Four Steps into Dragon Qi

"What's wrong with the young master? With his temperament and cultivation, how could he appear so weak?"

Hu Qi and Dai Guo took the medicine and returned the way they came.

The list didn't contain many rare or precious medicinal herbs, but because of the large quantity, the two still visited quite a few pharmacies.

On the way back, Dai Guo couldn't help but voice his doubts.

"I don't know either," Hu Qi shook his head, "However, it is probably related to Prosperity Capital's suppression of Divine Ability. This is the capital, where the court is full of brilliant Literary Thought and the city is heavily guarded. It is a place of outstanding people and abundant resources, capable of suppressing Outer Dao Divine Ability. The Examination Hall is also a place of great cultural importance. Although you, young master, have exceptional cultivation, using your Literary Thought in such a place must be a huge burden."

"That makes sense." Dai Guo thought for a moment and felt that this must be the case. "No wonder the young master handed in his paper so early that day."

He glanced at the medicine packet in his hand, thought about the types of herbs, and nodded heavily. "These herbs are mostly for nourishing the body's vital energy, strengthening the foundation, replenishing qi, and calming the mind. Putting them together should enhance Qi and Blood and replenish physical strength, hmm?"

As they spoke, Dai Guo looked puzzled. "Young Master, you put so much effort into writing during the Imperial Examinations, you should have expended a great deal of mental energy, so why are you now deficient in Qi and Blood and need to replenish Qi and Blood?"

"We should nourish the soul with Qi and Blood, and then nourish the body with external things." Hu Qi had thought about this matter long ago.

Nodding in agreement, Dai Guo added, "However, things in the Imperial City are expensive; these medicinal herbs alone have cost a lot."

Mentioning this, Hu Qi's face showed worry. "Buying medicine is expensive, and the inn is also costly. If this continues, we'll be unable to make ends meet."

"What's there to be afraid of? If we don't have the money, we can just have the young master write a few more pieces of calligraphy. We can sell them and immediately make a fortune." Dai Guo chuckled, a look of envy on his face. "It's good to be educated; you're valuable!"

Hu Qi was too lazy to reprimand him and could only shake his head helplessly.

As the two walked and talked, they were about to reach the inn when they failed to notice a young man in a blue robe walking slowly down a street corner not far away, watching them from afar with a glint in his eyes.

"These two seem to be that good-for-nothing's sworn brothers. I didn't expect to run into them here."

He spoke in a low voice, holding a piece of jade pendant in his hand. The words he uttered did not dissipate but were restrained by a force that poured into the jade. Then, the jade pendant emitted strange veins that spread into the distance.

After a while, he saw Hu Qi and Dai Guo enter the inn. He sneered, put away the jade pendant, and was about to follow when suddenly a chill ran down his spine. Startled, he instinctively darted forward, moving with incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye, he was five zhang away!

Then, he reached to his waist, flicked his wrist, and with a flash of cold light, drew a soft sword from his belt!

A flash of sword light enveloped Eight Directions, and a chilling aura swept up and down. Even with the suppression of the Dragon Qi of Prosperity Capital, one could still see the youth's muscles and bones twitching, his Qi and Blood hidden and not yet released.

"Who's spying on us?" he growled, his voice sharpening and shooting towards him, striking the wall directly behind him.

Collapse!

The wall collapsed instantly!

However, apart from that, there was nothing unusual.

"Nobody here?" The young man was taken aback, then his expression changed drastically, because the hairs on his body stood on end again. He rushed forward, but when he turned around again, he still found no trace of anyone.

"This..." Before the young man could recover, the instinct of his bloodline, originating from Heroic Soul, erupted again, making him feel like he was being watched. However, this time, he remained still. A sweep of his senses sent chills down his spine. He lost his composure, his pores relaxed, and cold sweat poured down his face!

The young man moved stealthily, and passersby did not notice him at first, but when they saw him jumping around, they immediately became alert and saw the soft sword in his hand.

In Xingjing Imperial City, without official rank or military position, one cannot easily carry a sharp weapon on the street. Therefore, as soon as passersby see this, they run to the patrolling soldiers to complain.

The young man in blue was unaware of these things; he simply looked around in surprise.

"What the hell! Could I be being watched by a powerful being? That shouldn't be the case. I've been in Prosperity Capital and haven't done anything except follow those two. How could I be being watched? Hmm?"

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head.

"Could it be because they were following these two? Have they managed to curry favor with some important figure?" Thinking this, the young man glanced at the inn again, a look of doubt on his face. "If they had connections, why would they stay in such a cheap inn?"

The thought flashed through his mind, but the young man had no time to think about it anymore. The feeling of being spied on returned, and the chills had turned into fear. He took a deep breath, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I am Zhan Gong'er from Nine Springs Tower Zhan Gong'er. I am on my way west to attend the Heroes Assembly and am passing through Prosperity Capital. I do not know why I have disturbed your peace, senior. I will take my leave now and ask for your forgiveness!"

After saying that, he stopped his fear, endured the feeling of being watched, and moved his feet so fast that he disappeared into the depths of the alley like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Before long, a man arrived with two soldiers. The man leading the way was saying, "It's just ahead. That man looks thin, but he's carrying a gleaming longsword; it's terrifying!"

As they talked, they arrived at their destination, but there was no one to be seen.

"Where is he?" the guide asked, looking bewildered.

"Nine Springs Tower? This name isn't from a Daoist sect, so could it be a martial arts sect? But martial arts sects also have cultivators? Although there's Dragon Qi suppressing it, that young man named Zhan Gong'er has at least the Soul-Refining Realm. I wonder what grudge he has against Hu Qi and Dai Guo..."

Inside the inn, Qiu Yan sat upright in a chair, slowly withdrawing his senses, but still maintaining a connection with the City Will.

At this moment, his face was so pale it was almost transparent, but his eyes were as bright as stars, with light and shadow shifting within them, like a vortex, as if trying to pull in all the surrounding light.

Deep within his eyes, a faint flame could be seen flickering.

The Humanistic Fire Seed!

Compared to before, the Fire Seed was burning much more fiercely.

Suddenly, a flush of color returned to Qiu Yan's pale face, and the light in his eyes dimmed considerably. He let out a long breath.

"With the help of the exam papers, I came into contact with the Dragon Qi and the City Will, and thus comprehended the Human Path. Now I am getting closer and closer to the City Will, and I can use it to observe the changes around me. I have touched the surface of the Human Path in Prosperity Capital. However, I never expected that what would limit my further progress would be my physical body!"

In the past two days, Qiu Yan has been expending his mental energy and inner Heart Fire to communicate with the City Intent through his Divine Soul and share the surrounding Human Path landscape. However, the City Will is formed by the aggregation of Human Path and is incompatible with the Divine Path. Even with the Incense Faith, Qiu Yan could not replenish his mental energy, otherwise it would inevitably cause conflict. Therefore, he could only rely on his own mental energy to comprehend it.

Concentrating on comprehension consumes a great deal of mental and Divine Soul energy, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a backlash. However, as time passes and the memories and feelings of the Metropolitan Examination gradually dissipate, Qiu Yan must maintain this energy expenditure in order to seize the fleeting opportunity.

Without the replenishment of Incense Faith, the Fleshly Body's mental strength cannot be sustained. Yet, it must maintain this level of energy expenditure, which seems like a dead end, but it is not insurmountable. The key lies in the physical body.

The two words "soul" and "spirit" are often used together, both being fundamental to the human body and capable of transformation between each other. The "Nature Cultivation Soul-Nourishing by the Corporeal Soul" level of spiritual cultivation embodies this. When the Divine Soul and soul are weak and the mental strength is depleted, one can use the physical body's Qi and Blood to replenish the deficiency of the soul power. This is also one of the methods that ordinary cultivators often use in battle and seclusion.

Qiu Yan used this method to replenish his mental energy with his physical Qi and Blood, and continued to comprehend the mystery. Finally, not long ago, he made contact with the city's consciousness.

"This comprehension is not about controlling the city and the Dragon Qi; I can't do that alone. The real purpose is to use the City Will and the Dragon Qi to explore the truth, to understand the essence of Human Path, what kind of person can become Grand Confucian, what Sage is, what the purpose of Grand Confucian is, and what the ultimate manifestation of a Confucian scholar of Human Path is!"

There were many questions, but Qiu Yan didn't intend to tackle them all at once. Instead, he made a list of them in his mind and set out towards these goals. How many he could achieve depended on fortuitous opportunity.

"However, it seems that this comprehension also has steps and levels, roughly four stages. The first step is to come into contact with the City Will, the second step is to integrate with the City Will, the Third Step is to use the City Will as a springboard to touch the Dragon Qi, and the fourth step is to integrate with the Dragon Qi!"

Thinking of this, Qiu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I have already achieved the first step, making contact with the Prosperity Capital Will, which allows me to observe the Human Path around me to some extent. From this perspective, each of these four steps can increase my understanding of Human Path. Once all of them are achieved, using the Dragon Qi as a springboard, perhaps I can..."

With these thoughts racing through his mind, Qiu Yan knew very well that although he had experienced entering the Dragon Qi before, he had only been an outsider and an observer at that time. But now, as he gradually comprehended the Dragon Qi and merged with it, he would be able to observe the world through the Dragon Qi's perspective to a certain extent!

"This is a rare opportunity. Dragon Qi is composed of the essence of Human Path. If one can obtain its perspective, one can surely unveil a layer of the mysteries of Human Path. Under other circumstances, even if I had a deeper understanding of Human Path, I would not have been able to obtain such an opportunity. Now, I am only able to do so thanks to the imperial Metropolitan Examination and that exam paper."

Knock knock.

There was a knock on the door.

Hu Qi responded and came in carrying the medicinal soup.

"You've worked hard." Unlike how others treated their servants, Qiu Yan treated Hu Qi and Dai Guo like friends. It was only because of the Great Rui Code that he allowed the two to become citizens, which was also the reason why Dai Guo was usually so casual and talkative.

Upon receiving the medicinal meal, Qiu Yan trembled his palm, channeling his energy into it to evenly distribute the medicinal herbs and their potency before drinking it all in one gulp.

Instantly, a warm breath flowed down his throat and quickly spread throughout his body.

The Mottled Jade Pendant on his waist also reacted, vibrating and emitting fluctuations of Qi and Blood, trying to penetrate Qiu Yan's body, but he blocked it with a thought.

Beside him, Hu Qi hadn't left. He glanced at Qiu Yan, hesitated several times before finally saying, "Young Master, I'm afraid our funds won't last much longer." (To be continued. Please search for the novel for better and faster updates!)