Purple qi was precious and could only be gathered once a day.
Although Wang Quan had obtained two wisps at once, he could not bear to use them immediately.
He planned to save up more, then use the purple qi to refine his mana and increase its power once he had cultivated a strand of [bright moon mana].
At that moment, he checked his token.
Wu Yong still had not left a message.
As for Zhao Hongyi, she had left no message either.
He did not mind and instead cast a simple cleansing spell.
The spell needed only a wisp of mana to remove all the filth from his body, leaving him clean and refreshed-more thoroughly than bathing and washing ever could.
After cleaning himself, Wang Quan opened his token and checked the missions, intending to raise his status and access privileges.
When he looked at the missions, he froze.
He remembered that when he first arrived years ago, the missions had included strange tasks such as clearing mountains, tilling fields, and renting out his five viscera, six bowels, and seven orifices.
Now the missions listed had changed. Only five remained: clearing mountains, tilling fields, surveying earth veins, surveying water veins, and establishing estates.
"All five missions require a trip outside."
"That won't do!"
He did not even have a single strand of mana yet and could not bear to risk venturing outside.
But without completing sect missions, he could not raise his access privileges.
"Forget it. I won't raise my access privileges for now."
"I'll wait a while and cultivate some mana, especially those two lifesaving methods. There'll still be time to go out on missions afterward."
He had finally managed to work through ten thousand volumes of Dao scriptures and obtain the [First-Rank Dao Seal].
His strength could undergo a qualitative improvement every single day.
He was hardly willing to take risks now.
He did not seek absolute safety, only relative safety.
Since he did not need to do missions, Wang Quan once again focused his energy on the Dao scriptures.
He swiped his token and collected his free food.
A little later, he entered the Scripture Repository again and began studying the ten-thousand-and-first volume of Dao scriptures.
The new volume was noticeably less difficult. In just six to eight hours, he finished it.
At dusk, he made another set of eight moon phases, preparing to gather moonlight and cultivate mana.
This time, however, besides writing two lines of poetry on the eight moon phases to increase their power a little, he also drew a crater on them.
He had dimly perceived this crater while worshipping the moon the day before.
Drawing the crater would link these moon phases more closely to the moon and draw down more moonlight.
Everything was ready.
Night settled low, and a crescent moon hung above the treetops.
With a shift of his thoughts, Wang Quan released wisps of [bright moon mana] into the moon phases, then pointed a finger. "Rise!"
The eight moon phases soared into the night sky, hanging twenty to thirty meters above him.
He was about to recite the scripture when he suddenly felt his token tremble faintly.
He checked the token and found a message from Wu Yong:
"Wang Quan, I looked into it for you. The [White Bone Great Strength Demon God Method] suits you best."
"Just cultivate that as your foundational method!"
"Once you've cultivated a strand of white bone magic power, come find me. I'll ask Sister Hongyi to arrange a place for you on the team!"
Wang Quan frowned.
He disliked Wu Yong's condescending tone even more than he disliked the man choosing his foundational method for him in that tone.
Putting away his token, he began cultivating mana.
This time, the moment he began, he could see the eight moon phases giving off a hazy moonlight, then drawing down even more moonlight.
The moonlight descending that night resembled a ribbon of light, drifting gently down before Wang Quan.
He inhaled.
The moonlight entered his sea of consciousness and, under the scripture's influence, transformed into wisps of [bright moon mana].
That night, he again cultivated for ten hours.
But by the time he finished at dawn, he had accumulated a full three thousand wisps of [bright moon mana], three hundred more than the day before.
Before the purple qi appeared, he lit sandalwood incense and worshipped the moon.
Then he gathered purple qi.
With yesterday's experience, he found it even easier today.
The instant the purple qi appeared, he opened his mouth and swallowed it.
This time, he swallowed a full two wisps and two hundred threads of purple qi.
"The amount of purple qi I can swallow has increased again."
"Even the extra threads I get now exceed what Wu Yong and Qian Xiuyue gather between them."
"I just don't know how I compare to Zhao Hongyi."
Zhao Hongyi had begun cultivating earliest and had the most mana.
Still, he was confident he could surpass her.
One day...
Two days...
From the first time he cultivated mana, Wang Quan needed only four short days to gather ten thousand wisps, giving rise to his first strand of [bright moon mana].
When that first strand of mana was born:
Wang Quan's sea of consciousness churned.
His sole strand of [bright moon mana] rose like a pillar of light, soaring skyward.
At one end of the pillar, a surface resembling white jade formed.
The surface was small, only three feet across.
At the other end, a hazy blue canopy of light formed above the three-foot-wide white jade surface, like a tiny patch of sky.
Together, this ground and sky formed the Inner Landscape.
As the Inner Landscape took shape, Wang Quan's sea of consciousness churned, and one hundred and eight thousand thoughts fell into it, forming a Yin Spirit.
This Yin Spirit looked exactly like him, but it was insubstantial and unstable, as though it might shatter at any moment.
With a shift of Wang Quan's thoughts, a wisp of purple qi mana entered his Yin Spirit.
A moment later, the illusory Yin Spirit grew a little more solid.
Refining my mana can wait a few days!
Stabilizing my Yin Spirit first is the right way forward!
His thoughts stirred, and all the remaining three wisps and two hundred threads of purple qi mana entered his Yin Spirit.
His Yin Spirit grew even more stable.
One reason he was so eager to stabilize his Yin Spirit was that it could improve his memory and comprehension.
That would help him gain insights into the Dao scriptures.
Another reason was that the souls, Yang Spirit, Primordial Spirit, Dharma Form, Three Corpse Gods, Five Viscera and Six Bowels Gods, and so on that would arise later in [Nature Cultivation] could only be formed on the foundation of the Yin Spirit.
The sooner his Yin Spirit stabilized, the more it would benefit his future cultivation.
The final reason was:
He wanted to try sending his Yin Spirit roaming.
According to the Dao scriptures, the world seen by a roaming Yin Spirit in [Nature Cultivation] was quite different from the world ordinary people saw.
The stronger the Yin Spirit, the stranger the world it could see.
The Dao scriptures recorded that the world visible to the Yin Spirit had thirty-three layers, each with its own mysteries.
But the ten thousand volumes of Dao scriptures he had read contained only scattered references, with no detailed descriptions.
That was why he wanted to stabilize his Yin Spirit as soon as possible and see how those layers of the world differed.
His Inner Landscape had formed, his Yin Spirit had been born, and his first strand of mana had emerged.
Only now did Wang Quan truly count as a cultivator.
Although he was merely a [Life Cultivation] cultivator, from this moment onward, he was no longer an ordinary person.
With a shift of his thoughts, he left his Inner Landscape.
Wang Quan tucked away his token and went straight to register.
Registration was simple: he only needed to release a strand of mana.
Wang Quan released a strand of [bright moon mana]. It resembled a three-foot ribbon of silk, hazy blue and bright yellow.
After examining it, a Daoist nun with a ponytail made some changes to his token and smiled. "Congratulations. From now on, you're a true disciple of the Drowning Dao."
"Now, as long as you complete Foundation Establishment within the next twenty-seven years, you can stay in the Drowning Dao forever."
Wang Quan nodded, then had a thought. "Senior Sister, I can see that you're beautiful and kindhearted. May I ask you a question?"
The ponytailed Daoist nun chuckled and blinked. "This is the first time I've seen someone try to win me over like that!"
"Go on!"
Wang Quan coughed. "Senior Sister... my mana is weak. Is there any way to make money without leaving the lower courtyard?"
Seeing his handsome face and scholarly air, the ponytailed Daoist nun took quite a liking to him. "There's only one way to make big money, but plenty of ways to make a little."
"Which would you choose?"
Wang Quan blinked. "Senior Sister, I want both!"
"Greedy!" His senior sister rolled her eyes at him.
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