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Thud, thud, thud!
Lan He tapped lightly on the desk, and the murmurs from below gradually subsided.
"Alright, I've told you all this just to make you realize what kind of world we live in."
"Our ultimate goal is to ascend to the Immortal Realm!"
"As for those Reincarnators, even I have not encountered such individuals."
"To seal one's memories with one's own mighty power and enter the cycle of reincarnation, such people are rare even across the entire Great Xia Domain."
The crowd sighed in relief, having thought such individuals were common.
Lan He continued, "The reason I mentioned the Immortal Realm is to tell you something else."
"The Immortal Realm and the Human Spirit Realm are not completely isolated!"
Boom!!
The moment these words were uttered, everyone in the great hall was shaken!
Even Li Guanqi was greatly shocked in his heart.
Could it be that the immortals from the higher realms are actually in contact with the lower realms?
Lan He paused for a moment and said softly, "It's not as you imagine. If that were the case, what would be the point of cultivating and ascending?"
"What I'm about to tell you next is very important!"
"Spirit Ruin! Destiny!"
Li Guanqi frowned, having no idea what these words meant, and the others felt the same.
Lan He spoke softly, "Don't worry, I'll explain it to you slowly."
"Before the age of eighteen, those who reach the Foundation Establishment stage can open their Spirit Ruin through a special ritual and formation!"
"The Spirit Ruin exists within the spiritual platform, transforming myriad things, and is a natural phenomenon."
"Ninety-nine percent of people have an empty Spirit Ruin, with only a very few having items within."
"But not all these items are useful; only weapons and treasures are of great use."
Li Guanqi's brow furrowed slightly as he asked softly, "Elder Lan, what is the use of the items in the Spirit Ruin?"
Lan He smiled faintly and with a wave of her hand, a blue ribbon instantly trapped all the disciples in the hall!
"This was an item from my Spirit Ruin, a blue silk ribbon."
"It can be used to bind people, as well as for attack!"
"Items from the Spirit Ruin are like treasures, they can connect with the mind and be cultivated within the body."
"If there is a matching treasure, its power can be even greater."
Elder Lan's voice became more serious as she said solemnly, "The Spirit Ruin can only be opened once in a lifetime! Remember, do not force it open again!"
The crowd below understood what the Spirit Ruin was but did not hold much hope.
Lan He then spoke softly, "When you break through to the Golden Elixir Realm, you will experience a profound sense of unity with heaven and man!"
"If lucky, an immortal from the higher realms may bestow upon you a Destiny!"
"Destiny allows you to temporarily borrow the power of an immortal from the higher realms to fight your enemies!"
"So if you encounter someone with a Destiny, remember to be extra cautious and careful when fighting them!"
Zhong Lin suddenly asked, "Elder Lan, do you have a Destiny?"
Lan He smiled faintly, and a mysterious milky-white pattern lit up on her forehead.
The pattern flashed and disappeared, and Lan He said softly, "Most disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect can obtain a Destiny when they break through to the Golden Elixir Realm."
"Because our ancestor of the Great Xia Sword Sect is a mighty cultivator who ascended to the higher realms!"
Before her words fell, the disciples in the hall burst into exclamations.
"Wow!! Our Great Xia Sword Sect actually has an ancestor in the Immortal Realm!!"
"Heavens, the other sects probably don't have this, right?"
"Our ancestor… that's a figure from how many years ago."
"Being able to join the Great Xia Sword Sect is truly the luckiest thing in my life."
At this moment, all the new disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect felt an overwhelming sense of pride.
It was a special sense of honor for their sect.
As the noise subsided, Lan He spoke softly, "Alright, that's enough of the basic knowledge."
"Now we move on to the first lesson of cultivation!"
"Body Refining!"
"…"
In fact, many disciples who joined the sect were ordinary people, completely unaware of what Body Refining was.
After Lan He's explanation, everyone understood what it was about.
She then distributed scrolls, which contained basic Body Refining chants and training methods.
"Body Refining takes at least three months, or up to a year, to reach Great Perfection."
"For example… Li Guanqi."
Li Guanqi, suddenly called upon, touched his nose somewhat embarrassedly.
Lan He pointed to a hundred-pound stone roller prepared earlier and said with a light laugh, "Come, Guanqi, show everyone how to lift the hundred-pound boulder with one hand."
With things having come to this point, Li Guanqi had no choice but to comply.
Five huge stone rollers were strung together on a steel pole.
Under everyone's gaze, Li Guanqi slowly approached.
Everyone knew of Li Guanqi's extraordinary talent upon entering the sect.
But seeing his slender figure, someone couldn't help but mutter, "That stone roller must weigh at least a hundred pounds, can his small frame handle it? He's not even as robust as I am!"
Another echoed, "Exactly, can he do it? Don't get crushed…"
A glint flashed in Zhong Lin's eyes; he too was at the peak of Body Refining and watched as Li Guanqi approached the stone roller.
He couldn't help but secretly calculate; with his physical strength, he could lift at most three hundred pounds.
But Li Guanqi was now in a dilemma; he didn't know how much Lan He meant for him to lift.
Standing in front of the stone roller, he shrugged his shoulders and slowly extended his right hand to grasp the central pole.
Whoosh!
Hiss!!!
A collective gasp filled the hall.
Li Guanqi casually lifted the five stone rollers above his head with one hand!!
Swinging them casually in the air, Li Guanqi turned back and asked, "Elder Lan, is this how it's done?"
At this moment, even Lan He's eyes widened.
"Five hundred pounds lifted with one hand???"
"Seeing how he swung them, to what extent has he reached in Body Refining?"
Despite her calm exterior, Lan He said, "Cough cough, that's enough, put it down."
Li Guanqi casually set down the stone roller, causing a thud that made the ground tremble, felt even through the cushions by everyone present.
Zhong Lin was utterly incredulous!!
"Such casual swinging, and his shoulders didn't even shake!!!"
"What methods did he use during Body Refining to achieve such terrifying strength?!"
Next, Lan He passed down the Qi Refining techniques, instructing the disciples to keep them well.
Li Guanqi examined the scroll with Insight, adopting the sitting posture recorded on it.
After three breaths, Li Guanqi's breathing gradually became very regular.
Lan He didn't think much of it and continued to instruct some Inner Sect disciples in Body Refining, "Drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body is the most crucial step in cultivation."
"According to the technique, sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, find the power associated with your own Spirit Root, and draw it into your body."
"Finally, stabilize it in the Pubic region to form a vortex, and that is the breakthrough from Body Refining to fully enter the Qi Refining stage."
"The hardest part of Qi Refining is perceiving the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."
"The purer the Spirit Root, the clearer the perception, but drawing it into the body is also very difficult."
"Even for a Heavenly Spirit Root, this step can take as quick as three days or as long as several months."
"So we must take it step by step, with hard work… uh… Li Guanqi!!"
Buzz!!!
Suddenly, a mysterious fluctuation emanated from Li Guanqi's body in the great hall.
Lan He's face changed dramatically, and the blue silk ribbon appeared instantly, clearing the disciples within ten feet of Li Guanqi.
She then threw down a circular formation plate, inserting six palm-sized Spirit Stones into it.
A beam of Spirit Light fell, and instantly the spiritual energy around Li Guanqi surged.
The spiritual energy, like wisps of smoke, was faintly visible.
The smoke was inhaled through Li Guanqi's nostrils, and not long after…
Bang!
A soft bang came from within Li Guanqi's body.
Subsequently, countless black impurities began to emerge on Li Guanqi's skin, sticking to his body like mud.
Li Guanqi, who had just opened his eyes, was unaware of what had happened, only to see the shock in Lan He's eyes.
Li Guanqi had broken through to the first level of Qi Refining during her very first lecture!!
The first level of Qi Refining!!
Even she, a genius with a Heavenly Water Spirit Root, had taken two and a half days!!
"Is this the difference between people…"
Not only was Lan He shocked, but the faces of the disciples in the hall also changed.
Jealousy appeared on their faces, which eventually turned into a sigh.