Chapter 33: Qi Deviation (Seeking Collections and Recommendations)

Inside the tightly closed stone door, Zhang Nuo sat quietly on the stone bed. Faint Spiritual Qi surrounded his body, slowly rotating; the Spiritual Qi was like ethereal mist, and even an inadvertent breath would cause it to immediately change its form.

With his eyes slightly closed, Zhang Nuo was like an old monk in meditation, ignoring everything outside his body. He had been sitting in meditation like this for nearly a month; the inner pain and struggle were even harder to endure than the physical fatigue, but cultivation was just like this—one must be able to endure loneliness and withstand pain.

The Spiritual Qi slowly faded and finally disappeared completely. Zhang Nuo slowly opened his eyes; his pupils were as clear as a mountain stream, but the bitter smile hanging at the corners of his mouth made him look somewhat haggard.

Through this year of cultivation, he had leaped from the Qi Refining Stage Sixth Layer to the Eighth Layer. This speed was not slow; one must know that the first few layers of the Qi Refining Stage were not difficult to cultivate, and what was difficult were these last few layers, especially the Ninth Layer, which required far more Spiritual Qi than the previous layers. Ever since entering the Eighth Layer, Zhang Nuo had been constantly attempting to break through to the Ninth Layer, but all had ended in failure.

Glancing at the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" beside him, the nightly gathering of Spiritual Qi over this past year had benefited Zhang Nuo greatly, but now the concentration of Spiritual Qi was far from enough for his cultivation needs. At this rate, even in another three years, he might not be able to reach the realm of the Ninth Layer.

Thinking of the sword case, Zhang Nuo then thought of the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" in his bosom. He took out the Spirit Insect and held it in his palm, only to see this little thing still sleeping soundly, with no intention of waking up at all. Back in the Divine Sword Mountain Range, he did not know how many metal mines it had eaten, but it had actually slept for a whole year.

Zhang Nuo very much hoped that it would wake up immediately, so that there would be "White Profound Crystal Stone" produced. He reached out and touched the Spirit Insect's carapace, and a cool sensation came from it.

"Wake up quickly!"

Muttering softly in his mouth, Zhang Nuo said helplessly, but the Spirit Insect did not hear his words at all and was still sleeping "soundly."

A moment later, seeing that the Spirit Insect still had no reaction, Zhang Nuo had no choice but to put it back into his bosom. He took a small bottle from his Storage Bag, poured out an "Inedia Pill" and swallowed it; the hunger in his stomach immediately lessened quite a bit. He sat back down, formed hand seals, and began to continue his cultivation.

This sitting lasted for another month. That night, the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" began to gather Spiritual Qi. Zhang Nuo seized this opportunity and greedily absorbed it. The Spiritual Qi flowed endlessly through his meridians, and slowly the concentration reached its peak. Zhang Nuo's brows twitched; this was a good opportunity to break through to the Ninth Layer.

With no time to think, the hand seals changed, and Zhang Nuo took a deep breath. At the same time, the blood flow in his body accelerated, and the surface of his skin gradually turned dark red.

The Spiritual Qi that had been quietly floating around Zhang Nuo suddenly became restless. Soon, these Spiritual Qi formed a vortex around him, and the center of the vortex was Zhang Nuo, whose face was the color of a pig's liver.

"Swish! Swish!"

The sound of Spiritual Qi rotating rang out rhythmically, but Zhang Nuo could no longer hear the sound. In his heart, he silently recited the mental cultivation method of the Ninth Layer of the "Sword Control Art," guiding all the Spiritual Qi in his body according to the method.

The process of guiding was extremely painful. The Spiritual Qi impacted the meridians as if carving out new meridians in the body; pain, numbness, and itching—all kinds of sensations arrived at once. This was a process that an ordinary person could not endure. Although Zhang Nuo had been prepared in his heart, the bursts of intense pain still made his brows knit tightly.

With the increase of Spiritual Qi, the surface of Zhang Nuo's body became even more blood-red. Finally, his entire skin looked completely transparent, and the blood flowed rapidly beneath the skin; that sight was eerily terrifying.

"Puff!"

After lasting for nearly two hours, a mouthful of fresh blood suddenly sprayed out from Zhang Nuo's mouth. At the same time, the vortex-shaped Spiritual Qi that had formed around him instantly disintegrated, and the Spiritual Qi slowly scattered, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The blood-red color on Zhang Nuo's body also gradually returned to its original skin color, but his face was deathly pale, without a trace of blood. Without a doubt, this attempt to break through to the Ninth Layer had failed again.

Sighing deeply, Zhang Nuo soon realized that he had not only failed this time but also seemed to have suffered internal injuries. According to his past experience with failed breakthroughs, his injuries this time were not light. The internal organs in his body felt as if they were dislocated, each one aching to the core, as if thousands of ants were gnawing on them.

"Not good!"

Zhang Nuo was greatly alarmed. This feeling was exactly the sign of meridians reversing and suffering from Qi deviation. If he did not control it, within an hour, he would either lose all his cultivation or lose his life.

Enduring the intense pain, he sat back down, formed hand seals, and controlled the Spiritual Qi in his body to flow in the normal order. Time passed bit by bit; beads of sweat as large as beans rolled down Zhang Nuo's forehead, and blood flowed from the corners of his mouth again and again. The intense pain distorted his features, and his teeth gnashed with a "clatter."

Half a day later, another mouthful of blood was spat out. Zhang Nuo lay limp on the stone bed, his clothes soaked through with sweat, panting heavily, his eyes staring straight at the ceiling of the room.

Fortunately, Zhang Nuo discovered it in time and did not let the situation of Qi deviation spread. Although he had suffered non-trivial internal injuries, his cultivation was finally preserved.

Only at this moment did Zhang Nuo feel a bit of regret. He had been too eager for success. If he had spent some time stabilizing his cultivation when he had just entered the Eighth Layer realm, today's incident would not have happened.

Now that his internal organs had suffered varying degrees of damage, it would take at least half a year to fully recover, which invisibly made the time for him to break through to the Ninth Layer even longer.