Morning Receives Purple Qi, Evening Guides Danxia

The sun finally sank into the west, and the whole earth entered the night with a sigh.

Inside the Heaven-Connecting Palace, that tiny little earthworm had also finally completed its long journey, spitting out a round, plump Dao Essence.

The time when the morning sun first rises and when the setting sun is about to fall are the best cultivation periods of the day. The sun is warm but not harsh, gentle but not damaging, especially for beginner cultivators, as it can protect the Dao Veins well. There have been cases in the past of people cultivating at noon, only to have the Sun True Fire stir up their heartfire, burning their bodies and destroying their veins.

This is what is called receiving purple qi in the morning and drawing in the rosy clouds at dusk.

Even Jiang Wang, with his physique honed by martial arts since childhood, felt that his blood and qi power had been squeezed to a certain critical point, beyond which he would damage his vitality. The little earthworm in the Heaven-Connecting Palace also seemed somewhat listless.

Of course, at this critical point, the body did not feel weak. The Dao Essence nurtured in the Heaven-Connecting Palace was like countless tiny hearts, pumping power at all times.

All this made Jiang Wang deeply appreciate the teachings he had received in class. From blood and qi power to the birth of Dao Essence, this was a sublimation of power, the prerequisite for humans to become transcendent.

He had heard that true martial cultivators did not nurture Dao Essence, but instead purely tempered their physiques and refined their blood and qi. That was another path entirely.

In the current world, feudal lords rose up together, sects stood side by side, a hundred schools of thought contended, and the Great Dao was infinite. It could be said to be a golden age of cultivation. But for Jiang Wang, who was in the Zhuang Kingdom, he had no other choice.

Jiang Wang carefully manipulated the Dao Essence to move within the Heaven-Connecting Palace, filling in the Celestial Star Formation Map, which he had long since memorized by heart. This process was not easy. This was because a person's spiritual power, like their blood and qi power, had its limits at a certain stage.

For a cultivator like Jiang Wang, who had just stepped onto the transcendent path, moving the Dao Essence twice a day was already the limit. Doing more would lead to mental fatigue, and in severe cases, could even damage one's intellect.

Jiang Wang knew well that the foundational formation map he had chosen would take a long time, so he especially dared not waste any time, treading as if on thin ice. If there was even the slightest mistake, he would have to start over.

And he did not give himself time to start over.

He only had two chances a day to arrange the formation points, and he could not afford to miss a single one! Even though the Celestial Star Formation Map was far more complex and difficult than the Return to Origin Formation.

Suppose someone was cultivating at the same time as Jiang Wang, and they chose the Return to Origin Formation Map as their foundation. Then, assuming their arrangement of formation points was perfect, they would inevitably be much faster than Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang did not know if his choice was right, but since he had made the choice, there was no turning back. He could only move forward, only do his utmost to do his best.

Fortunately, he was doing well. After the last meridian-charging cultivation session of the day, dozens of Dao Essences were suspended in the Heaven-Connecting Palace, each one plump and full, like ripe rice in an autumn paddy field, exuding the scent of a bountiful harvest. These would all be the resources for his "Heaven-Connecting" path.

But for Jiang Wang, there was still one important matter.

At this moment, the dormitory was completely empty. Ling He and Du Yehu had both gone on missions. Having already been accepted into the inner sect, they were naturally even more eager for the Vein-Opening Pill.

And Jiang Wang sank his mind, entering the Great Void Illusion Realm.

Today was the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the challenge day of the month. If nothing unexpected happened, today he would face the challenge from the master of the Green Jade Altar. He would smoothly—descend in rank.

It was still the familiar scene, the great starry sky.

Jiang Wang sat cross-legged, silently watching the shadow of the sundial, waiting for the moment the challenge would come.

He wanted to see for himself the true strength of the powerful in this world. Although he had "heard" such fierce clashes in the Huanzhen Temple, he had never witnessed them with his own eyes. That time Dong A made his move, his opponent had no power to resist.

Sitting cross-legged in this starry sky, he felt his heart also open up.

The first time humanity looked up at the starry sky, history began its charge. Compared to the vast river of stars, everything in the human world was so small and illusory.

I don't know how long passed, but five ink-black characters appeared on the shadow of the sundial—"Challenger forfeits."

Jiang Wang's heart relaxed, yet there was also a trace of inexplicable regret.

He had kept the merit produced this month by the True Insight Ruins blessed land, but that might have been solely due to the formidable deterrent power of the previous blessed land master. That blazing figure named Zuo Guanglie!

People who entered the Great Void Illusion Realm would basically conceal their real-world identities. No one except themselves knew what fame they had in the Great Void Illusion Realm. So very few people knew that the master of the True Insight Ruins in the Great Void Illusion Realm was Zuo Guanglie, the pride of Great Chu in the real world. Now, even fewer would know. Even if someone had made an accurate guess based on his fighting style in the past, they would now have to overturn it entirely.

Because generally speaking, when a person died in the real world, their identity in the Great Void Illusion Realm would also disappear. But Zuo Guanglie had forcibly driven the power of his Zhurong True Form, almost burning through time and space, and due to a powerful obsession clinging on, various causes mixed together, creating an accident. This caused the Great Void Illusion Realm to fail to reclaim the Void Key in time, allowing Jiang Wang to imprint it. He thus inherited everything Zuo Guanglie had in the Great Void Illusion Realm.

Blessed Land Twenty-Three, True Insight Ruins! Monthly merit production: 1850 points.

"Dao Evolution Platform," Jiang Wang silently recited.

A green bamboo desk appeared out of thin air before him, yet it did not seem at all abrupt. It was as natural as crops growing from the ground, even if the process was overlooked.

On the bamboo desk, there was nothing else but an open jade book, currently blank.

Jiang Wang had experienced this once before. He only needed to visualize the technique he wanted to deduce, invest the corresponding merit, and the deduced technique would appear on the jade book. His previous foundational formation map, the Celestial Star Formation Map, had been obtained by deducing the Return to Origin Formation.

Now, the foundational formation map was not yet complete, the Dao vortex had not yet been born, and every Dao Essence used was one less. Deducing Dao techniques was naturally unrealistic. Even Jiang Wang himself had only simulated them in his mind, never actually practicing any Dao techniques. After all, in the early stages of cultivation, Dao Essence was far too precious.

But he could not just leave the merit idle, saving it for later. One must know that the path of cultivation advanced without retreat. Tomorrow and accidents, no one knew which would come first. So, strengthening oneself to the utmost at every stage was the correct principle.

Jiang Wang thought for a moment, then chose a sword technique with a sharp and fierce style from among the several sword techniques he was most proficient in, to deduce.

And the merit he chose to consume was—1850 points!

The entire atmosphere of the Zhuang Kingdom valued Dao techniques over martial arts. But Jiang Wang had no choice at this stage. Without a completed foundation, he dared not use even the strongest Dao techniques.

Since he had chosen to strengthen his swordsmanship, he would go all out, sparing no effort.

In an instant, many characters surged forth on the jade book on the green bamboo desk. These were the ordinary sword techniques Jiang Wang had learned from the outer sect of the Maple Forest City Daoist Academy. Aside from being sharp and fierce, they had no excellence. But now, the number of merit points on the shadow of the sundial was continuously decreasing, and the characters on the jade book on the green bamboo desk began to change wildly.

Jiang Wang stared intently. Those characters seemed to evolve into figures of people, drawing their swords and dancing. They danced faster and faster, until they seemed to merge into a blur.

Jiang Wang couldn't help but squint his eyes, feeling the illusion of being pricked by a sharp edge!

When he blinked and looked again, the characters on the jade book had calmed down. What appeared before him was a profound and mysterious sword manual he had never seen before, never even imagined!

During his time in the outer sect, Jiang Wang was recognized as the best at swordsmanship. But now, flipping through this sword technique, he suddenly felt that everything he had practiced before was just farming moves, only fit for tilling the fields!

The number of merit points on the shadow of the sundial had been cleared to zero, but Jiang Wang let out a satisfied sigh.

Everything was worth it!