Chapter 297

Out of the eighteen layers of the Carefree Heart Sutra, the first six layers belonged to the early Qi Practitioner realm. The six layers of the early Qi Practitioner realm were different as well.

The first layer was the most crucial. It was the transformation from a regular person to a Qi Practitioner. It was a fundamental transformation. However, this threshold stopped most people. Without the tempering of the first strand of true qi, they would never truly become a Qi Practitioner.

It was the same with the cultivation of inner force. If one could not feel the sense of qi, they would not be able to touch the threshold of inner force. It was just that this threshold was slightly lower than that of Qi Practitioners from the path of immortals.

Apart from the first layer, the fifth and sixth layers were also very crucial. This was because the early stage of the Aura Refining realm could be advanced by relying on the accumulation of essential Qi. The middle stage and the late stage of the Aura Refining realm could only be advanced by relying on comprehension and cultivation. Advancing from the early stage of the Aura Refining realm to the middle stage of the Aura Refining realm was a change in cultivation methods.

The reason why the fifth and sixth layers were crucial was because they were the beginning of the transformation from the accumulation of true qi to comprehension. If one relied purely on the accumulation of true qi, they would be able to advance to the final two layers of the early Qi Practitioner realm, but reaching the seventh layer of the mid Qi Practitioner realm would be fraught with difficulties. They would not be able to continue.

It was also because of this that Zhang Xiaohua could not advance any further when she reached the fourth layer. She had always been accumulating. If she did not have the bit of comprehension that she had gained from seeing through life and death, she might have been able to advance to the final two layers of the early Qi Practitioner realm if she had only relied on the innate energy of the world within the Crouching Ox Rock after being struck by the acquired lightning. However, there would be less potential to be unearthed in the future, so the path would become narrower and narrower. Perhaps she would reach the end of her cultivation very soon.

Fortunately, back in the Guozhuang House, Liu Qian had already planted the seed of immortality in Zhang Xiaohua's heart. His grandmother's death had watered him with spring water of regret. His attachment to his family had watered him with spring water of anticipation. The cultivation of the Carefree Heart Sutra had provided him with possible fertilizer. Seeing the skeletons of the seniors from the path of immortals on this desolate island had given him a sliver of comprehension towards the path of life and death. It was this sliver of comprehension that ignited the eruption of all the accumulated energy. This eruption was like a single spark that could set a prairie ablaze. It propelled Zhang Xiaohua's cultivation to skyrocket, step by step.

If Zhang Xiaohua had the support of the energy of the world within the Crouching Ox Rock right now, she would definitely have been able to easily break through from the fourth layer to the fifth layer, and then from the fifth layer to the sixth layer. That was not all. She could have easily broken through to the seventh or eighth layer of mid Qi Practitioner.

However, the path of immortality was about taking things one step at a time. Solidifying one's foundation was the most important principle. Breaking through several layers so easily was a delightful act, but it was also a great taboo of the path of immortality. It was in accordance with the rules of the path of immortality. It would inevitably cause irreparable damage to her future cultivation. But now, Zhang Xiaohua had understood. She did not have the time to take out the Crouching Ox Rock from her money pouch and draw qi into her body as easily as before. Just by drawing in the faint, warm energy from the cave was in accordance with the rules of the path of immortality. Refining true qi through water, her foundation was incomparably firm. Even if she could not break through today, the day of her breakthrough was just around the corner.

Moreover, in the later years of the path of immortality, the energy of the world was still scarce. Zhang Xiaohua was unable to draw qi from the world into her body and complete the refinement of the initial stage of Qi Practitioner. The initial stage of Qi Practitioner was the foundation of the path of immortality. It was the most crucial aspect. Apart from the reasons mentioned above, there was another reason for this. It was to turn the unfamiliar energy of the world into the familiar true qi through the refinement of her meridians. This process was extremely important. It was to train the meridians' ability to refine the energy of the world. This ability was the ability to convert different types of energy into one's own true qi!

The energy of the world, at its most basic level, consisted of the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. When the path of immortality flourished, these five types of energy were all mixed together. When Qi Practitioners drew qi into their bodies, they could not just absorb a single type or not absorb a single type. This type of drawing qi could very easily refine the ability of the meridians, establishing a good foundation for future cultivation.

The absorption of the energy of the five elements was common knowledge in the path of immortality in the past. There was no need to mention it at all. As a result, there were no records of it in the Carefree Heart Sutra. None of the Qi Practitioners paid any attention to it, or were aware of it.

However, in this era where the path of immortality had been destroyed, the energy of the world had basically been completely wiped out, so how could there be any energy of the five elements? Zhang Xiaohua could draw in pure energy from the heavenly lightning to temper his body. Although this type of energy that did not contain any energy of the five elements could still be used for cultivation, and it was very beneficial to Zhang Xiaohua who did not possess any true qi. It could directly raise his foundation as a Qi Practitioner by a level, allowing him to reach a height that the Qi Practitioners of the path of immortality could never hope to reach in the beginning of the path of immortality. However, this pure, pure energy also directly caused Zhang Xiaohua's true qi to lack any energy of the five elements. This flaw was not obvious right now, but it would become apparent as he progressed.

As for the origin stones that Zhang Xiaohua relied on to advance to the early Qi Refining stage, they contained the energy of the world, which was abundant in earth elemental energy. Right now, most of the true qi in his meridians was earth elemental true qi. Of course, although it was miserable for Zhang Xiaohua to be stranded on a desolate island in the middle of the sea, one of the benefits of his journey on the sea and cultivation on this desolate island was that he could draw in the water elemental energy of the world into his body. Although it wasn't much, it was still better than nothing. Oh right, Zhang Xiaohua had also eaten a Fasting Pill. Although it was a pill of the lowest grade, it still contained an extremely tiny amount of wood elemental energy. It could be considered as truly 'meager' effort to gather the five elements for Zhang Xiaohua. Even though Zhang Xiaohua already knew how to concoct pills, who knew how long it would take for him to refine the pill and circulate his energy again? Presumably, by that time, Zhang Xiaohua would have already broken free and escaped from this desolate island to return to the mainland. With his current cultivation speed, he would have long reached the mid Qi Refining stage. By then, replenishing his wood elemental true qi would no longer be a regrettable matter of mending the pen after the sheep were lost.

This faint pool was filled with scorching energy of the world. It was the rare fire-attributed energy of the world. As soon as the fire-attributed energy entered her body, it immediately replenished the attribute of the true qi in Zhang Xiaohua's meridians. She was already a level higher than other Qi Practitioners at the beginning of Qi Practitioner's cultivation. Only now did the importance of a starting point become evident. The true qi in her body went from pure to full of the five elements. The true qi of the five elements reinforced and countered each other in her meridians, constantly evolving. Not only did it stabilize her meridians, but it also allowed the true qi to evolve on its own in her meridians, forming a cycle of the five elements. How could a Qi Practitioner who had cultivated the path of immortality in the past have had such a fortuitous encounter?

Ever since then, as the energy of the world gradually thickened, the energy of the various elements gradually mixed together. It was impossible for another fortuitous encounter like Zhang Xiaohua's. There had never been anyone like her before, nor would there be anyone like her in the future. That was exactly how it was!

Moreover, the newly born true qi of the five elements was extremely abundant. It continued to flicker forward, but the true qi had evolved on its own, so it moved much faster as well. Before she knew it, she had already charged towards the bottleneck of the fifth layer of the Carefree Mantra.

Due to the accumulation from before and the sharpness of the newly born true qi, the breakthrough from the third layer to the fifth layer was extraordinarily smooth. The true qi arrived at her acupoints, and after knocking on them, she reached a higher level. The abundant true qi opened up brand new meridians as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood.

By the time Zhang Xiaohua's mantra reached the fifth layer of the Carefree Mantra, he was guiding the fire-type vital qi from the cave into his body. It was not like the vital qi from the Crouching Ox Rock, which was vast and unstoppable. Instead, it was like a gurgling stream that flowed endlessly. This was the Qi Refinement Mantra that was compatible with the Way of the Immortals. The true qi slowly refined his meridians, pushing his cultivation level up bit by bit. After an indeterminate amount of time, Zhang Xiaohua's motionless body twitched slightly. Then, his eyes suddenly opened. The fire in the depths of his eyes disappeared in a flash. Shortly after, he sighed slightly and stood up.

According to his original plan, if he were to cultivate on the Crouching Ox Rock, he would definitely be able to break through to the sixth layer of the Qi Refinement Mantra. However, purely guiding the vital qi from heaven and earth into his body was much slower. He had only just entered the middle of the fifth layer of the Qi Refinement Mantra. However, just as he stood up and stretched his body, he heard a series of crunching sounds coming from within his body. Zhang Xiaohua felt that he had grown a little taller. In addition, the true qi in his meridians had always felt heavy and heavy. Now, he could feel liveliness within it. Yes, there was even life.

True qi could change emotions too?

Zhang Xiaohua was somewhat stunned.

However, he didn't have much time to think about these things, because …

He pulled out a small sword from his pocket and impatiently drove it towards the Luminous Pearl on the stone wall!

Just now, there was a senior skeleton in the cave, so Zhang Xiaohua was a little embarrassed to take action. Now that he was alone, how could he resist?

Luckily, he had some experience in driving his sword to kill seabirds in the past year. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult to pry the Luminous Pearl off the tall stone wall without any damage!

Zhang Xiaohua only laughed out loud when all the Night Luminescent Pearls on the wall were removed, leaving not a single source of light behind.

"This senior from the Immortal Path is really interesting. There's nothing to admire in this cave, so why did he leave these Luminous Pearls?

If he wanted to look, he could have just used his divine sense. Why waste such a precious thing? "

But after he released his divine sense for a while, he realized that something was wrong. Divine sense was useful, but there were also particular circumstances when it could be used. How could he use his divine sense all the time? Moreover, what he saw with his divine sense was different from what he saw with his eyes.

Without any other choice, Zhang Xiaohua reluctantly took out a few more from his money pouch and put them back in their original places. At this time, there was a faint light in the cave again.

When there was light, Zhang Xiaohua's eyes then focused on the few Jade Slips on the long stone table.

That's right, just now when he used his divine sense, he could only see that there was a red restriction. He couldn't see what was inside. He could only see clearly with his eyes. Those were a few Jade Slips. Divine sense wasn't omnipotent.

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