Illumination, Burning, Reflection

A day later, at dusk.

A brilliant stream of Cloud Qi flew across the horizon and descended before Righteous Qi Hall.

"Steward, please register me and arrange a Minor Offering Ritual chamber."

Lu Xuan stepped out from the Cloud Qi, cupped his hands toward the attendant on duty outside Righteous Qi Hall, and spoke with a smile.

"A Minor Offering Ritual chamber? So it is an Adept before me. Please wait a moment, Adept!"

The hall attendant had been idly enjoying a book. Hearing Lu Xuan's voice, he hurriedly rose to his feet, glanced at Lu Xuan, and promptly replied.

"What kind of ritual chamber would the Adept like?"

This attendant was the very one who had received Lu Xuan for his Grand Rite that day. Naturally, he did not dare presume familiarity with Lu Xuan. Yet as he looked at the vibrant Lu Xuan, who resembled an exiled immortal, he seemed to recall something. A trace of emotion flickered in his eyes, and he could not help looking once more before asking in passing.

"A chamber facing due east, one capable of drawing upon earthfire, will do," Lu Xuan answered with a smile.

Yet his five senses were keen, and he had caught the fleeting emotion in the attendant's eyes. He immediately remembered something and asked,

"May I ask, Steward, did Senior Brother Lin, who came for the Grand Rite after me that day, succeed?"

The Qi-Refining Grand Rite was merely the second realm. Though it brought earthshaking changes to a cultivator's body and allowed one to ride clouds and mist, it caused no heavenly phenomena.

Thus, unless one saw them in person, ordinary people had no way of knowing whether they had succeeded.

Lu Xuan recalled Senior Brother Lin, but he could only ask the attendant before him.

The attendant shook his head slightly and said with a bitter smile, "I should not speak out of turn, but the Qi-Refining Grand Rite is unimaginably difficult. In the Immortal Cult's jade register, over thirty generations, including you, Adept, only five have succeeded on their second attempt."

"That candidate sat in vain through the entire night, but in the end, he still fell short at the last step and left in dejection."

"The grief on his face was deeply moving, so this humble clerk remembers it clearly."

He failed...

Lu Xuan sighed inwardly.

He was not particularly familiar with Senior Brother Lin; they had merely studied together. Yet they had met twice at the Red Pine Fief's Righteous Qi Hall, which counted as fate. He had thought that Senior Brother Lin would have some confidence in his Second Grand Rite, especially since he possessed Qi Sensitivity. Who would have expected him to still fail at the final hurdle?

But... the Heaven-Gazing Sect's inner sect selection was this cruel.

The former owner of this body had also failed once.

Though Lu Xuan felt regret, he did not forget the purpose of his visit. He promptly had the attendant continue registering him and issuing his token.

"Adept, please follow the Dao child."

The attendant worked swiftly. He soon finished the registration, handed Lu Xuan a token, and had a Dao child lead him onward.

The process was no different from the previous Grand Rite. The only distinction was that the Minor Offering Ritual chambers were not suspended in the sky, but nestled at the foot of the mountains. They were built with solid wood as pavilions, golden tiles as roofs, and stone bricks underfoot. Flowing clouds enveloped them on all sides, as though they existed between substance and illusion.

Aside from a meditation cushion, Lu Xuan's ritual chamber had a small golden furnace in the center of its stone floor, no larger than a palm. Beneath the furnace was a slot.

"Adept, insert the token into the furnace's fire slot and say 'Fire' to draw forth earthfire. Say 'Stop,' and the fire will cease."

The Dao child gave this instruction, confirmed that Lu Xuan had no further questions, then rode away on a cloud, leaving Lu Xuan alone.

"At last, I am about to Open the Orifices and attain the First Layer of Qi Refining..."

Lu Xuan sat cross-legged on the cushion, filled with emotion.

Though he had gathered Dawn Radiance True Qi several days ago and entered the Qi-Refining Realm, strictly speaking, he was not yet at the First Layer of Qi Refining.

The First Layer of Qi Refining required opening the Mind Aperture—the Mind Root. Only after opening this aperture and gaining Spiritual Sense could one be called First Layer of Qi Refining.

Opening the Orifices required the aid of a spirit item.

Since intention was formless, an object was needed to anchor it.

And because the items used to open the orifices differed, so too did the abilities of the resulting Spiritual Sense.

For instance, Spiritual Sense opened with [Fire Origin Sword Sand] could not only inspect one's own body and observe everything within thirty feet, but when activated, it was as sharp as a sword and could be used for attack. It also carried the fire essence of the rising sun, inflicting fire damage.

[Light-Clasping Mirror Sand], meanwhile, could make one's Spiritual Sense like a mirror, reflecting all things with perfect clarity and vastly enhancing its probing ability. It also carried the light of the blazing sun, making it impossible for others to look directly at it.

Every first-grade spirit item possessed its own mysteries.

The [Sunfire Branch] Lu Xuan had obtained was a superior first-grade item, so it naturally possessed extraordinary properties as well.

This branch had grown by gathering light. Dazzling and radiant, while also aligned with wood, the Spiritual Sense it opened would possess scorching brilliance, dazzling as the sun. It could illuminate and shatter falsehoods. When condensed into a beam, it would be like Heavenly Light descending, capable of piercing through every thought.

More than that, his Spiritual Sense would be like branches. So long as it was beneath sunlight, it could absorb the sunlight of the Heavenly Cycle to recover on its own. Its endurance and staying power would far surpass those of ordinary people.

He could also "graft" his Spiritual Sense onto other objects, attaching it to them and gaining a faint trace of perception.

It possessed all four capabilities—cultivation, attack, investigation, and defense—thus making it a superior first-grade item.

If he succeeded, then in terms of Spiritual Sense alone, Lu Xuan would stand a notch above his peers of this generation.

But... opening Spiritual Sense was only the first path.

In the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, each opened aperture allowed one to perform a Minor Offering Ritual and gain a Dao art.

Dao arts were like divine abilities, as though inborn, each with its own mysteries.

Most importantly, no two Dao arts in the world were alike.

Even if two people cultivated the same technique, used the same spirit item to open their orifices, and even performed the Minor Offering Ritual at precisely the same hour, the Dao arts they received would still differ.

The Dao might be the same, but the arts would never be identical.

Just as there were countless peach trees in the world, yet not a single peach blossom was exactly the same.

A Minor Offering Ritual had to be performed after Opening the Orifices. Yet because most Minor Offering Rituals required the "remains" of the orifice-opening spirit item, Opening the Orifices and performing the Minor Offering Ritual generally had to be cultivated together, though there was an order to their timing.

Opening the Orifices posed no difficulty for Lu Xuan.

The changes to the Spiritual Sense he obtained would also be more or less as expected.

As long as he could refine the [Sunfire Branch], he would essentially succeed.

But the Minor Offering Ritual required careful thought.

"The Minor Offering Ritual Dao arts recorded in the Qianyuan Six-Dragon Imperial Heaven True Scripture are all obtained through rituals, yet the rituals themselves differ, as do the Dao arts gained."

As Lu Xuan waited for the proper time, he considered the matter once more.

No two Dao arts were identical, but Minor Offering Ritual ceremonies could be replicated. As long as one followed the ceremony, even if the Dao art's power differed slightly, its general direction would not go astray.

"The scripture states that different rituals can ultimately yield one of three Dao arts: [Illumination], [Burning], or [Reflection]."

"[Illumination] reveals truth and discerns the slightest detail. Beneath the blazing sun, nothing can hide. One may obtain the Heaven-Illuminating Spirit-Sense Art or the Heaven-Grotto Insight Art, greatly enhancing perception and allowing one to examine all manner of things between heaven and earth, distinguishing divine from evil..."

"[Burning] gathers fire to ignite thoughts, scorching souls and incinerating spirits. These are Dao arts devoted to slaughter and battle. Each possesses its own mysteries, yet all are tyrannical and fiercely yang..."

"As for [Reflection], it is even more profound. It may reflect one's own heart or another's. In cultivating the Dao and refining techniques, it allows one to achieve twice the result with half the effort..."

The three different methods of Minor Offering Ritual would grant Dao arts of different directions.

Generally speaking, cultivators chose their Minor Offering Ritual based on the spirit item they had used to open their orifices.

For example, if one possessed the all-reflecting Spiritual Sense granted by [Light-Clasping Mirror Sand] and wished to pursue excellence upon excellence, one could choose [Illumination]. In that way, one's detection abilities would reach great accomplishment, allowing one to distinguish divine, evil, and falsehood.

If one wished to strengthen one's means of slaughter and battle, one could choose [Burning] to protect one's Dao.

If Lu Xuan opened his orifices with the Sunfire Branch, all four capabilities—cultivation, attack, investigation, and defense—would be present, so he could choose any of them.

But being able to choose them all was precisely what made the choice hardest.

Should he choose slaughter, investigation, or cultivation?