Half a year later.
During those six months, Cheng Buzheng had gone to the Sutra Repository Tower every morning. He often chatted with Senior Brother Niu and Senior Brother Dai for a while, then headed to the first floor of the tower to read, absorbing new knowledge without pause, like a sponge.
In the afternoons, he would sometimes exchange news with his teammates or go straight into secluded cultivation.
Six days ago, Cheng Buzheng had stopped going to the Sutra Repository Tower. He had read every book on the first floor, but still hadn't come across any hidden opportunity.
By now, he was at the peak of Qi Refining Level 1 and could advance to Qi Refining Level 2 at any moment.
Inside the room, Cheng Buzheng sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes gently closed. Beads of sweat kept forming on his forehead as the surrounding spiritual energy surged wildly, rushing into his body like moths plunging into flames.
Faced with the flood of spiritual energy, Cheng Buzheng could only circulate his cultivation route at full tilt, hoping to ease the pressure on his meridians.
At that moment.
The meridians that formed his Celestial Cycle glimmered with spiritual light, like rivers of stars revealing themselves across a boundless night sky.
Those meridians shimmered faintly, as if straining with all their might just to keep from bursting under the surging spiritual energy.
The Crimson Fire Technique circulated along the Circulation Route, refining strands of Spirit Power that flowed into his dantian. But in an instant, the pale-red vortex at its center forcibly drew them in.
In the blink of an eye, another wisp appeared in the Red Cloud Layer beneath the pale-red vortex, its texture heavy and dense.
Cheng Buzheng didn't slacken. He circulated the route again and again, like a tireless machine.
In the blink of an eye, night turned to day, the Golden Crow rose, and the Jade Rabbit withdrew.
Suddenly, a clear smile spread across Cheng Buzheng's face.
He sensed that his magic power had reached its limit. He couldn't absorb even the tiniest amount more.
At that moment, a few wisps of refined Spirit Power drifted through his dantian. The red vortex had stopped spinning and stood still at the center, as if it weren't the same vortex that had been radiating terrifying suction just moments ago.
Beneath it floated a Red Cloud Layer with a heavy, dense texture. It couldn't hold even the slightest bit more magic power.
Seeing this,
Cheng Buzheng let out a soft breath.
"Whew!"
Suddenly,
the Crimson Fire Technique stopped circulating along the usual route and began running through the Grand Circulation Cultivation Route instead. This was the Core Cultivation Route Map of every cultivation technique, the route one had to follow each time one advanced.
Each cultivation technique had a different route map for every level. The Core Cultivation Route Maps of different techniques couldn't be used interchangeably.
The Core Cultivation Route Map had to match both the Small Circulation Cultivation Route Map and the Circulation Cultivation Route Map.
Even the slightest mistake could destroy one's meridians; a more serious one could damage the dantian and bring one's Immortal Path to an end.
It was like three gears of different sizes. The middle gear was like the Core Cultivation Route Map, connecting the rotation on both sides. If it was even a little too big or too small, the machine could malfunction—or, worse, be wrecked entirely.
Cheng Buzheng slowly circulated the Grand Circulation Cultivation Route. As time passed, the Red Cloud Layer with its heavy, dense texture, floating beneath the vortex in his dantian, suddenly stirred.
Countless strands of magic power joined to form a red dragon. Like a dragon rising into the heavens, it burst out of his dantian with an unstoppable momentum and began racing through his flashing, spirit-lit meridians along the Grand Circulation Cultivation Route.
The red dragon of magic power swept faster and faster along the Grand Circulation Cultivation Route. Seeing this, Cheng Buzheng knew that its momentum had built enough. He could now break through the bottleneck to Qi Refining Level 2.
The red dragon of magic power charged at the barrier inside him with the air of a ruler descending upon the world.
"Pop!"
A soft sound came from within Cheng Buzheng. It was faint, but still clearly audible in the silent room.
At the barrier, the invisible wall crumbled like a pebble dropped into a pond. The red dragon of magic power returned to his dantian and settled into the Red Cloud Layer beneath the vortex.
At once,
spiritual energy from outside swarmed toward him, gathering around his body. Wisps of visible spiritual energy streamed into Cheng Buzheng.
Seeing this,
Cheng Buzheng knew this was the effect of his recent breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 2: his body was urgently short on spiritual energy. He didn't let this rare opportunity slip by and quickly began circulating the Qi Refining Level 2 Circulation Route.
The Crimson Fire Technique flowed along the route, refining wisps of spiritual energy and sending them into his dantian. The vortex, which had stopped spinning, began to whirl wildly once more, instantly sucking them in with terrifying force.
In the blink of an eye, another wisp of magic power appeared in the Red Cloud Layer floating beneath the vortex, its texture heavy and dense.
Cheng Buzheng didn't end his cultivation for the day just because he had advanced to Qi Refining Level 2. He knew that he had only just stepped into the second level, his foundation was still weak and unstable, and he could fall back at any moment.
He didn't dare be careless in the least. He diligently circulated the route again and again.
In the blink of an eye, day and night turned over, and seven days and seven nights had passed.
At that moment,
Cheng Buzheng was still sitting cross-legged on the bed in cultivation as the spiritual energy gathered around him slowly dispersed.
He opened his Clear Black and White Eyes. A glint flashed in them, and a broad smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"I've been in the Immortal Sect for over half a year, and today I've finally advanced to Qi Refining Level 2. I've taken another solid step toward the Great Cause of Longevity!
What a joyous occasion!
I've already made all the preparations. If I hadn't been about to advance to Qi Refining Level 2, I'd already be carrying out a mission. I can't afford to put it off any longer."
Then he sank his mind into his Sea of Consciousness. At the instant he broke through to Qi Refining Level 2, he had sensed that the panel had changed. He hadn't checked it right away, though, choosing instead to quietly consolidate his cultivation...
Master of the Heavenly Jade Disc: Cheng Buzheng Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 2 Cultivation Technique: First-order Mid-grade (Ordinary) Crimson Fire Technique (Beginner) Spells: First-order Low-grade (Fine) Purple Crystal Bracelet (Perfected), First-order Low-grade (Fine) Earth Escape Technique (Perfected) Spiritual Power Value: 0
When Cheng Buzheng saw that the Spiritual Power Value on the panel was zero, he grew even more eager to take on a mission.
Thinking of the mission he was about to accept, he knew that after completing it, Small Plate wouldn't run short of Spiritual Power Value for some time.
Cheng Buzheng didn't hesitate. He stood, closed the door, and crossed the Outer Sect Disciples' residential area in the Canyon. With a kick off the ground, the air exploded, and rings of wind burst outward from his body.
By then, no one remained where he'd stood. Only a long trail of air remained, like the straight wake left by a motorboat crossing the sea.
Half an hour later,
Cheng Buzheng arrived outside the Command Token Pavilion. He still walked along the roadside, not letting his advancement to Qi Refining Level 2 go to his head.
The travelogues of many cultivators recorded countless examples of cultivators who had let success go to their heads and met miserable ends in the world of cultivation.
Of course, there were also cultivators who had surged ahead and reached the Golden Core Stage, but examples like those were few and far between. He didn't dare assume he would be the exception.
It might have seemed like making a fuss over nothing, but he understood the need to stay alert even in times of peace. He hadn't yet reached the point of examining himself three times a day, but he was working toward it.
This wasn't the world he'd lived in before, where safety was the bedrock of society and even a fistfight could get you hauled in for a stern talking-to.
In the world of cultivation, murder, arson, and grinding someone's bones to dust were all perfectly normal. He didn't want his own ashes scattered one day.
The law of the jungle played out in the cultivation world every moment, and examples of the weak being preyed upon by the strong were countless.
So he had to be "steady" if he wanted to fulfill the Great Cause of Longevity.
P.S. I'm setting out a big bowl. Handsome and dashing fellow Daoists, with your elegant bearing, please toss your votes in!
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