Qi Condensation First Layer

Watching Li Ji'an, especially his seemingly eternally calm and composed expression, Chen Qingling sneered, finally finding an opportunity to strike at him.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"I already told you, I can only circulate one cycle per day."

"You need to recognize yourself. You only have two wisps of fire Spiritual Aura sensitivity, and you're already thirty years old, still cultivating the Nine Yang Art. Wake up, Uncle Li!"

Li Ji'an ignored him and went back to sensing the effect of Spiritual Energy circulating one cycle within his body.

"Spiritual Energy refines the physical body, but the effect is not as good as nourishment from Vital Energy and Blood."

"The Spirit is also tempered."

"What exactly is this world's Spiritual Energy? Where does it come from? It's so wondrous..."

After understanding the role of Spiritual Energy in cultivation, Li Ji'an once again calmed his mind and spirit, continuing with the second cycle of cultivation, wanting to quickly complete the process of transforming Spiritual Energy into Magical Power.

Chen Qingling, who had expected to see Li Ji'an's disappointed expression, was annoyed that Li Ji'an completely disregarded his taunts. However, this time, when he carefully sensed the Spiritual Energy fluctuations of Li Ji'an's second circulation, he suddenly discovered that he had indeed successfully completed one cycle.

"You... you... you, cough cough cough~" A breath was stuck in his chest, causing him to cough incessantly.

After completing the second cycle, Li Ji'an looked up at him. "No need to be surprised. Your brother should have told you that my body-refining strength is also not bad, because my comprehension is decent."

"Comprehension..." Chen Qingling swallowed, feeling quite unconvinced.

"I'm not surprised, I'm just... Hmph, what's so great about good comprehension? Qi Condensation requires the accumulation of Magical Power. Your Spiritual Root is poor, and you're old, that's a fact. Even if you comprehend Cultivation Methods faster, what's the use? You'll know the gap between us when you truly start refining Magical Power."

With that, he stomped out as if throwing a tantrum.

Li Ji'an nodded inwardly, acknowledging his statement.

He was self-aware.

"This is the energy source for releasing spells and performing Spiritual Powers..."

As expected, after circulating five cycles, he sensed nearly a hundred times the amount of Spiritual Energy, yet he only refined less than one-tenth of it into Magical Power. He finally completely understood the feeling of having a poor Spiritual Root and despairing in cultivation that Chen Zhao'hu and others spoke of.

According to the experience of others he knew, ordinary low-grade Spiritual Roots could refine Magical Power at a ratio of at least about five percent.

He, however, was only at one percent, and even a little less.

However, instead of despairing, he felt quite expectant.

"It won't be long before I become the immortal I once imagined, casting spells..."

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

In the following days, he had Chen Qingling take him around the market stalls selling Spirit Rice, Spirit Flour, and Yao Beast meat. These were all daily necessities, and there were also Talismans, such as Dust Purification Talismans, Heart Calming Talismans, and so on...

However, he couldn't use most of them for now, nor could he afford them. He only bought a small amount of Spirit Rice and Spirit Flour.

Spirit Rice and Spirit Flour could replenish a small amount of Spiritual Energy directly into the body, bypassing the process of absorbing it from the world. It only needed to be refined. This was very useful for improving cultivation efficiency.

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

A month passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Li Ji'an practically stayed shut in his room, cultivating and refining non-stop, except for sleeping and eating.

One day, while eating, Li Ji'an heard Chen Qingling leaving downstairs.

He couldn't help but shake his head.

His brother worked so hard to create a cultivation environment for him, yet he didn't cherish it.

Over the past month, Li Ji'an had observed clearly. Chen Qingling probably cultivated for at most two hours a day.

Compared to his own ten hours of cultivation daily, it was simply a waste of time.

However, he didn't interfere. Everyone would be responsible for their own actions.

Another five months passed. On this day, Li Ji'an "looked" at his Dantian and saw the last part of the inner wall being permeated by Magical Power. He happily opened his eyes.

"Qi Condensation Layer One!"

This result truly surprised him.

Chen Qingling, with nine wisps of fire Spiritual Root sensitivity and cultivating a mid-grade Cultivation Method, had reached Qi Condensation Layer One in four months.

He himself had only taken six months to reach Qi Condensation Layer One.

"Nine wisps of fire Spiritual Root, compared to my two wisps, have at least fifty percent higher refining efficiency. Plus, he cultivates a mid-grade Cultivation Method, which adds another ten to twenty percent..."

He had originally prepared himself to reach Qi Condensation Layer One in two years.

Moreover, from the beginning, he had planned to spend half a year experiencing the Qi Condensation process, and then find work to survive here.

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

"Could it be that cultivating immortality also follows the principle of hard work pays off?"

"Is it just because my daily cultivation time is five times his that my cultivation speed has caught up to him?"

"No!"

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

He remembered that last year, when Chen Qingling entered Qi Condensation Layer One and became a true Qi Condensation cultivator, Chen Zhao'hu and several other Qi Condensation cultivators had praised him highly, even saying that Chen Zhao'hu's efforts for Chen Qingling were worthwhile.

This was enough to show that Chen Qingling's progress in reaching Qi Condensation Layer One in four months was consistent with his talent and that mid-grade Cultivation Method.

"The problem is with me?" Li Ji'an asked, his surprise evident.

That evening, he sought out Chen Qingling again.

Through subtle questioning, he discovered the reason, feeling both shocked and delighted.

It turned out he had misunderstood Chen Qingling. It wasn't that Chen Qingling wasn't working hard, but rather that ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators absorb Spiritual Energy from heaven and earth to refine Magical Power. During this process, the physical body has a limit to how much Spiritual Energy it can withstand. After just two hours, his body was already overloaded, feeling as if it were being cut by a knife.

Besides the physical body's limit, the Spirit also gets consumed. Exceeding the limit felt like needles piercing the sea of consciousness.

If one were to forcibly absorb Spiritual Energy beyond this point, the consequences could range from physical damage to severe disruption of the sea of consciousness.

"In that case, perhaps this life I can have some expectations... I'll set a small goal: Foundation Establishment!"

Returning to his small room, Li Ji'an was filled with renewed vigor.

"With this Magical Power, I should be able to cast spells..."

"As expected of Magical Power that can communicate with the spirits of heaven and earth, it can actually suppress Vital Energy and Blood."

After trying to activate his Magical Power several times, Li Ji'an gave up.

His comprehension was indeed much higher than average, but when it came to spells that required communicating with the spirits of heaven and earth, he still couldn't grasp them. Perhaps it was also because he had no foundation in this area whatsoever.

After cultivating more spells in the future, he might be able to understand their essence and even innovate.

Content and satisfied, Li Ji'an decided to temporarily halt his cultivation for the latter half of the year.

Half a year passed, and he was left with only eighteen Spirit Stones. Without any new income, even paying next year's rent would be tight.

With free time, he finally picked up the letter he had received that day.

Six months ago, when he first arrived at the market town, he had written back to Zhao Shuyao, Zhang Tie Zhu, and Zhu Linxian, informing them of his situation and address.

As for Dong Jiangling, since he had left without a trace and never sent any further news, Li Ji'an couldn't write to him.

Zhao Shuyao had followed a merchant guild to their northern branch three months before Li Ji'an arrived at the market town. Since then, she had only replied once after Li Ji'an's letter, her words carrying a hint of numbness.

Zhang Tie Zhu, on the other hand, was more passionate than ever, his words filled with hope. He wrote that he had received a Cultivation Method as a reward from the Yan Family in August of last year and had begun cultivating. Four months ago, he had already reached the first level of Qi Condensation.

Zhu Linxian, who had always been taciturn, simply stated that she had begun cultivating and that everything was going smoothly.

The letter received today was from Zhao Shuyao, sent from Golden Splendor Immortal City.

Upon opening the letter, Li Ji'an frowned slightly.

"Brother Li, cultivation is arduous, and the path to immortality is without hope. We..."

Apologies, this chapter is a bit late today.