I'll Walk at the Front

Boom! Chen Du felt a faint ringing in his ears. The ten Essence Platforms he had visualized were now blazing Essence Fires, burning like actual flames. He could even sense them steadily burning away certain impurities.

He had succeeded!

He had actually succeeded on his first try, and his ten Essence Platforms had proved no harder to ignite than his cat's eight!

He had been prepared for the worst, ready to keep coming to the mountain over a long period. He had even thought of an excuse, and an easy one at that: he could simply say he was contemplating the workings of heaven and earth in the mountains. It was perfectly reasonable.

Was it because the spiritual energy on this mountain was so abundant?

Or was it because he had seen spiritual energy so early?

Chen Du thought the latter was also quite possible-

Since there was such a thing as talent for cultivation, and talent was closely tied to one's ability to sense spiritual energy, it was likely also closely tied to how early one could sense it.

The greater one's talent, the sooner one could sense spiritual energy, even when it was thin. That was perfectly reasonable.

As for the thousand-odd false Essence Platforms, Chen Du guessed that either his method had been wrong or they had been brought about by the Earth Sage seal. The seal had a mysterious connection to this mountain and this Daoist temple. Perhaps what he had seen was the mountain's essence, or the essence of generations of ancestors.

He knew too little to analyze it, so he could only set it aside for now.

At this point, Chen Du could already refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and gather it into a sea.

According to Yunzhi, once the Essence Fire was lit, it would burn away foul energy and impurities even without qi refinement. Ordinary evil energy, yin energy, ghost energy, and foul energy would be burned away as soon as they entered the body. At that stage, as long as one was bold enough, one could tear apart certain lesser ghosts and spirits with one's bare hands without learning any spells.

Viruses would likewise have a hard time entering the body.

Here, "virus" should be understood as two separate things: illness and poison. She had said that cultivators in ancient times could swallow arsenic and bring it back up without harm. Alchemists, too, had been able to take pills laced with lead and mercury because they had lit their Essence Fires. Anyone who had not lit an Essence Fire would be poisoned by such things, even a martial artist with multiple Essence Platforms.

At the same time, Chen Du could feel his blood qi receding and some of his strength fading, though his mind remained clear and vigorous. No wonder those accomplished Daoist cultivators of ancient times had always been so radiant and physically robust.

"Let's try refining qi!"

Chen Du concentrated, and at once the sky was full of spiritual energy.

The bad news was that the qi-refining method Yunzhi had taught Side-Swept Bangs was founded on a monster's innate instinct to absorb and draw in energy, making it unsuitable for humans.

The good news was that absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and drawing in the essence of the sun and moon was an instinct shared by all talented living beings in the world, though their abilities varied in strength.

Even ordinary beasts, birds, plants, and trees absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth unconsciously, though with extremely low efficiency. Still, in places rich in spiritual energy, they could accumulate its benefits over time and enjoy noticeable gains. Plants and trees grew more luxuriant, for example, while beasts and birds became smarter and stronger. Once they attained the Dao and became spirits, this ability would undergo a qualitative change. Thus, many spirits and monsters had no need to learn from the wisdom of their predecessors and could cultivate on instinct alone.

The same was true of exceptionally gifted people.

The wisdom of one's predecessors was precious, but if one kept tracing it back, there had to be a beginning. The earliest qi-refining cultivators had followed this same path.

Since Chen Du had lit his Essence Fire and understood the general principles, he could find his own way to refine qi, even without a teacher or an established method.

Otherwise, if he lit his Essence Fire but could not guide spiritual energy into it for refinement, he might as well have left it unlit. At least then, all his essence and energy would have gone toward his body. With ten Essence Platforms, he would have been a martial arts expert by any measure.

"Spiritual energy has only just begun to revive in this era. I haven't found any sign that anyone has gone ahead of me, and there's probably no one to teach me, either.

"Then I'll walk at the front."

A person cultivating the Dao had to possess a heart that sought the Dao.

Come to think of it, Chen Du's path was not all that difficult.

For one thing, although Yunzhi's problem differed from his, she had given him a solution process of sorts. All he had to do was find a process of his own.

For another, his talent seemed quite good. At this moment, the colors and radiance of the spiritual energy filling the sky, its flow and changes, and even its spiritual charm and mysteries were all perfectly clear to his eyes.

Finally, he had already lit his Essence Fire. According to Yunzhi, if he swallowed heavenly treasures now, his Essence Fire would automatically refine a portion of their spiritual energy into magic power. It amounted to bringing a large quantity of energy into his body by swallowing it.

Ordinary people could not possibly do this.

Heavenly treasures were simply too precious.

And he still had half a bamboo basket of them.

Chen Du held out a hand, a spiritual fruit already between his fingers.

Gulp!

He tipped back his head and swallowed it. The ten Essence Fires in his body immediately blazed up like oil sprayed onto a roaring fire, warming him all over.

It seemed to be a process of purification, like smelting iron from earth or melting gold from sand, but it also seemed to be a process of sorting, like picking rice from millet or tiles from stones. Impurities were burned away, and whatever was unsuitable was cast aside. What remained was not only purer spiritual energy, but spiritual energy that belonged to him alone.

All ten Essence Fires burned fiercely, refining it with ease.

"Huh?"

The spiritual energy that remained now shone in only five colors.

This seemed to be five-elements spiritual energy.

He did not know where the spiritual energy belonging to heaven and earth, yin and yang, and the seasons had been burned away to.

Over the past two days, Chen Du had also discovered that although he could see the various kinds of spiritual energy in heaven and earth, when he tried to draw energy in, he could only guide five-elements spiritual energy. This differed from what Yunzhi had said: "Whichever kind of spiritual energy you see most clearly is the one you're most talented with."

Perhaps her knowledge was insufficient, and she had been mistaken.

With her shallow knowledge, she was probably unable to explain these things either.

In any case, now he had not only someone else's solution process but the answer as well. Working backward to find the solution was easy.

Of course, this method was still simple and primitive.

"No matter how simple and primitive it is, a method is still a method. I can also say I have magic power of my own now. A few more days of study, and I'll have a cultivation method of my own too."

Chen Du remained in high spirits.

Having magic power of his own meant that he had become a cultivator; it was the first step toward transcending the mundane. A cultivation method, meanwhile, would give him a road forward and infinite possibilities. Even though he did not yet know how to control this bit of magic power and knew no spells, he inexplicably felt a little more assured.

When Chen Du opened his eyes, he found that many peach blossoms had fallen onto him.

His Daoist robe was plain, the peach blossoms lovely.

The sun had sunk far toward the west.

He rose, shook off the blossoms, and looked around. He seemed to be the only one left nearby. The plants and trees cast long shadows, and a bleakness rose between heaven and earth with the setting sun.

"Side-Swept Bangs!"

Chen Du called twice and looked around.

"Side-Swept Bangs!"

He heard no answer.

"This little thing...

"So unreliable!"

Chen Du muttered to himself and kept looking for his cat.

Only after he raised his voice and called twice more did he suddenly sense something, as if by some unseen connection.

He looked up just as a peach blossom drifted lazily down from above. At the place it had come from, right at the top of the ancient peach tree, was a large bird's nest. His cat was lying inside, silent, with only a dainty little head poking out as the cat stared down at him.

Even after hearing him call, the cat would not answer, only stared at him.

"What's wrong with you, little thing? What are you doing in someone else's bird's nest? And why didn't you make a sound when I called you?" Chen Du did not know whether to be angry or laugh. For the moment, he could not tell whether the cat had climbed up out of a cat's natural playfulness and love of heights, or had deliberately chosen the highest of high places to help him watch the surroundings. He could only wave the cat down. "Come down."

The cat neither moved nor spoke, still staring at him.

The cat's expression seemed rather serious, with a touch of anger in that seriousness.

"Come on, we're going home."

"..."

Could the cat have heard what he had just said?

Chen Du thought for a moment, then spoke again. "You're high up there. Pick me a peach blossom."

The cat continued to stare at him without moving, looking displeased.

It seemed the cat really had heard him.

"Haha, I was only teasing you just now. I've always known you're the most reliable." Chen Du spread his arms toward the tree. "Come on. When we get home, I'll boil you an egg yolk and mix it with some canned food. That fishy smell even a dog wouldn't eat, all warm and steaming-won't it make you swoon?"

Only then did the cat slowly climb out of the nest, shake all over, and take aim at him. After waiting for him to get into position to catch the cat, the cat jumped straight from the tree and landed neatly in his arms.

The cat was so light and soft that there was no impact at all.

"Let's go..."

Chen Du was in such a good mood that he even picked a flower off the ground, then leisurely descended South Mountain in the evening sun.

From now on, drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body and refining it would hardly cause any special disturbance, so he could do it in the Daoist temple as well.

But after he had taken only a few steps, the cat in his arms suddenly sensed something and turned to look at a spot down the mountain. The cat's pupils widened into circles, entering a mode that looked cute but was actually dangerous.

"What is it?"

Chen Du followed the cat's gaze, his eyes sharpening. He activated his spiritual vision and saw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth covering the mountains.

There was something unusual about one spot in that direction.

At the same time, he felt an odd sensation on his body, a tingling like a vibration.

At first, Chen Du thought someone was calling him, but when he felt for it, he discovered that the thing vibrating was actually the seal.

He picked up the seal and concentrated. Unlike when he had forced his way down the mountain that day, the black and white ink dots that formed the mountain's silhouette were not all trembling. But when he looked closely, he discovered that one inconspicuous black dot was jumping wildly.

Suddenly, he heard a flap-

The cat, who had been staring down the mountain, immediately stretched out a neck. Chen Du, too, instinctively looked toward the sound.

The evening haze lay heavy in that direction, and a great flock of birds took flight, as though startled by something. Leaving aside the strangeness of it, they made a rare and beautiful sight beneath the setting sun.