Clear Spring, Gentle Breeze

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

Seeing Fang Qing use a talisman, the burly man in black revealed a delighted expression and drove his flying shuttle closer.

"Water Arrow Technique!"

Fang Qing raised a hand, and several water arrows shot forth, only to be easily blocked by the burly man. "Haha... your Dharma power is so weak it has come to this? Don't tell me you entered the Dao using the motley qi of the lower Third-Order?"

He had originally been somewhat wary, but now he relaxed considerably. With a spread of his large hand, black smoke transformed into a giant palm that reached to seize Fang Qing.

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

Rip!

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

Yet unlike those on Jade Island, this golden blade was not only longer and slimmer, but ancient patterns even surfaced upon it. Like Heavenly Punishment's blade, it slashed down fiercely!

Pfft!

That pitch-black giant hand was cleaved apart directly.

The blade light did not diminish, sweeping past the black-clothed man's neck.

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

"Sure enough... in this world, metal and fire are the manifest Dao. The attack power of metal-attribute talismans also increased greatly..."

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

Fang Qing drove the Green Leaf Boat, grabbed the man's corpse and flying shuttle, and swiftly departed.

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

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

Jade Island.

"What a shitty place, what a damned shitty place!"

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

"In the future, I should carry more metal and fire-attribute talismans. They give the best value for money in Ancient Shu... Luckily, I ran fast. If those cultivators have the guts to chase me here, I'll truly admire them."

Jade Island was, after all, Azure Sea Sect territory. No one dared to 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 grew even more depressed.

The search yielded poor results. This cultivator bandit was exceedingly poor; aside from a flying shuttle, he had no other Dharma 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 face.

Using his half-baked alchemy skills to appraise them slightly, Fang Qing confirmed that the pills could increase Dharma power for early Qi Refinement cultivators. However, they had been refined by demonic methods, mixed with the essence blood 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 might find an opportunity 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. If he broke through here on Jade Island, who knew whether there might be trouble.

Thus, he chose the safer course and would 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 Winnowing Basket Water cultivation method, the Black Ridge Observation Book, and read through it from beginning to end.

With the foundation he had built at Azure Sea Sect, along with the cultivation knowledge found in the miscellaneous books he had bought, he no longer needed to beg others for instruction and could understand it himself.

"So the Breath-Nourishing Dao divides the first breath of True Qi into Ninth Rank and thirty-six grades, with many profound implications... Breath-Nourishing Dao cultivators find it difficult to alter their Dao Path. The first breath of True Qi is exceptionally important and directly determines one's future achievements."

"True Qi of the lower Third-Order means no hope of Dao Foundation for one's entire life. Even in ordinary spell battles, one will be far inferior."

"True Qi of the middle Third-Order still offers hope of forging a Dao Foundation... while only True Qi above the Seventh-Order can one day contend for the Purple Mansion!"

Earthspring Tempered Essence was merely fifth-order middle-grade. It meant Dao Foundation might be possible in the future, but the Purple Mansion was basically out of the question.

Unless he had extraordinarily good luck and found some heaven-and-earth spiritual treasure capable of purifying a Dao Foundation.

"This truly is a world as tightly woven as a net... But it doesn't matter to me. I can disperse it at will and switch cultivation methods."

"I'll just use Winnowing Basket Water for now. When I'm tired of it later, I'll cultivate Great Sun Violet Qi directly! Ninth Rank, upper-grade—wouldn't that be a peerless 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 grave.

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.

Yet reading Plum Blossom Divination gave him the feeling of returning to university and failing advanced mathematics.

The facts proved that no matter how hard one forced it, what one could not understand in mathematics simply could not be understood!

Divination methods were the same!

Without truly extraordinary talent, even getting started was difficult!

"Getting started is hard, divination is hard... It is nearly useless at lower realms. No wonder hardly anyone cultivates this."

"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 sealed the cave entrance with a huge boulder, then pasted a Protective Talisman onto it. Sitting cross-legged upon a stone bed, the mnemonic verses of the Black Ridge Observation Book flowed through his heart like a clear spring.

Beside his hand sat a jade bottle containing Earthspring Tempered Essence.

"Let's begin."

Fang Qing picked up the jade bottle, silently circulated the method, and opened his mouth to inhale.

That strand of True Qi, like a clear spring from the earth veins, immediately transformed into a white ribbon and entered between his lips, vanishing without a trace.

Crash!

The sound of a mountain spring striking bluestone suddenly arose.

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

Whenever he silently circulated the mnemonic verses, Earthspring Tempered Essence traveled through the meridians of his body, circulating through the Greater Celestial Circuit and entering his utterly empty dantian...

Before breaking through, to be safe, he had naturally already transformed all the Black Water Dharma Power of the Qi Refinement Way in his body into Origin Qi and stored it in the Dao-Born Pearl.

At this moment, he was an ordinary mortal.

But as Earthspring Tempered Essence entered his dantian, it abruptly transformed into a strand of Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power.

That thread of Dharma power flowed about like dragon, serpent, and flood-dragon shadows. It also faintly manifested a talisman seed, forming a vortex—the origin of Dharma power.

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

Fang Qing continued circulating the cultivation method. Beneath the stirring of that Dharma power vortex, an unceasing stream of Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power emerged.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Within the cave, the earth beneath the stone bed where he sat suddenly cracked open, and a spring gushed forth...

At some point, a mournful whistling wind had arisen within the cave...

"This is... a phenomenon?!"

"No, it's an image!"

Fang Qing opened his eyes. Feeling the transformation wrought upon his body by True Qi, then looking at the clear spring and gentle breeze inside the cave, he became thoughtful. "Breath-Nourishing Dao cultivators possess a certain characteristic within their Dharma power... I used fifth-order middle-grade True Qi as my foundation, and now this Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power is much stronger than the ordinary water-element Dharma power of the Qi Refinement Way... If one used True Qi above the Seventh-Order as a foundation, just how profound would the quality of that Dharma power be?"

"By the look of it, Breath-Nourishing Realm cultivators are probably generally a level stronger than Qi Refinement Realm cultivators... Dao Foundation cultivators possess their own Dao Foundations, so perhaps they are far stronger than Foundation Establishment cultivators as well... As for the Purple Mansion and Core Formation? The gap is probably even greater..."

He stood and casually formed a hand seal.

Whoosh, whoosh!

A cyan wind blade appeared. This was the Wind Blade Technique he had long cultivated diligently, yet had never managed to learn.

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

"The characteristics of Dharma power do not seem to be this simple..."

Fang Qing suddenly stroked his chin.

After advancing to Qi Ingestion First Layer, all manner of insights had inexplicably appeared within him, and his words could become more convincing.

"This... even comes with an innate spell? This ability can be called 'the sharpness of one's tongue'!"

"Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power is truly incredible."

Fang Qing pondered inwardly. "Of course, this ability can make my words more persuasive, but if an enemy refuses to listen to me, it is naturally useless... And as my cultivation increases, that 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, and Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power transformed into water arrows.

A sudden howl of wind arose within the cave.

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

Bang! Bang!

The water arrows struck the rock wall, sending shattered stones flying, with specks of moisture mixed among them.

Fang Qing went over to inspect it and saw damp marks appear upon the cracked rock wall, as though it had been eroded by some frigid spring.

"It even has a 'water erosion' characteristic?"

"However, that isn't the most important thing!"

"The moment to witness a miracle has arrived!"

He drew 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 came surging down, easily converting into Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power.

Crackle, crackle!

Within Fang Qing's body, Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power circulated and manifested the image of clear spring and gentle breeze. In an instant, he broke through two barriers in succession, reaching Qi Ingestion Third Layer!

"This strength... If I encounter that cultivator bandit again... uh, his cultivation method seemed to be earth-attribute... I have nothing to say."

After grumbling, he dispersed all his Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power and converted it back into Black Water Dharma Power.

Crash!

In an instant, Black Water Dharma Power filled Fang Qing's dantian to overflowing. Though it lacked the imagery of Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power, it surged mightily, directly reaching Qi Refining Third Layer Completion!

Not only that, more Origin Qi converted, making the Black Water Dharma Power increasingly turbulent as it launched an assault upon the Fourth Layer cultivation meridians of the Water Classic Commentary.

With the help of such vast Dharma power, that trifling bottleneck shattered in the blink of an eye.

Rumble!

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

Moreover, the Dharma power of the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement continued to gather until it filled more than half of this layer's cultivation, only then slowly stopping.

"Mid Qi Refinement has finally been achieved!"

Fang Qing smiled and clenched his fist, sensing the Black Water Dharma Power within him. "With two cultivation methods stacked together... it is simply unstoppable. It's only that the total amount of Origin Qi is fixed. After conversion, one has only three layers while the other has four... This represents a terrifying difference in Dharma power quality."

Although Winnowing Basket Water Dharma power was only at Qi Ingestion Third Layer, Fang Qing inexplicably felt that if they fought without counting external items, his own fourth-layer Black Water Dharma Power might truly not be able to defeat it...