Qi Refining, First Level

Staring at Li Ji'an, especially at the calm, unruffled expression that seemed as though it would never change, Chen Qingling's lips curled into a cold sneer. He had finally found a chance to get under Li Ji'an's skin.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"I already told you, I can only complete one cycle a day."

"You need to face reality. You have only two strands of Fire Spiritual Aura Sensitivity, and you're already thirty. On top of that, you're cultivating the Nine Yang Art. Wake up, Uncle Li!"

Li Ji'an ignored him and focused on sensing the effects of circulating spiritual energy through one cycle in his body.

"Spiritual energy refines the body, though not as effectively as nourishing it with vital blood."

"It tempers the soul too."

"What exactly is the spiritual energy of heaven and earth? Where does it come from? It's truly wondrous..."

Having grasped the role spiritual energy played in cultivation, Li Ji'an calmed his mind once more and continued with a second cycle, hoping to complete the transformation of spiritual energy into magical power as quickly as possible.

Chen Qingling had been hoping to see a disappointed look on Li Ji'an's face. When Li Ji'an completely ignored his taunts, his face flushed with irritation. But this time, as he carefully sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy while Li Ji'an circulated his cultivation art a second time, he suddenly realized that Li Ji'an had actually completed a full cycle.

"You... you... you—" A breath caught in his chest, and he broke into a coughing fit.

After completing the second cycle, Li Ji'an looked up at him. "There's no need to be surprised. Your brother should have told you that my body-tempering skills are pretty good too. That's because my comprehension is decent."

"Comprehension..." Chen Qingling swallowed, clearly unconvinced.

"I wasn't surprised. I just... Hmph, so what if your comprehension is good? What matters during Qi Refining is accumulating magical power. You have a poor spiritual root, and you're old. Those are facts. Even if you comprehend the cultivation art a little faster, so what? You'll understand the difference between us once you actually start refining magical power."

With that, he stormed out in a huff.

Li Ji'an silently nodded, agreeing with him.

He knew his own limits.

"This is the source of energy for releasing spells and displaying divine abilities..."

Sure enough, after circulating his cultivation art for five cycles, he sensed nearly a hundred times as much spiritual energy, yet refined less than one percent of it into magical power. At last, he truly understood what Chen Zhao'hu and the others meant when they spoke of having poor spiritual roots and feeling hopeless about cultivation.

Based on what he knew of others' experiences, ordinary Low-grade Spiritual Roots could refine at least around five percent of the spiritual energy into magical power.

As for him, he managed only one percent, and even that fell a little short.

But instead of feeling hopeless, he was filled with anticipation.

"It won't be long before I become the kind of immortal I'd once dreamed of. Spells..."

He immediately threw himself back into cultivation, forgetting to eat and sleep.

Over the next few days, he had Chen Qingling take him around the market to familiarize him with the stalls selling Spirit Rice, spirit flour, and demonic beast meat—all daily necessities. There were also talismans, such as Dust Purification Talismans and Heart Calming Talismans...

But most of it was of no use to him for the time being, and he couldn't afford it anyway. He bought only a little Spirit Rice and spirit flour.

Spirit Rice and spirit flour could replenish a small amount of spiritual energy, putting it directly into the body and skipping the step of absorbing it from heaven and earth. He only needed to refine it, making them very useful for improving cultivation efficiency.

But at ten taels of Spirit Sand per dou, he couldn't afford to eat them at every meal. He could only have a serving once every ten days or half a month.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. During that time, Li Ji'an had barely left his room. Aside from sleeping and eating, he spent all his time circulating his cultivation art to absorb and refine spiritual energy.

One day, while eating, Li Ji'an heard that Chen Qingling had gone out again.

He couldn't help shaking his head.

His brother worked so hard to create an environment for him to cultivate in, yet he didn't seem to appreciate it.

Over the past month, Li Ji'an had seen clearly that Chen Qingling probably cultivated for no more than two shichen a day.

Compared with his own ten shichen of cultivation every day, that was simply wasting time.

Still, he didn't interfere in other people's business. Everyone had to take responsibility for their own actions.

Another five months passed. That day, Li Ji'an examined his dantian and "saw" the final spot on its inner wall suffused with magical power. He opened his eyes in delight.

"Qi Refining, first level!"

The result genuinely surprised him.

Chen Qingling had nine strands of Fire Spiritual Aura Sensitivity and cultivated a mid-grade art, yet it had taken him four months to reach the first level of Qi Refining.

But Li Ji'an had reached it in just six months.

"Nine strands of Fire Spiritual Aura Sensitivity give him at least fifty percent better refinement efficiency than my two. Add in his mid-grade cultivation art, and that gives him another ten or twenty percent..."

He had already prepared himself for the possibility that it might take two years to reach the first level of Qi Refining.

From the beginning, he had planned to spend half a year experiencing the process of Qi Refining, then find work and make a living here.

He hadn't expected... such a pleasant surprise!

"Could it be that the Heavenly Dao rewards diligence even in cultivation?"

"Did I catch up to him simply because I cultivate five times as long each day?"

"No!"

The next moment, Li Ji'an realized something was wrong.

He remembered that when Chen Qingling had reached the first level of Qi Refining the previous year and become a true Qi Refining cultivator, Chen Zhao'hu and several other Qi Refining cultivators had praised him to the skies. They had even said Chen Zhao'hu's efforts on Chen Qingling's behalf had been worthwhile.

That was enough to show that Chen Qingling's progress—reaching the first level in four months—matched his talent and the mid-grade cultivation art he practiced.

"Is the problem with me?" Li Ji'an wondered, uncertain.

That night, he sought Chen Qingling out again.

After carefully probing him, he figured out the reason, and was both shocked and delighted.

It turned out that he had misunderstood Chen Qingling. It wasn't that Chen Qingling lacked diligence. During the process of absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth and refining it into magical power, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators could only endure so much spiritual energy washing through their bodies. After two shichen, Chen Qingling was already pushing himself past his limit, his body feeling as if it were being sliced by knives.

Besides the body's limits, the soul also grew tired. Exceeding its limit made the Sea of Consciousness feel as if it were being pierced by needles.

If they still forced themselves to absorb spiritual energy, they could suffer anything from bodily harm to a shaken Sea of Consciousness.

"Then perhaps I can afford to hope a little this time around too... I'll set a small goal: Foundation Establishment!"

Back in his little room, Li Ji'an was brimming with confidence.

"With this magical power, I should be able to cast spells..."

"As expected of magical power that can commune with the spirits of heaven and earth. It can actually suppress the power of vital blood."

After trying several times to activate his magical power, Li Ji'an gave up.

His comprehension was indeed better than most people's, but he still couldn't grasp spells that required communing with the spirits of heaven and earth. Perhaps it was because he had no foundation in that area.

Once he had cultivated a few more spells, he might be able to see through their essence and come up with some innovations.

Satisfied, he finished cultivating and planned to take a break from cultivation for the next six months.

Half a year later, he had only eighteen spirit stones left. If he had no income, even next year's rent would be a problem.

With some free time at last, he picked up the letter that had arrived earlier that day.

Half a year ago, when he had first arrived at the market, he had written back to Zhao Shuyao, Zhang Tie Zhu, and Zhu Linxian, telling them about his situation and giving them his address.

As for Dong Jiangling, he had left and never returned, without sending any word, so there had been no way to write to him.

Three months before Li Ji'an came to the market, Zhao Shuyao had followed a trading company to one of its northern branches. Afterward, she had replied just once, after Li Ji'an wrote to her. Her words had seemed numb and lifeless.

Zhang Tie Zhu, on the other hand, had grown even more enthusiastic, his words brimming with hope. He told Li Ji'an that he had received a cultivation art as a reward from the Yan Household the previous August and had begun cultivating. He had reached the first level of Qi Refining four months ago.

Zhu Linxian had always been quiet and reserved. She only said that she had begun cultivating and that everything was going smoothly.

The letter that had arrived today was from Zhao Shuyao, in Golden Splendor Immortal City.

Li Ji'an frowned slightly as soon as he opened it.

"Brother Li, cultivation is fraught with hardship, and the immortal path seems beyond reach. We..."