After departing from the emporium, Wei Wuyin immediately made way to the Orange Circle Service and purchased a month-long subscription for the white crane. It was a little pricey, but he felt intent on making heavy achievements during this month, and knowing the crane was enjoying a luxurious stable left him feeling at ease.
While he wasn't sure if he could reach the Sublime Qi Phase in a month, he could at least attempt to refine the Absolute Zero Ice Essence. Even if he failed, the bet would only give him a small loss. The magma essence was definitely worth a few hundred essence stones and had its uses, but he didn't value it too much.
If he could form a Divine Heart of Elemental Qi, he could bolster his allies' cultivation bases and give them a high chance of birthing any elemental qi. This was one of the undisputedly prominent abilities known to those who transformed their Heart of Qi into a Heart of Elemental Qi, let alone a Divine Heart of Elemental Qi devised from high-level advanced elements.
If he wanted, he could sell his services to others and earn quite a fortune. In the long run, he could earn tens of thousands of essence stones, so this loss wasn't huge.
Wei Wuyin searched the map and realized there were locations suitable for secluded cultivation. As a city of cultivators, how could such an establishment not be made?
These locations offered protective and preventive formations, closed off rooms, and dense Heaven and Earth Essence. There were those suitable for cultivation of one's realm and those suited for cultivation of spiritual spells and qi arts.
After finding one listed that had a decent overview description, he made his way over.
The establishment was called Road to God. It was a very apt name as it focuses on selling rooms that were effective in the cultivating of one's realm, so it inspired desire and ambition. The reason why people cultivate was to reach supposed godhood and gain immortality, no?
The location wasn't very wide like the emporium, but it did have many floors. He could tell it had a total of nine floors and as he looked up, he could see a gathering of essence that even condensed into a state of mist. Of course, flying up there was an illegal action, so it was likely there just for the attractive qualities.
When he first saw the dense mist, he wanted to see how thick and pure the Essence of Heaven and Earth in the upper floors were. As a cultivator, those areas had an incomparably irresistible allure.
When he entered, he was met with a rather fat man who had a jovial smile and bright eyes. He had that harmless aura that made one lower their guard and treat him kindly.
"Greetings!" The man asked, "How may I help you today?"
Wei Wuyin asked for various information about the rooms. There were eight floors and each floor had eight rooms. Therefore, the space was limited. However, generally, those who cultivated here were attempting to reach a breakthrough, so they didn't stay long.
The environment was decent and the materials that constructed the walls of the room were called Darkmist Steel. It had an inherent ability to restrict spiritual sense probing and could contain energy rather well. The durability was extraordinary and even those at the Fifth Phase would find it difficult to breach in a short period of time. It offered privacy and safety.
A month's rent for the second floor was only three essence stones. As one rose up, the prices also did as well. At the top floor, thirty essence stones was the price.
Wei Wuyin didn't need dense essence energy, but it couldn't hurt, so he purchased the fifth floor for ten essence stones. The jovial man laughed and gave him all the necessary materials, including the key to the room, and formation flag to the spiritual formations within.
After taking this, he made his way up. The density of essence was truly higher than below. Even though he hadn't entered his room yet, he could already see faint signs of essence mist lingering about.
When he entered the room, the mist was visible and his Hearts of Qi became hungry beasts. They drew the essence within and refined their cores even though he hadn't taken any action. It was as if they could cultivate without him. This caused him to freeze for a moment, but he dismissed the ludicrous thought.
Settling in, he calmed himself down and removed the child-sized box storing the Absolute Zero Ice Essence. The temperature dropped dozens degrees instantly. A chill entered the air and frost energy flowed out of the box.
"According to the records, one of the most dominant characteristics of Absolute Zero Ice Essence is its flash freeze ability. It makes harvesting it incredibly delicate and incomparably dangerous. A single touch of its pure frost energy can freeze one's blood and lifeforce, deteriorating it instantly, leading to death.
"There's also mention of a material change in physical composition. It could turn flesh into ice, which can shatter instantly. That had to do with the inherent moisture within, right?" As he recalled the various forms of information about the essence, he couldn't help but feel some concern.
He actually had a few ideas as to how to approach the refinement, but he wasn't sure if they would work. Firstly, he thought of using magma or fire qi as a counter to reduce the frost energy's lethality, but if he did that, the frost energy would be diluted at best, contaminated at worst. Even if he refined it, he'll be lucky to birth normal Ice Qi, let alone Absolute Zero Ice Qi.
Another idea was to let his Hearts of Qi do the job and pray, but considering how the frost energy had to come in contact with his meridians and flesh, that wasn't very smart. Rushing in blindly and hoping for the heavens to keep you safe was ridiculously stupid.
Immediately, his eyes widened as he thought of a crazy, absolutely insane idea!
If the pure frost energy came in contact with his flesh, moisture in his body, or lifeforce, it could flash freeze and end up harming or even killing him instantly. But what if it didn't come into contact with his body?
What if...he externalized the entirety of his Hearts of Qi and absorbed it directly?
Usually, essence was filtered through the meridians and refined, then directed to the dantian to be absorbed via the Hearts of Qi cores. However, refining the frost energy with his meridians was the same as destroying them.
Pure yin and yang energy was equally dangerous because of the implications they had with prolonged influence when in contact with the body. They could induce mutations and physiological responses that could lead to violent and life-threatening conditions.
Even a trace of yang energy can influence a woman's innate libido, and yin energy can turn a man impotent. That's if it was improperly handled or wildly refined through the meridians.
If he directly absorbed them through his Hearts of Qi rather than his meridians, wouldn't he bypass the possibility of all those complications?
A Qi Method that he had never seen or heard of before was slowly taking shape in his mind as an idea, a radical concept!
"However, if I extract my Hearts of Qi, could I still control it? What about the qi that's constantly circulating in my body?" He pondered these things. Without the spine and brain center that was the Heart of Qi, a person's body of qi would undergo a state of unrest and uncontrolled behavior, leading to qi deviation.
"Wait! I can just extract one, and leave the other to handle the qi in my body. That's right! I have two, not one, so I can do this without exploding!" Realizing a crucial benefit of having two Hearts of Qi, he became more brazen in his thoughts. If he had one Heart of Qi, while he could theoretically externalize it, he had a near-certain chance of undergoing qi deviation.
Taking a deep breath, he considered multiple points and felt that this line of strategy was his only choice.
"I can do this!" He felt more confident the further he pondered on the situation. His Hearts of Qi contained twelve-types of energy, excluding basic energy, and he believed they couldn't be flash frozen so easily.
He started meditating. Slowly, he considered the various points of egress for his Heart of Qi. The Heart of Qi's size was very difficult to determine by standard means, but it could be said as roughly the size of a tennis ball.
"Mouth." He decided.
When he had this thought, he communicated with his spirit that controlled his Heart of Qi. Shockingly, it trembled with excitement! He didn't hesitate for a moment as he opened his mouth. Before he could even use his qi to guide the Heart of Qi outside his dantian and out of his mouth, it started to move on its own as if aware of his thoughts.
It shot out like a bullet, passing through his body with an unprecedented familiarity. Only now did he remember that metaphysical qi and the core was constructed with his matter composition in mind. His Heart of Qi was more familiar with his body than him.
He couldn't help but warily laugh as a multicolored cyclone shot out of his mouth in a flash.
When he saw it, his eyes lit up. This was the first time seeing an externalized Heart of Qi! It was very transparent-looking, but also gave off an impeccable level of realism.
"Metaphysical Qi!" The concept of metaphysical is related to reality, both false and true. It manifested reality and thought into one. He had never understood why it was dubbed metaphysical until this very moment.
It was absolutely beautiful as the cyclone surrounding the core was shockingly symmetrical in shape. He could see that within the core were various images flashing of elements, sabers, memories of his very soul and thoughts were present. When he looked deeper, he saw his very first sexual experience and defining moments in life.
It was like looking at a movie of his own life in a third-person's perspective. He could even see himself via a bird's eye view. Was the surroundings real or based on his memories and beliefs? It was as if what he felt and experienced, so did his spirit. As he thought about this, he felt an urge from his soul.
The spirit of his Heart of Qi informed him that being externalized was a temporary state. It couldn't stay outside for long, so he needed to be quick. It exhibited mutual excitement at refining the Absolute Zero Ice Essence. It was like a reflection of himself, a clone.
It was only now did he realize the Heart of Qi was a clone of himself in energy form, with his thoughts, personality, and memories. After all, it was condensed from his mind, matter, essence, and soul - creating the spirit itself.
He didn't hesitate any longer. He shrouded his body in a qi ward infused with all of his various qi types, which produced a multicolored ward.
Then, he opened the box.
Woosh!
A wave of pure frost energy froze the walls and floors instantly. A dense mist of frost emerged in the air as white wisps fluttered about. Wei Wuyin was shocked at how quickly the ice essence shifted the environment. It turned the room into a winter wonderland of sorts.
With his protective ward, the pure frost energy couldn't penetrate or harm him. That being said, if he absorbed it through his meridians, there would be no protective layer.
Glancing at his Heart of Qi, he found that, like his qi ward, it was similarly unharmed. A level of excitement rarer than anything he'd experienced before was birthed in his heart.
"Go!" He instructed. The Heart of Qi entered the box with a swishing sound. Wei Wuyin couldn't tell what was happening, but he could see the pure frost energy diminishing rapidly.
His expression changed instantly.
This was too fast, no?
Before a minute had passed, the frost energy that had shifted the environment was all drawn into the box and disappeared entirely.
His left eye and eyebrow twitched.
Then, after a while, he felt his soul scream with content. This scream originated from his spirit, the spirit of his Heart of Qi.
Woosh!
The Heart of Qi swiftly exited the box. Without him having time to analyze it, it shot into his mouth with haste. His head tilted back in recoil and he had a weird expression.
Before he knew it, his Heart of Qi was in his dantian. He realized a bridge of qi had been immediately formed upon its arrival connecting the two Hearts of Qi. This bridge carried faint traces of icy-blue energy like a tube. It went from one cyclone to the other.
They…
His mouth was agape.
That icy-blue energy was Absolute Zero Frost Energy! It was as pure as his yin and yang energies! This…
He calmed himself down and started to feel the changes in his Hearts of Qi. This was the first time he didn't need to comprehend an energy source and its composition, absorb the energy, and replicate its features so it would become self-creating.
This was why talent and comprehension was required for elemental birthing. The self-creating energy wasn't automatic. One had to understand the composition, differences, and traits of a certain specific type of element so it can auto-convert. Otherwise, one would just give birth to lightning qi instead of violet lightning qi, or fail giving birth to it altogether.
Essence into energy, energy into qi.
After several hours, his Hearts of Qi had finished their exchange. His silver eyes now exuded an icy aura, and sparkled with pure frost energy. Within his mind, all sorts of insights into Absolute Zero Ice Energy emerged.
"I've actually birthed Absolute Zero Ice Qi with such relative ease…" At this point, he didn't know if the circumstances and his innate talent attributed to it all, or if it was because his karmic luck was absurdly high. It was utterly laughable how easy it was.
Moreover, Blazing Inferno Magma Qi was far more difficult to birth, no? It took a full ten days! However, when his Heart of Qi absorbed the energy directly, it took less than a minute!
He inspected his body and felt an astonishing feeling of comfort. His body was still being tempered by the refined Absolute Zero frost energy, and there was no harm. In fact, he couldn't physically feel anything but warmth now. He wasn't entirely sure, but he had the feeling that regardless of which spectrum of temperature he faced, he would constantly feel this level of warmth.
Like a permanent homeostasis.
Was this what immune to heat and cold meant?
As he pondered on his state, he recalled something. A grin formed on his lips suffusing a victorious excitement.
"I won! Haha!"