plumnovel Chapter 18 Clear Spring and Gentle Breeze
Chapter 18 Clear Spring and Gentle Breeze
"They even have talismans? What a fat sheep!"
Upon seeing Fang Qing use the talisman, the burly man in black showed a look of surprise and delight, and steered his flying shuttle closer and closer.
"Water Arrow Technique!"
Fang Qing raised his hand, and several water arrows flew out, which were easily blocked by the burly man: "Haha... Your magic power is so weak, you've come to this? You didn't enter the Dao using lower-tier miscellaneous qi, did you?"
He was initially worried, but now he relaxed considerably. With a wave of his hand, a wisp of black smoke transformed into a giant palm, ready to capture Fang Qing.
Just then, a pale golden talisman appeared in Fang Qing's hand and was suddenly activated.
Stab it!
A flash of golden light appeared in the void, converging into a golden blade—the 'Golden Blade Talisman'!
However, unlike those on Jade Island, this golden blade was not only longer, but its surface even showed some ancient patterns, like a celestial executioner's blade, slashing fiercely!
puff!
The large, dark hand was sliced open.
The blade flashed relentlessly, slicing across the neck of the burly man in black.
Before he could say anything, a head fell to the ground.
"As expected... in this world where metal and fire are the dominant elements, the attack power of metal-attribute talismans will also increase dramatically..."
"Wait, so even Qi-refining talismans are affected in this ancient Shu world?"
Fang Qing steered the Green Leaf Boat, grabbed the burly man's corpse and the shuttle, and quickly left the place.
Soon after, several more streaks of light flew over, circled briefly, and then chased after Fang Qing.
Unfortunately, these cultivators were destined to return empty-handed.
……
Jade Island.
"What a lousy place! What a lousy place!"
Fang Qing cursed loudly. If it weren't for the fact that he happened to have a metal-attribute talisman protecting him, he would have died at the hands of the calamity cultivator this time.
"I should carry more gold and fire attribute talismans with me in the future. They are the most cost-effective in the ancient Shu region... Luckily, I ran fast. I have to admire those cultivators who dared to chase me here."
Jade Island is, after all, the territory of the Azure Sea Sect, and no one dares to rob or kill Azure Sea Sect disciples on the island.
He took a few breaths and then began searching for the cultivator's corpse, picking it up.
"This person... is really poor!"
A moment later, Fang Qing's expression became even more depressed.
The result of looting the corpse was not good. This cultivator was quite poor, and apart from a flying shuttle, he had no other magical artifacts.
He didn't have any cultivation manuals in his arms, only a bottle of pills.
After uncorking the bottle, a strong smell of blood wafted out.
Fang Qing used his rudimentary alchemy skills to examine the pill briefly and confirmed that it was suitable for cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining to increase their magical power, but it was made using demonic methods and contained an unknown amount of human essence and blood.
He naturally declined such a blood pill, and could only keep it for now, hoping to find an opportunity to sell it later.
"That cultivator has accomplices. I'll hide for a couple of days before heading to Ancient Shu to break through."
Although Fang Qing already possesses a cultivation technique and a wisp of true qi, it is, after all, a cultivation method. He wonders if there will be any trouble if he attempts to break through on Jade Island.
Therefore, he chose to play it safe and go to the ancient Shu region to make a breakthrough.
During this waiting time, he could familiarize himself with the cultivation technique and then read some other miscellaneous books.
Fang Qing first took out the book "Guan Heiling Shu" (观黑陵书), a manual on the "Ji Shui" (箕水) exercise, and read it through from beginning to end.
With the foundation laid by the Azure Sea Sect and the cultivation knowledge from the miscellaneous books he purchased, he was finally able to understand things on his own without having to ask anyone for help.
"It turns out that the Qi Cultivation Path divides the first breath of true Qi into nine levels and thirty-six grades, and there are many profound meanings behind it... It is difficult for cultivators of the Qi Cultivation Path to change their path, and the first breath of true Qi is extremely important, directly related to their future achievements."
"Those with true qi at the lower three levels have no hope of establishing a foundation in the Dao for their entire lives, and they are even much weaker in ordinary combat."
"True Qi at the middle three levels still has the hope of forging a foundation for the Dao... but only True Qi at the seventh level and above can eventually advance to the Purple Mansion!"
"Earth Spring Tempering True Essence" is only a mid-grade fifth-order skill, indicating that one may have a good chance of establishing a Dao Foundation in the future, but the Purple Mansion is basically not worth considering.
Unless you are exceptionally lucky and find a spiritual object from heaven and earth that can purify your Dao foundation.
"It truly is a world as tightly controlled as a net... But I don't care, I can dissolve and change my cultivation techniques at will."
"I'll just use [Ji Water] to tide me over for now. When I'm done with this, I'll directly cultivate the Great Sun Purple Qi! Ninth-grade superior level, wouldn't that be an unparalleled foundation?"
Fang Qing thought to himself with delight, and casually opened a copy of "Plum Blossom Divination".
After a moment, he put down the divination book, his face solemn.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
As a cultivator who had undergone a marrow cleansing process using the I Ching, Fang Qing originally thought he was already a genius among mortals.
But watching "Plum Blossom Divination" gave him the experience of going back to university and failing advanced mathematics.
As it turns out, no matter how much you push someone, if they just can't do math, they just can't do it!
The same applies to divination!
Those who are not truly gifted will find it difficult to even get started!
"It's difficult to get started, and difficult to perform divination... It's almost useless at the lower levels, no wonder not many people practice it."
"If it weren't for my Dao-generating Pearl's 'as if it were within the calculation,' I wouldn't want to practice divination..."
……
a few days later.
Ba County, a mountain cave.
Fang Qing blocked the cave entrance with a boulder and pasted a talisman on it. He sat cross-legged on a stone bed, and the contents of the incantation of the "Black Tomb Book" seemed to flow through his heart like a clear spring.
Beside him was a jade bottle containing "Earth Spring Refining Essence".
"Let's begin."
Fang Qing picked up the jade bottle, silently activated the magic, and inhaled deeply.
The true qi, like a clear spring from the earth's veins, instantly transformed into a white ribbon, falling between his lips and disappearing.
Splash!
The sound of mountain spring water hitting bluestone suddenly arose.
Fang Qing felt as if he were parched earth, greedily absorbing this true energy.
Whenever he silently circulated the incantation, the "Earth Spring Tempering True Qi" would flow along his meridians, circulating throughout his body and entering his empty dantian...
Before his breakthrough, to be on the safe side, he naturally converted all the black water magic power of his Qi Refining Path into 'Primordial Qi' and stored it in the Dao Life Pearl.
At this moment, he was just an ordinary person.
As the "Earth Spring Tempering True Qi" entered the dantian, it suddenly transformed into a stream of [Ji Water] magical power.
This wisp of magical power wandered like the shadows of dragons and snakes, and also faintly revealed a talisman seed, forming a vortex. This was the source of magical power.
"The first fundamental magical power has been formed."
Fang Qing continued to circulate his cultivation technique, and under the turbulent vortex of magical power, a continuous stream of [Ji Shui] magical power surged forth.
Glug glug!
Inside the cave, beneath the stone bed where he sat cross-legged, the earth suddenly cracked open, and a fountain gushed forth…
Inside the cave, a howling wind had begun to blow...
"This is...an anomaly?!"
"No, it's imagery!"
Fang Qing opened his eyes, feeling the transformation of his body by the True Qi, and then looked at the clear spring and gentle breeze in the cave... He pondered, "These cultivators of the Qi Cultivation Path possess a special quality in their magical power... I laid my foundation with mid-grade fifth-level True Qi, and my current [Ji Shui] magical power is much stronger than the water-based magical power of ordinary Qi Refining Path cultivators... If one were to lay their foundation with True Qi of the seventh level or higher, how wondrous would the quality of their magical power be?"
"From this perspective, cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Realm are probably generally a cut above those in the Qi Refining Realm... Foundation Establishment cultivators have their own foundation, so they might be much stronger than Foundation Establishment cultivators... As for the Purple Mansion and Core Formation realms? I'm afraid the gap will be even wider..."
He stood up and casually made a hand seal.
Whoosh!
A cyan wind blade appeared; this was the 'Wind Blade Technique' that he had been practicing diligently for a long time but had yet to master.
"The [Ji River] has a favorable wind, which greatly helps my cultivation of wind-attribute magic..."
"Mana traits seem to be more complex than they appear..."
Fang Qing suddenly touched his chin.
After advancing to the first level of Qi Conversion, he suddenly gained many insights, making his words more convincing.
"This...it even comes with innate magic? This ability can be called 'the power of words'!"
The power of the [Ji Water] is truly incredible.
Fang Qing pondered to himself, "Of course, this ability makes my words more persuasive, but if the enemy doesn't listen to me, it's naturally useless... Moreover, as my cultivation level increases, my persuasiveness will naturally become stronger... If I can forge a Dao foundation, perhaps I can persuade ordinary Qi Refining cultivators to commit suicide?"
He made another hand seal, and the power of the [Ji Shui] magic transformed into a water arrow.
Suddenly, a whistling sound came from inside the cave.
"With the help of the wind, the power of the water arrow technique increases by at least three levels..."
clap clap!
The water jets struck the rock face, sending rocks flying and leaving traces of water in between.
Fang Qing went over to check and saw that the cracked rock wall had wet marks on it, as if it had been eroded by some kind of cold spring.
"Does it also have the characteristic of 'water erosion'?"
"However, that's not the most crucial point!"
"The moment to witness a miracle has arrived!"
He took a deep breath and communicated with Dao Shengzhu!
In an instant, his black water magic power, which had originally been transformed into 'Primordial Qi', rolled down and was easily converted into [Ji Shui] magic power.
Crackling sounds!
Within Fang Qing's body, the power of the [Ji Shui] magic circulated, manifesting the imagery of a clear spring and a gentle breeze. In an instant, he broke through two barriers and reached the third level of Qi Absorption!
"This strength... if I were to encounter that Tribulation Cultivator again... uh, it seems the opponent uses earth-attribute techniques... I have nothing to say."
He muttered a complaint, then completely dissolved the power of the [Ji Shui] magic, converting it into black water magic.
Splash!
In an instant, the black water magic power overflowed within Fang Qingdantian. Although it did not have the image of the [Ji Shui] magic power, it surged and reached the perfect level of the third level of Qi Refining!
Moreover, the transformation of more primordial energy made the Black Water's magical power surge even more fiercely, launching an attack on the meridians of the fourth level of the Water Classic.
With the help of such immense magical power, that minor bottleneck was broken in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
In an instant, Fang Qing broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining!
Moreover, the magical power of the fourth level of Qi Refining continued to gather until it filled most of this level of cultivation, and then slowly stopped.
"Mid-stage Qi Refining, finally achieved!"
Fang Qing smiled and clenched his fist, feeling the black water magic power in his body: "The combination of the two techniques... is simply invincible. However, the total amount of primordial energy is limited. After conversion, one only has three layers while the other has four layers... This represents a terrifying difference in the quality of magic power."
Although the [Ji Shui] magic power was only at the third level of Qi absorption, Fang Qing inexplicably felt that if they were to fight, disregarding external objects, his own Black Water magic power at the fourth level might not be enough to defeat him...