Qing Chen sat cross-legged on the stone bed in his cave abode, his fingers forming the hand seal for the Demon Seed Golden Lotus, sweat beading on his forehead.
The moment he activated the seal, a buzz rang through his mind, as though a stone hammer had smashed hard against the crown of his head.
With every blow, his consciousness swayed, and even the meditation cushion before him grew blurry.
He had picked up this cushion on Northern Mang Mountain, yet now it glimmered with a faint spiritual light.
Qing Chen clenched his teeth, biting his lips until they bore bloody marks.
Every time he tempered his soul, he felt as though his head would be smashed apart, and several times he wanted to stop:
If you won't even risk your life cultivating, what the hell are you cultivating immortality for? You might as well go home and farm, keep a few women, and have a whole brood of big, chubby boys.
He cursed himself inwardly, his fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged all the way from his wrists to his elbows.
The pain of the stone hammer striking his soul grew fiercer and fiercer, and he could not hold back a muffled groan.
As soon as two hours were up, Qing Chen collapsed onto the cushion with a thud, his chest still heaving violently, the pain in his head yet to fade.
Two hours was already his limit; any longer, and his soul might collapse.
In fact, those who had practiced this secret art before had all taken high-grade pills beforehand to protect their souls, then used the tempering method to lessen the pain.
Moreover, they had practiced for no more than one hour at a time.
At present, Qing Chen remained at the "soul tempering" stage, because the strength of his soul had yet to reach the middle Qi refining stage.
Only upon reaching the middle Qi Refining Stage could he attempt Demon Seed Condensation.
Generally speaking, an Early Qi Refining Stage cultivator's spiritual sense initially extended five or six zhang.
He did not know whether it was because he had transmigrated, but when Qing Chen tested it, he actually found that his spiritual sense extended ten zhang, approaching the soul strength of a Middle Qi Refining Stage cultivator.
After all, even a Middle Qi Refining Stage cultivator's spiritual sense only extended twelve zhang or more.
After practicing the Demon Seed Golden Lotus, Qing Chen would sit on the cushion he had obtained on Northern Mang Mountain and regulate his breathing for two hours.
The strange thing was this.
When Qing Chen meditated and regulated his breathing on this cushion, his soul recovered exceptionally quickly.
Without this cushion, Qing Chen would never have dared temper his soul for two hours straight.
Once he finished regulating his breathing, Qing Chen picked up the jade slip for the Brahma Demon-Refining Art again.
An earthenware jar stood in a corner of the cave abode, filled with demonic beast blood-the blood of a low-grade first-tier Ironspine Wolf, which had cost fifteen spirit stones.
He formed a hand seal, and the blood in the jar turned into a red thread, burrowing into his palm and flowing along his meridians toward his Brahma aperture and sea of qi.
Thanks to the strength of Qing Chen's soul, he could still meet the requirements for practicing the first level of the Brahma Demon-Refining Art, and thus successfully opened his first [Brahma aperture] within his soul.
An ordinary Early Qi Refining Stage cultivator probably would not have been able to practice it properly and would certainly have suffered damage to both soul and body.
Over time, their foundation would inevitably suffer grievous damage, and their life would be in jeopardy.
"Four hours at most. Any more, and I'll damage my foundation." Qing Chen broke off the hand seal and leaned against the stone wall, panting.
He felt the storage pouch tucked against his chest. There were not many spirit stones left inside.
Last month, he had sold the empty storage pouch he had picked up on Northern Mang Mountain for twenty-odd spirit stones, then spent them all on demonic beast blood and first-tier demonic beast corpses.
Generally speaking, the corpse of an ordinary Early Qi Refining Stage demonic beast—that is, an early first-tier demonic beast—was worth between a dozen or so and thirty spirit stones.
Compared with an ordinary Middle Qi Refining Stage rogue cultivator's annual income of fifty or sixty, or over a hundred spirit stones, Qing Chen could receive a stipend of around forty spirit stones a year from the sect alone.
Thus, the price of demonic beast corpses was not actually exorbitant.
All he needed were the corpses of low-grade first-tier demonic beasts with abundant blood vitality, to use in his cultivation.
For Qing Chen, who practiced the Brahma Demon-Refining Art, as long as he had demonic beast corpses or enemy corpses at the same cultivation level to refine, his rate of accumulating magical power was no slower than when taking pills.
These two fundamental cultivation arts occupied eight hours of Qing Chen's day,
Rain or shine, he never interrupted his practice.
Besides these, Qing Chen also diligently practiced some basic spells.
For instance, the market on Outer Disciple Peak was halfway up the mountain, and all the stallholders were outer disciples; some sold spiritual herbs, while others sold damaged magical artifacts.
Every time he went, he wrapped himself in a black cloak and wore a mask, barely concealing his aura with the secret art of the Demon Seed Golden Lotus.
He did not want anyone to know he was practicing the Brahma Demon-Refining Art, much less see him buying so many demonic beast corpses.
Besides his two main cultivation arts, Qing Chen also bought some jade slips containing basic spells at the outer sect market.
These included the Qi Concealment Spell, Fireball Spell, Heavenly Eye Spell, Wind Command Formula, Voice Transmission Spell, Earth Shield Spell, Object Control Spell, Water Arrow Spell, and so on...
He acquired every one of them; after all, his five elements spiritual root allowed him to practice them all.
In addition, he spent another three spirit stones to purchase a manual of the Sword Control Art, to study it and nurture the low-grade magical artifact bestowed by the sect.
"Who hasn't dreamed of being a sword immortal?" Qing Chen stroked the scabbard, feeling a little itch in his heart.
The days passed like this, one after another.
The osmanthus outside his cave abode bloomed three times and shed its blossoms three times, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Early that morning, Qing Chen changed into a gray robe washed so often it had faded white, then followed a group of disciples toward the General Affairs Hall.
As soon as he reached the hall entrance, he saw a middle-aged cultivator in gray robes standing on the steps, a "General Affairs" token hanging at his waist,
"Everyone, your three years are up. It's time to work for the sect. Completing missions earns contribution points, which you can exchange for spirit stones and pills, while also honing your abilities-two gains in one stroke. Come to the General Affairs Hall more often to take missions from now on. That's the proper path."
Qing Chen glanced around. There were actually forty or fifty disciples who had joined the sect at the same time as him.
The Condensed Jade Sect truly lived up to its reputation as a first-rate major Golden Core sect.
Some wore new gray robes, and others carried magical artifacts. It seemed quite a few had made progress over these three years.
As he looked, someone suddenly patted his shoulder. "Brother Qing! Brother Qing!"
Qing Chen turned and saw an honest-looking young man. It was Yue Ting, the disciple who had come from the Seven Kingdoms with his master back then.
Yue Ting grinned, revealing two small pointed canine teeth. "Brother Qing, I finally found you! I looked for you so many times over these three years, but never saw you. You're just like my master-someone who truly devotes himself to arduous cultivation!"
Qing Chen smiled faintly and nodded, but said nothing. He was not in the habit of talking much with fools.
Over these three years, he had hardly left his cave abode except to visit the market, and even when he went out, he disguised his appearance. Naturally, Yue Ting had been unable to find him.