Qi Induction

The Lecture Platform was somewhat similar to the sports field in Zhou Er's previous life. At the very center was the podium, with seats arranged around it. Outer Sect disciples could come here to listen to Elders Discuss Dao if they wished.

"There are no Elders Discussing Dao today, so there aren't many people here. If Junior Brother Zhou wants to listen to an Elder Discuss Dao, you'll need to gather information in advance to avoid missing out," Wang Wenlang said with a smile.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother Wang," Zhou Er cupped his hands in thanks.

"I'll take you to see the Scripture Pavilion next. The Scripture Pavilion is the foundation of our Xiayun Sect, containing many Spells and cultivation methods. Junior Brother Zhou can exchange Contribution Points for them in the future. Oh, right, it's free for Outer Sect disciples to exchange for a ninth-grade cultivation method for the first time. Once your Identity Token is ready, Junior Brother Zhou can come here to exchange for cultivation methods," Wang Wenlang said, pointing to the vast Scripture Pavilion.

Hearing Wang Wenlang's words, Zhou Er fell into thought. He had just started cultivating and had no clear direction yet.

"Senior Brother Wang, I haven't started cultivating yet. What exactly is cultivation?" Zhou Er asked.

Facing Zhou Er's question, Wang Wenlang thought that Master Jide probably hadn't explained it to him, so he organized his thoughts and patiently explained to Zhou Er.

"Cultivation is to consume Qi and seek longevity, to prove the Great Dao."

"Between heaven and earth, there exists spiritual energy. We cultivators use spiritual energy to temper our bodies and cultivate ourselves. The first three realms of cultivation are Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core."

"Among them, Qi Refining has twelve layers. After reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining, one can attempt Foundation Establishment. Of course, it's best to reach the tenth layer or above before attempting Foundation Establishment, as this will increase the chances of success."

"Your Senior Brother Wang is currently at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, in the Late Qi Refining Stage."

After listening to Wang Wenlang's explanation, Zhou Er had a general understanding.

"Then Senior Brother Wang is about to attempt Foundation Establishment?" Zhou Er said.

"Not yet! Each realm is a different world. Cultivation becomes harder and harder as you progress. I only have a Low-grade Spirit Root, so it's very difficult to reach Foundation Establishment," Wang Wenlang waved his hand. He would need at least several years, or even decades, of hard work.

"Spirit Root? Senior Brother Wang, what is a Spirit Root? I heard Master Jide say that without a Spirit Root, it's very difficult to cultivate," Zhou Er asked.

"A Spirit Root is the root of cultivation. Most people find it difficult to sense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. But with a Spirit Root, it's different. You can rely on the assistance of the Spirit Root to quickly achieve Qi Induction and embark on the path of cultivation."

"Spirit Roots are divided into Defective Spirit Root, Low-grade Spirit Root, Mid-grade Spirit Root, High-grade Spirit Root, and Heavenly Spirit Root. Most Spirit Roots have only one attribute. Very few chosen ones can have multiple attributes, or even possess special Spirit Roots," Wang Wenlang said.

His Low-grade Spirit Root wasn't the worst, not even a Defective Spirit Root was the worst.

The worst was being a mortal with no Spirit Root.

Even if a mortal trained hard for ten years, it would be difficult to grasp that wisp of ethereal sensation, to touch the meager spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

"What kind of Spirit Root does Junior Brother Zhou have?"

Wang Wenlang asked.

He hadn't reached Foundation Establishment, so his Spiritual Sense couldn't be projected outwards. Naturally, he couldn't tell what kind of Spirit Root Zhou Er possessed.

"I don't know, Master Jide never told me."

Zhou Er shook his head.

He had no Spirit Root, and this was not something he could let Wang Wenlang know. He could only lie to him.

"Junior Brother Zhou, since Master Jide was willing to send you to the Outer Sect, it means you have at least a Low-grade Spirit Root."

Low-grade Spirit Root was the baseline for the Outer Sect. Only a few people like Zhou Er, who had connections and entered through the back door, could be exceptions. Without a Low-grade Spirit Root, most people couldn't get into the Outer Sect.

"Perhaps!"

Zhou Er thought that with his Equipment Slot, he wouldn't be worse than a Low-grade Spirit Root. As long as he worked hard to obtain Attributes, he would eventually embark on the path of cultivation.

And now that he had entered the Xiayun Sect, obtaining cultivation items would be easy, and he would soon get useful Attributes.

For example, that Low-grade Spirit Stone, perhaps after equipping it, he could get a very useful Attribute that would allow him to successfully achieve Qi Induction and grasp the sensation of Qi.

"By the way, Junior Brother, you haven't started cultivating yet. I have a Guide Technique here that can handle the first five layers of Qi Refining. Junior Brother can take a look at it these few days while you haven't received your Identity Token."

Wang Wenlang took out a cultivation manual from his Storage Bag and handed it to Zhou Er.

After Zhou Er took it, a line of text appeared before him.

[Guide Technique: A beginner's cultivation manual.]

[Equip to gain Attribute: Qi Induction]

[Qi Induction: Draw heaven and earth's spiritual energy into the body, tempering the physique.]

[Solidification Condition: Circulate Guide Technique 108 times.]

[Equip?]

With Wang Wenlang still beside him, Zhou Er naturally couldn't equip the Guide Technique at this moment. He could only put it away for now and wait until he returned to his own Courtyard to equip it.

After Wang Wenlang briefly showed Zhou Er around the areas accessible to Outer and Inner Sect disciples of the Xiayun Sect, the sky began to darken. Wang Wenlang took out a Bigu Pill and said, "Feeling hungry? Take this Bigu Pill. It'll keep you from needing to eat or drink for five days."

Zhou Er took the Bigu Pill and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Wang. I am indeed a bit hungry."

Master Jide had already achieved the state of Bigu. He didn't have any Bigu Pills in his Storage Bag, so he merely sent a wisp of spiritual energy into Zhou Er's body, allowing him to go without food for several days.

[Bigu Pill: An item used by low-level cultivators to stave off hunger.]

[Equip to gain Attribute: Taotie (White)]

[Taotie (White): Hollow inside, appetite greatly increased, can grow stronger by eating.]

[Solidification Condition: Eat and digest 10,000 jin of food.]

[Equip?]

Zhou Er quickly reviewed the usage of the Taotie Attribute in his mind. It was a very useful attribute. However, eating 10,000 jin of food felt a bit exaggerated.

A normal person could eat at most about five jin of food a day, which was already quite a lot. 10,000 jin would take two thousand days.

'This Taotie can greatly increase my appetite, perhaps I can eat even more.'

Zhou Er thought.

Wang Wenlang escorted Zhou Er to his residence in the Wutong District of the Outer Sect. He saw a Servant Disciple waiting outside.

The Servant Disciple wore coarse linen clothes, making him easily recognizable.

"Senior Brother Zhou! Senior Brother Zhu asked me to come ahead and deliver some things to you."

The Servant Disciple said respectfully, then handed over a cloth bag with both hands.

Zhou Er took the cloth bag and nodded, saying, "We've arrived then! Thank you for your trouble."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. It's my honor to serve a Senior Brother of the Outer Sect."

The Servant Disciple said with a smile.

Afterward, he wisely chose not to disturb Zhou Er.

"Junior Brother Zhou, I've shown you around our Xiayun Sect for today. If you need to contact me for anything, you can find me at the Spirit Herb Garden. I'm there tending to the spirit herbs."

Wang Wenlang bid farewell to Zhou Er.

"Farewell, Senior Brother Wang."

After seeing Wang Wenlang off, Zhou Er walked into his room, closed the door, and examined the items brought by the servant disciple under the moonlight.

Inside was a sect handbook, recording the sect's rules, big and small, which Zhou Er needed to follow carefully, lest he attract the special attention of the Law Enforcement Hall.

Besides that, there were three blue stones, the size of pigeon eggs, in the shape of regular octahedrons.

Natural ores were divided into two types by shape: one was regular, like this octahedron, which was very beautiful, and the other was irregular, often forming large chunks of ore.

Zhou Er guessed that this octahedral shape should be naturally formed, not deliberately carved.

[Low-grade Spirit Stone: The most common cultivation resource in the Cultivation World.]

[Equipped grants Attribute: Mana Abundance (White)]

[Mana Abundance (White): Increases mana by 30%.]

[Solidification Condition: Maximum mana limit breaks through the spiritual energy contained in one Low-grade Spirit Stone.]

[Equip?]

These were Low-grade Spirit Stones, which Zhou Er could equip.

As it stood, the effect of this equipment was quite good, able to increase his mana limit by 30%.

Zhou Er had not officially begun cultivating yet and did not know how much spiritual energy one Low-grade Spirit Stone contained, but he guessed it should be quite a lot for Qi Refining cultivators.

Besides these items, there was also a small gourd in the cloth bag, containing six Bigu Pills.

Zhou Er looked at what he currently had, then looked at his status panel.

[Name: Zhou Er]

[Cultivation: None]

[Equipment Slot (1/3): Five Animals Health Technique]

[Unsolidified Attributes: Five Animals Health Technique (Perfect), Longevity.]

[Solidified Attributes: Strength Increase (White).]

He had been home for two days and had only solidified one attribute, Strength Increase.

For the Five Animals Health Technique attribute, he was still missing one ingredient, Tiger Liver. It was difficult to obtain, after all, even in ancient times, hunting a tiger was no easy feat.

Unless it was a specific season, tigers would flee at the sight of humans. Even though the Zhou family was considered a prominent household in Yunyang City, obtaining a tiger was a very troublesome matter.

It would take at least ten days to half a month.

Master Jide had left in a hurry and did not give Zhou Er enough time.

Fortunately, Zhou Er had more than one equipment slot; he had three. One was occupied, leaving two available.

'Currently, the items I can equip are the Guide Technique, Bigu Pill, and Low-grade Spirit Stone.'

Zhou Er placed these three items before himself.

"The Guide Technique has the Qi Induction attribute, which allows me to step into the cultivation world. I must choose it."

Low-grade Spirit Stones increase mana capacity. I don't even have mana yet, so it's useless for now. I can set it aside.

Having made his plan, Zhou Er equipped the Guide Technique and the Bigu Pill.

As soon as the Guide Technique was equipped, Zhou Er gained the Qi Induction attribute. He could immediately sense the spiritual energy wandering between heaven and earth.

"This must be the 'qi sensation' Senior Brother Wang mentioned!"

Zhou Er thought.

"Senior Brother Wang said that only geniuses with Heavenly Spirit Roots can find qi sensation within a day. I only spent a breath of time and found this trace of ethereal qi sensation. Am I even more of a genius than a Heavenly Spirit Root?"

Zhou Er consoled himself.

With the Qi Induction attribute, finding qi sensation was naturally a matter of course.

If he relied on his own cultivation, it would take at least several years, or even decades.

Mortals meditating for a hundred years might not even touch it.

A Defective Spirit Root could probably find qi sensation within a year, a Low-grade Spirit Root in half a year, a Mid-grade Spirit Root in three months, a High-grade Spirit Root in a month, and a Heavenly Spirit Root in a day.

That's why Heavenly Spirit Roots could be called Heavenly Spirit Roots; their enlightenment within a day wasn't just talk; it was something that might not appear in one in a hundred million people.

Of course, there were shortcuts.

When Zhou Er was chatting with Wang Wenlang today, Wang Wenlang mentioned a pill called the Meridian Opening Pill, which could directly bypass the process of sensing heaven and earth, forcibly open the meridians, input spiritual energy, and generate qi sensation.

Although this pill was good, it would damage the meridians to a certain extent.

However, Zhou Er's Qi Induction attribute completely eliminated this concern.

[Name: Zhou Er] [Cultivation: Qi Refining Layer 1 (0.01%)] [Equipment Slots (3/3): Five Animals Health Technique, Guide Technique, Bigu Pill.] [Unfixed Attributes: Five Animals Health Technique (Perfect), Longevity, Qi Induction, Taotie (White).] [Fixed Attributes: Strength Increase (White).]

With the Qi Induction attribute, Zhou Er's cultivation directly broke through to Qi Refining Layer 1.

After all, the standard for Qi Refining Layer 1 was to generate a sense of Qi and perform Qi Induction.

[Qi Induction: Draw spiritual energy from heaven and earth into the body, tempering the physique.]

[Solidification Condition: Circulate Guide Technique 108 times.]

Zhou Er wanted to fully solidify the Qi Induction attribute so that he could free up an Equipment Slot to equip other items.

Thus, Zhou Er began to cultivate according to the contents recorded in the Guide Technique.

It took about half an hour, which is one hour, for Zhou Er to be able to circulate the Guide Technique haltingly once.

After circulating it three times, Zhou Er felt his meridians were somewhat swollen and uncomfortable.

"Everything has its limits. My body can no longer withstand this kind of training. I need to rest."

Zhou Er stopped cultivating.

The Outer Sect disciples' courtyards had beds. It was late now, so Zhou Er went to bed and slept soundly.

After waking up in the morning, Zhou Er looked at his status panel.

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Layer 1 (0.8%)]

Before Zhou Er went to sleep yesterday, he had checked his cultivation. The progress bar was originally only 0.3%. For every complete circulation of the Guide Technique, Zhou Er could increase the progress bar by 0.1%.

As a result, after waking up, the progress bar directly increased to 0.8%, an increase of 0.5%.

Just as Zhou Er was wondering, he saw something else on the panel.

[Taotie (White): Hollow inside, appetite greatly increased, can grow stronger by eating.]

[Solidification Condition: Eat and digest ten thousand jin of food. (5/10000)]

"It's indeed the effect of the Taotie attribute."

Zhou Er thought that it was this Taotie attribute that made his cultivation improve so quickly.

If this was the case, it would take less than a hundred days for Zhou Er to break through to Qi Refining Layer 2.

"It's still a bit too slow."

Zhou Er thought, but with the attribute bonus, his cultivation speed, though seemingly slow now, would gradually increase.

Because Zhou Er's Identity Token had not been made yet, he couldn't do anything outside. He could only stay in the courtyard, read the sect manual, and practice the Guide Technique.

He didn't know if it was the effect of the Taotie, but after a night of rest, Zhou Er felt that the swelling in his meridians had subsided a lot.

So, without delay, he immediately sat cross-legged and began to cultivate the Guide Technique.

[Qi Induction: Draw spiritual energy from heaven and earth into the body, tempering the physique.]

[Solidification Condition: Circulate Guide Technique 108 times. (6/108)]

After cultivating three times, he felt uncomfortable again. Zhou Er immediately stopped, avoiding over-cultivation that could cause irreversible damage to his body and affect his potential ceiling.