Chapter 10 - Basic Breathing Technique
Xiao Yue raised an eyebrow with a smile, "It seems you're not planning to give up. Luckily, I brought you something."
"Something?" Su Shi'er looked up, momentarily stunned.
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Yue waved her hand, and a few items appeared in her grasp: a set of blue clothes, two books, and an iron token.
"This is your identity token, with your name on it, used to verify disciples within the sect.
The disciple's robe, made from the silk of the Yunmeng Silkworm, can stretch and shrink according to your body size. Amazing, right?
And these two books are the sect manual and the introductory cultivation technique, Basic Breathing Technique!"
Xiao Yue introduced each item with a smile and then handed them to Su Shi'er.
After thinking for a moment, she added, "Additionally, all disciples who join the sect can receive three bottles of Foundation Pills from the Pill Pavilion each year.
Of course, if you advance to the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage, you can not only select a formal technique from the Library Pavilion but also receive ten extra Spirit Stones and three bottles of Gathering Qi Pills."
"Thank you, Senior Sister!" Su Shi'er accepted the items, his gaze sweeping over the Basic Breathing Technique book, his eyes flashing with eagerness. Quickly, he cupped his hands in gratitude towards Xiao Yue.
To him, nothing else mattered. This book, teaching the art of cultivation, was the treasure he had longed for.
"Alright, seeing how eager you are, I won't disturb you. Cultivate well. Han Yu has already reached the peak of the first level of the Qi Refining stage, so keep it up." Xiao Yue smiled at Su Shi'er, noticing the urgency in his eyes.
Despite her words, she didn't believe Su Shi'er could match Han Yu, who possessed top-grade dual spirit roots. Still, a few words of encouragement were necessary.
With a smile and a shake of her head, she hurriedly left.
Su Shi'er saw Xiao Yue off, memorized her instructions, and returned to his room, eagerly picking up the Basic Breathing Technique to study it carefully.
The book not only recorded the cultivation methods for the first six levels of the Qi Refining stage but also included some basic cultivation knowledge and two minor techniques, Fire Control and Wind Summoning.
Su Shi'er wasn't particularly focused on this information, but with his good memory, he managed to grasp the gist of it with a quick read.
However, his attention was mainly on the cultivation section.
The book detailed the techniques for absorbing Qi into the body and circulating it internally for each level.
In this area, Su Shi'er showed some talent, understanding the meaning after a single read.
To be safe, he meticulously read the book two more times. Then, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate, albeit nervously.
After consuming a large number of Foundation Pills, he could clearly sense the faint presence of the spiritual energy in the air.
But when he actually tried to absorb the Qi into his body, he found it incredibly difficult. The strands of spiritual energy were like untamed wild horses, hard to control.
***
For several days, Su Shi'er cultivated day and night. Initially, he was worried, fearing the black-clothed person might come looking for him at any time.
But then he realized that the black-clothed person might not even know he had a spirit root and had joined the Cloud Song Sect.
With this thought, he felt temporarily at ease.
In cultivation, despite his young age, he showed great patience.
It wasn't until the fifth day that he successfully drew the first wisp of spiritual energy into his body.
Feeling the presence of the spiritual energy within him, Su Shi'er was overjoyed, quickly using his mind to lock onto it.
He then exerted all his effort to circulate the energy throughout his body according to the technique. After one cycle, the energy transformed into a small grain-sized mass of true essence, merging into his Dantian's sea of Qi.
In the next moment, his body trembled, and an extremely comfortable sensation spread throughout his body.
Exhaling a breath of white mist, Su Shi'er smiled with delight, clenching his small fists in excitement.
"Great, from today onwards, I can consider myself a Qi Refiner! This bit of true essence may not accomplish much, but it's a good start! Keep going!"
Taking a deep breath, Su Shi'er continued to absorb Qi into his body, refining the spiritual energy.
***
However, after ten days of continuous cultivation, he only managed to refine a few more wisps of spiritual energy, adding a few barely visible points of true essence within him.
This speed and result left him thoroughly disappointed with his spirit root.
"No, at this rate, truly reaching the first level of the Qi Refining stage is a distant dream!
If I can't quickly improve my cultivation, let alone seek revenge on that black-clothed person, I might not even complete the newcomer trial in three years.
It seems I need to try the Gathering Qi Pills. But these pills can only be obtained at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage, there must be a reason for that."
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Su Shi'er muttered to himself, then took out a Gathering Qi Pill from his pocket.
Studying the pill in his hand, his expression froze slightly.
"According to the book, the grades of cultivator pills are divided into low, mid, high, and top grade. Top-grade pills, being free of impurities, appear crystal clear, like flawless white jade.
Such pills, free from pill toxins, can be consumed infinitely by cultivators, making them incredibly precious. Could it be that the pill furnace refines only top-grade pills?"
Thinking of this, Su Shi'er became excited.
Others had to be cautious when consuming pills, regularly finding ways to cleanse pill toxins from their bodies. But with the mysterious pill furnace, the pills he refined required no such worries.
Suppressing his excitement, Su Shi'er's gaze returned to the Gathering Qi Pill in his hand.
For him, the most important thing now was to quickly improve his cultivation.
After a moment's hesitation, he resolutely swallowed the Gathering Qi Pill.
As the pill entered his body, it immediately transformed into a vast amount of spiritual energy, filling him completely. In the next second, Su Shi'er's face turned red, veins bulging all over his body, overwhelmed by pain.
Though he was mentally prepared, facing it for real revealed just how painful it was.
The spiritual energy contained in the Gathering Qi Pill, though not as wild as the natural spiritual energy, was immense, far beyond what a Qi Refiner below the sixth level could handle.
At that moment, he couldn't cultivate normally, the pain nearly causing him to faint. The terrifying spiritual energy threatened to burst his meridians!
In his semi-conscious state, reminded of the vengeance he bore, Su Shi'er gritted his teeth, mustering a bit of spirit, and forced himself to activate the Breathing Technique, enduring the pain to refine the spiritual energy within him.
Chapter 11 - Fire Control and Wind Summoning
Twenty days later, Su Shi'er exhaled a breath of white mist, and his whole body emitted a cracking sound like popping beans.
At this moment, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had lost a noticeable amount of weight, looking particularly exhausted. Yet, a faint smile lingered on his face.
These twenty days felt like years to him, filled with unbearable pain.
However, refining this Gathering Qi Pill had obvious effects. The True Essence within him had grown from the size of a grain of rice to that of a soybean.
Now, he could truly be considered a Qi Refining stage cultivator.
"Indeed, pills are truly wonderful! Although consuming the Gathering Qi Pill brings immense pain, the speed of cultivation increases more than tenfold. In this sense, it's definitely worth it!"
"I heard from Senior Sister Xiao Yue that Han Yu reached the first level of the Qi Refining stage in just ten days. Although my speed isn't as fast as his, compared to ordinary people, it's already quite good."
Su Shi'er clenched his fists, filled with excitement. He wasn't trying to compete with anyone; for him, reaching the first level of the Qi Refining stage in such a short time was already an achievement.
Suppressing his excitement, Su Shi'er didn't rush to continue cultivating.
"Although I barely managed to refine this Gathering Qi Pill, my meridians have been damaged as a result."
"If I don't wait for my meridians to recover and try again, it would be certain death."
"But this is a good opportunity to practice those two spells from the cultivation technique. Otherwise, if I encounter danger, I won't have the power to protect myself."
Su Shi'er thought to himself. After swallowing a Healing Pill to treat his injuries, he got up and went to the courtyard.
Recalling the information about the Fire Control spell in his mind, he tried to mobilize his True Essence and formed seals with his hands.
"Whoosh..."
In the next second, a fist-sized flame appeared in front of him, burning with high heat.
The flame flickered rapidly, as if it would escape his control at any moment. Su Shi'er had to increase his True Essence, but the more he did, the more unstable the flame became.
In the blink of an eye, his True Essence was exhausted.
The flame in the air vanished with a puff.
At the same time, Su Shi'er's body went limp, and he collapsed in the courtyard, drenched in sweat and feeling utterly drained.
The difficulty and True Essence consumption of the Fire Control spell were beyond his imagination.
But Su Shi'er wasn't one to give up easily. He sat down on the spot, silently recovering his True Essence.
Once his True Essence was restored, he immediately resumed practice.
This cycle repeated itself, and although it was extremely monotonous, unlike other children his age who would find it hard to endure the solitude, Su Shi'er was driven by determination and didn't find it boring at all.
Gradually, he became more adept at controlling his True Essence. In the process of continuous consumption and replenishment, his True Essence subtly increased.
This discovery delighted Su Shi'er immensely.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since he joined the Cloud Song Sect.
That evening, in the woods beside the Discarded Pill Room, Su Shi'er was hunched over, leaning against a towering tree, panting heavily.
Compared to six months ago, his skin had become noticeably darker, and his body had grown more robust.
In front of him, three low-level wolf demons with blood-red eyes and bodies as large as cattle, covered in scars, were baring their teeth and slowly approaching.
Facing the crisis, he remained calm, quickly forming seals with his hands and mustering the last bit of his True Essence.
"Summon Wind!"
"Control Fire!"
With a series of low shouts, a fierce wind swept through the forest, obscuring the wolf demons' vision with sand and dust. Several high-temperature fireballs took advantage of the opportunity to land on the wolf demons.
"Boom boom boom~"
In the swirling sand, sparks flew.
The three wolf demons, already at the end of their strength, couldn't hold on any longer. They let out whimpers and collapsed, dead.
Seeing this, Su Shi'er didn't rush forward but instead sat down to meditate.
After a moment, he stood up and threw several more fireballs, smashing the wolf demons' heads to pieces. Only then did he approach, skillfully stringing the wolf demon corpses with a rope and heading back to the Discarded Pill Room.
In six months of cultivation, Su Shi'er not only mastered the two spells but also increased his True Essence from the size of a soybean to that of a broad bean.
"These two spells are now quite proficient, but unfortunately, I have too little True Essence, and can only cast spells three times at most. Next, I'll have to rely on the Gathering Qi Pills for intensive cultivation. But before that, I should collect the Foundation Pills distributed by the sect."
"Although with the mysterious Pill Furnace, I can have as many Foundation Pills as I want, it would be strange for a new disciple not to collect the pills. Moreover, if possible, I need to find out the true identity of that black-clothed person."
Su Shi'er walked along, silently planning.
He was already quite clever, and over the past six months, consuming Foundation Pills daily hadn't improved his physique, but it had made his mind sharper.
After delivering the wolf demon corpses, he changed into the disciple's robe issued by the sect and immediately set off for the Pill Pavilion.
Each peak had its own Pill Pavilion, and in principle, disciples could only collect pills from their respective peak's pavilion.
The sect distributed pills and other resources once a year, and they could be collected at any time.
In just an hour, Su Shi'er arrived outside the Pill Pavilion on Luofu Peak.
From the outside, the Pill Pavilion looked like a square quadrangle courtyard. The open door had a plaque hanging above it, inscribed with the words 'Pill Pavilion.'
Looking through the door, he saw a massive pill furnace over five meters tall standing in the center of the courtyard. Smoke curled up from the furnace, filling the air with a fragrance that spread for miles.
Su Shi'er walked straight into the courtyard and immediately saw seven new disciples around his age, each with a joyful expression, lining up to collect their pills.
Among them were three children who had joined Luofu Peak with him that day.
For the past six months, they had been learning to read and write. Today, they finally passed and couldn't wait to collect their pills.
Compared to Su Shi'er, these children appeared much more naive.
Seeing Su Shi'er enter, the three children recognized him at once, each showing great surprise.
It's that little beggar! He's still alive?
None of them expected that Su Shi'er could survive alone in a place like the Discarded Pill Room for so long.
The chubby boy at the end of the line, Zhu Hanwei, raised an eyebrow and widened his eyes.
"Didn't they say there were fierce beasts in the Discarded Pill Room? How come this little beggar looks even sturdier!"
Muttering softly, Zhu Hanwei paid no further attention.
In front of the children stood a servant disciple in his twenties, overweight and with a face full of flesh.
The man had a pile of medicine bottles in front of him, and with an impatient look, he checked an identity token before handing three bottles of pills to a square-faced child at the front of the line.
The square-faced child was thrilled, eagerly opening the bottles to examine the pills.
The next second, the square-faced child suddenly froze, his expression changing slightly.