Cultivation Method

The Silver Dragon King sat before Lie Xu with an air of righteous indignation, her posture making it clear that if Lie Xu did not give her a name, she would not be leaving.

"Cough, cough, cough!!!"

Lie Xu was suddenly choked by these words, coughing incessantly. He only calmed down after taking the waterskin handed to him by Chi Yuan and gulping down several mouthfuls.

He asked slowly, "Do you not have a name of your own?"

"No. Hmm... does 'Silver Dragon King' count?"

The Silver Dragon King thought for a moment, then spoke with a face full of earnestness.

That was right. According to the original timeline, the Silver Dragon King did not have a name yet. Ever since the Dragon God's soul was split in two by a single sword strike from the first Asura God, the Golden Dragon King had inherited the Dragon God's extreme physical strength and murderous aura, only to be imprisoned by the gods in the Forbidden Land of the Gods within the God Realm.

As for the Silver Dragon King, she had inherited all of the Dragon God's elemental laws, the origin of life, and his inner kindness and wisdom. Amidst the chaos of the God Realm, she had gathered her core followers and torn through the spatial barrier to escape to the lower realm, the Douluo Continent.

In that battle, the Silver Dragon King's own origin had been severely damaged, so she had fallen into a deep slumber within a Mustard Seed Space beneath the Lake of Life in the core of the Star Dou Great Forest. She used the luck of the auspicious beasts constantly born in the Star Dou Great Forest to mask her presence while slowly recovering her soul and physical body.

The name Silver Dragon King—Gu Yuena—was only obtained much later, after she had incarnated into the human race and her personality had fully integrated.

Therefore, she was currently just a simple, naive girl with immense power and the Golden Dragon King's inheritance, yet entirely unversed in the ways of the world.

As this thought crossed his mind, Lie Xu felt incredibly awkward. Truly, sincerity was the ultimate technique.

"Uh... alright then."

"What kind of name do you want?" Lie Xu wiped the grease from the corners of his mouth.

"Hmm... something pleasant to hear, like the one you gave the Three-Eyed Golden Lion."

The Silver Dragon King's eyes shone with anticipation.

"Hmm..."

As someone who had been guaranteed admission to Peking University's Chinese department in his previous life, such a trivial matter as naming someone was far too simple for Lie Xu. Although he hadn't touched a book from Blue Star in the six-plus years since he transmigrated, he looked at the calm surface of the Lake of Life reflecting the cold moonlight of the night sky. After a brief moment of contemplation, he quickly recalled a poem that perfectly suited the Silver Dragon King's cold, aloof demeanor, and recited it to her slowly.

"Scattered frost and snow amidst the churning foam, the ancient pool ripples against the clear void."

"So, how about 'Qingshuang'?"

"Qingshuang?"

The Silver Dragon King softly murmured the lines Lie Xu had just recited.

"Scattered... frost and snow, the ancient pool ripples against the clear void..."

A look of satisfaction appeared on her face. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she nodded at Lie Xu, saying, "Mm, I like it very much."

With that, she sat cross-legged on a large blue stone not far from Lie Xu and closed her eyes to rest.

Lie Xu finished off the beast leg in his hand in a few quick bites and began his watch for the night. During the previous beast tide, everyone had suffered injuries of varying degrees. Many in the team had been severely wounded and had already withdrawn from the Star Dou Great Forest to return to Spirit City for rest and treatment.

If one had to say who had suffered the least on this trip, it would be him and Qian Renxue; they had been protected perfectly from the very start.

This was the difference between noble spirit masters and commoner spirit masters. When obtaining spirit rings, those born into nobility had elders and powerful subordinates from their clan to escort them the entire way. Conversely, commoner spirit masters might even lose their lives just trying to obtain a single ring.

For the same hundred-year spirit ring, it would be a lie to say there was no difference between a hundred-year one and a nine-hundred-year one...

Lie Xu sat on the ground, watching the campfire that occasionally crackled due to the damp wood, and couldn't help but sigh at the fact that he had transmigrated into such a good family.

Deep in the night, Lie Xu stood up to add more wood to the fire. He cast aside the many distracting thoughts in his mind and began to examine the two ancient texts within the Dongxuan Daoist Treasury in his consciousness.

"Nine Qi Return to Origin Method."

Lie Xu murmured the name written above. As his consciousness stirred, the ancient book flipped open to the first page on its own.

It read:

"The Nine Qi divide into forms to manifest the Great Thousand Worlds; scattered, they become dust and tribulation, gathered, they become immortals.

The Azure Brilliance Compassionate Venerable bestows refinement and salvation; all spirits gather the Qi to return to the True Origin..."

After reading the general summary of this technique, Lie Xu finally understood its origin.

The Taiyi Savior of Suffering Heavenly Venerable was the manifestation of the essence of the Nine Yang of Primordial Beginning, governing the origin of the Nine Qi. The Heavenly Venerable's myriad incarnations were the division of the Nine Qi; holding the title for all living beings and refining the souls of the departed was the Nine Qi Return to Origin, returning to the root to restore life.

And these Nine Qi were: Yudan Huangyan Qi, Chanshan Zihu Qi, Fanjian Mingxian Qi, Doushu Mingyan Qi, Bujiao Zhongling Qi, Huaying Chongrong Qi, Qingjia Miaosheng Qi, Fanmo Ningzhen Qi, and Wuxiang Yuanhua Qi.

Cultivating this method required governing the innate Qi between heaven and earth, reversing the cultivation of the origin, and merging the nine Qi to return to the Great One...

Lie Xu was left with a head full of question marks after reading it. What was all this? Aside from the spirit power breathing and absorption methods his grandfather had taught him, and the methods for absorbing spirit rings and spirit bones, he had never seen such high-level goods; he couldn't understand it at all.

He possessed a massive treasure mountain, but he could only look at it, unable to make use of it.

Just as Lie Xu was feeling frustrated, the Nine Qi Return to Origin Method in his mind suddenly turned into specks of starlight and vanished from his consciousness.

"This... what is going on? Why did it disappear? Even if you, Venerable, gave it to me, you shouldn't just take it back! I admit I'm a bit slow, but if you gave me a hint, maybe I'd have a breakthrough and learn it..."

Lie Xu grumbled inwardly, feeling incredibly regretful at losing such a heaven-sent opportunity.

Suddenly, the spirit power within his body began to circulate on its own. Lie Xu hurriedly tried to use the breathing method Lion Douluo had taught him to control the runaway spirit power.

However, it was completely useless; he couldn't even provide the slightest resistance, and could only let it flow as it pleased.

"Is this what they call 'suffering a cultivation deviation' in the dramas of my past life?"

Lie Xu was already preparing to call for help. Regardless of anything else, he had to stop the momentum of his runaway spirit power. He was truly afraid that he would die before achieving his ambition...

But at that moment, the spirit power within his body completed a full cycle, and Lie Xu suddenly discovered something unusual.

His soul power was actually moving along a specific path. Although it traveled at an astonishing speed, it covered everything—the twelve regular meridians, the divergent meridians, the fifteen connecting vessels, the eight extraordinary vessels, and countless minute collateral vessels—leaving nothing out.

Lie Xu hurriedly focused his intent on his dantian and followed along, firmly memorizing the route the soul power took as it circulated through his body.

After he had completed three cycles, the force guiding his soul power suddenly vanished, and the loss of control over his soul power ceased.

"Hoo~"

Lie Xu let out a long breath and looked around. Nothing had happened; those who were sleeping remained asleep, and those who were meditating remained in quiet repose.

It made sense. What kind of blind soul beast would have to be out of its mind to attack them on the territory of two former forest overlords? Not to mention that a soul beast co-ruler who had lived for who knew how many tens of thousands of years was present.

After Lie Xu added more wood to the dying fire, he continued to absorb the soul power scattered throughout the world, following the execution route of the Nine Qi Return to Origin Method.

And this time, it triggered something special...