Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Master, are you inside? Disciple has some cultivation doubts and would like to seek guidance."
As Song Wen spoke, he used the higher elevation of the second floor to observe his surroundings.
The small building was built against the mountain, with a sheer cliff several zhang high to the west, completely bare without any vegetation, making it extremely difficult to climb.
Above the cliff was a mountain towering over ten zhang high, densely covered with vegetation, its terrain steep and difficult to traverse.
TL Note: A zhang is 10 feet and 3.3 meters high.
On the other three sides, there were walls over a zhang high, guarded by sentries. Even beyond these walls was still within the territory of the Tian Sha Gang, with many disciples of the gang coming and going. Trying to escape through the other three sides was far from easy.
Currently, the only escape route was to climb over the mountain and flee from the Tian Sha Gang.
Ji Yin's deep voice suddenly came, interrupting Song Wen's observation. "Come in."
Song Wen pushed open the door and saw Ji Yin sitting cross-legged on a mat, holding a book and flipping through its pages.
Song Wen dared not look around casually. He walked straight to the opposite side of Ji Yin and bowed, "Disciple pays respects to Master."
Ji Yin nodded, "Hmm, please sit."
After Song Wen sat cross-legged, Ji Yin continued, "What problems do you have in cultivation? Just ask."
"Master, recently I've noticed that my cultivation progress has been slow. I would like to ask Master for any solutions."
"Where do you encounter difficulties in your cultivation practice?"
"After the spiritual energy enters the meridians and returns to the dantian, only a small part can be successfully refined, while most of it cannot be retained."
This problem was not something Song Wen made up; it was his genuine feeling during cultivation.
Instead of giving a direct answer, Ji Yin asked, "How do you understand 'entering the muddy pellet and descending to the acupoint'?"
"Disciple thinks..."
After a quarter of an hour under Ji Yin's explanation, Song Wen realized his misconceptions in cultivation.
As he was about to bid farewell and stood up, his eyes began to size up the book in Ji Yin's hands.
Since he was sitting opposite Ji Yin, he just managed to see the name of the book,
"Comprehensive Guide to Low-Level Spirit Herb Cultivation"!
The book seemed somewhat incomplete, with only a few dozen pages.
Ji Yin also noticed Song Wen's gaze. He said, "Interested in this book?"
Song Wen was suddenly alarmed, afraid that Ji Yin would suspect he was intentionally prying.
However, Ji Yin didn't think in that direction at all. He casually said, "If you want to read it, I'll let you take a look."
As he spoke, Ji Yin handed the book over.
Song Wen took the book and saw that the first thing he saw was an introduction and cultivation points for a spirit herb called "Yi Blood Vine," (red blood vine) along with a drawing of the Red Blood Vine.
Red Blood Vine is a vine plant, preferring warm temperatures, light, drought-resistant, averse to water, and cold...
A moment later, Ji Yin asked, "What do you think about planting Red Blood Vine?"
Song Wen had previously worked in a traditional Chinese medicine company and had some understanding of Chinese medicine cultivation. Combining his past knowledge, he replied:
"Disciple believes that for planting Red Blood Vine, it should be done on a sunny slope, away from water sources. The soil should be loose, preferably sandy, and good drainage is necessary, especially after rain. In our Yan Cheng, the winters are cold, so during winter, it needs insulation..."
Song Wen deliberately made his answer seem valuable. If he could demonstrate some special value, perhaps Ji Yin wouldn't subject him to drug testing.
Upon hearing Song Wen's reply, Ji Yin's eyes flashed with satisfaction, nodding slightly.
"I didn't expect your cultivation aptitude to be average, but you show some talent in spirit herb cultivation."
Ji Yin was also pondering. He had been stuck at the third layer of Qi refinement for several years, unable to break through.
The first three layers of Qi refinement were considered early stage, where cultivators didn't differ much from ordinary people. It was only from the fourth layer onwards that the difference between immortals and mortals began to manifest.
Ji Yin possessed two techniques that required cultivation to at least the mid-stage of Qi refinement. Moreover, what was most important was...
Based on Ji Yin's information, "Longevity Technique" cultivated spiritual power, although it lacked elemental attributes and was not suited for combat. However, many cultivators, especially those with poor aptitude and wandering cultivators, practiced it.
One reason was the widespread dissemination of the "Longevity Technique," making it easily accessible. Secondly, the "Longevity Technique" had an enticing feature—extending lifespan.
It was said that a wandering cultivator who practiced the "Longevity Technique" reached the ninth layer of Qi refinement and lived to be 180 years old.
Considering that the lifespan of an ordinary person did not exceed 100 years, and during the Qi refining stage, the physical body had not yet transcended the realm of mortals, the general maximum lifespan would not exceed 120 years.
This person lived to be 180 years old, extending his lifespan by a third, just a decade less than Foundation Building stage cultivators.
This made many cultivators who felt hopeless about Foundation Building aspire to it.
According to past experiences, the first three layers of the "Longevity Technique" did not have the function of extending lifespan. From the fourth layer onwards, its longevity function gradually manifested.
This made Ji Yin even more eager to break through the bottleneck of early Qi refinement. He believed that once he broke through to the fourth layer of Qi refinement, he should be able to advance to the sixth layer within his lifetime. At that time, even aspiring to the late stage of Qi refinement would not be impossible.
The Blood Qi Pill was a type of medicine that stimulated human potential and helped cultivators break through bottlenecks. It was commonly used by Qi refining stage wandering cultivators with poor aptitude.
After spending two years, Ji Yin finally managed to barely refine the Blood Qi Pill by his own trial and error.
However, he dared not take it lightly. As a mere small pharmacist, he once went up the mountain to collect herbs and accidentally discovered the cave of a deceased wandering cultivator. There, he obtained inheritances such as cultivation techniques, basic talisman crafting, the formula for Blood Qi Pill, spirit herb cultivation, etc., and inadvertently began his cultivation career.
Throughout his entire cultivation journey, he had never encountered other cultivators and relied solely on his own exploration.
The Blood Qi Pill he refined looked quite different from the description in the formula, so Ji Yin was cautious and did not dare to take it himself.
Therefore, he thought of finding someone to test it.
As expected, after a year of testing, he inadvertently killed seven disciples. All these young people had severe Qi and blood deficiencies after taking the Blood Qi Pill, and various organs in their bodies aged to different extents, leading to their deaths within a few days.
Under his continuous improvements, Er Niu was the first person to take the Blood Qi Pill without adverse effects.
This gave him hope of success.
In the past, cultivating spirit herbs and refining pills had always been done by Ji Yin alone, leading to his daily chores being quite busy.
Just now, Song Wen's performance made him think about training Song Wen specifically in the cultivation of spirit herbs.
With the success of Er Niu, Ji Yin felt that the successful refinement of the Blood Qi Pill was within reach. At this critical time, Ji Yin did not want to expend too much energy on cultivating spirit herbs.
(End of the Chapter)