11: Chapter 11 Breaking Through the Dark River Realm, Initial Mastery of Concealing Qi

The pull of the ancient ring on his left hand and the slight warmth of the blood curse secret letter in his bosom were both pointing towards the unknown dangerous place and Opportunity deep within the passage.

But Lin Ye forcefully suppressed the urge to explore immediately.

His past life's experience told him: Opportunities always exist, but only those you survive to grasp, and have the strength to seize, are truly called Opportunities. Otherwise, they are just death warrants.

The corpse of Black Sha, the bones of Outer Sect Deacon Zhou Yuan, and the desperate final strike of Zhao Hansong were all silently expounding the cruel Law of this world—weakness is the original sin.

He was currently just a Mortal body, relying on a bit of cleverness and the strange information gap of his Golden Finger to maneuver; he might get lucky once or twice, but it was impossible to be lucky every time.

"I must reach the Qi Refinement Stage!" This thought was incredibly clear and firm.

In the original owner's memories, countless Utility Disciples were stuck at the "guiding Qi into the body" stage, hopeless for life. The reasons were nothing more than two points: Aptitude was too poor, and resources were too scarce.

Aptitude, he could not change. But resources... now he had them!

Twenty-five Low-Grade Spirit Stones, three fire flame pills, and the relatively dense (compared to the Miscellaneous Chores Courtyard) water and earth Spiritual Qi environment within this dark river.

He needed a thorough transformation to walk further on this perilous road.

Lin Ye used a few broken stones to slightly cover the entrance of the stone niche, forming a relatively enclosed and safe small space.

He sat cross-legged, first swallowing a bigu pill to ensure his body's energy. Then, he picked up a Low-Grade Spirit Stone and held it in his palm.

The Spirit Stone felt warm and smooth in his hand, emitting pure, attribute-less, and gentle Spiritual power.

He closed his eyes, discarded distracting thoughts, and began trying to sense and guide the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi according to the "Qingyun Basic Qi Guiding Technique" that he knew by heart from the original owner's memories, yet had never succeeded with.

The Utility Disciple's Aptitude was indeed terrible. Even though his mind was calm, even though he was in a place with slightly denser Spiritual Qi, and even though he held a Spirit Stone, he could still only feel the extremely thin and difficult-to-capture Spiritual Qi currents in the surrounding air, like catkins in the wind, difficult to grasp.

Time passed bit by bit.

One hour, two hours...

The faint light of the Spirit Stone in his palm dimmed a little, but his Qi Sea was still empty, with only a trace of cool air, weak enough to be almost negligible, wandering through his Meridians for a circle before dissipating.

Lin Ye did not feel anxious. The patience he had honed while tackling complex projects in his past life played a role at this moment. He was like the most seasoned hunter, waiting patiently.

He tried adjusting his breathing, putting his attention not only on the outside world but also starting to look inward at himself—this was an experience the original owner had never had. Perhaps it was the mental mutation brought by Transmigration, or perhaps it was a side effect of the Opportunity visualization Golden Finger, he could actually vaguely "see" the outlines of several main Meridians within his body, as well as the trajectory of that pitiful wisp of Spiritual Qi wandering inside.

"It's too scattered... it needs guidance, it needs a core..."

With a thought, he diverted a trace of attention to the ancient ring on his left index finger. The dark silver ring sat quietly, transmitting a faint feeling of coldness and a trace of sharpness. He tried to use his consciousness to touch that sharpness.

Hum...

The ring vibrated extremely slightly, and a cool aura, more condensed and "sharper" than the external Spiritual Qi, slowly flowed into his body along the Meridians of his finger.

Was it metal Evil Qi? Or some kind of power contained within the ring itself?

After this aura entered his Meridians, it did not scatter like ownerless Spiritual Qi; instead, it acted like an invisible carving knife. Everywhere it passed, a faint stinging sensation came, but it also made his perception of his Meridians become exceptionally clear!

This is it!

Lin Ye seized this moment, which had become incredibly clear due to the stinging pain, and fully operated the Qi Guiding Technique, using that wisp of "sharp aura" as a guide to crazily capture and gather the ownerless Spiritual Qi drifting in the air!

Whoosh—

It was as if a breeze had arisen within the stone niche. More Spiritual Qi was drawn, gathering and drilling into his body through his mouth, nose, and pores, being carried by that wisp of "sharp aura," following specific Meridian routes, rushing towards the location of his Dantian Qi Sea!

Boom!

It was as if some barrier had been broken.

A large amount of Spiritual Qi surged into a chaotic, void-like place, rotating, compressing, and precipitating there...

A weak, yet real and undeniable cool sensation was born in his Dantian and stabilized!

Qi Refinement Stage Level One! It's done!

Lin Ye suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of bright light passing through them. He felt a weak but definitely existing power circulating in his Dantian; although it was as thin as a gossamer thread, this was a qualitative leap! From now on, he was no longer a Mortal, but a Cultivator of the Qi Refinement Stage who had stepped onto the path of immortality!

He opened his hand; the Low-Grade Spirit Stone in his palm had completely dimmed, turning into an ordinary grayish-white stone, its Spiritual power exhausted.

But he did not feel heartache. It was worth it!

After the Breakthrough, he did not stop. Striking while the iron was hot, he picked up the "Qi Concealment Technique" Jade Slip.

The meager Spiritual power of the first level of Qi Refinement was already barely enough to support him in reading and practicing this basic technique.

The principle of the "Qi Concealment Technique" was not complicated; it was to imitate vegetation, grass, and rocks, to maximize the containment and concealment of his own Spiritual power fluctuations and blood Qi, or even to simulate a lower-level or completely different aura.

Lin Ye immersed himself in it, comparing it with the wisp of Spiritual power that had just been born within him, and began to try.

The first time, failure. The aura leaked.

The second time, barely contained, but it appeared stiff.

The third time, the fourth time...

After consuming another Low-Grade Spirit Stone to replenish his Spiritual power, and with that "sharp aura" from the ring seemingly having an implicit auxiliary effect on the fine control of Spiritual power, after failing dozens of times—

The weak Spiritual power fluctuations around his body, which were unique to a Cultivator of the Qi Refinement Stage, retreated like a receding tide and completely disappeared. At this moment, sitting there, his aura was weak and ordinary, no different from a Mortal with a slightly stronger body.

Qi Concealment Technique, mastered!

Lin Ye let out a long breath of turbid air, carrying a faint gray color; those were a few Impurities expelled from his body. He moved his body and was pleasantly surprised to find that not only had the wound on his shoulder blade healed for the most part, but even the fatigue of his body had been swept away, and his five senses seemed to have become a bit sharper.

Is this the feeling of a Cultivator?

Although it was only the lowest level, the slight improvement in the level of life brought a completely different experience.

He looked at the remaining twenty-three Spirit Stones, two fire flame pills, and one bigu pill. He touched the blood curse secret letter in his bosom again and looked at the ancient ring on his left hand that was pointing the way.

Strength is the foundation for dealing with everything. Now, he had preliminary confidence.

Lin Ye composed his mood, preparing to continue exploring.

He tried to communicate with the ancient ring on his left hand again; that sense of being pulled towards the "sharp" object deep inside became even clearer. And the blood curse secret letter in his bosom, upon sensing that he had broken through to the Qi Refinement Stage and that his Spiritual power had been born, seemed to vibrate slightly, transmitting a trace of... more urgent desire?

As if urging him to complete some unfinished mission.

He stood up, feeling the wisp of weak Spiritual power circulating within his body, keeping the Qi Concealment Technique running, making himself look like an unremarkable Mortal Utility Disciple.

His gaze was cast towards the depths of the passage, into that endless darkness.

The end of Outer Sect Deacon Zhou Yuan's map, the pool of mystic yin true water.

The source of the ancient ring's induction.

The place vaguely pointed to by the blood curse secret letter.

And... behind all of this, that lingering name—Chen Mo.

It is time to go and meet him.