Chapter 6

Just as the steward Qiu was raging and about to send disciples from the outer courtyard to capture Li Wan, Li Wan had already arrived at a small town a hundred miles away.

With ample funds, after descending the mountain, Li Wan encountered a traveler on horseback and, using an urgent excuse, bought the horse for several times its price. He then rode the horse for over a hundred miles without stopping, finally pausing at a secluded crossroads. Li Wan did not tie the horse, intentionally letting passersby take it away. He then crossed the mountain and spent two days to reach this place.

Only then did Li Wan have the time to examine what he had obtained that day. He found that the cultivation manual was just an ordinary martial arts book, not as valuable as he had imagined. However, the Five Elements Spirit Qi was a true treasure.

Li Wan was considering how to refine and assimilate it as soon as possible to advance to the Qi Refinement stage.

The path of cultivation begins with Qi Refinement. Only by reaching this stage can one open a spiritual field within the body, transcending the mundane world and becoming a cultivator of the mystic arts. After this, the body's primordial energy becomes abundant, and vitality remains unceasing. Both physical strength and endurance will undergo a transformative increase.

Moreover, ordinary people, whether soldiers, civilians, or travelers, must obtain travel permits and are subject to government control. Bandits, pirates, and wild beasts can all become obstacles, making travel inconvenient. However, after becoming a mystic cultivator, these secular restrictions are reduced to a minimum, greatly benefiting one's journey.

However, Li Wan had been traveling continuously, and his physical and mental states were not at their best. The surrounding area was also desolate, and he feared the intrusion of snakes, insects, and wild beasts. It was only then that he checked into a high-end room at an inn in the town, ate and drank to his heart's content, and rested to regain his energy, making all necessary preparations.

"It's time..."

That night, Li Wan sat cross-legged in the room and began to refine the Five Elements Spirit Qi.

He opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing the Spirit Qi, which resembled a water droplet or a gelatinous sphere, into his abdomen. He then began to refine it with his cultivation technique.

As soon as the Five Elements Spirit Qi entered his abdomen, it immediately transformed into various streams of energy, spreading throughout his limbs and body.

He felt as if he had drunk strong liquor, his body radiating intense heat. His pores opened, his meridians flowed smoothly, and his blood and qi became incredibly active.

Soon, Li Wan felt as if he were immersed in a warm spring, his body feeling soft and extremely comfortable.

Under the influence of this warm sensation, various energy points in his body began to emit strange forces, which traveled through all the key points and eventually converged three inches below his navel, at the dantian, the sea of qi.

It was as if a mysterious area in his body had opened up. The five different streams of energy slowly circulated through the dantian, becoming slower but merging and blending, containing profound and true principles of the universe. The Five Elements generated and transformed, and the vitality of all things was contained within.

This was the Spirit Qi fusing within his body, combining with the dantian he already had.

It was like a spring, continuously gushing out primordial energy. This energy had various properties, encompassing the virtues of the Five Elements. Under the influence of the Five Elements' generation and transformation, it gradually transformed into a new force.

This force was pure and clean, neither part of the Five Elements nor belonging to Yin and Yang. It was not formed later but was the primordial one qi.

One is the manifestation of the Dao. As the saying goes, the Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things. This primordial one qi represents the starting point of the path of cultivation.

From then on, Li Wan's dantian had transformed into a spiritual field, possessing the characteristic of the Five Elements' continuous circulation. Regardless of the type of acquired energy he absorbed, it could be refined through the principles of the Five Elements' generation and transformation, and then converted into innate true energy using his cultivation technique. This process would continue until it reached a complete state.

This process is called Qi Refinement.

Through the circulation of spiritual energy in the spiritual field, after cultivating a thread of innate true energy, Li Wan immediately felt that the world seemed different.

The warmth in his body did not dissipate, like a warm current flowing through his entire body. Under the guidance of this current, his senses became sharper, his vision and hearing clearer, and his body felt much lighter.

In just a short time, his entire spirit and demeanor had undergone a fundamental change, as if he had been reborn.

Li Wan stood up and swung his fist in the air.

*Pak pak pak!*

A series of cracking sounds echoed, indicating that his punching power had greatly increased, causing the air to vibrate.

His arm, illuminated by the candlelight, seemed to create countless afterimages, moving at an incredible speed.

Moreover, he could clearly feel that his energy had become longer and deeper.

"Rumors are indeed true. Before, I had cultivated the basic techniques of the Righteous Gate to their fullest extent, but those techniques were just ordinary internal martial arts. Even if I practiced for another hundred years, they would only strengthen my body and extend my life, not achieve such effects."

After opening the spiritual field and cultivating innate true energy, a faint aura of transcendence began to emanate from him. His gaze was filled with divine light, and he had fundamentally distinguished himself from ordinary people.

This step was the beginning of the path to transcendence.

After fulfilling his long-held wish, Li Wan did not show much joy on the surface, but he was actually extremely excited.

He stretched lazily, stood up, and found that it was already late at night. The surroundings were silent and peaceful.

At this moment, Li Wan felt a bit hungry, so he went to the table, poured a cup of cold water, and ate the dry food he had brought with him. However, even after eating several large pancakes, he still felt hungry, which reminded him of the various legends about mystic cultivators.

"Once I reach the Qi Refinement stage, the innate true energy will nourish my body, and my physical form will undergo a transformative change. Ordinary food can no longer satisfy my needs. It seems I need to find some elixirs to nourish my energy and some spirit stones for cultivation... Among the four treasures of cultivation—wealth, companions, techniques, and location—wealth is the most important."

After eating three days' worth of dry food, Li Wan felt satisfied and went to sleep. The next day, he woke up at noon, feeling refreshed and full of energy, as if he had an inexhaustible supply of strength.

He went downstairs and gave a small piece of silver to the innkeeper, asking about the locations of shops for clothing, food, and travel. He planned to gather information about the nearby towns and then leave the inn to travel far away.

***

At noon, after eating lunch, Li Wan sat in the room, drinking tea and thinking.

"Where should I go next?"

Ordinary people toil and labor, working hard every day for a living and wealth. Those with greater ambition aim for titles and fame.

In fact, cultivators are not much different. Their goals are just changed to immortality and freedom, or to gain various opportunities for enlightenment. Some are devoted to their sects, thinking about the rise and fall of their sects and the continuation of their traditions.

Whether in seclusion or traveling the world, doing anything is inseparable from these goals. If cultivators truly had no desires, there would be no point in cultivating.

Li Wan's thoughts were now very clear. He knew that after leaving the Righteous Gate, his first priority was to make a living, then to cultivate and become stronger, and to live a meaningful life. As for the future, he could think about it gradually.

Making a living could mean joining another sect or becoming a wandering cultivator. The former was similar to his life at the Righteous Gate, just in a different environment. The latter, however, would completely change his lifestyle.

"Joining a sect, in the early stages of cultivation, means being a small pawn, following the orders of elders, and adhering to the sect's rules and regulations. This is the fate of a sect disciple, the price paid for the protection and support of the sect."

"However, becoming a wandering cultivator means freedom, but also a lack of stability. Wandering cultivators are often weak and vulnerable, easily bullied, robbed, or even killed. They can't even protect themselves, let alone cultivate."

After much consideration, Li Wan found that both choices had their pros and cons, making it difficult to decide. However, he gradually leaned towards the former, as he had lived in the Righteous Gate's training ground for many years and was more familiar with the sects in the cultivation world.

With his status as a registered disciple, joining another sect was not a problem. After all, a registered disciple is not a formal disciple and has not yet entered the sect's inner circle.

"Hmm? What is this?"

While contemplating his future, Li Wan suddenly felt an unusual warm current slowly moving.

He looked down in surprise and found that the ring-shaped jade pendant hanging around his neck was causing the sensation.

It seemed to have come to life, resonating with the innate true energy in his body, sending waves of mysterious vibrations.

Then, the surface of the jade pendant emitted a white glow like the moon, with ripples inside, as if fish were swimming in clear water.

Upon closer inspection, these were not fish but Dao patterns, like wisps of smoke, floating in the light.

"This thing is really a treasure?"

Li Wan realized that his mind had received a mysterious message.

It turned out that the jade pendant was not just a decorative item but a divine consciousness jade slip, a tool used by mystic cultivators.

A divine consciousness jade slip is a magical tool in the cultivation world used to record cultivation techniques or secrets of the universe. It can instantly integrate the consciousness of the previous owner into one's own mind, allowing one to immediately master the technique or learn the secret.

Using a divine consciousness jade slip to teach avoids the ambiguity and misunderstandings that can arise from different interpretations of words. Moreover, only those with high virtue and great abilities can create such a tool and leave their consciousness within, making their memories and experiences far superior to those recorded in written texts.

However, divine consciousness jade slips are extremely rare in the present world. Only those ancient sects or true noble families use them for their most valuable texts, and only designated descendants can use them, making them very precious.

Li Wan had not noticed its unusual nature before because he was still an ordinary person without innate true energy. Now, as a Qi Refinement cultivator, he could finally trigger its true function by focusing his mind.