The beginning of cultivation · Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment

After confirming that the rhythm of breathing could indeed affect life primordial Qi, Li Boyang soon discovered another problem.

His own circumstances were so unusual that he could not serve as a normal reference model at all.

Even setting aside the effects of Ruifu's curse.

Before his birth, Li Boyang had absorbed enough "innate Qi" that his physical development and potential far surpassed those of ordinary humans.

Through the heavenly eye between his brows, the surging life primordial Qi inside Li Boyang's body appeared as hot and vigorous as a furnace fire.

By contrast, Big Girl had spent years enduring hunger.

The life primordial Qi inside her was so weak that it resembled a tiny flame that might go out at any moment.

Li Boyang needed only to make a simple adjustment to his breathing to clearly notice changes in the flow of life primordial Qi.

Yet that same breathing rhythm only made the flow of life primordial Qi inside Big Girl even weaker.

With no other choice, Li Boyang could only use Big Girl herself as the model, guiding her step by step as he taught her to regulate the life primordial Qi inside her.

He began with eating.

She had to eat her fill and eat well, without stuffing herself out of greed.

In this process, Xiluo's contribution was the most obvious.

The meat from wild mountain beasts and the medicinal herbs gave Big Girl, who was still growing, the best possible nutritional replenishment.

Next, Li Boyang made targeted changes to Big Girl's daily routine and behavior.

For children who loved to play by nature, this was undoubtedly the most challenging part.

Fortunately, Li Boyang had his carrot-and-stick training method.

After passing through the initial stage, the life primordial Qi inside Big Girl soon underwent a qualitative transformation.

While learning the second version of the "Exercise-Type Life Primordial Qi Regulation Breathing Method," Big Girl truly experienced the sensation of life primordial Qi flowing inside her for the first time.

At last, she could clearly sense that steadily growing life primordial Qi without Li Boyang's guidance and reminders.

Big Girl was delighted about this for nearly half a month.

Once she could sense the flow of life primordial Qi, what followed fell naturally into place.

Drawing on his previous life's theories of meridians and the Dao of Alchemy, along with his own ample experience.

Li Boyang taught Big Girl to confine that flowing life primordial Qi within her meridians instead of letting it dissipate uselessly outside her body.

Of course, it was not that Li Boyang did not want to accomplish everything in one step and have Big Girl channel her life primordial Qi directly into her dantian.

Rather, Li Boyang had discovered to his astonishment that not everyone was born with unobstructed meridians like him.

Every human body inevitably had flaws and ailments.

These flaws and ailments affected how freely the meridians flowed-where there was free flow, there was no pain; where there was pain, there was no free flow.

This was a very simple piece of common knowledge in traditional Chinese medicine, and it held true in this world as well.

Thus, to open up the channels inside Big Girl that had become obstructed for various reasons.

Li Boyang brought exercise, dietary supplementation, restorative treatments, and other methods into play, tailoring a regimen specifically for her that used movement to alter her breathing rhythm.

This process took roughly a year.

Only then did Big Girl's life primordial Qi finally flow smoothly enough to barely form the most basic circulation cycle.

From then on, even without Li Boyang's help, Big Girl could convert her body's Qi and blood into life primordial Qi, then channel it through her meridian system into her dantian.

From that same day onward, Big Girl also gradually began to reveal a side of herself that differed from ordinary people.

Unobstructed meridians meant immunity to all illnesses.

Once as thin as firewood and sickly, Big Girl grew stronger at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The various meats and medicinal herbs Big Girl ate were also converted into nourishment for her growth with extremely high efficiency.

Running all over the mountains with Li Boyang on her back became Big Girl's daily routine during that period.

When wild beasts in the mountains encountered Big Girl during that time.

Never mind preying on her-they were lucky if she did not catch them and give them a thorough beating.

Cunning as a fox, swift as a leopard, fierce as a tiger, powerful as an ox, savage as a bear...

This was Big Girl after completing the first stage of cultivation-a "Qi refiner" who could already skillfully confine life primordial Qi within her body.

"I call this refining essence into Qi, and this stage is called hundred-day foundation establishment."

"Born divine beings like us have abundant innate primordial Qi, so we skipped this stage at birth."

"But if ordinary people like Big Girl want to reach our level..."

"They have to revert to root, return to origin, transforming their acquired bodies back into innate bodies."

Decisively filtering out the terms in Li Boyang's words that she could not understand, Xiluo understood "refining essence into Qi" in her own way.

"Simply put, you made someone into a divine ability user after birth."

"Although this divine ability user doesn't possess any innate divine abilities, her physique has indeed reached the level of a spirit creature."

Xiluo had only just finished muttering when she suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Wait, that wasn't what I asked just now, was it?"

"This girl's physique surpassed spirit creatures long ago. She's even almost on par with me now?"

Ordinary spirit creatures might be considerably stronger than wild beasts.

But they certainly could not climb and leap, scale roofs and walls, and treat cliffs as nothing the way Big Girl did.

"So that's what I added to the seventh version of the breathing method-how to use life primordial Qi correctly."

Li Boyang bobbed his head smugly. This was something new he had suddenly thought of during a flash of inspiration.

"Confining life primordial Qi within the meridians can indeed subtly strengthen your body, and even make you age less readily than ordinary people."

"But those are ultimately just passive effects, not an active use of that life primordial Qi."

"Big Girl isn't like you and me, favored by heaven and earth, with primordial Qi that actively responds to our thoughts and ideas, allowing us to uncover innate divine abilities unique to ourselves..."

"So how exactly should she actively use that life primordial Qi?"

After a brief pause, Li Boyang looked at the contemplative Xiluo and continued explaining.

"The answer is to consciously and actively control the flow of life primordial Qi..."

"Then let that life primordial Qi break free of the meridians' confines and return to the flesh."

"Life primordial Qi comes from flesh and blood in the first place. It's the product of purifying the power of Qi and blood."

"So actively circulating life primordial Qi through the flesh to take over the functions of Qi and blood can naturally increase physical strength and self-healing speed by a great deal."

"Not only that, while the life primordial Qi is flowing, a special effect similar to Body-Protecting Gang Qi also forms over the surface of Big Girl's body."

As Li Boyang spoke, he raised his hand.

Invisible Body-Protecting Sword Qi spread over his palm, displaying a sharpness capable of cleaving steel and severing iron.

"Although that Body-Protecting Gang Qi isn't as domineering or sharp as Body-Protecting Sword Qi..."

"It can ensure that even if she falls from a sheer cliff, she won't immediately be killed by the fall."

"For you and me, this is merely an instinct we were born with."

"But for Big Girl, it's a skill she can only learn through arduous training."