73: Chapter 73 Initial Success in Gathering Qi

Early morning, Lin Xuan pushed open the door of the Quiet Room and took a deep breath of the air carrying the faint scent of bamboo leaves. Today was the day he planned to exchange for the Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula.

Over the past month, he had taken on two relatively simple gathering tasks. Combined with the contribution points issued by the herb garden, he finally had enough to exchange for the Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula.

Without hesitation, he headed straight to the Dharma Transmission Pavilion.

The pavilion was still quiet, and the One-armed Elder was curled up in a bamboo chair, as if he had never moved.

"Senior." Lin Xuan bowed respectfully.

The elder raised his eyelids, his gaze lingering on him for a moment: "Have you gathered enough contribution points?"

"Yes. This Disciple wishes to exchange for the Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula." Lin Xuan handed over his identity jade token.

The elder took it, swiped it on the Formation Plate, and 1,200 contribution points were instantly deducted. The balance on the jade token dropped to two hundred and some points. He took out the dark gray Jade Slip from beside him and handed it to Lin Xuan.

"This formula emphasizes concealment rather than illusion." The elder rarely spoke so much, his voice still flat, but every word was clear.

"Ordinary Qi concealment arts involve putting on a layer of 'illusory clothing' to disguise oneself as other people or things. However, the Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula focuses on returning to simplicity, retracting one's own spiritual energy fluctuations, blood energy, and vitality inward, returning them to a single point in the Dantian, simulating a state that is almost nothingness or natural."

"It seems opposite to the fierce path of your Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art, but in reality, it secretly aligns with the principle that extreme hardness gives birth to softness."

He paused and looked at Lin Xuan: "When cultivating, you need to calmly experience the balance between retracting and releasing. Retraction is not suppression, but gathering; releasing is not venting, but a natural flow. Do not force quick success; the more anxious you are, the more chaotic your Qi will become."

Lin Xuan looked solemn: "This Disciple will remember."

"Go." The elder waved his hand and closed his eyes again.

Lin Xuan carefully put away the Jade Slip, bowed, and exited.

Returning to the small courtyard's Quiet Room, he couldn't wait to press the Jade Slip to his forehead.

A massive amount of information flooded into his mind. The Mind-Cultivation Technique, the circulation routes of spiritual energy, the methods for coordinating Divine Sense, as well as the key points and taboos at each stage of cultivation for the Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula...

He closed his eyes to digest it, and only after a full hour did he slowly open them.

"Truly exquisite." He sighed softly.

Unlike ordinary Qi concealment arts, this formula does not simply cover up or disguise spiritual energy fluctuations. Instead, through a unique method, it gathers the spiritual energy, blood energy, and even spiritual fluctuations scattered around the body, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, back to the core of the Dantian. This turns the person from a luminous body into a "black hole," revealing only the parts he wants others to perceive externally.

He sat cross-legged and began his first attempt according to the formula.

Inside the Dantian, the Thunder Spiritual Energy vortex rotated slowly.

With a thought, the rotation speed of the vortex gradually slowed down—not stopping, but becoming more solid and introverted.

At the same time, his intent guided the spiritual energy fluctuations, breathing rhythm, and even the micro-ripples of blood energy caused by his heartbeat throughout his body to converge toward that single point in the Dantian.

At first, it was extremely awkward.

Either the retraction was excessive, leading to sluggish spiritual energy circulation, a tight chest, as if gripped by an invisible hand;

Or, with the slightest distraction, the breath would uncontrollably leak out a bit, causing faint ripples in the Quiet Room.

Lin Xuan was neither impatient nor rash. He had been cultivating the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art for a long time, and his control over his own spiritual energy was already meticulous;

The Thunder Body Refining Technique also gave him control over his body far exceeding those of the same Realm. Both of these were excellent foundations for cultivating the Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula.

One failure, adjust, and try again.

Ten times, a hundred times...

Three days later, in the Quiet Room.

Lin Xuan sat quietly, his breathing long and almost inaudible.

There was no longer any leakage of spiritual energy from his body; he seemed to have turned into a lifeless rock, or perhaps had completely merged with the surrounding environment. If not for the naked eye seeing him, it would be very easy to ignore his existence based on Divine Sense perception alone.

He slowly opened his eyes, a divine light shining within them, which instantly retracted.

"Finally, I have entered the doorway." The corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

With a slight movement of his mind, the aura that had been retracted to the extreme was "released" like a tide—controlled at the level of the Early Stage of Qi Refining Level 3.

He maintained this state, walked around the Quiet Room, and cast a few simple Spells; his aura remained stable at the "Early Stage of Level 3" without the slightest fluctuation.

"Shallow-level Qi concealment can be maintained for five or six hours. If I retract it with full force, hiding one small Realm (externally displaying Qi Refining Level 2), I can only maintain it for about two hours." Lin Xuan evaluated, "But it is enough for daily use."

From this day on, Lin Xuan began to consciously maintain this shallow state of Qi concealment in his daily life.

Only when returning to the Quiet Room or entering the Spirit-Taming Tower Space would he completely relax and reveal his true cultivation aura.

With the initial success of Qi concealment and the pressure of contribution points temporarily relieved, Lin Xuan resumed his cultivation in the Gravity Valley, which had been interrupted for over a month.

In the morning, he would practice the Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula and the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art a few times to adjust his state to the best.

After finishing his work in the herb garden, he would take a spirit crane to Gravity Valley at noon.

His resource strategy also quietly adjusted.

Although exchanging for the Cultivation Technique consumed a large amount of contribution points, the stable income from the monthly thunder-patterned soil remained.

He found the Foundation Establishment Cultivator and reduced the monthly transaction volume from 120 catties to 50 catties.

Although the Foundation Establishment Cultivator felt a little regretful, he could understand: "Junior Brother Lin, are you focusing on cultivation? That is good. The early cultivation of the thunder fire jujube is on the right track, and the demand for thunder-patterned soil is indeed not as urgent as it was at the beginning. 50 catties is enough. The price remains the same, 12 points per catty."

Although his monthly income decreased by more than half, when added to the income from making Talismans, it was enough to barely support his current daily cultivation and basic expenses.

More importantly, the 70 catties of thunder-patterned soil saved were all invested into the Spirit-Taming Tower Space, focusing on cultivating the thunder essence fruit tree and those few delicate shocking thunder flowers.

The effect was significant.

In the center of the spirit field in the space, the seedling of the thunder essence fruit tree was growing at a visible speed under the nourishment of the high-quality thunder-patterned soil.

In one month, the main trunk grew another two inches, a new thin branch sprouted, the leaves became thicker, the purple-black luster became deeper, and the silver veins on the leaves flowed like living things.

The seeds of the shocking thunder flower had not yet sprouted, but the concentration of Thunder Spiritual Energy in the soil of the planted area had clearly increased, and Lin Xuan could feel the weak vitality inside the seeds slowly strengthening.

Other spirit plants were also growing well. The first batch of thunder-pattern grass had several plants approaching maturity, with complete silver patterns on their leaves; the thunder spirit flower had sprouted small flower buds; the metal-eating grass had adapted to the edge environment, and the dark gold luster of its leaves had deepened.

It was another evening, and Lin Xuan returned from the Gravity Valley.

He stood in the small courtyard, feeling the pure Thunder Spiritual Energy surging in his body, which was close to the Late Stage of Qi Refining Level 3, while his appearance only revealed the stable aura of the Early Stage of Qi Refining Level 3.

The Origin Returning Qi Concealment Formula had initially taken effect, his cultivation in the Gravity Valley was back on track, the spirit plants in the space were flourishing, and his self-made Talismans were about to challenge the Medium Grade of the first tier...

Everything was moving forward steadily according to his plan.

The night grew darker, and the stars began to appear.

Lin Xuan returned to the Quiet Room, spread out the Talisman paper, and picked up the Talisman brush.

The tip of the brush was dipped in special cinnabar mixed with thunder-patterned stone powder, and Thunder Spiritual Energy was slowly infused.

First-tier Medium Grade, Thunder Shield Talisman.

Trying again.