Innate spiritual qi was divided into ranks, and those ranks determined the heights one could reach on the Dao Path.
[Nine Heavens Profound Mirror]
[Star Flow Sand] was fifth-rank spiritual qi, capable of forging a middle-grade Dao Foundation. The cultivators of Black Soil Fortress in the Ancient Wei Territory generally cultivated with this qi.
Above it was the third-rank spiritual qi [Fire Flowing Sand], which could forge a high-grade Dao Foundation. Even the lord of Black Soil Fortress had never possessed it.
The better the Dao Foundation one forged, the greater the chance of achieving a Purple Palace.
It could be said that the rank of one's innate spiritual qi during qi absorption determined one's upper limit.
The hard clumps of sand before Shen Yue, baked for years by the fire vein, fully met the conditions for collecting [Fire Flowing Sand]: the convergence and flow of water, fire, and earth.
But whether he could collect any remained to be seen.
"General Shen, be careful of fire poison!"
The Seventh Prince warned him before starting to clear the sand.
Shen Yue nodded and stopped less than half a meter from a shard of fire-baked porcelain.
Although it met the conditions for collection, the shard's fiery nature was indeed something to be wary of.
As he cleared the sand, he activated [Star Sand Return-to-Store Technique] to collect [Fire Flowing Sand].
He had expected to get burned a few times, but to his surprise, on his very first try, he smoothly condensed wisps of [Fire Quicksand Qi].
Nearby, the Seventh Prince watched Shen Yue clear the sand at a sluggish pace and sighed inwardly.
"General Shen's cultivation is still too weak."
"I'll just have to clear more and share some with him."
A day passed, and the lake-clearing task ended.
The Seventh Prince returned to the boat first and swallowed an Ice Soul Pill.
Though he had done his best to avoid the places where the fire qi was strongest, the lakebed was too close to the Chen Fire Vein, and the fire poison in his body had still worsened.
Just then, Shen Yue surfaced as well. The Seventh Prince pulled him aboard and handed him an Ice Soul Pill.
"No need. I'm fine," Shen Yue said.
"Don't try to tough it out!" The Seventh Prince pressed the Ice Soul Pill into Shen Yue's hand, his expression grave.
He could barely suppress the fire poison; General Shen's condition had to be worse.
So Shen Yue stopped arguing and accepted the Ice Soul Pill.
The fire qi below was indeed strong, but the fire poison in his body had not increased. If anything, it had been suppressed.
[Fire Quicksand Qi] was spiritual qi of water, fire, and earth. It seemed to counter the fire poison—a pleasant surprise.
"Take some of this mud and sand," the Seventh Prince said, pointing to the sediment on his own boat.
He had seen that Shen Yue's hold was only half full. Thank goodness he had planned ahead and collected plenty.
Otherwise, when the Chen Clan came to inspect, General Shen's Water-Avoiding Bead would probably be confiscated.
"Forget it. I'll help you."
The Seventh Prince chanted an incantation, and a golden hand scooped up the sediment and dumped it onto Shen Yue's boat. He only stopped when the hold was nearly full.
For General Shen's sake, I've really gone to the ends of the earth.
Just then, a streak of light passed overhead. Chen Qiaoqian stood on a flying sword, her expression cold.
Three hundred island guards had taken part in the sand-clearing, but they had all been slacking off, using mud and sand to put on a show. Not one had cleared the fiery remnants that had accumulated over the years.
"Hm?"
Chen Qiaoqian's eyes lit up, and she flew down.
The Seventh Prince's expression changed when he saw the streak of light approaching.
She must have seen him sharing the sediment!
He stepped forward and bowed. "Miss Chen, this was my idea. If anyone should be punished, punish me—"
Chen Qiaoqian ignored him and went to Shen Yue. With a light tap of her hand, two porcelain shards flew out of the sediment in the hold.
"How strange. These remnants were baked by the fire vein for so long, so why is the fiery qi only on the surface, while the inside is so weak?"
Puzzled, she drew over three more shards from the fire vein to examine.
The same thing.
Chen Qiaoqian's gaze shifted to Shen Yue.
She remembered him. He had taken the initiative to clear the sand earlier, and now he was the only one clearing the fiery remnants, strange though they were.
She put away the shards, intending to take them back for further study, then took out some pills and handed them to Shen Yue.
"Cultivate well."
With that, she flew away on her sword.
Once she was out of sight,
the Seventh Prince hurriedly jumped into Shen Yue's hold and used his golden hand to scoop up the sediment.
One shard of fire-baked porcelain after another emerged.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Everyone else stays as far away as they can, but you're hauling it over yourself!"
"If you die from fire poison, who's going to help me conquer the realm?"
"Here." Shen Yue handed him a pill.
It was an Essence Condensing Pill, a top-grade cultivation medicine for early-stage Qi Refining. Each pill cost three spirit stones, and Chen Qiaoqian had given him two.
The Seventh Prince stared at the Essence Condensing Pill, his face tightening.
"You got this pill with your life—with my realm! I'll never take it!"
As he spoke, he stuffed the Essence Condensing Pill into his pocket.
In the small lakeside courtyard, inside the room,
Shen Yue sat cross-legged and circulated [Geng Metal Art]. After three cycles, the spiritual power in his body was surging.
He took out an Essence Condensing Pill and swallowed it.
Its immense medicinal power dissolved in his abdomen and surged through his limbs like a mountain torrent.
"No wonder it's a top-grade spiritual medicine! This effect could save me at least a month of hard cultivation."
"Cultivating like this is truly exhilarating. Too bad I only have one..."
He sensed the seven spirit stones in his storage bag and was almost tempted to go buy Essence Condensing Pills.
But seven spirit stones would only buy two pills, a mere drop in the bucket for him.
"Once my cultivation improves, I must explore the Ancient Wei Territory properly."
That night, Shen Yue stopped cultivating [Geng Metal Art] and took out two wisps of spiritual qi to examine.
One wisp took the form of golden grains; the other concealed fire within its gold.
During the day's lake-clearing, he had collected one wisp each of [Fire Quicksand Qi] and [Star Flow Sand Qi].
"At one wisp a day, it'll take more than two months..."
Thirty-six wisps of fire qi could form [Star Flow Sand], while seventy-two wisps of sand qi could form [Fire Flowing Sand].
[Fire Quicksand Qi] was harder to collect than [Star Flow Sand Qi], so it took longer as well.
If he focused solely on collecting [Star Flow Sand], half a month would be enough.
Shen Yue wasn't in a hurry. He would definitely prioritize a high-grade Dao Foundation.
But there was a problem: collecting [Fire Quicksand Qi] required diving to the lakebed. Scooping up sand from the surface was inefficient.
Yet the Refining Lake didn't have lake-clearing tasks every day.
"If only I could go to a place with a fire vein, like the Chen Clan's refining grounds. I should be able to collect [Fire Quicksand Qi] much faster there."
But only refiners could enter the refining grounds.
"A refiner..." Shen Yue mused.
Whether in the Chen Clan or the market, refiners held a lofty status and earned spirit stones as easily as drinking water.
If he absorbed qi using [Fire Flowing Sand], he would be exceptionally suited to refining or alchemy.
"Cultivate first."
Two months later.
Night fell, and all was silent.
Shen Yue's skin was like a hot iron, his blood like molten lava. All his strength gathered at his brow as he struck at the last of his six meridians, the Ancestral Aperture Meridian.
With each successive surge, the meridian gate wore away until at last he broke through.
A feeling of unobstructed ease surged through him. Shen Yue felt his strength skyrocket, his mind grow clear, and his senses sharpen.
The wind outside the courtyard and the rippling lake water had never sounded so vivid.
"No wonder the cultivation techniques of the Ancient Wei Territory could awaken divine sense through qi absorption..."
If the sixth meridian could sharpen his senses this much, then awakening divine sense at the qi absorption stage seemed only natural.
Feeling himself transform, Shen Yue smiled.
"For now, I'll prioritize cultivating [Star Sand Return-to-Store Technique]."
Once the last meridian was complete, he could swallow [Fire Flowing Sand], enter the qi absorption stage, and master divine sense.
Besides, the third page of [Nine Heavens Profound Mirror] was nearly unlocked. He wondered what special effect it would have.
The stars shifted, and half a month passed in a flash.
At the Refining Lake, on Clear-Turbid Island,
the Seventh Prince, Changqin Wuming, controlled a black spirit bag, collecting the black qi on the island.
"You're getting more and more skilled at collecting waste qi. At this rate, you'll sweep us all away," a few people nearby teased.
Changqin Wuming only smiled and said nothing, continuing with his work.
Once he had packed away all the black qi, he took the bag to the center of the island for processing. Then, impatient to get going, he left the island, went ashore, and found Shen Yue.
"General Shen, once I establish my Foundation, I'll make you commander-in-chief of the three armies. We'll dominate the market, destroy the Chen Clan, avenge our blood feud, and prove the Dao through slaughter..."
Changqin Wuming had switched to collecting waste qi, away from the fire poison. His cultivation had steadily improved, and now he was full of confidence.
Shen Yue had heard this at least ten times over the past few days and was used to it. But the middle-aged man seated across from them laughed when he heard it.
"Heh. Prove the Dao through slaughter? At this rate, you'll drain all the fortune of the Refining Lake, Emperor Ming."
The man's name was Zhou Chongwen. He had once been the emperor of a mortal kingdom, but it had been destroyed after he ruled for only two and a half years.
"Cultivation is like rowing upstream. You have to face difficulties head-on and dare to take on challenges." The Seventh Prince felt invigorated.
Zhou Chongwen smiled.
He had been in the market for over a decade. At first, he had been just like Changqin Wuming, believing himself a great talent destined to reach the peak.
But in the end, he had only reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining. He had damaged his foundations and could advance no further.
Cultivation didn't depend on fighting hard or lofty ambitions. It depended on resources and connections!
People like them, who came from mortal kingdoms, were useless, even if they had been emperors.
Thinking of this, he looked at Shen Yue. "General Shen, let me confirm once more: do you really want to buy Blood Refining Pills for body cultivation?"
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