Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
Li Guanqi had just opened his eyes when he noticed Lan He and the other disciples in the hall were all staring at him, their gazes akin to seeing a monster.
He knew what was going on and faced it calmly.
It was nothing more than successfully drawing in Qi and breaking through to the first level of Qi Refining. No big deal.
Following the instructions for Qi drawing, it wasn't long before he entered a mysterious state.
He felt as if he was between heaven and earth, surrounded by colorful specks of light.
Among these, only the purple ones were drawn into his body.
Now he felt refreshed all over, except for the sticky impurities on his body which he found unbearable.
Moreover, they emitted an unbearably foul stench.
Lan He smiled slightly and said softly, "These are impurities from our bodies. As we cultivate and enter the Dao, we will gradually expel them."
"You should go back and clean up. The rest of you can look at the body tempering techniques and Qi drawing mantra."
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
Guanqi wanted to stay for the first lesson, but the stench was too much to bear.
After excusing himself to Lan He, he hurried off to Heavenly Thunder Peak.
As he reached the foot of Heavenly Thunder Peak, he saw an old man meditating in a seated position.
Li Nanting opened his eyes as soon as he sensed Guanqi's arrival and said in shock, "You've broken through to the Qi Refining stage??"
"Weren't you in class? How did you break through?"
Scratching his head awkwardly, Guanqi replied, "I broke through during the class, and… well, ended up in quite a state."
Hearing this, Li Nanting burst into laughter and said loudly, "Haha, worthy of being my disciple!"
"In the history of the Great Xia Sword Sect, no one has ever broken through in their first lesson."
"Come on, I'll take you back."
Li Nanting grabbed the young man and flew through the air.
Along the way, they encountered many disciples from Heavenly Thunder Peak practicing, all of whom were taken aback by the sight of the grimy Guanqi.
Gu Ran put down her sword and nudged the tall fellow beside her, murmuring softly.
"Am I seeing things? Didn't our junior brother just go to Heavenly Water Peak for a lesson?"
"How did he… break through???"
The tall fellow was also a bit stunned, murmuring, "Isn't our junior brother's talent a bit too heaven-defying?"
"Shouldn't the first lesson be Elder Lan explaining some basic knowledge of entering the path of cultivation?"
Before long, the news that Heavenly Thunder Peak's disciple Li Guanqi had broken through to the first level of Qi Refining in his first lesson spread like wildfire.
The title of genius was no longer sufficient to describe Li Guanqi.
He was truly a monstrous talent!
While other new disciples were still struggling to lift a hundred-pound stone mill with one hand in the body tempering stage, he had already broken through to the Qi Refining stage.
After taking a bath back in his room, Guanqi finally felt alive again.
He changed the bathwater three times and scrubbed until his skin turned red before he felt much better.
Stepping out of his room, Guanqi saw that his master hadn't left, and there were several jade bottles and spirit stones on the table.
Li Nanting showed a hint of pride and motioned for Guanqi to sit beside him.
Without hesitation, Guanqi sat down next to the old man.
The old man looked at the young man with satisfaction and then said softly, "Did Lan He tell you about the Spirit Ruin and the Destiny?"
Seeing the young man nod, the old man looked up at the sky and continued softly, "The matter of the Spirit Ruin is predetermined at birth. Whether you have it or not, it doesn't affect your path of cultivation."
"Now that you have stepped one foot into the path of immortality, today I will tell you about the next steps in your cultivation."
Guanqi's expression became serious, and he sat up straight.
"The Qi Refining stage is divided into ten levels: the first three refine the internal organs, the middle three refine the meridians, and the last three refine the spirit."
"The goal is to allow your body to better adapt to spiritual energy and the emergence of divine sense."
"Do you feel some swelling in your spiritual platform now?"
Guanqi nodded; ever since his breakthrough at Heavenly Water Peak, he had felt something emerging at the spiritual platform between his eyebrows.
The old man chuckled softly, "Don't worry, that's a sign of your nascent sea of consciousness, just like your pubic region."
"Your pubic region is still unstable, and you must not be reckless."
"It's as fragile as a newborn baby, so you must cultivate with a clear mind and enter a state of meditation."
Guanqi nodded solemnly, taking the matter to heart.
"When you reach the ninth level of Qi Refining, you can attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage."
"But with your talent, it's best to cultivate to the Great Perfection of the tenth level of Qi Refining before considering breaking through to Foundation Establishment."
"With your talent and the aid of Foundation Establishment pills, I'm not worried about your Foundation Establishment."
The old man continued, "You now have five hundred contribution points, so you can go to the library at Heavenly Pillar Peak to find a suitable technique for yourself."
Saying this, the old man handed over a cloth bag.
"Take this storage bag."
Guanqi asked curiously, "What's the use of a storage bag? It's so small, it can't hold much."
"Hahaha, try using your divine sense in the spiritual platform to touch it."
"Focus your mind, and imagine the divine sense in your sea of consciousness as a strand of silver thread."
Guanqi stopped using his Insight and immediately sensed the existence of divine sense in his sea of consciousness.
The divine sense was like mist, sparse, like a large water tank with only the bottom filled.
Then he concentrated and tried to move the divine sense, and it actually worked!
Moreover, he discovered that this divine sense was like a pair of eyes, able to truly see everything in the outside world!
"It's not black and white anymore…"
Guanqi's eyes suddenly moistened, and tears uncontrollably streamed down as he choked up, "I… I can see colors!!"
The old man smiled and patted his back, helping the young man to calm down.
Divine sense touched the storage bag, revealing a space ten zhang in size inside!
The old man chuckled, "Try using the storage bag to collect the items on the table."
Whoosh!
With a thought from Guanqi, the items on the table were all collected into the storage bag.
Guanqi grinned and happily pocketed the storage bag.
Then the old man told Guanqi many things about the Cultivation World.
Each was a novelty to Guanqi, broadening his horizons.
For example, there really were ghosts in this world!
Those lacking the Three Souls and Seven Spirits, or those with deep resentment who did not enter the cycle of reincarnation.
There were also many plants and crystals in the world that could cultivate into spirits and monsters after gaining intelligence.
It seemed everyone was pursuing the path of cultivation for eternal life.
While plants and monsters sought to transform into human form through cultivation.
Guanqi didn't know that before long, he would witness all these things his master spoke of with his own eyes.
That day, the old and the young sat in the courtyard for a long time.
The old man patiently explained potential issues in cultivation to Guanqi.
He also told him that the boxing techniques he practiced could be done twice a day and not to neglect them due to cultivation.
Because upon reflection, the old man realized that the boxing techniques were not simple physical moves.
Each move contained many variations, and the control over the cultivator's body was extremely intricate.
He even considered asking the young man if he should teach these boxing techniques to all the disciples of Heavenly Thunder Peak.