One Yang First Movement, Thunder Roars

After his injuries healed, He Heng's life returned to its previous routine. He attended classes at the academy every morning, cultivated at home in the afternoon, and studied various subjects in the evening, such as pharmacology, talisman scripts, formations, and calculations.

Each day passed exceptionally fulfilling. He Heng had never liked going out, and after the incident at Linjiang Tower, he wanted to go out even less. Therefore, even though friends occasionally invited him out, he ignored them and continued to consolidate his cultivation.

Martial Dao cultivation, in its beginning, is about building a foundation. The firmer the foundation, the higher one can reach in the future. Back then, to deal with that demoness, He Heng had no choice but to break through to the Grand Perfection of the Hundred Bones Realm all at once. Although there weren't many problems afterward, it was still too rushed, and his foundation wasn't solid enough. Thus, He Heng had been working hard to reinforce his foundation these past few days. Fortunately, it was quickly remedied.

After reinforcing his foundation, He Heng didn't rush to break through to the One Yang Realm. Instead, he continuously purified his True Qi, controlling his body with his spirit.

Dong Hui once said that to temper True Qi, one must use creation as the craft, blood essence as the carbon, one's own body as the furnace, and spirit as the fire. Through countless trials and refinements, one can temper the purest and most profound True Qi, find that trace of Innate Yang Qi, and advance to the One Yang Realm.

This process should not be rushed; it requires slow and steady progress. Every bit and every drop of True Qi must be perfectly tempered. Only then will the Yang Qi produced be the strongest, making it easier to generate Yin from Yang later and advance to the Second Marquis Realm.

The first stirrings of Yang. Stilling the mind and entering tranquility, adjusting the body and spirit, one obtains the Qi of life within the body. This Qi of life is Yang Qi, known as One Yang, also called the First Marquis. The Book of Changes states its symbolic representation as "Zhen as Thunder" or "Earth Thunder Fu." This single Yang line represents the Qi of the first stirrings of Yang, also called the return of One Yang. The Five Chapters of Spiritual Texts says: "Concentrate the spirit to gaze down upon the Kun Palace, in the profound darkness, true Qi arises. The spirit naturally comes, signifying the birth of One Yang and its return."

"To become an immortal, the work is like leisure. The first stirrings of Yang, the Jade Furnace ignites to refine the Returning Pill. Seize the Heavenly Soul and Earthly Soul, lest they soar and leap like dragons and tigers. The full cauldron of Mercury Flower dries. Let the River Cart transport, the path enters the Mud Pill.

Fly the Golden Essence, collect the Wood Liquid, pass the Three Passes. Gold and wood are separated, how can one ascend the Jade Capital Mountain? Find the Caoxi path, then use the Huachi Divine Water, to form a Purple Gold Ball. Avoid hunger and cold, heaven and earth become one."

This day, winter had reached its end. Several months had passed since He Heng's injuries healed. Autumn turned to winter, and He Heng diligently cultivated, ignoring external matters.

During these days, the Myriad Heavens Treasure Mirror had once again accumulated enough power. He Heng could have traversed other realms again, but he did not rush to do so. Instead, he focused on cultivating here.

"While traversing the myriad heavens with the Myriad Heavens Treasure Mirror is good, if it's through soul transmigration, each time I return, I'll bring back a portion of my essence, integrating it into myself. But I am still in the early stages of the Martial Dao, a time for building foundations. It's not suitable to rush breakthroughs too much. If I were to traverse directly with my body, even setting aside the potential dangers of that world, if I stayed there for too long and my appearance changed significantly upon returning, it would be discovered and cause trouble. It's better to wait until my body has fully matured."

"The main reason is that my current strength is too low. Although I have refined the second restriction of the Myriad Heavens Treasure Mirror these days, I am still unable to control even a fraction of this supreme treasure's power. It's difficult to control the destination world and time. Otherwise, why would I need to be so cautious?"

He Heng sighed inwardly and continued reading. He knew that with the Myriad Heavens Treasure Mirror, he didn't need to focus too much on accumulating power. A few traversals and absorbing the true essence of several lifetimes would surely cause his power to surge.

Therefore, besides breaking through his True Qi and stabilizing his foundation, He Heng was not in a hurry to accumulate power. Instead, he spent more time reading various books, absorbing knowledge from all sorts of disciplines like a glutton.

This was because He Heng planned to undergo soul transmigration after some time. He would start as a child, and it would be impossible to practice martial arts right after birth. He would have plenty of time then to study these miscellaneous subjects. He would memorize them now and digest them slowly later.

"The fetus is formed from hidden Qi, Qi breathes within the fetus. When Qi enters the body, it is called life; when the spirit leaves the form, it is called death. Knowing spirit and Qi, one can achieve longevity. Therefore, guard emptiness and cultivate spirit and Qi. When the spirit moves, Qi moves; when the spirit resides, Qi resides. If you wish for longevity, let spirit and Qi intertwine. Let the heart be still, without thoughts, without coming or going, without entering or exiting, and it will naturally abide forever. Diligently practice this, and it is the true path..."

He Heng silently recited the scripture, his spirit clear and empty, his mind entering a state of knowing the spirit. He observed every inch of himself, resonating with heaven and earth.

As time flowed, another month passed, and the year-end arrived. He Heng returned to Beigu City, the He family's old nest. Recently, he had gradually shown his increasing strength, and coupled with his improved aptitude, his status within the family had risen accordingly. Apart from a few prodigies, he was considered one of the most outstanding among the younger generation in the clan.

The external manifestation of this was that his monthly living expenses increased from two Spirit Essences to three. When he returned, his father, He Jitu, the He Family Patriarch, who had barely paid attention to him as a son, actually took time out of his busy schedule to see him. He also gave He Heng a red envelope containing ten Spirit Essences and a high-quality precious sword.

Spirit Essence was a form of currency in the Great Heaven World with very high purchasing power.

In the Great Heaven World, martial Dao experts naturally could not use gold and silver as currency like mortals. Nor were there Spirit Stones as mentioned in novels. It made sense; a world using a special mineral as its currency would be a sign of low civilization.

On Earth, for example, gold and silver were initially used as currency, but later various bank notes emerged. In modern times, paper currency replaced them.

This was the inevitable development of civilization. A Great Heaven World with a civilization spanning countless millennia would naturally not use Spirit Stones or anything similar as its currency.

This so-called Spirit Essence was actually a circular crystal-like object, very similar in appearance to the so-called Spirit Stone. However, it was not a mineral but was refined in the later days.

In any world, the most powerful force overall would always control the world's economy.

The Great Heaven World was no exception. Spirit Essence was a currency jointly produced by the Three Great Sects of the Mystic Gate. Condensed from spiritual energy, each Spirit Essence had a trace of a True Person Realm expert from each of the three Mystic Sects imprinted on it. Even a Pure Yang expert could not forge one.

Through countless years of use, this currency had deeply penetrated every corner of the Great Heaven World. Although forces like the Demonic Sect and the Brahmin Sect had tried to create their own currencies, they were ultimately not recognized by the vast majority of cultivators and were forced to accept Spirit Essence.

Precisely because they controlled Spirit Essence, something closely related to all cultivators in the Great Heaven World, the Mystic Gate had become increasingly prosperous over the years, accumulating immense fortune and producing an endless stream of experts.

Just like on Earth in the past, the economy was the lifeline of every living being. Unless one was an absolute top-tier expert, who wouldn't need various resources?

Every expert above the Dao Embryo Realm consumed massive amounts of spiritual energy daily. However, the concentration of spiritual energy in the world was limited. If you wanted to speed up your cultivation, besides finding places rich in spiritual energy, you could only rely on heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Did buying these things come for free?

A great sect, supporting tens of thousands of disciples, the pills they needed for cultivation, the talismans for practice, the materials for formations, and the various magic treasures for equipment – which sect could completely refine everything themselves and not need to buy from outside?

These transactions represented the circulation of Spirit Essence. Controlling the lifelines of the vast majority of cultivators naturally attracted their fortune, so it was no wonder the Mystic Gate flourished.

The purchasing power of Spirit Essence was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine. A typical One Yang Realm expert would spend a little over one Spirit Essence per month. The He family, a large clan with tens of thousands of years of accumulation, probably wouldn't have more than a million Spirit Essences in total.

He Heng estimated that his cheap father's entire net worth was only around twenty to thirty thousand Spirit Essences, accumulated over one to two hundred years. For ordinary Dao Embryo Realm experts, having a few thousand Spirit Essences saved up would be considered good.

Therefore, He Heng was very excited about receiving such a large sum this time. At the very least, he could finally be considered a young master.

Heh heh!

He Heng smiled as he looked at the dozens of Spirit Essences he had just obtained from Wang Bian. Then he looked at his own total wealth, accumulated over more than a decade, plus the recent windfall, amounting to about fifty to sixty. It should be comparable to the New Year's red envelope Wang Bian received.

It had to be said that Wang Panlong, the City Lord, had a lucrative position. His annual salary from the Great Xia Dynasty was over a thousand Spirit Essences, and the gifts from various forces in the city during festivals also amounted to over a thousand. No wonder Wang Bian was so wealthy.

Boom!

As spring arrived, He Heng turned seventeen. He was meditating in the courtyard that day when a clap of thunder suddenly split the sky. The True Qi within He Heng's body stirred, and a vast, supremely yang and gang energy suddenly appeared within his meticulously refined pure True Qi.

This was a trace of Innate Yang Qi.

Martial Dao One Yang Realm, achieved!

"I also have to thank those ten Spirit Essences for making me feel rich. I've been refining medicine to temper my body and True Qi every day these past few days. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do it so quickly."

He Heng stood up and smiled, feeling the qualitative change in his True Qi. He suddenly looked towards the heavens, his gaze deep and clear.

"The Ascension Assessment is held once every three years, with a unified examination across the Nine Provinces. Those with excellent results can directly enter the inner sect of a major Mystic Sect. I originally planned to try in three years, but now I can attempt the one this July. With my current strength, passing the assessment should not be difficult, but to achieve excellent results and directly enter the inner sect still falls short. Fortunately, I still have..."

"The Myriad Heavens Treasure Mirror!"

The myriad worlds of the heavens, infinite time and space, traversing through eternity, who can be eternal?