Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the capital city of Great Zhou…
Zijin Palace. The imperial study.
Yu Wenxiu suddenly opened his eyes and took in a huge breath. He rolled onto his back, then used his legs to spring up from the table as the sound of his heavy breathing filled the room.
“Your Majesty!”
A senior official rushed into the study, taking small, quick steps. His face was filled with great anxiety.
All the junior officials within the study gathered around and knelt on the floor with their heads bent. They didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
The eleven-year-old emperor, Yu Wenxiu, had already started enforcing his authority when necessary.
He waved his sleeve, and all the trembling officials kneeling on the floor quickly left the room. Only the senior official stayed.
Yu Wenxiu’s brows were tightly furrowed, and he had many questions.
Had that been a dream?
It must have been a dream. All that talk about an immortal encounter was just a joke. Surely.
But if it was a dream, then the dream had been too real.
The mysterious, unpredictable things that “the immortal” had done made Yu Wenxiu a little afraid.
“The White Jade City of the heavens… Five castles and twelve buildings.”
Yu Wenxiu mumbled this to himself as he lifted a hand to touch his forehead and felt a throbbing pain.
Suddenly, his eyes focused.
A pale blue light flashed between his brows, and in that instant, a huge gust of wind rushed through the study. The pale blue light engulfed Yu Wenxiu’s body like a dragon, then entered his body through the center of his forehead and headed for his dantian.
“What’s happening?”
Yu Wenxiu was shocked beyond words. The energy inside that one wisp of Qi was about to make his body explode.
The senior official remaining in the study was filled with Qi and blood, and his Qi and blood were agitated by the Spirit Qi inside Yu Wenxiu.
“Your Majesty! What is this?!”
The senior official suddenly straightened up as he looked closely and a little anxiously at Yu Wenxiu. As the immense amount of Qi and blood continued to rush through the man’s body, seven blasts rang out.
This senior official was a very high-level Grandmaster practitioner!
Yu Wenxiu was also very puzzled and more than a little frantic. He was only eleven, after all.
“Call the Imperial Advisor now!” Yu Wenxiu yelled, starting to panic. It was very frightening to have a foreign source of Qi forcing its way into his dantian. He had no idea if it would be harmful to him or not.
His panic and confusion had turned his brain to mush.
Then he remembered the barely-discernible “Immortal Liudao” who had appeared inside that mysterious space.
Had this energy that kept heading for his dantian… Had this been given to him by that immortal?
Yu Wenxiu was in a complete panic.
The senior official immediately flew out of the study at Yu Wenxiu’s command, but as soon as he left the room, he froze.
An old man in a wide robe and a tall headdress was making his way slowly towards him.
The senior official used all his energy to make his Qi and blood dissipate as quickly as possible.
“Greetings to the Imperial Advisor.” The senior official moved aside and bowed low as he greeted the old man respectfully.
“I know everything about what happened to His Majesty. Guard the study and don’t let anyone in,” the Imperial Advisor instructed.
The senior official bowed even lower in response.
The Imperial Advisor didn’t look at the senior official as he slowly, calmly walked into the study.
Inside the study, Yu Wenxiu’s mind was still all over the place. He felt like the strange new ball of energy inside him was going to burst out of his body, and his face was so red that it looked like it could start bleeding at any moment.
Yu Wenxiu was trained in martial arts, but his skill level was very low because he had trained only to strengthen his body and health.
He wasn’t really able to control his Qi and blood.
The Imperial Advisor stepped into the study.
Yu Wenxiu felt like his savior had arrived.
“Teacher, save me,” Yu Wenxiu exclaimed to the Imperial Advisor.
“Calm your mind, calm your heart, and calm your spirit. Let your energy, spirit, and mind become one. There is Confucianist Righteousness Qi in the universe, and there is Confucianist Righteousness Qi in the human body as well. Your Majesty, do not be afraid, and learn to control it,” the Imperial Advisor said, very slowly and gently.
Yu Wenxiu’s frantic heart started to calm down when he heard this.
He took a deep breath, and that wisp of Spirit Qi also calmed. It started to fill his body and made him glow from within.
“This is…” Yu Wenxiu was shocked.
An immortal encounter… It really had been an immortal encounter!
“Your Majesty, tell me, what happened?” The Imperial Advisor looked at Yu Wenxiu with deep, caring eyes.
***
Western Liang. Within the army camp.
Xiang Shaoyun violently opened his eyes as a terrifying rush of Qi and blood surrounded him. A series of blasts sounded within him, and everything inside the tent was blown about wildly.
His full head of black hair shot straight out as if he’d been electrified.
Thwack!
Xiang Shaoyun slapped his forehead. There was a glowing light twinkling there, a wisp of strange Qi that had been held captive by his overpowering amount of Qi and blood.
A small pair of soft, fair hands reached out from behind his back and wrapped themselves around his wide, muscular chest.
There was a soft grunt as hair cascaded down and fair, smooth skin was exposed…
“Shaoyun, what’s wrong?” The voice was as gentle and sweet as a little bird chirping.
“Mingsang, sorry for waking you up.” Xiang Shaoyun’s large, angry eyes instantly seemed to melt, and his voice became soft and gentle. Macho men had their soft sides too.
An extremely beautiful, petite face appeared from behind Xiang Shaoyun. This woman was Luo Mingsang, someone who had grown up with Xiang Shaoyun.
Luo Mingsang lifted a supple hand and gently placed it over the hand Xiang Shaoyun had on his chest. Worry filled her clean, clear eyes.
Xiang Shaoyun took Luo Mingsang’s hand in his and used his other hand to caress her smooth hair, gently comforting her.
After he managed to get Luo Mingsang to go back to sleep, the gentleness on Xiang Shaoyun’s face disappeared completely.
He could feel that even his powerful Qi and blood had some trouble keeping this strange new Qi under control, and there was some shock and puzzlement on his face.
“This wisp of Qi… What exactly is it?” he wondered. “Was that tricky fellow really an immortal?!”
“This world really has immortals?!”
***
Beiluo City. Lu Manor.
Lu Fan was sitting in his wheelchair, his eyes shining brightly.
The moonlight shone on his face through the window, casting a white glow over his features.
“This Dao Imparting Platform is very interesting. It works very much like a programming tool.”
Lu Fan fell into deep thought, turning over the things he had learned in his mind.
He shifted his consciousness, and a light blue glow swiftly gathered in his palm. Soon, the blue glow formed the shape of a palm-sized three-legged furnace, which appeared dimly in Lu Fan’s palm.
“The All-Method Furnace… Is it unable to appear properly in reality because my Refined Qi level is too low now?” Lu Fan murmured to himself.
The All-Method Furnace was able to develop cultivation methods by using Spirit Qi, transforming various abilities like transfusion techniques and martial arts moves into Spirit Qi techniques instead.
This point alone made the All-Method Furnace invaluable to him.
This All-Method Furnace was now only at Level One. So if it could level up, would it be able to develop methods of becoming immortal?
Lu Fan breathed out slowly.
He made the little furnace disappear, then got up from his wheelchair and walked over to the window.
He looked up.
On the rooftop, Ning Zhao was sitting cross-legged and meditating, bathed in the moonlight. Two wisps of Spirit Qi circled her body and gave off a dim glow.
Lu Fan leaned against the window and shifted his gaze to a green-tiled space further away. He could see the shadow of a whip as the maid with a foxy face, Yi Yue, emanated Qi and blood under the night sky. Sweat poured down her face.
She was going to train herself hard and become a First-Tier practitioner as soon as possible, so that the Young Master would also gift an immortal encounter to her.
Beside the green-tiled space, Ni Yu hugged a lunchbox, her little chin resting on it. She was snoring away, and saliva dribbled down the corner of her mouth.
Lu Fan smiled warmly.
This scene was both beautiful and heartwarming.
“Sidequest activated.”
The system message broke the heartwarming scene in front of him. Lu Fan was stunned. He hadn’t been thinking about anything at all, and suddenly a side quest had been activated from out of nowhere.
The stats page popped up by itself.
[Host: Lu Fan]
[Title: Qi Refiner (Permanent)]
[Refined Qi Level: 1 (Level 2 progress: 10/100 wisps)]
[Soul Strength: 6.5]
[Physique Strength: 0.5]
[Spirit Qi: 1 wisp]
[Transformation Reward: Fantasy Creation Qi Refining Manual]
[Current World Ranking: Wuhuang Continent (Low-Level Martial World)]
[Access: Quests, Dao Imparting Platform, Spirit Qi Deployment]
[Sub-Access: All-Method Furnace (Level 1)]
According to the stats page, Lu Fan’s Soul Strength had hit 6.5. This was the highest it had ever been.
He had added all five available points he had received as a transformation reward to his Soul Strength.
If he could get another 2.5 points, then he would have nine points of Soul Strength.
According to the Fantasy Creation Refining Qi Manual, nine points of his Soul Strength could be exchanged for 90 wisps of Spirit Qi.
Along with the 10 wisps that were first added from his legs, that would make a total of exactly 100 wisps, and he would reach the next level of Refined Qi.
He looked back at the stats page.
Lu Fan focused his eyes on the word “Quests.” This word had started blinking, becoming dim, then bright, then dim again.
Lu Fan narrowed his eyes.
After a low grunt, he stopped hesitating.
He shifted his consciousness and entered the Quests zone.