Essence-Gathering Spirit-Storage Formation

Li Yu remembered that Hanging Moon Peak, where he lived, was also part of Jiang Taiyi's legacy. Oh no, he thought.

He lowered his head and pretended to admire the food, taking a taste of the Golden Crow Fried Rice. It felt like strong liquor burning down his throat, followed by scorching heat throughout his body and sweat beading on his forehead.

Even with all sorts of spirit vegetables to temper it, the Golden Crow Rice's potent yang nature was still rather harsh.

"This spirit rice tastes nothing special. It was ripened artificially, after all. Apart from the ambitious ones, most members of the Rizhao Hao Clan don't like eating it." As Yuan Hao spoke, he stole another glance at the proprietress.

Golden Crow Fried Rice had been invented by a member of the Hao royal family who wanted to help his mediocre son awaken his bloodline. He had tried all sorts of methods to temper the spirit rice's Pure Yang Purple Qi so that his son could eat it.

Over the Hao Clan's tens of thousands of years of history, there had indeed been isolated cases of ancestral bloodlines awakening through acquired influences, but Golden Crow Spirit Rice certainly had not been the main factor.

Thus, many descendants of the Rizhao Hao Clan would rather enjoy themselves than eat this Golden Crow Spirit Rice.

After one mouthful, Li Yu felt heat spreading from his stomach throughout his body. He quietly put down his chopsticks, called over the woman in the colorful skirt, and pointed at the Golden Crow Fried Rice. "Please pack this up for me. I'll take it home and savor it slowly."

Yuan Hao froze at those words, then burst into laughter a moment later. "You're quite an interesting lad. A pity you belong to Jiang Taiyi's lineage. Otherwise, I'd really like to show you a great road leading straight to the heavens."

Li Yu smiled and raised his wine cup toward Yuan Hao. "Thank you for treating me today, Deacon Yuan. If I get the chance someday, I'll treat you to a drink."

By the time he finished his cup, the woman in the colorful skirt had packed up the fried rice. Li Yu took it, rose, and left.

Watching Li Yu walk out of Setting Sun Terrace, Yuan Hao narrowed his eyes, seemingly pondering something. After a long while, a cold smile crept onto his lips.

After returning to his courtyard, Li Yu sat on a meditation cushion and circulated the Purple Glow Art, refining the heat that was running wild inside him.

Faint streaks of purple light lit up across his body, flickering in and out as though a purple lamp were flashing in the room. This was a sign that the tempered and softened Pure Yang Purple Qi was merging into Li Yu's body. Fortunately, the restrictions screened everything off, keeping all signs of activity from escaping.

A cup of tea's time later, Li Yu opened his eyes, a hint of excitement on his face.

Still, he restrained his excitement, ate the remaining Golden Crow Fried Rice mouthful by mouthful, and circulated the Purple Glow Art again.

It was nearly dawn by the time he finished the entire bowl.

Li Yu stood, walked to the window, and stretched. Pale purple lines traced his skin, only to fade away immediately.

"To think this Golden Crow Spirit Rice could let me start cultivating the Violet Collateral Sky Meridians ahead of time." Li Yu examined his body internally with Taiyi Starshine and murmured to himself.

The Violet Collateral Sky Meridians were a stage of cultivation in the Purple Glow Art that came after Foundation Establishment. They required refining vast quantities of Great Sun Ascendant Purple Qi to strengthen the meridians. Once completed, he could draw in Great Sun Purple Qi and refine it into his body at any time, so long as the sun was shining.

Completing the Violet Collateral Sky Meridians also meant advancing the Purple Glow Art to the Integration realm.

Yet now, thanks to Golden Crow Spirit Rice, Li Yu had jumped ahead to this step.

All he could say was that, although Mountain Sea was the countryside, it still had a few local spiritual specialties. Li Yu felt more and more certain that coming to the Zhao Kingdom had been the right move.

This place was simply perfect for cultivating the Purple Glow Art.

He opened the window and faced the newborn glow of dawn, refining Great Sun Ascendant Purple Qi.

Diligence was his greatest strength.

The Pure Yang Purple Qi in Golden Crow Spirit Rice could be used to cultivate the Violet Collateral Sky Meridians, but not to refine his heart's blood. The creator of the cultivation art had designed it that way: during Qi Refinement, only Great Sun Ascendant Purple Qi could be used to condense blood essence. Presumably, this was to prevent cultivators from having a sudden flash of inspiration and drawing in Great Sun Purple Qi directly to speed up their progress.

Still, Li Yu felt he could ask Su Wen for advice and see whether he could help modify the Purple Glow Art.

Even if he completed the Violet Collateral Sky Meridians, most of their benefits would only materialize in the future. For him right now, the most important thing was still to advance his realm and reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.

After finishing his morning cultivation, Li Yu immediately descended into the Purple Origin Palace with his spiritual sense.

After class, Su Wen listened to Li Yu's question and proposed a way to have the best of both worlds. "Keep cultivating your Violet Collateral Sky Meridians. As for Great Sun Ascendant Purple Qi, I'll teach you an Essence-Gathering Spirit-Storage Formation so you can cultivate whenever you please."

Su Wen revised the material he was about to present on the electronic screen behind him.

Essence-Gathering Spirit-Storage Formations ranged from tier one to tier nine and were among the basic formations taught universally in the Galactic Federation. Their two main functions were gathering and storing spiritual energy. Many planets without spiritual energy could acquire spiritual veins, improve their environments, and nurture living beings after this formation was embedded in their planetary cores and left to gather the free-floating energy of the universe for a thousand years.

Li Yu did not need anything so advanced. Learning the simplest tier-one version would suffice.

Once a tier-one Essence-Gathering Spirit-Storage Formation was set up, it could automatically identify the spiritual energy specified by its creator, draw it in from every direction, and store it within the formation.

For instance, if Li Yu set up the formation where he lived, cultivating the Purple Glow Art inside it would not only give him access to more concentrated Great Sun Ascendant Purple Qi, but also allow any unrefined purple qi to remain within the formation indefinitely instead of dispersing into the world as it had before.

That way, Li Yu could cultivate the Purple Glow Art whenever he wanted, since he would no longer lack purple qi.

However, even this very simple Essence-Gathering Spirit-Storage Formation was still somewhat beyond Li Yu, who had no foundation in formations.

As a professional teacher, Su Wen did not get angry. Instead, he patiently adjusted the elementary-school textbook material, starting with the fourth-grade introductory formation course and explaining the most basic units of formations to Li Yu one by one.

In truth, Li Yu's comprehension was not as poor as he had imagined. After three days of study, he successfully set up his first Essence-Gathering Spirit-Storage Formation in the practical formation classroom.

Su Wen inspected the somewhat crude Essence-Gathering Spirit-Storage Formation. Although he could see dozens of areas for improvement, at least its two main functions worked properly. It was usable.

"Only three days from a complete beginner to a successful practical application. That counts as excellent aptitude." Su Wen gave an objective assessment.

Li Yu was delighted to hear it.

However, setting up the formation required an object to serve as its focal point-the core to which the purple qi would attach and gather. Li Yu listed everything he had on him, and after looking it over, Su Wen pointed at a small earth-yellow sword.