Chapter 73: I Think This Demonic Cultivation Secret Method Resembles Orthodox Daoist Practice

Li Maolin was somewhat surprised by Feng Xue's excuse, and for a fleeting moment, he genuinely wondered if Feng Xue was one of those luck-driven protagonists from storybooks who fall off cliffs and pick up ancient sect manuals centuries old.

But that thought lasted only an instant.

After all, Feng Xue had too many implausible traits—

First, his clean, unblemished physique didn't resemble that of an ordinary family; second, spirit ghosts and great demons weren't something you could just stumble upon, let alone command like Xing Nu Li; even if the great demon and spirit ghost were both found, what about the magical artifacts? Could artifacts possibly be found too? Those jade talismans were one thing, but what about the Round Light Mirror? He, this ancient relic who had lived for centuries, knew exactly what the Round Light Mirror looked like a hundred years ago! Could it be that the Shenxiao Sect had developed magical artifact technology eight hundred years ago that surpassed later generations by hundreds of years? Then why did they vanish?

Even if you took the extreme position—that if Feng Xue truly had jumped off a cliff and found treasure—that would make him even more dangerous to provoke, for while sect scions merely had cultivators behind them, someone with luck this extreme must have Heaven itself standing behind them!

But as always, he was here to seek losses, so naturally, whatever Feng Xue said, he would "believe."

Fortunately, the sorting, regulating, filtering, and refining of primordial qi was indeed the core skill of demonic cultivators; even if he had never previously considered separately differentiating the Five Phases, once he combined it with practical experience, inspiration immediately arose.

But he couldn't abandon the facade of a righteous sect, so he feigned hesitation, pondered for a moment, then said:

"This method of gathering and refining primordial qi is harmful, not beneficial, to cultivators before entering the Dao. The techniques described in your inheritance are likely meant only for those who have already entered the Dao—do you truly wish to learn them?"

Feng Xue knew perfectly well that orthodox xian cultivators risked death by tampering with primordial qi before entering the Dao, but since he had asked, he had already prepared his response—he blinked his eyes and said:

"I originally planned to wait until after entering the Dao before exploring this myself, but now that I've met you, Senior, rather than waste this opportunity on a path to entering the Dao I'm confident I can cross on my own, I'd rather plan for the future!"

"I'll pretend you thought that way!" Li Maolin muttered inwardly, yet nodded outwardly and said:

"Every human is born with one breath of primordial qi, which is considered the closest state to the Primordial One Qi. Forcibly splitting it is harmful, not beneficial. The method you described likely refers to the qi generated by the five viscera—this qi sprouts from the primordial qi as seed, nourished by nutritive qi, flows into the meridians, transforms into defensive qi, and circulates through the limbs and hundred bones. Martial cultivators cultivate essence and stabilize defensive qi, like opening and expanding rivers. If you wish to separate the five qi, you must act at the nodes where the viscera's primordial qi enters the meridians."

"An expert!" Feng Xue, upon hearing this, immediately conjured many thoughts in his mind, yet they felt veiled behind a gauze-like barrier. But why strain to think when such a master stood before him? He dropped his stubbornness and asked directly:

"But the sprouting of the five viscera's qi is a continuous process—if blocked, it will impair bodily nourishment and shorten lifespan; if the sprouting qi has nowhere to go, it will naturally dissipate. What ingenious method does Senior have?"

"Here it comes!" Li Maolin's heart lurched—this touched on the key technique of demonic cultivators gathering qi. After all, demonic cultivators extract from corpses at least a decade's worth of qi per kill. Never mind whether the soul can absorb it all at once—the qi is saturated with resentment, blood miasma, and the original owner's life imprint, like congee mixed with sand and pebbles—you can't drink it raw. Only after stripping away the indigestible parts can you absorb and refine it.

The technique, once explained, was simple enough—even demonic cultivators who didn't know it at first (they competed fiercely and rarely shared knowledge) would eventually figure it out after killing a few people and realizing how wasteful they'd been. But it was like where to watch risqué content—illegal acts were never openly taught.

He needed a moment to think, to find a relatively plausible cover.

Fortunately, the world had no shortage of sects, great and small, and countless more that had flickered briefly before vanishing. He ran through his needs in his mind and immediately found a "tiger skin" to pull over:

"What you describe is essentially guiding and storing primordial qi. Speaking of which, you must mention the External Alchemy School. A thousand years ago, they once reached great heights, but as the world changed, rare medicinal ingredients became harder to obtain, and the External Alchemy School declined. What remains today in various sect texts—ingestion techniques, jade-eating methods, Golden Elixir Dhāraṇī—are their legacy.

"But external alchemy isn't something you can make and use universally; to make it easier for cultivators to absorb, they often used the cultivator's own primordial qi as a medicinal catalyst, making the medicine's nature closer to the cultivator's constitution, facilitating refinement. Though I don't know how to make external alchemy, I happen to possess the Qi-Extraction Art of the Yellow-White School."

Though he disliked how "ancients" always dragged out the origins of every teaching, Feng Xue was delighted to hear there was a solution—he didn't care about all the "fluff" and said directly:

"Please, Senior, teach me!"

Li Maolin nodded at this, yet continued: "Since I've agreed, I won't renege. Listen carefully!"

Hearing the master was about to begin his lesson, Feng Xue didn't dare interrupt—he pulled out paper and pen himself, clearly signaling: "Go ahead, I'll take notes."

"You say you're a lone cultivator? What lone cultivator has such good habits?!"

Li Maolin muttered inwardly, yet spoke aloud:

"The Yellow-White School excels in refining medicines from metals and minerals. The most popular jade-eating method today originated from them. Jade-eating extracts the essence of jade and converts it into primordial qi the soul can absorb. The Qi-Extraction Art does the opposite—it draws out primordial qi and infuses it into jade. The jade essence condenses, enveloping the qi, preserving it for three months without dissipation.

"This method is quite complex, involving multiple transformations of spiritual power, impossible to cultivate before entering the Dao. I'll leave you the ritual protocol—focus on tracing and deconstructing it. Starting tomorrow, I'll come every You hour to teach you for one hour; then you may attempt practical application. If you have other questions, you may ask me…"

As he spoke, Li Maolin took a sheet of paper and recorded the entire ritual protocol and essential points upon it, then changed tone:

"You've seen through me three times—I'll teach you three pentads. Whether you can master it depends entirely on your own destiny!"

With that, Li Maolin turned his body and vanished from the room.

Feng Xue picked up the paper bearing the ritual protocol and stared blankly:

"What's a pentad?"

Hearing Feng Xue ask such an ignorant question, Li Maolin—who hadn't gone far—nearly turned back to explain, but Feng Xue didn't know, while Seeing Mo Ying did. She immediately explained to this master who lacked even basic knowledge:

"One pentad is five days; three pentads is fifteen days—that's one qi cycle."

"Oh, that's not short at all—much better than those masters who teach only once and vanish!"

(End of Chapter)