4: Autumn Moon River Nourishing Qi Formula

He grabbed the genealogy record thrown at the cave entrance, held it tightly in his arms, and without looking back, sprinted towards home!

His footsteps were exceptionally clear in the silent night.

Not until he ran back to the low courtyard wall of his home did he dare to stop. Leaning against the cold earthen wall, he panted heavily, his chest heaving violently as the raw, cold air poured into his lungs, burning like fire.

He tilted his head to listen; the courtyard was deathly still, with only his father's dull snoring faintly audible.

Like a thief, he cautiously pushed open the broken wooden door and slipped inside, turning back to gently slide the door bolt into place, his movements as swift as a gust of wind.

Leaning against the cold door panel, he finally felt the lingering fear. Cold sweat had long since soaked through his thin inner garment, sticking clammily to his back.

Feeling his way to the edge of the earthen kang where he slept, he carefully placed the treasure—covered in moss, dust, and mud—on the edge of the bed.

A beam of moonlight fell squarely through a hole in the window paper, shining directly onto it.

This thing... can it really be used for immortal cultivation?

Li Qinghe examined it closely by the dim light.

This so-called "genealogy record"—how could it be a book or a scroll? It was clearly a section of an old, decayed tree root! It was a pitch-black lump with a pitted surface, covered in a thick layer of slimy, cold moss, emitting a foul, fishy stench like river silt that made one want to retch.

Frowning and suppressing his disgust, he used his fingers to pick away the moss and mud bit by bit. The material revealed underneath was a wood so dark it was black, cold and heavy to the touch, feeling harder than stone.

"The information said... at the third interval of midnight, place it under the moonlight..."

He looked up at the moon outside the window, then down at the black, dirty "old tree root" on the edge of the kang, his heart pounding with uncertainty.

This thing, no matter how one looked at it, seemed like a piece of rotten wood that had been soaked in river silt for a thousand years! Could it really reveal some sort of cultivation technique?

Time passed bit by bit.

The night grew deeper, and the last faint sounds in the village vanished completely, leaving only the silent stillness and the cold moonlight outside the window.

【The third interval of the Hour of the Rat!】

This thought was like a cold electric current, instantly surging through Li Qinghe's head!

He gave a sudden start, as if lashed by an invisible whip, and all traces of sleepiness vanished.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the heavy, cold "old tree root" and walked on tiptoe to the window.

The old-fashioned wooden lattice window was covered with paper that had long since turned yellow and brittle, riddled with holes.

Finding a slightly larger hole, he held his breath and carefully poked one end of the old tree root through it, resting it steadily on the cold windowsill outside.

He ensured it was fully exposed to the cold moonlight.

Then, holding his breath and widening his eyes, he stared intently at the section of wood exposed to the moonlight.

One second... two seconds... three seconds... nothing happened. The moonlight was still cold, and the wood still lay there, pitch black.

Li Qinghe's heart sank bit by bit. Was the information wrong?

Could it be that after all his effort—nearly drowning and then risking everything to steal it—this was really just a piece of rotten, soaked wood?

Just as he was about to lose interest in the piece of wood in his hand!

A sudden change occurred!

On the surface of the dark wood heart exposed to the moonlight, deep within the uneven textures, it was as if an invisible spark had instantly ignited! Countless extremely tiny specks of light, like ghostly blue fireflies, erupted without warning!

These light specks were not lifeless; like spiritual dust, they began to frantically flow and converge along the seemingly chaotic and messy grain of the wood's surface!

The ghostly blue flow of light grew stronger and clearer. No longer scattered points, they condensed into slender yet incredibly agile threads of light!

These lines of light connected, intertwined, and combined in a profound way, quickly outlining wriggling, tadpole-like characters on the palm-sized cross-section of the wood!

Li Qinghe's eyes bulged, nearly popping out of his head! He clamped his hand over his mouth to prevent a cry of surprise from escaping! His heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of his throat!

Those ghostly blue glowing characters flowed extremely fast, yet they were eerily and clearly reflected in his eyes, as if etched directly into his Divine Soul:

【Autumn Moon River Qi Nurturing Art】

【Moonlight like water, draw Qi into the body. Guard the Dantian with the mind, as if embracing the bright moon. Observe the surging of rivers, feel the rise and fall of tides...】

【...Qi like a stream, trickling at first, merging into the Dantian, gradually becoming a river...】

【Heavenly Spirit Enlightenment... forging the Profound Wheel, circulating the Cosmic Cycle... unending and ever-renewing.】

The technique was not long, consisting of only a few hundred characters flowing with a moonlight-like radiance. They were not static but flowed and drifted on the wood like living things, emitting a cool, vast, and life-filled Dao charm.

Every talismanic character carried the boundless imagery of surging rivers and the moon illuminating the world.

Li Qinghe watched, entranced. All the blood in his body seemed to rush to his brain; he was struck by a massive wave of ecstasy and an indescribable sense of the profound!

He greedily and desperately memorized every word and every trajectory of the flowing light, terrified of missing even the slightest detail!

This was the method of immortal cultivation! Drawing Qi into the body! He had finally found the path!

Just then!

“Squeak—”

The dilapidated wooden door behind him was pushed open without warning!

A beam of dim, flickering lamplight instantly pierced the darkness of the room, ruthlessly interrupting the flowing light talismans on the dark wood heart!

The ghostly blue flow of light, like a swarm of startled fireflies, suddenly scattered and went out! The wood instantly reverted to that pitch-black, unremarkable piece of decayed wood!

Li Qinghe's Soul Flew Away and Spirit Scattered in terror; the hair all over his body stood on end! He spun around abruptly, his heart nearly stopping at that moment!

Standing at the door was his mother, Madam Li Zhang.

She wore a thin, old jacket draped over her shoulders and held a small oil lamp in her hand, its dim glow dancing on her face, which was etched with exhaustion and worry.

Her eyes were squinted from the sudden light, carrying the daze of someone just awakened. Her gaze first landed on Li Qinghe's panic-stricken face, then naturally followed his movements to his hands.

To the black piece of wood he had just pulled back from the window—still stained with mud and moss—and the hole poked through the window paper.

“Qinghe?”

Madam Zhang's voice was heavy with sleepiness and confusion, her brow furrowed into a knot, a mix of concern and bewilderment:

“In the middle of the night, what on earth are you holding? Why did you poke such a big hole in the window paper? What if you catch a cold?”

Her eyes stared intently at Li Qinghe and the dirty "root" in his hand, then glanced suspiciously at the broken window.

There was a boom in Li Qinghe's head, and his mind went blank! Cold sweat poured out like paste again, soaking his back in an instant!

He instinctively hid the wood behind his back, his lips trembling. It felt as if a piece of burning charcoal was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

It's over! I've been caught! How should I explain? Say I went to the ancestral hall to steal from the ancestors? Say this rotten wood can glow and contains immortal arts?

The panic of theft stunned him, his face as pale as paper under the dim yellow glow of the oil lamp.