Chapter 15: First Layer of Qi Refining

Yu You gazed at Li Ji'an, especially at his eternally calm and composed expression, and a cold smile crept onto Chen Qingling’s lips as he finally found an opportunity to strike a blow.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“I’ve already told you, I can only circulate my energy once a day.”
“You need to recognize your limits—you only sense two strands of fire element spiritual resonance, and you’re thirty years old, still practicing the ‘Nine Suns Manual.’ Wake up, Uncle Li!”
Li Ji'an ignored him, focusing instead on sensing the effect of circulating spiritual energy through his body once.
“Spiritual energy refines the flesh, though its effect is inferior to nourishing with vital blood.”
“The soul itself is tempered as well.”
“What exactly is this spiritual energy of heaven and earth? Where does it come from? How can it be so wondrous…”
Having grasped the role spiritual energy plays in cultivation, Li Ji'an once more calmed his mind, continuing into a second cycle, eager to complete the process of transforming spiritual energy into magical power as soon as possible.
Chen Qingling, who had hoped to see disappointment on Li Ji'an’s face, was flushed when Li Ji'an ignored his mocking words entirely. Yet this time, as he carefully sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy when Li Ji'an operated his cultivation method the second time, he suddenly discovered it had truly succeeded—a full cycle completed.
“You… you… you, cough cough cough~” The breath caught in his chest, making him cough uncontrollably.
After finishing his second cycle, Li Ji'an looked up at him: “No need to be surprised. Your brother probably told you my body refining skills are also decent, thanks to my comprehension.”
“Comprehension…” Chen Qingling swallowed, clearly unconvinced.
“I’m not surprised, just… hmph, what’s so impressive about good comprehension? In the Qi Refining stage, what matters is accumulation of magical power. Your spiritual roots are poor, your age is advanced—those are facts. Even if you comprehend cultivation methods quickly, what does it matter? Once you actually start refining magical power, you’ll see the gap between us.”
With that, he stormed out, clearly displeased.
Li Ji'an nodded inwardly, accepting the truth of his words.
He was clear-eyed about his own situation.
“This is the source of energy for casting spells and performing divine arts…”
Sure enough, after five cycles, sensing nearly a hundredfold spiritual energy, he finally refined less than a fraction into magical power and fully understood what Chen Zhaohu and the others meant by poor spiritual roots and the despair of cultivation.
From what he’d learned of others’ experience, ordinary low-grade spiritual roots could refine at least five percent of spiritual energy into magical power.
He, however, managed barely one percent, and even fell short of that.
Yet, far from despairing, he was filled with anticipation.
“It won’t be long before I become the immortal I once dreamed of, able to cast spells…”
He immediately threw himself into cultivation, forsaking rest and food.
Over the next few days, he had Chen Qingling take him around the market to familiarize himself with stalls selling spiritual rice, spiritual flour, and monster meat, all necessities for daily life. There were also talismans, like Dust-Cleansing Talisman, Heart-Calming Talisman, and others…
Most were currently unnecessary and unaffordable, so he bought only a small amount of spiritual rice and flour.

Spiritual rice and spiritual flour could replenish a small amount of spiritual energy, and it was absorbed directly into the body, bypassing the process of drawing it from the environment—only requiring refinement. This greatly improved cultivation efficiency.
But at a price of ten taels of spirit sand per measure, it was impossible to eat it every meal; at most, once every ten days or half a month.
A month passed in a flash. Li Ji'an rarely left his home, spending almost all his time cultivating, save for sleep and meals.
One day, while eating, he heard Chen Qingling heading out downstairs once again.
He shook his head.
His brother worked so hard to provide him with a good cultivation environment, but Chen Qingling did not seem to value it.
Over the past month, Li Ji'an had observed clearly—Chen Qingling spent perhaps two hours a day cultivating.
Compared to his own ten hours daily, it was a waste.
But he minded his own business; everyone is responsible for their own choices.
Five more months passed, and one day Li Ji'an examined his dantian, “seeing” the last part of its inner wall suffused with magical power, and opened his eyes in delight.
“First Layer of Qi Refining!”
The result was unexpectedly pleasing.
Chen Qingling, with nine strands of fire spiritual roots and a mid-grade cultivation method, took four months to reach the first layer of Qi Refining.
Yet Li Ji'an, with just two strands, achieved it in six months.
“Nine strands of fire spiritual roots refine at least fifty percent more efficiently than my two, and he cultivated a mid-grade method, adding another ten or twenty percent…”
He had prepared himself mentally for two years to reach the first layer.
In fact, he’d planned to spend half a year experiencing the Qi Refining process, then find a job to survive.
Unexpectedly… a pleasant surprise!
“Could it be that the path of immortality rewards diligence?”
“Is it simply because I trained five times as long as him each day, so my progress matched his?”
“No…!”
Suddenly, Li Ji'an realized something was amiss.
He remembered last year, when Chen Qingling achieved Qi Refining and became a true cultivator, Chen Zhaohu and several others had praised him highly, saying Chen Zhaohu’s efforts for Chen Qingling were worthwhile.
This proved that Chen Qingling’s four months to reach Qi Refining matched his talent and the mid-grade method.
“The issue is with me?” Li Ji'an was full of doubt.
That night, he visited Chen Qingling again.

Through subtle questioning, he finally discovered the reason, both shocked and delighted.
It turned out he had misunderstood Chen Qingling. It wasn’t that Chen Qingling was lazy; among ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, the process of absorbing spiritual energy and refining magical power pushed the limits of the body, and after two hours, the flesh felt as if cut by knives—already overloaded.
Besides the limits of the flesh, the soul also suffered depletion, and exceeding the limit felt like needles piercing the mind.
If one forced the absorption further, at best the body would suffer damage; at worst, the mind would be shaken.
“In that case, perhaps I can look forward to this lifetime a little more… Set a small goal—Foundation Establishment!”
Returning to his own small room, Li Ji'an was invigorated.
“With this magical power, I should be able to cast spells…”
“No wonder magical power, which connects to the spirits of heaven and earth, can suppress the power of vital blood.”
After several attempts to activate magical power, Li Ji'an decided to give up.
His comprehension was indeed far above average, but when it came to spells requiring connection to the spirits of heaven and earth, he was baffled, likely due to having no foundation in this area.
Perhaps after learning several more spells, he could eventually grasp their essence and innovate.
Satisfied, he decided to put cultivation on hold for half a year.
Six months passed, and only eighteen spirit stones remained; without new income, even next year’s rent would be tight.
With leisure time, he finally picked up a newly received letter.
Upon first arriving at the market six months ago, he had written back to Zhao Shuyao, Zhang Tiezhu, and Zhu Linxian, informing them of his situation and address.
As for Dong Jiangling, who had never returned and disappeared without a trace, he could not write.
Zhao Shuyao had followed a merchant company to a northern branch within the first three months of Li Ji'an’s arrival; since then, she’d replied only once after receiving his letter, her words numb and distant.
Zhang Tiezhu, on the other hand, was increasingly passionate and hopeful, reporting that he’d received a cultivation method from the Yan family last August and started training, reaching Qi Refining four months ago.
Zhu Linxian, always reticent, simply wrote that he had begun cultivation and all was well.
The new letter was from Golden Radiance Immortal City, sent by Zhao Shuyao.
Opening it, Li Ji'an frowned slightly at the very first line.
“Brother Li, cultivation is arduous, the immortal path hopeless, we…”