Just as Alano had said, they reached the life area quickly. Though it took a few more hours than he accounted for as Dalian wasn’t able to go at the pace he had previously. To his credit, the man didn’t mention it and simply slowed down for him.
To get through, they had to navigate their way into a large canyon, where a forest was growing much more densely than above. They had managed to get through and were on the edge of the forest.
“We’re here. Past this line of trees is a place you can consider a holy land of cultivation. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.”
They cut down some bushes and the landscape was revealed.
High above them, the walls of the canyon loomed, made from massive rocks and soil. Out of them grew various plants and fauna which looked like they belonged on another world.
Dalians attention turned to the vast lake in the middle of the bowl. It shimmered as light reflected off it, and it was completely still without any wind to push the water about. Through its turquoise water, Dalian could see the corals underneath in a vivid display of colour. Schools of fish swam around, sometimes going slow, other times darting forward in a race to hide behind a group of plants.
There was a huge patch of carefully trimmed grassland, which Dalian noted was caused by a group of goats which roamed the fields. He looked down at his feet and saw that the grass was growing at a rate, which he could see visibly.
Different kinds of shrubberies were dotted about, many with berries of all sorts on their branches. There were also lone trees which provided a small shelter of shade, though the sun was decidedly pleasant on his skin. Some grew plums and apricots.
Once he had seen the major attractions, he noticed that his body felt much more at ease. In fact, the vital energy within his root was recovering much faster as well.
“This is… amazing.” Dalian said.
“Yes. I came across it in my travels long ago, and whilst it wasn’t useful to my cultivation, it put me at peace. Something that is hard to come by in this world.” Alano replied. “Now, take some time to appreciate this place, and meet me by the lake in an hour. It is time for you to begin your cultivation.”
—
The hour passed by too quickly, and Dalian only wanted to keep admiring the beauty of the canyon. He fed the goats some grass, smelt the flowers, and rested under the oak tree’s mighty canopy.
Yet, he felt himself distracted. Everything he had been working towards for the past few years had been worth it, and he was about to embark on his path to immortality. So, filled with purpose, he met Alano by the water’s edge.
The man viewed the fish, and Dalian joined him by his side.
“Cultivation is, at its essence, the accumulation of the world's energy within your body. We call this energy, qi. It is a wonderful resource that gives rise to many beautiful things. But it is not so easy as to just absorb this energy in one continuous go until you reach immortality.” Alano said calmly.
“There are stages which each person must go through, and bottlenecks which each person must break through. The first stage is qi gathering. You don’t know it yet, but around your spirit root is a neidan. This is the place where cultivators store qi. But it is not readily accessible. It is blocked off from birth by what we call ‘the three gates’.
To gain free use of your entire neidan, you must open each of these gates. Each time you open one, more qi can be stored within. This stage is relatively easy, and any person with a spirit root can open all of their gates in their lifetime. However, to advance beyond is difficult. You must use all the energy available to you to create a qi platform which your neidan will rest upon. But we won’t go into detail about that, it is not yet useful to you.
The question becomes, how do you absorb qi? It is through the circulation of your vital energy and different breathing patterns. Together, these make up cultivation methods. There are an unlimited amount of these, but some are better than others. Some will take you all the way to immortality, whilst others will result in you dying due to qi backlash.
Rest assured, I have prepared the former for you. It is part of the reason why the other elders agreed to let me take you in as a disciple.”
He held his hands out and within them, an ancient scroll appeared. It was tattered and worn, but it emanated an immortal aura.
“The Nine Life Scripture.” He said, pausing to emphasise the name. “I found it whilst adventuring in a fallen pocket world from the immortal era. I couldn’t use it because of my spirit root, but I could never bear to sell it. Good that I didn’t, or I wouldn’t be able to give it to you today.”
He held it out to Dalian.
“Are you sure?” Dalian asked, the scroll seemed immensely valuable.
“It is for you.”
“Then, thank you.” Dalian took the scroll.
“Read it and practise the energy circulation outlined. Once you can manage it, come to me and I will assist you in opening your first gate. Do not attempt to open it on your own. Many have tried in the past, and many have died because of it. It is safest with help from a cultivator.”
Despite his mistrust towards the elder, Dalian felt honestly grateful towards the man for giving him such a cultivation method.
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“Thank you again.”
“It is the least I could do for my disciple.”
—
The circulation method was surprisingly easy to comprehend. It involved sending the vital energy of the root along ‘meridians’ in the body. As you did that, you just had to breathe in a certain way and then the energy of the world would begin to flow in with each inhalation.
It was difficult at the start, as his vital energy still needed to recover, but with each circulation, it was replenished more and more, and in a short time, it had completely returned to its original state.
Once that happened, he opened his eyes and nodded at Elder Alano who was watching him intently.
“Continue circulating your energy, as you do so, allow my qi to enter your body and circulate with it. On my signal you should force all your energy out of your root into the first gate. As you break it from the inside, I will attack it from the outside.”
The man sat down behind him and placed his hands on Dalian’s back.
Feeling a strange energy attempting to enter his body, he instinctively rejected.
“Just relax, I’m helping you.” Alano said, having noticed this.
Dalian hesitantly allowed the energy to flow into his meridians. It felt like a foreign liquid was being pushed into his bloodstream. Soon, Alano’s energy was flowing in unison with Dalian’s.
“I’m going to use a technique to prepare my energy at your neidan.” he said, before he began chanting.
Dalian felt the glut of external power within him, just outside his spirit root. The chanting stopped.
“It’s time. Release your energy in three, two, one. Now.”
With a massive push, Dalian urged the vital energy to slam against the gate. At the same time on the outside, a huge force banged against it. He had thought it would take a few minutes at least. But in just a couple seconds. The gate fell to the onslaught.
The elder’s energy stopped cold in its tracks. However, Dalian wasn’t able to control his own and it spread through his body to his pores, forming a cloud outside.
Dalian hurriedly circulated the Nine Life Scripture to reabsorb the energy, however as he did so, he noticed a new energy entering. Something from the world, but not vital energy.
He realised. It was life qi.
His neidan was filling up.
Alano withdrew his energy seamlessly, and Dalian was able to take his own energy back into his root.
He knew he should’ve stopped there and thanked the elder for helping him, but he was entranced by the qi flowing into his neidan. So, he just kept circulating his energy.
It only took around fifteen minutes before it became full. He opened his eyes and stood up to see Alano smiling brightly.
“Well done. You can officially call yourself a low-stage qi gathering cultivator.”
Dalian examined his own body, clenching his fists and moving his limbs around.
“I don’t feel any different.”
“Of course you don’t. You haven’t even had qi for more than an hour. It takes time for your body to be strengthened.”
“My neidan filled up rather quickly.” Dalian commented.
Alano laughed. “It’s because of the environment we are in. The atmosphere is suffused with life qi. Not to mention your high grade root has much more vital energy than most people. The others who entered the sect with you will probably take a few hours to fill it up for the first time.”
“What now?” Dalian asked.
“You learn how to use some real techniques. Not these shoddy, on the spot things you’ve been using. Get ready. We’ll be practising until you’re ready to collapse.”
—
“So far, when you purified those remnant spirits and that girl, you’ve done it in an extremely inefficient manner. Like a wild animal lashing out randomly, you sent your aura out in all directions. If there wasn’t an inherent attraction between life and evil qi, you would’ve done nothing at all. Even with that assistance, more than ninety percent of your vital energy went to waste.
I might remind you now of the consequences of such an expenditure, but I’m sure they’re still fresh on your mind.” Alano said.
Dalian thought of the extreme state he had been in after healing the elder. He had felt, for lack of a better word, hungry, for everything a human needed to live. Like there was a void within. It wasn’t something he wished to experience again.
“Thankfully, you won’t be entirely dependent on vital energy anymore.” Alano continued. “Your qi will be doing the heavy lifting from now, whilst your vital energy acts as more of a guide.
Purification is not as peaceful as it sounds. Really, it is a battle, where each side aims to erase the other from existence. When you establish the connection to evil qi, if you aren’t strong enough, it might turn on you. If you lose such a battle, the best case scenario is to get crippled. If you are unlucky, you might die; but that would still be better than becoming corrupted and turning into an evil cultivator.” He was about to speak again, when Dalian was faster.
“Excuse my interruption, but when I purified those spirits and the girl. I didn’t feel any opposition at all.”
If Alano was annoyed at the interference in his explanation, he didn’t let it show.
“That was because the power difference was so vast. Compared to your high grade root; a couple final memories, and a low level corruption is nothing. But make no mistake, when you come across a real evil cultivator, you will come face to face with death.
Firstly, you will be facing a person who is actively controlling their qi. Secondly, the level of the qi will be vastly different. They advance by committing tragedy after tragedy, you won’t understand until you see it for yourself.” He stared into the distance, as if recalling something.
“Thankfully, the person who wrote the Nine Life Scripture was a genius. There are only two purification techniques within, but they encompass everything you need. Now, since I don’t have a life root, I can’t give you a demonstration of the techniques, but I can give you something to practise with.”
In the air, a long black sword appeared. Immediately, Dalian felt blasted by a demonic aura. It fell to the ground, and immediately the grass beneath began to wither. Negative emotions welled up within his mind, encouraging him to take action on every dark impulse. To slaughter Elder Alano and drink his bloo-.
Dalian noticed the influence of the weapon, and quickly circulated his energy. The darkness shrunk to a whimper.
“Well done. That was fast thinking.” Alano said, as a long wooden case appeared in his hands. He picked up the sword and placed it inside, shutting it. The aura fell apart and Dalian stopped circulating the Nine Life Scripture.
“For now, I’ll leave this here. You can practise the purifications technique in the scroll, and try to purify the sword. Don’t worry about using up all your energy and being corrupted, I’ll be watching.” The elder turned around and started walking away, leaving Dalian standing, with a cursed sword in a box by his feet.