Chapter 34: Chapter Thirty-Four: One Hundred Twenty-Nine Thousand Six Hundred Kinds of Spiritual Energy

Heaven and earth arose from primordial qi; all things arose from heaven and earth.

Know that the Daoist scriptures once said:

Primordial qi exists beyond the void and within the Youming , born of the empty cavern. Within the empty cavern arises the Great Nothing. The Great Nothing transforms, and the Three Qi become manifest. The Three Qi, in chaos, give birth to the Great Void, which establishes the empty cavern; through the cavern arises Nothing, through Nothing arises Being, through Being arises emptiness. The transformation of emptiness and nothingness gives rise to spontaneous nature.

It is also called spiritual energy, called Golden Mother, called Primordial Root, called Great Carrier Responding to Nothing and Transforming into Being, called Profound Heaven’s Ultimate Essence.

At the Embryonic Breathing stage, it was unremarkable, but once one attained Qi Cultivation, the entire realm of heaven and earth opened before him in a thunderous revelation.

Chen Hang gazed with his eyes and saw countless clusters of qi, varying in shape and color, filling his surroundings—sometimes gathering, sometimes separating, merging and dispersing without fixed pattern.

“I wonder what nature the Primordial True Qi possesses? The sect’s texts mention only one phrase—‘Dragon Heaven Illuminated, All True Qi Gathered’—then pass over it, as if nothing more needed saying, and any further explanation would be superfluous.”

On the cushion, Chen Hang drew a thread of golden-red spiritual energy into his palm, twirling it around his fingertips, pondering.

Know that spiritual energy in heaven and earth is unevenly distributed—some places abundant, others scarce; how could there be equality everywhere? Even humans are not equal, let alone the vast, lofty heavens.

Just as the Eight Schools of the Profound Gate and the Six Demon Sects each occupy a spiritual cavern, their caverns’ abundance of spiritual currents is utterly staggering, beyond imagination!

A spiritual cavern is nearly the ultimate limit of spiritual energy accumulation, constantly swallowing and exhaling vast quantities of spiritual energy into the void; even uncultivated mortals living nearby are subtly nourished, free from illness and disaster, living out their natural lifespan. For cultivators, to train within such a place, with immeasurable spiritual energy as sustenance, their realm would advance by leaps and bounds, far outpacing ordinary cultivators of the outside world.

Yang Mountain could not possibly be compared to a spiritual cavern—no comparison at all. Even among the spiritually barren Southern Region, this cultivation ground ranked nowhere, insignificant.

But within the Realm of Rong, among mortals, Yang Mountain was barely acceptable as a dwelling for Qi Cultivators.

At the Embryonic Breathing stage, Chen Hang had merely felt this place similar to Xiao Ganshan—living here made the body light and at ease, breaths gentle and pleasant. But after becoming a Qi Cultivator and opening the bridge between inner and outer heaven and earth, he could finally refine spiritual energy and truly harness this land’s spiritual currents for himself.

Yet the myriad forms of spiritual energy in heaven and earth are not equal—they are divided into clear, turbid, yang, soft, fierce, yin, pure, transformative, pure, cold, plain, curved, rigid, responsive, circling, and more.

Altogether, they number one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred distinct natures.

Qi Cultivation begins first with gathering qi.

This step is crucial, cannot be neglected.

For Qi Cultivation, at its root, is the transformation of one’s Embryonic Breathing into True Qi, ultimately establishing the Dao foundation.

True Qi itself has different natures—some radiant yang, some turbid yin, some spiritual and clear, some thick and dense.

For example, the Profound Truth Sect’s “Solid Gold True Qi” requires gathering metallic and sharp-spectrum spiritual energy into the body to begin refining and cultivating, thereby strengthening the Embryonic Breathing.

If one gathers spiritual energy of opposing natures—cold, You , heavy, turbid—into the body during gathering, it will not only fail to refine, but harm one’s cultivation.

Therefore,

How to gather qi is a profound art…

Every Qi Cultivator, when gathering qi, is painstakingly cautious, carefully distinguishing among the one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred forms of spiritual energy to identify only what they require before beginning.

Thus, the Qi Cultivation stage has nine levels, with no true barriers—so long as one expands the Embryonic Breathing to its limit, one can transform it into True Qi and forge the Dao foundation.

Yet even this simplicity makes few able to advance swiftly, as if swimming in water.

For the first difficulty is finding a place rich in spiritual energy. Even disciples of great sects who train within spiritual caverns, free from this worry, must still spend great effort carefully selecting from the one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred natures.

Thus, in a single day’s cultivation, perhaps eighty percent is spent merely gathering qi…

Yet the “Divine Dwelling Treatise on the Primordial True Qi” mentions nothing of the nature of the Primordial True Qi, only stating, “Dragon Heaven Illuminated, All True Qi Gathered,” then ending there—leaving no detailed gathering method at all.

Chen Hang could only cautiously send the golden-fire spiritual energy in his hand into his body, activating the Qi Cultivation technique, letting his Embryonic Breathing grind and crush it.

“Hmm?”

There was no resistance whatsoever; as the golden-fire spiritual energy was absorbed, Chen Hang’s Embryonic Breathing strengthened slightly.

“It’s golden-fire spectrum? No, try again…”

Chen Hang drew in another thread of dark, dense spiritual energy, refining it into his body—and again, his Embryonic Breathing grew.

Profound, Constant, Transformative, Stable, Yang, Ultimate, Illuminating…

After further trials, Chen Hang’s doubts vanished entirely; he burst into loud laughter, his face radiant with unbridled joy.

What is the Primordial True Qi?

In one phrase: Dragon Heaven Illuminated, All True Qi Gathered!

All spiritual energies can be refined, regardless of spectrum! Unrestricted by nature!

This means Chen Hang need not laboriously gather qi like other Qi Cultivators—so long as sufficient spiritual energy is present, he can instantly propel his cultivation to the ninth level of Qi Cultivation, then forge his Dao foundation!

“Is this the supreme Qi Cultivation art? Today I finally understand the value of a true sect method! With one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred spiritual energies at my disposal, how could I fail to attain the Dao?”

Chen Hang sighed, opened his chest to the heavens, ceased restraint, and immediately drew all spiritual energy from heaven and earth toward himself.

Thus, from dawn’s first light to the moon at zenith, from the sun high overhead to the stars blanketing the sky, Chen Hang immersed his entire spirit in this, until suddenly he felt a jarring resistance in the technique. He turned his spiritual sense outward—and realized the mountain’s sparse spiritual energy had been entirely drained.

“Yang Mountain… truly mortal soil, inherently limited. I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to train within a spiritual cavern in this life.”

Chen Hang felt a pang of regret.

He took a Qiankun bag from his sleeve, poured out its talisman coins, gripped one in his hand, and began refining it.

Talisman coins are forged from spiritual energy, and their spectrum is the gentlest possible—“Primordial”—usable by nearly all cultivators.

Using talisman coins for cultivation is extravagant, but the Abyss loomed ahead, and a great enemy waited; Chen Hang could no longer afford caution.

Though the Qi Cultivation art granted him dominion over one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred spiritual energies, making him nearly unmatched in his realm, to high-level masters, it was not so formidable.

The “Inner-Outer Palace” opened at the Purple Mansion realm can purify spiritual energy; as for Golden Core, it fuses all qi into one, granting a body bestowed by heaven.

On the Immortal Path, one step ahead means always ahead!

Under solid foundational conditions, if one can raise one’s cultivation, a little expenditure of wealth is but a trivial matter.

As Chen Hang continued to strengthen his Embryonic Breathing,

At the same moment,

In the Primordial Demon Sect of Nan Chan Province,

A handsome Daoist in purple robes and golden crown suddenly felt a stir in his heart. He gazed toward Dong Mi Province, pinched his fingers in silent calculation, then a strange smile spread across his face:

“Hah. Primordial True Qi.”