Late at night, Chen Xian sat cross-legged, the last three Qi Induction Pills quietly laid out before him.
"Seven Orifice Qi Refining... Elder Wu said that each completed cycle would condense a wisp of Dao Power. Once I've accumulated forty-nine wisps, I can reach the fourth level of the Dao Disciple Realm."
He murmured to himself, took a deep breath, and pinched a pill from the medicine box.
He placed the pill in his mouth without swallowing it, letting its medicinal power slowly dissolve with the help of his saliva.
Wisps of pure Dao Qi gradually spread through his mouth.
He didn't let that energy sink along his meridians into his dantian. Instead, he used his Dao Consciousness to forcibly lock the Dao Qi in his mouth.
He silently recalled Elder Wu's demonstration in the lecture hall.
The mouth and nose were connected, as were the nose, eyes, and ears.
Though the body's seven orifices resonated with one another, they weren't directly linked like water pipes.
There was no straight passage between the eyes or between the ears. The only way through was to break through with Qi.
The first step was drawing Qi into the nose. Aside from a faint choking sensation, like drowning, it was bearable enough.
Next, the Dao Qi traveled up along his meridians and straight into his left eye. His eyeball immediately tingled with a faint ache, and a line of murky tears silently slid down his eyelid.
But when it came to moving from his left eye to his right, Chen Xian was stumped.
The mouth, nose, eyes, and ears were connected by the posterior nostrils, the Eustachian tubes, and the nasolacrimal ducts.
But there was no connection between the two eyes and the two ears.
Though only the bridge of his nose separated the orifices, it was like a mountain stood between them. To open a passage, he first had to pierce the "Orifice Membrane" of his left eye.
"Hiss..."
The moment he tried to draw the gathered Dao Qi out through his left pupil, a searing pain exploded.
It felt as though a red-hot steel needle were being driven straight through the center of his pupil to punch a hole.
His vision blurred at once, and a hazy white mist spread across his eyeball.
To draw Qi out through the orifice, he had to shatter that veil of mist!
I've weathered every storm under the sun in this life. You think the mere fourth level of the Dao Disciple Realm can stop me?
Chen Xian steeled himself. He clenched his teeth and controlled the Dao Qi, condensing it into a sharp needle before driving it viciously into the misty membrane!
The first strike left the membrane completely unmoved.
Pain! A searing agony shot from his eyeball straight into his brain. It felt as if half his skull had been struck by a sledgehammer, like a migraine coming on.
Again! Break, damn it!
Chen Xian squeezed his eyes shut and roared in his sea of consciousness.
The Dao Qi pierced again like a needle.
At last, he seemed to hear the faintest "pfft." The membrane blocking the Dao Qi had been drilled through, leaving a tiny hole.
His blurred vision cleared for a moment. The Dao Qi slipped through the opening and hovered before him like a rootless flame, on the verge of scattering.
Daring not to delay, Chen Xian hurriedly directed the drifting Dao Qi toward his right eye.
From the inside out, it was a stab. From the outside in, it was a chisel.
He chiseled away several times, until the pain became unbearable.
Another muffled "pop" sounded. The Dao Qi broke through the misty membrane of his right eye and returned to his body.
But as soon as the energy entered him, it faltered and instantly vanished without a trace.
Chen Xian let out a long sigh, then suddenly felt something warm and damp on his face.
He wiped it with his hand. His fingers were covered in a deep red substance: dirty blood mixed with black impurities.
He didn't know why dirty blood was flowing from his eyes, but he couldn't give up halfway through his cultivation. After wiping his face, he continued breaking through the orifices.
The process was grueling and painful, but as the openings in the misty membranes gradually widened, each wisp of Dao Qi stayed in his body longer and longer.
By the time the last trace of medicinal power in his mouth was almost spent, a wisp of exceptionally dense Dao Qi finally completed the full cycle through the seven orifices and gathered in his mouth. He swallowed it, and it turned into Dao Power in his dantian.
Chen Xian looked within himself. The fourth strand of Dao Power had settled firmly in his dantian.
He'd reached the fourth level of the Dao Disciple Realm just like that!
"Hm? This Dao Power... It's actually one-fifth as thick as the first three strands?"
Realizing that the fourth strand of Dao Power was unusually robust, Chen Xian was startled.
According to Elder Wu, an ordinary disciple who cultivated hard all night could condense no more than one or two wisps of Dao Power, as fine as strands of hair.
A complete strand of Dao Power, meanwhile, took forty-nine wisps to form.
Yet this one session of breathing and circulating Qi had given him as much as ten sessions of someone else's hard work.
Sure enough, the Mystic Jade Sword Bone was still at work.
Root Bone, talent, and pills were all nearly indispensable to cultivation. Fortunately, he had them all.
At this rate, I can cultivate one level in five days and step into the Third Realm Heaven of the Dao Disciple Realm in half a month. The Dao Master Realm... is within reach!
Layers of reddish-black scabs clung to his face, sticky and rank. Chen Xian prepared to get up and wash.
But the moment he stood, a sudden wave of dizziness swept through his head.
It didn't feel like a lack of blood or Qi. It was more like the visual discomfort a nearsighted person felt after suddenly putting on a pair of high-prescription glasses.
He stood still with his eyes closed for a while to adjust. When he opened them again, the world had completely changed.
Every bit of debris on the ground, every tiny hair on the spider crawling along the windowsill—all of it was crystal clear.
The usually quiet late night had become strangely noisy. Nearby, he could hear a gecko skittering over the wall. Even a hundred meters away, he could make out the heavy snores of disciples in a neighboring courtyard.
Chen Xian was overjoyed. His sight and hearing had both improved; his sense of smell and taste were probably the same.
So this was the true secret of the Second Realm Heaven of the Dao Disciple Realm: after the seven orifices were opened through Qi Refining, the five senses were enhanced.
He immediately understood. The Seven Orifice Qi Refining of the Second Realm Heaven seemed to focus more on tempering the body.
The First Realm Heaven involved drawing Qi into the body, and the Second Realm Heaven tempered the seven orifices. The Third Realm Heaven should strengthen Dao Consciousness, since reaching it allowed one to control magical implements.
With a clear understanding of what was required at each level of the Dao Disciple Realm, Chen Xian felt a wave of relief.
He washed the dirty blood from his face. Only when the first pale hint of dawn appeared at the edge of the sky did he finally sink into a deep, exhausted sleep.
He slept until the afternoon.
Chen Xian was woken by a series of hurried knocks at the door.
"Disciples Jian Shan and Duan Cui request an audience with Grand Martial Uncle!"
The voices outside called three times before Chen Xian suddenly rolled over and sat up, remembering that he had something important to do today.
He quickly threw on his outer robe, left his room, and opened the courtyard gate. Two people were just turning to leave.
"You two, come in."
Duan Cui's face had been downcast, thinking he'd been stood up, but his eyes lit up at once.
Jian Shan was even quicker. He tugged Duan Cui into the courtyard. "See? I told you Grand Martial Uncle wouldn't break his promise to us. Look at you, all worked up!"
"Sit." Chen Xian pointed to the stone stools and asked with a smile, "You two are here for the candied hawthorns, right?"
They both nodded eagerly.
"Hehe, I'm terribly sorry. I got carried away practicing my cultivation last night. The candied hawthorns aren't ready yet. Sit down for now. I'll go prepare them."
Chen Xian smiled, then turned and went back inside to fetch the pot and hawthorns.
"Grand Martial Uncle is truly diligent. At his age, he still cultivates through the night. I should work harder, too." Watching the old man bustle about, Duan Cui couldn't help sighing.
Jian Shan hadn't heard a word he said. He kept shifting on the stone stool, unable to sit still.
All he could think about was secretly learning the craft!
Seeing Grand Martial Uncle bring out a pile of ingredients and apparently start making the candied hawthorns right there in the courtyard, he nudged Duan Cui with his elbow and whispered, "Hey, Grand Martial Uncle's about to make the candied hawthorns. Want to go over and watch?"
Duan Cui frowned and said earnestly, "Grand Martial Uncle said he wouldn't teach us the secret method for now. We ought to avoid watching."
"Aw, you're so thickheaded!"
Jian Shan grew impatient and muttered, "If Grand Martial Uncle didn't hide it from us, that means he's giving us the go-ahead! If you're not coming, I'll go by myself."
With that, Jian Shan rubbed his hands together and followed close behind Chen Xian with a broad grin.
Duan Cui stayed where he was, his expression conflicted. In the end, he remained on the stone stool, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead at the corner of the courtyard.