Jiang Yi temporarily pushed the matter of the demon form to the back of his mind and asked,
"Are all the palaces, manors, ditation Houses, and storerooms of Changming Heavenly Lake in your charge?"
Before Lu Jingshi left, he had already used his Great Magical Power to clear away most of the obstacles for him, leaving so leeway to improve his Cultivation.
The priority was to first reach the Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer, then petition the Celestial Book to deduce the supre-grade True Qi that was most compatible with "One Elent Spiritual Energy."
Once he refined that strand of Primordial Essence True Qi, he would be able to manifest Profound Light and develop Magical Power. By then, the paltry demon form would no longer be a threat.
The middle-aged Daoist in the cloth headscarf quickly replied:
"This humble one was enlightened by the Grandmaster and beca the Array Spirit of Changming Heavenly Lake over three thousand years ago. I have served two previous Daoists."
"From the main palaces and side halls to the alchemy rooms, spiritual herb gardens, artifact forges, and Quiet Chambers... I am intimately familiar with the opening and closing of all their restrictive arrays. This humble one only needs the Daoist’s command to open any of them for you."
Jiang Yi nodded. An Array Spirit was a type of Artifact Spirit, serving as the central hub for the grand array’s operation. It was like a manor’s head steward, aware of every last detail.
’Leaving everything for the Array Spirit to handle will certainly save a great deal of effort.’
’Otherwise, I’d have to master all sorts of restrictive seals and learn the Techniques to open the arrays myself, which would be far too ti-consuming and laborious.’
"I am still in the Qi Cultivation Realm. Take inventory of all the remaining books, Techniques, Great dicines, Treasure dicines, and any suitable Magical Artifacts in the manor. Compile a list and bring it to ."
’This Changming Heavenly Lake is a veritable, inexhaustible treasure trove,’ Jiang Yi mused. ’It’s just that my Cultivation is still too low. There are very few things I can actually use right now.’
’Once I reach Foundation Establishnt, learning alchemy, artifact refinent, and even the art of arrays will be a breeze.’
Jiang Yi then added,
"Also, open a Quiet Chamber for my training. And bring a few high-quality Spiritual Objects."
The middle-aged Daoist nodded in agreent, not daring to even entertain the thought, ’How could the Daoist still be in the Qi Cultivation Realm?’
The Array Spirit ford a hand seal and pointed. From the clouds, an Eight-Cornered Flying Tower slowly descended.
"This is the ’Spiritual Truth Abode.’ It is a top-tier treasured land designed for the Cultivation of Qi Cultivation Cultivators. It is fully furnished and helps one concentrate the mind and calm one’s qi. ditating here yields twice the results for half the effort."
Jiang Yi smiled faintly. ’The great risks I took to return to the sect were worth it. Even caught in the swirling conflict between the descendants of the Eight Emperors and the master-disciple lineage, just being able to take charge of Changming Heavenly Lake and beco the Innate Sect’s Daoist is enough to eliminate over Eighty Percent of the hurdles to Foundation Establishnt.’
"The limit is ten days. If I have not erged from my seclusion by then, you are to co wake ."
After giving his instructions, Jiang Yi set down True Master Xuanmiao, who had been in his arms. He tasked it with helping to organize the vast stores of Changming Heavenly Lake and also told it to rember to bring Xiaoqiao over, so she wouldn’t be left alone in the Lower Courtyard.
Once everything was arranged, he leaped into the Spiritual Truth Abode, sealed the doors and windows on all sides, and sat down cross-legged. He began to harmonize his body and mind, circulating the True Qi within.
The claims about the Spiritual Truth Abode were true—it was indeed a treasured place. Inside sat a silver-gilt Boshan censer, slowly refining the purest True Essence and releasing wisps of ethereal mist.
"Listen not with the ears, but with the heart; listen not with the heart, but with the spirit... The Dao gathers in the void alone. Such a void is the Fasting of the Heart."
Jiang Yi murmured to himself,
"’The most marvelous thing about this Spiritual Truth Abode is that it helps one directly enter the state of the ’Fasting of the Heart.’"
As he breathed, the Divine Sense within his Primordial Gate beca like the bright moon reflected on still water. Even if disturbed, it was like a ripple on the surface that quickly vanished, returning to placid calm.
Such a state of deep ditation was sothing only a High Cultivator could normally achieve.
As the saying goes: to cleanse the spirit as if with snow, to cast off all filth and burdens; to reject one’s own cleverness, to sever all conscious thought—this is the Fasting of the Heart.
In simple terms, it was a state of selfless focus, a singular concentration of will that made one’s Cultivation hundreds of tis more effective than normal.
’The resources of an Ancestral Sect are truly bottomless,’ Jiang Yi thought. ’Everything a Daoist uses is a treasure other Cultivators would kill for.’
Jiang Yi closed his eyes and looked inward. He focused his will, drawing in the abundant Spiritual Energy from the world around him and using it to continuously wash over the Foundation Establishnt Pill’s qi that hung high within his Inner Mansion.
’The Qi Cultivation General Outline from the [Shao Yang] Dao Inheritance provides a thod for condensing True Qi: gather the three conjoined dicines to achieve First Grade.’
’What seems like the most ti-consuming step—accumulating the embryonic breathing Spiritual Liquid—is actually the easiest for . Combining the yin number of six hundred sixty-six with the yang number of nine hundred ninety-nine is not difficult.’
’It’s the step of harvesting the Great dicine from within the body... that requires careful thought.’
Jiang Yi used the ’Mixed Refining Origin, Commander of Ten Thousand Truths’ Qi Cultivation General Outline as a reference, and once again petitioned the Celestial Book to get a definite answer.
The human body contains nineteen types of internal dicine. In the Qi Cultivation Realm, only six types can be nurtured and harvested, hence they are called the "Great dicine of the Six Harmonies."
Among them, "Illusory Primordial Qi," "Tai Yin True rcury," and "Tai Yang True Lead" are the upper three harmonies;
"Essence within the Spirit," "Water beneath Kan," and "Fire filling Li" are the lower three harmonies.
"’With the Great dicine of the Six Harmonies, gathering any three is enough to condense First Grade True Qi. But if one achieves All Six Harmonies, with no omissions from the upper or lower sets, that is the supre-grade True Qi, a thing not seen in ten thousand ages across the Yanfu Vast Land.’"
Jiang Yi compared this to the dense, tadpole-like script flowing across the Celestial Book Golden Paper, and understanding dawned on him.
A single fact illustrated the difficulty of nurturing and harvesting the Great dicine of the Six Harmonies: even Ji Fuyao, he of the [Tai Yang] Dao Inheritance, had only managed to obtain five of them.
This Immortal Dao Emperor, who was elevated by the combined power of countless cultivators on the Dongsheng Continent, had failed to gather all six, and could only regretfully condense a First Grade, high-class True Qi.
’With the Celestial Book, gathering the Great dicine of the Six Harmonies isn’t a hopeless dream! This is another area where I can achieve a ’small victory’ over Ji Fuyao!’
Jiang Yi’s eyes snapped open, his thoughts racing.
’Given Grandmaster Mingxuan’s concern for his reputation, if I can gradually catch up to the [Tai Yang] heir, and even slightly surpass Emperor Ji, my position as the Innate Sect’s Daoist will beco all the more secure.’
[I beg the Celestial Book, show the thod to gather all Six Harmonies of the Great dicine?]
[Deduction Ti: Ten months and ten days.]
Jiang Yi wasn’t surprised. A problem of this magnitude wasn’t sothing that could be solved in a matter of days. He raised a hand, summoning the Spiritual Objects the Array Spirit had prepared.
Compared to the First Grade Spiritual Objects gifted by Lady Xuan’nv, these were of far inferior quality, mostly ranking between third and fourth grade.
’It seed that even for a power on the level of an Ancestral Sect, First Grade Spiritual Objects were still a rarity.’
Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Yi sacrificed them all to the Celestial Book, using them as fuel to reduce the deduction ti.
In the span of a few breaths, the Spiritual Objects had all dissipated. A lustrous light flowed across the Celestial Book Golden Paper.
[Deduction Ti: Ten hours.]
Jiang Yi’s mind was instantly set at ease. He decided to first focus on breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer, and then harvest the upper three Great dicines.
As for "Illusory Primordial Qi" and "Tai Yang True Lead," harvesting them would be child’s play if he put his mind to it.
’’The so-called ’Illusory Primordial Qi’ is a dicine mysteriously born from the unification of three things: the Essence of Sympathy, the qi of respiration, and the spirit of thought.’
’It is nurtured by the self, transford from the postnatal, and born from nothingness... This step is as difficult as ascending to the heavens for others. But for , here in the Spiritual Truth Abode and boosted by the ’Fasting of the Heart’ state, achieving the fusion of Essence, qi, and spirit couldn’t be easier.’
Jiang Yi cald his mind once more, his expression serene and confident.
Of the six Great dicines, he was confident he could obtain four. He just had no clue where to start with "Tai Yin True rcury" and "Water beneath Kan."
This was the precise obstacle to condensing the supre-grade True Qi.
Internal dicines were not, after all, external objects. One could search the entire universe, across all the myriad heavens, but without that sliver of profound insight, the timing simply wasn’t right. It could not be forced.
...
...
The moon set and rose; the sun fell and returned.
Ten days passed in a flash!
The middle-aged Daoist, the Array Spirit, carefully released a thread of his Qi chanism, brushing it against the bronze bell under the eaves of the Spiritual Truth Abode.
JINGLE. The doors and windows flew open, revealing an upright figure seated on a ditation cushion.
"So that’s how it is. This is Profound Light, and this is Magical Power!"
Though Jiang Yi’s mind was as placid as still water, a joyous, heartfelt smile spread across his face.
A ball of blazing, golden-white light leaped from the crown of his head. It was about seven or eight feet long and imdiately unfurled, illuminating the entire Spiritual Truth Abode.
The Profound Light surged outward, growing as it t the air until it was a full twenty zhang in size. Bing Fire blazed above and Ding Fire burned below, the two lding into a form that was fierce, vast, and majestic!
"Ten days’ work, and I’ve already harvested ’Illusory Primordial Qi,’ ’Essence within the Spirit,’ and ’Fire filling Li’!
"I wonder what my ’comprehension’ will rank on the Southern Dipper List?"
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