Volume 1: Questioning the Past Chapter 3: Qi Condensation Level 1
Along the way, there are orchids in the valley, exotic plants and flowers, occasional pavilions, jade tiles and blue bricks, and even ethereal mist. It is quiet and peaceful. Compared with Fulai Village, this place is like a fairyland.
Cui Yan led Gu Xiaoxing all the way and explained many things along the way, which made Gu Xiaoxing have a deeper understanding of the sect, cultivation, and soul-eating insects.
Cui Yan finally believed what Gu Xiaoxing said, thinking that this was the poor nephew of Elder Bai, so he spoke to him in a friendly manner, told him everything he knew, and took Gu Xiaoxing to the sundries department to get some things.
In addition to some daily necessities, it also includes a storage bag, five spirit stones, and a book on cultivation techniques.
The storage bag and cultivation techniques were naturally distributed by the sect, but the five spirit stones were taken care of by Cui Yan. You know, ordinary disciples only had one when they first entered the sect.
"Brother Gu, your residence is ahead. I have explained everything that needs to be explained. Although I don't know why Master Bai specifically arranged you to be here, I think he wants to train you. I dare not say more."
"Thank you, Brother Cui!"
Gu Xiaoxing thanked him sincerely. He noticed the weirdness in Cui Yan’s eyes, but he felt it was no big deal. What kind of horrible creatures had he not seen along the way?
After all, this is inside the Soul-Devouring Sect, how could it be haunted?
"Close the door tightly after nightfall and don't go out, remember!" Cui Yan finally reminded them and then left.
"Hmm?" Gu Xiaoxing blinked and felt guilty.
Ahead was a small logging site. There were a few houses and lying wood around it, as well as a few large axes standing on wooden stakes. It looked a bit desolate and exceptionally quiet.
But the strange thing was that there was a piece of yellow talisman paper pasted on the door of each house, which made people feel uneasy.
"Senior Brother Du! Are you there?" Gu Xiaoxing called tentatively.
According to Cui Yan, there is another senior brother named Du here, but Gu Xiaoxing's calls received no response and there was total silence all around.
"Is it really haunted? It's a little too quiet!"
This made Gu Xiaoxing feel even more guilty, and he immediately encouraged himself, "Impossible, how could there be a ghost in broad daylight!"
Gu Xiaoxing quickly chose a house, slipped in and closed the door tightly, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
After tidying up a bit, Gu Xiaoxing sat down and took out a pill. He held it in his hand to look at it, and then swallowed it in one gulp. The pill dissolved in his mouth, and it seemed to turn into a warm feeling that flowed through his stomach and intestines. The feeling of hunger disappeared immediately, and his body became warm.
"Can a small pill really be so magical?"
Gu Xiaoxing was a little surprised. Naturally, he got the fasting pill from the sundries section.
Then he took out another book, not the one about cultivation techniques, but a book called "Miscellaneous Talks on Cultivation", which talked about what cultivation is and some basic knowledge about it.
Gu Xiaoxing did not dare to be careless. This was a matter of saving lives, not a joke. He read the book carefully, analyzing every word and studying it in detail. Gradually, he gained a deeper understanding of cultivation.
An hour passed...
Gu Xiaoxing sometimes frowned in thought, sometimes exclaimed in amazement, and sometimes looked at himself, as if he was verifying the information about the body recorded in the book.
"It turns out that the human body has three Dantians..."
Gu Xiaoxing touched his lower abdomen and said, "This is the lower Dantian. This is the foundation of cultivation. The Qi is condensed into a sea, which is also called the Qi Sea."
After a moment, Gu Xiaoxing touched his forehead again and frowned slightly, "This is the upper Dantian, the place where the spirit is hidden, also called the Niwan Palace, but now it has been occupied by the soul-eating insects ."
Another hour passed, and Gu Xiaoxing finally finished reading "Miscellaneous Talks on Cultivation". He did not start practicing immediately, but picked up the book of martial arts called "Spirit Control Technique" and began to read it. Finally, he closed his eyes and pondered for a long time. After he let out a long sigh, he had some enlightenment.
"I don't have wisdom, and I'm not the material for cultivation. I can't condense the sea of qi, but I was parasitized by the Soul Devouring Bug and became one with it. So... this Soul Devouring Bug has become a special 'sea of qi', and therefore, it is also called a Soul Devouring Body!"
"The practice of the Soul Devouring Body is different from the orthodox one. It takes the Soul Devouring Bug as the core and uses the Spirit Stone to guide it so that it no longer absorbs human flesh and blood, but instead absorbs spiritual energy. Then it uses the Spirit Controlling Technique to operate and control it, turning the spiritual energy into its own use, thus achieving the purpose of practice!"
After sorting out all of this, Gu Xiaoxing turned his gaze towards the spirit stone, his eyes sparkling and his heart filled with anticipation. He came to the Spirit Devouring Sect just for this moment.
Without any hesitation, he picked up a spirit stone and pressed it against his forehead. He felt the Soul Devouring Insect suddenly tremble. Then, the spirit stone gradually melted and was absorbed by the Soul Devouring Insect without leaving any. It turned into spiritual energy that filled the space, and his entire forehead became warm.
Gu Xiaoxing immediately assumed postures according to the instructions in the Yuling Jue. He did not know how to draw in energy, but as he assumed various postures and made various hand gestures in the Yuling Jue, the spiritual energy absorbed from the soul-eating insects naturally flowed into his body from his eyebrows and flowed through his meridians.
Gradually, Gu Xiaoxing's forehead began to sweat, and his whole body became hot. Wherever the spiritual energy flowed, it felt like boiling water was passing through it, and it was very hot, but he knew he couldn't stop, so he gritted his teeth and continued to guide it.
After the spiritual energy travels through the body's meridians for a cycle, it returns to the body of the soul-eating insect between the eyebrows, and finally turns into spiritual power that can be used by the body.
This is just the beginning. He must transform all the spiritual energy contained in the spirit stone into spiritual power before he can successfully draw in the energy.
As time passed, Gu Xiaoxing felt that the spiritual energy flowing through his meridians was gradually not so "hot". It seemed that his meridians were nourished and tempered by the spiritual energy. Instead, he felt warm and even liked this feeling.
Two hours later, when the last trace of spiritual energy returned to his brows, Gu Xiaoxing opened his eyes and felt refreshed and comfortable. The previous feeling of weakness was gone. Although he was not yet to the point where he had endless strength, he could clearly feel that everything in his body was changing for the better.
This immediately made Gu Xiaoxing very excited. He was sure that he... was saved!
Now, he has succeeded in drawing in the Qi and can sense the ethereal spiritual energy in the world. Even without relying on spirit stones, he can continue to practice. However, it is not as fast as relying on spirit stones to practice. He quickly took out another spirit stone and pressed it on his forehead.
It was already night by now, until a glimmer of light appeared in the sky again. Gu Xiaoxing finally refined and absorbed the last spirit stone. When he opened his eyes, a gleam of light flashed in his pupils. His whole body was filled with strength, and he felt extremely light, as if he had been stuck in the mud before, but now he had finally broken free and truly stood between heaven and earth.
At this moment, Gu Xiaoxing was on the road to transcendence and reached what the cultivation world called... the first level of Qi Condensation!
However , just as he was still marveling at the changes in himself, the door was opened with a bang.
