Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 194 Seventh Level of Qi Refining
At the Qingyuan Sect's mountain gate, in a slightly dim training room, Song Xian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, practicing.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly opened his eyes, and the spiritual power in his body surged out from the Linghai acupoint like a tide, flowing along the meridians in his body. An indescribable comfort enveloped his whole body, and he felt as warm as if he was wrapped in a cloud.

He took a deep breath, unable to hide the joy on his face. At this moment, he finally broke through the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Under the inner observation of the Eye of True Observation, his spiritual energy broke through to forty-five points.

The spiritual power in his body circulated uncontrollably through his body for several circles before returning to the Linghai acupoint.

Song Xian took a few deep breaths and tried to calm his joy. This breakthrough was within his expectations, and even the timing was calculated almost exactly.

A Qi-refining cultivator will not encounter bottlenecks during the practice process. Everything will happen naturally. With his spiritual root qualifications, as long as he has a suitable practice room, he can basically increase his spiritual power steadily by practicing hard for more than two months.

Two months ago, he had expected that he would break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining in the near future.

Although I had expected it, when this moment really came, I couldn't suppress my joy.

It was still early at this time, and he originally wanted to continue practicing, but he was unable to get rid of the joyful thoughts in his heart and could not enter into a state of concentration. He also wanted to tell Su Zhirou the good news as soon as possible, so he got up and left the practice room.

There is a remote mansion with five entrances and exits belonging to him at the mountain gate of Qingyuan Sect. In the past few years, he has spent most of his time practicing at the mountain gate of Qingyuan Sect. A residence is naturally indispensable, which is the privilege of the head sect.

Disciples from other sects do not have their own independent training rooms. They share them in turns. You use the training room for a few months, and he uses it for the next few months.

These disciples did not have their own mansions, but only a large courtyard with more than a dozen rooms where they could rest at night.

There are only two people in the entire Hunyuan Sect who have independent training rooms here, one is himself, and the other is Su Zhirou.

As the head sect leader and a cultivator with dual spiritual roots, he naturally occupied the only high-level training room. Su Zhirou made great contributions in this matter. If she had not stepped forward, Wen Yiren would not have gone to Yang Jinzhang for this matter, and there would have been no peace talks in Bianxia Town. Naturally, Hunyuan Sect would not have been able to obtain Qingyuan Sect's training room.

Giving her an exclusive training room as a reward had been agreed upon long ago, and no one had any objection. Of course, no one would dare to raise any objection.

Apart from the two of them, even Zhong Wenyuan did not have his own training room, and he took turns using it like the other disciples.

Song Xian returned to the mansion, but did not see Su Zhirou. He thought she must be practicing in the training room, so he did not disturb her. He came to a secluded and spacious room, took out talisman paper, talisman pen and various materials from the cabinet next to her, and began to refine talismans.

In the past few years, in addition to practicing, he also studied several methods of refining talismans according to the Jidao Secret Records.

What he wanted to refine at this moment was a talisman called the Poison Mist Talisman, which was a first-grade top-grade talisman.

As the name suggests, this talisman can emit poisonous mist. When the enemy is covered by it, the poisonous gas will penetrate into the body and the enemy will quickly lose the ability to move.

To refine this talisman, you need first-grade, top-quality talisman paper. Take the poison sac of a first-grade, top-quality horned frog and mix it with several other poisonous herbs to make ink. Then use a first-grade, top-quality black brush to dip in the ink and carve patterns on the talisman paper.

After a long time, the pattern on a piece of talisman paper was completely refined, and Song Xian wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Refining talismans is an extremely mentally taxing task, which consumes a great deal of spiritual energy and consciousness. This is because the refining process requires full concentration, and the consciousness must be projected onto the talisman paper to help control the movement of the talisman pen, without the slightest deviation.

Not to mention a tiny deviation in the placement of the brush, even if the brush is a little heavier at one position on a line and a little lighter at another position, resulting in uneven infusion of spiritual power in the line, it will also cause the spiritual power of the talisman to be uneven, and thus fail.

The requirements for a first-grade, top-grade talisman like this one are even higher. The spiritual power distribution in each line of it may not be evenly distributed. The main lines usually have several bumps and depressions. Some places require more spiritual power to be infused, while some places require less spiritual power to be infused.

If I don't tell you the secret and only give you a pattern diagram, you may not be able to successfully refine one even if you study it behind closed doors for more than ten years.

This is why, industries like elixirs, talismans, formations, and magical instruments all rely heavily on the guidance of a master. Unless one is a genius with extraordinary talent, it is impossible for an ordinary person to make progress without careful guidance.

Therefore, Song Xian never touched talismans after Zhang Shilin's death. Although Zhang Shilin had some talent in talismans, he also knew his own limitations. Even though he was better than ordinary people, he was not self-taught and could not achieve any success in talismans by relying on blind exploration.

Besides, it would take too much energy for a person to cross the river by feeling the stones, and he simply doesn't have that much time.

It was not until he obtained this book of the ultimate secret record, which detailed the breakdown of the talismans with pictures and texts, and explained in detail the layout of each line and stroke, and the fluctuation of spiritual power, that Song Xian gained the confidence to continue on the path of talismans.

Song Xian carefully picked up the talisman, blew on it lightly, and soaked it in a special spiritual liquid. A first-grade top-grade talisman needed to be soaked for two or three days to consolidate its spiritual structure.

The longer the soaking time, the higher the requirement for the stability of the talisman's spiritual power. This means that the talisman maker has a lower tolerance when carving the patterns and distributing the spiritual power. Any slight deviation will cause the spiritual power of the patterns to fluctuate and decompose in the process.

In comparison, a first-grade low-grade talisman only needs to be soaked for one day, and its tolerance rate is much higher than that of a first-grade high-grade talisman.

After completing all the steps, Song Xian finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just refining a first-grade top-grade talisman had consumed nearly half of his spiritual power.

Even if he was in peak condition and without any mistakes, he could only refine two at most with the spiritual power in his body. But in reality, he could only successfully refine one complete talisman at most.

This is because when spiritual power and consciousness are consumed too much, people will be affected, feeling tired and unable to concentrate. In this state, it is impossible to completely refine talismans.

Therefore, every time Song Xian finished refining a high-grade talisman, he would rest immediately.

After resting sufficiently, he opened his eyes and saw that it was already dark outside. He walked out of the room and returned to the main room.

Su Zhirou had also returned from the training room and was waiting for him at the table. Seeing him come back, she immediately went to greet him: "Husband, why are you so late tonight?"

"I came back a long time ago and stayed in the talisman-making room for a while." Song Xian took her hand and sat down. The couple had been married for four years. Although their love was as strong as before, they were not like they did in the early days of their marriage, fooling around in the room all day and night.

"Didn't you notice that your husband is a little different today?" Song Xian said proudly.

"My husband has broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining!"

"Why aren't you surprised at all?"

"My husband says every day that he's about to make a breakthrough. What's so surprising about that?"

"You are currently at 42, three points away from 45. At your current rate of progress, you can break through the seventh level in ten months, or a year."

"Are you hungry, my husband? I'll ask them to get some food." "A little bit, actually."

"Husband, wait."

Su Zhirou immediately stood up and walked out. After a while, delicious and hot dishes were served.

After a cultivator has undergone the transformation from mortal to ordinary, a spiritual sea acupoint is opened in his body. Although there are some differences between him and ordinary people, he is not an indestructible body after all, and he must still eat every day.

Generally speaking, they only eat two meals a day, one when they wake up in the morning and one when they go to bed at night. They usually don’t eat much at noon, especially when they are practicing in the practice room, and they will not go out to eat specifically.

Only those with a great appetite will eat multiple meals a day.

Late at night, after a passionate lovemaking, the two of them hugged each other tightly, panting.

After four years of marriage, although Song Xian was not as passionate as he was when they first got married, he was still just as obsessed with her, especially when he hugged her plump and fair body tightly, he couldn't let go as he did at the beginning.

"My husband's cultivation has improved again. It will be increasingly difficult for us to have children in the future." Su Zhirou's body fell in his arms like a puddle of mud, breathing lightly.

It is generally recognized in the cultivation world that the higher the level of cultivation, the greater the changes in body structure, the greater the difference between one's body and ordinary people, and accordingly, the smaller the chance of giving birth to offspring.

"Why don't you think positively? The higher our cultivation level, the greater the chance that our child will have spiritual roots. Do you think our child will just be an ordinary mortal in the future? By then, we might still have black hair, but our child will already have white hair. How cruel would that be?"

Su Zhirou twisted her body and squeezed into his arms, as if she wanted to melt into him. "There's nothing wrong with being a mortal. If we weren't cultivators, we could find a remote village. I'd stay with my husband every day, serve him, and give birth to a few children for him, both boys and girls. It would be so nice to have a family together."

"By then, maybe two monks will pass by and engage in a fight, and a fire spell could burn us all to death. Or maybe a monster will pass by and eat us all."

Su Zhirou said coquettishly: "Why does my husband always think about these bad things?"

Song Xian hugged her tightly, "Because you always think too highly of yourself. There aren't many good things in this world. Don't you think about it? You come from a good family and your spiritual roots are not bad, yet your aunt treats you like a commodity. In order to establish a good relationship with the New Moon Sect, she married you off as a concubine. And this is your aunt. If you were an ordinary mortal without the ability to protect yourself, you would have been snatched away by bandits and bullies long ago."

Su Zhirou pouted: "Husband, why are you bringing this up again? Didn't we agree not to bring it up again?"

Song Xian knew that the person in his arms was extremely kind and soft-hearted, and because of this, he loved her even more deeply.

"Zhirou, I'm really afraid that when I'm not around one day, you'll be deceived and bullied."

"No way, wherever my husband goes, I will go. If my husband is not in this world, I will not live either. Anyway, I will not be separated from my husband." Su Zhirou raised her head, her face full of hope: "Husband, I heard that there seems to be a secret medicine that can increase the chances of a cultivator getting pregnant. Why don't we give it a try!"

"It's all a lie. There's no such thing. This ambiguous, bullshit secret medicine is just trying to trick you fools. If you get pregnant, they say it's its credit. If you don't, they say it's your own fault. Anyway, it doesn't lose anything."

"Just give it a try! What if it works?"

"Why do you insist on having a child? What's wrong with us being like this? If we have a child without spiritual roots, it would be bad. If we can both build our foundation, our lifespans can increase by hundreds of years, and we can be together every day. Isn't that better than having a child?"

"I don't know either. I just want to have a baby with my husband."

"Then you should work harder, don't be lazy, put in more effort, don't always let me do the work."

The couple was chatting privately, and soon beautiful and seductive music was heard in the room.

…………

Time flies, and it is the end of another year. Song Xian returned to Guzi Peak from the Qingyuan Sect's mountain gate to preside over the sect's annual financial meeting.

This year's income is a little higher than last year, mainly from two aspects. First, the redwood cloud spirit trees planted in the spiritual garden this year have all grown up and were sold to the Beastmaster Sect's shops. Wei Lian paid three years' worth of taxes, a total of 7,100 spirit stones.

Second, the sales of Yuxiang Pills in Humen City have increased significantly this year. More than 2,100 pills have been sold, and the revenue has reached 14,000 spirit stones.

After calculating the total income of various industries, it was 54,000 spirit stones. After deducting various expenses, the net income reached 22,000 spirit stones.

After the meeting, everyone dispersed and Song Xian left Jiang Zichen behind.

After the others left, he spoke: "Junior Brother Zichen, do you know why I left you here?"

"Disciple knows." Jiang Zichen lowered his head: "Sales at Qingfengfang store have declined again this year."

Song Xian said with a pleasant expression, "It has been three years since you took over the Qingfengfang shop. I didn't mention this before because you just took over and may not be as familiar with everything as Junior Sister Feng, so it is understandable that the shop's performance has declined."

"But it's been three years now, and not only has there been no growth, but it's been decreasing year by year. This year, we only sold 3,000. When Junior Sister Feng left, the sales that year were, if I remember correctly, 3,800."

"In other words, sales have dropped by more than 20% in three years. What's going on? What difficulties have you encountered? Tell me about it."

Jiang Zichen felt a little ashamed: "In the final analysis, it is because of my lack of ability that I have failed the Master's trust and expectations."

"Now is not the time to talk about this. I just want to know the reason."

"Master, when Senior Sister Feng was at Qingfeng Shop, she had some regular customers who bought Jade Fragrance Pills regularly. After I took over, we lost some of those customers. Also, the current salesperson doesn't have Senior Sister Feng's skills, and lacks the eloquence and thoughtfulness, so sales have been declining."

"Didn't Junior Sister Feng tell you about those guests before she left?"

"I did, but the reason these customers regularly ordered Jade Fragrance Pills was largely because Senior Sister Feng had a good relationship with them and could talk to them intimately. After I took over, it became inconvenient for me to interact with them frequently, so gradually, some of these customers ordered less and less."

Zhong Wenyuan saw Song Xian's expression and knew that he was obviously dissatisfied with the performance Jiang Zichen had delivered, so he joined in.
"Some things just can't be helped. The headmaster often says that the main customers for our Jade Fragrance Pills are wealthy ladies. As a man, Junior Brother Jiang can't interact with them frequently, nor can he have such in-depth conversations. This is simply a lack of natural ability. It's no wonder Junior Brother Zichen didn't do that; he's done his best."

As the elders who came with him from Qingyun Sect, in Zhong Wenyuan's heart, Jiang Zichen and others were of course more important than Feng Yan and others, so he would help speak up if there were any problems.

(End of this chapter)