Great Sun Golden Crow, Taiyin Subtle Nether

"Fifth-rank True Qi, Red Maple Flowing Fire Qi?"

Jiang Ran was greatly surprised. He took the booklet and flipped through it carefully.

That was right—it was Red Maple Flowing Fire Qi, ranked among the middle three grades.

"Fifth-rank True Qi is several times better than sixth-rank True Qi. It could fetch a decent price if sold," Sun Qianhan explained.

He had originally been the descendant of a great family and had once had hopes of Qi Assimilation. His understanding of the immortal path far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Unfortunately, he had now become a homeless cur, and after losing out in the mine competition, he had long since lost his future.

A trace of regret appeared in Jiang Ran's eyes.

"Fifth-rank True Qi... Unfortunately, I am aligned with Ren Water, so I cannot cultivate Ding Fire."

"No..." He suddenly realized something.

"Spirit roots are closely tied to one's fate. If I had a fire spirit root instead, perhaps the Dao path would be easier to change."

True Qi concerned one's Dao path. If possible, assimilating fifth-rank Red Maple Flowing Fire Qi would certainly be far better than seventh-rank Ice-Lake Spirit-Water Qi.

No matter what, this Qi-Collection Method was absolutely worth the price.

Jiang Ran suddenly became interested. "How should I address you, brother?"

Qi Nourishment Perfection was not unusual, but those at Qi Nourishment Perfection who possessed a fifth-rank Qi-Collection Method were few indeed.

"Sun Qianhan. Just call me Old Sun."

"Brother Sun, you just said that fifth-rank True Qi is several times stronger than sixth-rank True Qi. Could you elaborate...?" Jiang Ran keenly caught onto a piece of information.

Jiang Ran was not a native of the Great Ruins. His understanding of cultivation on the Qi-Absorption Path was extremely limited.

True Qi was divided into nine ranks. The upper three ranks were best, the middle three came next, and the lower three were weakest. This was common knowledge.

Jiang Ran possessed two cultivation methods. One was the eighth-rank Autumn-Grass Frost-Condensing Qi obtained from the Liu Household, while the other was the seventh-rank Ice-Lake Spirit-Water Qi bestowed by the Hundred Yue Sect.

One was seventh-rank and the other eighth-rank. Though their grades differed, from Jiang Ran's perspective, there seemed to be little difference between these two types of True Qi and their cultivation methods.

Assimilating Ice-Lake Spirit-Water Qi for Dao Initiation should not, in principle, differ fundamentally from assimilating Autumn-Grass Frost-Condensing Qi.

He had thought that the so-called depth of one's Dao path might merely amount to an extremely subtle difference. The middle three ranks were certainly stronger than the lower three, but not to an unbearable extent.

Yet Sun Qianhan had just said that fifth-rank True Qi was more than several times stronger than sixth-rank True Qi.

If that were true, it might mean that the higher the rank of True Qi, the greater the improvement it brought.

"It is normal that you do not know..." Sun Qianhan smiled. "For ordinary mortals like us, Dao Initiation alone is a blessing. How could we dare hope for fifth-rank True Qi?"

"To be honest, my Sun family's ancestors were once glorious. Though their unfilial descendants failed to continue that legacy, my Sun family can still be considered a cultivation family."

Sun Qianhan's eyes were filled with nostalgia. Perhaps he was tired from standing; he braced himself against the rock wall and sat down again, continuing to speak at length.

"Qi Assimilation means assimilating wondrous True Qi through a wondrous method, letting one's body enter the great Dao of heaven and earth. The stronger the True Qi, the stronger the Dao."

"Many years ago, the lower three ranks of True Qi were also called 'Impure Qi.' Only those of the middle three ranks and above were called 'True Qi.'"

"Brother..."

"My surname is Jiang," Jiang Ran added.

Sun Qianhan nodded slightly and looked at him. "Brother Jiang, do you know why?"

Jiang Ran answered frankly, "Please enlighten me."

"That is because..." Sun Qianhan spoke slowly, word by word, delivering a statement that was utterly shocking.

"Impure Qi can bring one into the Dao, but True Qi can establish the Dao. Only by assimilating True Qi of sixth rank or above can one hope to forge a Dao Foundation."

"Dao Foundation?" Jiang Ran repeated softly, deep in thought.

This was the second time he had heard this term.

If he had not judged wrongly, the so-called Dao Foundation should be the next stage of cultivation on the Qi-Absorption Path, a realm above Qi Assimilation.

The divine might of Qi Assimilation was known to all. It was already the power of immortals.

Then how terrifying must the higher realm of Dao Foundation be?

Perhaps it could rival the Golden Core of the Qi Refinement Path, or perhaps it was even stronger... Jiang Ran found it hard to imagine.

"You mean one must use True Qi from the middle three ranks for Dao Initiation in order to reach Dao Foundation?"

"Yes... That is what the books say." Sun Qianhan nodded.

"But Dao Foundation is a supreme wondrous realm, far beyond what ordinary people can covet. Common mortals like you and me should not think too much about it."

"True..." Jiang Ran appeared to agree, but a raging storm had already risen in his heart.

Sun Qianhan seemed to know that he did not have long to live and that a turnaround was unlikely. His desire to unburden himself was exceptionally strong.

It so happened that Jiang Ran was extremely curious about all kinds of information concerning the Grand Ruins Realm.

The two opened up and chatted merrily.

Each rank among the middle three ranks of True Qi differed by severalfold. Between the upper three ranks of True Qi, the difference was even like heaven and earth.

"Brother Sun, what kind of True Qi is the strongest?" Jiang Ran asked casually.

"Haha... Naturally, first-rank True Qi is the best."

"However, my family's ancestor once said that there are also some Transcendent True Qi that stand above all Qi."

"Oh?"

"It seems they were..." Sun Qianhan tried hard to recall.

"Great Sun Golden Crow Qi and Taiyin Subtle Nether Qi!"

"Great Sun Golden Crow Qi. Taiyin Subtle Nether Qi."

Jiang Ran firmly committed those two names to memory.

Perhaps... perhaps one day, he might come into contact with such divine treasures.

"Brother Jiang, your speech is refined and your bearing extraordinary. You should not be an ordinary man. In the future, you will surely have the chance to soar like a dragon."

"What a pity. Sun has become a homeless cur, so I will have no chance to see it..." Sun Qianhan sighed.

Jiang Ran fell silent for a moment. He knew it was time for today's pleasant conversation to end.

No matter what, this Brother Sun had indeed taught him many useful things.

—Clang.

A heavy chunk of ore fell to the ground.

Jiang Ran left behind only one sentence before turning and walking away.

"I hope we meet again someday."

He was no great philanthropist or saint. He would not go around doing good deeds for others.

The chunk of ore he left behind weighed around twenty jin. It was enough to offset the value of Sand-Flying Footwork and the fifth-rank Qi-Collection Method.

It was not enough to let Sun Qianhan overcome his difficulties outright, but it was still no small help.

The gap between True Qi of different ranks was even greater than he had imagined.

Jiang Ran had no choice but to reconsider the direction of his cultivation.

Sun Qianhan might not have been entirely correct, but one thing could not be denied: the first mouthful of True Qi assimilated during Dao Initiation was absolutely crucial.

Jiang Ran had once thought that if he had no opportunity to obtain better True Qi, he could settle for Ice-Lake Spirit-Water Qi and find a way to improve later.

But now he realized that this path was simply impossible.

Although Ice-Lake Spirit-Water Qi was seventh-rank, it was still lower-three-rank Impure Qi in truth, with no fundamental difference from Autumn-Grass Frost-Condensing Qi.

—Impure Qi could not form a Dao Foundation!

Once he assimilated Ice-Lake Spirit-Water Qi for Dao Initiation, his Dao path would be fixed forever. He would never be able to advance to Dao Foundation in his lifetime.

The reality of cultivating the Qi-Absorption Path revealed its most cruel tip of the iceberg to Jiang Ran.

"This is far too difficult. How can ordinary people obtain high-rank True Qi?" Jiang Ran was somewhat lost.

The very first step of cultivation was already so difficult. What about everything that came after...?

What kind of person could ever achieve Dao Foundation?