Dao Practitioner

Yu Ziqing felt that he was still too young.

He had never considered this possibility. Last time Old Yang joked with him, casually saying he had four stomachs and wasn't afraid of bursting from eating too little. Back then, Yu Ziqing had secretly marveled at how dangerous this world was—a Heretical Shepherd, skilled in the Art of Beast Creation, could actually alter the structure of a person's internal organs.

With insufficient knowledge, he naturally had no reason to doubt.

But now he realized that a method capable of directly transforming the very essence of a life form was far beyond what ordinary Art of Beast Creation could achieve.

The danger level of this world was still within his understanding, for now.

The moment this thought surfaced, he felt young again, falling into the trap of using his own knowledge to define things he couldn't comprehend.

Understanding, my ass!

Completely incomprehensible.

He was certain that Old Yang had never cultivated before—he was just an ordinary person, at most nimble in his limbs and sharp in mind.

Add to that his vast knowledge and wide-ranging expertise.

Even though Yu Ziqing was now practicing boxing with the not-so-ordinary ordinary man Er Han, his body growing stronger, with a distinctly non-human ordinary person right in front of him.

Yu Ziqing still couldn't understand how Old Yang had done it.

How had he gone from a victim of the Art of Beast Creation to actually becoming a goat, with his life form completely transformed?

And more importantly, how dared he, and why was he willing to do this?

Old Yang saw Yu Ziqing's shock and confusion. He stood up, extended a hoof, and patted Yu Ziqing on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, this is already the best outcome. The old me could only start over by dying. From the moment I told you to call me Old Yang, I had already made my decision. Now, there is only Old Yang."

"I..."

"You don't need to ask."

Yu Ziqing had just opened his mouth when Old Yang cut him off.

"I know you want to know why, but even in Jinlan Village, I dare not speak. The reasons, at least for now, I dare not reveal. Don't you want to cultivate? I can teach you some things now."

Old Yang awkwardly changed the subject. Yu Ziqing fell silent, forcing himself not to ask. He knew that if Old Yang said he dared not speak, and had chosen to become a goat to escape, then revealing it would surely bring great danger.

"There are many paths of cultivation in this world, and countless methods. First, choose your path, then choose your method. Qi Refining practitioners are the most numerous and orthodox. 'Qi-Eaters are Divine and Long-lived'—Qi Refining cultivators have the longest lifespans, naturally attracting the most followers. Body Refining practitioners are fewer in number. Their bodies are like Black Iron and refined steel, undecaying even in death, with many divine abilities, like demon beasts or barbarian tribes. Spirit Refining practitioners are fewer still. Their methods are mysterious and unpredictable, hard to guard against. Even if they fall, they have a chance to start over. These three are the most common. After that come various niche paths, too numerous to list, and most are connected to the first three. You can learn about them later when you have the chance."

"What about Dao Practitioners?" Yu Ziqing asked. He had heard this term many times before.

Even the heretics of the Wasteland knew that the Dao Practitioners of Great Qian held a very high status and were troublesome, especially those from Langya Academy.

"Dao Practitioners are all mortals. Or rather, no matter what they were before or what they will become, right now they are mortals."

"Mortals?"

This answer caught Yu Ziqing off guard.

"That's right, mortals." Old Yang chuckled.

"Just as no two leaves in the world are identical, people are the same. Even twin brothers born of the same mother are different. There is no scripture or cultivation method in this world that is completely and perfectly suited to any one person. What are called scriptures and methods are merely paths pointed out by predecessors for those who come after. The one who truly walks the path is yourself. This inevitably creates a flaw that most overlook. When you reach a certain height, it becomes an insurmountable chasm. Because the path you've taken is already behind you, and you can never go back. Many, many years ago, a man reached the peak, only to find the road ahead blocked. No amount of heavenly treasures could help. In despair, he dispersed his cultivation, shattered his true body, and annihilated his soul. Yet, unexpectedly, he didn't die. He was cast down and became a mortal. This time, he didn't rush into Qi Refining. Instead, as a mortal, he first cultivated Dao cultivation, studying everything. Until he was eight hundred and thirty years old, when no spiritual medicine could extend his life and his lifespan was completely exhausted, he still hadn't even begun the Hundred Day Foundation Building of Qi Refining. At that moment, he fused all his past experiences with a lifetime of research, achieved enlightenment in a single day, and opened a new path for himself and for future cultivators. He absorbed Qi in one breath, advanced one realm per day. After twelve days, he laughed three times, turned into a rainbow, and chased the sun away. And that was the beginning of Dao Practitioners."

"What was this senior's name?" Yu Ziqing asked with reverence. A figure of such magnitude—the legendary kind who cheats the system—you couldn't even see their back. Saying "truly impressive" would only diminish them.

"We later generations respectfully call him the True Immortal Dao Beginning, the origin of all Dao Practitioners.

After that, among the cultivators, some made no further progress, so they followed in the footsteps of their predecessors, scattering their cultivation and killing themselves, seeking to start over. No one knows how many seniors fell because of this. Gradually, some methods began to be summarized, and finally, a few succeeded.

Then, everyone understood that the safest method was to start as a mortal—first cultivate Dao cultivation, then perform Qi absorption.

With sufficient Dao cultivation, when you clearly understand how you want to walk the path of cultivation, entering Dao in one go and absorbing Qi into your body will be like splitting bamboo. The path of Qi Refining will have no bottlenecks or obstacles whatsoever. In just a few months, you can leap across several stages without any lingering consequences.

Unfortunately, though that's the theory, those willing to settle down and study, to comprehend the Dao, and to cultivate Dao cultivation are ultimately in the minority.

After all, a Dao Practitioner who has not yet entered Dao remains a mortal. Without a protector or any means of self-defense, they are extremely easy to kill. Among the Dao Practitioners of Great Qian, some rarely even leave Langya Academy."

Yu Ziqing pondered this for a moment, figuring it was roughly like leveling up first without allocating stat points. Your level goes up, but all your attributes are still pathetic. Then, when you're sure what class you want to specialize in, you switch directly and allocate your points, wasting none of them.

So, at the same level, you should be stronger.

"Alright, don't worry about this for now. Whatever needs to be taught, I'll teach you. Anyway, here you can't refine Qi except for nurturing your body. When you've made up your mind later, we'll talk about which path to take.

I'm tired and need to rest. You go out first."

Old Yang cut off Yu Ziqing's train of thought and shooed him out.

Actually, Yu Ziqing still wanted to ask a lot of things. For example, could he first cultivate one stage of Dao cultivation, then refine Qi and practice, and later cultivate Dao cultivation again? Could he first train to level ten, then switch class and allocate points—and after switching, could he no longer level up? Or would insufficient leveling cause problems later?

He had too little knowledge to understand. Anyway, after so many years of continuous refinement, it was still like this, so there must be a reason.

He regarded Langya Academy as a sci-fi version of an academy of sciences. Those people there always knew more than he did about professional matters.

Walking out of the Earth Den and arriving at the earlier celebration site, most of the people had already left.

The trade was over. Yu Ziqing saw many people had received new tools. Some had gotten warm clothes, and there were even several new large pots. Everyone looked quite happy.

They probably didn't care about the preciousness of the Jinlan Ore. After all, you couldn't eat it, wear it, or use it.

Of course, Yu Ziqing guessed that the traded items definitely weren't limited to these worthless things. For instance, the Molten Millet Cake he'd seen before—its raw materials must have been traded from outside.

There was nothing similar in the village.

Those raw materials, even in Great Qian, probably weren't cheap or easy to come by.

Just as Yu Ziqing walked over, Er Han popped up from who knows where and pulled him away.

"Young Master Yu, Grandpa is looking for you."

"What's the matter?"

"Come with me."

Er Han led Yu Ziqing all the way to the village entrance.

When they arrived, he saw the two brothers who had secretly dug Old Yang out earlier, tied up tightly and thrown on the ground. Beside them stood several burly, fierce-looking villagers.

The Village Chief leaned on his cane, his face cold as he stared ahead of the village.

"Village Chief." Yu Ziqing cupped his hands in greeting. By now, he had calmed down and wasn't shouting for blood the moment he saw those two brothers.

The Village Chief turned around, a faint smile and an apologetic look appearing on his face.

"Young Master Yu, someone in the village broke the rules. I failed to keep them in line. Today, I called you here to bear witness and to vent your anger for you."

The two on the ground struggled to say something, but their mouths were stuffed full. The sallow-faced man's terrified face had turned green, while the other glared fiercely, as if wanting to say something.

They hadn't even fully understood the village's rules before daring to do such a thing.

Colluding with outsiders to harm someone in the village was the gravest of taboos. Even though this rule hadn't been broken in many years and was almost forgotten by some, anyone who wasn't stupid and had stayed in the village this long should have understood it.

"Young Master Yu, do you want to hear what they have to say?" the Village Chief asked again.

"No need. I don't really want to hear it, and I know what they'll say."

What could they say?

Just that they were tricked by An Yue, deeply regretted it, begged not to be killed, claimed An Yue made them do it, that An Yue would take them away, blah blah blah...

What else could there be?

How stupid. Yu Ziqing was very sure that An Yue would never say anything like that, would never take them away, and wouldn't even spare them a second glance.

The Village Chief nodded approvingly and waved at the burly men nearby.

Those men, who seemed to have been waiting impatiently with fire in their eyes, picked up the two without a word, carried them to the village entrance, and threw them straight into the locust tree forest.

The thick layer of fallen leaves in the locust tree forest was like quicksand. With a rustling sound, it slowly swallowed the struggling two, bit by bit. In no time at all, the locust tree forest returned to its deathly silence.

The group turned and left. Yu Ziqing understood in his heart why the Village Chief had done this.

It was to reassure Yu Ziqing.

It was a statement: You are one of us, and among the most important of our own.

No matter what the Village Chief had known or guessed before, it didn't matter now.

From today on, Old Yang was just a sheep. Not only could no one mention that Old Yang was once human, even guessing at it was a grave taboo in the village. Those who did would have no right to be buried in the back mountain after death, their status even lower than someone who stole White Meat.