Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 13.13. Success
Should we obey the imperial city's ban, or defy it?

Song pondered for a long time before finally deciding to give it a try.

Firstly, this wasn't a distraction for him; rather, he was directly utilizing the readily available power obtained from the [Mirror of Illusion and Reality].

Secondly, he controls the process, and if he feels something is wrong, he can stop at any time. At the same time, he will not act recklessly, but will proceed step by step with an "experimental" attitude.

Thirdly, the very existence of the "Book of Three Lifetimes" is a terrifying thing, which already indicates that there is something wrong with this world.

People without thought, he must worry about.

He will one day face the same troubles that Xiao Fan once faced.

If he wants to continue his activities, he must plan ahead.

Song Chen got up, chose a secluded abandoned cave in Jinxia Mountain, cleaned it up a bit, and prepared to conduct experiments there.

In the first month, Song Chen took the "Night Dew Pill" that Jinxia Mountain had given him.

The metal energy is violent and extremely sharp. After entering the body, when the first spiritual root is formed by circulating the "Tai Bai Jin Gang Jue", this metal energy will not "obediently" go where it should go.

They are hard, rough, sharp, and cloggy. Inhaling too much can cause a stinging sensation in the respiratory tract and even the mouth, like being pricked by thousands of tiny bristles, coming in waves.

At this time, Song Chen would feel a cool and gentle aura emerge from his body, neutralizing the sharpness of the metal energy and slowly guiding it into the depths of his internal organs, where it would rise again to build his spiritual root.

If Song Chen had forcibly cultivated the "Tai Bai Jin Gang Jue" and absorbed the golden energy without the "Night Dew Pill," he could almost imagine the outcome: his throat would be slit, and his internal organs would be torn apart.

In the second month, Song Chen first consumed most of the "Night Dew Pill," and then reflected the "Marrow-Eating Crane Demon" in the treasure mirror onto himself.

A terrifying force rose up.

Song Chen slowly circulated the water elemental power of the "Marrow-Eating Crane Demon".

Instantly, a transparent, tall phantom of a demonic crane emerged from his body. With a slight flap of its wings, water elemental power adhered to his body. This was equivalent to a high-level Qi-gathering demon wholeheartedly and single-mindedly assisting his cultivation.

The water elemental power within it is many times greater than that of the Night Dew Pill.
At the same time, Song Chen began practicing the "Tai Bai Jin Gang Jue" just like last month.

This time, the "sharp sensation in the respiratory tract and mouth" completely disappeared, because once the metal energy entered the body, it was softened by a large amount of water elemental power and then directly used to build the spiritual root.

With the addition of water elemental power, his cultivation speed suddenly took off.

Song Chen felt it was three or four times faster than before!
half a month later.

Song Chen actually broke through directly, and a spiritual root composed of golden energy formed in his body, which indicated that he had reached the "Qi Gathering Realm" and officially became a cultivator.

He sensed it carefully and realized that this spiritual root was not a "physical object" like organs, bones, or blood, but something that could run through organs, bones, and blood and take shape on its own.

To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, it's like adding an overpass to a complex road network, or like "dark matter" spreading everywhere.

As the saying goes, "Good fortune never comes in pairs," but at the very moment Song Chen officially became a cultivator, he felt the [Book of Three Lives] in his mind tremble again, emanating a mysterious aura. It was the power that the [Book of Three Lives] originally possessed, but he needed to become a cultivator to "activate" it.

He guided the energy to circulate within his body for testing.

After a moment, he came to the answer: this aura was a concealment aura, capable of hiding one's power at will.

Even if he were only at the first level of Qi Gathering, he could hide his power at will, even at a higher level, and could manipulate the details to conceal any power he wanted to hide.

Song Chen couldn't help but laugh.

He was initially hesitant about whether to wait for Zhong Xu, Que Tan'er, and Zhang Yi, lest he cultivate too quickly and be suspected of "possessing great opportunities," thus causing trouble.

After all, this time, there was no second Que Shenyun who died to "save him," nor was there a second Que family to help him solve this problem.

But now, he doesn't need to worry about it at all.

Keep practicing!

Two months later, Song Chen broke through to the second level of Qi Gathering.

The number of spiritual roots in his body changed from one to two, but Song Chen could clearly feel that the amount of spiritual energy he could store was not one plus one equals two, but about three times more than the first level of Qi gathering.

These spiritual roots are described in the "Taibai Jin Gang Jue".

The spiritual root can store energy and also absorb energy.

After consuming spiritual energy, the spiritual root will automatically draw energy from the surrounding world to replenish itself.

If the surrounding spiritual energy is abundant, it replenishes quickly; if it is scarce, it replenishes slowly; if it is completely absent, one will become a mortal after exhausting the spiritual energy. However, even in a place like the capital city, where there are many mortals, it can be considered a "sparse spiritual energy zone." Although it is not a good place for cultivation, it is more than enough for recovery, and there is basically no situation where one cannot replenish the spiritual energy after exhausting it.

After breaking through to the second stage of Qi Gathering, Song Chen looked at the cave dwellings of Zhang Yi and the other two. The cave dwellings were all closed, indicating that they had not yet broken through.

He estimated the time again.

The Taibai Jin Gang Jue describes that the time required to break through to the Qi Gathering Realm is approximately four months.

'My previous display of talent was quite high, and now that three and a half months have passed, it's reasonable for me to break through to the first level of Qi Gathering at this point.'

After thinking it over, Song Chen pushed open the cave door, looked at the rising sun, and let out a long sigh of relief.

He suddenly thought of the imperial city's prohibition against cultivation, but then felt relieved. After all, not everyone has a high-level cultivator to help them cultivate, so it's understandable that he was distracted.

Having made up his mind, he strode toward the agreed-upon training hall.

"Junior brother broke through so quickly?" The manager of the cultivation hall looked at him in surprise.

This hall connects to many cultivation rooms, as well as to the library, the treasure pavilion, and other places, and there are people in charge here.

This steward was actually a cultivator from the Imperial City Temple, but because he was seriously injured in his early years and his cultivation path was severed, he became a steward in Jinxia Mountain.

Song Chen concealed the power of the second realm, subtly revealing the aura of the first realm with his fingertips.

The steward, completely oblivious to anything amiss, sensed the aura and nodded, saying, "Junior brother's talent is quite remarkable; he could rank among the top five of the Golden Cloud Mountain disciples I've ever met."

Song Chen smiled and said, "The master left two jade slips. Since you arrived first, junior brother, can you go and get them?"

The steward shook his head and said, "Junior brother, please wait for half a month. Only after the April deadline can you make your selection. If your fellow disciples who were with you haven't broken through by then, it can only be considered that they have poor aptitude and have missed the deadline."

After saying that, he added kindly, "However, before that, junior brother can first learn a simple method of sword control."

Song Chen said, "Alright, thank you, Senior Brother."

The manager smiled and said, "My name is Tang Lin, you can just call me Senior Brother Tang."

He was not reluctant to befriend talented junior brothers.

Song Chen liked the atmosphere very much. He bowed and said, "Greetings, Senior Brother Tang."

Manager Tang smiled and said, "Junior Brother Song, you're too kind. Please come with me."

After saying that, he went to the library, took out a thin booklet and handed it to Song Chen, then sat down opposite him, clearly preparing to act as a lecturer.

Song Chen flipped through the booklet, which contained methods for controlling objects.

But the method is really simple; to put it simply, it's about using a yo-yo.

Spiritual energy gathers in the palm, attaches to objects, and transforms into threads, allowing for remote control of the objects.

This spiritual energy can not only control swords, but also tree branches and stones.

However, since tree branches belong to wood and stones belong to earth, they cannot maximize the power of metal spirit energy; a sword is still the most suitable.

Steward Tang said, "Junior Brother's cultivation level is still low. For now, using an ordinary fine steel sword is perfectly sufficient. The third and fourth realms of Qi Gathering are a watershed. Once you reach the fourth realm, you will be transferred back to the capital to become an inner disciple, and your cultivation will continue within the inner sect."

Heh. By then, Junior Brother will have plenty of money to spend. He'll need not only a flying sword forged from spirit steel, but also spirit stones with a high concentration of spiritual energy, which will be priceless and unavailable.

Besides, the junior brother also needs to find a way to comprehend more of the meaning, otherwise he will be no match for anyone in a battle of magic.

Haha, cultivating Taoism, cultivating Taoism, it's all about making money!

Song Chen said helplessly, "Senior brother knows very well."

Manager Tang chuckled again and then said, "Now, Junior Brother, you should wait a few more days, or perhaps go back to cultivate for another half month."

Song Chen smiled and said, "Alright," but then he suddenly added, "I have a favor to ask my senior brother."

Steward Tang said, "Speak frankly."

Song Chen said, "In your opinion, Junior Brother, Jinxia Mountain is a place of great feng shui. The number of fellow disciples on the mountain should be full. So why did you recruit the four of us at once?"

(End of this chapter)