After Vice Minister Pei and the officials of the Incense Affairs Bureau left, Li Ling was in a fine mood. He was still smiling broadly when he returned to the inner courtyard.
"Husband, what are you smiling about?" the Ninth Princess asked curiously.
"I was thinking that Vice Minister Pei really is a talented man," Li Ling said generously. "He must be what the immortal masters often call a useful person. When immortal sects rule mortal kingdoms, they never distinguish between loyalty and treachery, good and evil. They only care whether someone is useful."
The Ninth Princess asked for the details. Learning that Vice Minister Pei had actually pleased Li Ling with his broad knowledge and remarkable memory, she smiled with pursed lips. "Then you certainly have a discerning eye for pearls, husband. There are countless learned people in this world, but only by meeting a patron who appreciates them as you do can they have a chance to soar to success."
"That's true," Li Ling said. "Unfortunately, it shouldn't have to be this way."
"Why do you say that?" the Ninth Princess asked.
Li Ling shook his head. He had no intention of spoiling his own fun by discussing such a profound yet tedious topic with his wife. "Enough of that. An idea struck me today, and I'm planning to devise a way to help you cultivate cloud fiend. I'll have a surprise for you in a few days."
Sure enough, this immediately caught the Ninth Princess's attention. "Help me cultivate cloud fiend? Heaven have mercy, I received the method at the beginning of the month, but I still haven't achieved anything with it. What sort of method is this?"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," Li Ling said. "You'll find out when the time comes."
"You're such a tease, husband," the Ninth Princess said reproachfully. "You know how impatient I am, yet you still toy with me. Come on, tell me."
Li Ling smiled and talked about everything but that, deliberately refusing to answer so he could tease her a little.
Three days later, inside the Fragrant Incense Pavilion, Li Ling weighed incense ingredients on a small balance made of gold.
What he was pouring from the silver spoon in his hand was a costly aromatic that had been ground into a black powder.
Unable to contain her curiosity, the Ninth Princess had spent the past few days hovering around him whenever she was not cultivating. At this sight, she could not help asking, "Husband, what is that?"
Holding a weight with tweezers, Li Ling explained, "This is ambergris, also called dragon belly incense. There are many accounts of where it comes from, but it's actually produced by sperm whales."
"The smoke produced by burning it can float in the air, gathering without dispersing. You can even divide it into strands with scissors. People say it retains something of the power that creates mirage towers and terraces."
"Since ancient times, there have been records of fishermen collecting ambergris in coastal regions. The white variety resembles a decoction of white herbs, with an extremely fine, smooth texture. The black variety resembles flying squirrel droppings and has a glossy surface, but its scent is rather harsh. What I'm using now is black ambergris, which is slightly inferior in quality to the white variety."
Mirage towers were the legendary cities seen in mirages. Knowing nothing of refraction, the ancients attributed them to illusions formed by the breath of clam-like creatures known as mirage beasts.
In this world, however, there really were mirage beast spirits capable of such feats. Their innate divine abilities could create illusory scenes, conjuring vast expanses of towers, terraces, and city walls.
Li Ling intended to use this ingredient to formulate the new incense he needed, hoping that, like Spirit-Communing Incense, it would accord with the essence of the Dao and possess the wondrous ability to create cloud fiend.
"Why not use the white variety?" the Ninth Princess asked in confusion. "Didn't you just say black ambergris was slightly inferior?"
"Because I need it to produce smoke," Li Ling said. "The properties of the ingredients and the aromatic qualities they produce are what matter. Rarer and more expensive doesn't necessarily mean better."
At this point, he suddenly paused, then added meaningfully, "Everything born under heaven has its use. No single standard can necessarily measure it all."
The Ninth Princess nodded with only a hazy understanding, watching as Li Ling continued weighing a crystalline substance shaped like rock sugar. "And what is this?"
"These are borneol crystals made by steam-distilling the branches, leaves, or resin of the borneol tree, then recrystallizing the extract," Li Ling explained. "They're also called plum flakes or plum ice. If extracted from the leaves of blumea, they can be called aina flakes, but what I'm using now is the former."
Next came some slightly rough round discs, which he likewise ground up and poured into the pottery jar to mix.
"This is Flowing Conch Incense, a type of operculum incense," Li Ling explained. "Operculum incense is made from the lids collected from certain marine snails. Some accounts say the shells can also be used, but here I'm only using the lids beneath their bellies."
"These can be used to make incense too?" the Ninth Princess asked.
Then she saw Li Ling add another ingredient to the pottery jar. It appeared to be a plant oil.
This time, the Ninth Princess finally recognized what he was adding. "Is that storax oil?"
"Yes," Li Ling said. "It's also called emperor's balm or emperor's flowing oil. It's crudely prepared using an ancient method of bruising sweetgum bark and pressing out its aromatic resin. Sweet in taste and warm in nature, it can open the orifices and dispel phlegm, treating such conditions as unconsciousness from stroke, phlegm congestion and blocked breath, sudden pain in the chest or abdomen, and severe vomiting and diarrhea."
As he spoke, Li Ling blended these ingredients into a solid lump, held it beneath his nose, and gently wafted its scent toward himself with his hand.
Then he closed his eyes again, using his innate gift to visualize and sense the aromatic qualities after they manifested.
This seems right!
As expected, the ambergris needs to be black, not white, and the borneol crystals must come from borneol trees, not camphor trees. I also need to add flowing-snail operculum incense and storax oil to bind it all together...
He had worked out these fine details through individual trials, and the proportions of each ingredient required considerable care as well.
Delighted, Li Ling hurriedly recorded the formula with his homemade hard-tipped pen, then said to the Ninth Princess, "Let's go outside and light it to see how it works."
At first, the Ninth Princess did not quite understand, but once they went outside and lit the incense lump, she realized why they had done so.
The new incense had a harsh, intense scent. It was not particularly unpleasant, but its smoke was thick, spreading into a great mass in no time.
The smoke gathered without dispersing, actually forming a mushroom-shaped cloud that kept growing as the incense burned.
"Quick, try using your cultivation method," Li Ling said.
The Ninth Princess did as instructed. A short while later, she opened her eyes and exclaimed delightedly, "I can refine it!"
The mushroom-shaped cloud moved without any wind, beginning to respond to her thoughts as it shifted up, down, left, and right.
"I'm not using an object-moving technique. This is the actual Cloud Escape method!" the Ninth Princess pointed out. "But it still looks very thin. It isn't solid enough to stand on."
"Then use the method to compress it," Li Ling said.
"Mm," the Ninth Princess answered.
"In your opinion, how much can this smoke cloud improve the efficiency of cultivating Cloud Escape?" Li Ling asked.
The Ninth Princess considered for a moment. "I can't estimate the exact amount, but at least tenfold."
"That much?" Li Ling said. "Good. Then use this new incense to aid your cultivation and see whether it can carry someone in flight once you've condensed it sufficiently."
The Ninth Princess agreed with considerable interest. She immediately closed her eyes and began refining the newly produced smoke again.
Just then, an idea struck Li Ling. He activated his innate gift to visualize the scent and absorb the incense essence drifting from it.
The Ninth Princess showed no unusual reaction, seemingly unaffected.
Li Ling guessed that the smoke existed on the macroscopic, material level, while the incense essence existed on the spiritual level of the spirit body. The two occupied different dimensions.
Even so, Li Ling made more incense, preparing a suitable batch of cultivation supplies for himself and another for the Ninth Princess. Then they each began cultivating.
Now, his efficiency in absorbing incense essence seemed to have improved, a benefit brought by the explosive growth of his divine sense.
It seemed his earlier conjecture had been correct. As his Spiritual Consciousness and thoughts grew stronger, his efficiency in Soul Tempering by consuming incense would rise as well.
What delighted Li Ling even more was that the incense essence of this entirely new incense was quite distinctive. The efficiency of converting a single strand into cloud fiend was indeed remarkably high. By his own estimate, it was over a hundred times the usual rate!
My cultivation aptitude is actually far better than Qing Si's?
Or perhaps it's because my perception is more sensitive, allowing me to distinguish and absorb incense essence accurately. Never mind. I can study that later. First, I'll strengthen my Cloud Escape.
That night, Li Ling once again underwent Soul Departure and activated the Cloud Escape method for a trial. The immediate improvement left him astonished.
My speed has increased by nearly fifty percent!
Previously, he could fly over seventy li in an hour. Now he could cover over a hundred, with his limit probably reaching a hundred and twenty li.
That was sixty kilometers per hour, the maximum speed of a swift mortal horse!
This incense really is useful. I'll call it Cloud-Producing Incense.
The cloud fiend condensed through it is something entirely unprecedented. Perhaps I can call it mirage cloud.
After reaching an expanse of wilderness, Li Ling thought about his purpose in creating this incense. Apart from converting its smoke into cloud fiend to improve the efficiency of cultivating Cloud Escape, he also intended to draw upon demonic arts to condense tangible incense baleful force, thereby gaining the power of divine manifestation.
He had lofty ambitions. He wanted to create his own divine abilities and spells, finding a path suited to himself.
This was not recklessness. Ever since he had abandoned spirit roots and spiritual energy to embark on the path of consuming incense for Soul Tempering, he had had no choice but to take this risk.
The path he would walk was an Incense Path that no one in this world had ever traveled. There were no ready-made cultivation arts, no experiences left by predecessors. Thus, whether immortal or demonic, orthodox or heretical, he had to study every kind of approach and method. Only then would he have hope of advancing.
Li Ling recalled the general outline of the Three Treasures Demon-Refining Art and the principles of the Baleful Refining Chapter he had worked through over the past few days. Combining them with the knowledge of souls provided by the Old Ancestor, he began attempting visualization and spirit preservation without copying everything wholesale.
This time, he was putting one thing to multiple uses, squeezing every last bit of value from Cloud-Producing Incense.
The smoke this incense produced could be condensed into cloud fiend, helping Skycloud Sect disciples like the Ninth Princess cultivate Cloud Escape;
Its incense essence could be converted into cloud fiend usable in Spirit Body form, enhancing the power of Cloud Escape.
Beyond these, another major use likewise depended on his innate gift and incense essence.
That was condensing tangible incense baleful force to cultivate divine manifestation techniques usable in Spirit Body form!
When great cultivators use soul projection, their spirit bodies aren't as frail as mine. They possess magical power, so even in spirit-body form, they can use most of their divine abilities and spells, as well as magical treasures.
I lack metal among the five elements, so I can't refine five-element spiritual energy and establish a balance among them. My cultivation realm is low, too, and even the strength of my divine sense amounts to less than three taels... Apart from my pure spirit body being of a higher order than ordinary yin spirits and difficult for others to detect, I have almost no other advantages.
This situation must not continue forever. I have to cultivate supernatural abilities.
What Li Ling sought this time was a genuine medium through which spirit could affect matter, acting upon the macroscopic world like telekinesis.
Li Ling had proposed the concept of incense baleful force based on his innate gift, which seemed to be an incense spirit root. He had also drawn inspiration from the Gang Baleful Energy of five-element spiritual energy and the two energies of yin and yang.
He could visualize scents and make their aromatic qualities manifest. In theory, he could refine fragrance into Gang Baleful Energy just as other cultivators refined five-element spiritual energy.
Once he accumulated enough to reach a certain threshold, his spirit would transform and convert into magical power. That would be the Foundation Establishment realm.
The result did not disappoint him. His divine sense struggled to move matter, but moving the incense essence condensed from these scents was effortless. Before long, it began flowing in gentle streams.
Amid an indescribable transformation, it felt as though a torrent enveloped his entire body.
Rumble!
Thunder seemed to roll through the void. His spirit body instantly swelled, as though his whole person had grown a size larger.
Fierce winds spilled outward, and the energies of yin and yang circulated around him like a layer of invisible flame.
Not far ahead, wild beasts seemed to flee in alarm from the trees, while the surrounding birds flapped their wings and flew away.
Li Ling paid them no heed. With a movement of his thoughts, white light appeared from nowhere and struck the dirt with a bang.
It was clearly faster than his flight and far stronger than his physical body, punching a shallow, fist-sized pit into the ground.
It was like... like an object weighing two taels slamming into it with brutal force!
Li Ling froze for a moment, then exclaimed joyfully, "It really worked!"
Methods by which spirit affected the material world were collectively called divine manifestation. These included transformations such as yin spirits taking shape and moving objects with divine sense, but generally, those two were excluded because they were merely the most basic aspects.
At the very least, one had to refine Gang Baleful Energy and condense a tangible form for it to count as divine manifestation in the true sense.
So-called qi refining involves yin and yang giving rise to one another, and transformations between the intangible and the tangible.
Yang made tangible becomes gang; yin made tangible becomes baleful force. Five-element spiritual energy has yin and yang, Gang Baleful Energy, so fragrance should naturally have them too.
And the soul is inherently yin. What I can refine most easily now is precisely incense baleful force. This approach really was correct.
Li Ling then examined himself and discovered that his spirit body seemed to be glowing. Its texture was entirely different from before.
Successfully refining Gang Baleful Energy means becoming tangible. Even without using visual deceptions, invisibility spells, or similar methods, ordinary beings can now detect my existence with Spiritual Consciousness or even the naked eye.
But in return, my field of vision has now multiplied, and I have more sensory awareness.
This enhancement extended in every direction. It was as though his spirit body had donned a shell, acquiring a yin body like those of yin spirits, ghosts, and spirit deities.
Though it isn't a physical body, it has form.
That was Li Ling's most immediate impression.
In essence, this was a transformation of the spirit. The transformation of Gang Baleful Energy was actually a transformation of yin and yang, one that could lead to Foundation Establishment.
Li Ling felt quite excited, not only because he had successfully refined baleful force, but also because he had found the right path.
He did not actually lack the conditions needed for cultivation. It was simply that the path of refining qi through a spirit root had been completely blocked, leaving him utterly helpless.
Once he blazed a new trail and found a way to cultivate, his current wealth, status, and various advantages could quickly be converted into useful resources.
Before long, Li Ling calmed down and returned to the intangible state of a pure spirit body.
This was another experience altogether. The incense baleful force throughout his body dispersed, and his form scattered like smoke.
I should practice more and learn to transform at will as soon as possible.
If I can master this power, I could even possess might comparable to a magical artifact. Combined with my advantage of being able to project my soul like a great cultivator while still in the mortal realm, I'll be unstoppable wherever I go!
Promotion starts today, so please give me your support. Favorites, recommendations, reading lists, comments, and tips are all welcome-just do what you can afford.