Spirit Turtle (Seeking Collection)

"You are Su Daozhi? Come with me!"

Que'er was clad in military attire, yet she was a young woman of marriageable age, appearing to be a maidservant, but carrying a fierce, iron-blooded Sha Qi, and her martial arts were quite impressive as well.

She looked Zhong Shenxiu up and down, clicking her tongue in wonder: "Our young lady's personal guard is even more precious than some Company Commander. I don't know what she sees in you..."

She referred to Feng Xi'er only as "young lady," not as "Colonel," clearly a household servant who had followed her into the army, utterly loyal.

"Since the young lady has taken a liking to you, you are now her man. From now on, you are a personal guard. The master's orders must not be disobeyed; you must be loyal, or else you'll be cut into a thousand pieces..."

Que'er rambled on, laying out the rules for Zhong Shenxiu.

Zhong Shenxiu nodded along on the surface, but inwardly he was speechless.

Even in his past life, if you talked to people about blessings and 996 schedules, you'd have to throw in some salary and benefits too.

Talking about dreams with empty words—who were you fooling?

Fortunately, Feng Xi'er treated her subordinates quite well. After Que'er finished her last sentence, she finally handed a booklet to Zhong Shenxiu: "This is the Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique from the Ten Directions Beast Art. The young lady specially bestows it on every personal guard. It's a Xiantian Qi Refining method. If one of our young lady's personal guards isn't even Xiantian, well... that would be embarrassing."

Zhong Shenxiu's face twitched slightly.

Not Xiantian, embarrassing?

Then those martial arts grandmasters from his past life—how were they supposed to live?

"Many thanks to the young lady!"

Having no other choice, he cupped his fists and bowed.

Que'er then said smugly: "Although the Ten Directions Beast Art is widely circulated, the Qi Refining chapter within it is quite rare. You can't pass it on either, or if the young lady finds out, you won't get off easy..."

Zhong Shenxiu nodded. That was only natural.

Ordinary martial arts spread far and wide the better, but when it came to true, profound transmissions, some common martial artists might toil like oxen and horses their whole lives and never obtain them.

Those noble families, military clans, even the imperial house and cultivation sects, relied on monopolizing techniques to form their vast power structures.

In a world like this, ordinary people trying to climb up only felt despair.

"Even if you master the entire Ten Directions Beast Art, it's still just Xiantian at its peak..." Zhong Shenxiu deliberately probed, throwing out a remark.

Que'er's eyes indeed widened: "Among secular martial artists, nine out of ten are Houtian. Xiantian is already extremely impressive, let alone... the Ten Directions Beast Art is also a simplified introductory version of an immortal cultivation technique. It's extraordinary for refining tendons and forging the body, best for tempering a solid foundation. If you get a stroke of luck, even Entering the Dao isn't entirely impossible."

"Entering the Dao?"

Zhong Shenxiu's gaze flickered: "Cultivating to become an immortal, huh..."

"Don't even think about it. In this life, Xiantian is your ceiling. If you get lucky and step into the Gang Sha Realm, that's your ancestors' graves smoking with incense... As for the later Divine Abilities, Yuan Dan... and the mysterious Corpse Release Immortal realm, heh... Even in the imperial court of the empire, those kinds of immortals are treated with respect and enfeoffed as National Guardian Immortal Masters." Que'er said disdainfully.

Zhong Shenxiu smiled faintly and didn't argue.

Given his current status and position, anything he said would just be ridiculous.

Instead, the fact that this world had so many profound realms waiting for him to prove one by one made him unconsciously look forward to it.

Zhong Shenxiu then discreetly inquired further, learning that after the Ten Directions Beast Art, one needed to slaughter a large number of beasts, preferably Demonic Beasts, refine their souls into the body, and gather them into a single 'Myriad Beast True Body'!

Reaching this step broke the shackles of Xiantian and crossed into a higher cultivation realm.

Que'er only had a half-baked understanding of these matters.

As for the Divine Abilities above Gang Sha, Yuan Dan, and the several higher realms beyond, she knew even less.

Even serving a noble, she was just a maidservant and personal guard.

As for the title of Corpse Release Immortal, she had only heard it by chance.

After squeezing her dry of information, Zhong Shenxiu let Que'er leave. In his newly assigned room, he sat cross-legged and began to study the Spiritual Turtle Breathing Diagram in his hands.

This technique was a form of Qi Gong, focusing on the path of Xiantian Qi Refining.

Although it had some matching moves and dynamic exercises, the main emphasis was on regulating breath and mental state, entering the state of 'Entering Samadhi.'

This was the first hurdle of cultivation.

After Entering Samadhi, one could visualize the Spiritual Turtle Breathing Diagram, absorb the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy, and form 'Spiritual Turtle True Qi' within the Dantian.

This strand of True Qi was passable in purity and also had the effect of nourishing the body and prolonging life.

Once the True Qi was formed, it could be channeled through the meridians, traveling to open the thirty-six acupoints in the body, which exactly corresponded to the previous Spiritual Turtle Breathing Diagram.

When all thirty-six acupoints were opened one by one, this martial art would be considered fully mastered, and the practitioner would reach the Xiantian Extreme Realm.

Zhong Shenxiu read word by word, slowly pondering.

After a long while, he couldn't help but close the book and sigh: "I have to admit, a widely circulated technique in a great world has truly been tempered through countless refinements. It's far more complete than the Qi Refining method I fumbled through on my own..."

"If Xiantian is like this, I wonder how powerful the Gang Sha Realm is..."

"Compared to the Eastern cultivation system, the West seems much cruder. Though they have divisions like mages and warriors, most are ranked by class. One class roughly corresponds to the Eastern Houtian, and two classes to about Xiantian..."

"Calculating this way, the first Earl Hestings must have been at least a fifth-class Legend, otherwise he couldn't have crossed ten thousand li to establish a county here..."

Thinking this, a cold sweat broke out on Zhong Shenxiu's forehead.

If he wanted to rely on the Fufeng Protectorate to resolve this threat, ordinary secret manuals were useless.

He would at least need a true transmission pointing directly to the Yuan Dan realm, and preferably one leaning toward the ghost-controlling type.

"Thinking about it this way, it really is somewhat despairing, especially since the Blood Moon Night could come at any moment... Rather than hoping for that, it's better to think about how to earn more Heavenly Show Points and upgrade the Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment? But if there's no follow-up to the technique, forcibly Breaking Realm would require an absolutely terrifying number of Heavenly Show Points..."

Zhong Shenxiu then pondered what impact today's events would have on him, ultimately setting them all aside, calming his mind, and in an instant slipping into a state of 'Entering Samadhi.'

Ordinary people have restless thoughts and endless distracting ideas; wanting to Enter Samadhi for cultivation would take who knows how much effort.

But he, after all, had lived three lifetimes, rich in experience, and easily broke through this hurdle.

Then, he adjusted his breathing rhythm—fine and dense, continuous yet broken—while visualizing a Spiritual Turtle Breathing Diagram.

The Heaven and Earth Vital Energy rippled faintly, gathering around him as the center, and before long, a strand of Spiritual Turtle True Qi was born within his body.

This strand of True Qi was far purer than the True Qi from Xiantian Qi Gong. The moment they touched, it directly devoured all the True Qi brought by cultivating Xiantian Qi Gong, strengthening itself by another increment as it began to impact an acupoint.

'The True Qi brought by Xiantian Qi Gong is truly... weak.'

Zhong Shenxiu opened his eyes, somewhat helpless: "But after all, I haven't been cultivating for many days, and I had my True Qi devoured by a Vengeful Spirit, suffering heavy losses... The Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique is also more exquisite than Xiantian Qi Gong. Let's leave it at that."