Chapter 85 Internal Qi
After practicing the Qi-gazing technique on Senior Sister Zhou for quite some time, Li Yu finally looked away.
Although these two spells are not attack spells, they have many auxiliary effects.
The art of concealing one's energy can conceal oneself and is most suitable for ambushes and unexpected attacks at critical moments.
The Qi-Watching Technique can help you observe the enemy, understand their strength, and make the right choice whether to fight or retreat, so as to avoid being foolishly attacked and killed in one move, or being frightened by a bluffing enemy...
In the next few days, Li Yu did nothing else but practiced those two little spells.
After truly mastering these two spells, he deeply felt how brilliant the predecessors who created these two spells were.
He had tried it on several old friends in the Foundation Establishment Stage. After performing the Qi Concealment Technique, even if Li Yu stood in front of them, with their powerful consciousness at the Foundation Establishment Stage, they could not detect his presence.
The "undetectable" here does not mean that it cannot be seen, but that any fluctuations of magic power cannot be sensed. Even all the aura of his body is hidden.
Their eyes could see Li Yu, but their spiritual senses could sense nothing.
For cultivators, spiritual consciousness is their eyes. In a sense, spiritual consciousness is more important than eyes.
If Li Yu hid in the dark or hid underground using the earth escape technique, they would not be able to find him at all.
However, Li Yu was not sure whether this concealment effect was useful for strong people above the Jindan stage.
But according to what was written on the metal plate, the principle of the Qi Concealment Technique was a strange phenomenon produced after the fusion of the Five Elements, which fundamentally eliminated the fluctuations of magic power and breath.
Things that do not exist in the first place cannot be perceived.
As for the Qi-gazing Technique, it is equally magical. Normally, only the elders in the Foundation Establishment Stage can see through his cultivation. After performing the Qi-gazing Technique, their cultivation is no longer a secret in Li Yu's eyes.
What's even more amazing is that because the Qi-Viewing Technique is a more advanced spell based on the Qi-Hidden Technique, there is no fluctuation of magic power during the entire process when the Qi-Viewing Technique is performed, and they had no idea that they were being spied on by Li Yu.
Old Chen was somewhat emotional, and said, "After all, he is a cultivator of the Five Veins. Unlike useless people like us, he can actually practice this kind of heaven-defying magic that ignores realms..."
Lao Wang was somewhat dissatisfied with the term "waste". He snorted and said, "So what if he is cultivating five meridians together? He seems to be so proud now. After building the foundation, he will have a hard time. Boy, do you know how many Tuomai Pills are needed from just building the foundation to practicing until the foundation is complete?"
Li Yu knew about Tuomai Pill, which was an advanced version of Tongmai Pill. Even among the third-level pills, it was extremely difficult to refine. It could widen the spiritual veins and improve the cultivation of cultivators in the foundation-building stage.
But he really had no idea how many Tuomai Pills were needed for the entire foundation-building period.
Li Yu shook his head and said, "I don't know."
"Eighty-one, ninety-nine eighty-one..." Old Wang showed a gloating smile on his face, and asked: "Then do you know how many Tuomai Pills all the alchemists in the sect can refine every month?"
Although Li Yu is also an alchemist, he is only a first-grade one. Tuomai Pill is a top-grade third-grade pill. This question touched on his blind spot.
However, he heard from Wu Tong that the sect produces about a thousand second-level Tongmai Pills a month, so there must not be that many Tuomai Pills. Li Yu thought about it and randomly gave a number: "Two hundred?"
Lao Wang sneered and said, "Two hundred, that's all the output. Of the two hundred, one hundred and fifty are reserved for those geniuses, and the last fifty are reserved for foundation building elders like us. Do you know how many foundation building elders there are in the entire Kunlun?"
Without waiting for Li Yu to answer, he said, "Nearly two thousand!"
He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Two thousand people in the foundation-building stage are fighting for fifty Tuomai Pills. How many do you think you can get? Tongmai Pills can be bought with spirit coins, but Tuomai Pills cannot be bought even with spirit coins. It also depends on your contribution to the sect. You said that you need four hundred Tuomai Pills to reach the peak of foundation-building stage if you cultivate five spirit veins. What are the chances of forming a pill?"
Old Wang scratched his hairy head, gloating, and said jokingly: "Don't think you are young now. After more than 200 years, you will be like us old guys and will be buried sooner or later..."
Li Yu is still just refining Qi, and he has not thought deeply about what will happen after building the foundation.
When Lao Wang brought it up today, he had to consider it.
The first two realms of cultivating immortals, Qi Refining and Foundation Building, both cultivate the spiritual veins. Qi Refining is to open up the entire spiritual vein, while Foundation Building is to widen the spiritual vein. The ultimate goal is to allow the spiritual vein to accommodate more magic power.
But widening the spiritual veins is much more difficult than opening them up.
The time it takes to widen a spiritual vein is more than five times that of opening an acupuncture point.
Thousands of years ago, when the resources of the immortal cultivation world were still abundant, a sect conducted an experiment. A cultivator who had just established his foundation could widen a spiritual vein to its limit by taking eighty-one Tuomai Pills. Continuing to take Tuomai Pills would have no effect, so he could try to form a pill.
Geniuses like Senior Sister Qin and Senior Sister Xu can open up several acupoints in a month even without the help of Tongmai Pills, and it doesn’t take long to expand the meridians. For them, pills are just auxiliary, and they can quickly build a foundation through their own practice.
But Li Yu is different.
His talent is average, and he focuses on elixirs, supplemented by cultivation.
It took Li Yu four months of practice to open up one acupuncture point. If he wanted to widen his spiritual vein by one layer, even if he practiced diligently every day, it would take at least twenty months.
The effect of one Tuomai Pill is equivalent to his twenty months of hard training.
Eighty-one Tuomai Pills equal one thousand six hundred and twenty months, or one hundred and thirty-five years.
This is just the maximum speed, but no one can practice continuously for 135 years. In addition, there are bottlenecks of varying sizes that one will often encounter during one's own practice, so it is possible that this time may be doubled...
For those with poor talents, the defects of forcibly cultivating the five spiritual veins will be fully exposed at this time.
The number of Tuomai Pills was too small. Even if he worked hard to get one, he didn't know which spiritual vein it would be used on. He was not like Jiang Li and Qin Keren, who would be cultivated by the sect at all costs. After building his foundation, his cultivation speed would undoubtedly drop sharply...
By then, will he still be able to form a pill?
Thinking of this, Li Yu's heart was immediately shrouded in a cloud of darkness.
But soon, Li Yu reacted, looked at Lao Wang, and cursed: "Old man, you are dying and still want to ruin my Tao heart. My A-li has a heavenly spirit vein. After two hundred years, his Nascent Soul has probably formed. It's easy for you to help me form a pill. Do you think I'm the same as you old guys?"
Li Yu's words left several old foundation-building masters speechless.
Without morals, anything is possible.
But what he said also made a lot of sense. With his background, he would have established his foundation before he was 20 years old, and he still had 230 years to live. During these 230 years, even if he got a Tuomai Pill every year, coupled with his own efforts, he would have no problem cultivating to the peak of the late stage of foundation building by then.
By that time, his childhood sweetheart who was extremely talented should have already held a high position in the sect. If she could help him a little, or a few times... wouldn't she be able to achieve the Jin Dan stage?
After all, other people's luck is much better than theirs.
I am also thicker-skinned than them.
Old Chen couldn't help but sigh: "To cultivate immortality, you really have to be shameless. If Sun Zhen was as shameless as you, he should have formed a pill long ago..."
Lao Wang laughed even louder: "I have been practicing for two hundred years, and I have never seen many people as shameless as you, hahahaha..."
As he laughed, his voice gradually became softer.
Finally, the thin old man lay completely in the rocking chair, motionless...
…
Three days later.
Li Yu put away an urn, left Kunlun Cave Heaven, and headed towards the State of Wei.
Three days ago, Li Yu's neighbor, the mechanical engineer Lao Wang, died of excessive joy while chatting with them. According to his last wishes, Li Yu, with the permission of the sect, burned his body and sent his ashes to the State of Wei and handed them over to his descendants.
Also handed over to the descendants of the Wang family were some elixirs that Old Wang had purchased with spirit coins before his death that could be used by mortals, such as detoxifying elixirs, hemostatic elixirs, and intermittent elixirs. Li Yu handed them all over without leaving a single bottle.
The Wang family did not seem very sad about Old Wang's death.
After all, Old Wang lived for more than 200 years. His sons, grandsons, and even great-grandsons have all died long ago. The current Wang family has no idea how many generations they are his descendants, and it is impossible for them to have any deep feelings for this old ancestor.
Most immortal cultivators are like this. It’s fine in the first few decades, but in the last two hundred years, all their immediate relatives are gone, and they are basically alone. Even if their bloodlines survive, they don’t have much connection with their family. At most, they will lend a helping hand when the family is in danger.
Once you enter the immortal path, it is as deep as the ocean, and from then on your relatives become passers-by.
Therefore, when a cultivator looks for a Taoist partner, he will generally look for a cultivator with similar talents to himself. They will build the foundation together and form the elixir together. And unless he has no hope of becoming an immortal, he will basically not leave offspring.
Firstly, if the offspring has no talent for cultivation, then the old will surely send the young off. If the offspring has talent, it will also reduce his own cultivation resources, unless he is already in a high position and has no shortage of resources, such as those Jindan and Yuanying masters from the major sects...
In the world of immortal cultivation, the weak are not qualified to have children, and it is rare to see immortal cultivators in the Qi Refining and Foundation Building stages having offspring.
After Li Yu handed the ashes and elixirs to the Wang family, he left the Wang family.
What was promised to Lao Wang had been done, and he could safely accept the fruits of his life's work on mechanical engineering.
After doing all this, Li Yu did not rush back to his clan, but wandered around the streets of the Wei capital.
The Kunlun Cave Heaven is rich in spiritual energy, but extremely lacking in the worldly touch. Compared with immortal cultivators, these mortals’ lives are short, but they have also created their own prosperity. Li Yu really enjoys these worldly touches.
Cultivation is too boring and tedious. Basically, I have to worry about resources every day. When I am refining Qi, I worry about building the foundation. When I am building the foundation, I think about forming the pill. In a lifetime of hundreds of years, there is actually not much time that truly belongs to me. It is not as exciting as the short few decades of ordinary people.
Walking on the bluestone paved street, with people coming and going around him and the sound of voices in his ears, Li Yu also saw several cultivators along the way.
However, their cultivation level is not high, they are only at the first or second level of Qi Refining, and they should be casual cultivators living in the secular world.
Compared with the disciples of the sect, the survival of independent cultivators is undoubtedly very difficult. The secular world is not like those sacred mountains and caves with abundant spiritual energy, and there are no elixirs to increase cultivation. Everything can only rely on themselves. Their talents are generally not very high. Ninety-nine percent of independent cultivators will stop at refining Qi in their entire lives.
If Li Yu had not entered Kunlun at that time, he might be in the same situation as them now, and nothing would have happened later.
…
The capital of Wei State.
In a teahouse somewhere.
A handsome man was sitting in a corner by the window, sipping tea leisurely, occasionally pinching a piece of cake and putting it into his mouth, listening to the idle chatter of people in the teahouse, looking extremely relaxed.
The spiritual tea from the world of immortals is delicious, but secular tea also has its own unique flavor.
Especially these pastries, the taste is actually not inferior to the sect’s restaurant, but the price is much cheaper. Li Yu decided to bring some back for Jiang Li and Senior Sister Zhou to try.
Li Yu quite enjoyed drinking tea here and listening to these mortals talking about worldly matters.
"Hey, have you heard that the martial arts conference held every four years will start at noon today? Do you want to go and see the excitement?"
"Will this martial arts conference be held in our Wei Kingdom?"
"Yes, the location is Juxianzhuang, ten miles outside the west city. Martial arts masters from nearby countries have already arrived. Haven't you noticed that there are suddenly more strangers in the capital recently? Even the inns are full."
"I was wondering. Yesterday, I took Old Wu's wife to get a room. We went to three inns, but they were all full..."
…
A quarter of an hour later, a figure walked out of the west city gate and walked leisurely on the official road.
Li Yu had been planning to return to the clan after having tea, but he accidentally heard the people in the teahouse talking about a "Martial Arts Conference" being held in the capital of the Wei State, and he immediately became interested.
Although he was a cultivator, Li Yu, as a child, was influenced by various martial arts novels and TV dramas, and his dream was to become a martial arts master.
When he grew up, Li Yu learned that internal strength and light skills were all made up, and he was a little disappointed.
Because he had been interested in these things since he was a child, he learned fighting. He also dabbled in some traditional martial arts, such as Tai Chi, Xingyi, Wing Chun, etc., but the one he was best at and used most often was military fighting techniques.
I don’t know how the martial arts in this world differ from the martial arts that Li Yu knows.
Along the way, there were many people like Li Yu who went to Juxianzhuang to watch the martial arts conference. Li Yu just had to follow them.
Some of them were wearing tight-fitting long robes and looked like people from the martial arts world. Li Yu did not feel any fluctuations of magic power from them, but he did feel another kind of energy.
Li Yu used the Qi technique to see through the energy of a very small number of people.
There is something similar to magic power in their bodies, but it is not magic power. Judging from the fluctuations of their aura, it seems that the magic power is not inferior to that of immortal cultivators.
But this kind of energy is too little, and most people don't have even a trace of it in their bodies. Two middle-aged men around forty years old have the strength of two acupoints in the first level of Qi Refining. Only an old man with white hair and beard has the most energy in his body, which is equivalent to a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining.
It seems that the martial arts in this world are different from those on Earth. At least the martial arts masters on Earth do not have this kind of energy in their bodies. I wonder if it is the internal qi they cultivate.
The distance of ten miles was reached quickly. Li Yu arrived at the Juxian Manor they mentioned, and found that he needed an invitation to enter.
Many people were stopped outside the village gate because they did not have invitations.
This is normal. For this martial arts conference, masters from dozens of nearby countries will come, plus passers-by who come to watch the fun. If anyone can get in, no matter how big the venue is, it will not be able to accommodate them.
But even without an invitation, it is not impossible to get in.
The organizers of the martial arts conference have thought of it very carefully. In order to avoid missing out on the hidden masters or the unknown dark horses that have emerged in the martial arts world in recent years, anyone who can lift a stone lock at the gate of the village can immediately receive an invitation and be eligible to attend the conference.
This stone lock weighs a thousand pounds, and ordinary people cannot lift it at all, unless they are masters who have cultivated internal qi.
Those who were invited to the martial arts conference were precisely these internal martial arts masters.
At this moment, many people gathered around the huge stone lock and tried to open it.
A burly man, holding the stone lock in both hands, with a flushed face, can lift the stone lock for a short distance for a short time, but it is impossible to lift it up again.
After trying a few times, he gave up.
The man was extremely burly, with muscular body, and looked extremely strong. Even he couldn't lift it, let alone others. After he put down the stone lock, no one tried for a while.
At this time, a figure walked out from the crowd and slowly walked to the stone lock.
This also startled the crowd. The young man who walked to the stone lock was definitely no more than 20 years old. He was a little thin and did not look like a martial artist. He looked more like a scholar.
The burly man who was feeling annoyed was stunned for a moment, then he couldn't help laughing, and couldn't help but kindly remind him: "Hey, pretty boy, this stone lock weighs a thousand pounds, don't try to show off, or you'll break your arms or your feet..."
Before he could finish his words, his mouth just hung open, his eyes widened, and an expression of extreme shock appeared on his face.
The young man was seen holding the stone lock in one hand, lifting it above his head easily, and then placing it gently on the ground. He looked extremely relaxed and it was obvious that he still had some strength to spare.
The crowd was shocked for a moment.
"This young man!"
"When did such a young master appear in the martial arts world?"
"He's only twenty years old, and he's already cultivated the inner Qi?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely have a place in the martial arts world in thirty years!"
…
As soon as Li Yu put down the stone lock, a middle-aged man in a green shirt ran over and said, "Young man, please come in!"
Although lifting a thousand-jin stone lock is something that even a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining can do, Li Yu was still very happy when he was called "young hero" for the first time.
Which boy who grew up in that era didn’t dream of being called “young hero”?
Under the guidance of the middle-aged man, Li Yu walked into Juxianzhuang.
There were not so many people inside the manor. There were very few young faces, and most of them were middle-aged and old people. Li Yu used the Qi-watching technique to observe that they all had that kind of power in their bodies to a greater or lesser extent, which should be the internal Qi that those people outside had just mentioned.
Li Yu could see the trajectory of the internal qi. The qi was obviously stored in the meridians in the warrior's body.
However, this meridian does not belong to any of the five spiritual meridians, nor does it overlap with the 360 major acupoints. It is located in the middle of the human body.
There are far more than 360 acupuncture points in the human body, but the immortal cultivators only cultivate five spiritual veins and 360 major acupuncture points, and rarely touch other meridians in the human body. Li Yu has heard that some unorthodox methods do not cultivate spiritual veins, but cultivate other meridians in the human body...
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of swords clashing interrupted Li Yu's thoughts.
On a high platform not far ahead, two figures were fighting, one using a knife and the other a sword, and the fight was hard to determine. Many figures gathered around the platform, talking a lot.
"Mr. Huang's sword is even more powerful than it was four years ago."
"Wang Shuo's Lingyun footwork has also become more mature. Although Mr. Huang's swordsmanship is domineering, did you notice that he can't even touch the corner of Wang Shuo's clothes? If this continues, Mr. Huang's physical strength will definitely be exhausted first. After all, he is twenty years older than Wang Shuo..."
"Not necessarily. He is twenty years older and has accumulated twenty more years of true energy. In a battle of this level, no one knows who will win or lose until the last moment."
"It's a pity that this Hegemonic Sword Skill is gone. The Huang family's sword skills are only passed down to the Huang family. Unfortunately, Mr. Huang has no children. In another twenty years, I'm afraid that the power of the Hegemonic Sword will no longer be seen in the martial arts world..."
…
On the stage, swords and sabers flashed and clashed.
In the audience, a young man was watching with great interest.
Li Yu is more interested in watching warriors fight against cultivators.
The fight on the ring was very exciting. Li Yu estimated that in his previous life, he would have been killed instantly if he had faced any of these .
It’s not that his skills are not good, his fighting skills are still very practical. The key is that he doesn’t have internal energy, so his speed and strength are definitely not as good as those martial arts masters. If everyone doesn’t have internal energy and magic power, then he can still fight with the opponent.
Of course, the chances of him losing are higher.
The strength of these two people is already top-notch masters in martial arts novels. In the real world, even the world-class fighting champion is not enough for them to defeat.
This domineering sword technique, combined with the internal energy, is extremely powerful, yet flexible and changeable, and Li Yu's eyes sparkled.
He was best at firearms and hand-to-hand combat, and was also quite good with daggers. As for ancient weapons like swords and knives, he could only do some fancy tricks. Now, watching the old man's swordsmanship, he couldn't help but envy him. This was how he used a sword...
Li Yu used the Qi-watching technique to observe that when the two men were fighting, the power in their bodies was also traveling around their bodies. The difference was that the middle-aged man's true Qi was mostly concentrated in his feet, so his footwork was very graceful and he was very flexible in dodging and moving.
As for the burly old man, most of his energy was concentrated in his arms, and each of his sword strikes was powerful and fierce.
Li Yu could see with the Qi-gazing technique that although the old man had gray hair, his blood and qi were very sufficient, not inferior to the middle-aged man at all. However, the blood vessels in a certain part of his lower body seemed to be blocked. Under the Qi-gazing technique, most parts of his body were emitting a faint red light, except for that part, which was extremely dim...
On the ring, although the middle-aged man's swordsmanship was not that fierce, his footwork was extremely brilliant. He dodged and moved smoothly, and no matter how domineering the old man's swordsmanship was, he could still weave through it and deal with it with ease.
clang!
The old man in red on the stage suddenly made a feint, and it was too late for the middle-aged man to change his moves. Facing the horizontal slash of the knife, he could only hastily block it. With a crisp sound, the long sword in his hand was cut off, and the whole person was blasted out of the ring by this huge force. A blood line appeared on his shoulder, and his clothes were instantly stained red with blood.
He tapped the shoulder twice to slow down the blood flow. When he was about to tear off his sleeve to bandage it, a white pill with four beautiful lines on it was handed to him.
A handsome young man said, "Take it to stop the bleeding."
The middle-aged man glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, then took the pill and threw it into his mouth.
People in the martial arts world are not particular about trivial matters. This young man gave people a sense of familiarity, and he did not doubt anything.
The pill melted in his mouth and he felt a heat rushing to the wound. When he looked down, he found that the blood in the wound had solidified instantly and not a drop was flowing out.
After years of wandering around the world, this was the first time he had seen such a magical elixir, which was almost better than any healing medicine he had ever used.
Shocked, the middle-aged man immediately clasped his fists to the young man and said, "Thank you."
Li Yu nodded slightly and said, "You're welcome."
At this time, the old man also jumped off the platform and asked, "Are you okay?"
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Swords have no eyes, and injuries are inevitable. Mr. Huang's swordsmanship is indeed domineering. Wang admires it."
The old man also said: "Your footwork is also very powerful. If I didn't have twenty years more experience fighting enemies than you, I would have been the loser today."
After that, he looked at the wound on the middle-aged man's shoulder in surprise and asked Li Yu, "What did you give him to eat? He was injured by my sword, but the bleeding stopped so quickly. I have lived for fifty years, and this is the first time I have seen such an effective medicine for wounds..."
Li Yu smiled and said, "This is a hemostatic pill. No matter how serious the injury is, taking one pill will stop the bleeding immediately."
For people in the martial arts world, getting injured is commonplace, and bleeding is even more inevitable. After witnessing such a magical elixir with his own eyes, the old man surnamed Huang couldn't help but be tempted and said, "How much is one of your elixirs? I'll buy a bottle..."
Li Yu shook his head and said, "This elixir is not for sale. If you want it, you can exchange it for martial arts skills. I don't have any other hobbies, but I like to collect various martial arts secrets..."
"Use the technique to exchange?"
“Who would be willing to do this?”
"Let's go, let's go..."
Originally, many martial arts masters present had ideas about this magical hemostatic pill. Even though it was a little expensive, they planned to prepare two bottles, which could be used to save lives at critical moments.
But when they heard that this elixir could only be exchanged and not sold, and that it had to be exchanged for secret manuals of martial arts, they all gave up the idea.
