Vein-Cleansing and Marrow-Washing, Powerful Divine Incantations!

The effect of Untouched by Dust increased Jiang Xuan's efficiency in refining qi by nearly thirty percent, and the subsequent "mouth purification" provided some benefit as well.

Breathing cultivation naturally used the mouth and nose as its gateways, through which the free spiritual qi between heaven and earth entered the body.

The power of Purification of Verbal Karma from the Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation was like an invisible sieve, washing and refining once more all the free spiritual qi of heaven and earth that poured into Jiang Xuan's body.

With the spiritual qi pure and free of other foul auras, whether Jiang Xuan used his divine sense to guide it through his meridians in circulating cycles, or used his blood qi and soul to imbue it and refine it into his own mana, both the smoothness and efficiency soared by more than a notch.

The following Clarity of the Spirit Platform allowed Jiang Xuan to circulate spiritual qi with less mental effort.

"Breathe in, breathe out..."

The benefits of the three divine incantations stacked atop one another, their effect far exceeding Jiang Xuan's expectations.

As spiritual qi entered his body with every inhalation and exhalation, circulating through its cycles, he discovered to his delight that spiritual qi which previously required repeated refining now needed only four cycles within his body before it was completely cleansed and refined into pure mana that he could wield as he pleased.

More remarkably, with no turbid qi mixed within, the mana he refined was of far higher quality than before. Using this pure mana to nurture the apertures throughout his body naturally produced twice the result with half the effort.

"With the three great divine incantations stacked together, my speed in Aperture Opening and refining spiritual qi has increased by at least double!"

"I made the right choice in becoming a Daoist Acolyte!"

Yet this delight was far from over.

Though they were not used for combat or attack, but were instead incantations commonly seen in fasting and offering rites, the Eight Great Divine Incantations still possessed boundless wondrous uses.

The first three divine incantations in particular had, at their core, been intended for the all-round purification of cultivators themselves.

And since they purified the self, they naturally could not merely prevent external filth from entering Jiang Xuan's body.

"Breathe out..."

As his breathing cultivation continued and the spiritual qi was refined, Jiang Xuan next "exhaled," expelling the waste qi within his body through his mouth and nose.

Originally, Jiang Xuan's exhalation had merely expelled waste qi.

But at this moment, his clear Spirit Platform allowed Jiang Xuan to notice that many long-accumulated impurities hidden deep within his flesh, meridians, and marrow were also being drawn out of his body thread by thread with that exhaled breath!

The expulsion of turbid qi made Jiang Xuan's body feel lighter, but it also made his pupils abruptly constrict as his hand clenched tightly.

"I guessed correctly. The Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation and the Body-Purification Divine Incantation do more than prevent external impurities from entering my body. They can also cleanse and expel the turbid qi accumulated within me from its very roots!"

The latter possibility was what excited Jiang Xuan so greatly, because, "Although the quality of a Spirit Root is not determined solely by how pure a cultivator's body is, qi belongs to clarity and spirit. If I expel all the turbid qi from my body and restore it to an innate body of clear spirit, then such a physique will absolutely raise my Spirit Root's grade by an entire major tier."

"The Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation and the Body-Purification Divine Incantation—these are divine spells capable of cleansing the veins and washing the marrow, of improving one's foundation!" Jiang Xuan's heart surged like storm-tossed waves, unable to settle for a long while.

Yet the first two divine incantations possessed such immense effects. It might seem strange, but it was not.

The Daoist Eight Great Divine Incantations had never been weak. The Golden Light Incantation, ranked fifth, was said to render one immune to all techniques and make every evil flee upon reaching the grandmaster realm.

And this was no empty claim. Heavenly Masters truly had cultivated to that realm and accomplished it.

Ranked alongside the Golden Light Incantation, it would have been strange if the Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation and Body-Purification Divine Incantation lacked such effects.

However, after his excitement subsided, Jiang Xuan discovered that although the Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation and Body-Purification Divine Incantation were powerful, they were not without flaws.

Or rather, this was not a flaw of the divine incantations, but of Jiang Xuan himself.

"My two great divine spells are only at Realm 1, Beginner, right now. Completely expelling the turbid qi fused into my flesh and marrow will be no easy task. In fact, it may not be something Realm 1 divine incantations can accomplish at all."

"Also, the duration of my divine incantations is currently too short."

One incense stick's worth of time—only fifteen minutes. Jiang Xuan had barely completed three rounds of breathing cultivation when every incantation effect upon him dissipated.

Seeing this, Jiang Xuan felt neither disappointment nor frustration.

He merely rose calmly and cast the divine incantations once more.

He bowed to the earth, cleansed his body, hands, and mouth with water... As he performed these actions, his silent recitation never ceased.

At the same time, while doing all this, there was not the slightest impatience on his face.

Such steady emotions were not the lingering influence of Clarity of the Spirit Platform.

Rather, Jiang Xuan knew clearly in his heart that every recitation and casting was itself a form of cultivation for him.

[You cast the Body-Purification Divine Incantation once. You gained the "Untouched by Dust" effect. Body-Purification Divine Incantation EXP +1.]

[You cast the Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation once. You gained the "Purification of Verbal Karma" effect. Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation EXP +1.]

[...]

The higher the divine incantation's level, the better its effect. And every cast added 1 to his divine incantation experience. Such a positive cycle naturally would not make Jiang Xuan find it troublesome.

He would only think that he had not cast them enough times.

What was more, every recitation and casting also increased his Daoist Acolyte profession experience.

[You performed the duties of a Daoist Acolyte. Daoist Acolyte EXP +3. Current: 1/3 (7/300).]

The profession experience of the various professions in the Heavenly Firmament Spirit Realm was not gained by killing enemies, but by carrying out corresponding work.

For example, woodcutters gained experience by chopping firewood, chefs by cooking, and swordsmen by cultivating sword techniques. As for Daoist Acolytes, they merely needed to perform the work a Daoist Acolyte ought to do in order to gain experience.

Reciting Daoist scriptures, sweeping floors in a Daoist temple, sprinkling water, wiping offering tables and divine statues, lighting lamps, burning incense, receiving visitors... every single one of these could become cultivation experience for a Daoist Acolyte.

However, Jiang Xuan also knew that only low-tier professions had such simple methods of gaining experience.

Once one advanced into a high-tier profession, the threshold for gaining experience would rise with the tide.

A Daoist Acolyte could gain experience simply by sweeping the courtyard, but once he became an official Daoist priest, he would need to perform rites to deliver souls and calm spirits, ward off disasters and resolve misfortune, before he could gain professional growth.

Yet that was still far in the future, so Jiang Xuan did not dwell on it.

Once again covering his entire body with the blessings of the three great divine incantations, Jiang Xuan returned to his meditation cushion, closed his eyes, entered meditation, and resumed his breathing cultivation.

"Breathe in, breathe out..."

With each long breath, turbid qi seeped out of his body in wisps, while more and more spiritual qi of heaven and earth was drawn into him and refined into pure mana.

Because the mana he refined was pure and flawless, its effect when used to nurture his apertures far surpassed that of ordinary days.

Before long, the third aperture he had opened at midnight was fully nurtured and capable of storing mana.

With the aperture complete, Jiang Xuan did not pause in the slightest. He immediately focused his mind and gathered his thoughts, beginning to search for the next aperture hidden within his body.

Since he had cultivated for only a short while and both the Mouth-Purification Divine Incantation and Body-Purification Divine Incantation remained at Realm 1, Jiang Xuan had expelled little turbid qi.

Yet his clear Spirit Platform still allowed Jiang Xuan to find the fourth aperture faster than before.

It was a point of light visible only to his soul. At this moment, the light was still vague and insubstantial, but as Jiang Xuan guided the pure mana throughout his body to flow endlessly into that glimmer, the illusory point of light gradually became solid.

"Bzzzt—!"