The First Mission

With every breath in and out, the spiritual energy from heaven and earth was absorbed by Li Yunjing, refined, and merged into his blood, then compressed into his heart; his entire body's strength was set in motion by his respiration.

Unknowingly, Li Yunjing entered a state of selflessness.

The beginning of Qi Refining is the tempering of the five internal organs.

All things in heaven and earth are composed of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Human cultivation focuses on essence, energy, and spirit, and the five internal organs are the foundation of Qi refining; strengthening the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys is the core of the Qi Refining stage.

Only by tempering the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys to their peak can one possibly break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Li Yunjing possessed exceptionally high comprehension; after reading the "Divine Firmament Jade Records" just a few times, he understood the most basic principles of cultivation.

Once the principles of cultivation were understood, moving toward the goal made the practice naturally much simpler.

Following the Qi refining incantations of the "Divine Firmament Jade Records," Li Yunjing sat cross-legged and practiced all night, continuously inhaling and exhaling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

By the time dawn arrived, Li Yunjing had already perfected the first layer of the Qi Refining stage and entered the second layer.

Having promoted to the second layer of the Qi Refining stage, Li Yunjing discovered that his muscles, bones, and internal organs had once again become much tighter and sturdier, and his whole body was filled with strength.

At the same time, Li Yunjing's hearing became even sharper.

He became instantly alert to any movement, and could even sense slight sounds within a radius of four miles.

Meanwhile, his sense of smell, taste, and touch were all more powerful than before.

With every level gained in the Qi Refining stage, the body undergoes an evolution, becoming extremely sensitive and more flexible in its reactions.

The internal organs become solid, and the impurities in the flesh and blood are gradually refined and expelled from the body.

Entering the Qi Refining stage had another benefit: Li Yunjing seemed able to "see" the condition of his own body, gaining the ability of internal vision.

With such an ability, he could make self-adjustments based on his physical state.

Every cultivator in the Qi Refining stage is a good doctor, clearly knowing their own condition.

On the final day, Li Yunjing hurriedly ate a meal and then devoted all his energy to cultivation.

The density of spiritual energy in the core area of the "Menial Hall" was unimaginable.

Li Yunjing certainly did not believe that the place where he would work tomorrow would offer such treatment.

He was not here to enjoy himself, and he could not waste a single second.

Meditate, refine Qi, eat, then go back to meditating and refining Qi!

Not a single second was wasted.

Unknowingly, the third day passed.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

A knocking sound came from outside the door.

Li Yunjing sighed and woke from his cultivation process.

He had known someone was outside the door since early on.

Standing up and tidying himself, Li Yunjing opened the door.

He saw the gray-robed Daoist he had seen on the first day standing at the entrance.

"Greetings, Senior Brother!"

Li Yunjing cupped his hands and offered a greeting.

"Hmm! The time has come; starting today, you must serve the sect."

The gray-robed Daoist nodded slightly and then said, "Your first task is to go to 'Qiongze Peak' to feed the Piebald Horses on the mountain."

"What is a Piebald Horse?"

Li Yunjing was stunned. What was this thing?

He had traveled the world for three years and had never heard of such a thing.

It sounded like a horse, but Li Yunjing was unclear about the breed.

"Hehe! This is not a product of the Great Ming Dynasty; it comes from the distant East. The big figures in the sect brought them back to the mountain to raise them. Much of the meat in the 'Elegant Fragrance Garden' comes from these Piebald Horses. Do you understand?"

The gray-robed Daoist laughed.

"So that's how it is!"

Li Yunjing nodded, understanding his upcoming work.

"As for the details, bring your identity token so I can issue the task to you. The 'Divine Firmament Jade Records' will then display the feeding methods and labor rewards."

"You can look up all these related matters on it."

The gray-robed Daoist said again.

"Yes, Senior Brother."

Li Yunjing untied the identity token from his waist and handed it to the Senior Brother.

"Hmm!"

The gray-robed Daoist produced his own token, and as the two tokens were pressed together, a flash of yellow light swept over them. He then returned Li Yunjing's token to him.

"Done! Now, follow me to meet up with your companion!"

The gray-robed Daoist finished speaking and turned to leave.

"Yes! Senior Brother!"

Li Yunjing hurried to catch up.

As he walked, Li Yunjing checked his identity token.

Just as the Senior Brother had said, a task entry had appeared on the back of the token, and the issuer of the task was Tian Wenju.

[Menial Disciple: Li Yunjing.]
[Task: Qiongze Peak, tend to the Piebald Horses.]
[Duration: One month.]
[Time off: One day.]
[Reward: 4 Contribution Points, two low-grade spirit stones.]

So, this Senior Brother's name was Tian Wenju?

On the "Divine Firmament Jade Records," a map of "Qiongze Peak" had also appeared.

Li Yunjing took a glance; from the "Menial Hall," it would take crossing eight mountain peaks to reach that location.

"That's so far!"

Muttering to himself, Li Yunjing couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of the sect's artifacts.

It turned out that the "Divine Firmament Jade Records" was also a magical artifact designed to be used in conjunction with the identity token!

It could clearly display the relevant details of a task based on what had been accepted.

This was truly convenient!

Tian Wenju did not escort Li Yunjing all the way to "Qiongze Peak," as it was simply too far.

He merely brought Li Yunjing to meet up with Ma Xingyuan and left the two of them to head there on their own.

"Brother Ma, you have this task too?"

Li Yunjing was quite surprised when he saw Ma Xingyuan.

"Hehe! We brothers are fated, so naturally, I had to go with you!"

"I gave Senior Brother Tian a spirit stone, which is how I arranged to feed the horses with you."

Ma Xingyuan said with a grin.

"It works like that?"

Li Yunjing was a bit stunned. Tian Wenju had looked so serious and impartial, yet he turned out to be a hypocritical petty man who would grant favors if given spirit stones.

"Hehe! Brother Li, it's clear you don't understand the cultivation world!"

"Spirit stones are hard currency. Never mind mere menial disciples; as long as you have enough spirit stones, you could even bribe outer sect disciples or inner sect disciples without issue."

Ma Xingyuan chuckled, looked left and right, and seeing no one, lowered his voice to speak.

"I've certainly learned something new."

Li Yunjing nodded. It turned out that beyond the content on the "Divine Firmament Jade Records," there were also unspoken rules.

This brought a smile to Li Yunjing's face; it seemed that getting by in the "Divine Firmament Dao Sect" wouldn't be so difficult after all!

What was his job in his past life?

He was a professional at dealing with people!

"Since that's the case, we brothers must look out for one another."

Li Yunjing said as much.

"Of course! I felt a connection with Brother Li the moment we met, otherwise I wouldn't have paid the price to work with you."

Ma Xingyuan nodded, then suddenly looked startled and asked, "Brother Li, have you advanced to the second level of the Qi Refining Realm?"