Equipment and [Refining Essence into Qi]

[Compound Bow Archery (Beginner, 10/100)]

When it was time for the transaction, Wang An sent out his Avatar, who disguised himself and headed to the meeting place.

By the time the Avatar arrived, the other party and the third-party lawyer were already there.

Without any wasted words, the Avatar took out a carefully wrapped, fist-sized meteorite bearing mysterious patterns.

The buyer was a young man who looked to be in his twenties, and he seemed like a rich second-generation heir.

At the sight of the meteorite, his expression went from anticipation to wild delight, and he reached for the one in the Avatar's hand.

But today the Avatar was a big, burly man with a knife scar on his face, looking vicious and difficult to provoke.

He promptly dodged the man's hand.

He got up to leave, saying, "What's the meaning of this? If you're not serious about the deal, don't come."

The man seemed to realize something and immediately apologized in an anxious voice.

"Sir, I'm sorry. I got a little carried away.

My name is Su Lianyun. Please forgive my rudeness. I came here in good faith. May I ask how to address you?"

Only after Su Lianyun's apology did the Avatar sit down again.

"My surname is Li," he said.

By then, Su Lianyun had also calmed down.

"Boss Li, I can transfer the money right now. I'll add another 200,000 yuan as an apology."

The Avatar's expression softened a little, and he said,

"From the look of you, Mr. Su, you know where these meteorites came from, so don't blame me for being careful.

I can let you take a close look to see whether it's real, but you can't get too close or touch it."

With that, he put the meteorite on the table, and Su Lianyun began examining it closely again.

He even took out a magnifying glass and inspected it from every angle, utterly fascinated by the patterns on the meteorite.

Once Su Lianyun had finished checking it, he spoke to the lawyer beside him, who had remained silent all this time.

"Lawyer Chen, I've confirmed it's what I wanted. You can transfer the money now."

After receiving confirmation, Lawyer Chen took out a dedicated transfer device that was not connected to the internet.

Su Lianyun had prepared it specifically to avoid leaving too many traces through a conventional bank transfer.

He first checked the bank account the Avatar had provided beforehand on an anonymous note, then carefully began the transfer.

It was a Swiss bank account Wang An had opened using an overseas identity purchased on the dark web.

A few minutes passed, and the transfer device gave a faint notification chime.

Wang An's phone received a notification, and an anonymous alert popped up on the screen: 3.2 million yuan had been credited to the account.

The Avatar pretended to have received a message, then stood up and shook hands with Su Lianyun.

"Boss Su, a pleasure doing business with you," he said.

Only then did Su Lianyun draw his attention away from the meteorite and hurriedly say,

"Boss Li, if you have any more meteorites like this, come straight to me. We can always discuss the price."

The Avatar gave no response and walked out of the transaction venue.

After taking a roundabout route, he returned directly to the space from a secluded spot.

Wang An's original body used the overseas identity to hire a money launderer on the dark web to launder the money and return it to him safely.

Next, he had to plan how to use it.

First was the registered capital for starting a company. He needed to set aside one million yuan.

Second was the purchase of high-end recurve bow equipment.

He had previously offered rewards for information about nearby meteorite landing sites, and several were near Changnan. With a compound bow in hand, he could go take a look.

He also asked Coach Chen which high-end compound bows were suitable for hunting.

Coach Chen said several were suitable: the Hoyt Ventum Pro 33, the Hoyt Carbon RX-8 (carbon-fiber riser, exceptionally lightweight), and the Hoyt Z1S.

It was known for its rugged reliability, all-around performance, and surging power. Its parallel-limb design provided outstanding stability.

The riser was extremely rigid, with precise pointing and fierce arrow speed. It was the obvious choice for hunters seeking ultimate reliability, high arrow speed, and powerful penetration.

Wang An chose a high-performance setup based on the Ventum Pro 33.

Including the accessory system and bow-tuning service, the estimated total came to around 24,500 yuan.

As the saying went, there was no need to trouble two people with one task, so Wang An asked Coach Chen to order the setup for him.

Coach Chen readily agreed and said it would arrive in a few days.

Wang An sent 10,000 yuan as a deposit and another 1,000 yuan to thank Coach Chen for his trouble.

That made Coach Chen even more enthusiastic.

After all, few people bought high-end compound bows. He also asked whether Wang An wanted any other equipment or arrows.

Since money was no longer a problem, Wang An told Coach Chen directly to help him buy enough equipment for a hunting trip.

That was another 10,000-yuan order.

Over the next few days, Wang An spent his days taking several classes at the archery club and practicing archery for a few hours.

After returning, he practiced boxing techniques and qigong in the afternoon, then cultivated Mindfulness Meditation and experimented with Daoist cultivation methods at night.

Three days passed, and he finally worked through every technique in the [Refining Essence into Qi] stage.

It began with qi activity arising spontaneously during [Producing the Elixir], followed by the fully developed work of refining oneself during [Gathering the Elixir]. Then came the [circulation] of the meridian cycle, opening the Ren and Du meridians, and finally [Warm Nourishment] over a gentle flame, entering the true realm of "Embryonic Breathing."

That was the entire process of [Refining Essence into Qi], from the birth of qi to refinement, followed by circulation through the cycle and a return to Warm Nourishment.

After one last check confirmed there were no mistakes, the original body began cultivating.

Although he was somewhat slow at first because he was being so careful, once he succeeded, his body and mind felt as though bathed in a spring breeze.

When he saw the clear feedback on the panel, he felt it had all been worthwhile.

[Name: Wang An

Essence: 1.29

Qi: 1.13

Spirit: 2.11

Talent: Avatar

Occupation: Intelligent life-form, student, martial artist

Skills: Basic Taijiquan (Proficient, 250/1000), Health Qigong Baduanjin (Proficient, 100/1000), Mindfulness Meditation (Proficient, 50/1000) [Refining Essence into Qi, Beginner, 1/100] [Compound Bow Archery (Beginner, 40/100)]]

Because [Refining Essence into Qi] was primarily a technique for cultivating essence and qi, and could nourish the mind and spirit with true qi, its effect was not as good as on the first two.

And after completing just one minor heavenly cycle, his essence and qi had each increased by 0.01.

A beginner cultivating this technique needed to enter a deep state of stillness and could only practice for four hours a day.

That was roughly four minor heavenly cycles, or 0.04 a day. It really was a big step faster.

But there were still the levels of [Proficient], [Mastery], and [Great Accomplishment] ahead.

Once he reached [Proficient], he would no longer need to enter a deep state of stillness at night.

After [Mastery], he would enter an even greater state of non-action, where "true qi circulates of itself, gathered without gathering."

The elixir would be gathered and circulated through the heavenly cycle automatically, but he would still need to enter stillness for Warm Nourishment.

Finally, at [Great Accomplishment], he would quietly guard the dantian with "not one thought arising, not one intent dispersing."

He would enter a completely automatic state of cultivation, no longer limited by time or place.

Wang An continued circulating his qi through minor heavenly cycles until the noise outside gradually grew louder, then stopped.