Chapter 56 - 53 Cultivating the Sea of Qi

"Could it be that Father truly obtained it from a friend?" Su Chen furrowed his brow and thought, how many would be willing to give such a rare cultivation technique book to a friend? As soon as this thought appeared in Su Chen’s mind, it was immediately dismissed, "Impossible, who would be so generous? A third-rank cultivation technique isn’t child’s play; it’s not something you just give away. But how did Father get it, unless..." His whole body suddenly trembled, and Su Chen felt his heart skip a beat, muttering to himself with his head bowed, "Could it be that Father exchanged something for it?" He stood there dazed for a long time, gradually feeling that his father’s behavior earlier had been unusual. He didn’t seem to want to be as close to him as usual, and there was no joy on his face. Moreover, he looked a bit tired. Tired, Su Chen thought, suddenly feeling that something must have happened to his father, causing his heart to become anxious. He abruptly turned his head to look at the door, but at a spot very close to the doorway, he discovered a small patch of dark black substance! He hurried over, squatted down to take a closer look, and under the bright light of the beast oil lamp, he finally saw that the dark substance was a pool of blood! "Father..." Su Chen’s nose tingled, and he quickly wanted to rush out to see his father, but his steps halted just at the doorway. If he went, how could he bring it up? Knowing his father’s temperament, he would certainly not tell the truth, and even mentioning it might earn him a scolding instead. He dipped his finger into a bit of the bloodstain, sniffed it, and then slowly stood up, "Father, I won’t let you down, for sure!" He gritted his teeth, returned to his bed, sat cross-legged, and seriously opened the rare Proud Celestial Profound Scripture. "Humans have souls and also potential for divine sense. The beast cultivator refers to drawing on the blood of a spirit beast to cultivate the human body, utilizing the potential of heaven and earth to shape the soul; however, the blood of a spirit beast can never truly belong to humans. Even when absorbed into the body, it cannot merge with the meridians and limbs. Thus, in ancient times, there were deities who, by understanding the body’s acupuncture points and meridians, developed a storage point below the dantian for qi energy. When the spirit beast’s blood passes through, it is enclosed and attracted by the body’s heat energy, eventually transforming into a sea of qi, known as the beast’s qi sea." Su Chen basically understood this passage and then continued reading with a serious expression. After flipping through two or three pages, he roughly grasped the concept. The beast’s qi sea is the foundation for experts at the Beast Master level. When the spirit beast’s blood flows within the body, it undergoes a process of absorption and condensation, eventually being transformed by the body’s heat energy into a small liquid ocean stored below the dantian. During this phase, experts at the Spirit Beast to Beast Master level can enhance their understanding and control of the beast’s qi sea using meditation methods taught in cultivation techniques. In battle, they can transform the stored energy of the qi sea to supply the attribute skills they have been practicing and release them. However, due to conditional limitations, levels before Beast Sovereign cannot release the power of skills in an external attack. If you have been practicing fire attribute skills, you can only use the flames generated by the skills in close combat to injure the enemy. Once the energy of the beast’s qi sea is depleted, you fall into a passive defensive stance, where a powerful weapon becomes a decisive factor. "This introduction doesn’t seem very relevant to the content of the cultivation technique?" Su Chen said curiously, and continued reading, finally finding the introduction to Proud Celestial Profound Scripture on the fourth page. All cultivation techniques depend on the physical body. Only by understanding the body’s acupuncture points and meridians and mastering the grand circulation can various energies be utilized to defeat and harm enemies. Different cultivation techniques have distinct routes for the grand circulation, resulting in varying practice times. However, all cultivation techniques, through different paths, arrive at the same destination. With effort or extraordinary talent, one can surpass high-level cultivation techniques with low-level ones. Unfortunately, such individuals are rare. Thus, high-level cultivation techniques remain the shortcut to becoming powerful. Proud Celestial Profound Scripture, a third-rank high-level beast cultivation technique, comprehends the truths of the body’s acupuncture points and meridians, guiding the beast’s qi energy to penetrate the entire body, forming a small and large circulation, driving qi energy, and activating the practiced lethal skills to defeat the enemy. For different cultivation techniques, the circulation differs as well. The small circulation of Proud Celestial Profound Scripture refers to the cycle of the Ren and Du Meridians, the separate cycle of the three yin and three yang in the left and right hands, the separate cycle of the three yin and three yang in the left and right feet, the separate cycle of the Belt Meridian, the separate cycle of the five viscera and nine organs, and the upper and lower connections between the Baihui and Huiyin, as well as Baihui and Yongquan. The large circulation of Proud Celestial Profound Scripture distinguishes between internal and external. The internal grand circulation refers to the large circulation of all body meridians, while the external grand circulation refers to the exchange of qi between the human body and the natural qi of heaven and earth? Seeing this, Su Chen was stunned. Does this mean that the external grand circulation in Proud Celestial Profound Scripture can transcend the limits of the Beast Master, allowing attribute skills to be released externally? Is this the benefit of a third-rank cultivation technique? He was overjoyed, and his heart was filled with excitement, "Then I can release external skills by transcending my level, excellent!" However, when he looked further, his expression suddenly froze. Before operating the small and large circulation of Proud Celestial Profound Scripture, it is necessary to confirm whether the beast’s qi sea in the practitioner’s body has formed. If it hasn’t formed, steps must be taken to stabilize the qi sea before continuing with the meditation methods for operating the grand circulation, starting from the small circulation without skipping steps, or else the consequences will be borne by oneself. One, sit cross-legged, close your eyes, and focus your mind. Su Chen sighed, thinking to himself, he had become too complacent, not even having a beast’s qi sea yet. What qi energy can be used to operate the grand circulation and release skills? Moreover, he currently has no attribute skills at all, so it’s too soon to be happy? He shook his head in dismay, suppressing his longing for attribute skills, and continued reading. Two, focus your mind on the dantian, unify your thoughts. Three, restrain the qi, gather the spirit, and concentrate the qi in the dantian. Su Chen could understand the first two points; being accustomed to solitude, he could easily immerse himself in his world. However, the third point puzzled him. How could one restrain the qi, gather the spirit, and concentrate the qi in the dantian? It was easy enough to focus one’s thoughts on a certain point, but gathering the intangible and formless qi and concentrating it in the dantian wasn’t so simple. He memorized these three steps, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Taking a deep breath, he slowly closed his eyes, instantly calming his mind. The surroundings seemed to fall silent, leaving only the faint sound of breathing audible within the room. With his eyes closed, Su Chen found himself in a world of darkness. He felt himself follow his thoughts descending into a dark yet vast space. He could sense that this was his dantian. There was no so-called beast’s qi sea at the dantian, but countless glowing objects, like fireflies, floated there—wisps, pieces, even clusters, all fluttering and swaying around. Su Chen suddenly realized that these must be the Kirin bloodline enclosed by the body’s heat energy, merely transformed in shape. What he needed to do now was to gather the dispersed energy of the qi sea within his body and attempt to run the route of the small circulation.