xiuchang is detrimental to our plan, so we should get rid of him?"

Old Gui quickly waved his hands, shaking his head frantically.

As a result, one of his remaining two black hairs turned half white.

Terrified, he didn't dare to linger and turned to rush towards his own residence.

Zhang Wanzhi continued to guess: "Then he is beneficial to our plan, so we should keep him?"

Old Gui didn't dare to answer, pretending he hadn't heard, and buried his head, retreating into his dwelling.

"Not denying it means you're admitting it," Zhang Wanzhi chuckled lightly, his gaze falling upon Number Eighteen of Eastern Geng District. "Interesting."

Li Xiuchang didn't know yet that Senior Brother Gui had traded a year and a half of his lifespan to change the script of Li Xiuchang's life.

At this moment, he had already begun his first cultivation session.

The first step of cultivation was to sense the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, absorb it into the body through the spiritual apertures, condense the spiritual qi into spiritual power, and combine it with the innate qi within the dantian to transform it into mana.

The spiritual qi of heaven and earth was post-natal qi, while the innate qi brought from the womb should actually be written as "Qi (Innate)".

Mana infused with innate Qi (Innate) would lead to a higher success rate during Foundation Establishment, a more solid foundation, and a smoother path to immortality in the future.

This was also why the Immortal Dust Sect did not accept disciples over the age of eighteen; beyond eighteen, innate Qi would be lost, limiting their future achievements.

Li Xiuchang finally felt the uselessness of his low-grade spiritual apertures. He sat in the quiet room on the first floor for half a day without sensing any spiritual qi drifting in the world. It wasn't until his stomach growled with hunger that he had to stop.

He took out a bottle of Grain-Aversion Pills from his bosom, popped one into his mouth, and the hunger immediately disappeared.

These Grain-Aversion Pills were given to him after passing the sect rules examination. The Immortal Dust Sect actually had a canteen, and although Grain-Aversion Pills could fill the stomach, they had little flavor. They were generally used as a substitute meal during closed-door cultivation.

Li Xiuchang pondered for a moment, then got up and went to the small cultivation room on the first floor.

This cultivation room could only accommodate one person sitting cross-legged. A meditation cushion was placed on the floor, and next to the cushion, there was a small opening in the floor.

Li Xiuchang sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, closed the door of the cultivation room, and took out a Spirit Stone from his embrace.

He tossed the Spirit Stone into the opening next to the meditation cushion. After a moment, a light mist sprayed out from it.

Li Xiuchang knew that this was spiritual qi!

This small opening was the terminal for the Immortal Dust Sect's spiritual qi pipeline transport system, known as a "Spirit Eye."

By putting Spirit Stones into the Spirit Eye, spiritual qi would spray out.

This spiritual qi came from the spiritual veins beneath the Immortal Dust Sect, and the Spirit Stones that were put in were recycled by the Immortal Dust Sect.

The amount of spiritual qi sprayed from the Spirit Eye was far greater than the spiritual qi contained within the Spirit Stones that were put in.

This was also a benefit the Immortal Dust Sect provided to its disciples.

Therefore, almost no formal disciples of the Immortal Dust Sect would directly absorb Spirit Stones for cultivation; they would all choose to put Spirit Stones into the Spirit Eyes to exchange for spiritual qi.

Li Xiuchang put one Spirit Stone into the Spirit Eye, and the concentration of spiritual qi in the cultivation room instantly soared.

The denser the spiritual qi, the easier it was to sense it.

In such an environment, Li Xiuchang closed his eyes and meditated for less than half an hour before he sensed the presence of spiritual qi.