Chapter 27: The Qi Refining Stage
Qin Xi took a deep breath and looked at Jiang Baiqiu, who was glowing with golden light all over, and said, “Um, could you let me experience what cultivation feels like? Just now, I think I was just daydreaming, yet the energy already entered my body.”
“You don’t have the finesse in control that I do. Cultivation is boring anyway, so why don’t I just help you directly? I can automatically absorb spiritual energy; others wouldn’t even have a chance if they wanted it!” Jiang Baiqiu said proudly.
“I’ve already embarked on the path of immortality. Isn’t it a bit... odd not to cultivate?” Qin Xi replied.
“But you can’t control your cultivation speed as well as I can,” Jiang Baiqiu said.
“Generally speaking, relying on external forces to aid one’s cultivation would make the realm unstable, wouldn’t it?” Qin Xi thought of the most common trope in immortal cultivation novels.
But it depends on the person. For high-ranking family scions, taking pills without a solid foundation leads to a shallow realm, whereas the protagonist taking pills is about strengthening the foundation and stabilizing the realm.
And although the protagonist has infinite potential, if there is an option that harms that potential, they would absolutely not choose it.
Having read countless novels, Qin Xi felt he should choose accordingly, just like the typical protagonists in those cultivation stories.
“But I’m a professional at this. I’m a spiritual root—I’m part of you, so how can I be an external force?” Jiang Baiqiu shrugged and handed control over to Qin Xi. “Try it if you don’t believe me.”
Qin Xi, half-believing, sat down again and closed his eyes tightly, using his spiritual root to sense the surrounding spiritual energy.
The spiritual energy flowed like water around him as he began controlling the spiritual root to capture the few strands of drifting spiritual energy in the air.
He started absorbing!
...
Thirty seconds later.
“...I’m giving control back to you,” Qin Xi said, realizing that his speed in controlling the spiritual root to absorb spiritual energy was far slower than Jiang Baiqiu’s.
The efficiency gap was huge; his efforts were like swatting flies with slippers, while Jiang Baiqiu was spraying insecticide directly.
What was more impressive was that after absorbing the spiritual energy, she compressed it to stabilize the energy vortex inside Qin Xi, making the realm solid and unshakable.
Qin Xi had not expected that this seemingly silly companion was an absolute genius in cultivation.
Jiang Baiqiu wagged a finger. “Hmph, don’t try to manage beyond your level. Let those skilled in this handle it; that’s how efficiency works best!”
Qin Xi raised an eyebrow, realizing his earlier behavior resembled that of a certain former transport captain.
The supreme commander ordering grassroots soldiers to move their machine guns three centimeters to the left is indeed inefficient.
It was just that cultivators not needing to cultivate made Qin Xi feel like he was cheating.
Of course, he wasn’t embarrassed by this at all.
Not long after Qin Xi and Jiang Baiqiu, two great geniuses, absorbed spiritual energy into their bodies, two small geniuses—Bu Weiwei and A Ling—were about to complete their own energy absorption.
Bu Weiwei finished first. She looked at her hands and then threw a few empty punches, which were at least ten times stronger than before.
She felt a surreal sensation. A few months ago, she was just a poor girl from Bu Family Village; a few days ago, she was fleeing after shooting down the Great Qi Emperor’s beloved eagle. Yet today, she had stepped onto the path of immortality and become a cultivator!
Completing energy absorption in just half an hour was a rare talent even in Great Qi, and probably a rarity across the entire Eastern Chen Continent. She was likely the best among the four...
As she looked up to show off, she noticed Qin Xi staring blankly at her.
“Wh-what are you doing? Not cultivating anymore?” Bu Weiwei felt uneasy under his gaze.
“I’ve already reached the Qi Refining stage; it’s too boring now. Just watching how you all cultivate,” Qin Xi said.
“Ah? You reached energy absorption faster than me?” Bu Weiwei couldn’t believe it. “When did you absorb energy into your body?”
“Half an hour ago...” Qin Xi yawned boredly. “You looked all red-faced and like you were suffocating when you absorbed energy just now.”
“Hmph!”
Bu Weiwei blushed even more and sat silently for a long time.
Qin Xi... how is he so powerful?
Could it be that her own talent was actually quite ordinary?
Just as Bu Weiwei was doubting herself, A Ling exhaled a breath of stale air and stood up.
She too had reached the Qi Refining stage.
Like Bu Weiwei, she threw a few empty punches into the air.
This time, the force of her punches blew the already shaky window frame off its hinges.
Bu Weiwei’s eyes widened.
Was this the kind of power a Qi Refining stage cultivator should have?
What kind of strength was this?
“Thank you all,” A Ling cupped her hands and thanked the three of them. “If I was alone, I wouldn’t have thought of such a way to win.”
“Actually, only Qin Xi could have thought of this way to win,” Jiang Baiqiu said, propping her chin on her hand. “Since hanging out with him these few days, I’ve realized he really is a tactical genius. Besides being slightly inferior to me, no one in the world should be his match.”
Ignoring Jiang Baiqiu’s subtle self-praise, Qin Xi glanced at the woman still in a deep eight-hour sleep and said, “Now, shouldn’t we hand in the task?”
The four shifted their gaze back to the scroll, where the seal had vanished, replaced by a passage.
“Congratulations on passing the first trial. Place your palm on the center of the scroll for several breaths to begin the second trial.
Before starting the second trial, you may prepare some dry food and water. It is recommended to prepare sufficiently before the challenge.”
“In that case, let’s get ready,” Qin Xi said.
...
Meanwhile, the Third Elder and Liang Xiaolong were not idle.
They were using the Heavenly Eye technique to observe the candidates discussing tactics in the inn, pointing and commenting.
“Oh? This young man wants to bribe the courtesan with money? Haha, he’s dreaming.”
“Hmm? This one claims a war of attrition tactic to exhaust the Hehuan Sect’s energy, but those Hehuan people aren’t to be underestimated. With their small builds, they’ll probably be devoured completely.”
“This one is interesting; it seems to want to win sympathy from the courtesan... but the reason we chose the courtesan in the end is because her heart is very resolute and hard to move, which tests the candidates’ patience and ability.”
As the Third Elder sharply critiqued each candidate, he suddenly sensed something amiss.
His divine sense detected the courtesan’s energy weakening, as if she had fallen asleep.
Was this the time to sleep?
Sensing the severity of the situation, the Third Elder said to Liang Xiaolong, “Xiaolong, I’ll use the Heavenly Eye to check on the courtesan. You keep watching these candidates.”
“Got it.”
When the Third Elder saw the courtesan’s state, his expression stiffened instantly.
What was going on?
Liang Xiaolong, noticing his master’s sudden freeze, grew curious and also used the Heavenly Eye to see what was happening at the Pleasure Tower.
His expression also froze.
“Ah?”
“She lost?!”
The two exclaimed simultaneously.
“How could she lose? There’s never been a history of a Foundation Establishment cultivator losing to a mortal. Even the weakest Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn’t lose, and the courtesan is among the best at that stage. How could she lose?”
Liang Xiaolong was stunned, and the Third Elder even more so. He had once coached the courtesan and knew this young Foundation Establishment cultivator was well-balanced with no weaknesses.
“How did they win? Is there a recording orb?”
“Seems like... there isn’t one on the top floor.”
The Third Elder, now doubting his own understanding, focused his divine sense on Qin Xi’s group, then shifted the Heavenly Eye’s view to them.
Seeing the four were all unharmed and happily buying food, the Third Elder fell into a long silence.
“Perhaps... they really can save this end-of-era world.”