Genius

Above the clouds.

Yun Shang True Person piloted a flying boat, carrying Tang Yao through the sky and looking down upon heaven and earth, truly like an immortal.

At that moment, however, Yun Shang True Person was commenting on Tang Yao's conduct when she left.

"Yaoyao, you were born with a natural Dao body, and your future prospects are limitless. Bowing to a mortal-whatever your reason-well, fortune does exist in this world. Even if you meant no harm, he might not be able to bear it."

"A mortal..."

Hearing the woman's words, Tang Yao pondered briefly before saying, "From what I've seen of Mr. Qin... he doesn't seem ordinary."

A glimmer shone in her eyes. "I once heard Uncle Qing say that some reclusive masters love nothing better than hiding in bustling cities and roaming the mortal world at play. From the way Mr. Qin speaks, although he seems to have only a partial understanding of Spirit Refining, the descriptions of spells and insights into cultivation he occasionally reveals are exquisitely profound... could he be..."

"Impossible."

Yun Shang True Person declared outright, "Mortal cultivators struggle so hard to cultivate a single strand of Dharma Power that they treasure it like a jewel. They love shrouding things in mystery and playing at gods and ghosts. Over time, they learn to pontificate about anything, talking as though golden lotuses were springing from the ground."

She glanced at Tang Yao. "Only someone as innocent as you, with so little understanding of the true cultivation world, would take their crude tricks for the truth."

"I studied the basics of spellcraft with Uncle Qing for several years, too. I can tell the difference between someone blowing a mighty conch of empty boasts and a true master keeping his abilities hidden."

Tang Yao insisted, "Mr. Qin is different."

"What true master keeping his abilities hidden? I looked. That Mr. Qin of yours doesn't even possess a Dao body, and those without one have almost no chance of cultivating a Yin Spirit! Without a Yin Spirit, what right does he have to call himself a True Person?"

Yun Shang True Person spoke bluntly.

"No Dao body?"

Tang Yao froze slightly.

"That's right."

Yun Shang True Person nodded. "Besides, since our world was divided into four continents during the Ancient Sky-Collapse War, the passage of ages has sent the path of Spirit Refining on Nanzhan Continent into a precipitous decline. How could a place like this truly have any accomplished cultivators who have attained the Dao?"

She glanced at Tang Yao. "You're still young and have never seen how vast the real world is, how boundless heaven and earth are. Once you enter the sect and meet gifted cultivators from every corner of the world, you'll understand. The people of Great Shang should look upon you as fireflies gaze at the sun and moon, as mayflies behold the blue heavens."

Tang Yao felt unsettled by her words.

But she still firmly believed that Teacher Qin, who could speak of so many fundamental truths of all things, was no ordinary man.

One day, once she had cultivated to become a True Person, she would return to Great Shang and resolve the questions in her heart.

Qin Lian returned to his courtyard.

With that little "why" no longer blocking the doorway and asking about everything under the sun, he actually felt a little out of sorts.

Even though they had only spent two months together...

Shaking his head, Qin Lian quickly cast those stray thoughts aside.

The scene of Yun Shang True Person bringing out her flying boat, boarding it, and soaring away through the sky flashed through his mind again.

"Cultivation really does let you fly."

For a moment, he could hardly wait to bring the Rising Sun One-Qi Formula to perfection and complete the synthesis of [fire spirit Dao body].

Meanwhile, he set aside the Purple Cloud Art he had just brought back, and another manual appeared in his hands.

"Chi Xiao Treasure Canon · First Volume"

The Chunyang Patriarch possessed a pure yang Dao body, inclined toward the Fire Spirit Lineage, so the Pure Yang Sword Sect had no shortage of Spirit Refining methods of that lineage.

But throughout the Pure Yang Sword Sect's hundred-year history, only Chi Xiao True Person had attained the standing of a True Person through a fire spirit Dao body. Naturally, Qin Lian's first choice was that True Person's cultivation method.

"If I want to cultivate both spirit and qi, without using a secret method for Qi Refining into Spirit, the first step is Spirit Stabilization: subduing the distracting thoughts in my heart, stabilizing my consciousness, and then sensing the thoughts of my own soul..."

Since the pain in his meridians had yet to subside and he could not practice the Rising Sun One-Qi Formula anyway, he tried stabilizing his mind and thoughts.

He had thought that, in his current state, subduing his distracting thoughts and sensing his soul's thoughts in a short time would be no easy task, but...

The process went quite smoothly.

Dimly, after stabilizing his mind once and sensing his soul's thoughts, he seemed to have already grasped the key to further Spirit Stabilization, and soon completed a second attempt.

Then came the third, the fourth...

After spending most of the day familiarizing himself with the process, he could actually maintain a single instance of Spirit Stabilization for more than half an incense stick's worth of time.

"This speed!?"

Such progress astonished Qin Lian.

Could I be a Spirit Refining genius?

But he soon realized something.

This was the golden light's miraculous "Never Regress" property taking effect.

Body Refining and Qi Refining still operated on a "materialist" level. Even if he improved every moment he cultivated, he still had to obey the laws of physics.

But Spirit Refining...

That was the power of "idealism."

If, in his perception, he had reached a realm, then he naturally reached that realm.

As a result, "Never Regress" proved far more effective for Spirit Refining than for Body Refining or Qi Refining.

"Good! Good! Good! Sure enough, Never Regress is the golden light's most powerful miraculous property!"

Qin Lian's eyes brimmed with joy.

"Body Refining and Qi Refining are mere lesser paths. In a conventional immortal cultivation system, they would amount to innate experts and martial grandmasters. Even at their utmost limit, they would only be equivalent to the Qi Refining stage. Only Spirit Refining can take one further along the path of innate martial arts. Cultivating a Yang Spirit would be like advancing into Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and even higher realms!"

With this delight and confidence, Qin Lian swiftly immersed his mind in "Spirit Stabilization."

Early one morning, two days later.

Having completed another round of Rising Sun One-Qi Formula cultivation, Qin Lian suddenly felt his entire body grow scorching hot.

The True Qi within him seemed to turn into raging fire, blazing fiercely as though it would burn him to ashes.

He swiftly focused his mind and scanned...

Sure enough, he saw the corresponding information.

[Rising Sun One-Qi Formula perfected. One qi at the beginning; trace back to the source, recover what was lost and fill what was lacking. Traits activated-fire spirit Dao body (2/2), pure yang Dao body (2/5)]

This searing heat, like flames burning throughout his body, was a sign that his fire spirit Dao body was being forcibly activated.

Qin Lian endured the scorching heat that made his body feel as though it were being roasted through.

During this process, he even felt that his world and his perceptions were all undergoing changes.

Dimly, he seemed able to see red spiritual glimmers in the air and catch the warm currents wandering around his body.

That energy...

"Fire spirit power!"

Qin Lian came to a realization.

Without much hesitation, he swiftly employed the "cultivation method" within the Chi Xiao Treasure Canon, drawing in the surrounding fire spirit power before subduing it with his mind and thoughts.

This process...

Was naturally quite difficult.

But as he subdued the fire spirit power with his mind and thoughts, the fiercely burning force within him seemed to find an outlet, swiftly gathering and compressing before rushing straight toward the Niwan Palace between his brows...

Boom!

As those flames surged, Qin Lian felt as though the space between his brows had exploded, instantly filling with endless fire.

A good while passed...

The burning sensation, so fierce that it seemed about to incinerate his consciousness, gradually receded.

But where the Niwan Palace had originally been, there was now a warm force, united with his thoughts, seemingly ready to move at his will with a single thought.

This unusual phenomenon...

"I opened my Upper Origin Palace and cultivated Dharma Power!?"

The Niwan Palace!

The Upper Origin Palace!

The upper dantian!

They were all different names for the same place, the seat where Dharma Power gathered.

Only once the Upper Origin Palace was opened could a cultivator store Dharma Power.

And only after cultivating Dharma Power did one qualify to be called a cultivator or a Daoist.

Before that, they were merely cultivation enthusiasts, known for short as lay practitioners.

"Dharma Power..."

Qin Lian drew a deep breath. "Success in a single day. Is this the difference between having a Dao body and not having one?"

With a Dao body, cultivating Dharma Power seemed effortless.

Without a Dao body...

Not only did one have to risk Qi Refining into Spirit to condense Divine Sense first, but the process of opening the Upper Origin Palace and cultivating Dharma Power was fraught with countless difficulties, every step a struggle.

A single careless mistake could ruin everything at the final hurdle, or even cost one's life.

Many elders of the fifth or sixth grade, or even the third or fourth grade, in the Pure Yang Sword Sect were unwilling to embark on the path of Spirit Refining, cultivate Dharma Power, and pursue a longer life precisely because the success rate was too low.

They could have lived another ten or twenty years.

Once they attempted Qi Refining into Spirit and forcibly cultivated Dharma Power, one careless mistake...

Dying outright would be better.

If they ended up half-dead, with cerebral palsy or a stroke, reduced to a vegetative state, that would truly burden their descendants.

Filled with a sense of novelty, Qin Lian experienced the strand of Dharma Power circulating within his Upper Origin Palace...

Although ethereal and intangible, far less substantial and solid than True Qi, it responded like his own arm and fingers, turning at his will. Apart from consuming mental energy, it required almost no process of circulation.

Only after playing with it for quite a while did he rein in his mind, still wanting more.

"Although this world calls this path Spirit Refining, and Spirit-Refining True Persons seem somewhat disappointing in actual combat... still..."

He suppressed the upward curve of his lips. "At last, I've begun cultivating immortality."