Chapter 26

After a night of abundant spring rain,

at dawn, the sky turned clear, and the warm morning sun shone into the room.

Qingxuan's "rebirth" had lasted the entire night.

The vibration in his dantian was now slowing down, indicating that the "rebirth" was nearing completion.

The intense pain throughout his body had long been endured by Qingxuan, and it was beginning to subside.

The three stages of the Foundation Establishment realm are rooted in the Body Tempering stage.

In cultivation, body tempering comes first; everything begins with one's own body. The human body is the most mysterious and unfathomable treasure house in the universe, with boundless potential. All supernatural abilities and transformations are inherently present.

Tempering the body is not just about strengthening blood and qi, toughening muscles and tendons, and reinforcing bones. More importantly, it involves removing the impurities that accumulate in the meridians over time and unblocking the entire body's meridians. As stated in the *Huangdi Neijing*: "When all the meridians are unblocked, all diseases will disappear."

Removing the impurities from the meridians is extremely difficult and usually requires the aid of certain rare treasures and special cultivation techniques. Most people lack these conditions and can only continuously circulate their internal energy to push the impurities into other unused meridians, clearing the way for their main meridians. However, this approach leads to blockages in other meridians, even complete closure, making it increasingly difficult to advance in cultivation as one progresses.

Qingxuan's situation was uniquely advantageous. The "rebirth" brought about by the "Langhuan Lingmiao Pavilion" system directly expelled most of the impurities from his meridians, though not completely. This laid a solid foundation for Qingxuan, preventing future meridian blockages. Moreover, he had the *Taiji Peiyuan Gong* to assist, making the removal of impurities much faster than for others.

When the vibration in his dantian finally stopped, Qingxuan's entire body trembled, and a light "ding" sounded.

Qingxuan's level increased by one, directly advancing to the second level of the Body Tempering stage.

However, before Qingxuan could revel in his joy, the essence of the "Yanghucao" that was condensed in the twelve main meridians suddenly shattered. The surging essence quickly filled his dantian. Since Qingxuan's dantian and meridians had not been cultivated for a long time, advancing one level was already the limit, making it difficult to break through to the next realm. If this trend continued, within a few moments, Qingxuan would either suffer from ruptured meridians and dantian, or even burst blood vessels, leading to death. This was the same crisis his master had faced in the past.

Unfortunately, his master was not by his side; otherwise, he could have used his powerful internal energy to force the vast essence back into the twelve main meridians and re-accumulate it.

Qingxuan was extremely anxious but could not think of any solution.

He had always dreamed of obtaining a miraculous encounter and possessing formidable internal energy. Now that his dream had come true, he never expected it to end in such a way, being literally "inflated to death" by the very encounter he had fantasized about countless times.

Qingxuan's face was flushed, and his eyes began to bleed, signs of excessive blood and qi...

The surging essence, the surging internal energy...

What could he do to resolve this surging essence?

...Surging internal energy?

Qingxuan's mind suddenly stirred, and he immediately opened his attribute page...

Looking at his attributes, despite the intense pain, Qingxuan couldn't help but laugh: "Heaven does not abandon those who seek a way out, heaven does not abandon those who seek a way out—"

On Qingxuan's attribute page, the previously gray and unusable *Xiaowuxiang Gong* had turned white and was now usable. The "rebirth" had triggered the essence of the "Yanghucao," causing his internal energy to surge instantly, reaching the necessary conditions for the initial practice of the *Xiaowuxiang Gong*.

Focusing his mind on the dantian and silently circulating his internal energy, the *Xiaowuxiang Gong* began to operate.

The first step in practicing the *Xiaowuxiang Gong* is to "open the Heavenly Palace," and the first "Heavenly Palace" to open is the "Central Palace" dantian in the lower abdomen.

Struggling to gather the internal energy in his dantian, Qingxuan slowly rotated it, forming an inward spiral. When the spiral formed, the surging essence in his body found an outlet, being rapidly absorbed into the spiral like water being absorbed by a dry sponge.

The dantian, the sea of qi, is the source of primordial energy. This expansion caused Qingxuan's body and qi to surge, his mouth tightly closed, and a faint rumbling sound could be heard from the "Central Palace" dantian. His entire body was brimming with power, and his clothes billowed with his breathing.

The vortex in the dantian spun faster and faster, like a continuously rotating millstone, gradually expanding and strengthening the "Central Palace" dantian, making it more resilient and elastic.

Just as a jade must be polished to become a treasure,

the *Xiaowuxiang Gong* is like a divine tool that transforms the ordinary dantian into a world-class gem. It meticulously and slowly refines the dantian, turning it from a crude stone into a miraculous treasure.

The once ordinary dantian began to change. With the assistance of the *Xiaowuxiang Gong*, even if Qingxuan's dantian were a crude stone, it could slowly take shape and eventually become a transcendent treasure, capable of causing a great stir once completed.

Finally, the vortex's absorption of essence suddenly stopped, and the "Central Palace" dantian became as smooth and white as jade, glowing faintly. In the star map formed by the meridians in his body, although not particularly bright, the jade-like glow of the dantian could not be overshadowed by the light of any star, and all the acupoints surrounded it like stars around the moon.

After being refined by the *Xiaowuxiang Gong*, Qingxuan's dantian was exceptionally strong and resilient, not easily damaged.

Although the "Central Palace" dantian had been successfully refined, Qingxuan's cultivation was not yet complete.

As previously mentioned, the dantian is the place for storing internal energy, so the main consumption of internal energy was in the "refinement" rather than the "expansion."

Qingxuan's internal essence was still vast, so he continued to expand the "Second Heavenly Palace" — the Zhongzhu point.

Expanding the Zhongzhu point was more difficult than the dantian because it is not a place for storing internal energy. To turn it into the "Second Heavenly Palace," the first step was to expand the Zhongzhu point, followed by refinement.

The Zhongzhu point is the sea of blood and qi.

As he began to circulate his energy, Qingxuan felt a shock in his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling extremely uncomfortable and heart palpitations.

Qingxuan pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, keeping his mouth tightly closed to prevent the internal energy in his chest from being expelled. If this energy were to be released, the Zhongzhu point would be severely damaged, and all his efforts would be in vain, leaving him with internal injuries. This action caused blood to be forced out of his pores and orifices, creating a terrifying image, and the blood on the ground had formed a small pool.

With the experience of developing the "Central Palace" dantian, Qingxuan was more adept at handling the Zhongzhu point.

He formed a vortex and slowly polished it...

This process continued for another two hours.

When the area of the Zhongzhu point had expanded to about a quarter the size of the dantian, the vortex finally stopped expanding. It gave a fierce final pull, instantly absorbing all the internal energy and qi in his body, and the Zhongzhu point suddenly glowed, lighting up another star in the universe.

In Qingxuan's body, the "Second Heavenly Palace" Zhongzhu point was now formed.