Methods of Self-Preservation

The moment Bai Sui condensed that elixir bead, he felt a subtle shift within himself.

First, the Qi between heaven and earth became more proactive, constantly seeking to surge into his dantian; Bai Sui kept it at bay only out of caution.

Second, Bai Sui could now utilize the power of his primordial spirit to a certain extent, such as sensing the goodwill or malice of those around him, or gauging the energy levels of others—a function quite similar to Kagura Shingan.

I say "similar" because it goes beyond that; during his daily meditation, his inner vision sometimes offers glimpses of the future. For instance, if he suddenly saw a strange face while in deep meditation, that person would inevitably come looking for him the very next day.

Bai Sui's spirit is now extremely solid. Though he hasn't tested it, he feels that ordinary illusions would no longer be effective against him.

Furthermore, his affinity with various flora and fauna has strengthened. While he cannot yet communicate with them directly, he is far beyond the average person.

His physical body has also undergone significant changes. He hasn't developed bulging muscles, but rather a physique that is supple yet firm. His senses are sharp, his appetite has surged, and his digestive capacity has greatly increased—he is one step closer to the goal of no longer needing to excrete.

Since he now possessed the ability to perceive energy, Bai Sui naturally began experimenting in private.

Under his perception, the energy level within his own body was no longer inferior to that of the Uzumaki clansmen responsible for managing this region.

One must realize that the Uzumaki Clan is renowned throughout the ninja world for their chakra and sealing techniques. While he didn't know if that person was a genin, chunin, or jonin, Bai Sui's energy reserves were clearly no longer negligible.

Of course, this did not mean Bai Sui had the power to protect himself; after all, he lacked any means to utilize his Qi.

It was like having bullets but no gun. If he were forced into a fight, he could at best use those bullets as hammers to bash an ordinary person.

Against a ninja, however, it would be like dueling a man with a machine gun while wielding a meteor hammer—especially since his opponent might belong to a prestigious, deep-rooted family like the Uzumaki.

Thus, Bai Sui's top priority was to find a way to use his energy. First and foremost, his Qi was indeed different from chakra, even though both were composed of physical and spiritual energy.

Chakra is essentially generated by a 1:1 combination of spiritual and physical energy, produced and consumed on the fly without storage. To Bai Sui, it felt like twisting copper wire and tin wire together.

Bai Sui's Qi, however, involves using spiritual energy to refine physical energy, and using physical energy to condense spiritual energy, until the two fuse—much like melting copper and tin together to create an alloy.

Both have their merits. Due to its nature, chakra is refined quickly; one can generally recover full reserves after half a day of rest.

Qi, at least for Bai Sui at present, is extremely difficult to refine. Every bit used is a bit lost. Although he is refining it every moment, at his current capacity, it would take at least several days to fill his reserves.

Of course, chakra capacity is essentially fixed; once a person reaches adulthood, it rarely grows, meaning one's potential is set at birth.

Qi, however, has a series of subsequent cultivation paths. It can be expanded and condensed. It essentially grows every moment one is alive, making it a "late-game" build.

As for control, through his secret observations over the past few years, Bai Sui had been lucky enough to witness the release of ninjutsu a few times. He discovered that natural energy seemed to be involved.

Through his secret analysis (mostly conjecture), he surmised that the reason they could release ninjutsu with elemental transformations was likely because the 50% spiritual energy in the chakra drew upon the natural energy of the world, while the 50% physical energy provided the control.

Drawing on memories from his past life, he recalled that Naruto had detailed explanations of several ninjutsu, but no matter how he experimented, Bai Sui found that his Qi could not directly release ninjutsu.

Bai Sui felt there must be reasons he didn't yet understand, yet he didn't feel capable of solving them. After all, these were differences between two worlds, and he was no supreme genius capable of easily bridging the gap between two different systems, let alone two worlds.

Therefore, all Bai Sui could do now was develop his own methods for using Qi. If one asked if there were records of this in his past life, the answer would be yes, but since he had only been interested in "Ghost Immortals," he had never bothered to collect or study such materials.

Bai Sui could only experiment based on some theories from his past life. Fortunately, he did have some understanding of the subject.

The Huangdi Neijing: Suwen describes five ways Qi operates: absorption, release, gathering, transmission, and storage.

Absorbing Qi corresponds to growth, which is Wood in the Five Elements, with the function of "bending and straightening." Releasing Qi corresponds to dispersion, which is Fire, with the function of "flaming upward." Gathering Qi corresponds to condensation, which is Metal, with the function of "conforming and changing." Transmitting Qi corresponds to coldness, which is Water, with the function of "moistening downward." Storing Qi corresponds to nourishment, which is Earth, with the function of "sowing and reaping."

Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water correspond to the Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lungs, and Kidneys. After trying them one by one and referencing his past life, Bai Sui finally cobbled together a "Qi Sword."

By nurturing a breath of Qi within his lungs, the power of this Qi grows stronger as time passes.

After testing, if he didn't nurture it at all and just inhaled and spat it out, the power was like the punch of a one-year-old child—capable of causing injury if it hit a sensitive spot like an eye.

If nurtured for a month, it could pierce several feet into stone; it would likely be able to punch straight through an Earth Style: Earth Wall. The power was quite impressive, but the problem was that it was a one-time use; he couldn't reuse it and would have to nurture it again.

According to Bai Sui's current ability, he could store a maximum of three "breaths" at once, meaning he could release the Qi Sword three times. As for the power, it depended on how long he had nurtured it.

At the same time, Bai Sui recalled that in his past life, knights were divided into nine ranks. If he managed to master this Qi Sword, he might just qualify as a Qi Knight.

Luo Gong said: There are nine different ranks of Immortal Knights. First, the Heavenly Knight; second, the Immortal Knight; third, the Spirit Knight; fourth, the Wind Knight; fifth, the Water Knight; sixth, the Fire Knight; seventh, the Qi Knight; eighth, the Ghost Knight; ninth, the Sword-Encountering Knight.

First, the Heavenly Knight—this immortal serves the Heavenly Emperor and is bestowed a sword.

Second, the Immortal Knight—having cultivated the true path to ascend to heaven, they refine Qi into a needle-sword.

Third, the Spirit Knight—already an Earth Immortal residing in the mountains, they refine a sword-dagger. Upon hearing of injustice from ten thousand miles away, they send the flying sword to resolve it instantly.

Fourth, the Wind Knight—also an Earth Immortal, they refine a sword-dagger. Their cultivation is interrupted and not yet fully spiritualized; when they learn of injustice, they ride the wind, and both body and sword arrive simultaneously.

Fifth, the Water Knight—originally a Water Immortal who refined their craft; they cannot fly without water.

Sixth, the Fire Knight—they cultivate by igniting themselves, also known as the "Fire Light Samadhi." When they refine their sword-dagger and wish to fly, they must transform into a ball of fire to travel, hence the name.

Seventh, the Qi Knight—they only study the stabilization of breath to refine the essence into a sword. Once the sword is formed, it is like Qi itself, and they travel while wielding it, hence the name "Qi Sword."

Eighth, the Ghost Knight—others cannot see their form. They cultivate the "Water-Ink" form of the divine immortal, using a Water-Ink sword; their comings and goings are no different from Qi.

Ninth, the Sword-Encountering Knight—perhaps due to encountering a precious sword, they are able to manifest and move as they please.