Had he not wanted to obtain a cultivation method as soon as possible and send it back to Great Xia, Lu Chenxing would never have performed for others like a monkey.
He rolled over and nimbly crawled toward a nearby bookshelf.
Lu Xuanqing's eyes lit up at the sight.
He really could crawl!
A baby only two and a half months old...
To prove that what he had seen and said was true, Lu Yunzhao reached the bookshelf first, took out a book, and laid it open on the floor.
Lu Chenxing crawled closer and looked, both startled and delighted.
"Basic Qi Refining Instruction."
This was a cultivation method!
Lu Chenxing's eyes shone, and he immediately began reading from the first line, word by word, sentence by sentence.
His engrossed expression clearly showed that he understood it.
"Father, look! He really is reading. A baby of two and a half months can actually recognize words. I suspect he's..."
Lu Xuanqing raised a hand to stop him from saying more.
With a grave expression, he walked behind Lu Chenxing, picked him up, and placed him on the desk.
Then he placed an inkstone before him.
He spoke solemnly.
"Since you have no intention of concealing yourself, Senior, you can use your hand as a brush so we can communicate in writing."
Lu Chenxing froze. The other man had called him Senior; he must have misunderstood something.
But he did not correct him.
He simply pressed his hand against the inkstone, coating it in ink, then began writing on the paper. The strokes were crooked and hideous, an eyesore.
Yet anyone who read them could make out their meaning.
"I need a cultivation method!"
Those six characters confirmed something in Lu Xuanqing's and Lu Yunzhao's minds: within this tiny body, there might be a mysterious and powerful soul.
Even with Lu Xuanqing's experience as a cultivator, he was at something of a loss as to how to handle the situation.
He could not help swallowing.
He sank into thought.
During this pause, Lu Chenxing moved again.
Once more, he laboriously wrote five large characters.
"Lu Household, Lu Chenxing!"
After reading those characters, Lu Xuanqing and Lu Yunzhao exchanged a glance, their anxious hearts suddenly settling considerably.
The former, in particular, looked at Lu Chenxing again with a burning gaze.
"Yunzhao, you must not reveal anything unusual about Chenxing to anyone, including the person who shares your bed."
"He'll stay here. You should go back for now."
"If anyone refuses to let the matter rest, say that his extraordinary constitution earned my regard, so I'm keeping him by my side to forge his immortal foundation with heavenly materials and earthly treasures from infancy. Understood?"
Lu Yunzhao nodded firmly. "Rest assured, Father. I understand the stakes. I'll take my leave!"
After sending his son away, Lu Xuanqing looked again at the five characters on the desk, still shaken inwardly.
Lu Household, Lu Chenxing.
As he raised his head, their gazes met.
He felt as though he saw a powerful soul looking down upon him from on high.
Meanwhile, seeing events unfold exactly as he had expected, Lu Chenxing was very pleased as well.
He was already growing impatient.
He pointed at the six characters he had written first.
Lu Xuanqing immediately understood. With a gesture, he drew the Basic Qi Refining Instruction from the floor and placed it before Lu Chenxing.
Lu Chenxing rested his little hand on the cultivation method and closed his eyes.
With a thought, he willed it.
A vast map unfolded.
It was Great Xia Country on Blue Star.
Where should I send the cultivation method?
Lu Chenxing had been considering this question ever since his birth.
If he casually dropped the cultivation method among the populace, it might ultimately cause chaos.
Since the system could feed back the cultivation gains of every cultivator in Great Xia, ushering in a stable, harmonious era of cultivation was undoubtedly the best solution.
Therefore.
This Basic Qi Refining Instruction should be handed over to the nation.
The nation would take the lead in ushering in the era of cultivation.
Consume one opportunity to deploy the cultivation method "Basic Qi Refining Instruction"?
Lu Chenxing willed it with a thought.
The transmission channel opened.
The Basic Qi Refining Instruction on the desk vanished outright.
Lu Xuanqing's eyes widened. Looking at his tiny grandson, he found him all the more mysterious and powerful.
A mighty cultivator reincarnated.
If I can build a good relationship with him while he's still weak...
Perhaps one day I might reach Foundation Establishment, or even pursue higher realms.
Lu Household, Lu Chenxing.
Those five characters were a pill of reassurance Lu Chenxing had given Lu Xuanqing.
At the same time.
Blue Star, Great Xia.
Jinghua City.
Ji Chang'an was attending to routine affairs when the space before him suddenly rippled, and an antiquated book dropped onto his desk.
Startled, he sprang to his feet, his body taut.
Shock appeared on his face.
He shouted toward the door.
"Level-one alert!"
A shrill alarm rang out.
The four guards constantly stationed at the door immediately entered the room and surrounded Ji Chang'an, raising the truth in their hands as they watched every direction warily.
Then a large number of additional guards arrived.
Upon hearing the alarm, the other Great Xia officials of various ranks in the building also grew tense.
A level-one alert.
This was the first time it had ever happened.
What happened?
Ji Chang'an swiftly evacuated under the guards' protection, running into the other senior leaders of Great Xia hurrying toward him.
"Old Ji, what happened?"
"A book suddenly dropped onto my desk out of thin air."
Everyone was rather bewildered.
Onto the desk.
A book suddenly dropped out of thin air?
What did that mean?
"We shouldn't linger here. Let's get to the safe room first!"
Beneath this building, Great Xia had spent enormous sums to construct an extremely well-concealed super safe room.
Its purpose was to evacuate and protect important figures at the first sign of an emergency.
Escorted by the guards, Ji Chang'an and Great Xia's core leaders reached the safe room's central control room, their gazes all fixed on the large screen directly ahead.
It showed a live feed from outside.
Inside his office.
A fully equipped Great Xia soldier in a top-grade bomb disposal suit slowly approached the desk.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, he picked up the book.
The large characters on its cover came into view.
"Basic Qi Refining Instruction?"
What was this thing?
Doubts rose in the leaders' minds. Ji Chang'an's voice rang out, transmitted to the scene in real time through the communications equipment.
"Open it and take a look!"
The book was opened.
The contents of the first page appeared before everyone.
"Stand relaxed and naturally still, head upright, Baihui suspended; draw in the chest and extend the back, lower the elbows and sink the shoulders; plant the feet firmly upon the earth, and the breath will settle of its own accord..."
Hmm?
Was it really just a book?
"Keep turning!"
The second page.
"Inhale fresh breath through the nose, gently exhale the body's turbidity; let the breath be deep, long, even, and fine, continuous as though barely there; keep the intent within the Dantian, return the spirit to the depths of the sea of Qi..."
The third page.
"As myriad thoughts gradually settle into stillness, the spirit's inner sanctum grows clear; between attending and not attending, enter the great void unawares; within and without unite in primordial oneness, and True Qi flows of its own accord..."
The fourth page.
"Qi returns to warm the Dantian, the spirit gathers and the Purple Mansion clears; rub the hands and bathe the face, let Qi and Blood settle throughout the body; slowly leave the realm of stillness, and the steps grow lighter still..."
Great Xia's senior leaders were dumbfounded.
It really was just a book. Judging by its contents, it resembled a Daoist qigong cultivation method.
"Old Ji, this book..."
Ji Chang'an recalled what had happened as he spoke. "I was reading a report when this book suddenly appeared directly in front of me, about twenty centimeters above the desk, then dropped..."
Something that fantastical?
"Could supernatural forces really exist in this world?"
"We must take a scientific approach to everything."
"Basic Qi Refining Instruction... could this be a cultivation method for attaining immortality?"
Cultivating to attain immortality?
What a joke.
Those were nothing but legends dreamed up by ordinary people.
They were absolutely not to be believed.
"Old Ji, did you really know nothing about this book beforehand?"
Anger appeared on Ji Chang'an's face at those words.
What was that supposed to mean?
Was he suggesting I'd gone senile, put the book on the desk myself, then forgotten and raised a false alarm?
"If surveillance cameras weren't prohibited in confidential areas, I'd slap you hard across the face with the evidence!" Ji Chang'an said, then issued an order that left everyone speechless.
"Immediately requisition everyone within Great Xia versed in traditional Chinese studies, Daoism, and martial arts, as well as unconventional folk experts who have deeply studied immortal cultivation and Qi refining, and experts in history, literature, and all related fields, to jointly study this Basic Qi Refining Instruction."
This order left many people puzzled as well.
The origins of this book had not yet been established.
Was it really worth making such a mountain out of a molehill?
"Old Ji, you don't actually believe this book can let people cultivate to immortality, do you?"
Ji Chang'an had originally been a staunch materialist.
Talk of supernatural forces had never held any sway with him.
But he had witnessed this book appear out of thin air right before his eyes.
He could not help wavering inwardly.
After all, technology could not produce that phenomenon.
Scientific theory could not explain it.
Their only option was to study the book itself. They had to get to the bottom of it and understand, or they would never have peace of mind.
With the machinery of the nation set in motion, a group of experts soon assembled in a room within the building.
They had all been taken away under the pretext of carrying out a national-level secret mission.
Only upon reaching their destination did they learn that they were there to study a book.
To verify the truth of its contents.
"Basic Qi Refining Instruction?"
"Those five characters look very familiar. I think I've seen them in plenty of cultivation novels."
"Could this be a cultivation method for attaining immortality?"
"The nation went to such lengths to gather us here. There must be something extraordinary about this book."
"Why don't we try cultivating according to its instructions first?"
"What if we suffer Qi Deviation?"
"Wouldn't that indirectly prove this Cultivation Method is real?"
"Good point."
The safe house, central control room.
"Reporting, Chief! Ten thousand troops are in position, awaiting your orders!"
Ji Chang'an had deployed troops to ensure safety.
What had happened was far too bizarre.
He had no choice but to mend the roof before the rain came.
Far away in another world, Lu Chenxing had no idea that his first delivery of supplies by teleportation had caused an enormous sensation.
After teleporting the Cultivation Method, "Basic Qi Refining Instruction," he began quietly waiting for cultivation feedback.
Bored in the meantime, he called Lu Xuanqing over to fetch him books from the shelf to read.
Lu Xuanqing did as asked, then stared at him with a strange look for quite a while before finally settling his mind and going off to cultivate.
Several more hours passed.
Lu Chenxing slapped his forehead in frustration.
From the common knowledge of the cultivation world recorded in the books, he discovered many things he had overlooked.
Cultivation required three conditions to be met: first, one had to possess a Spirit Root; second, there had to be Spiritual Qi around them; third, one had to possess a Cultivation Method.
A Cultivation Method was only one of them.
One also needed a Spirit Root, and the books contained descriptions of this.
A Spirit-Sensing Stone could test whether a mortal possessed a Spirit Root.
That meant Lu Chenxing had to teleport a Spirit-Sensing Stone back, or Great Xia would have no effective way to identify those with Spirit Roots, or the heaven's chosen among them.
As for Spiritual Qi.
"Is there Spiritual Qi on Blue Star?"