Li Zhen sat up straight as the feeling of weakness passed. He wasn't sure what was wrong, so he stopped worrying about it. There shouldn't be anything more wrong than him waking up here, so in front of that, everything could take its time to understand.

Hundred Stars Refinement

Shifting his weight to sit with his legs crossed in the center of the circle. From what he knew, the circle was a simple Qi Gathering formation.

There were three steps to properly complete one cycle of Hundred Stars Refinement.

First, he aligned his breathing with the Hundred Stars Refinement technique. He inhaled deeply, counting the seconds, then exhaled in short, controlled bursts—nine shallow exhalations followed by one deep inhalation. The rhythm was vital, a beat that his body and mind synchronized with, much like a musician finding the groove of a song.

As he continued this controlled breathing, Zhen felt a subtle shift in the air around him. The spiritual qi of the cave, rich and potent, began to stir in response to his disciplined breath. It flowed towards him, drawn by the harmony he had established with his breathing pattern. The qi was like a gentle breeze at first, brushing against his skin, but quickly intensified, surging towards him like a tidal wave as the Qi Gathering Circle started to activate.

Cultivation. The act of absorbing qi to break through the body’s limits.

The human body needed an effective rhythm to inhale spiritual qi and synergize with heaven and earth.

Nine shallow exhalations and one deep inhalation...

With each cycle, the spiritual qi surged like a tidal wave. Zhen felt like every pore in his body was gaping wide, greedily absorbing the spiritual qi. The qi entered his body through every pore, a sensation that was both invigorating and soothing. It felt as though countless tiny hands were massaging his muscles, easing away the fatigue and stress that had accumulated over time.

His body responded eagerly, drinking in the qi like a parched desert soaking up rain. The comfort was almost overwhelming, a wave of pleasure that threatened to break his concentration. It felt too good!

But Zhen held firm. He focused on the next step of the Refinement, guiding the qi through his meridians with deliberate care. With qi in hand, he began to twist and turn it until it matched the pattern described in the technique book.

The technique book had suggested imagining a hundred stars, each one a point of light representing the qi circulating through his system. Each star point would act his refinement location, providing him area to easily convert the ambient qi.

He tried to hold this image in his mind, but the sheer intensity of the sensation made it difficult. A sharp pain lanced through his body, jolting him out of his meditative state. The qi writhed within him, threatening to break free from his control. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to remain calm. Maybe not a hundred…

He should start with one. One is good… There is nothing wrong with one.

He thought that cultivation would bring him new heights of pleasure; instead, no one informed him that it also brought new heights of pain. He felt cheated…

After controlling his rhythm again, he soon focused on the refinement.

The pain subsided, replaced by a steady warmth that spread through his body. He could feel the qi settling into a harmonious flow, each breath drawing in more energy, each exhalation purging impurities from his system.

Now came the hard part. The cultivation method had its own specific pattern to flow qi in, but more than that, it required him to recite a sutra as he did so. He didn’t know exactly how that helped, and the book didn’t see fit to tell him. Zhen thanked all the last minute cramming he had ever done as he recited the painfully memorized sutra.

Something about a hundred stars floating in the starry sky or something. Maybe forming a constellation. The language was flowery and full of metaphors he couldn’t understand, and he slowly got lost in trying to parse them. His qi was still cycling, and Zhen felt some peace for the first time since he found himself in this world.

Within his growing qi, he could almost see a speck of light appear in one of the acupoints. It grew with every passing rotation, and he could feel the quality of it was much greater than what he currently had.

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That thought gave him a pause— He should at least have seven stars in his body due to his seventh realm, but he didn't notice anything other than qi—

The thought disrupted his rhythm, and a spurt of blood flowed from his lips. Zhen realized the meaning of why concentration was crucial in cultivation. It was one thing to know and another to feel the consequences. He suppressed his errant thoughts and focused on the Hundred Stars Refinement. How could anyone practice this in one go… His modern mind is not equipped for these meditation exercises.

With a yell, the speck of light illuminated inside his body.

He followed the flow of his qi as it completed its natural cycle around his body. With an effort of thought, he took control of it and manually directed another cycle, then another, and another, faster and faster. As the circulation sped up, he felt the qi in the air around him enter his body. Every cycle washed away whatever differences there were in the ambient qi until it became his own and permanently expanded his reserves.

Zhen felt the qi in the cave lessened considerably as his body absorbed it. Before he thought that the qi would be consumed, a fresh wave of qi started entering the Cave as a new wind bellowed in the cave.

Suddenly, the speck of light vibrated violently and rapidly started to absorb all the qi inside his meridians.

After focusing for a whole ten minutes, the qi in his body lessened, he saw that it wasn't just a speck of light. Now it became a glowing star spinning at the acupoint.

After every trace of qi on his body was absorbed by the star, it lit up as a supernova, and erupted with a massive amount of his own qi that started flowing through his meridians again.

Zhen exhaled the turbid qi, his eyes shining brightly with remaining spirituality. As his qi flooded out in a white starlight, the star's burst of qi was ringing in his skull, and he roared with it, his qi rising with it before doubling back. He was slick with sweat and heaving, but…

He could easily observe his first star in the acupoint. It was the source for the qi inside his body.

Invigorated. He felt strong. He felt giddy. For the first time since he transmigrated, he felt like he finally owned this body.

He looked within and found that his qi capacity had grown and the qi had become white. The star, however, was rotating in the acupoint. He didn’t know why there was only one star. That information almost disrupted his refinement.

According to Hundred Stars, he should have seven stars at a minimum, and he was not sure the reason for the absence of stars in his acupoints?

A sliver of worry crept into his mind. Did that mean he had been dropped again from the seventh realm to the bottom? Whether it was the technique or something he did, he needed to meditate and check again.

He had to at least reach the ninth realm in Qi Condensation to ensure his safety and progress outside. The thought almost disrupted his focus, but he forced himself to remain calm. There was still time, and with the speed that first star was created, he was sure he could complete it on time.

Zhen looked around the cave and felt that the qi had returned to the level that he now dubbed normal. A sigh escaped his lips. A cultivation cave was really a treasure. He silently praised the previous Zhen's decision to save his spirit stones to reserve the cave for ten days.

Thankfully, he had his personal clock for timing or he would have gone crazy without much to do.

Target Available In 05:59:12

Another six hours. And eight more days. In a bare bones cave.

Zhen stood up, his legs a bit wobbly from the intense cultivation session. He steadied himself and walked toward the fire pit in the corner of the cave. The flickering flames held a mesmerizing quality, drawing him in, providing a distraction to clear his mind from the worries of his cultivation.

As he approached, he noticed the embers glowing with a steady, intense heat. They didn’t emit any smoke, which struck him as unusual. The fire pit's warmth enveloped him, providing a comforting contrast to the cool cave air.

He crouched down beside the fire pit, extending his hands toward the heat. The warmth seeped into his skin, easing the lingering tension from his body. He stared into the embers, losing himself in their steady glow. The rhythmic dance of the flames seemed to mirror the cycles of qi he had been guiding through his body.

For a moment, Zhen allowed himself to simply be, without the pressures of cultivation or the mysteries of his current state. The absence of smoke from the embers was peculiar, but it provided a clean, unclouded heat that seemed almost purifying.

At least heat was something familiar from his old world. From his body, to the environment, to the air itself, everything in this world was different from what he had been used to for the past twenty-five years.

He crouched down beside the fire pit, extending his hands toward the heat. The warmth seeped into his skin, easing the lingering tension from his body. He stared into the embers, losing himself in their steady glow.

For a moment, Zhen allowed himself to simply be, without the pressures of cultivation or the mysteries of his current state but that didn't last long. Even some new fire magic stones were not enough for him to notice it.

Standing up from his crouched position, he took a deep breath, inhaling the pure, smoke-free air. The warmth from the embers had rejuvenated him, providing a moment of peace amidst his chaotic thoughts. He knew he needed to meditate further, to understand the anomaly in his cultivation. As he watched the embers, his thoughts gradually settled, and clarity began to seep back into his mind.