Condensing the Qi Sea

"This trip may be dangerous, and I may not be able to protect you, sir. But exterminating demons is our duty, and I have three sword talismans to give you. You can stay here and cultivate in seclusion. I'll be back in three days at the earliest, five at the latest."

Su Chunyi lightly raised her jade hand. Three streaks of white light shot toward Chen Ye like arrows. Then she tapped the ground with her lotus feet, her figure turning into a streak of light as she sped off to the northeast.

Chen Ye still had a bellyful of things he wanted to say, but the moment his fingertips touched the three sword talismans, he looked up and saw that only the fading trail of a sword's light remained in the sky, like a shooting star vanishing from sight.

Chen Ye couldn't help sighing with heartfelt admiration. "Miss Su really does hate evil to the bone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mo Ci's voice came from the white banner in his hand. "What a pity. That young lady doesn't have much experience dealing with demonic cultivators."

Chen Ye exclaimed in surprise, "Master, why are you awake? You should rest a few more days."

Mo Ci replied, "There's no point in sleeping more. I only kept quiet because I was afraid that young lady would notice something was off."

"True. The moment you opened your mouth, you gave yourself away. How could a magic treasure spirit that had only just developed spiritual awareness have an old man's voice? It should sound like a baby cooing."

Mo Ci snapped, "Enough nonsense. I spoke to remind you that something's strange about this Abandoned Corpse Land."

Chen Ye laughed. "Don't worry, Master. I spotted it ages ago. I was going to warn Miss Su, but she moved too fast, and I didn't get the chance."

To demonic cultivators, a pit full of corpses was certainly no ordinary dumping ground.

Generally speaking, demonic cultivators who specialized in the Blood Refining Technique wouldn't leave so many corpses behind.

Heart's blood was an excellent ingredient for alchemy. Bones and flesh were useful too, not to mention the lingering souls—all of them precious treasures in the eyes of demonic cultivators.

Since corpses weren't something to discard carelessly, this corpse pit had to serve some special purpose. Most likely, it was hiding something valuable.

Hearing Chen Ye's reasoning, Mo Ci said excitedly, "Why warn her? You don't want the treasures hidden in there?"

Chen Ye shook his head and explained, "Even if there are treasures, they're demonic treasures. When she comes back in a few days and finds out I secretly kept them for myself, she'll chop my head off with one stroke. Then you really will be a lonely ghost."

"Couldn't you hide them first? Are you hoping to marry into the Qinghe Sword Sect or something?!"

Chen Ye rubbed his chin, recalling Su Chunyi's peerless beauty. "If Miss Su doesn't mind, I wouldn't be opposed to it."

Mo Ci scoffed. "Bah, dream on. You little demonic cultivator wouldn't pass the Qinghe Sword Sect's Heart-Questioning Trial. It's far more formidable than soul-searching. Even the slightest trace of evil intent would be exposed in perfect detail."

"Master is right."

Chen Ye didn't argue. He was a demonic cultivator, after all. Who knew whether the Qinghe Sword Sect would mind? There was no need to take that risk.

Mo Ci hurried him along. "Then what are you waiting for? Go get the treasures!"

But Chen Ye refused again.

"Master, this isn't the time to hunt for treasure. I just got some Xuanji Dew, so of course I should hurry and refine pills to improve my cultivation. Why invite trouble?"

Mo Ci asked again, "Aren't you curious what treasures are hidden in there?"

"Of course I'm curious, but some things matter more than others. I'm on the verge of condensing my Qi Sea; I can finish in two days. If I get distracted hunting for treasure, I'll only invite a heap of needless trouble. Master, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I can come back for the treasure after I've condensed my Qi Sea."

"What if Su Chunyi returns early?"

Chen Ye said calmly, "Then I suppose I was fated to miss out on this treasure."

Mo Ci hadn't expected Chen Ye to have such strong self-control. Even with treasure right in front of him, he could set it aside for now.

If only Mo Ci had been so resolute back then, perhaps things wouldn't have ended this way.

"Fine. It's your decision."

Mo Ci sank into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and said nothing more. Chen Ye truly didn't spare the Abandoned Corpse Land another glance. He turned and went back into the cave.

To be safe, Chen Ye carefully set up several simple warning traps at the cave entrance.

Only after everything was ready did Chen Ye begin refining the pill.

The Qi Condensation Pill was not difficult to make. Chen Ye skillfully heated the pot, first tossing all the auxiliary ingredients into it and simmering them into a medicinal broth. Then he gently added the most crucial ingredient: Xuanji Dew.

The moment the Xuanji Dew entered the pot, something wondrous happened. A vortex naturally formed in the broth.

If the Xuanji Dew had been poor in quality, things would have been more troublesome. He would have needed to simmer it over a low flame, stirring constantly by hand to help the vortex form.

It was a long process that would take at least three hours, and if his stamina wasn't up to it, one moment of carelessness could ruin all his effort.

But the finest ingredients often required the simplest methods. This top-grade Xuanji Dew didn't need Chen Ye to fuss over it at all; it absorbed the essence of the other ingredients on its own.

That left Chen Ye with nothing to do, but he didn't wander off. He stayed where he was, patiently waiting for the Qi Condensation Pill to finish taking shape.

He'd read plenty of novels in his past life, and in this life, his master had told him all sorts of cautionary tales about careless pill refining. Sometimes the pills got stolen; other times, all kinds of mishaps ruined the whole process.

Chen Ye wasn't about to drop the ball at such a critical moment. Instead, he focused even harder, barely daring to blink.

He waited patiently for a full three hours, until the medicinal liquid in the pot had completely disappeared.

A green pill floated lazily above the iron pot, as if it had appeared out of thin air.

From a distance, the pill looked as exquisite as a piece of carved jade. Up close, a tiny vortex could be seen inside it, just like the Qi Sea in a dantian.

Without a word, Chen Ye grabbed the pill and swallowed it, then sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate.

The moment the Qi Condensation Pill entered his stomach, it transformed into a hazy substance. Guided by Chen Ye's spiritual sense, it slowly sank into his dantian. The faint spiritual energy lying dormant there seemed to sense its arrival and began circling the pill, gradually stripping away its jade-like shell.

A moment later, the vortex trapped inside the pill broke free and began turning slowly in Chen Ye's dantian.

One cycle, then two... three hundred and sixty. With each rotation, the vortex faded a little more.

Chen Ye focused every ounce of his attention on controlling the newborn vortex, not daring to relax for a moment, until it had completely vanished.

It looked as though the pill's effects had dissipated without leaving anything behind. Any Rogue Cultivator trying to figure things out on their own would probably have panicked by then.

But Chen Ye had inherited his sect's teachings. Though his master could only parrot what was written in books, he'd taught him these basic principles with care.

The moment the vortex disappeared was the most crucial point. Everything hinged on this.

Chen Ye let go of all control. Even his consciousness grew hazy, and he seemed to sink into a deep sleep.

He had no idea how much time passed before a faint current of energy quietly formed in his dantian.

At first, it was no more than a thin thread. But in the blink of an eye, it seemed to possess a magical force, drawing in countless streams of spiritual energy until they formed a dazzling vortex like a nebula.

Chen Ye's eyes snapped open, and he burst into laughter, his voice echoing through the cave.

After destruction came rebirth; a vortex formed on its own.

His dantian Qi Sea had successfully condensed. From then on, even without sitting in meditation, Chen Ye could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth on his own. His cultivation speed would be more than a hundred times faster than before.

In the Qiling Realm, cultivators were little different from ordinary people. But once they entered the Qi Sea Realm, everything changed. With ample spiritual energy, they could perform many more spells and could no longer be regarded as ordinary people.

The first priority for Qi Sea Realm cultivators was to strengthen their dantian Qi Sea. At the same time, they had to carefully choose which spells to cultivate.

They couldn't afford to learn too many spells. Each one demanded years of practice.

Take the swordsmanship Su Chunyi used, for example. Not only was it astonishingly powerful, but it could also be cast with a thought, at incredible speed. It had to be the result of years of painstaking practice.

Even if someone handed Chen Ye every swordsmanship manual from the Qinghe Sword Sect, he figured it would take him ages just to make a flying sword move.

Qi Sea Realm cultivators lived for no more than two hundred years. They couldn't afford to waste what little time they had.

So most Qi Sea Realm cultivators chose a single spell to focus on, using it to face off against opponents. They practiced auxiliary spells selectively, learning only enough to use them competently.

As a demonic cultivator, Chen Ye had countless spells at his disposal for combat, but most demonic arts were cruel and vicious to practice. He wasn't bloodthirsty by nature, so his options were limited.

"If only I could learn the Qinghe Sword Technique. After all, it's the best sword art under heaven."

Though Chen Ye thought this, he knew it was just wishful thinking. The Qinghe Sword Sect had strict rules, and outsiders had little chance of obtaining its true teachings. No matter how accommodating Su Chunyi was, she could never pass on her sect's secret techniques to him.

And Chen Ye couldn't join the Qinghe Sword Sect either. If his identity as a demonic cultivator were exposed, escaping with his head still on his shoulders would be a miracle.

Still, there was no need to rush. Now that his cultivation had improved, it was time to investigate that mysterious corpse pit.

He might even find something unexpected.