Beginning Qi Refinement

"House Yan? The House Yan where Zhang Tie Zhu went to open up wasteland?" Li Ji'an had heard of House Yan.

He wanted to tell Chen Qingling that unless there was a major conflict of interest or an overwhelming gap in strength, adults of sound mind in a world where everyone had truth in their own hands wouldn't start pointless conflicts as irrationally as children like them.

Chen Zhao'hu was a mid-stage first-tier body cultivator. Even a sixth-level Qi Refinement cultivator had to be wary of letting him get close.

"You're underestimating your big brother's strength!" In the end, he didn't explain much more.

After this little incident, Chen Qingling no longer felt like taking Li Ji'an around the market. He led him straight back to the training grounds on the eastern edge, near the market's outskirts.

The so-called training grounds were actually a section of rental housing laid out by the market's administrators, specially intended for rogue cultivators without a foundation like Chen Qingling.

The closer one got to the spiritual vein's core area in the west, the denser the spiritual energy became. The farther away, the thinner it was.

The rent at the training grounds varied accordingly.

A private courtyard in the innermost area cost at least three hundred spirit stones a year. Chen Qingling's neighborhood, on the other hand, cost around ten spirit stones a year. It wasn't a private courtyard, though, but a row of two-story townhouses, with one household per unit.

As luck would have it, there was a vacant room above Chen Qingling's. Li Ji'an rented it.

"Luckily, Chen Zhao'hu gave me ten spirit stones. Otherwise, the pressure would've been a little too much. These twenty-four spirit stones should just about cover what I've planned for the coming year." Sitting alone in his room, Li Ji'an sorted and budgeted his spirit stones, then smiled and nodded.

Early the next morning, Li Ji'an dragged Chen Qingling along to the northern street's stall area.

First, he needed to choose a cultivation method.

He didn't dare hope for a middle-grade method like the one Chen Qingling practiced. Chen Zhao'hu had said he'd spent a full fifty spirit stones buying it from a customer—and it even had a spiritual soul restriction, so only Chen Qingling could practice it.

"Once you choose a cultivation method, someone like us has no chance to regret it. You won't get another chance to start over, so choosing carefully matters. Of course... in your case, there's no need to make it so complicated. You can only practice a fire-element method anyway." Though clearly reluctant, Chen Qingling still brought Li Ji'an to the stalls. When he learned Li Ji'an wanted to buy a cultivation method, he earnestly explained a few things to keep in mind.

"No chance to regret it?" The corners of Li Ji'an's mouth curled into a faint smile.

It didn't matter in this life. As long as he could get a basic understanding of cultivation and accumulate some experience for his next life, that would count as success.

It didn't matter what method he practiced. He could treat it as an experience.

Besides, Chen Qingling was right. Only his fire spiritual root sensed two strands of spiritual resonance; all the others sensed just one. There was no need to agonize over it.

He'd try a fire-element method in this life.

"Fellow Daoist, don't go! Take a look at our magical artifacts, won with our lives as we braved a strange secret realm. They're genuine high-grade goods..."

"Don't miss out as you pass by! These talisman papers were washed and prepared with a secret technique by young ladies in the prime of their youth. They're guaranteed to increase a talisman master's success rate by thirty percent."

"Secret-recipe Grain Abstinence Pills, prepared using an ancient method and made with top-grade spirit rice. They don't just ward off hunger—they replenish spiritual energy too."

As soon as they entered the stall area, calls rang out without end. There were also people bargaining, swearing oaths, sneering, and cursing. The place was a sea of voices.

The not-so-wide street teemed with people and bustled with activity.

"How much are you planning to spend on a cultivation method?" Chen Qingling asked.

Li Ji'an waved a hand indifferently. "I'll look around first. If nothing works out, I'll just buy a copy of the Nine Yang Art."

The Nine Yang Art and several other cultivation methods were among the most common in this world. Aside from their slower cultivation efficiency and the weaker magical power they refined, the main reason was that they'd been spread too widely and no longer had any commercial value.

Those who sold them now only earned the labor fee for imprinting the method and the cost of the jade talisman's materials.

"Think it through. Once you've started practicing a method, you can't switch." Chen Qingling reminded him again.

Li Ji'an nodded.

Chen Qingling pursed his lips and couldn't be bothered to say more. He led Li Ji'an straight to a stall covered in jade talismans imprinted with cultivation methods.

"This person specializes in imprinting cultivation methods. Apart from those few common ones, there's no guarantee the other random methods are genuine."

Li Ji'an took his advice and didn't entertain any fantasies of finding a bargain. He decisively bought only the Nine Yang Art, for five liang of spirit sand.

When Li Ji'an took the jade talisman, Chen Qingling turned to leave.

"Wait. Take me to find somewhere that sells pills, too." Li Ji'an called out to him.

The Hundred Arts of cultivation were pills, artifacts, talismans, and formations.

Pills came first because no cultivator in this world could do without them.

If you lacked spiritual energy, you needed Qi Replenishing Pills. To speed up the condensation of magical power, you needed Qi Condensing Pills. If you didn't want to eat, you needed Grain Abstinence Pills... To break through a bottleneck, you needed Breakthrough Pills, and Foundation Establishment required Foundation Establishment Pills.

They were also the biggest consumable expense for cultivators.

"You want to buy pills too?" Chen Qingling was surprised and somewhat resistant. He had been trying hard to suppress the urge to buy pills lately. He'd used up too many pills recently and could clearly feel the pressure on Chen Zhao'hu.

So he wanted to try going without pills, relying on time and effort instead.

"Just getting a feel for things in advance," Li Ji'an replied.

Having just arrived in the Cultivation World, with no one to rely on, he couldn't be a full-time Martial Artist like he had been in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty. Becoming an alchemist was naturally the best choice.

It so happened that he was practicing a fire-element cultivation method and could refine Alchemy Fire.

Alchemy in this world couldn't be done with ordinary firewood. It required Alchemy Fire, which greatly raised the barrier to becoming an alchemist.

Chen Qingling impatiently bit his lip. In the end, though, he still took Li Ji'an to the stall where he had always bought pills.

"Oh, little Daoist, it's been a while! The usual?" Seeing Chen Qingling, the stall owner greeted him with a smile and picked up a white jade porcelain bottle.

"N-no, I don't need any pills for now." Chen Qingling gave an awkward smile and hurriedly waved his hand.

Li Ji'an ignored him, squatted down, and asked about the pills at the stall one by one.

"Low-grade Qi Replenishing Pills, five liang of spirit sand each; Qi Condensing Pills, eight liang each; Spirit Condensing Pills, ten liang each..."

Fortunately, the stall owner had Chen Qingling's endorsement, so he patiently answered Li Ji'an's questions.

He also chatted with him, sharing a few tricks of the pill trade.

That night, following the advice Chen Qingling had shared about beginning Qi Refinement, Li Ji'an tried practicing the Nine Yang Art for the first time.

"The five-element spiritual energies are mixed together throughout heaven and earth. To practice a fire-element method, you have to sense fire-element spiritual energy and absorb it into your body as the method instructs. The Blazing Spirit Art I practice needs only three cycles to refine it into magical power.

"But the Nine Yang Art you're practicing needs five cycles.

"At the beginning, though, the hard part isn't refining the energy. It's understanding the cultivation method.

"You have to grasp how the spiritual energy circulates once it enters your body.

"One complete circulation is a cycle.

"From the first time I encountered the method to completing one full cycle, it took me just one day. As for you... don't rush. Completing a cycle within three days would already be pretty good." Seeing Li Ji'an begin circulating the method and absorbing spiritual energy, Chen Qingling continued explaining the problems he might encounter and what the normal process looked like.

However, before he could finish speaking,

Li Ji'an slowly opened his eyes.

"Was that one complete cycle? Spiritual energy entering the body really is wondrous..."