Chapter 85: Cultivation, or a Monster Pill?

This video sparked countless discussions; no one had ever seen such an astronomical phenomenon, and the key point is that many astronomers were still filming it at the time.

Only the Astronomical Observatory captured this footage, so the official version certainly couldn't be fake.

Where it was filmed, why this phenomenon occurred—these questions sparked countless people's curiosity, even making it a hot search topic.

Even those who don't pay attention to astronomical phenomena saw this video and were deeply shaken by the magnificent scene it showed.

In the end, the officials themselves got involved.

Astronomical Observatory V: "After our research, this should be some kind of magnetic field change caused by the lunar eclipse, combined with the local environment and celestial phenomena influencing each other, forming such a spectacle, which is why no other place observed it."

The officials' private messages were flooded with people asking for the exact coordinates; curious gossipers wanted to investigate, but the officials didn't reveal anything.

First, it's too far from the urban area, and there are too many mountain roads; going there without authorization would surely be dangerous, and the place hasn't been developed, so if a large number of netizens went, they would easily damage the local ecology.

For various reasons, the Astronomical Observatory did not disclose the filming information.

Soon, as time passed, the hype died down for most people, except a few astronomers who kept following it.

The public's attention had already shifted to other novelties; internet updates are just that fast, and the internet has no memory—new things come quickly and fade just as fast.

Although the internet's hype faded, in astronomers' eyes this matter is not over.

This newly discovered astronomical phenomenon attracted the attention and research of relevant departments, even geologists were invited to join the discussion.

The meeting room was very quiet.

Everyone watched the video over and over, eyes unblinking, truly attentive, occasionally taking notes.

After the video finished playing, even after watching it many times, everyone could not snap out of that shocking scene.

After a long while, someone finally broke the silence.

"Combining the local environment and the situation of the lunar eclipse at that time, I really can't find the root cause of this phenomenon; my conclusion and guess is that it might just be a coincidence."

The speaker was a forty‑year‑old man wearing glasses, yet his words were somewhat speechless.

Can scientific research be summed up as mere coincidence?

"According to what you said, could this just be an accident? Meaning after this occurrence, it will never happen again?"

"I don't agree with that view—how could the world have so many coincidences and accidents? Its formation must have a cause; we just haven't discovered it yet."

The originally quiet meeting room instantly became as noisy as a market, with arguments erupting as both sides tried to convince each other.

Director Li rubbed his forehead, seeing the red‑faced, thick‑necked staff members arguing, feeling quite helpless.

The few younger people present didn't feel comfortable voicing opinions, given that everyone else was more senior.

One of them couldn't help joking: "I think both of those views are wrong; I suddenly recalled a folk saying called 'Imperial Flow Elixir,' which actually resembles this astronomical phenomenon."

Young people chase novelties, surf the net, like to glance at everything; he was just speaking offhand.

Little did he know his offhand remark would prove prophetic, though nobody took it seriously at the time.

……

The mountain dawn arrived unusually early; the first ray of sunlight generously bathed the peak, colorful vapors rose to form a blue sky, and the outline of the red sun behind could be faintly seen.

In the sky only a faint silver glow lingered, as if a breeze could scatter it away.

After absorbing the Heaven and Earth Qi, feeling the surging power within his body, Ye Qin opened his eyes with satisfaction.

His pupils held a faint crescent moon, with a glimmer of gold thread flowing through, which soon vanished.

Over these days of training, most of the Imperial Flow Elixir he had previously absorbed was taken in, helping Ye Qin's cultivation level break through to the peak of the Third Realm.

Besides his cultivation level increasing, even his lifespan seemed extended by a year or two, letting him breathe easy without fearing an imminent demise in the short term.

Reality isn't like a fabricated xianxia world where lifespan is free.

All things have their destined course; life and death are bound by heavenly decree—let alone adding a year, even extending one's lifespan by a day is already defying fate and altering one's innate destiny.

Take Ye Qin's own lifespan: it's only a few years, and now he is literally rowing against the current.

Ye Qin couldn't help remarking, "No wonder it's the legendary heavenly creation—eating it prolongs life and greatly benefits cultivation."

Besides that, Ye Qin still had some Imperial Flow Elixir unabsorbed, intending to store it inside his Primordial White Bone.

"Imperial Flow Elixir appears once a century, its effects are extraordinary, and no one knows when it will show up again; keeping a bit is like holding a trump card for future needs."

Perhaps it will come in handy someday; Ye Qin always prepares for a rainy day.

After being cleansed by the Imperial Flow Elixir, Ye Qin could sense some unknown change occurring inside him, though he currently cannot look inward to see exactly what it is.

Yet he could faintly feel that everything was developing for the better, as evident from his growing mental strength.

With a thought, Ye Qin's Primordial White Bone manifested again.

At this moment the White Bone differed greatly from before; its eyes seemed to hold a faint moonlight, shimmering like a mysterious night sky, endlessly changing.

At the center of the skull lay a bone bearing a purple sigil etched within; looking closely, one could see a spark flash by, carrying supreme dignity—so imposing it needs no anger.

Most importantly, the White Bone is surrounded by faint golden threads that seem alive—appearing still but actually flowing slowly, giving the whole bone an extraordinary divinity.

These are the Imperial Flow Elixir left within the White Bone.

Everything on the Primordial Substance will nourish Ye Qin; now the White Bone is unlike before, and its feedback power is equally strong.

"At first you were just a plain White Bone, yet now you bear many marvels—truly unexpected."

Even Ye Qin himself felt somewhat shaken by this sight, let alone now displaying his Divine Ability for ordinary people to see.

Now his Illusion Divine Ability, when activated, has increased in both range and power by several times—its might is incomparable to before.

Besides these visible changes, the Imperial Flow Elixir also altered Ye Qin's physique and even that most profound soul!

But his realm is still too low for these to show; when the time is right, they will naturally become apparent.

"The benefits brought by the Imperial Flow Elixir are huge, but unfortunately they can't fully manifest yet."

……

Usually after absorbing Heaven and Earth Qi, Ye Qin would return to his cave, but today he broke habit, not going back but instead gazing at the rising red sun on the horizon, lost in thought.

Imperial Flow Elixir is a form of Heaven and Earth Qi; after Ye Qin absorbed it completely, his connection with heaven and earth seemed to grow tighter.

Moreover, having reached the peak of the Third Realm 'Heaven and Earth Refining Qi,' he had hit the limit of this stage, so with the aid of Imperial Flow Elixir he also gained insight into the next realm.

And what form should the next realm take?

Ye Qin had pondered this question many times, and finally came upon a Daoist saying.

Internal alchemy!

This Daoist saying likens the human body to a cauldron, and the meridians through which the body's internal circulation runs to the channels of internal alchemy practice.

Under strict control of artificial mental consciousness, using the propulsive force of the body's primordial qi, the secreted essence and qi are cultivated through full-body circulation, condensing essence, qi, and spirit into a 'sacred embryo' or called an elixir.

By cultivating essence, qi, and spirit, one achieves the goals of strengthening the body, enhancing bodily life functions, prolonging lifespan, even attaining immortality and eternal youth.

Of course, this is merely theory and philosophy, a great literary work of the ancients, but no one has succeeded in putting it into practice; however, Ye Qin can use it as an excellent reference.

Therefore, based on the above, Ye Qin deduces that he must next transform the intangible into a tangible substance and form a pill within his body.

The pill refers to the product formed by the combination of the body's essence, qi, and spirit.

Conversely, by reverse deduction, animals' bodies can also contain such a pill.

For example, in some supernatural tales, when animal spirits cultivate to a certain level, they produce monster pills.

Opinions on internal alchemy vary: some say it is one's innate true nature, some say it is an energy cluster like millet grains, and some say it is a kind of light.

Although the human and animal bodies differ, they ultimately converge; in terms of cultivation, the essence should be the same, though the circulation routes within the dantian may differ.

"The three realms I have cultivated so far are: free contemplation, tempering the body through creation, and refining qi with heaven and earth."

"These can be called the first stage of practice, collectively termed 'contemplating origin qi,' that is, the stage of 'guiding qi into the body.'"

"Then now, one should be able to usher in the second major stage, the so‑called 'pill‑forming stage.'"

Recalling the various insights from absorbing the emperor's flowing broth, combining recent reflections and the various scriptures he had read not long ago, Ye Qin deduced the cultivation path described above.

"In the pill‑forming stage, barring surprises, there should also be three realms; my main problem now is how to produce this 'pill.'"

Internal alchemy takes essence, qi, and spirit as its cultivation focus; it emphasizes dual cultivation of nature and life, using the greater and lesser celestial circulation breath methods as the basic nurturing approach.

During the Eastern Jin, the Shangqing School took the *Shangqing Grand Cavern True Scripture* as its main classic, emphasizing the cultivation of essence, qi, and spirit within the human body, and through refining spirit to refine form.

Next came Wei Boyang of the Eastern Han's *Zhouyi Cantong vital energy*, which was used for the combined practice of internal and external alchemy.

In the Southern Song, Zhang Ziyang, a True Person, wrote the internal alchemy treasure *Wuzhen Pian*, but this method places greater emphasis on the cultivation of nature, prioritizing nature over life, differing from earlier approaches.

Besides this, the Hunan Daoist Li Daochun founded the Central School of internal alchemy in the early Yuan, which uses internal alchemy to elucidate Confucianism, with 'holding the center' as the essential principle of the elixir method.

In the Ming, Lu Qianxu established the Eastern School of internal alchemy, starting from the principle of reverse use and reverse cultivation, borrowing vital energy to cultivate vital energy, feigning life to extend life, gathering vital energy as a switch, and so on.

Thus we see that although the ancients could not practice due to their acquired limitations, they still stood alone in theory, offering considerable insight.

After all, over the thousands of years from antiquity to the present, many sages have entered states of meditative stillness and sudden awakening; accumulating bit by bit, they have formed a set of elixir‑way doctrines.

The only pity is that these ideas, or doctrines, have never been put into practice; they remain mere theoretical knowledge, yet they contain great truths.

Thus it is clear that the inquiry into elixir‑way has a long history, and the investigative methods vary; the ways of operating internal alchemy also differ respectively.

Although Ye Qin is the sole practitioner, he does not dare to underestimate the wisdom of the ancients.

But the problem is, Ye Qin has a serpent's body, which is inherently different from a human's; finding his own path of internal alchemy is not an easy task.

Only when the sun was high at midday did Ye Qin barely manage to gather a few thoughts.

"Since the first realm of the pill‑forming stage is related to gathering qi, I should absorb as much heavenly and earthly qi as possible, store it within my body, accumulate it deeply to release it lightly, and form a qi pill."

However, aside from that special substance, the emperor's flowing broth, ordinary qi is not easy to retain within the body.

For example, during these days, the heavenly and earthly qi that Ye Qin absorbed was entirely taken up by his body; what could not be absorbed simply returned to heaven and earth, making it impossible to store and accumulate.

"Perhaps my method is wrong? Let me try other approaches."

Ye Qin decided to wait until evening, when day and night alternate, to try again.

Soon the sunset approached; the burning clouds, using their last breath, blazed out a splendid evening glow, layer upon layer, as the azure firmament was overtaken by dark hues, light and dark intertwining.

It appeared distinct and clear, yet in reality it slowly merged.

The moon also appeared, beginning to emit its own light; at this moment the red sun had not yet fully set, being dragged by the clouds, leaving half of its body exposed.

Taking advantage of the moment when sun and moon exchange, during the gap of day‑night rotation, when heavenly and earthly qi is at its thickest, a faint white mist slowly rose around Ye Qin.

These white mists gathered and dispersed; it was as if two invisible hands in the air sought to clutch them all together, but the mist was too thin, and they vanished into the serpent's scales.

After several rounds, Ye Qin wearily opened his eyes; his serpent pupils flickered with a hint of fatigue.

"Still a failure; these heavenly and earthly qi are too thin, unlike the rich emperor's flowing broth, making it impossible to condense them into form and store them in the body."

If the force is too great, the heavenly and earthly qi will be completely absorbed by the body, making preservation impossible; if the force is too slight, they will scatter and dissipate between heaven and earth.

Ye Qin is not one to admit defeat easily; after a brief rest, he rallied again.

"If one try fails, I'll try twice; I don't believe that, having survived the hardest times before, I could fall at this little step."

Ye Qin again drew heavenly and earthly qi into his body, assuming a contemplative posture, using his mental control to gather all of that qi into one place.

Since it is too thin, he thought of ways to strengthen it, then compress and condense it; his reasoning is sound, but putting it into practice is extremely difficult.

Originally, Ye Qin's usual cultivation method was to simply inhale the heavenly and earthly qi into his body and let it be absorbed on its own; now, to be able to store it, several extra steps have been inserted.

For mental power, this is a tremendous challenge; soon Ye Qin felt some lack of stamina.

Just as the moon had barely risen, his mental energy had already been largely depleted.

His bright red serpent tongue kept quivering in the air; Ye Qin's whole serpent lay upon a stone, and despite expending such great effort, he failed to retain any heavenly and earthly qi.

Just as a gauze net cannot hold water, the body cannot retain heavenly and earthly qi.

"This is truly not worth the loss; if it continues like this, it may even affect my daily cultivation."

Ye Qin gazed at the bright moon overhead and fell into contemplation: "From qi, condensing into a qi pill—this deduction should be correct. But perhaps this method won't work now; I should seek another path."

Ye Qin sank into contemplation; not knowing whether it was due to excessive mental exhaustion, he actually appeared somewhat drowsy, a wave of sleepiness came, and his serpent eyes slowly closed.

According to Ye Qin's current cultivation level, even sleeping outdoors would be fine, and many small creatures stand guard around him.

Even while he sleeps, if there is danger outside, he can sense it immediately and wake up.

Ye Qin has not felt this drowsiness for a long time; it is like a bodily instinct—since he was reborn as a serpent and entered cultivation, he spends little time sleeping.

For him, contemplation means rest; even if he cultivates all night, he rarely feels fatigue.

(End of chapter)