Early in the morning, while the mountain mist still clung to Morning Sun Peak, Chen Xian had already set out, leaning on his cane.
He had risen so early to sit in on the Outer Sect's morning lessons.
In the eyes of the Outer Sect disciples, their grand-uncle had become a strange sight on Morning Sun Peak.
Whenever the stewards or elders responsible for teaching new disciples the basics stood onstage, lecturing at length on Dao Qi Theory or the General Meaning of Mystic Cloud Dao-Guiding Art, an old man with a head of white hair would always be sitting in the back row, stroking his beard with a trembling hand and listening with rapt attention.
"Look, isn't that Grand-uncle? Why does he come to listen to our beginner lessons every day?"
"What do you know? I heard an elder say Grand-uncle is retracing his old path.
"A master like him, who suffered a grievous injury and lost all his cultivation, has to rediscover the state of mind he had back then by starting from the most basic things. What do you call that? Returning to the source!"
"Whoa, no wonder he's Grand-uncle. That level of spiritual insight is incredible!"
Hearing the disciples' chatter around him, Chen Xian kept a straight face, though inwardly he groaned. Returning to the source, my ass!
"That Mystic Cloud Dao-Guiding Art nearly made me shit myself. If I don't figure out the cultivation rules soon, breaking through to the fourth layer of Dao Disciple is going to be a distant dream."
He had thought cultivating in the Dao Disciple realm was just a matter of absorbing Dao Qi and condensing new Dao Power in his dantian.
But last night, he had cultivated until midnight, wasted a Qi Induction Pill, and still hadn't made the slightest progress on his fourth strand of Dao Power.
Only then did he understand why the Ninth Layer of Dao Disciple was divided into three Realm Heavens, each consisting of three layers.
It wasn't just a matter of combat strength. The difficulty of cultivation increased, too!
"Last time, we covered how Dao Qi stored within the body transformed into Dao Power, strengthening the muscles and bones. When held within and not released, it allowed one to split rocks and shatter iron with the body alone. This is the First Realm Heaven."
"This is what disciples below the third layer of Dao Disciple need to know. You need only refine Dao Qi and store it in your dantian to complete your cultivation."
"But in today's lesson, I'll be teaching the cultivation method for the Second Realm Heaven, which covers the fourth through sixth layers. Those in the First Realm Heaven may stay and listen, or leave."
Elder Wu paused and scanned the disciples gathered before him.
Before long, some disciples who had yet to break through the third layer stood and left. It wasn't that they weren't keen on learning; the morning lessons always repeated the same introductory material.
They could come back and listen after breaking through.
After waiting until most of the First Realm Heaven disciples had left, Elder Wu tapped the Startling Wood and called out, "Silence!"
His voice seemed to ring in everyone's ears.
The disciples stopped whispering and listened attentively.
Before beginning the lesson, Elder Wu's gaze fell on Chen Xian.
Ever since his grand-uncle had started attending lessons regularly, he had felt far more pressure, afraid that the older man might reprimand him on the spot if he explained anything poorly.
Fortunately, his grand-uncle only listened and never offered any opinions. Gradually, Elder Wu had grown used to it.
Chen Xian nodded with a smile. "Elder Wu, don't mind me. Just carry on."
"Yes!" Wu Jun nodded.
Then he began carefully explaining the cultivation method for the Second Realm Heaven of Dao Disciple.
His voice wasn't loud, yet every word rang clearly in the disciples' ears, leaving a lasting impression.
"If the First Realm Heaven is about drawing Dao Qi inward, then the Second Realm Heaven is about releasing it outward. We must hold Dao Qi in the mouth orifice, send it out through the left nostril and into the left eye, then out through the right eye and into the right nostril, out through the left ear and into the right ear, and finally return it to the mouth. That completes one cycle."
"Complete forty-nine cycles through the seven orifices, and you'll condense a strand of Dao Power in your mouth, which you can then swallow into your dantian."
Wu Jun explained every detail. After every few sentences, he would glance at Chen Xian, and only continue once his grand-uncle nodded.
Chen Xian nodded back each time, but in truth, his head was starting to itch. It felt as if he were about to grow a brain.
Who had come up with this Seven Orifice Qi Refining method? Was this really a proper cultivation method?
Still, he could only learn it as instructed.
"I'll demonstrate it for you."
Seeing the disciples below either staring wide-eyed or frowning in confusion, Wu Jun knew most of them hadn't understood.
So he took out a prop he had prepared in advance—a black incense stick. "This is Dao Trace Incense. It lets you see the path Dao Qi takes as it circulates."
He lit the black incense. Tiny sparks glowed at its tip, and white smoke rose from it.
The smoke drifted into the air but didn't disperse. Instead, it gathered into a clump.
Wu Jun opened his mouth and inhaled the cloud of smoke.
Chen Xian sat up straight, watching closely.
Then he seemed to see a chain-smoking old man puffing away.
The smoke spurted from Elder Wu's left nostril, then slipped into his left eye. Next it came out of his right eye, entered his right nostril, came out of his left ear, and went into his right ear. It moved at a moderate pace, its path clear to see.
Wu Jun opened his mouth. The large cloud of smoke had condensed into a white ball about the size of a marble. It slid down his throat and into his stomach, and only then did he close his mouth.
Chen Xian guessed this meant one strand of Dao Power had been condensed.
Once he swallowed another forty-eight strands of Dao Power into his dantian, they would condense into a complete strand, allowing him to break through to the next layer.
"Understand?" Wu Jun asked with a smile.
The Dao Disciple disciples at the third layer nodded. It couldn't have been clearer. It didn't seem all that difficult, either.
Everyone was quite impressed with Elder Wu's teaching.
"Then give it a try."
Wu Jun swept his hand, and a stick of Dao Trace Incense appeared in front of every third-layer Dao Disciple. They lit on their own.
There was none in front of Chen Xian. Wu Jun had simply assumed he didn't need one.
Chen Xian had no intention of cultivating on the spot, either. He wanted to see how the third-layer disciples would react first.
A quarter of an hour later, smoke filled the lecture hall, making it look like a fairyland. But through the haze, it also seemed as if a hundred ghosts were lurking, a truly horrifying sight.
"It hurts! It hurts so much!"
"Ahhh! Why did the strand of Dao Power I just condensed scatter again?"
"What do I do? I'm bleeding from all seven orifices. Am I going to die?"
The disciples howled in agony throughout the lecture hall.
Chen Xian looked at a disciple beside him, his face drenched in blood as he wailed with blood pouring from all seven orifices. He felt both speechless and relieved.
He was speechless because the cultivation method seemed painful and undignified.
He was relieved because Wu Jun hadn't given him any Dao Trace Incense.
Otherwise, if the grand-uncle had been bleeding from all seven orifices and wailing in agony like the other disciples, he would have humiliated himself beyond belief.
"Steady yourselves! Opening the seven orifices is painful, but it's a necessary part of releasing Dao Power. Once you've condensed a few more strands, this won't happen anymore."
"As cultivators, how can we lose our composure and wail over a little pain? Your grand-uncle is right here. Aren't you afraid he'll laugh at you?"
"Your grand-uncle lived through the catastrophe at the Sword Gate, then spent sixty years among ordinary people with his cultivation completely lost. Did he ever complain about his suffering?"
Wu Jun's voice rang throughout the hall, and the lecture room fell silent at once.
A crowd of disciples with blood spurting from their noses looked toward Chen Xian.
Chen Xian froze for a moment, then stroked his beard with an air of calm. "It's nothing but a little wind and frost."
Everyone regarded him with solemn respect. The pain in their ears, noses, and throats seemed to ease.
The mishap during cultivation had been only a brief interlude, and the morning lesson soon ended.
Chen Xian hurried out of the lecture hall, ready to head back and cultivate, when a woman in a red dress slowly descended on a flying sword and landed right in his path.
Chen Xian pretended not to see her, lowered his head, and tried to go around.
"Old geezer, don't run! You promised a couple of days ago that you'd help me with something."