Using wood to fuel fire, then using the flames to refine spiritual energy—the upgraded refinement method made Jiang Xuan's efficiency in converting Spell Power several times greater than before, when he had relied solely on qi and blood to taint it.
With that, coupled with using the Azure Glaze Sword as a catalyst to draw in the vast wood-element spiritual energy around him, Jiang Xuan refined an extraordinary amount of Spell Power in an exceedingly short time—far more than usual.
Better still, [Clear-Heart Mirror (Observe Self)] had long since mapped out all nine Apertures around his heart. Thus, none of this refined Spell Power went to waste—he could even nourish several Apertures in one go.
He thought it, and he did it. By this method, during the latter half of today's morning cultivation session, Jiang Xuan nourished even more Apertures than he had in the first half.
"Four. Added to the three at my liver, that makes seven."
Yet despite opening so many Apertures, Jiang Xuan showed not the slightest joy. Instead, his face was filled with bitterness.
"A miscalculation. I never expected using wood to fuel fire to trigger such a violent reaction."
Opening Apertures was certainly cause for celebration, but what had burned just now was no ordinary flame. It was heartfire ignited by his own qi and blood, blazing directly at the source of his heart.
This blazing heartfire was a supreme tool for refining spiritual energy, but it was also a bottomless pit that devoured energy.
In only a few moments, the qi and blood in his body had been burned completely dry.
Moreover, because the heart was the root of qi and blood, and the fire Jiang Xuan had lit had burned within his heart, it had drawn heavily upon his life essence, leaving even his foundation slightly damaged.
That was plain to see from his current condition.
"Whew..."
The instant he stopped cultivating, Jiang Xuan's vision went dark in waves. His face was pale as paper, devoid of even a trace of color.
Beyond that, the loss of qi and blood left his muscles and bones feeling as though all their strength had been drained away. Even lifting a hand felt unbearably heavy.
His breathing was rough and weak, making him look every inch like a consumptive who had been bedridden for years. Even each breath carried a dull pain tugging at his chest.
"Cough, cough..."
"This is troublesome. This sort of depletion can't be made up with just one afternoon of rest. It'll affect my cultivation tonight."
The consequences of a single cultivation session had been so severe that Jiang Xuan naturally felt frustrated. Fortunately, it was not all bad news.
With Unity of Man and Sword, Clarity of the Spirit Platform, and the enhancement of [Heart? Sincerity (Sword)], Jiang Xuan had poured nearly all his focus into cultivating the One Qi Sword Art. His heart was sincere toward the sword, and his comprehension of the sword path deepened by the moment. After a morning of cultivation, the progress of his One Qi Sword Art had surged by several hundred points at once.
[You cultivated the One Qi Sword Art. Technique progress +13] [You comprehended the relationship between the liver and wood, gaining insight into the mysteries of the One Qi Sword Art. Technique progress +72] [You understood the mutually generating cycle of wood and fire, heart and liver. Technique progress +117] [You...]
When the string of notifications ended, Jiang Xuan's One Qi Sword Art had reached Realm 2, Proficient (619/4000).
"As expected of a Purple Precious Grade profession. With the support of two great passive abilities, I can already be considered a genius of the sword path. The minor achievement stage of the One Qi Sword Art, which others see as a chasm between heaven and earth, isn't an obstacle to me at all. At most, I'll push it to the minor achievement realm within ten days."
Naturally, this progress would not catch up to the first round of assessments, but Jiang Xuan had never believed the academy's assessments would have only one round.
"The second round of assessments is when this sword art will truly come into its own."
"Whew..."
As he looked over his status panel, Jiang Xuan clutched his chest and struggled to breathe through waves of stabbing pain.
Just as he thought he would need at least the time it took to drink a cup of tea before he could recover, a worried voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"Brother Jiang, are you all right?"
The abrupt voice made Jiang Xuan turn his head, and he found Dong Hao approaching.
Without waiting for Jiang Xuan's reply after calling out, Dong Hao stepped forward, steadied his unsteady body with one hand, then half-supported and half-carried him toward his own seat.
As they walked, Dong Hao urged him with genuine concern, "Brother Jiang, you absolutely can't be this reckless in cultivation next time. Excessive loss of qi and blood can truly damage the foundation of your body."
"Even now, you need a good restorative meal. Fortunately, I brought Three-Yang Rejuvenation Soup today. It is excellent for replenishing depleted vital energy, and it tastes wonderful too. Brother Jiang, you're in for a treat today."
"Uh..." His posture of insisting on taking him to eat spiritual food made Jiang Xuan feel both embarrassed and deeply resistant.
What had happened to his father made Jiang Xuan wary of accepting others' kindness lightly—when you took too much from an Aristocratic Clan, you truly had to repay it with your life.
With that cautionary example before him, Jiang Xuan struggled slightly and refused outright. "Brother Dong, thank you for your kindness, but there's no need. I'm fine... cough, cough..."
Jiang Xuan's stubborn refusal left Dong Hao both speechless and even more resolute.
In truth, when he saw Jiang Xuan injured, he was somewhat pleased—if Jiang Xuan had been perfectly fine, how would he have gotten the chance to bestow favors?
And Jiang Xuan's refusal made him see even more clearly that this was a man of firm principles.
People like this were precisely the ones someone like Dong Hao, born into a merchant Lineage, was most willing to favor.
Having principles is good. The more someone has boundaries and understands gratitude, the more they know that a drop of kindness must be repaid with a gushing spring. When the time comes, I won't even need to say anything—you'll repay me severalfold, perhaps tenfold.
Through the Treasure-Appraising Eye, he had long noticed Jiang Xuan's talent. Now, he also knew Jiang Xuan possessed a character that honored gratitude and promises.
Thus, faced with Jiang Xuan's refusal, Dong Hao not only did not let go, but supported him even more firmly.
He half-forced Jiang Xuan toward his seat, putting on a displeased expression as he said, "Brother Jiang, don't put on a brave front at a time like this. I know you have backbone and don't wish to accept others' favors for nothing. But no matter how much you value your pride, you can't ignore your body."
"If this continues, you could truly damage your foundation and affect your future cultivation."
"You don't want to fail at the last step when forging your Dao Foundation in the future because of injuries to your body, do you?"
To make Jiang Xuan accept his goodwill, he added, "If you really can't accept it, then consider it a loan from me. You've borrowed once already, so borrowing one more time won't hurt."
With Dong Hao having said so much, Jiang Xuan truly found it difficult to refuse again.
What was more, his body really did urgently need replenishment.
In the end, Jiang Xuan stopped struggling and refusing, though he firmly remembered this favor in his heart.
I owe another favor... Fortunately, it's only the kindness of a meal. I can repay that.
Thus, supported by Dong Hao, Jiang Xuan set foot in the front section of the training grounds for the first time.
Only then did he truly feel the extravagance and deep foundations of children from cultivation Lineages.
At Star Daoist Academy, Dong Hao actually kept a maid at his side. The girl named Nan Zhi was not an ordinary servant; she was an officially enrolled student of the academy. Whether in the aura around her or her Spirit Root talent, she was even slightly superior to Jiang Xuan.
And in the front section, situations like Dong Hao's—entering the academy with maids and Daoist Acolytes in tow—were everywhere.
Many children of Lineages had more than one or two people around them. Take Qin Feng, the most talented among them: no fewer than seven people attended him. And around those Daoist Acolytes and maids stood another crowd gazing eagerly, hoping to fill an opening.
Not all these people were born servants of the Qin Household. Quite a few came from humble families.
They had not come to curry favor of their own accord because they were willing to abase themselves. Rather, following a Lineage prodigy like Qin Feng brought real and tangible benefits.
"Following a prodigy like Qin Feng means no one dares bully you in daily life. More importantly, after entering the Divine Firmament Sect in a hundred days, every Outer Disciple must work to earn sect contributions."
"But even for the same labor, there are many twists and turns. With someone looking after you, you can land an easy post rich in profit. Even with mediocre talent, you may have some hope of reaching Foundation Establishment by piling up resources."
"By contrast, ordinary students with no background or connections can only take those grueling jobs with heavy tasks and no freedom. Not only do they earn few resources, but more than half their cultivation time gets squeezed away."
With one side gaining and the other losing, the difference was as vast as heaven and earth, as clouds and mud.
"No wonder they act this way... For ordinary students with poor talent and unremarkable family backgrounds, this truly is the best path forward."
After sighing, Jiang Xuan shook his head and looked around again. Then, not far away, he spotted Zhou Lin, the previous owner's childhood sweetheart.
At that moment, she was carefully opening a food box, spreading out a brocade tablecloth, and serving a graceful young woman with lowered brows and an obedient air.
"That must be Su Linyin."
Unwilling to become entangled with her any further, Jiang Xuan gave her only a glance before calmly looking away.
While Jiang Xuan used his glance around the area to silently learn the living ecology of the Lineage children, Nan Zhi had already opened the food box, taken out dish after dish of spiritual food, and arranged them neatly upon the tablecloth.
The Dong Household's foundations were indeed extraordinary. Not only was the food box Nan Zhi had brought to the academy exquisitely crafted, it was also inscribed with a constant-temperature formation, able to preserve spiritual energy and keep food warm.
When each dish of spiritual food was removed from the box, it was still steaming as though it had just come out of the pot.
The instant the lid opened, a rich, mellow, enticing fragrance mixed with abundant spiritual energy rushed toward them.
Not only did these spiritual dishes taste superb, they also contained extremely abundant, pure vital energy, making them ideal for replenishing the body's deficits.
Jiang Xuan's physical essence was depleted to the extreme, and he was at his hungriest. At the scent, his Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably as he forcibly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
The sight made Dong Hao laugh softly.
"After cultivating all morning, Brother Jiang must be hungry. To be honest, I've been starving as well. Eat quickly. My mother prepared far too much for me; I can't finish it alone, and leaving it would only waste it."
As he spoke, he personally handed a pair of clean bamboo chopsticks to Jiang Xuan and warmly urged him to begin eating.
By this point, Jiang Xuan no longer stood on ceremony.
"Thank you, Brother Dong."
"It actually worked?!"
"Why?"
At the back of the training grounds, those students who had thought Jiang Xuan was merely putting on an act froze where they stood when they saw Dong Hao take him away again and entertain him like an honored guest.
No matter how they racked their brains, they could not understand what Jiang Xuan, whose Spirit Root was only mysterious mid-grade, possessed that made Dong Hao regard him so differently.
Dong Hao's string of actions even gave many of them an absurd thought: "Could Dong Hao be an idiot? Does he just enjoy entertaining people who put on airs?"
The moment the thought surfaced, they snuffed it out themselves.
After yesterday, quite a few people had imitated Jiang Xuan and performed all sorts of strange antics. Yet no matter how they fussed about, none had drawn even the slightest glance from Dong Hao.