Spiritual Qi

What he saw before him was indeed beyond Ning Qi's expectations. Even the accumulated strength of the Sword-Questioning Pavilion paled in comparison. He turned his head to look at the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan, only to see the man looking at him arrogantly.

"What about the scriptures of my True Mystery Sect?"

He chuckled, revealing his yellow teeth, and looked incredibly smug. He finally had a chance to show off in front of Ning Qi.

"You are welcome to look through the scriptures here. If you wish, you can even stay here afterward. However, I'm already a bit tired of reading them. If there's anything you're looking for, just tell me."

Ning Qi laughed:

"Can you really watch anything?"

"Of course! In the True Profound Sect, my word is absolutely my bond!"

Hearing such bold words, Ning Qi couldn't help but glance at him.

If the newly ascended Celestial Person of Bai Shan could utter such bold words, there is only one explanation: he is of very high seniority and status.

Ning Qi nodded, without being polite:

"Does your True Mystery Sect have any records regarding the Martial Saint?"

The previously smug old Bai Shan priest from Baishan suddenly froze.

Ning Qi's interest waned considerably.

"No?"

"Not really, it's just that young Ning, your cultivation level is still far from that stage at such a young age. Don't be too ambitious." A hint of inquiry flashed in his eyes, but he quickly covered it up with a chuckle.

Ning Qi casually opened a Daoist scripture:

"Martial arts should be pursued with ambition; I'm curious."

The old Daoist priest Bai Shan said nothing more and led Ning Qi straight to the top floor.

The higher one goes, the fewer scriptures there are, but Ning Qi knew that these must be the essence of the scriptures, which would not be easily revealed to the outside world. He secretly marveled at the Zhenxuan Sect, which had a long Inheritance.

The old Daoist priest from Bai Shan patted the white jade bookshelf containing more than a dozen Ancient Books books and said with a smirk:

"Here, all the records about the Martial Saint are. Take a look for yourself."

As he spoke, he lay back on the Daoist altar beside him, staring blankly at the ceiling, as if he were back home.

A hint of joy appeared in Ning Qi's eyes; this was truly an unexpected delight.

He reached out and picked up an Ancient Books, slowly turning the pages. A sense of weight and solidity immediately washed over him.

The first line of text gave him a jolt:

"The power of heaven and earth is called Spiritual Qi, and the path to becoming Martial Saint is to refine Spiritual Qi into one's body and gain many profound insights."

Spiritual Qi?

This was the first time he had heard of such a claim. The Ancient Books he had previously acquired were mostly fragmentary records, but this one seemed to be very detailed, and its opening gave him a different kind of shock.

Ning Qi couldn't help but look at the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan, only to see that the other party didn't care at all and had already entered a state of reverie.

Ning Qi forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart and continued looking down.

"Martial Saint is one who transcends the mortal realm and enters sainthood! How does one attain sainthood? The key lies in Spiritual Qi. Those at the Celestial Person Realm can only perceive Spiritual Qi and barely resonate with Spiritual Qi, but it's like a child trying to swing a sledgehammer—they cannot grasp its profound mysteries..."

"The power of Martial Saint possesses extraordinary spirituality, capable of unparalleled slaughter, capable of burning mountains and boiling seas, and can also extend its Inheritance, remaining immortal for a thousand years."

"..."

Without realizing it.

He entered a state of enlightenment.

He looked at it very carefully, pausing from time to time to think it over.

I don't know how much time has passed.

As Ning Qi finished flipping through the last Ancient Books, he subconsciously continued turning the pages, only to realize that he had reached the last page. His eyes were filled with a sense of lingering interest.

"That's it?" He sighed deeply, speaking instinctively.

The old Bai Shan priest beside him, who had somehow regained consciousness, chuckled.

"This is already pretty good!"

Ning Qi nodded slowly.

That's true. Indeed, having these is already quite good. It's no exaggeration to say that these Ancient Books are more numerous and more detailed than all the ones he had obtained before. But Ning Qi was still itching to get his hands on them.

That's really true.

These Ancient Books all end abruptly, often disappearing at the most crucial moment, or only touching upon the surface and inner workings.

For example, some Ancient Books mention that the power of heaven and earth is called Spiritual Qi, and the key to the path of the Martial Saint is to refine Spiritual Qi, but how to refine Spiritual Qi is not explained in detail.

For example, some Ancient Books mention how terrifying the combat power of Martial Saint is, and even describe the battle scenes. However, when it comes to the specific core descriptions of the Martial Saint, they are all omitted or replaced with other unrelated terms.

This left Ning Qi feeling somewhat like he was scratching an itch through a boot.

Ning Qi looked at the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan:

"I have a feeling that the authors of these Ancient Books did this on purpose, making sure the stories were vague and ambiguous. Why is that?"

He increasingly felt that the old Daoist priest of Bai Shan was no ordinary person, and perhaps knew some secrets.

But the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan simply shrugged:

"How would I know? These books have been around for a long time. Perhaps you'll know when you reach that level. I've told you before that it's not a good thing to try to peek into that level beforehand, lest you suffer setbacks and start overthinking."

Ning Qi laughed:

"You've only just stepped into the Celestial Person Realm, and you're probably still a long way from the Martial Saint. You've probably read these books more than once."

The old Daoist priest from Bai Shan sat up abruptly.

"That's different. I've been accumulating knowledge and experience for a long time, and I might just reach the Martial Saint soon. How about it? If you switch allegiance to my True Profound Sect now, you'll still have one last chance to board the big ship!"

He looked at Ning Qi expectantly.

Ning Qi chuckled to himself.

He simply shook his head slightly, then looked at the Ancient Books in his hand, and out of consideration for these Ancient Books, refrained from making any sarcastic remarks.

It has to be said.

These Ancient Books are quite useful.

Although these events all seemed to end abruptly, and might only broaden the horizons of others, Ning Qi, with his Ning Qi intuition, could deduce something useful from even the slightest clue.

"The extraordinary spirituality of Martial Saint's power cannot be a characteristic of the Martial Saint itself, but rather a characteristic inherent in Spiritual Qi. However, when I sense Spiritual Qi now, I cannot detect it. Does this mean that the changes in the world that day weakened the spirituality of Spiritual Qi energy?"

"Since it can be weakened, can the Spiritual Qi within spiritual energy be extracted separately?"

Ning Qi then thought of another direction.

He gradually fell into deep thought.

"Furthermore, the 'Three Flowers Gathering at the Top' refers to the Celestial Person Realm. What then is the 'Five Qi Converging at the Origin' mentioned in one of the Ancient Books? Could it be the profound mystery within the Martial Saint?"

The old Daoist priest from Bai Shan was somewhat exasperated when he saw that Ning Qi ignored Ning Qi. However, he was also secretly amazed to see how engrossed Ning Qi was. He was naturally very familiar with these Ancient Books, and ordinary people probably wouldn't even be able to understand them, but Ning Qi was seriously studying them.

"This kid Ning is even more formidable than I imagined!" He gradually became more concerned.

His curiosity grew stronger, and for the first time, he tried his best to understand Ning Qi's background.

In an instant.

The clouds and mist parted.

To his astonishment, what was revealed was not a mountain peak, but a mountain range of overlapping peaks. He couldn't tell which of these peaks was Ning Qi's true form.

"This..." The old Daoist priest from Bai Shan gradually became cautious.

Although he has only recently awakened his innate wisdom and his power has not fully recovered, he is still undoubtedly at the pinnacle of the world. Yet now, he cannot see through an eleven-year-old child. Before, he was just sensing casually, but now he is using his full strength, which makes a completely different difference.

"Could it really be some old monster deliberately making fun of me?" he couldn't help but wonder.

But then he shook his head.

People like them share a similar aura that is impossible to conceal.

"Could it be part of that old tortoise's scheme?" The old Daoist priest from Bai Shan thought of another possibility.

Only he knew that the True Martial Inheritance was not so simple.

When he invited Ning Qi and Daoist Longshan, there was one thing he didn't tell Baihe True Person and the others: the True Martial Inheritance lineage, in fact, is even older than the Zhenxuan Sect, only its Inheritance was interrupted in the middle.

After awakening his innate wisdom, he intercepted some of the True Martial Sect's intelligence and realized that his guess was correct.

The invitation to Ning Qi and his companion was also intended as a covert observation.

However, he originally thought that Daoist Longshan had only obtained part of the True Martial Inheritance by chance, since Daoist Longshan's performance was not particularly outstanding.

However, the extraordinary nature he sensed from Ning Qi now made him reconsider his previous assumptions.

"That old tortoise has lived too long; nobody knows what he's plotting. Perhaps Daoist Longshan isn't his chosen Inheritance, and Ning Qi is? But that shouldn't be the case... If Ning Qi is his chosen Inheritance, then he should have some understanding of the Martial Saint realm..."

For a time, the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan had no idea about Ning Qi's background.

He plans to observe for a longer period of time.

Seeing Ning Qi close the High Antiquity, he hurriedly leaned closer, his face beaming.

"Young Ning, would you like to read more Ancient Books Daoist scriptures?"

Ning Qi nodded.

"Alright, after my Celestial Person Ceremony concludes, shall we visit other Daoist sects?" Old Bai Shan winked.

After pondering for a moment, Ning Qi slowly nodded.

He wasn't the mastermind behind it all, and if anything really went wrong, he'd turn to Old Bai Shan. There's always someone taller to hold up the sky. He'd gotten a lot of information about the Martial Saint from the True Profound Sect's collection of books, and he wanted to see if other Daoist sects had such rich and profound collections.

However, my main reason for wanting to know more about the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan is to find out more about him.

This was the first person in a long time whom he couldn't see through.

Seeing Ning Qi agree, the old Daoist from Bai Shan beamed with joy and did several somersaults.

"Then it's a deal!"

Ning Qi couldn't help but chuckle.

The next two days.

Under the guidance of the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan, Ning Qi explored almost all of the forbidden areas of the True Profound Sect.

The Sutra Repository, the Treasure Pavilion, the Armory of Divine Weapons, the Garden of spirit medicine...

He did indeed see many good things during that time, which made Ning Qi admire the True Profound Sect's profound resources. However, he couldn't help but feel strange. This old Daoist from Bai Shan really acted without any taboos. Sometimes he wondered if this was Bai Shan's doing, just to show off the True Profound Sect's resources in front of him, hoping to sway him to "abandon darkness and embrace light".

besides.

Ning Qi had mentioned the True Mystery True Lord a few times out of curiosity, but the old Bai Shan seemed unimpressed and showed no respect in his words, which made Ning Qi even more surprised by the old Bai Shan's identity.

This person must be the living ancestor of the True Mystery Sect, which is why they can act so willfully.

After all, they've been quite conspicuous these past few days, so it's impossible that the higher-ups of the True Profound Sect weren't aware of it at all.

He seemed to be deep in thought.

But there's no rush.

Over two days.

More and more martial arts sects arrived, including many top-tier Daoist sects, all of whom sent Celestial Person Realm experts to provide support. The True Profound Mountain became increasingly lively, and even Daoist Longshan restrained his disciples from causing trouble.

Fortunately, with the True Mystery Sect mediating, there weren't any major problems.

On the contrary, many people took the initiative to find the True Martial Sect's guesthouse to make friends, their words full of respect for Heavenly Sword Real Person.

This day.

The Celestial Person Ceremony was finally held as scheduled.

Such a grand event also stirred up countless waves in Daozhou. In particular, the Zhenxuan Sect did not intend to keep a low profile this time. Therefore, a large number of martial artists gathered at the foot of Zhenxuan Mountain. However, the foundation of Zhenxuan Mountain was much deeper than that of the True Martial Sect back then, enough to accommodate many martial artists.

On Zhenxuan Mountain, crowds thronged.

Powerful auras filled the air, and there were nearly thirty Celestial Person Realm experts. Unlike the previous Celestial Person Ceremony of Daoist Longshan, where several Celestial Person Realm made their grand entrances, these Celestial Person Realm were all sitting properly in advance.

The True Martial Sect members sat in the front row, and the disciples were all amazed, for such a grand event was extremely rare.

Once everyone was seated...

Then, Master Bai Ye, the leader of the True Person Mystery Sect, stood in mid-air, smiling and cupping his hands in greeting.

"You have all traveled a long way to attend the Celestial Person Ceremony for my senior brother, the True Person of Bai Shan. The True Mystery Sect is deeply grateful!"

Everyone responded with a smile.

The old Daoist priest from Bai Shan took the main seat.

Today, the old Daoist of Bai Shan was completely different from the one Ning Qi usually saw. His purple Daoist robe made him look majestic, and his demeanor was somewhat ethereal. The three True Person beside him, Bai Xiang, Bai Ye, and Bai He, were completely overshadowed, which amazed everyone.

Ning Qi remained silent, because the old Daoist priest from Bai Shan's occasional glances always revealed a lewd undertone, instantly shattering his suave demeanor.

"The Celestial Person Ceremony officially begins!"

As True Person Baiye finished speaking...

One by one, the disciples of the True Mystery Sect filed out, their swords flashing, exuding an extraordinary aura.

This is a gift to congratulate True Person Bai Shan.

Many guests observed carefully, marveling at their skills. The True Profound Sect was never one to be high-profile, but they hadn't expected their disciples to be so formidable. Disciples from various sects secretly began to compete with them.

As each step of the process went by, the crowd applauded and praised from time to time.

The guests and hosts enjoyed themselves immensely.

Then came the gift-giving segment.

Ning Qi sighed slightly. Three years ago, when his master held the Celestial Person Ceremony, the gifts were incredibly diverse. At that time, he thought it was already quite impressive. But after seeing the Celestial Person Ceremony of the Bai Shan Daoist today, he realized what it meant to be a mere amateur compared to a superhuman. Those gifts were truly dazzling.

The difference in their underlying strengths was on full display at this moment.

Items like the Thousand-Year Jade King Ginseng and Deep-Sea Cold Iron are all rare treasures.

soon.

Then they arrived at the True Martial Sect.

The Daoist Longshan smiled and presented the congratulatory gift.

It contains a tea for enlightenment and a set of exquisite tea utensils obtained from the Demon Sect Sect's treasury.

This immediately attracted many astonished glances.

They had only thought that although the True Martial Sect had been gaining momentum recently, it was ultimately lacking in foundation. They never expected that it would produce such a rare treasure as the Enlightenment Tea. For a moment, everyone looked at the True Martial Sect with even greater respect.

True Person Baihe seemed to be deep in thought.

He vaguely remembered that during the Celestial Person Ceremony of the Daoist Longshan, the old ancestor Wang Quan gave him a seed of the Enlightenment Tea Tree.

"Could it have survived? I remember it was almost a dead seed." He was somewhat shocked, and he realized even more the significance of it. If the True Martial Sect really had a living Enlightenment Tea Tree, it would truly be a pillar of the sect.

His gaze toward Daoist Longshan was even more benevolent.

Various sects sent their congratulatory gifts.

But not many.

Only those at the Celestial Person Realm are qualified to present congratulatory gifts on such occasions; other experts at the Gang Essence Realm are simply not qualified to show their faces.

After the last Celestial Person Realm finished presenting their congratulatory gift...

The White True Person slowly rose, smiling and cupping his hands in greeting:

"Thank you all for your congratulatory gifts. Having nothing to repay you with, I would like to invite you to listen to our insights on the Celestial Person!"

Given the scale of the True Mystery Sect, it's not just Old Daoist Bai Shan giving a sermon; several other True Person are also present. This is to build momentum. Many other Celestial Person Realm cultivators are also here for True Person Bai True Person, whose strength is extremely remarkable.

Everyone was filled with anticipation.

But as soon as the White Elephant True Person finished speaking, a grand voice rang out from afar:

"Master White True Person, please don't be hasty! There are still congratulatory gifts from Great Enlightenment Temple that haven't been delivered yet!"

Everyone's expressions turned strange.

Great Enlightenment Temple?

Isn't that a Buddhist force? How come they're suddenly at the True Mystery Sect's Celestial Person Ceremony?