True Qi

The moment these words were spoken, Yuan Manzhi's face flushed a deep red, the color spreading from her cheeks all the way to her earlobes, which turned bright crimson.

She lowered her head, twisting her hands in front of her, her fingers incessantly rubbing against the hem of her clothes.

Jiang Tian watched her reaction, then glanced at Mu Sining's face, which remained as calm as still water, and his brows knit even tighter.

Why did he get the feeling... that the atmosphere was a bit off?

Looking at it this way, Yuan Manzhi most likely knew she possessed the Mystic Ice Body, and furthermore, she knew exactly what the Mystic Ice Body was used for.

But shouldn't this constitution be beneficial to one's own cultivation?

Why did Yuan Manzhi's expression look so strange?

She looked very... shy.

At this moment, he suddenly associated this with the "great opportunity" Yuan Long had mentioned... No way, right?

It couldn't possibly be what he was thinking, could it?

Jiang Tian pursed his lips and cast an inquiring look toward Mu Sining.

Mu Sining did not answer him directly, but instead turned to look at Yuan Manzhi, her red lips parting slightly as she spoke in a soft voice: "Miss Yuan?"

This question was clearly seeking Yuan Manzhi's consent.

"Mm."

Yuan Manzhi kept her head down, her voice as faint as the buzzing of a mosquito.

Mu Sining withdrew her gaze and looked at Jiang Tian, her expression indifferent as she spoke slowly:

"The Mystic Ice Body can only absorb water-attribute qi; its cultivation speed is incredibly fast, and few can hope to keep pace with it."

"However." She paused, her eyes flickering slightly as if she were rephrasing her words in her mind, then continued, "Only women possess the Mystic Ice Body. Before the Primordial Yin is lost, one's realm will be perpetually stuck at Manifest Energy. No matter how hard one trains, their cultivation will remain stagnant."

Jiang Tian's eyebrows shot up instantly, his face filled with disbelief.

With Mu Sining's explanation, everything suddenly made sense.

No wonder Yuan Manzhi, who possessed a red-tier trait, had been stuck at Manifest Energy all this time, and no wonder her face had turned so red...

So that was it!

At this point, Mu Sining continued: "The Primordial Yin of the Mystic Ice Body... well, if it is absorbed by a man, it will not only refine his meridians, bones, and internal organs, allowing him to undergo a transformation, but it will also imbue his body with a strand of [True Qi]."

Once these words were finished, Yuan Manzhi's face turned even redder, like a ripe red apple, with even the base of her neck stained a faint pink.

Jiang Tian's eyes widened, his expression as awkward as it could possibly be.

The great opportunity Yuan Long spoke of was actually this?

This opportunity was a bit too heavy! He wasn't sure he could handle it!

In his past life, if he encountered those "bad women," he would simply... well, pull up his pants and walk away; good girls should be cherished, and bad girls shouldn't be wasted!

But this Yuan Manzhi was clearly not a bad woman.

Having spent some time with her, he discovered that Yuan Manzhi was the type who looked cold on the outside but harbored a cute and simple personality on the inside.

Moreover, in terms of both emotion and reason, the father and daughter of the Yuan family had been kind to him.

Yuan Long could be considered his first master, having taught him martial arts and gifted him medicinal pills; this debt of gratitude was not fake.

But...

Jiang Tian felt a toothache; the thoughts in his mind were complex to the extreme.

Just then, Yuan Manzhi suddenly raised her head.

Those beautiful peach-blossom eyes were filled with a pool of autumn water, glistening and bright, as she looked straight at Jiang Tian.

She didn't say a word.

Jiang Tian sucked in a cold breath, immediately turned his head away, looked at Mu Sining, and asked dryly: "Miss Mu, what exactly is this [True Qi] you speak of?"

The corners of Mu Sining's mouth curled slightly, as if she were amused by Jiang Tian's reaction, though it vanished in an instant.

In a flash, she returned to normal and explained: "Have you noticed that the qi you absorb into your body decreases the more you use it?"

"Hm?" Jiang Tian was stunned, blurting out, "Isn't that how it always is?"

"It is not."

Mu Sining shook her head, her expression turning serious. "When qi is stored to a certain amount, you need to compress it into a liquid state. But even then, it still decreases with every bit you use, like a tree without roots or water without a source; sooner or later, it will run dry."

"You need to use [True Qi] to build a core. Once you have a core, your body will continuously generate qi, inexhaustible and endless."

"The higher the grade of [True Qi], the faster the recovery speed."

"And the [Mystic Ice Nine Nether True Qi] produced by the Mystic Ice Body belongs to the top-tier [True Qi]."

Having said this, Mu Sining paused and added pointedly: "However, [Mystic Ice Nine Nether True Qi] is a water-attribute [True Qi]. You are absorbing metal qi into your body; if you want to..."

She stopped halfway through her sentence.

But Jiang Tian already understood what she meant.

Metal-attribute Qi certainly cannot use the True Qi of other attributes as its core.

His eyes flickered as he suppressed the surging thoughts in his heart and asked, "Miss Mu, can I cultivate all five types of Qi at the same time?"

With only Metal Qi in his body, his methods were far too singular.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth... if he possessed all five elements, how strong would he be?

Mu Sining frowned and said, "Are you thinking of the Qi Gathering Method too simply?"

"Generally speaking, disciples choose to specialize in one type due to the limitations of their natural talent and comprehension. As for me, because of my constitution, I am unable to gather Fire-attribute Qi."

"However, there are some who choose to gather both Water and Fire Qi simultaneously. The two are essentially Yin and Yang, generating and overcoming each other. If one can balance them, it is possible to achieve the coexistence of water and fire."

"But what you speak of—possessing all five elements—simply does not exist."

"Not to mention whether you have the energy to comprehend five different Qi Gathering Methods, the problem of 'how to make them coexist' alone was enough to give our predecessors a headache for a lifetime."

Jiang Tian nodded as if he understood, and did not ask any further.

The horses of the Heavenly Fire Sect did not seem to be ordinary stock; their hooves were swift as the wind, running both fast and steadily, and they had hardly stopped throughout the journey.

After a day and a night of arduous travel, the group finally arrived at the Prefecture City of Qingyuan.

The main road of the Prefecture City was more than just a little wider than those in Blackwater County; Jiang Tian estimated it to be at least six zhang wide, more than enough for five or six carriages to run side by side.

The side streets were also about three or four zhang wide, paved neatly with bluestone slabs, and not a single weed could be seen in the cracks.

Most of the pedestrians on the road were dressed in brocade robes with ruddy complexions, walking at a leisurely pace that exuded a sense of prosperity and composure.

Looking around, he didn't see a single refugee or beggar; it was a completely different world compared to the scenes of tattered clothes filling the streets of Blackwater County.

On both sides of the street were three or four-story pavilions with upturned eaves and carved beams and painted rafters.

Restaurants, teahouses, silk shops, antique stores... one after another, bustling with activity.

A scene of prosperity.

Jiang Tian lifted the carriage curtain, his gaze sweeping calmly over the heads of the passersby as he extracted quite a few entries.

Along this journey, he had extracted more purple entries than he had when facing that group of Martial Arts Hall masters back in Blackwater County.

There were also some pedestrians with nothing displayed above their heads; clearly, these were individuals with a realm higher than his own.

The Prefecture City was indeed the Prefecture City, a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers resided.

Along the way, Yuan Manzhi also poked her head out from time to time, her eyes shining with light like a child on her first long trip, curious about everything.

After more than half an hour, the pedestrians on the road gradually thinned out.

Merchants and pedestrians were no longer to be seen on the street, replaced by Heavenly Fire Sect disciples wearing uniform attire, walking or standing in twos and threes, wearing standard-issue short swords at their waists, each one looking extraordinary.

Jiang Tian looked ahead.

His pupils shook violently!

Not far away, a black mountain gate suddenly came into view!

It was over ten zhang high and over ten zhang wide, supported by three thick, black stone pillars.

The stone pillars were carved with lifelike auspicious beasts; some were entwined with crimson flames, while others were wrapped in icy blue cold air, the red and blue reflecting off each other as if they might leap off the pillars at any moment.

Above the stone pillars hung a massive black plaque, with three dragon-like, dancing characters carved upon it.

Heavenly Fire Sect.

(It's the verification period; please tell me if you feel there are any "poison points" in the story, and I will definitely change what I can.)

(Please keep the updates coming!)

(I changed a few details in this chapter, but it doesn't affect the reading experience.)