Chapter 7

### Chapter 7: Initial Success in Qi Cultivation

The method to activate the jade slip is quite simple: just insert a first-grade spirit stone into the slot at the back of the jade slip. As the spirit stone is inserted, the jade slip emits a faint, mysterious light, gradually forming images and text in the air. Lin He spent three days reading and digesting the content of the two jade slips.

According to the jade slips, taming a spirit beast is not an easy task. First, you need to have the ability to catch a spirit beast in its juvenile stage. This process is fraught with danger because adult spirit beasts are not to be trifled with. Without reaching the Golden Core stage, one generally dares not entertain the idea of taming a spirit beast. It's not that adult spirit beasts are equivalent to the combat power of the Golden Core stage, but rather that spirit beasts come in various types—some live in groups, others are solitary. Their habitats are often desolate and filled with miasma. Moreover, in their early stages, spirit beasts have weak combat power and require a large amount of spirit elixirs to aid in their upbringing.

In most cases, only large sects or those extremely wealthy would consider taming a spirit beast.

Lin He glanced at the sleeping white tiger cub and thought that its habit of eating and sleeping was indeed a characteristic of a juvenile spirit beast. The sleeping white tiger cub looked endearing, always curled up in a defensive posture. Over the three days, the little thing had grown from the size of a thumb to the size of a fist while sleeping.

Clearly, some of the knowledge about spirit beasts in the two jade slips matched the white tiger cub, but not all. The biggest issue was that the white tiger cub had hatched, which fundamentally differed from the information in the jade slips, as spirit tigers are born through live birth.

What exactly is this thing? There was no clear answer yet, so Lin He decided to set this question aside for now and deal with it later. Over these three days, he had even stopped his twice-daily self-cultivation sessions to study the jade slips. In the end, he still couldn't figure out what it was and had to accept his misfortune, deciding to raise it for now.

It was time for the morning cultivation session. Despite being numb to the fact that he had made no progress in the past, Lin He still sat on the cushion, and his consciousness smoothly entered a state of emptiness. Unlike previous mornings, today's session did not involve the disappearance of spirit energy in the dantian. Instead, a warm, mixed energy sphere formed in the dantian. This discovery greatly surprised Lin He. Could it be that a turning point had finally arrived, and years of hard cultivation had finally paid off?

Spirit energy continued to flow into the dantian, and the mixed energy sphere grew larger. Lin He could clearly feel the mixed energy sphere burst out of the dantian and, guided by his consciousness, circulate through the eight extraordinary meridians. After thirty-six cycles, the mixed energy sphere returned to the dantian, transforming into a calm, stable energy sphere, like a well-trained soldier resting, ready to be called upon at any moment. As the energy sphere stabilized, Lin He felt a bone-deep pleasure, as if basking in the sun on a winter day or soaking in a hot spring on a cold night, feeling thoroughly refreshed.

Could this be a breakthrough? He glanced at the hourglass; only a short moment had passed in the hour-long morning session. Continue!

What followed was similar to what had happened before, but the mixed energy sphere circulated for more cycles. After seventy-two cycles, the mixed energy sphere returned to the dantian, and the feeling of thorough refreshment repeated. When Lin He opened his eyes again, the sky was already bright, and the mixed energy sphere in his dantian had doubled in size.

Leaving the cultivation room, Lin He looked into the distance, and everything around him was exceptionally clear. His vision, which had previously been limited to 200 meters, could now clearly see objects 500 meters away. Lin He finally confirmed that the history of fruitless cultivation was over. At this moment, he felt an overwhelming joy and couldn't help but kneel before the portrait of the old woman Wu Ma, whispering, "Wu Ma, you were right. As long as one persists and does not give up, success will come. Today, I have succeeded, advancing from the first level of Qi Cultivation to the third level."

After saying this, Lin He was taken aback. What was going on? Advancing two levels in one day? Cultivation has always been a gradual process; how could this happen? The reason Lin He didn't understand was simple: years of persistence, though without results, had repeatedly strengthened his dantian. The so-called cultivation at the Qi stage is the cultivation of the dantian, using mixed energy to repeatedly temper the dantian and meridians. Although his mixed energy sphere had not formed, the dantian and meridians' capacity to withstand energy was no less than that of his fellow cultivators.

He wouldn't understand this now, and for Lin He, it wasn't necessary to have a clear answer. Standing in the medicinal garden, he gazed at the various spirit herbs nearing their harvest period and, for the first time without any assistance, cast the third-level Spirit Rain spell.

Without the need for a spirit array, the surrounding spirit energy was attracted by the mixed energy sphere in his dantian. Lin He could feel the joy of the spirit energy as it gathered in groups, gradually forming rain clouds in the air, which then transformed into fine, hair-like droplets sprinkling across the sky. Each drop landed on his hair, face, and heart, like a joyful sprite, infecting Lin He's emotions one by one.

His mood was unprecedentedly elated, and Lin He, sitting on the ground, slowly floated up, dancing in the air with the fine, hair-like spirit rain.

At this moment, the onlooker, Pan Guan, was pale. Old Hao, who had often taken advantage of Lin He's low cultivation, now felt as if he had fallen into a ten-thousand-year ice cave. Each drop of spirit rain on his face felt like a slap from Lin He. The difficulty of performing the third-level Spirit Rain spell while floating in the air was something Old Hao could never achieve. This was the result of extremely pure mixed energy. Even at the third level of Qi Cultivation, the purity of mixed energy determined one's strength.

Without a doubt, although Lin He had just entered the third level of Qi Cultivation, he was already a strong cultivator at this level. After half an hour, the spirit rain finally stopped, and Lin He, swaying like a dandelion in the wind, slowly landed, completely unaware that he was about ten meters high, floating purely by his consciousness and instinct.

Opening his eyes, Lin He smiled contentedly. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the spirit herbs in the medicinal garden singing in the breeze, thanking him. If a Golden Core cultivator saw this, they would surely marvel: "To enter the realm of unity with heaven and earth at the third level of Qi Cultivation, this young man has a limitless future."

In the morning breeze, every blade of grass and every drop of dew on the plants were imbued with the breath of life. The wind sang, the plants danced, and the seeds in the ground struggled to grow. Everything was so clear, and he could feel it without opening his eyes. Uh, and there was a pair of envious eyes filled with fear.

I'm in a good mood today; what are a few spirit elixirs? Lin He stood up, laughed heartily, and threw the gourd. "You can only take five; if you take one more, you'll have to return all the ones you've taken before." Without looking at Old Hao, he walked back to the cultivation room.

Old Hao shuddered, fumbling to catch the gourd, which slapped him in the face. Ignoring the pain, he finally caught it. He didn't dare refuse; in the cultivation world, the strong rule. You can take by force if not given, but you can't refuse if given. Trembling, he poured out five spirit elixirs and placed the gourd at the gate, then turned and walked away without hesitation. Today was the last time; he would never come to take advantage again.

"Using the essence of heaven and earth, transforming it into mixed energy. Initially like a bird's egg, then like a baby's fist, and finally like an adult's fist. This is the initial success of Qi Cultivation. The initial success of mixed energy is like white jade, advancing to red, and further to pure gold. This is the small success." This passage describes the process from the first to the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, with the third level being the initial success and the sixth level being the small success. After the sixth level, the mixed energy sphere continues to expand, with the seventh level being the size of a small bowl, the eighth level the size of a plate, and the ninth level the size of a basin. When the dantian can no longer contain it, a foundation-building pill is used to guide the mixed energy from the dantian to the entire body, tempering the body through repeated refinement. After a thousand refinements, the mixed energy sphere is reshaped into a more refined, pigeon-egg-sized sphere, like the yolk wrapped in the egg white. This is the initial success of foundation building.

Finally, the first step of a long journey has been taken. Lin He put away the jade slip, exhaled a deep breath, and walked out of the gate, seeing the gourd neatly placed. He felt a sense of satisfaction, finally seeing the day of success.

As he picked up the gourd to put it away, he felt a tug on his pants. Looking down, he saw that the white tiger cub had woken up and followed him out of the cultivation room, biting his pants and pulling hard. Lin He squatted down and asked with a smile, "What? You're hungry?"

The white tiger cub showed a pleading expression and nodded vigorously. "This little thing can understand human speech? How strange." He took out the gourd and poured out a spirit elixir. The white tiger cub, now the size of a palm, leaped into his hand and swallowed the spirit elixir in one bite, then sat in his palm, still staring at the gourd.

"You're quite a glutton!" Lin He laughed and fed him another one, which the little thing swallowed in one bite and then looked up again. "This glutton! You're so small and yet so greedy. Do you know how expensive spirit elixirs are?" The little thing showed no sign of shame and continued to stare at the gourd. Lin He, unable to resist its cute demeanor, gave in and fed it five spirit elixirs. The little thing finally looked satisfied, leaped down from his hand, and quickly ran back to the small nest Lin He had made for it in the cultivation room, where it continued to sleep.

"This little thing is really not shy at all!" Having used five spirit elixirs, Lin He wasn't too upset. Over the years, he had saved many spirit elixirs, mainly to exchange for refining materials and medicinal herbs.

Thinking of refining, Lin He remembered the eight spirit banners taken by Yun Xiangyi. Those were only basic products. Because he couldn't condense the three pure fires, he couldn't refine more advanced items. Now that he had initially succeeded in Qi Cultivation, he might try to condense the three pure fires. With the three pure fires, he could refine many things he couldn't before.

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