Qi Ingestion

Jiang Xiaoyu did not cry. She even waved goodbye to Elder Luo and comforted Liu Zhijian instead. "Grandpa was a little old and a little tired. It was time he had a good sleep."

It was clear at once that Elder Luo had said those words to comfort Jiang Xiaoyu.

"Children shouldn't talk like grown-ups." Liu Zhijian looked at Jiang Xiaoyu, who was still smiling without a care, and shook his head. "There are some things you don't understand. You'll only understand when you grow up."

"That's not true!" Jiang Xiaoyu protested and began to explain her reasoning with a solemn expression.

In Jiang Xiaoyu's hometown, there was a peculiar custom called the Death-Waiting Cave.

Once the elderly grew too old to work, they would move into an earthen cave and wait for death, so they would not burden their children.

Jiang Xiaoyu had seen her own grandparents move into a Death-Waiting Cave and had even helped seal it with earth.

Now that Elder Luo was gone, it was much the same as moving into a Death-Waiting Cave.

Liu Zhijian was somewhat surprised to hear this.

He had not expected Jiang Xiaoyu to have witnessed life and death at such a young age.

"I underestimated you." Liu Zhijian stroked Jiang Xiaoyu's head and said softly, "There's no one else here. If you want to cry, let it out. I promise I won't laugh at you."

"I don't want to." Jiang Xiaoyu huffed and skipped away. "Grandpa said I should be a carefree little fish and live happily every day!"

When Deng Gang received the news, he hurried back specially.

Elder Luo had said beforehand that he wanted no grave or stele.

So Liu Zhijian took Deng Gang to the bank of the White Dragon River, where each poured out a cup of wine in tribute.

Compared to his last visit, Deng Gang was much more composed. A fearsome presence seemed to be gathering around him, and his every gesture carried an authority that needed no anger.

Inside the thatched hut, the two sat facing each other in silence.

Liu Zhijian spoke first, asking about the situation in the Huang Kingdom.

A faint smile appeared on Deng Gang's face as he gave a casual account.

The situation was now excellent.

One could even say the outcome was already decided.

The towns of the mortal world surrendered at the mere rumor of his approach.

The attendant cultivators of the Huang Kingdom's royal Chu Household had either fled far away or switched sides.

In just three months, Deng Gang's rebel army had taken three commanderies.

Liu Zhijian was happy for Deng Gang and brought out wine to celebrate.

Deng Gang stopped after only a few cups. Unlike before, he did not drink to excess, nor did he invite Liu Zhijian to come down the mountain again.

"Brother Liu..." Deng Gang glanced at Liu Zhijian and said, brimming with confidence, "You once said that Mortal World Turbid Qi would disturb one's Dao heart and hinder cultivation. But look at me now. My wish has been fulfilled, my thoughts flow freely, and my cultivation is advancing a thousand miles a day."

"I've already reached the Middle Stage of Qi Refining!"

"Once I unite the Huang Kingdom... I should break through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining."

"With the Azure Cloud Sect's medicinal pills to help me, I can hope to reach Perfected Qi Refining in another ten years and attempt Foundation Establishment!"

Liu Zhijian's expression remained calm. He nodded and said, "I've only read a few Daoist scriptures, and I'm not yet a cultivator. If I've made a fool of myself, please forgive me, Brother Deng."

"Read a few Daoist scriptures..." Deng Gang held his wine cup and savored the words. He gave a laugh and said, "I invited you down the mountain again and again, Brother Liu, but you always refused."

"Now it's clear that you're a sect cultivator with an inheritance. It's only natural that you'd look down on a rogue cultivator like me, rolling about in the dust of the mortal world."

Liu Zhijian was taken aback and was about to explain.

"There's no need to say more."

Deng Gang set down his cup, rose, and fixed his eyes on Liu Zhijian. "To tell you the truth, Brother Liu, I am an orphan of the Deng Kingdom's royal family, a White Dragon Bloodline Descendant. My ancestors included great sect cultivators and even an Immortal Alliance deacon!"

"If we truly compared backgrounds, mine would be little worse than yours!"

"I only hate the Supreme Mystery Demon Sect. To provide a home for a devil's relatives, they slaughtered my entire Deng Clan and seized my kingdom."

"Once I reach Perfected Qi Refining, I'll fight my way up Supreme Mystery Mountain and demand justice for my ancestors. I'll have my revenge and wash away this grudge!"

With that, he turned and left.

Liu Zhijian said nothing and could only watch Deng Gang walk away.

Within the Huang Kingdom, the only sects known to the public were Supreme Mystery Mountain and the Azure Cloud Sect.

Deng Gang had married a daughter of the Azure Cloud Sect master's lineage, so he was naturally well informed.

It went without saying which sect Liu Zhijian belonged to.

Still, there had been some friendship between the two. Neither had exposed the matter before, and they had still been able to drink and talk happily together.

After today, that would probably be difficult.

"The mortal world really does disturb my Dao heart."

Liu Zhijian slowly rose, picked up his fishing rod and fish basket, and went down to the river to fish.

In the blink of an eye, winter arrived.

The bitter wind cut to the bone.

Even Jiang Xiaoyu had lost her usual sprightliness. She no longer went down the mountain to play, but stayed indoors by the stove, amusing herself.

Liu Zhijian had already opened his meridians and was not afraid of the cold.

During the day, he stayed in the thatched hut and played with Jiang Xiaoyu.

At night, after Jiang Xiaoyu went to sleep, he went down to the river to gather Qi.

The night was deep, and neither stars nor moon could be seen.

The river, too, seemed subdued by the winter chill. Gone was its former mighty, rushing force; only a dark blue-black ribbon could faintly be seen winding eastward.

Mountains stood on both banks, layer upon layer of dark silhouettes.

In the winter night, they resembled ferocious Devil Creatures, ready to spring up and devour people at any moment.

Liu Zhijian cast his line and waited quietly, his whole being already at one with the cold winter night.

At midnight, snowflakes began to drift down.

"It's snowing..." Liu Zhijian raised his head, something stirring in his heart.

He had a straw rain cape and bamboo hat to shield him from wind and rain, and happened to be aboard a battered old boat by the river. He truly fit the lines, "An old man in a straw cape and hat, alone in a boat, fishes the snowy, frigid river."

The snow fell heavily.

In just one hour, heaven and earth were a vast expanse of white.

Splash.

Liu Zhijian gently lifted his rod and put a small, fine-scaled fish into the basket.

"Though there's no bright moon sinking into the river tonight, and by rights I shouldn't be able to gather Clear Qi Above the River..."

"Snow is drifting over ten thousand miles, making heaven and earth limpid and clear."

"The image of heaven and earth in such pure whiteness surpasses that of the bright moon in the water by far."

Liu Zhijian had read many Daoist scriptures and had a deep understanding of the imagery of Kan Water. In the Unseen, he had an intuition.

This was the moment to ingest Qi and enter the Dao!

Liu Zhijian had read in the Daoist scriptures that such moments of sudden insight, when a cultivator resonated with heaven and earth, were especially precious. Once missed, they were hard to encounter again.

He did not hesitate. He lifted the fish basket and looked inside.

The basket was packed full of small, fine-scaled fish.

"Since Master said I have a Kan Water Manifestation, there should naturally be no obstacle to ingesting Clear Qi Above the River and entering the Dao this time."

Liu Zhijian reached toward the fish basket.

The small, fine-scaled fish inside seemed to sense something and leaped into the air one after another.

Splash.

Water seemed to ripple faintly over Liu Zhijian's body.

The small, fine-scaled fish did not fall to the ground. Instead, they swam upstream along the illusory ripples on Liu Zhijian's arm.

The sound of water grew louder and louder, until he could no longer tell whether it was his imagination or the river rushing beneath his feet.

A moment later, countless small, fine-scaled fish surrounded Liu Zhijian, circling and swimming about him joyfully. When their tail fins cut through the void, they actually left real ripples behind.

Liu Zhijian recalled the method of Qi Ingestion, closed his eyes, and guided the Clear Qi Above the River into his meridians.

The small, fine-scaled fish swam along his meridians.

At every acupoint they passed, they turned into wisps of exceedingly cool Clear Qi Above the River and flowed into it.

Along the Conception Vessel, the coolness rose straight from his perineum to his Dantian.

Then it traveled along the Governing Vessel, climbing his spine vertebra by vertebra until it reached the crown of his head.

After one complete cycle, it finally converged in his sea of Qi and became a Heaven and Earth Root that connected him to Spiritual Qi.

Boom.

It was as though a window had opened above his head, letting in the light of a bright moon and the touch of a gentle breeze.

Liu Zhijian opened his eyes.

The snow had stopped.

The sky had cleared as well.

A bright moon really was hanging directly overhead.

"From this day forward, I am no longer a mortal, but a Kan Water cultivator, Liu Zhijian."