Path of Qi Refining, Also Known as Cultivating Immortality!

Below the Dense Forest.

Xiao Huohuo looked up.

For some reason, the master he had just acknowledged as his teacher suddenly raised his head and gazed at the sky, a trace of melancholy flashing through his eyes.

Just as he was wondering about it, his master suddenly came back to himself.

His master stood with his hands behind his back, his voice distant and his eyes settling on him. With a sigh that seemed to lament his lack of ambition, he said:

"It has been a long time since I last emerged into the world."

"Has the outside world been reduced to nothing but the martial path?"

Hearing those slightly melancholy words and looking at that aloof figure who seemed to stand above the mortal world, Xiao Huohuo was instantly shocked, his scalp prickling.

His eyes, fixed on Chu Feng, were filled with shock and disbelief, as though he had heard something that shattered common sense.

Xiao Huohuo shook his head in doubt, even his words becoming jumbled:

"According to the records, hasn't it always been the martial path since ancient times?"

"Could it be that, aside from martial arts, there are other methods of cultivation in this world?"

He stared wide-eyed, waiting uneasily for the Hermit Expert's answer.

Seeing the youth like this, Chu Feng felt delighted.

Good. This youngster has taken the bait.

After those words, the youngster already believes them eighty to ninety percent.

His identity as a Hermit Expert will also become even more firmly established in the youngster's eyes because of this subversive claim.

Chu Feng's expression remained cold, still carrying that otherworldly air. However, the corners of his lips faintly curled into a disdainful smile:

"The Dao Laws under Heaven are divided into the Great Dao and the Lesser Dao."

"The martial path is ultimately nothing more than a Lesser Dao."

"Even if one exhausts an entire lifetime, one will still be constrained and bound by its limitations, unable to truly step into the true Peak Realm."

"As you said, the limit of the martial path is merely the so-called Grandmaster Realm."

"The power you praise amounts to nothing more than one man annihilating an army. That is all."

That is all?!

Those four words struck like thunder exploding across level ground, leaving Xiao Huohuo unable to recover for a long while.

The super-strong expert he looked up to—even the one revered by everyone in Dongli City and the entire Southern Desolate Realm—could only receive a judgment of "that is all" in his master's eyes?

At that thought, Xiao Huohuo's breathing quickened, and his eyes shone.

He stared at the man before him.

Even a Grandmaster was merely "that is all." Then what kind of realm had this person before him—his master—reached?

He could not imagine it.

Chu Feng coughed once and continued:

"This Lesser Dao is not worth mentioning before the Great Dao."

Hearing this, Xiao Huohuo could no longer suppress his excitement:

"Master, then what kind of cultivation method is the Great Dao? What sort of sight would a cultivator of the Great Dao possess?"

Seeing Xiao Huohuo grow increasingly excited, Chu Feng smiled faintly:

"The Great Dao is the Path of Qi Refining."

"If you can enter the Great Dao, then when the time comes, the Grandmaster you speak of will be as weak as a child before you."

The Path of Qi Refining?

Xiao Huohuo lowered his head and silently repeated those four grand words, while frantically searching his mind for information regarding the Path of Qi Refining.

Yet he recalled every book he had read and everything he had experienced since childhood, only to find nothing. He could not uncover a single memory related to the term "Qi Refining."

This unfamiliar term had entered his sight for the first time.

He lowered his head and muttered:

"Could it be that the Path of Qi Refining is something only the very strongest experts can come into contact with?"

The more he thought about it, the more he approved of this idea.

Although he was merely the Young City Lord of one city, compared to the experts ordinary people could come into contact with, he was countless realms higher.

Having grown up in such an environment, even he had never heard of this cultivation method. That could only mean that it was very likely a secret known solely among the most supreme experts.

The clearer this thought became in his mind, the more mysterious and unfathomable the Path of Qi Refining seemed to him!

And now, he—a martial artist who had not even reached the Second-rate level—had actually come into contact with such a thing.

How could he possibly sit still?

Xiao Huohuo asked excitedly:

"May I ask, Master, just how terrifying is the Path of Qi Refining?"

Looking at Xiao Huohuo's appearance, the delight in Chu Feng's heart rose even higher.

This was exactly what he wanted: to make the youngster believe that the Path of Qi Refining was beyond reach, something even the strongest martial artists in the world found difficult to come into contact with.

That way, even if he failed to create a cultivation method, Xiao Huohuo would search for the reason within himself.

When the time came, Xiao Huohuo would certainly blame his inadequate talent. He would surely feel that it was only natural for such a Great Dao to be difficult to cultivate and explore.

He would absolutely never think to blame Chu Feng.

That way, Chu Feng would still have a way out.

Only after sufficiently cultivating Xiao Huohuo's reverence for the Path of Qi Refining did Chu Feng slowly begin to explain:

"The Path of Qi Refining has no end."

"The Initial Realm centers on refining qi and is called the Qi Refining Realm."

As he spoke, Chu Feng held up two fingers toward Xiao Huohuo:

"If you can break through into the Qi Refining Realm, your lifespan will be greatly extended. You can live a full two additional sixty-year cycles!"

"Upon entering the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, you can live three additional sixty-year cycles."

Looking at Chu Feng's three outstretched fingers, Xiao Huohuo stood dumbstruck.

He knew that practicing martial arts could improve one's constitution, keeping martial artists from being troubled by illness and often allowing them to live somewhat longer.

But martial artists were still shackled by the lifespan of the flesh. Once they reached the limit of their years, they would pass away.

As for extending one's lifespan, he had only heard that the Grandmaster Realm might be capable of it...

Moreover, the Grandmaster Realm could only let a martial artist live another fifty or sixty years. It was absolutely nowhere near as exaggerated as one or two sixty-year cycles.

Yet the Qi Refining Stage his master spoke of could actually bring one to such a terrifying level simply by crossing into it.

Without realizing it, Xiao Huohuo's longing for the Path of Qi Refining became even more fervent.

Chu Feng struck while the iron was hot and continued:

"As long as you enter the Qi Refining Realm, you can achieve Spiritual Energy Projection."

"The might of that spiritual energy far surpasses the inner force of your so-called Houtian realm martial artists."

"Upon reaching the middle stage of Qi Refining, you can achieve Sword Flight, cast techniques, control the spiritual energy between Heaven and Earth, and unleash all kinds of wondrous abilities beyond your imagination."

At this point, Chu Feng paused for a long while. He watched Xiao Huohuo's shining eyes as the youngster waited eagerly, then whetted his appetite to the fullest before continuing:

"Thus, the Path of Qi Refining is also known as cultivating immortality!"

Xiao Huohuo was completely stunned. His breathing became disorderly, and his mind seemed to crash as he muttered to himself:

"Just entering Qi Refining makes one stronger than a Houtian realm martial artist?"

"At the middle stage, one can even fly through the skies and burrow beneath the earth..."

"Just reaching perfection in the first realm of Qi Refining allows one to live for three sixty-year cycles."

Shaken to the core, Xiao Huohuo repeated the words silently. It seemed as though he had suddenly grasped something else in his mind.

"Qi Refining... cultivating immortality!"

Then his eyes became extraordinarily bright, as though he had figured it out. In shock, he said to Chu Feng:

"Master, could it be..."

"Can the Path of Qi Refining cultivate one into the legendary Immortal God?!"