Nurturing Life

Zhang Jian paused at the study door, staring at the countless disorderly diagrams before him, with more than a dozen scrolls in the middle covered in strange runic lines.

Piles of ancient books lay scattered all around!

Martial arts were this cutthroat too?

Zhang Jian's expression stiffened slightly, but in the next instant, a chill ran down his back.

With several loud clanks, the dull grinding of mechanisms opening sounded out.

Dim morning light spilled down through the skylight.

As far as the eye could see, a fully opened hidden compartment had emerged within the study. Zhang Yi made no attempt to conceal it as he walked straight inside.

Within lay heaps upon heaps of white bones.

This uncle seemed a little less than respectable...

Zhang Jian's face was somewhat stiff, though he maintained a calm expression.

He could not help muttering to himself inwardly.

Judging by Zhang Yi's usual conduct and his looks, Zhang Jian could easily associate him with members of the heretical sects, with some great demon lord.

But Zhang Yi had always treated him well.

He probably would not harbor any harmful intentions toward him.

Zhang Yi had been secretly observing Zhang Jian's expression all along. Seeing that Zhang Jian's gaze had only flickered with slight surprise before he reined in his expression, Zhang Yi nodded to himself.

Zhang Jian truly was outstanding.

His original intentions shifted slightly. His gaze fell upon several hidden compartments, and he said casually.

"Jian, don't underestimate martial artists. Practicing martial arts is like the Four Books and Five Classics for you scholars taking the imperial examinations—any classic is worth spending a lifetime exploring!"

"Especially internal refinement methods. They're even more complicated than external body-tempering techniques!"

After speaking, Zhang Yi dug three books out of a pile of miscellaneous texts: a medical text, the Pulse-Shifting Manual; Brief Explanation of Internal Refinement Terminology; and finally, a Daoist scripture, Essentials of Nurturing Life!

"Essentials of Nurturing Life..."

Zhang Jian looked at Zhang Yi with an odd expression.

Contrary to his expectations, Zhang Yi had not given him any sinister-looking heretical manuals. Instead, they were remarkably "orthodox"!

Zhang Jian accepted the three books. He noticed that the lettering on their covers had been worn smooth, showing they had been read many times.

That discovery brought an intangible warmth to his heart.

Zhang Yi paid no heed whatsoever to the piles of white bones covered in runic lines beside him. With a soft, sinister smile on his gloomy face, he said, "Give it a try. Though Essentials of Nurturing Life is slow and gentle, the inner qi it cultivates is mild and harmonious. It is best for nourishing the body!"

Slow and gentle, harmonious and mild—those qualities had always gone hand in hand with a high margin for error.

In other words, no matter how one practiced it, it was unlikely to result in serious consequences.

Zhang Yi offered another reminder.

"The first and most important step of internal refinement is sensing qi. Cultivating that first trace of qi force alone bars most people who try to tread the path of internal refinement. But that sense of qi requires a flash of inspiration, so there's no need to rush."

"Also, you can learn some health-preserving exercises from Jian Yao, such as the Three-Yang Stance. Practice it together with meditation exercises—it will benefit you!"

Jian Yao was one of the three people Zhang Jian had previously noticed whose aura far surpassed that of the other estate servants. He excelled at the blade and was known as the Hundred Victories Blade.

Zhang Jian was inwardly shaken and nodded. His gaze swept across the hidden compartments in Zhang Yi's study, lingering for a moment on the dozen or so strange runic and meridian scrolls hanging in the center.

Those strange runic scrolls hung in the middle, clearly of extraordinary importance to Zhang Yi.

After watching Zhang Jian leave, Zhang Yi turned his gaze back to the dozen or so paintings on the wall of the hidden chamber. A gloomy look clouded his brow.

No matter how he studied them, he could never unravel the mysteries contained in those dozen ancient paintings.

Within the immortal realm

The Azure Radiance Goddess flew directly into an immortal realm formed of ice. Within a vast glacial cavern abode, she saw an enormous ice sculpture.

The sculpture radiated waves of intense cold, as if freezing all space and time, stilling heaven and earth. Within the Ice Crystal was a graceful figure, yet a dense current of poisonous black qi constantly seeped from within. At a single glance, that poisonous black qi seemed capable of making someone vomit out their three souls and seven spirits, contaminating the boundless heaven and earth.

"It has worsened to this extent?"

The Azure Radiance Goddess frowned slightly.

In her divine eyes, the heavenly demon toxins had already crept close to the female immortal's Primordial Spirit within the Ice Crystal. If her Primordial Spirit became infected, even reincarnation would be difficult.

Her friend truly was at the end of her tether.

"Sister Azure Radiance!"

At that moment, an ethereal voice emerged from within the enormous Ice Crystal.

Her voice was lively and melodious, flowing like the sound of a clear spring, stirring the soul.

The Azure Radiance Goddess said solemnly, "Say no more. Your sister has found a merit artifact for you. Take it and reincarnate at once!"

With a wave of her hand, a seven-tiered golden pagoda flew out from her palm. It abruptly turned into golden light and sank into the depths of Hundred Flowers Fairy's brow. When the countless terrifying heavenly demon toxins encountered that golden light of merit, the pure, peaceful chime of windbells washed away more than half the filth-like black qi, while the innumerable chaotic demonic voices suddenly faltered, their sounds weakening greatly.

The Soul-Calming Pagoda had clearly taken effect.

The Azure Radiance Goddess could not help nodding inwardly.

Within the Ice Crystal, the true form of the unknown female immortal became distinctly clearer. She felt that amid the boundless death tribulation, a sliver of heavenly light had finally opened. Joy entered her voice as well. Her eyes were bright and lively as her voice drifted out. "Merit artifacts have always been precious. Sister must have paid an enormous price to borrow this treasure. Hundred Flowers truly does not know how she can repay Sister for saving her life!"

"We are sisters. Why speak this way?"

After a slight pause, the Azure Radiance Goddess added, "However, strictly speaking, this merit artifact did not come from my hand. If you refine it, you will inevitably have to repay its owner someday. Have you thought this through?"

"That is a small matter!" Within the Ice Crystal, Hundred Flowers Fairy's peerlessly beautiful jade-like face blossomed into a smile, and even the black qi at her temples seemed to disperse.

A good cause bore a good fruit; it was far easier to resolve than an evil cause and its evil fruit.

After giving it some thought, she added.

"Also, after my reincarnation, Sister may dispose of the collections in the Hundred Flowers Garden on my behalf!"

"Sister need not refuse. Rather than letting these things sit idle and draw the covetous eyes of others, it would be better to give them to Sister. Perhaps they may add bricks and tiles to Sister's path of breaking through to the next realm!"

The Azure Radiance Goddess's eyes flickered. Hundred Flowers Fairy had once been one of the foremost female immortals of the Jade Pool, ruling over the hundred flowers. Her wealth was considerable. This was clearly a gesture of returning a peach for a plum.

After thinking it over, the Azure Radiance Goddess did not refuse.

Part of Hundred Flowers Fairy's collection would indeed be of great benefit to her.

Besides, she would need to help Hundred Flowers Fairy return in the future, and would have to exert herself even more then.

At the Zhang residence, something unusual had appeared in Zhang Jian.

After a simple explanation and instruction, Zhang Jian discovered that this stage of sensing qi force seemed somewhat different for him.

Beneath the blazing sun, its rays scorching.

Zhang Jian stood firm, his eyes gleaming brightly as he recalled the process of sensing qi described in Essentials of Nurturing Life.

According to Zhang Yi's teachings, sensing qi required the union of movement and stillness, constant adjustment of one's breathing, and exercises in a certain proportion to train the internal organs. In the end, one had to find a faint rhythm in which the internal organs resonated with the breath, then capture within that rhythm the existence of a trace of qi sensation amid the unseen and intangible.

This was qi sensing in internal refinement.

But his current condition was somewhat wrong.

He followed the breathing and inhalation techniques recorded in Essentials of Nurturing Life.

It felt as though his entire body was qi.

There was none of the stiffness and obscurity Zhang Yi had described.

It was not merely qi—it was blazing light.

That made Zhang Jian sense the difference.

"Was it because of that Fire Apricot?"

After a brief hesitation, he still followed the breathing steps and carried out his first true session of inhalation and exhalation.