Vampire Cultivation Notes

There are nine levels of Qi Refining. The first three levels are the early stage of Qi Refining, and the fourth level onwards is the middle stage of Qi Refining.

The first three levels are the weakest, as the cultivator's dantian has just opened up and can only draw spiritual energy from the outside world to accumulate the foundation of the dantian.

Unfortunately, because their cultivation has only just begun and their level of expertise is insufficient, it is extremely difficult for cultivators to absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth, apart from picking up readily available spirit stones.

If one has a mixed spiritual root of five elements, then it is even more difficult.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is chaotic. If it is rashly introduced into the body without being sorted out, it will at best disrupt one's own spiritual energy, and at worst severely damage the dantian and cause a decline in cultivation.

Fortunately, the cultivator reached the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage.

That is, the situation will improve considerably once you reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

To break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, one needs to guide the true Qi accumulated in the Dantian to circulate through all the meridians in the body and establish a microcosmic orbit.

True energy originates from the dantian and returns to the dantian; with a thought, it can be circulated at will.

Once the microcosmic orbit is formed within the body, it becomes much easier for cultivators to absorb spiritual energy directly from heaven and earth. External spiritual energy is first incorporated into the microcosmic orbit for processing. Any errors along the way can be directly expelled during the microcosmic orbit. Finally, the spiritual energy that matches the spiritual root steadily returns to the dantian and transforms into one's own magical power.

It can be said that the internal microcosmic orbit is a spiritual energy filter for cultivators, as well as a cultivation accelerator.

However, depending on the cultivation method practiced by each cultivator and their own understanding and improvement of the method, the structure and order of the circulation of the hundred meridians in the small heaven within the body are also different.

Generally speaking, the best methods are those within the sect. Even if one has mixed spiritual roots, they can cultivate faster than those with true spiritual roots from outside the sect. They also come with various mysteries that cannot be fully described at once.

The next level up are the disciples of established families and powerful figures who cultivate.

After that, there are the struggling rogue cultivators at the bottom, who are lucky if they can even get the basics of a celestial cultivation technique.

Li Jieqing's current practice is naturally of the same common kind.

The cultivation technique is called the "Flowing Light Technique," which sounds nicer as balanced and harmonious, but bluntly, it has no other strengths. Its only advantage is that it can be cultivated by all five types of spiritual roots, including the five spiritual roots.

The entire book contains just over a hundred words. Li Jieqing bought it for three spirit stones, and it included a two-thousand-word commentary from the seller on how to build a small circulation.

Over the years, Li Jieqing has pondered these two thousand words countless times.

Recently, he has been seeking out people to discuss and confirm the most suitable route for him to build his own microcosmic orbit.

It was probably precisely because of this that it stood out in the market, attracting the covetous eyes of unscrupulous people.

However, after being resurrected, the bottleneck of the fourth level of Qi Refining was loosened, which can be considered a blessing in disguise.

"...Is it clarity or transparency, fleeting brilliance..."

"...The mind governs the universe, the spirit illuminates the vast world..."

"Almost there!"

"Go further ahead!"

"Rush!"

"...It's done!"

As night ends and dawn breaks, the eastern clouds part to reveal the approaching day.

Inside a woodshed, Li Jieqing, who had been sitting cross-legged all night, opened his eyes, and the spiritual energy that had surged around him slowly calmed down.

Breakthrough achieved!

The microcosmic orbit has been established and has been running for several cycles, absorbing external spiritual energy quite steadily, with no risk of regression.

After being stuck at the peak of the third level of Qi Refining for several years, his accumulated strength allowed him to break through and quickly stabilize his Small Heavenly Circuit.

Li Jieqing was satisfied; he could be considered to have reached the late stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining, near completion.

More importantly, once a cultivator reaches the mid-stage of Qi Refining and establishes their own Small Heavenly Circuit, their cultivation level is sufficient to increase their True Qi on their own, even without absorbing spirit stones.

Even if this speed is very slow.

However, Li Jieqing is an immortal vampire, and it is foreseeable that the thing he will never lack in the future is time.

"Passing travelers, are you awake yet?"

As dawn broke, without knocking, a young man in a short brown coat pushed open the door to the woodshed and entered, making a gesture to shoo him away: "It was agreed last night that no one can stay in the woodshed during the day."

This is a tavern in Taipingfang Market.

Although this business mainly deals in spirit wine, it also rents out its backyard if customers visiting the market have a need, competing with the cave dwellings and houses rented out in the market for business.

Li Jieqing arrived late last night and, lacking capital, borrowed a woodshed from an acquaintance to stay in.

"I just saw some fluctuations in spiritual energy over here. So it's the mid-stage of Qi Refining?"

The young waiter at the tavern, not one to hide his displeasure, gave the customer staying in the woodshed a rather unfriendly look, his brow furrowed in displeasure: "I don't know who introduced you to me, but this isn't what we agreed on. Absorbing the owner's spiritual energy like this will cost extra!"

Snakes have their own paths, and rats have theirs.

The tavern waiter was just secretly earning extra money by using the woodshed. If the fluctuations in spiritual energy were detected and disturbed the legitimate customers in the backyard, he would naturally have to take responsibility.

"I couldn't help myself for a moment, please forgive me."

Seeing that the person opposite him didn't recognize him at all even though it was daytime, Li Jieqing couldn't help but touch the dough and smile smugly.

"I'll pay more, but I've decided to stay in Taipingfang for a while longer. How about I rent a proper villa from you?"

The young man's expression changed immediately: "That's great! Our place is the most convenient and suitable short-term rental in the city. All the old folks in the city know about it."

"hehe……"

The young shop assistant excitedly led the way, no longer caring about the expenses of secretly absorbing spiritual energy in the woodshed, since he would get a commission for introducing customers anyway.

As he walked to the side, the man seemed to remember something and couldn't help but turn back.

"So that our guests know that we charge five small spirit crystals for a ten-day rental, one spirit stone for a month, and two spirit stones for a quarter."

Small spirit crystals are byproducts of mining spirit stone veins. They are mostly the size of a thumb, and it usually takes ten small spirit crystals to exchange for one spirit stone.

"What, are you afraid I can't afford the spirit stones?"

As Li Jieqing watched the increasingly bright morning sky, he confidently took out a jade box from his bosom and opened it.

Inside is a small section of a century-old ginseng, composed of ginseng rootlets.

This is something you can understand. It's a good item that you've painstakingly accumulated in the alchemy workshop. If you put it on the south street of the market, it's worth at least two or three spirit stones, if not ten or eight.

You don't have that much money...

The young man managed to keep those words to himself and continued leading the way to complete the formalities.

……

The residence in the villa was small, consisting of only two main rooms, separated from the neighboring house by a wall.

Li Jieqing was satisfied as long as he could live quietly alone. He moved in with his bag and closed the gate of the villa as soon as he turned around.

The reason I chose to stay here instead of finding another place to live in the shantytown was twofold: firstly, to temporarily avoid the limelight, and secondly, because I had just broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining and suddenly had an insight that I couldn't wait to put into practice.

The bundle he was carrying was spread out in the side room, and a small, pitch-black cauldron was the first thing that came into view.

This is an alchemy cauldron.

It was also something Li Jieqing found in North Street. It could only be considered half a magic artifact. Although it wasn't worth many spirit stones, it was still one of his few possessions.

"...Having toiled away at the alchemy workshop for so many years, do you think I, Li, have worked for nothing?"

While feeling smug, he laid out all his bottles and jars.

The large cloth bundle was tossed aside.

Li Jieqing recognized almost all the Qi Refining stage pills on the market, and he could even identify the medicinal materials needed for the formulas of some common pills with his eyes closed.

The only thing lacking is alchemy skills...

When his former colleague Yu Fanyi was still alive, he always encouraged Li Jieqing to take the lead in secretly learning alchemy. Little did he know that over the past ten years, Li Jieqing had already secretly learned a lot and had even tried alchemy himself.

However, they all got stuck at the last step.

The art of alchemy, in essence, is the same as the medicine-decocting practice of lay physicians: both involve extracting medicinal properties from raw materials to achieve the final effect.

However, the reason why alchemy is a celestial art and the biggest difference between it and the secular world is that the art of condensing pills can turn the acquired into the innate.

Once medicinal herbs are unearthed, they have already lost their natural charm.

Moreover, the resulting medicines were mixed together, making the situation even more chaotic.

Only through alchemy can one combine all the medicines of heaven and earth into a single pill, returning the acquired to the innate, transforming them into a unified whole, thus creating the elixir.

Previously, Li Jieqing had secretly learned 99% of the alchemy techniques from the alchemy workshop, but he was stuck on the final step of condensing the elixir.

It wasn't until he had just broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining and established his own Small Heavenly Circuit that he achieved this.

Li Jieqing had a flash of inspiration.

Only when cultivators have a microcosmic orbit can they stand independently in the world without relying on spirit stones to strengthen their foundation.

So, is adding a small circulation to the refined pills, making them self-contained, the art of pill condensation?

Li Jieqing had been studying alchemy for far too long.

Once the idea took hold, the more I thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, so I couldn't wait to try it out.

The bottles and jars laid out in front of me were sorted and categorized one by one.

"The Qi-Nourishing Pill requires century-old ginseng and thirty-year-old cinnabar fruit as its main ingredients, but we have never been able to gather all the raw materials, so we have to abandon the idea of ​​making this pill."

"The ingredients for the Rejuvenation Pill used to treat injuries are expensive, and I don't even have enough left over from my last attempt at alchemy to make a full set."

"There are other raw materials for pills... Since we've abandoned our identity as craftsmen in the pill workshop, and new sourcing channels can't be opened up immediately, we need to be cautious and figure things out slowly..."

After counting and considering, Li Jieqing realized that he only had one choice left.

"Fengxin Dan"

This elixir is nothing other than a special medicine used to temper the body of cultivators. Its name comes from an ancient book, which says that it is called "devoting one's heart to red and turning it into blood".

As the name suggests, this elixir can both temper the body and nourish the blood of cultivators, and one of its main raw materials is also blood.

The expensive ones use the blood of specific monsters.

The cheaper method uses the blood of ordinary people.

The middle one is made with the blood of a cultivator.

The several porcelain bottles of cultivator's blood that Li Jieqing had previously stored came from this. Each bottle contained about half a liter and was worth two to three spirit crystals on the market.

Don't assume that all cultivators value the privacy of their blood.

The worries about one's blood being leaked out or being suddenly harmed by some mysterious curse are troubles that only cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining or even Foundation Establishment would have.

For cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining.

—What are curses and witchcraft?

Let's wait until I've cultivated myself to the point where I can provoke that kind of enemy before we talk about it.

When Li Jieqing first arrived in Taipingfang City, he relied entirely on selling his blood every now and then to make a living, and he secretly mocked himself for being like a cultivator from the West Coast.

Later, as he got older, people looked down on him for selling his blood, so he could only honestly work at the blood bank.

……