Trying a New Secret Method

He was supposed to report to the Major Crimes Unit before the twentieth, but Deputy Section Chief Li's words had made the situation clear: the Major Crimes Unit was desperately short-handed. In other words, he had to report there as soon as possible.

It was now the seventeenth—February 17th. The calendar in this world followed the moon's orbit directly, and Spring Festival was the last day of the year.

In theory, Yang Wenqing still had three days of leave left, but he intended to heed Deputy Section Chief Li's reminder and report to the Major Crimes Unit early. From what Deputy Section Chief Li had implied, there should be some benefits to reporting early, most likely a difference in rank.

After parting ways with Song Yu and Wu Qi, he immediately returned to his home in Dongning Community. After locking the door behind him, he eagerly took out his badge, pressed it against his forehead, and sank his spiritual consciousness into it.

The first thing that entered his "sight" was the general outline of the Ninefold Refinement Method.

Its opening explained that this method was intended to temper one's foundation and refine the body, laying a Dao foundation for the path of future cultivation. Those with excellent aptitude could advance by leaps and bounds with this method, their potential multiplied; those with mediocre aptitude could likewise use it to compensate for innate deficiencies, significantly improving their cultivation efficiency and upper limit. Thus, this method also possessed the effect of "transforming tendons and forging bones, defying fate and changing one's destiny."

Yang Wenqing had heard of this secret method back at the academy. Those with aptitude already possessed the qualifications to cultivate immortality, so their cultivation naturally progressed by leaps and bounds. Those with poor aptitude, however, needed to polish their cultivation foundation during the Qi Refining Stage. If they succeeded, their future would be bright; if they failed, they could only stop there.

The first refinement of Qi Refining was called "Bones and Muscles Resonance."

The core of this method was to guide the pure spiritual energy within the Qi Sea through the body, soaking and tempering all 206 bones and 639 muscles, causing them to undergo an essential transformation. They would become tougher and better able to bear and circulate massive amounts of spiritual energy. The cultivation process also required a specific stabilizing formation to prevent spiritual energy from fluctuating out of control and injuring the cultivator.

The secret method provided a detailed route map for circulating spiritual energy, involving many subtle meridians he had never touched before. It also included the complete formation diagram for the "Foundation-Stabilizing Formation."

This formation required one's own essence blood mixed with a small amount of silver or gold powder to draw specific runes on the floor of a quiet room. Its foundation consisted of inner and outer rings. The inner ring bore the rune for "stability," used to steady the mind and anchor one's blood and qi; the outer ring consisted of eight "suppression" runes, used to suppress earthly qi, isolate external demons, and gather heaven-and-earth spiritual energy into a stable pressure field. It restrained the turbulent spiritual energy within the body, preventing it from leaking out or running wild, and could also suppress pain.

Once activated, the formation would emit a soft ochre glow. Standing within it, one could clearly feel the surrounding space becoming thick and stable, as though one were deep beneath the earth.

The note at the end of the method specifically mentioned, "If cultivation of this refinement is supplemented by the medicinal power of Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass, twice the result can be achieved with half the effort. It can greatly shorten the tempering period and offers a certain chance of awakening the potential of one's bones and muscles."

"Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass..." Yang Wenqing knew about the stuff. A single ordinary specimen cost fifteen thousand, and judging from the circumstances, it would probably be consumed just as quickly as White Dragon Ginseng.

Suppressing the thoughts in his heart, he carefully memorized and analyzed the spiritual energy circulation route for "Bones and Muscles Resonance," as well as every rune in the "Foundation-Stabilizing Formation," repeatedly reviewing every node until he was sure there were no omissions. He then simulated it several times within the Golden Core World in the depths of his consciousness.

Then he sighed. Silver and gold were the best materials for inscribing formation runes, allowing spiritual energy to pass through without obstruction. But both were quite expensive. Five hundred yuan could be exchanged for one gram of gold, while twenty yuan could be exchanged for one gram of silver. A gold formation would definitely be better than a silver one, and these materials were consumables too.

"Let's buy two hundred grams of silver and try it first."

Yang Wenqing revealed a bitter smile. He would later need to refine a better Spirit-Gathering Formation. Having experienced the benefits of gathering spiritual energy, he now felt uncomfortable cultivating without large amounts of it being drawn in. Compared to before he entered the Qi Refining Stage, his new home gathered a decent amount of spiritual energy, but it was practically useless for someone at the Qi Refining Stage. Then there was also the Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass he needed to buy. All of a sudden, even his current salary did not seem sufficient.

But there was no helping it. If he wanted his cultivation to advance further, some money had to be spent. Having made up his mind, he got up and left home, heading to the nearest bank to exchange for two hundred grams of silver—silver that had already been ground into powder.

He then spent another two hundred yuan on a bottle of spiritual ink specially used for drawing formation runes. After returning home, he followed the method taught at the academy, mixing the silver powder with the spiritual ink. After simulating the inscription of the formation runes once more in the Golden Core World, he held his breath, focused his mind, and carefully began drawing the "Foundation-Stabilizing Formation" across the living room floor.

As time passed, fine sweat gradually seeped across Yang Wenqing's forehead. Half an hour later, a "Foundation-Stabilizing Formation" roughly ten feet in diameter, radiating a steady aura, was finally complete.

These formations also followed fixed rules, much like the laws of the universe in Wang Ping's memories.

Yang Wenqing sat cross-legged at the center of the formation. After adjusting his emotions, he activated the formation with his essence blood.

Buzz—

An ochre glow rose up, forming a translucent barrier around him. His body immediately felt heavier, as if he were carrying an invisible weight, but the circulation of spiritual energy within him was unaffected.

He did not hesitate any longer. Following the first refinement method of the Ninefold Refinement Method, he carefully guided the spiritual energy within his Qi Sea and began circulating it along that complicated, unfamiliar route, gradually giving it a special vibration frequency.

At first, whenever the spiritual energy passed through certain delicate muscles and bones, it brought waves of stabbing pain and soreness. But as the spiritual energy began to vibrate, all the bones and muscles in his body started trembling slightly, producing a rustling sound like countless silkworms chewing mulberry leaves. This was the initial sign of "Bones and Muscles Resonance."

Then intense numbness, soreness, itching, and pain surged over him in waves. If not for the Foundation-Stabilizing Formation suppressing his blood and qi, he would have struggled to maintain such precise control over the spiritual energy.

Yang Wenqing guarded his mind tightly, enduring the intense soreness and numbness throughout his muscles and bones, as well as the bone-deep itching pain, while doing his utmost to maintain the spiritual energy's vibrating circulation along the route of the Ninefold Refinement Method.

When the second cycle was completed, he observed some damage within his muscles and bones through the projection of the Golden Core World.

"I have to stop!"

Yang Wenqing made the decision without hesitation and halted the circulation of the Ninefold Refinement Method. The unbearable soreness, numbness, and pain weakened along with it, then slowly faded away.

He then changed his hand seals, guiding the remaining spiritual energy in his Qi Sea to nourish the damaged bones and muscles.

Once the injuries had been successfully repaired, Yang Wenqing felt an emptiness in his Qi Sea. More than half of the spiritual energy that had once filled it had already been consumed!

"This consumption... is too terrifying." He opened his eyes, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face.

Without the support of a powerful Spirit-Gathering Formation, relying only on the community's ambient energy and his own basic breathing exercises to restore spiritual energy would make progress in the Ninefold Refinement Method unbearably slow.

Yang Wenqing cast a Dust-Cleansing Technique on himself to remove the sweat stains, then sat cross-legged and circulated the Basic Qi Refining Formula to restore his spiritual energy.

After several circulation cycles, a small amount of spiritual energy had gathered once more within his Qi Sea, and the soreness in his body had eased considerably. However, he was still far from fully recovered.

Knowing that it was not suitable to force himself to cultivate the Ninefold Refinement Method again today, Yang Wenqing turned his attention to spells. He chose the "Tracking Technique" and the "Demon-Breaking Spell."

The "Tracking Technique" could extract every trace of aura from a crime scene and search for the source of matching auras, functioning much like a police dog. He had chosen this spell because he would soon be joining the Major Crimes Unit.

The "Demon-Breaking Spell" had an impressive name, but it was actually just a fire spell. Its greatest use was enchanting bullets, making it the best offensive method at his current stage.

As for the "Sword-Controlling Art" Captain Xiao Liang had mentioned, it was more complicated. He first needed to nurture a short sword and bring it into a certain degree of compatibility with the spiritual energy in a cultivator's Qi Sea. Otherwise, it would be extremely awkward to control.

Yang Wenqing planned to cultivate that spell only after acquiring a good short sword. Having made up his mind, his thoughts shifted, and his consciousness completely sank into the Golden Core World.

He simulated the construction of the spell seal for the "Tracking Technique." It was certainly not smooth at first, but he was not discouraged. He failed time and again, then started over each time. After nearly twenty failures, the first complete and stable "Tracking Technique" spell seal was finally condensed successfully.

He tried casting it in reality. After succeeding, he saw the auras of ordinary objects. It was an incredibly mysterious sensation, something seen within his consciousness, like intangible energy particles connecting similar auras together—for example, his own aura.

After trying several times, he began simulating the "Demon-Breaking Spell." This spell seal demanded even greater instantaneous output and control of spiritual energy. During the construction process, it even caused conflicts between the energies within the spell seal.

This time, he succeeded in fewer than ten attempts, because the construction of this spell seal was actually very simple. He only needed to pay attention to controlling the effectiveness of the spiritual energy output. This time, he merely tried enchanting bullets and did not fire them to test their power.

Afterward, Yang Wenqing returned to the dormitory and meditated to restore the spiritual energy in his Qi Sea. He meditated for more than ten hours, waking punctually from his trance at four thirty the next morning. He then slept for another hour and a half before getting up, casting a Dust-Cleansing Technique on himself, changing into a crisp security police uniform, carefully putting on his senior sergeant insignia, and checking his service pistol before holstering it at his waist.

Looking at the young sergeant in the mirror, Yang Wenqing took a deep breath, pushed open his front door, and headed toward the county branch bureau with steady steps. Today, he was reporting to the Major Crimes Unit.