Cultivation Technique Grades

Chen Qingxuan saw that some of the disciples below had already begun trying to copy down the two diagrams. "You don't need to memorize these two diagrams. You'll soon become familiar with what they contain."

"Today's lecture will be based on these two diagrams."

"Though the paths of cultivation may shift through a thousand transformations, at their root they consist of only two parts: gathering qi and circulating qi."

"Gathering qi means using one's spiritual roots as a medium to draw in spiritual qi from heaven and earth that matches one's attributes."

"After spiritual qi has been drawn into the body, it does not yet belong to you. Only through sufficient qi circulation can the qi you gather be put to your use."

"The spiritual qi of heaven and earth is like a proud, unruly steed. Gathering qi is the process of capturing it, while circulating qi is the process of taming it. Neither can be lacking."

"Circulating qi means making spiritual qi travel through the meridians within the body in Heavenly Cycles. With every completed Heavenly Cycle, the spiritual qi is tamed a little further."

"Our Azure Cloud Sect's foundational cultivation technique requires fifty-four Heavenly Cycles to make all the qi one gathers entirely one's own. Among the sects of Qionghua Continent, it can be considered a superior technique."

The disciples had assumed that, for his first lecture, the instructor might exchange a few pleasantries and introduce Azure Cloud Sect's glorious history, along with his own impressive accomplishments.

They had not expected him to get straight to the substance. One after another, they hurriedly began taking notes.

When he mentioned Azure Cloud Sect's foundational cultivation technique, a disciple asked, "May I ask, Martial Uncle, how does one distinguish between superior and inferior cultivation techniques?"

Chen Qingxuan smiled. "You need only look at the number of Heavenly Cycles they require."

"Techniques from different Dao lineages follow different paths in their Heavenly Cycle circulation, and their efficiency in circulating qi varies greatly as well."

"The worst techniques require eighty-one Heavenly Cycles before the gathered qi can entirely become one's own. Then come seventy-two, sixty-three, fifty-four, forty-five, thirty-six, twenty-seven, and eighteen."

"The most profound techniques need only nine Heavenly Cycles to transform qi into one's own. Their efficiency is nine times that of the lowest-grade techniques, and they can lay the deepest possible foundation."

"However, such divine-grade techniques do not exist anywhere in all of Qionghua Continent."

"The two Transformation God Palaces of Qionghua Continent are said to possess techniques requiring twenty-seven Heavenly Cycles. Our Azure Cloud Sect naturally cannot compare with those two great palaces, but among Golden Core Sects, we are already quite good."

Zhou Qing silently calculated and realized that the Cultivation World truly was a place where talent and inheritance determined everything.

A Cultivator with top-tier talent and top-tier inheritance could cultivate five or six hundred times faster than one with the lowest talent and inheritance.

In other words, one day of cultivation for the former could equal two years for the latter.

That did not even account for spirit stones, spirit veins, or the guidance of masters and seniors.

Once all of those were included, a single day of cultivation for the former might equal nearly ten years for the latter.

Thinking that several years of his own cultivation might amount to no more than a single day for a true genius, Zhou Qing felt much as he had in his previous life when he realized that a lifetime spent painstakingly saving money might not equal a real tycoon's pocket money for one day.

What was more, he might not even be able to cultivate.

Zhou Qing rallied himself and continued listening to Chen Qingxuan's lecture.

After introducing the broad principles of cultivation, Chen Qingxuan began explaining the specific method of gathering qi.

Every person's spiritual roots possessed the attributes of the five elements. As long as one kept one's mind calm, a Cultivator could sense the qi in heaven and earth that shared one's attributes. Then, by operating the sect's qi-gathering method, one could draw spiritual qi into the meridians.

Once qi gathering succeeded, the next step was the practice of circulating qi.

Zhou Qing could not help muttering inwardly.

According to Chen Qingxuan, he had no spiritual roots, so he likely could not even pass the stage of sensing qi. Even if that stage could be replaced by his magnetic-field perception, there was absolutely no way for him to draw qi into his meridians.

After Chen Qingxuan finished explaining how to sense qi and draw it in, he instructed the disciples to operate the method where they sat and attempt to gather qi.

The introductory stages of cultivation were exceedingly perilous. Gathering and circulating qi were like capturing and taming wild beasts; one could face a backlash from those beasts at any moment, and it had to be done under the watch of masters or elders.

This was the greatest difference between Cultivators with sects and Rogue Cultivators.

Every year, if the corpses of Cultivators who died while gathering and circulating qi were piled together, they would be enough to dam Great Qian's widest river.

Zhou Qing began operating the cultivation technique along with everyone else.

Though it seemed impossible in theory, perhaps practice might bring an unexpected delight.

Unless he tested it himself, he could never resign himself to giving up.

If he could be easily persuaded otherwise, he would never have stubbornly come to the Cultivation World.

Zhou Qing sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion, striving to calm his mind as he sensed the spiritual qi between heaven and earth.

After two quarters of an hour passed, he still had not gained the slightest result.

His magnetic-field perception could clearly detect the distinctive fluctuations of the surrounding spiritual qi. Some were searing like fire, some brimmed with vitality, and some were sharp enough to sting...

These different kinds of qi wrapped around his body.

Yet his body was like an insulator, incapable of producing any reaction with them.

There was no doubt about it. He could not sense qi through his own body, much less draw it into himself.

At last, Zhou Qing opened his eyes, somewhat disappointed.

This had been within his expectations. Though he could not avoid feeling dejected, it was not enough to make him lose all motivation.

It seemed he would have to try finding a method of cultivation that did not require spiritual roots.

It sounded like a fantasy from the heavens.

If creating one's own cultivation method were so easy, great sects would not have monopolized cultivation while Rogue Cultivators struggled desperately to survive.

For a mortal who knew absolutely nothing about cultivation, it was all the more difficult.

But he had his own strengths.

His magnetic ability could influence spiritual qi, giving him the means to conduct many experiments on it. Perhaps he could carve out a path of his own.

In any case, he had no other options left.

Zhou Qing swept away the dejection in his heart. He simply set aside the matter of operating the cultivation technique and focused on observing how the others did so, hoping to find something he could learn from.

He soon discovered that disciples born into Azure Cloud Sect, such as Wei Kuang, were not operating their cultivation techniques at all. Instead, they watched the others cultivate with great interest, occasionally pointing and commenting.

Many of them had long passed the stage of sensing spiritual qi. Some, like Wei Kuang, had even begun attempting to circulate qi.

Even those who had yet to sense spiritual qi already had some idea of how to do so, and they could seek guidance and protection from their seniors at any time. Thus, they did not care much about this opportunity during the lecture.

They were all watching the disciples from the mortal world make a spectacle of themselves.

The disciples from the mortal world had clearly sensed it as well, and many of them became unable to settle their minds.

Wei Xu, proud and arrogant as he was, was affected even more strongly than the rest.

He was determined to surpass Wei Kuang and become the Senior Apprentice.

He knew that he was already one step behind Wei Kuang in cultivation, so he was anxious to succeed in sensing spiritual qi. A trace of impatience had already taken root in his heart, and now, with the sound of Wei Kuang and the others whispering beside him, his mind grew even more restless.