Chapter 83: Profound True and Various Sha

  “You also know I’m not well-versed ihods of the Martial Path, but I do have some insight into Qi Refining cultivation.”

  Upon hearing An Jing’s request fuidahe Sword Spirit spoke with fidence, “It so happens that this realm also follows the Qi Refining Dao, so I expin a thing or two.”

  Fuxie and An Jing had gohrough many trials together, and by now, He had grown more at ease. He spoke iail, “The path of Qi Refining cultivation begins with vital essence.”

  “Vital essence refers to Internal Energy—the inal qi of the human body, formed by the interpy of yin and yang energies, pure and true. It only es into being when spirit and flesh merge into one.”

  “Mundane people could streheir bodies to develop robust blood essehen, by employing the Thought Preservation Teique to cultivate the spirit, practig breathing exercises to guide internal aernal circution, and using spirit inse to aid iering stillness, they could unify soul and blood essehereby nurturing a strand of Qi.”

  “Yet this was not set in sto could also work in reverse, for yin and yang, movement and stillness, naturally shift into one another. As the saying goes, ‘Myriad forms of mystical arts all lead to the Great Dao,’ and that is exactly what it means.”

  “In that regard, Qi Refining and the Martial Path are essentially the same: both progress from Like Threads, to Like Rivers, and finally to Like Tides.”

  “But after that point, their paths diverge.”

  Having said this, He tinued in a measured tone, “A spiritual root is the ialent of the human body made ma. Without a spiritual root, it is difficult to transform one’s blood essend spirit, and equally impossible to absorb the spiritual energy of Heaven ah to refial esseo qi.”

  “And for those who did possess a spiritual root, they would still require the nourishment of Innate One Qi to awaken it.”

  “Strengthening that Innate One Qi—essentially the process of cultivating vital essence—is the first realm of the Qi Refining Dao, called 【Spirit Awakening】.”

  “Oal essence reaches Grand Attai—Like Tides—both the Purple Mansion and the spiritual root are nourished and tio grow strohe Purple Mansion then develops spiritual perception, enabling the cultivator to draw in spiritual energy from Heaven ah and refi through the spiritual root, tempering it into spiritual power. In turn, this spiritual power is used tthen the flesh, moving it toward an immortal foundation.”

  “This is the sed realm of the Qi Refining Dao, known as 【Qi Refining】.”

  “At this stage, a cultivator extend their lifespan by one sixty-year cycle, reag a total of one hundred eighty years.”

  “The third realm, 【Immortal Foundation】, es after Qi Refining reaches Grand Attai. Ohe body has been nourished by spiritual energy to its limits, the Purple Mansion will gestate a spirit, shatter the Profound Gate of Heaven ah, and draw in the essence of the os, thereby densing one’s vital essend spiritual power into a corresponding form of ‘Profound True Essence’ or ‘Various Sha* of Heaven ah.’”

  “‘Profound True’ refers to the wondrous Dao Qi of Heaven ah. For instance, among the most on types, ‘Sun-Bathing Profound True’ and ‘Moon-Basking Profound True,’ one finds what ordinary folk often call ‘Great Sor Purple Qi’ and ‘Grand Yin Moonlight.’”

  “As for the ‘Various Sha,’ they are the primordial energies of all things. Broadly, these are divided into ‘Heavenly Sha,’ ‘Earthly Sha,’ and ‘Human Sha.’ Of these, Earthly Sha and Human Sha are the most only seen, with Earth Lung Fire Sha and Military Formation Blood Sha being prime examples.”

  “Profound True and the Various Sha are collectively called ‘炁 (Qi),’ which is to say ‘spiritual energy.’”

  “When a cultivator employs Profound True or any of the Various Sha to transform their physical foundation pletely, from that point forward the vital essehey produo longer remains mere vital esse directly verts into whichever form of Profound True or Sha they have chosen. This is sidered a plete rebirth, with one foot stepping through the gate of immortality, extending lifespan to three hundred sixty years.”

  “However, once a cultivator establishes their Foundation in this way, they only tih the cultivatiohod specific to that particur form of Profound True or Sha, leaving no room for switg paths. He is also called ‘ at the Profound Gate, in Foundatioablishment.’”

  “These three realms are also called the ‘Three Barriers of the Dao Foundation,’ the three great hurdles in f one’s Dao Foundation, all of which still belong to the mortal domain.”

  “But one takes aep beyond, one is no longer mortal, but a member of the immortal ranks.”

  The Sword Spirit tinued calmly and clearly, “The Radiant White Spirit Diviri you practice also requires the cultivation of vital essence, gradually strengthening it. Yet it allows you to begin ‘Qi Refining’ ahead of time.

  “By merging the Baleful Qi of the Five Metals with the vital essen your body to create Taibai Baleful Qi, you gain some of the abilities of a qi refiner in advance.”

  “But you absolutely must carefully choose the Five Metals as your materials; the purer they are, the better. Doing so will allow you to refine your Taibai Baleful Qi to a more pristiate, so that when you eventually reach Foundatioablishment, you bear the highest grade of Profound True or Sha and fe the highest grade Dao Foundation.”

  Listening to all this, An Jing silently pondered.

  “So that’s how it is.”

  He kept in mind the cultivation outlihe Sword Spirit had expined, swallowed the st mouthful of meat, and reflected, “The Radiant White Spirit Diviri cultivates Baleful Qi to form a Law Restri, which requires the body to gee its own Baleful Qi. In other words, only after establishing an Immortal Foundation one rely on oo advance quickly. Before that, one only refine Baleful Qi from metals like the Five Metals. No wo’s called the Gold-Dev Diviri.

  “Indeed, just as you said, this was something a Sword Immortals used te their bodies after they had successfully cultivated.”

  He realized that this method was inally intended for sword cultivators who had already reached Foundatioablishment, enabling them to supply themselves with the Baleful Qi they geed. Otherwise, how could a mere cultivator in the Spirit Awakening or Qi Refining stages afford so maals and minerals for such a vish approach?

  “Exactly.”

  Seeing An Jing’s clear uanding, the Sword Spirit spoke slowly, his tone filled with approval: “Body refi shares certain onalities with martial cultivation. I was also ed about potential ges in Heaven ah, so I chose this Radiant White Spirit Diviri—a method that could be practiced in any world, as long as the Five Metals exist.”

  “Even if you were uo advany further someday, your physical cultivation would not easily regress, and switg to the Martial Path would not be a waste.”

  In this regard, the Subduing Evil Sword Spirit truly put forth all His effort. Only one who sieaches and guides would be so cautious and thh, sidering every circumstance.

  Even though An Jing was in dire straits and urgently needed firearms to handle his predit, he would not abandon cultivation because of that.

  Indeed, at this very moment.

  Sitting on the sofa in the ba of the recyg hut, An Jiered stillness as though no one else existed.

  He reguted his Internal Energy with measured breaths, surging blood essence c through him. His entire being radiated heat like a furnace.

  Huo Qingdu, who was also in stillness healing his wounds, opened his eyes in surprise, staring at An Jing.

  He dared not interrupt this young brother, but worried that An Jing’s unusual state might be problematic, so he called Iron Hand over to examine him.

  Iron Hand had been somewhat impatient at first, but wheook in the sight, he grew thoughtful. “So this really is a sophisticated way of nurturing life and body… This little fellow must be a genius from some major barbarian tribe!”

  He simply had no idea why someone like that would appear alone in the Fu Pins.

  Could it have something to do with Big Brother and the others…

  Shaking his head slightly, Iron Hand told Huo Qingdu not to disturb An Jing’s cultivation. After a moment’s thought, he set up a small Wood Spirit Formation to gather vitality.

  “sider it a free extra,” he muttered. “If your tribe ever has rge shipments of goods to recycle, remember to e to me!”

  Perceiving that the surrounding spiritual energy had grown livelier and more vibrant, the meditating An Jing rexed his brow.

  Before long, a full day passed while he cultivated.

  With vitality gathered by the Wood Spirit Formation and the nourishment from ed goods, An Jing fully restored his stamina and healed all hidden wounds and exhaustion.

  When he awoke, he opened his eyes, and a dark red gleam flickered within them. An Ji out a long breath, his arrow-like exhation striking the ground with a ringing g.

  “Awake now?”

  Hearing the otion from the ba, Iron Hand called out, “If you’re awake, e on over. I’ve fixed up this ing Sword Case for you.”

  (End of Chapter)

  *To attempt to fully crify 煞 (shà): 煞 carries the sense of malevolent, destructive, or ominous energy or force. It is transted in a lot of ways.

  First of all, when "煞" modifies "气 (qi)", like in "煞气" and "五金煞炁" (alternative character for qi), it is transted as Baleful Qi.

  When referring to intangible or "ifluences—for example, "天煞" (Heavenly Sha), and "地煞" (Earthly Sha)—I decided to transliterate it. "七煞" is however transted as Seven Fiends, which refers to the force(s) "opposing" the Seven Luminaries.

  Additionally, when the pounds focus on specific targets, such as the soul or spirit, different terminology is used; 魂煞 and 灵煞 are rendered as Soulbane Qi and Spiritbane Qi respectively, emphasizing that this particur force is harmful to the soul/spirit. Also, I like Soulbane Qi more than something like Soulbane Force.

  There will be some things that I've previously transted as Baleful Qi/Baleful Force that will simply be rendered as Sha going forward.