Clear Spring, Gentle Breeze

"There were even talismans? He really was a fat sheep!"

When the black-clad brute saw Fang Qing use a talisman, delight appeared on his face. He controlled his flying shuttle and kept closing in.

"Water Arrow Technique!"

Fang Qing raised a hand, sending several water arrows flying out. The brute easily blocked them. "Haha... Your dharma power is this feeble? Don't tell me you entered the Dao using the miscellaneous qi of the lower three orders?"

He had originally been somewhat wary, but now he relaxed considerably. Spreading his massive hand, he turned a stream of black smoke into a giant palm and reached to seize Fang Qing.

Just then, a pale golden talisman appeared in Fang Qing's hand, and he abruptly activated it.

Screech!

Golden light flashed through the air, gathering into a golden blade. It was precisely a Golden Blade Talisman!

Yet unlike those on Jade Island, this golden blade had become longer and slimmer, with ancient patterns even surfacing across its blade. Like Heavenly Punishment's blade, it slashed down fiercely!

Pfft!

That pitch-black giant hand was cleaved apart at once.

The blade light did not slow, sweeping across the black-clad brute's neck.

Before he could say anything, his head fell to the ground.

"As expected... In this world, metal and fire are manifest Dao. The attack power of metal-attribute talismans is also greatly amplified..."

"Wait, even talismans from the Qi Refinement Way are affected in the Ancient Shu World?"

Controlling the Green Leaf Boat, Fang Qing grabbed the brute's corpse and flying shuttle in one swoop, then swiftly left the area.

Not long afterward, several more streaks of escaping light arrived. After circling the area briefly, they pursued Fang Qing's direction.

Unfortunately, these cultivators were destined to return empty-handed.

Jade Island.

"Damned place! What kind of damned place is this?!"

Fang Qing cursed loudly. Had he not happened to have a metal-attribute talisman to protect himself, he would have died at the hands of that cultivator bandit this time.

"I need to carry more metal- and fire-attribute talismans in the future. They have the best value for money over in Ancient Shu... Good thing I ran fast. If those cultivators dare chase me here, I'll have to admire them."

Jade Island was, after all, Azure Sea Sect territory. No one dared rob and kill Azure Sea Sect disciples on the island.

After catching his breath, he began searching through the cultivator's corpse and looting it.

"This guy... was really poor!"

A moment later, Fang Qing's expression became even more gloomy.

The results of searching the corpse were terrible. This cultivator bandit was exceptionally poor; aside from a flying shuttle, he had no other magical artifacts on him.

There were no cultivation manuals in his robes either, only a bottle of pills.

When Fang Qing pulled out the stopper, a bloody stench rushed into his nose.

Using his half-baked pill-refining skills to appraise them, Fang Qing confirmed that the pills could increase the dharma power of early Qi Refinement cultivators. However, they had been concocted with demonic methods and contained the fresh blood essence of who knew how many living people.

Naturally, he wanted nothing to do with such blood pills. He could only put them away for now and see whether he could find a chance to sell them later.

"That cultivator bandit has accomplices. I'll hide for two days first, then head to Ancient Shu to break through."

Although Fang Qing already possessed a cultivation method and a strand of True Qi, they belonged to the Breath-Nourishing Dao. Breaking through here on Jade Island might cause unforeseen trouble.

Thus, he chose to play it safe and break through in Ancient Shu.

During this waiting period, he could familiarize himself with the cultivation method and read some other miscellaneous books.

Fang Qing first took out the Ji Water cultivation method, Black Ridge Observation Book, and read through it from beginning to end.

With the foundation he had laid at Azure Sea Sect, as well as the cultivation knowledge from several miscellaneous books he had bought for reference, he could finally understand it himself without having to seek advice from others.

"So the Breath-Nourishing Dao divides the first mouthful of True Qi into nine orders and thirty-six grades, with many profound implications... Breath-Nourishing Dao cultivators find it difficult to change their Dao Path, so the first mouthful of True Qi is exceptionally important. It directly concerns one's future achievements."

"True Qi of the lower three orders leaves one without hope of Dao Foundation for life, and even ordinary spell battles will put one at a great disadvantage."

"True Qi of the middle three orders still offers hope of forging a Dao Foundation... Only True Qi of the seventh order or above can make a future push for the Purple Mansion!"

Earthspring Tempered Essence was only fifth-order mid-grade. It meant there was hope for a future Dao Foundation, but the Purple Mansion was basically out of the question.

Unless he was extraordinarily lucky and found some heaven-and-earth spiritual treasure capable of purifying a Dao Foundation.

"What a tightly woven world, like a net cast over heaven and earth... But it doesn't matter to me. I can disperse it at will and switch cultivation methods."

"I'll just use Ji Water for the time being. When I'm tired of it, I'll cultivate Great Sun Violet Qi directly! Ninth-rank high-grade—wouldn't that be a supreme foundation?"

Fang Qing thought smugly as he casually opened a copy of Plum Blossom Divination.

A moment later, he set down the divination book, his face solemn.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

As a cultivator whose marrow had been cleansed once by the Book of Changes, Fang Qing had originally thought himself a genius among mortals.

But reading Plum Blossom Divination made him feel as if he had returned to university and failed advanced mathematics.

The facts proved that no matter how hard one was forced, what one could not understand, one simply could not understand!

Divination methods were the same!

Without truly extraordinary talent, even getting started was difficult!

"Getting started is difficult, divination is difficult... It's nearly useless at low levels. No wonder hardly anyone cultivates it."

"If I didn't have the Dao-Born Pearl's As If in the Calculation, I wouldn't want to cultivate divination arts either..."

Several days later.

Ba Commandery, inside a mountain cave.

Fang Qing blocked the cave entrance with a huge boulder, then affixed a protective talisman. He sat cross-legged on a stone bed as the formulas of Black Ridge Observation Book flowed through his heart like a clear spring.

At his side sat a jade bottle containing Earthspring Tempered Essence.

"Let's begin."

Fang Qing picked up the jade bottle, silently circulated the method, and inhaled.

That strand of True Qi, like a clear spring from the earth's veins, immediately turned into a white ribbon that entered between his lips and vanished.

Crash, crash!

The sound of a mountain spring striking bluestone suddenly rang out.

Fang Qing felt as though he were parched earth, greedily drawing in that strand of True Qi.

Whenever he silently circulated the formula, Earthspring Tempered Essence flowed through the meridians of his body, completing a great circulation and entering his utterly empty dantian...

Before breaking through, to be safe, he had long since transformed all the Black Water Dharma Power from his Qi Refinement Way cultivation into Origin Qi and stored it inside the Dao-Born Pearl.

At this moment, he was an ordinary mortal.

Yet as Earthspring Tempered Essence entered his dantian, it suddenly transformed into a strand of Ji Water dharma power.

That strand of dharma power moved about like the shadows of dragons, serpents, and flood dragons. It also faintly manifested a talisman seed, forming a vortex. This was the origin of dharma power.

"The first strand of fundamental dharma power is complete."

Fang Qing continued circulating his cultivation method. Under the turbulence of that dharma power vortex, an endless stream of Ji Water dharma power emerged.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Inside the mountain cave, the earth beneath the stone bed on which he sat suddenly split open, and a fountain surged forth...

At some unknown point, a mournful whistling wind had also arisen in the cave...

"This is... a phenomenon?!"

"No, it's an imagery manifestation!"

Fang Qing opened his eyes. Feeling how True Qi was transforming his body, he looked at the clear spring and gentle breeze in the cave, deep in thought. "Cultivators of the Breath-Nourishing Dao carry a certain trait within their dharma power... I laid my foundation with fifth-order mid-grade True Qi, so my current Ji Water dharma power is much stronger than the water-element dharma power of ordinary Qi Refinement Way cultivators... If I had laid my foundation with True Qi of the seventh order or above, how wondrous would its quality be?"

"By the looks of it, Breath-Nourishing Realm cultivators are likely generally a notch stronger than Qi Refinement Realm cultivators... Dao Foundation cultivators possess their own Dao Foundation, and they might be far stronger than Foundation Establishment cultivators as well... As for the Purple Mansion and Core Formation? The gap is probably even wider..."

He rose to his feet and casually formed a hand seal.

Whoosh, whoosh!

A cyan wind blade appeared. This was the Wind Blade Technique he had cultivated painstakingly for so long without ever managing to enter its gate.

"Ji Water favors wind, so it greatly aids my cultivation of wind-attribute spells..."

"The traits of dharma power don't seem to be so simple either..."

Fang Qing suddenly stroked his chin.

After advancing to the Qi Ingestion First Layer, all sorts of insights had inexplicably arisen within him. His words could now become more convincing.

"This... even comes with an innate spell? This ability can be called Eloquence's Edge!"

"Ji Water dharma power is truly astonishing."

Fang Qing pondered inwardly. "Of course, this ability makes my words more persuasive, but if an enemy refuses to listen, it is naturally useless... And as my cultivation rises, its persuasiveness will naturally grow stronger... If I can forge a Dao Foundation, perhaps I could persuade ordinary Qi Refinement cultivators to kill themselves?"

He formed another hand seal, turning Ji Water dharma power into water arrows.

A sudden howl of wind arose in the mountain cave.

"With the wind's aid, the power of Water Arrow Technique has risen by at least thirty percent..."

Bang! Bang!

The water arrows struck the rock wall, sending shattered stones flying. Amid them were traces of dampness.

Fang Qing went over to inspect it and saw wet marks appearing on the cracked rock wall, as if it had been eroded by some cold spring.

"It even has the trait of water erosion?"

"But this isn't the most important thing!"

"The moment to witness a miracle has arrived!"

He took a deep breath and connected with the Dao-Born Pearl!

In an instant, the Black Water Dharma Power he had originally transformed into Origin Qi poured down in a rolling torrent and was effortlessly converted into Ji Water dharma power.

Crackle, crackle!

Within Fang Qing's body, Ji Water dharma power circulated and manifested the imagery of a clear spring and gentle breeze. In an instant, he broke through two successive barriers and reached the Qi Ingestion Third Layer!

"With this strength... if I run into that cultivator bandit again... Uh, his cultivation method seemed to be earth-attribute. I have nothing to say."

He grumbled, then dispersed all of his Ji Water dharma power and converted it into Black Water Dharma Power.

Crash, crash!

In an instant, Black Water Dharma Power overflowed within Fang Qing's dantian. Though it lacked the imagery of Ji Water dharma power, it surged like raging waves and directly reached the perfected Qi Refining Third Layer!

Not only that, as more Origin Qi converted, the Black Water Dharma Power grew increasingly turbulent and launched an assault on the cultivation-method meridians of the Fourth Layer of Water Classic Commentary.

With such vast dharma power aiding him, that tiny bottleneck was broken in the blink of an eye.

Boom!

In an instant, Fang Qing broke through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement!

Not only that, the dharma power of the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement continued gathering until it filled more than half of this stage before finally slowing to a stop.

"Mid Qi Refinement, at last!"

Fang Qing smiled and clenched his fist, feeling the Black Water Dharma Power inside him. "The two cultivation methods stack together... It's simply unstoppable. Yet the total amount of Origin Qi is only so much. After conversion, one has only three layers while the other has four... That represents a terrifying difference in dharma power quality."

Although his Ji Water dharma power was only at the Qi Ingestion Third Layer, Fang Qing somehow felt that if they fought, excluding external items, his own fourth-layer Black Water Dharma Power might truly not be able to defeat it...