The First Strand of True Qi

Name: Shen Changqing

Faction: Great Qin Demon Suppression Bureau

Identity: Yellow Rank Demon Slayer

Martial Arts: Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art (Level Fifteen, cannot be raised), Pure Yang Art (Level Eleven, cannot be raised), Heavenly Martial Astral Qi (Not Initiated, cannot be raised), Seven-Kill Saber Art (Level Two), Iron Sand Palm (Level Two)

Slaughter: 0

Compared to the simple panel from before, Shen Changqing's panel had now become far more splendid.

He possessed five martial arts.

Two had broken past their limits, while two others could be considered well-established.

Although the remaining Heavenly Martial Astral Qi had yet to be initiated, he was confident that he could officially enter the first level in a short time.

Steadying his mind.

Shen Changqing began cultivating the first level of Heavenly Martial Astral Qi according to the memories in his mind.

The minimum requirement for cultivating Heavenly Martial Astral Qi was for a martial artist to give birth to true qi and enter the Meridian Opening realm.

The first level of Heavenly Martial Astral Qi.

Was to transform true qi into Heavenly Martial True Qi.

Once one broke through to the Innate realm, Heavenly Martial True Qi would generate a powerful astral qi known as Heavenly Martial Astral Qi.

That was also where the martial art Heavenly Martial Astral Qi got its name.

"I currently possess two kinds of true qi in my body. One is Pure Yang True Qi, and the other is the true qi of the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art. But the latter is merely nourishment before the former—it gets swallowed by Pure Yang True Qi the moment it is born."

Shen Changqing sank into his inner awareness. After breaking through to the Innate realm, he could already examine his own body internally.

Within his dantian.

The Pure Yang True Qi resembled a blazing sun furnace, radiating scorching heat.

Whenever a strand of true qi from the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art was born, it would immediately be devoured by the Pure Yang True Qi.

After the Pure Yang Art broke through to the eleventh level.

The power of Pure Yang True Qi was no longer comparable to what it had once been.

Although the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art transformed some true qi every so often, it did not have much effect on the Pure Yang True Qi.

Just like that strand of true qi earlier.

After the Pure Yang True Qi devoured it, it did not even increase by the slightest trace.

Withdrawing from his inner examination.

Shen Changqing gained a better understanding of his own condition. "The Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art is ultimately somewhat low-end. Even though it has broken past its limit, it has no way to improve much further.

It can no longer provide Pure Yang True Qi with the same substantial nourishment as before.

If I do not cultivate and merely rely on the conversion of true qi to nourish Pure Yang True Qi, it will probably take decades for it to transform to the next level."

Clearly.

There were benefits to perfecting an external art, but once a martial artist reached profound heights, the benefits provided by external arts became negligible.

Unless it was an external art of a rather high rank, but such martial arts were not easy to obtain.

In Shen Changqing's view.

The Archive Pavilion should possess such martial arts.

But he could not return there now, so he could only think about it.

Gathering his thoughts.

Shen Changqing sat motionlessly in his seat, his body completely still as he silently watched the changes in his dantian.

Time passed.

Another strand of true qi was born.

With a thought, he immediately stopped the Pure Yang True Qi from devouring it. Then, following the cultivation method of Heavenly Martial Astral Qi, he controlled that strand of true qi out of his dantian and toward a certain part of his body.

The true qi was like a silver serpent.

Driven by his will, it arduously opened up a tiny meridian.

A night's time.

Passed in the blink of an eye.

Shen Changqing withdrew from his cultivation state. A night of bitter cultivation had not left him tired; instead, he was full of vigor.

At that moment, in addition to Pure Yang True Qi, his dantian now also contained Heavenly Martial True Qi.

Yet compared to the Pure Yang True Qi that resembled a blazing sun furnace, Heavenly Martial True Qi was truly far too weak. It had been forcibly squeezed into a small corner of his dantian and could barely move.

As for that.

Shen Changqing did not pay it much mind.

As long as Heavenly Martial True Qi was not devoured by Pure Yang True Qi, that was enough.

Judging from the panel.

After one night, Heavenly Martial Astral Qi had officially been initiated and reached the first level, which was roughly what he had expected.

For powerful martial artists.

As long as they had a foundation, entering any martial art would not be overly difficult.

The real difficulty.

Lay in mastering it.

"Once Heavenly Martial True Qi grows stronger, I can directly convert Pure Yang True Qi into Heavenly Martial True Qi. That way, cultivation of Heavenly Martial Astral Qi will be much faster, and the quality of the true qi will be far stronger than Pure Yang True Qi alone."

Shen Changqing mused inwardly.

Converting true qi was an unavoidable process.

One dantian could not simultaneously contain too many powerful kinds of true qi, or they would cause intense conflict. There was no conflict now because Heavenly Martial True Qi was too weak to threaten Pure Yang True Qi.

Once it truly became a threat.

The two different kinds of true qi would erupt into a fierce clash.

Therefore.

When the two types of true qi erupted into conflict, he needed to preserve one of them and use the other as nourishment.

Because Heavenly Martial Astral Qi itself was of a higher rank.

Without a second thought, Shen Changqing chose Pure Yang True Qi as the sacrifice.

"If eleven levels of Pure Yang True Qi are converted into Heavenly Martial True Qi, then my Heavenly Martial True Qi will definitely be different from everyone else's!"

Rising from his seat, he walked out of the study.

The moment he opened the door.

He saw the registrar Shi Qingsheng standing there, holding a set of green robes with a black gauze official hat resting atop them.

"My lord!"

"What is it, Registrar Shi?" Shen Changqing frowned.

"Yesterday, there were some matters this subordinate forgot. Although you are only temporarily acting as county magistrate, you should still have your own official robes. Thus, this subordinate has delivered them to you today."

Shi Qingsheng answered truthfully.

"Official robes?"

Shen Changqing's gaze fell on the black gauze hat, and he casually accepted it.

"You have been thoughtful."

He was not sure how capable Shi Qingsheng was as a registrar.

But judging from his attention to detail, he was already doing quite well.

"This is what this subordinate ought to do." Shi Qingsheng smiled obsequiously, then asked, "My lord has not left the study all night, so you must be hungry. This subordinate has already prepared breakfast. Please, my lord, come this way."

"Lead the way!"

"My lord, this way!"

After eating and drinking his fill.

The meal was much more plentiful than what Shen Changqing had eaten at the Demon Suppression Bureau.

On careful thought, there was indeed nothing strange about that.

After all, at the Demon Suppression Bureau, he had merely been a trainee Demon Slayer. How could his meals compare to those of a county magistrate ruling an entire city?

Throughout the entire meal.

Shen Changqing was the one eating, while Shi Qingsheng stood to one side waiting upon him.

After he finished eating, the other man bowed and asked, "Where does my lord intend to go next, or do you have any orders?"

Wiping his mouth.

Shen Changqing's expression remained calm. "Have Hong Cheng come see me."

"Yes!"

Shi Qingsheng accepted the order and withdrew.

Shen Changqing looked at the mess on the table and did not concern himself with it, turning to leave.

There was no need for him to clean up after eating; someone would naturally take care of it later.