Spiritual Qi Pipeline Transport Technology

Of the four neighbors in Eastern Geng District, Li Xiuchang already knew two of them.

He felt that both of them were extraordinary people.

One was a ruthless man who had nearly divined himself to death, while the other was a powerhouse whose talent and character had won over every outer disciple.

Li Xiuchang naturally grew curious about the other two neighbors he had yet to meet.

On the way back, he began fishing for information from Senior Brother Zhang Wanzhi.

"Those two guys... I'll introduce you when I get the chance." Zhang Wanzhi shook his head and laughed. "But it isn't easy to see either of them, especially Senior Brother Chen. I don't even remember how long it's been since I last saw him."

Hearing Senior Brother Zhang Wanzhi say that, Li Xiuchang suddenly felt that his other two neighbors probably weren't normal either.

But then again, who besides eccentrics would live in Eastern Geng District?

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

When they returned to Eastern Geng District, Li Xiuchang thanked Senior Brother Zhang Wanzhi before going back to his own House Number Eighteen.

Watching Li Xiuchang's back disappear, Zhang Wanzhi turned his head toward 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 little fellow?"

He had never expected the "Old Gui" who practiced Mouth-Sealing Zen to answer him. He continued on his own, "After spending some time with him, I find him quite agreeable. He isn't someone who meddles in other people's business. It's just that... having an outsider live here is inconvenient for us in the long run. We should think of a way to persuade him to leave after some time."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Old Gui extend a hand and begin calculating something.

Zhang Wanzhi laughed and scolded him, "You have to divine everything, don't you? How many more years can you live? You really aren't afraid of death!"

That was what he said, but he didn't stop him.

He knew that Old Gui was certainly divining something related to Li Xiuchang. Divining the fate of an ordinary person without a Cultivation Level shouldn't cost Old Gui any life span.

But then, he saw Old Gui's brows knit together, as if he were hesitating over something.

A moment later, Old Gui took out a tortoise shell. Flames rose from his palm and scorched the shell.

Seeing this, Zhang Wanzhi's expression also turned solemn. In Divination Arts, there was a saying: "Use yarrow for minor matters and pyromancy for major ones." The "pyromancy" referred to burning the shells and bones of beasts with flames to divine the Heavenly Secrets.

Old Gui's use of this method meant that the matter was no small thing.

It also meant that Old Gui was about to lose more of his life span.

The tortoise shell crackled beneath the flames as several lines split across it.

Old Gui stared at the lines for several breaths. One of the last three black hairs on his head turned white.

"How is it? What did you divine?" Zhang Wanzhi asked hurriedly.

Old Gui opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out.

If this had happened twenty years ago, he would have blurted it out without hesitation. Fortunately, the restrictions of Mouth-Sealing Zen prevented him from speaking now.

Buddhist Mouth-Sealing Zen was extremely domineering. It restricted not only speech but even voice transmission through Spiritual Sense.

Thoughtfully, Zhang Wanzhi handed over his flying sword. "Write it on the ground."

Old Gui took the flying sword. He had just gestured twice on the ground when he suddenly realized what he was doing.

What a vicious flying sword!

The flying sword in his hand seemed to transform into a venomous snake. Frightened, he hurriedly threw it away.

Mouth-Sealing Zen still had its uses. At critical moments, it could buy him some time to calm down.

Old Gui reached up, pulled the last two black hairs on his head, and waved them in front of Zhang Wanzhi. His face was full of anger, as if he were saying, "Are you trying to get me killed?"

These last three black hairs each represented one year of his life span.

Merely divining the result had already turned one hair white. If he exposed the Heavenly Secrets, the loss of life span would only be greater. The remaining two black hairs were nowhere near enough.

He might not even finish revealing half of the Heavenly Secrets before collapsing to the ground, unable to get back up.

He merely loved courting death. He didn't actually want to die!

With death at his doorstep, he could still distinguish what mattered.

Zhang Wanzhi smiled sheepishly and picked up the flying sword. "I didn't think it through."

And you still have the nerve to smile!

Old Gui's anger surged. Recalling the twenty years he had spent cultivating Mouth-Sealing Zen, he felt that he seemed to have aged even faster than before.

That was certainly partly his own fault, but the other fellows in Eastern Geng District couldn't escape responsibility either!

Every time, they verbally urged him not to divine or speak recklessly, yet whenever they needed him, each one of them wished they could pry his mouth open with a flying sword.

Old Gui refused to reveal anything, so Zhang Wanzhi could only guess for himself.

"You just divined something related to Li Xiuchang, didn't you? Let me guess... Li Xiuchang is detrimental to our plans, so we need to eliminate him?"

Old Gui hurriedly waved his hands and shook his head furiously.

As a result, one of the two black hairs he had left turned half white.

Terrified, he didn't dare linger. He turned and dashed toward his residence.

Zhang Wanzhi continued guessing. "Then he's beneficial to our plans, so we should keep him?"

Old Gui no longer dared answer. He pretended not to hear and ducked into his residence.

"Since you didn't deny it, that means you agree." Zhang Wanzhi chuckled softly and looked toward House Number Eighteen in Eastern Geng District. "Interesting."

Li Xiuchang still didn't know that Senior Brother Gui had paid a year and a half of his life span to give his life a different script.

At that moment, he had already begun his first cultivation session in his life.

The first step of cultivation was sensing the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, drawing it into the body through one's Spiritual Aperture, condensing the Spiritual Qi into Spiritual Power, and combining it with the Innate Qi in the dantian to transform it into magical power.

The Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was acquired qi, whereas the Innate Qi carried from the womb should properly be written with the alternate character for qi.

When Innate Qi was infused into magical power, the success rate of Foundation Establishment in the future would be higher, the foundation laid would be sturdier, and the path to immortality ahead would be much smoother.

This was also why the Immortal Dust Sect refused to accept disciples over eighteen. After passing eighteen, one's Innate Qi would be lost, limiting their future achievements.

Li Xiuchang finally felt how useless his low-grade Spiritual Aperture was. He sat cross-legged in the Quiet Room on the first floor for half a day without sensing the Spiritual Qi drifting through the world. Only when his stomach began growling with hunger did he have to stop.

He took out a bottle of Grain-Aversion Pills from his robes and tossed one into his mouth. His hunger vanished at once.

He had received these Grain-Aversion Pills after passing the sect-rules examination. The Immortal Dust Sect actually had a cafeteria. Although Grain-Aversion Pills could fill one's stomach, they had no flavor and were generally used as substitute meals during secluded cultivation.

After pondering for a moment, Li Xiuchang rose and went to the small cultivation room on the first floor.

The cultivation room could only accommodate one person sitting cross-legged. A meditation mat lay on the floor, and beside it was a tiny hole.

Li Xiuchang sat cross-legged on the mat, closed the door to the cultivation room, and took out a spirit stone from his robes.

He dropped the spirit stone into the hole beside the mat. A moment later, a thin mist surged out from it.

Li Xiuchang knew that this was Spiritual Qi!

This tiny hole was the terminal of the Immortal Dust Sect's Spiritual Qi Pipeline Transport Technology. It was called the Spirit Eye.

Dropping spirit stones into the Spirit Eye would cause Spiritual Qi to gush out.

This Spiritual Qi came from the Spirit Veins beneath the Immortal Dust Sect, while the spirit stones inserted into it were collected by the sect.

The amount of Spiritual Qi gushing from the Spirit Eye far exceeded the Spiritual Qi contained in the spirit stones inserted into it.

This was one of the benefits the Immortal Dust Sect provided its disciples.

Therefore, almost none of the Immortal Dust Sect's formal disciples directly absorbed spirit stones for cultivation. They all chose to put the spirit stones into the Spirit Eye in exchange for Spiritual Qi.

As Li Xiuchang inserted a spirit stone into the Spirit Eye, the Spiritual Qi concentration in the cultivation room instantly soared.

The denser the Spiritual Qi, the easier it was to sense.

In such an environment, Li Xiuchang sat meditating with his eyes closed for less than half an hour before sensing the existence of Spiritual Qi.