Qi Refinement (Please Follow)

Pill Island, cave dwelling.

Fang Qing sat cross-legged, gazing at several brand-new books before him.

One of them was precisely the Water Classic Commentary, containing everything from the first layer of "Spirit Guidance into the Body" to Qi Refining Ninth Layer Grand Completion, even including the sections on how to achieve Foundation Establishment.

After borrowing the original, he had first sworn not to spread its contents, then copied it stroke by stroke himself at the Heavenly Books Pavilion.

"They say that after Foundation Establishment, one's Spiritual Sense can leave the body. All techniques are recorded on jade slips, and a single glance is enough to remember them. There's no need for such trouble..."

Fang Qing shook his head and looked toward the other medicine manuals and alchemy classics.

Compendium of Spirit Medicines, Flying Waterfall Alchemy Classic...

Zeng Shu had recommended these as well. They were the foundations of Water-Method Alchemy.

Fang Qing planned to memorize them first, then familiarize himself with the medicinal properties.

As for alchemy? Naturally, that could wait.

"The urgent matter is still to get started in cultivation. Otherwise, it isn't even convenient to leave home. I can't use magical artifacts... I'd still have to take boats like an ordinary mortal."

Fang Qing opened the first page of the Water Classic Commentary and saw a diagram of the human body's meridians.

"My body came from the Ancient Shu World. I hope there won't be any problems."

He silently committed it to memory, then looked at the cultivation chant afterward.

The first step into immortality was "Meditative Emptiness": entering concentration through seated meditation and drawing in a thread of spiritual qi from heaven and earth.

If one could completely absorb that thread of spiritual qi into the body, circulate it through the meridians and acupoints, and finally gather it in the dantian to become dharma power, then one had completed Spirit Guidance into the Body and become a Qi Refining First Layer cultivator.

Of course, it sounded simple, but doing it was exceedingly difficult.

Fang Qing spent quite a bit of effort merely memorizing that diagram of the meridians.

The many technical terms in the chant gave him such a headache that he had no choice but to visit the Heavenly Books Pavilion again, borrowing numerous medical texts and Daoist scriptures. Together with attending public lectures on the first and fifteenth of every month, and shamelessly asking senior brothers and sisters for guidance, more than a month passed before he finally mastered the first layer's chant.

"Ah... compared to them, disciples born into Foundation Establishment Immortal Clans and Qi Refinement Aristocratic Clans really do have an advantage. They're miles ahead from the very start."

Fang Qing sat cross-legged, looking at the Contribution Points on his disciple token with deep emotion.

New disciples ordinarily received a year-long adjustment period after entering the sect, but daily expenses, even asking questions... were impossible without spending Contribution Points.

Now that he calculated it, his funds were getting rather tight.

"I should hurry and enter the Dao through cultivation. Once I become a Qi Refinement cultivator, I can go to Myriad Treasures Island to take missions, earn Contribution Points, then exchange them for spirit stones, Spirit Herbs, and other cultivation resources..."

Outside the cave dwelling, moonlight flowed like water.

Fang Qing sat cross-legged atop a bright yellow meditation cushion, silently circulating the chant for sensing spiritual qi.

Ever since confirming that he had completely mastered the first layer chant of the Water Classic Commentary, he had meditated cross-legged every day, attempting to sense the spiritual qi in the void. He had already gained a faint grasp of it. Yesterday, he had nearly completed the final step, but his emotions had been too stirred, and all his efforts had come to nothing.

"Today, I will definitely succeed!"

Holding that conviction in his heart, Fang Qing entered the state of selfless, egoless Meditative Emptiness.

Just as he forgot both self and surroundings, he sensed threads of coolness within the void.

Following the chant, he silently circulated them. The coolness poured into his body through the acupoint between his brows, passed along the Spinal Dragon, and traveled through his limbs and every bone.

Then, it seemed as if his breathing through his mouth and nose changed into Innate Embryonic Breathing. Every pore across his body suddenly opened, greedily inhaling and exhaling spiritual qi.

Rumble!

A great amount of spiritual qi circulated through his body. After several Greater Celestial Circuits, it finally surged into a mysterious place within his abdomen.

"The dantian has opened. Dharma power is born!"

"Spirit Guidance into the Body... succeeded!"

Feeling the thread of icy Black Water Dharma Power within his dantian, Fang Xing opened his eyes.

"This..."

In that instant, he discovered that his eyes seemed like those of a nearsighted person putting on glasses. The entire world became far clearer.

Beyond that, his ears twitched slightly, and he could hear the faint rustling of tiny insects crawling several zhang away.

"Immortal cultivators have sharp eyes and keen ears... truly, they're completely different from martial arts practitioners. It's more like... human evolution?"

"I'm now an immortal cultivator at Qi Refining First Layer."

"Next, I only need to keep accumulating dharma power. Once the first layer reaches completion, I can attempt to break through to Qi Refining Second Layer..."

"The first-layer chant took a month to comprehend because I had no foundation... Now that I've filled in those gaps, as long as I study on my own and occasionally seek guidance from senior brothers and sisters, thoroughly mastering the Water Classic Commentary shouldn't be a problem..."

"And once I have dharma power, I can cultivate spells and refine magical artifacts... I'll truly transcend the mundane."

Fang Qing sighed in satisfaction.

If he were still in the Ancient Shu World, who knew how long he would have drifted and squandered his years? Unlike here, where he was practically escorted all the way. He could not help marveling at the simple, honest customs of this place.

However, although he possessed the Green Leaf Boat magical artifact, and the end of the Water Classic Commentary included several Qi Refinement spells, those were not what concerned Fang Qing most.

"Dao-Born Pearl!"

With a thought from him, the Dao-Born Pearl spun round and round. The thread of Black Water Dharma Power in his dantian instantly dissipated, transforming into the purest Origin Qi.

"Hm? In terms of conversion rate and quality, it's actually higher than the power from ten years of my painstaking Red Sand Hand cultivation! As expected, dharma power is on a higher level than inner force?"

Fang Qing circulated it slightly, converting all his dharma power into Red Sand Hand inner force.

In an instant, his palm changed from white to red, then from red back to white. It cycled seven times, and an indescribable current of force faintly formed.

"Gang force released beyond the body... a Martial Dao Innate master, something that has nearly vanished from the secular martial world?"

Fang Qing lightly struck out with his palm. Gang qi shot outward, crossing three chi through the air and smashing into the stone wall of the cultivation chamber, making stone dust fall in a shower.

"And... I achieved Martial Dao Innate with the Red Sand Hand, a third-rate martial art found everywhere?"

"Unfortunately, to immortal cultivators, Innate martial artists are merely bigger ants... A single spell would settle them."

He circulated the Dao-Born Pearl once more, converting all the inner force throughout his body into the Black Water Dharma Power of the Water Classic Commentary. Yet he felt that his dharma power had only increased by an utterly negligible thread.

"Probably equivalent to several days of meditation... and this was ten years of Red Sand Hand inner force!"

"Sure enough, in a world of immortal cultivation, practicing martial arts has no future."

"At least... the martial arts I've encountered are completely crushed beneath it."

Several days later, Pill Island.

Before his cave dwelling, Fang Qing wore an excited expression as he took a leaf-shaped magical artifact from his robes.

This was the standard magical artifact the Azure Sea Sect issued to its disciples—the Green Leaf Boat. It could only fly slowly and was considered First-Order Low Grade.

After spending an entire night, he had finally succeeded in refining this magical artifact.

"Rise!"

Fang Qing formed hand seals with both hands. The green leaf continuously expanded until it became a small flat boat half a zhang long and several chi wide, floating in midair.

With a leap, he jumped onto the Green Leaf Boat and began shakily trying to fly.

At first, Fang Qing's flight path was a complete mess. He nearly fell several times, fortunately without flying too high.

"This feeling of flying freely really is different from riding an airplane or being carried through the air by someone else."

As Fang Qing gradually grew accustomed to it, the Green Leaf Boat became faster and faster, and he began trying tricks.

Flying forward, flying backward, flying sideways, flying upside down...

At times, with a sudden burst of speed, he would plunge into the clouds and emerge from the other side.

"Haha... riding the wind is truly exhilarating. What a pity my dharma power is running low."

Feeling the thin dharma power in his dantian, Fang Qing shook his head, picked out his direction, and landed on Myriad Treasures Island.

The island's highest-ranked cultivator, Elder Myriad Treasures, already possessed Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation. The Palace of Miscellaneous Affairs under his control was a place that countless Azure Sea Sect disciples could not avoid.

The Palace of Miscellaneous Affairs stood on the largest flat ground of Myriad Treasures Island. It was a towering, majestic ancient bronze hall with eight gates, and streams of disciples passed through every entrance.

The moment Fang Qing entered, he was drawn in by the bustling scene.

Quite a few Azure Sea Sect disciples had even set up stalls right by the roadside, trading with spirit stones or bartering goods.

On the bronze plaza, more than ten enormous bronze pillars rose toward the heavens, their surfaces flashing with the radiance of colorful runes.

[Lakeside Wilderness-Character No. 17 Medicine Garden seeks one spirit planter. Minor Cloud-Rain Technique at major accomplishment required. Compensation: three hundred Contribution Points per year.]

[Long-term recruitment of spirit farmers. Compensation: one hundred Contribution Points per year.]

[Wanted: Sea-Mad Three Fiends. Late Qi Refinement or Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivation. One thousand Contribution Points for each head...]

[Long-term purchase of Azure Dragon Carp. Generous compensation...]

Fang Qing swept his gaze over them and saw every imaginable kind of mission and bounty.

Some had been issued by the sect, while others had been posted privately by elders and disciples, leaving one dizzy with the sheer variety.

"Guard duty and bounty missions... require fighting. I'm still a little shrimp at the moment. I can't handle them."

"I can only look at production and construction jobs first... But spirit farmers are paid far too little, aren't they?"

Fang Qing looked toward the alchemy-related ones. Their rewards were generous, but unfortunately, he did not know the slightest thing about alchemy.

After searching around, he barely found a suitable one:

[Mission: Refine three hundred bundles of "Jade Spirit Silk." Mission reward: two hundred Contribution Points if the employer supplies the raw materials; five hundred Contribution Points if you provide your own raw materials...]

Fang Qing continued reading and learned that this Jade Spirit Silk had to be made by washing a spirit plant called Azure Sky Hemp in cold springs.

Its texture was tough yet light and breathable, making it an excellent material for refining inner armor and gauze-scarf magical artifacts.

The Azure Sea Sect's best cold springs were all located on Pill Island. As a Pill Island disciple, he could still go and make use of them.

"This should be a benefit specially meant for Pill Island disciples, right?"

"What's there to hesitate about? I'll take it."

Fang Qing immediately took out his disciple token to accept the mission. He also collected several bundles of Azure Sky Hemp, carrying them all the way back to his cave dwelling.

Because he had not expected to bring raw materials on the return trip, the Green Leaf Boat was overloaded. His dharma power nearly failed halfway through, and he almost plunged into the lake...