Grand Rite Complete, Gathering True Qi

Having made up his mind, Lu Xuan stopped thinking and quietly waited for the proper time.

Only when night had deepened and the hour arrived did Lu Xuan sweep his sleeve and take out the items needed for this Grand Rite from the storage pouch issued by Hibernation Academy.

This was a necessary ritual for cultivators to break through a realm and pray for greater power and a new stage of cultivation.

Only a Grand Rite could stir changes in heaven and earth, draw upon the Dao's resonance, and win heaven's gaze.

If it succeeded, one could shatter their shackles and enter the next realm.

From Lu Xuan's current understanding, it carried rather the meaning of "taking an imperial examination before heaven."

But the Grand Rite was profound and mysterious. His realm was far too low, so any rites of higher cultivation were merely his conjecture.

For now, all he knew was the Qi-Refining Grand Rite.

The Qi-Refining Grand Rite was not complicated. First, eight golden bells engraved with Sun-Cloud-Moon Seal Script were arranged at the eight extremities—east, south, west, north, and the rest—to sweep away the surrounding clamor and Mixed Qi.

Then, two spirit banners engraved with [Primordial Unity True Script] were placed in the heaven and earth positions among the Three Powers. After that, he sat cross-legged and raised another banner, taking the position of man.

The golden bells and spirit banners were no ordinary objects; they had to be spiritual items. Obtaining them outside would require considerable effort, but within the Heaven-Gazing Sect, it was easy enough.

Lu Xuan took out the golden bells. They naturally rose into the air, floating above the clouds, and every ten breaths, he struck one with a jade mallet.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Eight bell chimes rang in succession. In an instant, the eight extremities trembled. Lu Xuan had yet to develop Spiritual Sense, yet he still felt everything around him fall silent, as though all manner of Mixed Qi and sound had been erased by the bells.

Reach the utmost emptiness; hold fast to deepest stillness.

Only when the world was still and the mind tranquil could one better sense heaven and earth and join with heaven.

Whoosh!

Lu Xuan did not dare delay and immediately took out the spirit banners again.

The spirit banners moved without wind, hanging in the heaven and earth positions. They howled through the air, yet did not disperse the "stillness" within Cloud Pavilion. Instead, like spiritual signals, they drew heaven and earth's attention.

Lu Xuan felt it. An indescribable "resonance" flowed within Cloud Pavilion, while among the distant mountains, all manner of "Qi" seemed ready to rise into the air.

At this point, the Grand Rite ritual was initially complete.

[Heavenly Resonance] was already flowing through Cloud Pavilion, signifying that the person here had drawn heaven and earth's notice.

But... it was not completely accomplished.

One final, most crucial step remained.

Only by seeing heaven and glimpsing the Great Dao could the Grand Rite truly begin.

Cultivators of the Embryonic Breath Realm could not see heaven and found it difficult to glimpse the Dao. Yet during a Grand Rite, with the aid of spiritual objects and ritual, they could catch a thread of that unseen truth.

The principal spiritual material for the Heaven-Gazing Sect's Qi-Refining Grand Rite was the Four-Aspect Divination Herb.

Its leaves were finely split like feathers. It grew one stalk every hundred years, absorbed the spiritual energy of the Four Aspects, could commune with spirits, and could divine.

With this herb, within the Grand Rite's Cloud Pavilion, one could glimpse a thread of heaven.

If one could glimpse heaven, one could see the [Heavenly Trial].

In the words of Lu Xuan's former life, it meant one could see the "exam questions."

Lu Xuan glanced at the sky, waited a moment, then took out two feather-like spirit leaves and pressed them to his brow.

Whoosh!

The spirit leaves flowed like water. The instant they touched Lu Xuan's brow, they turned into streaks of light and slipped into his eyes on their own.

In an instant, green radiance seemed to bloom within his eyes, making them resemble jade and lending him an otherworldly air.

Not only that, Lu Xuan took out a jade bottle and swallowed the roots, stems, and spirit leaves of the [Four-Aspect Divination Herb]. He then immediately raised the third spirit banner and began chanting an incantation.

At first, the chant sounded like a low hum, but as time passed, it grew increasingly high and resounding, like thunder shaking through Cloud Pavilion.

Perhaps it was only an instant, or perhaps ten breaths. Immersed in the chant, Lu Xuan could no longer sense time passing. He only felt his body tremble as a vast sound exploded within his mind.

Then, an unseen "resonance" began to flow. Light spilled from Lu Xuan's eyes, scorching him until he unconsciously opened them.

Before him lay brilliance and dimness, clarity and turbidity, silence and clamor, emptiness and fullness.

An indescribable "mysterious realm" appeared in Lu Xuan's vision.

He knew that the Grand Rite had succeeded. Through this method, he could briefly see the Dao and receive the "Heavenly Trial."

This mysterious realm was a tangible manifestation of a thread of the "Dao."

Yet it remained vast, profound beyond profound.

Lu Xuan was not anxious. He simply waited quietly.

At that moment, the unseen space began to "take form" once more.

What had been an indescribable manifestation became clouds and mist filling the sky, concealing a blazing cluster of radiance within.

As long as he could see through the "clouds and mist" and behold the "radiance," he would gain the ability to gather Qi.

This was the [Grand Rite Heavenly Trial].

Lu Xuan stared with all his strength. Within the clouds and mist, countless streams of light seemed to drift like seal-script characters, obscure beyond words and impossible to decipher.

The Dao was profound beyond profound, deep and unfathomable, beyond the senses and impossible to express in language.

Those who sought the Dao in ancient times could only rely on themselves to comprehend the Dao and cultivate, making the path exceedingly difficult.

The methods of this age had greatly advanced. One could use a Grand Rite to see the Dao and render the "Dao" of a certain realm tangible, but it still depended on the cultivator's own [Qi Sensitivity].

Only those with exceptional [Qi Sensitivity] could pierce the mist and inherit the power of the Great Dao.

Lu Xuan's former self had been chosen to cultivate at Hibernation Academy, so he naturally possessed considerable talent.

And compared to his former self's previous [Grand Rite], he saw through more this time and comprehended more. He had gained a deeper understanding of "Dawn Qi," and in a daze, he seemed to see a rising sun hidden amid the clouds.

But he still could not see it clearly.

Gathering True Qi was just this difficult.

So it still wasn't enough...

Lu Xuan sighed inwardly.

He was only a little short.

But that little difference was the distance between heaven and earth, not something effort could change.

If one's Qi Sensitivity was insufficient, one could not see the "Dao." If one could not see it, one could not obtain the true method.

To put it plainly, it was like mathematics in Lu Xuan's former life. If one could grasp it, one grasped it; if one could not, then even explaining until the sky cracked would be useless.

The "clouds" blocking his sight at this moment were like countless "problems," obscure and beyond words.

But Lu Xuan did not give up. His mind sank slightly as he stirred a Jade Disc within his unseen consciousness.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the Jade Disc trembled. The character [Diligence] upon it suddenly moved, as though it had come alive.

Then it shot fiercely into Lu Xuan's body.

What did [Diligence] mean?

Diligence could make up for clumsiness!

It was because Lu Xuan had sensed the power of the Ancient Characters on the Jade Disc that he had not hesitated to pawn himself for the chance at this Second Grand Rite.

Boom!

In an instant, it was as if heavenly light had suddenly broken through, as if countless great hands had wiped clean his spiritual platform.

Lu Xuan felt as though he had changed brains. Everything he had once failed to see, understand, or comprehend became clear in an instant.

Like a frog at the bottom of a well leaping from its dry pit, like a bird in a cage flying free of its prison.

His clumsiness had been made whole; naturally, he became clever.

Every "problem" became as clear as the lines on his palm. The mist dispersed, and the circulation and absorption of "Qi" instantly became incomparably clear.

A brilliant great sun beyond the clouds entered Lu Xuan's sight.

The morning sun rose; Qi was born between heaven and earth.

So this was the world of those gifted with intelligence and extraordinary Qi Sensitivity...

Lu Xuan sighed inwardly. The differences between people truly were immense.

He saw it. He knew it.

To know was to attain the Dao. Having attained the Dao, one could obtain the method, obtain Qi, and obtain divine powers and great strength.

This meant he had passed heaven's trial and received heaven's permission.

He could gather [True Qi] into his body and increase his lifespan.

Whoosh!

The empty, unseen mysterious realm faded away. Lu Xuan's consciousness returned to his physical body, and he opened his eyes once more.

Between the distant horizon and mountain cliffs, a thread of morning light happened to break through the dawn as the rising sun pierced the darkness.

In the past, it would have been merely the beauty of sunrise, nothing more than ordinary.

But this time, Lu Xuan saw it. As the morning sun rose, "Qi" flowed through heaven and earth, floating in the sky and clinging to the sun.

Qi, come!

Lu Xuan chuckled, then opened his mouth and inhaled.

In an instant, the "Qi" that seemed far away upon the sun became like a stream of light and was swallowed into Lu Xuan's belly.

Qi was not formless. It was scorching like the sun and fell into his chest center in an instant.

Gathering Qi!

Boom!

As the Qi entered his chest center, it was like chaos first splitting apart. Infinite light shone brilliantly, illuminating Lu Xuan's entire body, while a wheel of light lit within his chest center and took a long time to fade.

Opening the Qi Sea!

The moment the Qi Sea opened, countless mysterious spirits within the vast world surged into Lu Xuan's Qi Sea like fledgling swallows returning to the forest, filling his body and granting him power.

Spiritual energy!

The gathering of Qi had succeeded, and the Qi Sea had opened. From this day onward, he was no longer a mortal. He could absorb and circulate spiritual energy to cultivate, cast spells, ride clouds and mist, and live for two hundred and forty years.

And because he had gathered [True Qi] into his body, it possessed even more extraordinary wonders.