Inside Calm Heart Hall, the last wisp of sandalwood incense burned to ash. The drifting smoke slowly dissipated into the cool night air.
"Time is up."
Daoist Zhang’s calm voice rang out like a dull thud, startling the four youths from their deep breathing exercises.
Chu Bai slowly opened his eyes. He felt refreshed and clear-headed, and the chronic fatigue from years of hard labor seemed to have lessened considerably.
He didn’t rush to get up. Instead, he mirrored the others, adjusting his posture and looking respectfully toward the blue-robed Daoist at the front of the hall.
Daoist Zhang stood up, his gaze sweeping over the four students as he began his routine check of their day’s cultivation progress.
"Li Jinyuan, you are impetuous and flighty. In the last quarter-hour, your breathing became ragged three times. Are you troubled by distracting thoughts?" Daoist Zhang asked, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked at the lavishly dressed youth to the left.
The youth, Li Jinyuan, blushed and said sheepishly, "Your perception is truly sharp, Daoist Master. I... do have some trivial family matters on my mind. I will be sure to correct myself tomorrow."
Daoist Zhang gave a noncommittal nod, his gaze shifting to a stern-faced youth in faded, well-worn clothes. "Gu Qinghe, not bad. Your Qi Sensitivity has stabilized, and I can sense a faint current of qi around you. In a few more days, you might just capture your first thread of Spiritual Qi."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qinghe merely pressed his lips together, cupped his hands in a salute, and said nothing more.
Chu Bai listened quietly from the side, forming a general impression of his new classmates.
’Li Jinyuan is the youngest son of Landlord Li from the west side of the city, a typical rich kid who’s here more to bolster his family’s prestige than to actually pursue Cultivation. And Gu Qinghe... I heard he’s also from a Humble Family. He joined the Inner Sect over a month before me and is making the fastest progress right now.’
Finally, Daoist Zhang’s gaze fell on a fidgety youth who was scratching his head with a pained expression.
"Wang Xiaoliu, you’ve been in the Inner Sect for half a month and still haven’t achieved Qi Sensitivity. Your aptitude... requires much more refinement."
Wang Xiaoliu agreed, his face falling in obvious dejection.
Having critiqued the three students, Daoist Zhang finally turned his attention to Chu Bai.
This was Chu Bai’s first day in the Inner Sect.
Daoist Zhang mulled it over for a moment. Seemingly wanting to make an example for the slow-witted Wang Xiaoliu, he spoke up. "Chu Bai, since this is your first day of training, perform one cycle of the Small Qi Gathering Technique, coordinating it with the Heart Method. There’s no need to be nervous. Just do as you’ve been instructed."
"Yes, Master Zhang."
Without hesitation, Chu Bai took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more.
In an instant, the world fell silent.
Aided by his Fate Chart, Chu Bai slipped into a meditative trance almost instantly, without the slightest bit of difficulty.
INHALE—EXHALE—
His chest and abdomen began to rise and fall in a steady rhythm. The cadence seemed to align with some profound principle of the universe—neither rushed nor sluggish, every single breath timed to perfection.
At the same time, his hands formed a seal. He focused his mind, sinking it into his Dantian as the obscure incantation for Energy Introduction flowed through his consciousness, as natural as if he had practiced it a thousand times before.
"Huh?"
The previously nonchalant Li Jinyuan suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise, his eyes widening.
With every breath Chu Bai took, the motes of dust floating inside Calm Heart Hall began to slowly circle around him, as if caught in an invisible pull.
It was incredibly faint, but this was clearly...
"Drawing in the surrounding qi?!"
’I’ve been slaving away for half a month and haven’t felt a single thing, and this new guy can already stir the surrounding qi on his first day?’
The stern-faced youth, Gu Qinghe, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open. He stared intently at Chu Bai’s tranquil face, his fingers tightening slightly on his knees.
’It took me a full twenty days of tedious meditation to barely achieve that kind of pull!’
A flicker of surprise, almost imperceptible, flashed through Daoist Zhang’s eyes.
’This boy... he grasped the basics on his very first try?’
He had taught many students. Even those with decent aptitude would inevitably struggle on their first attempt, fumbling with the incantation while messing up their breathing, or vice versa.
Yet Chu Bai’s execution was as smooth as flowing water. His breathing faintly resonated with the surrounding Spiritual Qi. If Daoist Zhang didn’t know for a fact that he had just paid his tuition fee today, he would have assumed Chu Bai was a veteran who had been practicing for six months.
’Could Master Liu have given him private lessons beforehand? Or is it that... this boy is truly a natural-born talent for Cultivation?’
Though his mind was racing, Daoist Zhang’s expression remained impassive. He waited until Chu Bai had completed a full Small Circulation before giving a slight nod.
"Stop now."
Chu Bai slowly ceased his cultivation and let out a long breath. He looked at Master Zhang, a little apprehensive. "Master Zhang, did I... make any mistakes?"
"None."
The way Master Zhang looked at Chu Bai now held a new gravity; he no longer saw him as just some farm boy filling a quota. He turned to face all four students, his voice rising a fraction.
"Since Chu Bai has already achieved Qi Sensitivity, I will elaborate a bit further today."
At these words, all the students instantly perked up. Even the crestfallen Wang Xiaoliu pricked up his ears.
"Mortal martial arts train the flesh and bone. We who walk the path of Cultivation, however, train with Innate Spiritual Energy."
Daoist Zhang held up a single finger, on the tip of which a faint light glimmered.
"Achieving Qi Sensitivity simply means you can perceive the existence of Spiritual Qi; it’s akin to pushing open a door just a crack. At this stage, however, the Spiritual Qi merely passes through your body. Like a draft, it comes and goes in an instant."
"The next step is to transform this passive perception into active interception."
At this, Daoist Zhang’s tone grew serious, and he laid out a very specific, quantifiable benchmark.
"A person of average aptitude, upon first achieving Qi Sensitivity, can, after three days of arduous practice, capture ’one thread’ of Spiritual Qi from the world and store it within their Dantian without it dissipating."
’One thread every three days?’ Chu Bai mused, committing the standard to memory.
"Correct." Master Zhang nodded. "Spiritual Qi is formless and difficult to measure, so the ancient sages devised the ’thread’ as a unit. Accumulate one hundred threads, and they can be condensed into ’one strand’."
"This single strand of Spiritual Qi is the first great hurdle in cultivation."
"Only by possessing a complete strand of Spiritual Qi within your body can you use it as a catalyst to activate the most basic of Talismans and cast the simplest of Magic Techniques, such as the Spiritual Eye Technique or the Light Body Technique."
"Only when you reach that step are you considered to have truly entered the Qi Cultivation First Layer. Then you will be qualified to test for a Daoist Record at the Daoist School!"
Hearing this, Chu Bai quickly began to calculate.
’One thread every three days, and one hundred threads make a strand.’
’In other words, at a normal pace, it would take a full three hundred days to accumulate that one strand of Spiritual Qi and enter the Qi Cultivation First Layer!’
’Almost a whole year!’
’And the Daoist School entrance examination is, at most, only six months away.’
Chu Bai’s brow furrowed slightly. ’No wonder Master Liu described it as an army trying to cross a single-plank bridge. Without talent or resources, just relying on this slow, grinding effort, most people wouldn’t even make it to the starting line.’
As if sensing the pressure settling on the students, Daoist Zhang changed his tone.
"Of course, that’s not an absolute rule. Nature’s spiritual energy has different attributes. If you can find a place that resonates with your own affinity, you can achieve twice the results with half the effort."
"For instance, along the East Sea Shore, the Water Element Spirit Qi is abundant. A Qi Cultivator who gathers a strand of it will have vast and enduring reserves of energy, making them excellent at drawn-out fights. Conversely, at the Southern Border Volcano, the Fire Element is volatile and fierce. Cultivators who master it can unleash Magic Techniques of immense power."
"Here in Anping County, Qingzhou, we are situated within the Plain Array established by the Great Zhou Celestial Court. The Spiritual Qi here is filtered by the Law Net, rendering it exceptionally neutral and placid. While it lacks any special properties, it is the most stable kind, making it difficult to suffer a cultivation deviation. It is perfect for you to build a solid foundation."
At this point, Master Zhang glanced at the sky outside and waved his hand.
"Don’t bite off more than you can chew. That is all for today. When you return, remember not to slack off. Cultivation is like rowing a boat upstream: if you don’t move forward, you fall behind."
"Your disciples take their leave."
The four students bowed in unison.
After rising, Li Jinyuan shot Chu Bai a long, meaningful glance before leaving with his attendant without a word. Gu Qinghe, however, paused briefly as he walked past Chu Bai and muttered, "You’re not bad."
Then he, too, quickly vanished into the night.
Chu Bai rubbed his nose, paying their reactions little mind.
As he walked out the main gate of the Daoist School, the cool night breeze on his face helped to calm his racing thoughts.
’One thread every three days is the standard for a normal person...’
Chu Bai pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the intense pangs of hunger radiating from within—it was a side effect of Refining Essence and Transforming Qi. His body was in desperate need of a hearty, meat-filled meal to replenish what he had lost.
In the darkness, his eyes shone with exceptional brightness.
’I have my Fate Chart. As long as I train, I’ll make progress. I don’t need to worry about bottlenecks, much less crippling my Cultivation.’
’A normal person takes three days to gather one thread. If I train twice as hard, can I manage one thread a day? Or even... faster?’
As long as the grind doesn’t kill me, I’ll grind like there’s no tomorrow!
RUMMMBLE—
A thunderous growl from his stomach shattered his heroic ambitions.
Chu Bai gave a wry smile, clutching his stomach as he quickened his pace.
’Cultivation is great and all, but it’s expensive... I’m not even an immortal yet, and I’m already on the verge of starving to death. I’ve got to find a way to get some food, or this body of mine will collapse first.’

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