The Proper Way for a Transmigrator to Begin

"The cultivation of Dou Qi can't be rushed, but some things can."

Xiao Yan sat upright with his legs crossed, calmed his heart, settled his mind, and began his own unique cultivation.

"Extreme of Soul... seal the heavenly spirit... Na Ling Duan Hun..."

Broken murmurs sounded under his breath. Though the area around him was open on all sides, they echoed without weakening, again and again.

Like the surface of water when the rim of a basin was struck, invisible ripples gradually filled the space, crossing over one another and stacking in their rhythm.

Xiao Yan repeated it tirelessly.

His consciousness was like drifting fluff falling from the air onto the water's surface, and an indescribable cool warmth slowly soaked through it, filling the gaps.

The fatigue of his soul within that stillness vanished completely, then gradually began to grow stronger.

The Nameless Incantation!

In the original work, it was the incomplete Soul Mantra hidden within the Spirit-Nurturing Powder. Not only could it promote soul cultivation, it could also sense the most miraculous energy between heaven and earth—Spiritual Qi.

Strengthening the soul, granting it spirituality.

Ever since the inheritance of the ancient alchemists had been severed, only the very top group of people could come into contact with Spiritual Qi, and their use of it was limited to nurturing the soul and alchemy.

Pop.

It was like being soaked full of water.

His consciousness began to sink beneath the surface. Xiao Yan only felt a sudden clarity bloom in the darkness, as things like crystal dust hovered around him, overflowing with spiritual light that traced out trails.

Lively, yet soundless.

"Spiritual Qi..."

The moment this thin energy, hidden deep within space, appeared, Xiao Yan's soul shone as though resonating with it.

"What a pity. I can see it, but I can't reach it."

His Soul Power was still too weak.

Forget gathering and absorbing it; even extending a thought to touch it was an enormous difficulty.

Sometimes a stray speck of crystal dust would drift over and sink into Xiao Yan's soul, but aside from a brief elevation of his spirit, it had no other effect. The Spiritual Qi would pass straight through and continue onward along its own path.

"Though I can't absorb it, the benefits I've gained are already enough."

Ever since his soul had awakened three years ago, with the aid of this Nameless Incantation, Xiao Yan's Soul Power had begun to soar all the way up, only slowing slightly in recent days.

But this wasn't entirely a good thing. The gap between his soul and his body was too great.

Xiao Yan spent every day full of energy and in a calm state of mind. Even if his body was so exhausted it was like a heap of mud, his spirit barely depleted at all. Insomnia was even a common occurrence.

To solve this problem, he decided to...

Count sheep.

"Next, it's time for the next step."

With a slight movement of Xiao Yan's thought, the spiritual light flashing throughout the space completely withdrew.

His outward-projected vision turned inward instead. His fleshly body slowly appeared within this clarity, every inch of skin and every bone gradually becoming complete as if printed out.

The soul overlapping with the image of his body began to drive it.

The Dou Qi accumulated within his body surged along with his blood, resonating together with his breathing.

Then, under extremely precise control, strands so fine they were nearly imperceptible were drawn out, tempered into his bones under independent control, passed through his Meridians, soaked into his flesh, and roamed through his skin and hair.

It was quite the posture of seeping into every pore and out of every pore.

If someone had been watching from the outside, they would have discovered that the Dou Qi inside Xiao Yan's body was steadily disappearing as it circulated.

Yes, vanishing into thin air.

Like pond water seeping into mud and sand, an ordinary person would have no way to discover that the Dou Qi had all been drawn by Soul Power into threads so fine they were nearly impossible to detect, then fused into his body.

"Hiss—"

As it seeped in further, mist began to rise from Xiao Yan's body, the Dou Qi that had permeated to the surface naturally leaking outward.

At first, the drifting mist gradually turned murky, and then slowly became clear again.

Even Xiao Yan's hair floated slightly because of the Dou Qi filling it. "Fill."

His body's capacity reached saturation. The Dou Qi that had nearly bottomed out recovered all the way until it was full again, and afterward came a long period of stability.

The constantly recovering Dou Qi and the vapor rising from his body reached a balance.

"Buzz..."

While Xiao Yan sank into his cultivation, the ring on his chest lit up faintly, as if it had received something.

The spiritual light hovering around him began to approach Xiao Yan, drifting toward his chest more and more frequently before sinking into the ring.

From the sun slanting west, to crimson clouds filling the sky, to the emergence of the starry heavens and the silver moon patrolling the firmament.

"Phew~"

Xiao Yan opened his eyes, filled with a rare weariness, yet his spiritual strength and Dou Qi had risen by a few more degrees.

Like an earthen pit taking in water while draining it at the same time—the more it was washed out, the bigger the pit became, and the more water it could hold.

As his mind relaxed its control, the Dou Qi diffused around his body naturally spread outward. A gust of wind whipped up from nowhere, making his clothes snap and flutter.

Without Xiao Yan's control, his body now was like a shaken bottle of cola. The Dou Qi that had seeped into his flesh swiftly returned, and the immense pressure was even enough to hinder the circulation of Dou Qi.

If it had been an ordinary person, they would have seized the chance to compress their Dou Qi and attempt a breakthrough long ago.

But unfortunately, he knew the plot...

Taking a couple more steps in the Dou Zhe stage did not mean much. Laying a solid foundation was more important than anything else.

Even the original protagonist had faced a risk of failure. What if he just so happened to fall into that unlucky percentage...

"Hm?"

Xiao Yan's expression suddenly turned strange. He clutched his abdomen, somewhat at a loss.

The Dou Qi gathered inside his body crossed its peak and began sinking into his Dantian on its own. As it spun, it compressed continuously, madly devouring the other Dou Qi.

"Huh? I broke through?"

No, wait a second—

The vortex in his Dantian spun rapidly, yet expanded slowly. The Dou Qi that had long occupied his organs and blood seemed to have stuck there; he could not peel off even a chunk of it after ages.

"I knew it..." Xiao Yan covered his face.

Seeing the newly formed vortex fluctuate nonstop, about to collapse at any moment, Xiao Yan could only sit cross-legged again and gather his Dou Qi, filling it back up.

A good deal of the Dou Qi he had just steamed out was sucked back in again...

Xiao Yan absorbed Dou Qi with a wooden expression, mechanically stuffing it inside, afraid that if he thought any more useless thoughts, he would simply throw down the burden and quit.

Becoming a Dou Zhe at eight years old was clearly such an astonishing achievement. How had it turned into this...

"Breaking through by eating rocks... now that's something."

That night, the Xiao Clan's Martial Training Field was pitch-black.

After the Coming of Age Ceremony, everyone had let loose, just like after the college entrance exams ended. Quite a few families had started celebratory banquets. Although the guys in the kitchen were so busy their feet barely touched the ground, what they earned that night was enough to make others green with envy.

Xiao Yan swaggered in through the main entrance, leaving the Steward behind him marveling at the Third Young Master's diligence.

"Creak—"

He pushed open the Testing Room. The Magic Stone Tablet used for testing during the day was lying horizontally inside the room.

Normally, this thing was kept here for everyone to test their cultivation progress. It would only be moved out and planted upright for major ceremonies.

Xiao Yan reached out and pressed his hand against the stone tablet, slowly circulating his Dou Qi.

In the end, the Dou Qi in his blood and organs still had not managed to break free. It even faintly resisted the Dantian's control.

Add in the portion that had merged into his flesh, and he could practically put together a Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"Buzz..."

Words appeared on the cold stone tablet.

"Dou Zhe: One Star"

"Uh? This thing can only test the Dou Qi Vortex?" Xiao Yan scratched his head and was just about to withdraw his hand when he saw the words on the stone tablet suddenly change.

"Dou Zhe: Five Stars"

In less than a second, the words changed again.

"Dou Zhe: Two Stars"

"Dou Zhe: Three Stars"

The surface of the Magic Stone Tablet flickered rapidly as if the signal were bad, at one point even turning into a screen full of static.

Xiao Yan: ...

The original novel had never mentioned what kind of thing this stone tablet was. He guessed it was probably a leftover issue from the old setup; in the beginning, it had most likely been intended to develop in a fantasy direction, what with dark races and the like showing up.

So this thing could just be treated as the fantasy-style Magic Power Testing Tablet.