Qi Refining

Dong Lin returned to his room and carefully recalled the key points of the Breath-and-Spirit Absorption Art that Lian Steward had just explained, trying to see whether he could guide the spiritual energy in the room and circulate the cultivation technique.

Compared to those outer sect disciples who had only just entered the sect and were assigned to Yellow-Tier low-grade cultivation chambers, the High Black Tier cultivation chamber Dong Lin occupied, with its dense spiritual energy, gave him a considerable advantage in sensing Qi.

After a quarter of an hour of trying, Dong Lin still had not felt the slightest thing from the spiritual energy around him.

"Alright, it seems I'm not some heaven-blessed genius."

Dong Lin had not held much expectation for this to begin with, so he was not overly disappointed.

Dong Lin took out the two bottles of pills from the Cavern Repository and placed them on the table, examining them carefully. One bottle contained Black-Tier Mid-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills, while the other contained Yellow-Tier mid-grade ones.

The difference between the two bottles of pills was enormous. Although Dong Lin had yet to sense Qi and could not use his spiritual sense to manipulate spiritual energy, he could still feel the immense disparity in medicinal potency between them.

Qi-Gathering Pills were one of the most common pills cultivators used to aid their cultivation. After being consumed, they helped cultivators gather spiritual energy faster, thereby improving cultivation efficiency.

Black-Tier pills corresponded to the Foundation Establishment Realm. If Dong Lin recklessly swallowed one now, there would likely be no outcome other than his body bursting apart and his death.

Even with this bottle of Yellow-Tier mid-grade Qi-Gathering Pills, Dong Lin had to be extremely careful if he wished to use them. He could not simply swallow one whole.

Otherwise, if a vast amount of spiritual energy continuously gathered in his Dantian and could not be absorbed and used in time, even if it did not rupture his Dantian, it would still inflict considerable damage upon it.

One had to know that before the Golden Core Realm, the Dantian was a cultivator's most important organ for cultivation. If it were damaged, repairing it would only be harder than climbing to heaven.

Dong Lin opened the jade bottle and cautiously poured out a Qi-Gathering Pill. Then he sat upon the meditation cushion and adjusted his posture.

Preparations had to be thorough.

Dong Lin intended to use this Yellow-Tier mid-grade Qi-Gathering Pill to awaken his sense of Qi.

Whether it was the spiritual energy density of his cultivation residence, the cultivation-aiding effects of the cushion beneath him, the high-tier Daoist robe he wore, or this high-grade pill, all of them were tremendous advantages Dong Lin possessed over those outer sect disciples who had just entered the sect.

Awakening one's sense of Qi was not easy, but for outer sect disciples who had passed layer upon layer of examinations to enter the sect, it was not enough to obstruct their path of cultivation.

Ordinary outer sect disciples generally relied on the pills issued by the sect to awaken their sense of Qi within ten days, allowing them to begin circulating the Breath-and-Spirit Absorption Art.

Moreover, the pills ordinarily issued to outer sect disciples upon entry were only Yellow-Tier low-grade, and the standard-issue Yellow-Tier Daoist robes they wore lacked the many marvelous effects of the Black-Tier Self-Purifying Daoist Robe on Dong Lin's body.

Dong Lin did not know what his cultivation talent was truly like, but if he still could not step onto the immortal path despite all these advantages, he might as well wash up, go home, sleep, and extinguish this heart that sought immortality and the Dao.

After calming his mind, Dong Lin placed the Qi-Gathering Pill in his mouth but did not dare swallow it.

Following the key points Lian Steward had explained earlier, he quietly focused and sensed.

One breath, two breaths.

The spiritual energy in the room gave off an extremely faint ripple, then vanished in an instant.

The prerequisite for stepping onto the path of immortal cultivation had been fulfilled.

"Only two breaths?"

Dong Lin felt no emotional fluctuations because of it. Instead, he tried using his spiritual sense to guide the spiritual energy, circulating it according to the Qi Refining Realm method of the Breath-and-Spirit Absorption Art.

He inhaled, drawing the scattered spiritual energy around him into his Dantian. His spiritual sense controlled that energy, guiding it in an orderly fashion into his meridians.

The Twelve Regular Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians formed the human body's meridian system.

As the most gentle and orthodox entry-level cultivation technique of the immortal path, the Breath-and-Spirit Absorption Art traversed every meridian, tempering one's cultivation throughout the entire body.

The spiritual energy circulation route of the Qi Refining Stage was the simplest.

One Greater Celestial Circuit was divided into eight Lesser Celestial Circuits. Each Lesser Celestial Circuit began with one extraordinary meridian, then passed through three regular meridians.

After completing one Greater Celestial Circuit, one's cultivation would increase by one yuan.

A hundred yuan constituted one minor realm. Once one cultivated three hundred yuan, one would reach the peak of the Qi Refining Stage and could begin laying the Dao Foundation.

Yet increasing one's cultivation was not as simple as circulating a cultivation technique. It also involved matters such as the size of the Dantian's capacity and breaking through the spiritual energy barriers within the body.

The first Lesser Celestial Circuit began with the Governing Vessel, then passed through the Hand Taiyin Meridian, the Hand Yangming Meridian, and the Foot Yangming Meridian.

For his first attempt at guiding spiritual energy through circulation, Dong Lin remained exceedingly cautious.

Using his spiritual sense to perceive the spiritual energy, he guided it slowly along the Governing Vessel.

Half an hour passed before Dong Lin finally, with great awkwardness, guided the spiritual energy to the end of the Governing Vessel.

Of course, this was merely the first step. Next, he had to guide the spiritual energy from the Governing Vessel into the Hand Taiyin Meridian.

Transferring spiritual energy between meridians tested a cultivator's ability even more than before.

If there were the slightest error, the spiritual energy could crash into the meridians and damage them.

During his first circulation, Dong Lin made mistake after mistake. Waves of faint stabbing pain made him focus even more intently.

Two hours passed before Dong Lin finally completed the first Lesser Celestial Circuit.

At this rate, one Greater Celestial Circuit would take two days.

Even if he used every moment outside of eating and sleeping, it would still take more than half a year to break through to the Mid Qi Refining Stage.

And no matter how cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage saved time, they could not possibly cultivate day and night without rest.

"Once I become proficient with the spiritual energy circulation route, I should be able to speed up my cultivation," Dong Lin thought to himself.

Striking while the iron was hot, Dong Lin did not stop after completing one Lesser Celestial Circuit. Instead, he immediately began circulating the second.

After nearly three days of work, Dong Lin completed one Greater Celestial Circuit of cultivation.

Dong Lin sensed the additional strand of pure spiritual power within his Dantian that belonged to him alone, and felt deeply satisfied.

With his first strand of Dao Yuan cultivated, Dong Lin officially stepped into the Early Qi Refining Stage.

If this speed were spoken aloud, it would surely leave many people clicking their tongues in amazement.

For ordinary disciples in a top immortal cultivation sect such as the Profound Dao Celestial Sect, even with all the sect's advantageous resources, it generally took half a month to a month to step through the gates of the Qi Refining Stage.

One had to know that while such ordinary disciples were considered mediocre within the sect, once placed outside, they would all be exceptionally gifted Dao-cultivation geniuses.

Dong Lin himself perhaps still did not understand just how astonishing it was to enter the Qi Refining Stage within three days.

Dong Lin did not know that even the most monstrous prodigies raised by the sect from childhood could only barely step into Qi Refining within five days.

Guiding spiritual power through circulation required a great deal of mental energy, while the souls of cultivators who had just begun cultivation were generally still weak and simply could not sustain such expenditure of spiritual sense.

But Dong Lin had no such concern. Even though his soul was still weak, his spiritual sense seemed to suffer no depletion at all while guiding spiritual energy through circulation.

Dong Lin did not know much about cultivation, and had no idea how inconceivable it was for circulating a cultivation technique not to consume spiritual sense.