Chapter 18: Chapter Eighteen: Cultivation Technique
This place should be considered a safe house.
In the "Cangyuan Chronicles"'s storyline featuring valiant protagonists, the main character faced a situation identical to the one Xu Yuan was now in, with pursuers hot on his heels. Moreover, because the plot had progressed into its middle stage by that time, these pursuers could chase the mid-stage protagonist all over the world, which naturally meant they were formidable.
Although not necessarily capable of walking on air like Ran Qingmo, finding a person while skimming along the edge of a cliff was no issue.
However, even so, the pursuers had never found the main character hunkered down in this cave dwelling.
It seemed likely that there was something outside this cave or a formation that shielded it from detection.
Thinking this, Xu Yuan's gaze swept across the cave dwelling again.
He had not noticed upon first waking, but now Xu Yuan realized that this cave dwelling had no entrance or exit.
It was like a slot embedded inside the mountain.
Both he and Ran Qingmo had been drawn inside, likely by triggering some kind of pre-set transmission formation.
Drawing a simple conclusion from past memories and the current information that the dwelling was relatively safe, Xu Yuan finally relaxed completely.
After transmigrating for so many days, only now could he truly say he had found a temporary safe haven.
Thinking this, Xu Yuan let out a slight sigh.
If his transmigration method hadn't been so primitive, he might already have been picked up by his original body's father's men to play the role of a wealthy heir.
How did it come to this.
Xu Yuan shook his head, no longer dwelling on the thought.
He was never one to fear problems.
When problems arose, complaining was useless; one should simply find a solution. A very simple philosophy.
Sitting at the head of the ice jade bed, Xu Yuan began to read the "Blood Essence Meteoring Art" Cultivation Technique in his hands, illuminated by the faint glow of the Luminous Pearl embedded in the stone wall.
This book contained the sole feasible method of resolving the rejection between his body and will-spirit at present.
Though he had obtained a Blood Spirit Fusion Pill, he couldn't take it directly.
All medicines have their poisons, and what greatly benefits a cultivator can be deadly poison to an ordinary person.
As an Elixir Medicine refined from various top-tier heavenly materials and earthly treasures, the vast Origin Qi contained within the Blood Spirit Fusion Pill was far beyond what Xu Yuan, a mere mortal, could digest.
Eating it directly would likely result in an explosive death.
Fortunately, there was the "Blood Essence Meteoring Art" in his hands.
This was key to stabilizing the instability between his body and will-spirit.
Born from death, cultivating both body and soul—the description in the manual.
However, when the secret text became reality, Xu Yuan knew that achieving the art would not be as simple as clicking a mouse to "learn with one click" as in games.
For a moment,
the silence within the cramped cave dwelling was interrupted only by the occasional rustling of page-turning.
In the quietude, Ran Qingmo quietly adjusted her breathing to heal, and Xu Yuan silently read the cultivation technique.
Time trickled by, the length unknown.
Suddenly, Xu Yuan closed the book beside his bed, took a deep breath, and leaned back to meditate with his eyes closed.
This was his first true encounter with the cultivation techniques of this world.
There was novelty, excitement, but mostly confusion.
They were all Chinese characters; he could understand them when read separately, but why couldn't he make sense of them when strung together?
What were energy channels, the White Sea meridian, drawing Qi into the body, the heart-source and will-spirit...
Who am I?
Where am I?
What are all these things?
Why can other transmigrators simply practice when they get a cultivation technique, yet I can't even understand the words?
"......"
Silence.
Raising his hand to rub his brows forcefully, Xu Yuan's thoughts were somewhat cluttered.
Clearly,
the "Blood Essence Meteoring Art," one of the only three blood-red rank cultivation techniques in the "Cangyuan Chronicles," was not a beginner's primer.
To put it bluntly:
You've learned Chinese characters, now go try making a nuclear bomb by hand.
Having read the book from start to finish, Xu Yuan's only gain was a rudimentary understanding of the process to begin practicing "Blood Essence Meteoring Art."
To take the Calamity Falling Pill and the Blood Spirit Fusion Pill together.
The Calamity Falling Pill's first stage of efficacy would directly blitz the energy channels between a person's limbs and bones.
Compared to cultivators, the energy channels of ordinary people are blocked and closed.
Much like earlier when Qingmo couldn't use Qi to heal Xu Yuan—an ordinary person—the impact of the Calamity Falling Pill's effects would physically split open the impacted meridians.
Once the meridians are completely split open, the body enters a state of near death.
And as the body teeters on the brink of death, the will-spirit begins to dissipate.
At this point, the second stage of the Calamity Falling Pill's effects would spread, accelerating this dissipation of the will-spirit by a multitude of times.
If this continues, death is inevitable.
However, the Blood Spirit Fusion Pill's efficacy is to solidify the will-spirit, re-condensing the dissipating will-spirit.
The interplay of two starkly opposing medical properties, complemented by the operation of the "Blood Essence Meteoring Art," would repeatedly shatter then re-consolidate the body's will-spirit. In this cycle, eventually, the body and will-spirit would achieve perfect integration.
In this repetitious dance with death, the immense medicinal power of the Blood Spirit Fusion Pill would also serve to repair physical and will-spirit injuries.
Practicing the "Blood Essence Meteoring Art," which embraces death to enhance life, is quite literally a matter of survival against all odds. If one were to momentarily lose focus during the process and fail to operate the technique timely, it would result in actual death.
However, the rewards for braving such dangers are incredibly rich.
Once initiated, not only would the body and soul become exceedingly solidified, but also all 127 channels within the body would be unobstructed!