Chapter 143 - 2: Minor Achievement in Cultivating Life with Qi

Chapter 143: Chapter 2: Minor Achievement in Cultivating Life with QiIn every news channel, radio station, and live broadcast, invited guests, bought hosts, and internet celebrities were accusing each other, holding press conferences and private gang fights one after another. But overall, the strife did not involve those with Foundation Establishment abilities and did not lose dignity. Dignity, such a beautiful term. However, dignity only existed in the negotiations among the large corporations. Within Xuanye City, all major companies had completely imposed martial law and even started a series of exceedingly strict political screenings. Even after failing to find their target through Spirit Qi tracking, the Sky Surveillance Bureau risked activating the Chrono-Light Retrospection Great Formation but still came up empty-handed. Only a few specific major forces could interfere with the Chrono-Light Retrospection Great Formation, so the Luofu Group always locked their suspicions on the other major groups competing with them. In contrast, the ’little shrimp’ disguised as An Jing was easily let go. "Haha," Subdue Evil laughed upon seeing this news, "They tried to use the Art of Magic derived from the Way of the Cosmos on me? Our lineage is said to trace directly back to the Subdue Evil Great Immortal, and what we are best at is..." At this point, Subdue Evil got stuck. An Jing could tell at a glance that this was due to a conflict between the inherent nature of Subdue Evil Immortal and the Immortal Sword. When speaking, Subdue Evil was clearly the ’Sword Immortal’ of old, but his underlying thought process was still ’Immortal Sword.’ Moreover, with incomplete memories, Subdue Evil indeed remembered that the Chrono-Light techniques were ineffective against him, but he had completely forgotten why. Luckily, Subdue Evil was a broad-minded individual. If it was unclear, it remained unclear; if he couldn’t remember, then he couldn’t remember, "Anyway, I could break through the Great Void and travel, which proves that the complete me had profound mastery over the Way of the Cosmos. Ordinary retrospection methods could never reveal me." "That’s great news." Smacking his lips and letting go of his lingering concerns, An Jing also breathed a sigh of relief. He had not expected the technological level of the Tianyuan Realm and the importance of ’True Talismans’ to have reached the point where they could activate the Chrono-Light Great Formation. If it weren’t for the Subdue Evil Sword Spirit blocking it, he would have definitely been discovered. However, since he was not discovered, he was much more reassured and began to look for Huo Qing and Iron Hand Boss, preparing to acquire some resources from the Embracing the Void Realm. However, what was particularly thought-provoking was that Iron Hand Boss had disappeared. In the recycling cabin, only Huo Qing was acting as a temporary shopkeeper. "Iron Hand said he was busy with something lately, I need to tend the shop for this month, and it’s also a good chance for me to study properly," This was the information An Jing obtained from Huo Qing while purchasing canned food and drinking water at a discount from the recycling cabin. During his casual chat with Huo Qing, An Jing also learned that Xuanye City adhered to the ’Twenty Years of Education’ system. From the age of ten to thirty, everyone could practice Cultivation in specific academies and Daoist academies, and upon graduation, they would be high-level Qi Refinement or even Foundation Establishment cultivators. Of course, education was free only for six years, which meant that at sixteen, after the first free ’Dao Exam,’ those who had not passed and entered their desired academies had to pay their own tuition and exorbitantly expensive exam fees. As for those who successfully entered an academy on their first free Dao Exam, they would become the sought-after new stars of various major corporate groups. As for those who only entered between their twenties and thirties, they could only become general staff or middle managers. This was considered quite good treatment, but it ultimately paled in comparison to the top tier. If they repeated grades or had not achieved Qi Refinement by the age of thirty (which was virtually impossible because if they had money for tuition, they had money to buy elixirs), they would have to take low-end jobs, work odd jobs, or join gangs. In practice, most people knew their own limits after the first Dao exam and simply went back to work. In summary, they were the failures. Huo Qing, however, was different. He was not yet twenty, had decent talent, and was smart. Continuing his Cultivation, he still had a chance to achieve mid-stage Qi Refinement and enter an academy before thirty, potentially becoming a corporate manager in the future, which was why Iron Hand had encouraged him to continue his studies. It was through Huo Qing that An Jing was able to acquire a complete set of ancient attire. Unlike Iron Hand, Huo Qing was relatively simple and easy to deceive. An Jing casually tricked him into complying without any suspicion about what An Jing intended to do. If it had been Iron Hand, things would have been much more complicated. And most importantly, An Jing had also sensed something amiss from Iron Hand’s movements. An Jing was no shrimp, he remembered clearly. During his battle with the Fengdu Guards, their Spirit Light guns had mysteriously overloaded once. At that time, Wu Xiu Boyan of the Guiyi Army had even deliberately lured the Fengdu Guards to pursue him—he wasn’t such a villain. Looking back now, he had a way to ensure the Fengdu Guards’ arms malfunctioned, hence he deliberately drew their attention away, ensuring An Jing’s safety while also preparing for his own sneak attack. —Iron Hand Boss had always been studying Luofu’s Military Core; the actions of Shouyang Group and Guiyi Army against Luofu Group obviously involved various aspects, there certainly was a massive intelligence network within Xuanye City targeting Luofu Group. Additionally, Iron Hand’s initial curiosity about An Jing’s ’Wilderness Man’ identity... An Jing couldn’t help but speculate: could it be that Iron Hand Boss was also a member of the Luofu intelligence network? And the Luofu Military Core he had cracked for him, the one on his Chongming Sword Box, could it also have caused the Fengdu Guards’ arms to malfunction? If that were the case, it would truly be a coincidental act of fate... This was him saving his own life! Regardless, as the ’Heavenly Profound True Talisman,’ a core target in the eyes of various factions, was now in An Jing’s Divine Sea, accompanying the Sword Spirit, An Jing naturally had to be careful not to reveal any flaws. Speaking of the Heavenly Profound True Talisman, this was also an unexpected gain. This Heavenly Profound True Talisman is currently silent, aside from purifying the Mysterious Primordial Qi left by the Evil Born Demon into Xuanyuan Pure Light, it did not react to any probing from An Jing and the Sword Spirit; definitely, specific conditions were needed to fully activate and master it, but neither man nor sword had found the corresponding method. The Sword Spirit speculated that the Heavenly Profound True Talisman was also not complete, or perhaps it was severely damaged during the ’Tianyuan Calamity’ of that year, and repairing this damage would require the Mysterious Primordial Qi obtained after defeating the Heavenly Demons. The Mysterious Primordial Qi left by the Evil Born Demon, while being purified, was also partly absorbed by the Heavenly Profound True Talisman, likely for use in nourishing and repairing itself. An Jing had no objections to this; after all, with the Sword Spirit watching over, the Heavenly Profound True Talisman couldn’t harm him, and since there’s always some loss in the process of materials evolving to higher levels, An Jing wasn’t so petty as to fret over this. In conclusion, An Jing wouldn’t enter Xuanye City again until the focus in the Tianyuan Realm shifted away. And Nian Quan, as the son of the related party Nian Qin, was likely to be monitored for a period of time. But even so, with the support of a world’s resources, An Jing’s life in the wilderness was quite flavorful. He even held a canned food hotpot feast in a cave, using artificial beef, artificial mutton canned, and predominantly flour-based fish tofu and crab sticks! The fiery red hot pot seasoning, although only a cheap discount product from the Tianyuan Realm with a too-strong spice scent, for An Jing who hadn’t had good food for a long time, it already surpassed countless delicacies. Not to mention, during this time of patiently waiting, An Jing had also cultivated the "Zhou Liu Wu Zang Yi Qi Nourishing Body Technique" given to him by Huo Qing. This method was indeed not simple. The Zhou Liu Wu Zang Yi Qi Nourishing Body Technique, true to its name, involved generating Five Elements Primordial Qi from the five viscera, absorbing every bit of nutrient contained in food, then nourishing the viscera, and with the strengthened viscera nourishing the innate qi to moisten the whole body, subtly enhancing one’s physical constitution and foundation. The reason why Huo Qing could neglect cultivation for so many years and still maintain a body sturdy enough to withstand gun wounds was precisely because he consistently practiced this method, perfecting his internal organs to an extremely proficient level — by terms of foundation, even comparable to those of the same stage Martial Artists. And An Jing had also taught parts of the Imperial Heaven method to Huo Qing, mainly the ’Abyssal Qi Nourishing’ and ’Piercing Armor True Strength’—the former was well cultivated by the other party, likely because every gang accountant (doubling as a storekeeper and financier) walked Abyssal daily, but the latter was rather average, as Huo Qing, although the state of his mind indeed had changed, did not quite mesh well with the courage-driven Piercing Armor True Strength. But overall, he indeed could cultivate! Regardless, this method could indeed make Huo Qing’s strength stronger, and touched Huo Qing deeply; he did not hesitate to go against the instruction of "Do not give discounts!" left by Iron Hand, and gave An Jing many materials at a considerable discount, even at cost price. In summary, as a foundational ’Cultivation Method,’ the One Qi Nourishing Body Art was indeed perfect. Besides being able to strengthen the physical foundation and nourish innate qi, aiding in better digestion of food, the One Qi Nourishing Body Art also had another effect. That was perfectly enhancing the sense of taste! If you want people to eat more, you naturally need to make the food tastier, and in An Jing’s view, the key to the One Qi Nourishing Body Art surpassing other ordinary body strengthening methods lay in its ability to subtly enhance one’s sense of taste, better enjoying the delicacy of the ingredients! The reason it’s subtle is that if the sense is too keen, salty flavors could turn bitter, sweet flavors could become cloying, and umami could turn fishy. The improvement brought by the One Qi Nourishing Body Art was just right, even screening out some undesirable tastes, reducing the perception of tartness, making everything taste delicious! An Jing even speculated that if the One Qi Nourishing Body Art was practiced to major achievement, it could not only strengthen the physique and fortify the foundation, enhance the digestion and transformation capabilities, but also manipulate the Five Viscera Primordial Qi to make one’s sense of taste adaptive, making whatever you wish tasty! Just thinking about himself nestled in a cave, blissfully eating hotpot, cultivation the One Qi Nourishing Body Art, increasing his prowess, while the Demon Sect, Heavenly Demons, and even Da Chen’s people were braving the harsh winter snow searching for him, probably without overtime pay, An Jing had to chuckle a bit. As for today, the reason why An Jing broke the stable situation, actively shattered the natural ice cover, and stepped out of the seclusion of his cave, was precisely because he had achieved success in his cultivation.