Chapter 70: Miscellaneous Thoughts Have Achieved Results!

"Strange—why didn't that thunder art unleash? The great demon didn't even chase out… Could it really just be practicing?"

The demonic cultivator watched Feng Xue's residence from the roof of a civilian house five li away, only exhaling a sigh when the thunder qi ceased rising, yet dared not approach, fearing a devastating blow the moment he stepped closer.

This hesitation lasted for hours, until the moon rose high in the sky and the moonlight's glow could faintly be seen descending, at which point the demonic cultivator finally relaxed.

"With the moonlight condensing into dew, the great demon must be in cultivation—clearly has no intention of fighting."

Thinking this, the demonic cultivator walked again toward Feng Xue's residence.

Because that intoxicating fragrance had begun to spread once more.

Forcing down the soul's craving for feedback, the demonic cultivator crept to the villa's exterior, sensing the thick, lingering surge of primordial qi within—his eyes nearly turned red.

Yet his willpower was astonishing; he forcibly suppressed this instinct, carefully approaching the point where the primordial qi gathered, and at a single glance, his composure shattered.

The primordial qi wasn't gathering—it was overflowing directly from the youngling's body, while the spirit ghost greedily devoured every bit of qi threatening to leak from the room, feasting without restraint!

The demonic cultivator had assumed the young man released a single "primordial qi packet" each night for the spirit ghost to slowly consume; who knew this damn fool had set up a primordial qi pool and let the ghost drink freely!

"Damn, no wonder there's zero impurity—anyone with a master like this would scorn roadside incense offerings!"

The demonic cultivator's mind was in chaos—he wanted to burst through the window and drag the youngling back, not even exaggerating: just this one night's primordial qi equaled the yield of slaughtering a first-rank official's entire household!

Even rarer, this primordial qi was voluntarily exuded, utterly free of resentment. If the qi harvested from murder and plunder was rice bran mixed with sand and gravel, requiring painstaking sifting to absorb one or two percent, then this primordial qi was fine-milled white rice flour—no matter how you cooked it, just open your belly and eat your fill!

Watching the spirit ghost consume primordial qi without restraint, the demonic cultivator felt like a peasant of eight generations staring at a landlord's idiot son tossing white flour into the river—his heart ached!

But he couldn't just steal it now—

After all, this primordial qi's origin was suspicious; no uninitiated youth should be able to extract it. Who knew if some secret technique was at play? If the great demon was too far away to harvest moonlight, and he forcibly seized the qi and startled the youngling into demonic deviation or cultivation collapse, the consequences would be endless.

He came to suffer, not to accumulate karmic debt—and he certainly didn't want to draw out the old monster behind this youth!

Yet he couldn't stand idly by as this pure primordial qi was wasted by a spirit ghost who didn't even know the value of fine grain—he pressed himself against the outer wall, cautiously extending his spiritual sense to lick up the faint qi seeping through the walls into his soul.

This act bore a striking resemblance to the old habit during hard times of buying steamed buns and secretly tearing off the sticky crusts (Note ①).

Inside the wall, Mo Ying feasted without restraint; outside, the demonic cultivator licked the escaping primordial qi like scraping plaster off a wall—strangely enough, he truly felt like a beggar now.

But…

"The five-element balance of this primordial qi seems off…"

Perhaps because he'd tasted something good, the demonic cultivator couldn't help but evaluate—yet as he absorbed this qi, its subtle "texture" puzzled him.

"Too yin and cold—feels like excessive kidney qi. This kid looks full of essence and spirit, shows no signs of premature yang leakage, and it's not weak fire—it's strong water… This must be deliberate."

The demonic cultivator analyzed the possible origins of this qi using his experience, finding nothing amiss.

After all, producing such vast quantities of primordial qi was already beyond miracle status—if the result were perfectly balanced, he'd find that strange.

All he now pondered was the principle behind this imbalance.

Ultimately, whether demonic or orthodox, xuan cultivators never escape the five elements and yin-yang, qi, will, and incense—ten thousand transformations never stray from the root. Now that he sensed this qi might relate to kidney water, he could deduce from it—even if he couldn't glimpse the full secret technique, at least he'd have a direction.

Though stealing another sect's secret techniques was taboo, he was already a demonic cultivator—why care?

Besides, the qi was exuding from him; he'd merely licked a few mouthfuls—if that alone could accumulate karmic debt, then every cultivator in the past millennia who'd derived new methods from others' techniques would've become demonic cultivators.

Offering himself reassurance, the demonic cultivator licked the primordial qi while deducing possible causes of its imbalance, its potential consequences, and analyzing what might have triggered this explosive increase…

"Gone? Where's my primordial qi? Why's it gone?"

Perhaps too absorbed, when he finally snapped back to awareness, the overflowing primordial qi had vanished—he opened his eyes in bewilderment, then noticed that damned spirit ghost was already "licking the plate"!

"Damn brat! Ate all night and still lusting after these scraps!"

The demonic cultivator cursed inwardly, but seeing the youngling about to awaken, he immediately suppressed his aura, maintained his invisibility, and quietly slipped away from the house.

Both the spirit ghost and the great demon were blind as bats—he decided he needed to target this sharper little ghost to truly gain advantage.

As for the entry point, he'd already thought of it; now he merely waited for the right moment.

…

Feng Xue awoke from sleep, ignoring Mo Ying as it cleaned up the remaining primordial qi, brought his right index finger and thumb close together—and dark electric arcs flickered. Seeing this, he nodded in satisfaction—

"Indeed, my hypothesis is correct: the circulation of ying and wei, the five qi generated by the organs—Wu Xiu's blood qi is divided into five elements, and the primordial qi produced under their nourishment is likewise divided into five elements. But generally, extracting primordial qi shortens lifespan, so balance must be maintained to avoid extra damage. Yet if one increases the proportion of a single element, the resulting magical power's nature will shift. Yesterday, by accident, while intensely fantasizing, I refined primordial qi, causing excessive water-element qi, making my magical power yin and water-dominated—and thus the thunder art changed…"

As he pondered this theory, Feng Xue's mind filled with countless conjectures—but refining primordial qi through fantasy alone was dreadfully inefficient; last night's sleepless hours yielded only a slight elemental shift. To deepen this study, he needed a more efficient method—or better yet, a technique to separate, refine, and store primordial qi.

Opening his over-the-shoulder view, Feng Xue checked the entry above his head—no new option had appeared. He could only sigh helplessly, heading to the bathroom to wash up while muttering inwardly:

"Sigh—if only I had a skill panel or a system… or even a personal elder living in my pocket!"

Note ①: The author never experienced this himself, but elders mentioned it—it was during the ration-ticket era. Families had many children and were always hungry; when buying steamed buns from giant steamers filled with many buns pressed together, some would stick to others' crusts. Children dared not steal whole buns, so they'd tear off the stuck crusts and eat them secretly. Parents, seeing the missing crusts, assumed it was just from buns sticking together—but they still dared not eat much, for if every bun lost its crust, it'd be too obvious.

ps: So some people just come to argue without even checking.

Why can primordial qi be extracted endlessly? Because primordial qi is not equivalent to lifespan.

In this novel, the concept of primordial qi draws from Traditional Chinese Medicine's theory of ying, wei, yuan, and zong qi. Ying and wei qi have been explained; zong qi is the "great qi" sustaining heartbeat and pulse—think of it as energy exclusively for smooth muscle.

Primordial qi is one's innate qi, representing vitality, nourishing the entire body. Insufficient primordial qi leads to aging and death, just as starvation kills from lack of energy—not because skipping a meal instantly kills you.

Through eating, one achieves 【ying-wei circulation】, then 【organs generate five qi】 (primordial qi)—this is one cycle of qi.

According to this theory, the upper limit of primordial qi one can extract in a single instance equals their total innate primordial qi—hence the protagonist can extract sixty years' worth. Draining it entirely causes death, but not because the qi vanishes—it's because the body loses nourishment. The protagonist's divine ability locks his life, equivalent to embezzling funds—as long as he replenishes it before needed, he's fine.

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(End of Chapter)