6: Chapter 6 Initial Qi Induction

As the first light of dawn leaked through the beams of the ancient temple, Lu Mingyuan had already been sitting cross-legged for a full two hours.

He maintained the posture of the five centers facing heaven, his back as straight as a pine, and his breathing long and even. Following the Mind-Cultivation Technique of the "Classic of Purity and Tranquility" taught by Xuanweizi, his consciousness sank into his Dantian, repeatedly moving that soybean-sized Qi Seed. He had completed thirty-six cycles of the Microcosmic Orbit; with each cycle, the Qi Seed grew a bit stronger, and its flow became a bit smoother.

The initial difficulties had long since passed. Now, drawing the Qi through his Meridians was like a stream naturally flowing along a set riverbed. Wherever the warm current passed, his Meridians felt a pleasant tingling and stretched out, and every limb and bone was immersed in an unprecedented sense of fullness.

But he did not stop.

Xuanweizi’s words from last night still echoed in his ears: "Cultivation is like rowing against the current; to not advance is to fall back. Although your talent is excellent, you need to be even more diligent—in this Dharma Ending Age, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is becoming increasingly thin, and every bit of cultivation is hard-won."

Lu Mingyuan understood the weight of these words. Having spent ten years on the imperial examinations, he knew well the principle that "diligence can make up for a lack of talent." Now that he had stepped onto the path of cultivation, this Heart-Nature had instead become an advantage. Since he had decided to walk this path, he would take it to the extreme.

Midway through the thirty-seventh cycle of the Microcosmic Orbit, a sudden change occurred.

The Qi Seed in his Dantian trembled violently without warning. It wasn't the usual rhythmic pulsation, but a near-frenzied, chaotic vibration. Lu Mingyuan's heart tightened, and he hurriedly focused on internal vision—under the All-encompassing Clarity vision, he "saw" the silver glow at the center of the Qi Seed spinning madly, absorbing a large amount of milky-white Spiritual Qi from the surroundings with every rotation.

That Spiritual Qi did not come from the outside world, but seeped spontaneously from his limbs, bones, and internal organs!

"This is..." Before Lu Mingyuan could think further, another change occurred.

Beneath the ancient temple, the five intersecting Earth Veins suddenly lit up simultaneously. Boundless cyan Spiritual Qi gushed out from the Earth Vein nodes, surging through the ground like five torrents directly toward where he sat. The moment the Spiritual Qi infused his body, Lu Mingyuan’s entire frame shook violently, and a roar like a rushing river sounded in his ears.

"Not good!" Xuanweizi’s startled cry came from nearby. "Earth Vein resonance?! Quickly, steady your mind and guide the Spiritual Qi into your Dantian!"

Lu Mingyuan gritted his teeth to steady himself. He forcibly suppressed his churning blood and Qi, and following the "Absorbing Qi and Returning to the Source" method recorded in the "Classic of Purity and Tranquility," his consciousness transformed into an invisible hand, attempting to grasp the Spiritual Qi flooding in. But the Spiritual Qi was too vast, like a bursting dam; his consciousness was like a small boat tossing in the torrent, liable to capsize at any moment.

At the critical moment, the All-encompassing Clarity talent at his brow suddenly lit up.

A pale golden light screen spread from his brow, instantly enveloping his entire body. Under the cover of this light screen, the frenzied torrents of Spiritual Qi suddenly "slowed down"—no, it wasn't that the Spiritual Qi had slowed, but that Lu Mingyuan’s perception had been accelerated. Within the All-encompassing Clarity vision, he could clearly see the flow trajectory, elemental affinity, and even the subtle information contained within every wisp of Spiritual Qi.

The Earth Vein Spiritual Qi was divided among the Five Elements: cyan belonged to Wood, coming from the eastern Earth Vein; red belonged to Fire, from the south; white belonged to Metal, from the west; black belonged to Water, from the north; and yellow belonged to Earth, from the center. The five-colored Spiritual Qi was originally mixed and conflicting, but under the gaze of the Eye of Clarity, they actually began to separate and reorder themselves, slowly rotating according to some ancient law.

"The Five Elements cycle, generating and overcoming each other..." Lu Mingyuan had a sudden moment of realization.

He no longer forcibly suppressed it; instead, he released his restraints and allowed the five-colored Spiritual Qi to flood into his body. His consciousness no longer tried to control everything, but instead became a guiding pointer, lightly nudging the torrent of Spiritual Qi—

Wood generates Fire; the eastern cyan Qi flowed and merged into the southern red Qi;

Fire generates Earth; the red Qi merged into the central yellow Qi;

Earth generates Metal; the yellow Qi nourished the western white Qi;

Metal generates Water; the white Qi spurred the northern black Qi;

Water generates Wood; the black Qi returned to the cyan Qi.

A perfect cycle of Five Elements mutual generation naturally took shape within his body.

As the cycle was established, the frenzied torrent of Spiritual Qi immediately became docile, flowing into the Dantian like a hundred rivers returning to the sea. That small Qi Seed devoured the incoming Spiritual Qi madly, its volume expanding at a rate visible to the naked eye—from the size of a soybean to a date pit, then to the size of a chicken egg...

"Stop! It can't grow any more!" Xuanweizi’s voice carried a rare urgency. "The Dantian in the Qi Refinement Stage is limited; excessive Spiritual Qi will burst your Meridians!"

Lu Mingyuan also felt his limit. A swelling pain came from his Dantian, and his Meridians were like a leather bag stretched to its limit, liable to tear at any moment. He strained to operate the Mind-Cultivation Technique, trying to expel the excess Spiritual Qi from his body, but too much was flooding in, and the speed of expulsion could not keep up.

At the critical moment, the classic of mountains and seas scroll in his robe suddenly felt warm.

A silvery-white stream of light seeped out from the ancient scroll and slipped into his body through his lapel. That stream of light spread out like a spiderweb, quickly attaching itself to the inner walls of every Meridian, forming a flexible membrane. The moment the membrane formed, the swelling pain in his Meridians drastically decreased, and the pathways that were on the verge of collapse actually stabilized.

"The ancient scroll is protecting its master?" Xuanweizi breathed a sigh of relief, but a deeper look of astonishment flashed in his eyes.

With the crisis averted, Lu Mingyuan focused all his energy on guiding the Spiritual Qi. The cluster of Qi in his Dantian had expanded to the size of a fist, perfectly round and emitting a warm white-gold light. At the core of the Qi cluster, the five-colored Spiritual Qi rotated slowly according to the positions of the Five Elements, with a single silver spark at the center remaining as steady as a star.

"Is this... a Five Elements Foundation Establishment?" Xuanweizi murmured. "No, there's also the Confucian Noble Spirit merging in; it should be the prototype of the 'Primordial One Qi'... No, that's not right either. Why is there also the Dao rhyme of the Eye of Clarity in this aura?"

The old Daoist stared at Lu Mingyuan, his gaze complex and difficult to read. He had cultivated for hundreds of years and seen countless geniuses and prodigies, but someone like this—who, upon their first attempt at drawing Qi, could trigger Earth Vein resonance, receive protection from an ancient scroll, and spontaneously condense a Natal True Qi containing multiple characteristics... was unheard of.

"the one that escaped... truly extraordinary," he whispered.

After another fifteen minutes, the infusion of Earth Vein Spiritual Qi gradually weakened. As the last wisp of Spiritual Qi entered his Dantian, Lu Mingyuan’s whole body shuddered, and some invisible barrier was broken.

*Crack—*

A crisp sound of shattering echoed deep within his consciousness.

Immediately afterward, his Five Senses and Six Consciousnesses expanded outward like a tide. He could hear the faint sound of dew rolling off a blade of grass ten yards away, distinguish the scents of seven different plants mixed in the wind, and "see" the Threads of Spiritual Mechanism floating in the air, a hundred times thinner than a hair. He could even clearly discern the path of an earthworm crawling three inches beneath the soil outside the ancient temple.

Even more wondrous was the perception of himself.

The sound of blood flowing in his veins, the force of every heartbeat, the rhythm of his lungs expanding and contracting, even the minute vibrations of every muscle fiber... everything was clear to his heart. He "saw" three hundred and sixty-five points of light light up within his body; those were the body's Heavenly Circulation Acupoints, which were currently flickering with his breath, performing a faint exchange with the external Spiritual Qi.

"The Qi Refinement Stage is achieved." Lu Mingyuan opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

That breath was like a white silk ribbon, shooting out three feet before slowly dissipating. The breath was tingled with a faint golden glow, which was the Noble Spirit that had not yet been fully refined, along with a five-colored shimmer, the remnants of the Five Elements Spiritual Qi.

Xuanweizi stared at him for a long while before suddenly asking, "How do you feel?"

Lu Mingyuan carefully sensed the changes in his body and said slowly, "As if a heavy burden has been lifted, yet also like being reborn. There seems to be infinite energy within me, and my five senses are more than ten times sharper. Also..." He reached out his hand, and with a slight movement of his will, a white-gold vortex the size of a walnut slowly condensed in his palm. "I can control the external release of Spiritual Qi."

"At the First Level of Qi Refining, you can already manifest Spiritual Qi externally, and it's as solid as substance..." Xuanweizi shook his head with a bitter smile. "Ordinary Cultivators must reach the third level of Qi Refining to have such cultivation. You..."

He did not continue, but the worry in his eyes grew heavier. The higher the talent, the greater the tribulation; this was an iron law of the cultivation world. The Aptitude shown by the young man before him could no longer be described as "Genius"—he was simply a Prodigy. For such a being to be born in this Dharma Ending Age, was it hope, or an even greater calamity?

Lu Mingyuan did not know what the old Daoist was thinking; he was immersed in the joy of his Breakthrough. He tried to manipulate the shape of the vortex—turning it into a lotus, condensing it into a small sword, and then scattering it into starlight... Though it was unrefined, he truly felt the existence of "power."

This was not words in a book, nor a phantom imagination, but a real power held in his hand that could change reality.

"Daoist, does this count as me officially stepping through the gates of cultivation?" he couldn't help but ask.

Xuanweizi composed himself and said solemnly, "The Qi Refinement Stage is only the starting point. There are nine realms of cultivation: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Refining, Body Integration, Mahayana, and Undergoing Tribulation. Each realm is further divided into nine levels. You are currently only at the First Level of Qi Refining; you are still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the true Great Dao of cultivation."

He paused, and his tone softened: "However, the first step is always the hardest. To be able to break through in a single day and have such a solid Foundation, you have already surpassed ninety-nine percent of the Cultivators in this world. Remember today’s insights, Cultivate diligently, and do not waste this talent."

Lu Mingyuan bowed solemnly. "I will keep it in mind."

Xuanweizi nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "When you were drawing Qi just now, did you feel a Bottleneck?"

"A Bottleneck?" Lu Mingyuan recalled carefully. "It seems... no. Although the influx of Spiritual Qi was frenzied, its operation was as smooth as a natural progression."

"As I thought..." A look of "just as I expected" flashed in Xuanweizi’s eyes. "When ordinary people draw Qi into their bodies, they must first break through the 'Heaven and Earth Mysterious Pass.' That is the gateway connecting the Dantian to the outside world, and it is exceptionally sturdy, often requiring several months of hard work to break through. But you... the Earth Vein Spiritual Qi poured directly into your crown, and the Mysterious Pass opened on its own. For you, this most difficult hurdle has instead become the easiest."

He sighed deeply. "The first step is always the hardest, yet also the easiest. The distinction between hard and easy lies not in the task, but in the person."

Lu Mingyuan pondered these words, having a moment of insight.

Outside the window, the morning sun had completely risen, and golden sunlight spilled into the ancient temple, illuminating the fine dust floating in the air. Lu Mingyuan looked toward that light, and a surge of heroic ambition suddenly rose in his heart.

So what if the path of the imperial examinations was cut off?

The path before him was millions of times broader than that one.

He clenched his hand, the white-gold vortex swirling between his fingers.

The First Level of Qi Refining was only the beginning.