Chapter 101 - 101 100 The Weight of the Spirit Stone 33 an additional for the first 4000 subscriptions

101: Chapter 100: The Weight of the Spirit Stone (3/3, an additional chapter for the first 4000 subscriptions) 101: Chapter 100: The Weight of the Spirit Stone (3/3, an additional chapter for the first 4000 subscriptions) “Demonic Qi?” At the mention, An Jing instantly became alert and carefully sensed the Qi in his Qi Sea, but he found no clues. Nevertheless, he trusted the Sword Spirit, “My spirit isn’t sharp enough, should I use the ‘Tranquil Sword Manual’?” “It’s not enough to just use the Tranquil Sword Manual, but I can help you,” said the Sword Spirit. “Close your eyes, visualize, and I will lend you my ‘eyes’ to see.” An Jing closed his eyes and activated the Tranquil Sword Manual. A rusted broken sword appeared in his Divine Sea. He felt a sudden cool piercing pain on his forehead, as if a small sword was suspended in front of it, opening a point. Silvery-white sword marks appeared, and suddenly An Jing ‘saw’. With himself as the center, An Jing saw, everything around him—whether the glaze platform, wooden figures, bed, or the room itself—gradually turned into nothingness, leaving only a white and cyan Qi vein underneath him, slowly pulsing with life. This Qi vein extended continuously, reaching far into the distance, merging into a vast, flowing azure network, like a river. This network flowed like water, continuously gushing, giving rise to numerous white and cyan Qi veins that covered the surrounding area in a grid-like pattern, dense and innumerable. —This was the Spirit Vein in his own room, and beyond it, the Spirit Spring Earth Vein occupied by the Black Market. An Jing had a realization; the Spiritual Perception lent to him by the Sword Spirit was incredibly powerful, able to ignore all mundane objects and directly perceive the course of Earth Veins. To Fengshui Masters and Dragon Vein Masters, this was an unparalleled Divine Skill—no need for surveying, one glance was enough to know the direction of Qi’s flow, saving countless troubles and reducing errors. It was essentially ‘Aura-Viewing Skills’. Sёarch* The Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And now, An Jing also saw the ‘Demonic Qi’ mentioned by the Sword Spirit. Unlike the rich Demonic Qi in the Embracing the Void realm, which even his Divine Sense could easily detect, this was an exceedingly faint black line within the Spirit Vein, a thread almost non-existent. After being cleansed by the glaze platform, this Demonic Qi had become virtually undetectable—if not for the Subdue Evil Sword Spirit’s particularly keen sensitivity to evil and demonic energies, it may have gone unnoticed. But no matter how scarce, the Demonic Qi did indeed exist. Feeling a void within him, An Jing had no choice but to open his eyes, interrupting this special Spiritual Vision. With a mere sensing, An Jing knew that the ‘Taibai Fiend Qi’ inside him had been used up—Sword Spirit’s techniques were excellent, but because they were too high-end, they required Spiritual Power to operate, which was why she recommended the Taibai Luminous Godly Ban that could quickly cultivate Spirit Qi. “It shouldn’t be the Black Market causing harm.” Reflecting on what he had just witnessed, An Jing slowly said, “It’s a special characteristic of the Tianyuan Realm itself.” By now, An Jing was no longer completely in the dark about the Tianyuan Realm; he knew that due to the world-ending calamity, today’s Tianyuan Realm was contaminated, with Demonic Qi and Calamity Qi everywhere, including within the Earth Veins. The entire world was left with only a few giant Spirit Vein metropolises and other scattered small urban areas. These giant cities must possess unpolluted Spirit Veins, which is why they could ensure the existence of a cultivation civilization. And the territory occupied by the Black Market was originally heavily polluted, which is why the Black Market was able to acquire it, and even though the forces behind the Black Market purified the Spirit Vein, it’s impossible to do so completely, so there’s still a trace of Demonic Qi in the Spirit Vein. “I understand now.” At this moment, the Sword Spirit also sounded pensive, “That’s why the price of Spirit Jade in this realm is so costly.” “In the Dao of Qi Refining, if one wishes to reach the latter stages of Qi Refinement, to nourish the spirit and cultivate the Divine Sense, one needs the ‘Breath of Pure Spiritual Essence’ to nurture the Purple Mansion.” “And this Breath of Pure Spiritual Essence requires the purest Spirit Qi to refine.” “If before the world’s calamities, the Tianyuan Realm and the Embracing the Void Realm had similar environments, then collecting pure Spirit Qi wouldn’t be difficult. Any cultivator could simply meditate and refine for a hundred days to cultivate the Breath of Pure Spiritual Essence, and with the aid of a Magic Artifact Formation, it would take only a handful of days.” Hearing this, An Jing also realized, “But the Tianyuan Realm has been polluted, and there’s almost no completely pure Spirit Qi left, making it impossible to refine the Breath of Pure Spiritual Essence?” “It’s very difficult,” said the Sword Spirit, not jumping to conclusions, seeming to ponder, “Just like the Demonic Qi in this Spirit Vein, it causes no great disturbance to everyday cultivation, and like miscellaneous Qi, it is naturally expelled by the body.” “But if by any chance this Demonic Qi also enters during the nurturing of the Purple Mansion, then during Foundation Establishment, one would be very likely to be influenced by evil.” “Even if one is lucky enough to succeed in Foundation Establishment, the quality of the Daoist Foundation would decrease, and one might even fall prey to becoming a cauldron for an external Heavenly Demon.” “An Jing, you are endowed with Innate Wisdom, possessing naturally sharp Spiritual Perception and approaching your dual cultivation of Immortal Martial Arts through the Tranquil Sword Manual. Your Divine Sense is much stronger than ordinary cultivators, yet even you struggle to detect this Demonic Qi, how could the average Qi Refiner ensure they have eliminated all Demonic Qi?” “Without the aid of a master, they can only choose to use natural objects that inherently possess the purest Spirit Qi for cultivation… that is, Spirit Jade.” “No wonder why everyone in this realm is a cultivator, yet most are only in the early stages of Qi Refinement, and the middle stages are rare to see,” Upon reaching this conclusion, the Sword Spirit understood and sighed softly, “The vast majority of Earth Veins in this world are polluted, and cultivation already requires extreme caution, slowing the progress.” “And most of the Spirit Jade that can speed up cultivation comes from the three great unpolluted Earth Veins and is tightly controlled by the ruling Great Sect of this world.” “Moreover, cultivating the Divine Sense in the later stages of Qi Refinement is not only foundational for Foundation Establishment but also for the future Purple Mansion. As long as they control the price and output of Spirit Jade, the majority of cultivators will be stuck before the latter stages of Qi Refinement, even though cultivation is widespread.” “Should there emerge a genius who can reach the latter stages of Qi Refinement without the need for Spirit Jade, a true seed of Cultivation the Dao, they would quickly be discovered and absorbed.” “This is probably how the Great Sect of the Tianyuan Realm selects talented cultivators and retains control over social stability.” “Indeed, so.” An Jing pondered deeply and couldn’t help agreeing, “You’ve thought this through so clearly, I had assumed that cultivators from ancient times wouldn’t care about such mundane methods of control.” To this, the Sword Spirit replied calmly, “We cultivators study all-encompassing matters. The societies of mortals act as a ground for selecting Immortal Seeds, which is of utmost importance. There are countless experts in the Ascending Cloud Hall of the Sects who are adept at this; I only have a rudimentary understanding.” “No wonder they say that Spirit Jade is a strategic material; indeed, in the Tianyuan Realm, Spirit Jade is the ticket to the Peak of Qi Refining and even to Foundation Establishment.” “Hmm.” An Jing listened to this and nodded seriously, “Two pieces are fine, they won’t disrupt the market, but if I brought a dozen or more, I would likely catch the attention of the Black Market, and that would lead to plenty of trouble.” “Fortunately, they misjudged me as coming from a Wilderness tribe, discovering a rare, unpolluted Natural Spirit Stone mine; thus, I can bring a few more next time for trade. I just have to be careful about the quantity.”