Chapter 8 Cultivation (Part 4) This was her first time visiting Biyue Yunju...

"OK."

Qingxing didn't think much of it. Now that she had the key to the high-level scroll bookstore, she didn't need to pick up those miscellaneous books again and try to learn something that would help her cultivation.

“I thought about it yesterday. Since you have reached the fourth level of Foundation Establishment on your own, there should be no major problem with drawing Qi into your body.” Jiu Qu Chen stepped onto the bluestone path and waved for Qing Xing to follow. “But without guidance, your meridians may become blocked. Let me take a look for you first.”

Qingxing nodded and walked behind him.

Jiu Qu Chen was often criticized by the elders and disciples for his lazy nature. But no matter what, he was Jiu Chao Ying's younger brother. Putting aside the sect leader's selfish motives, even for the sake of the title and prestige of "the younger brother of the Taihua Mountain sect leader," she would not treat Jiu Qu Chen badly.

Just look at his residence, Biyue Yunju, which occupies a huge plot of land.

Qingxing followed him around and around, stepping on every bluestone slab of every shape on the ground. Looking at the exquisite bamboo garden and small landscape all around, she thought: This is the first time I've ever strolled around Biyueyunju like this.

She originally thought that the Listening Rain Garden her master had given her was already the best, but she didn't expect that compared to this place, it was nothing.

"We've arrived." Jiu Qu Chen stopped ahead. "The lotus pond in Biyue Yunju is full of spiritual energy. Cultivating here will definitely be more effective than the Jade Liquid Lake in the back mountain!"

Qingxing lagged slightly behind him. As she turned a corner and parted the bushes, she was immediately enveloped by a refreshing, ethereal breeze.

Before us lies a natural spiritual pool, with gushing spring water bubbling up from the ground, continuously filling the pond above. The lotus flowers in the pool, nourished by the spiritual energy, bloom profusely and never wither.

"Inside there is a lotus leaf stone base, which can help you sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to the maximum extent."

As Jiu Quchen spoke, he lightly touched the ground with his feet and landed gracefully in the pool. He smiled and turned around to look at Qingxing.

"Disciple, you just need to circulate your spiritual energy as usual, and I will protect you." Perhaps knowing that his unreliable image was deeply ingrained in people's minds, he added to prevent Qingxing from getting nervous, "Don't worry, after all, I am a Nascent Soul cultivator and I cultivate the Dao of Medicine. I am quite good at clearing meridians!"

"OK."

Qingxing nodded. She saw another lotus leaf opposite Jiuquchen, leaped up, and landed steadily on it.

The moment her feet touched the stone seat, she felt herself enveloped in spiritual energy, and the spiritual network within her body stirred restlessly, as if it couldn't wait to receive this overwhelming spiritual power.

She sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes to feel the flow of spiritual energy.

The human body has seven meridians: Fenglong, Xuehai, Quchi, Guanyuan, Jiuwei, Tanzhong, and Baihui. When a cultivator first draws qi into their body, the spiritual energy circulates within, connecting the seven meridians, forming a spiritual network.

The Spirit Network is used to store and circulate spiritual energy, and is an important source of a cultivator's magical power. If one wants to improve their cultivation, they must circulate spiritual energy and light up each meridian one by one. When all seven meridians are lit, the Spirit Network will expand to an unprecedented extent. The cultivator will no longer be restricted by absorbing external spiritual energy, and will have an inexhaustible supply within their own Spirit Network. This is the Tribulation Transcending stage.

However, while the principle is as described, the reality is much more complex. Cultivation largely depends on talent and opportunity. Many people make rapid progress in the early stages, reaching the Nascent Soul stage in one go, but then stop there. Others spend more than ten years just on Foundation Establishment, but they can accumulate knowledge and then burst forth, achieving enlightenment and ascending to immortality.

In her previous three lives, Qingxing only focused on studying various magical techniques and neglected cultivation, reaching at most the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Now that she has the opportunity, she wants to see how far she can go.

She made a hand seal, and the surrounding spiritual energy, sensing this, transformed into fine threads that enveloped her and flowed into the spiritual net.

Since her last battle with Su Lin, she hadn't had time to repair her spiritual network. The lotus pond's spiritual energy was pure, nourishing her long-parched meridians like a gentle rain. The spiritual network gradually revived, guiding spiritual power through the seven meridians.

At first, it went smoothly, but when Qingxing circulated her spiritual power once and merged it into the Blood Sea Meridian, her limbs suddenly began to heat up, and her spiritual power spun around in place, as if a stone had fallen onto the spiritual net with a "thud," blocking her path.

She frowned, took a deep breath, and accelerated the gathering of spiritual energy, seemingly intending to break through directly.

A strong wind blew up from the lotus pond, centered on Qingxing, which lifted the hem of Jiuquchen's clothes. His long hair, which had been hanging down obediently, was now crooked and twisted, and even his hair ribbon was almost blown off.

"Don't rush, don't rush, you can't be impatient!" Jiu Qu Chen flew to Qing Xing's side and tapped her back acupoints twice. "Luckily I was here to protect you. If you continue to cultivate in this way, you will inevitably be in danger of going into qi deviation!"

With a few taps, the stone on the spiritual net was easily dissolved, and Qingxing felt temporarily better.

So she made another hand seal, trying to break through to the next level.

But this time the spiritual energy wouldn't listen to her, and it kept rampaging through the spiritual network, causing cold sweat to pour down Qingxing's forehead.

Seeing this, Jiu Quchen sighed softly, feeling somewhat puzzled: his disciple seemed indifferent, so why was he so stubborn about cultivation?

But there's no way around it; you have to protect your own apprentice, no matter how stubborn they are.

He sat behind Qingxing, guided his Qi into his body and circulated it through two small cycles, then gently touched her back with his right hand and slowly infused it with his own spiritual power.

Qingxing was initially feeling hot all over due to the out-of-control spiritual power, but suddenly a cool aura surrounded her, and then her spiritual net was enveloped by wisps of blue spiritual power.

The external spiritual energy was extremely gentle, like a babbling brook, which calmed Qingxing down. It slowly circled around her, as if guiding her.

It's Master!

The image of Jiu Quchen flashed through Qingxing's mind. Without further hesitation, she followed the blue spiritual energy. After successfully circulating it through a small cycle, she gradually found her rhythm, her brows relaxed, and her limbs returned to normal temperature.

The wind in the lotus pond gradually subsided, returning it to its usual calm and tranquil state. Seeing that she had grasped some of the tricks of the trade, Jiu Quchen withdrew from the scene.

They started late. When Jiu Quchen opened his eyes, the sunset was already over, and the moon hung high in the sky, staring directly at him.

He stepped down from the lotus leaf stone seat, stretched his body, and then turned to look at Qingxing, who was still meditating. He saw that the blue spiritual energy around the lotus pond was flowing slowly and being continuously drawn into her body, indicating that she had entered a meditative state.

"Sigh, I've taken on a troublesome apprentice."

Jiu Qu Chen stretched. He had originally taken on the apprentice with the intention of being lazy, but now it seemed that Qing Xing had extremely high talent and comprehension, and he would be busy from now on.

Qingxing entered a meditative state that lasted for a full day and night.

She couldn't feel the passage of time, but it was different for Jiu Quchen, who was protecting the Dharma outside.

So when Qingxing opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was her master's huge dark circles.

"My disciple, you're finally awake." Jiu Qu Chen hadn't slept for a day and a night, and his voice was hoarse. "Are you hungry? Master got you some osmanthus cake."

He waved his hand, and a plate of pastries was brought to Qingxing, emitting an enticing aroma.

"Thank you, Master."

Having not eaten for over a day, and not yet practicing fasting, Qingxing's stomach was already protesting. She reached out and picked up a piece of pastry, taking a bite that brought her pure satisfaction.

Jiu Qu Chen yawned; he was incredibly sleepy, but remembering that this was his first time teaching Qing Xing, he perked up and asked, "How are you feeling? Is there anything else that's not going smoothly?"

Qingxing shook her head: "No."

After this experience, she not only cleared her previously blocked meridians, but also comprehended the laws governing the circulation of spiritual energy, thus raising her cultivation level by four levels.

Recalling her previous three lives, where "breaking through the mirror was all done by brute force, choosing the path was all based on intuition, and living was a victory," Qingxing exclaimed for the first time, "Having a master is so good."

"Go back after you've rested. Come again tomorrow. I really can't go on any longer."

Jiu Quchen reassured himself and dragged his feet back to his bedroom.

It was already past noon, and there was no point in staying any longer, so Qingxing decided to return to Tingyu Garden and get some rest.

She walked out of the lotus pond and back to the front yard. Just as she was about to pick up her cloth bag, she was suddenly bumped into by a blue object.

"Wow! You've improved!" Gudako sniffed her shoulder. "Not bad, you've made so much progress in just one day!"

Qingxing, carrying a cloth bag, walked out of Biyueyunju: "This is a heretical book. Have you gained anything from it?"

"It makes me so angry just thinking about it!" Guda said indignantly, her voice tinged with resentment. "This book looks old, but it was actually written no more than ten days ago! The demonic energy was just hastily applied; there's nothing inside, let alone a book spirit!"

Qingxing was stunned by his words. She hadn't expected that someone would forge an ancient book: "Are the magic arrays recorded inside feasible?"

Gudako: "It's not just feasible, I've never seen such a sophisticated magic array before."

"So, someone really is practicing demonic cultivation, and it's very likely someone from Mount Taihua." Qingxing pondered, intuitively sensing the gravity of the matter. "Then why would he put the scroll in the Scripture Pavilion?"

Isn't he afraid that someone else will take it and deliver it directly to the sect leader?

Thinking of the demon realm gates that opened years later, Qingxing asked again, "Will it be related to the villains?"

"Not necessarily. After all, there are quite a few people in the world who cultivate the demonic path. Let's keep it for now." Gudako became angrier the more she thought about it. "This is simply a blatant provocation!"

Qingxing glanced at the scroll inside the cloth bag. It lay there quietly, no different from any other scroll.

Although the elders hold the keys to the study, they should be able to give them to any disciple who requests them.

But when she went to the library today, the wooden door of the high-level study was covered in dust, and it didn't look like anyone had been there.

There wasn't even time to give the scroll to Jiuqu Chen, so he could only keep it for now and ask about it again tomorrow.

A bunch of questions swirled in Qingxing's mind. She sighed softly and stepped onto the stone steps leading back to Tingyu Garden.

As the sun was setting, this path connected various parts of Qiyun Peak. Along the way, Qingxing encountered many disciples, some who had just returned from the kitchen, some who had just finished their cultivation lessons, and others who were rushing to Jade Liquid Lake in the back mountain for cultivation.

They were mostly in groups, which made Qingxing look particularly lonely.

Guda glanced at the disciples around her, somewhat curiously asking, "Master Qingxing, why do you never make friends?"

"Hmm?" Qingxing glanced at the group of people chatting and laughing in front of her. "I don't know."

When she was a wanderer, she never thought of the concept of "friends." Later, she worked as a servant on Mount Taihua, where she only followed her supervisor's orders and was too busy to make friends. Later, she was taken in by Jiuquchen, who only had her as his disciple. She never attended any training classes and always acted alone.

Having lived three lifetimes, she still doesn't have many friends and has become accustomed to being alone.

"Maybe they feel that it doesn't matter whether they have it or not."

She answered calmly, brushing past the bustling crowd around her.

They seemed to be discussing something interesting, and one of them got so excited that his voice drifted into Qingxing's ears.

"Hey, I heard that Senior Brother Xie and Senior Sister Shen fought to a draw today!"

A note from the author:

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In this article, "drawing qi into the body" means absorbing spiritual energy, which is used at every stage.

The Seven Meridians borrowed the name of the Xue position.