“Crimson Flame Peak has a ninth-grade Qi Refining technique, called the Lesser Origin-Tempering Fire-Control Art. It can increase the efficiency of breathing cultivation by twenty percent. If one earns the favor of an overseer, perhaps it may be taught…”
“Nourish the body with spiritual items for nine consecutive days, solidify the second level, and strengthen the muscles and bones…”
“Crimson Flame Peak lies to the south, belonging to Ding Fire. At the third quarter of noon, meditating and practicing near the Tempering Room coincides with the rise of yang fire qi, yielding twice the result with half the effort…”
Jiang Yi sat quietly for the time it took an incense stick to burn, memorizing the cultivation methods provided by the golden page of the Heavenly Tome.
“To rely on the Heavenly Tome and ascend on the spot in the blink of an eye—sure enough, that isn’t realistic.”
He sighed inwardly. Even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice. He himself was merely a common menial on Crimson Flame Peak of the Qianji Sect; the conditions he possessed for cultivating the Dao were harsh to begin with.
Even if he followed the Heavenly Tome’s instructions one by one, his cultivation efficiency would probably only increase by around forty percent compared to before.
Jiang Yi estimated:
“From the second to the third level of Qi Refining, the normal cultivation time is roughly five or six years.
If I persist in carrying out the cultivation plan given by the Heavenly Tome, I can probably shorten it by two years.”
For a menial, that was naturally fast enough. The third level of Qi Refining would be sufficient to endure until the twelve-year term expired, save up tens of thousands of talisman coins, and descend the mountain.
But for Jiang Yi, it still fell somewhat short.
He had the heart to cultivate the Dao, and even more so the desire to enter the inner sect and shed his mortal status.
If he did not remove the word “common” from “common menial” as soon as possible, then with each day’s work leaving him half-dead from exhaustion, how could he possibly squeeze out time to accumulate a foundation and charge toward the fifth level of Qi Refining?
“A steady road is slow to walk. Is there any shortcut to be found?”
Jiang Yi thought for a moment more, then asked with the mindset of giving it a try.
【I humbly beseech the Heavenly Tome: can you directly show me the complete text of a first-grade Qi Refining technique?】
【Matter examined: complete cultivation technique】
【Deduction time required: seventeen years and five months】
【Deduction requirement: first-grade Qi Refining spiritual item】
“So it actually requires a corresponding spiritual item in exchange… That makes sense. The Heavenly Tome investigates all things and traces cause and effect. It can’t possibly be without cost.”
Jiang Yi felt relieved, and then posed another wildly fanciful question.
【I humbly beseech the Heavenly Tome: can you show me the opportunity by which I may attain the Dao in the future?】
Buzz!
The golden page shook violently!
The tadpole-like characters were like beating drums, thumping as they leapt!
【Deduction time required: one hundred and three thousand two hundred kalpas】
“This… how long is one kalpa supposed to be?”
Jiang Yi was somewhat dumbfounded and immediately erased the writing.
After the golden light faded and the cause and effect were canceled, he asked several more questions.
【I humbly beseech the Heavenly Tome: can you show me the opportunity for eternal life and undying existence?】
【I humbly beseech the Heavenly Tome: can you show me where I may pick up an overlooked magic artifact?】
【I humbly beseech the Heavenly Tome: can you show me an undiscovered Foundation Establishment cave dwelling in Beimang Ridge whose owner has already passed away?】
【I humbly beseech the Heavenly Tome…】
Even though Jiang Yi’s questions were highly unreliable, the Heavenly Tome responded to them all.
It was just that they required exceedingly long deduction times, as well as spiritual items of differing value to match.
And neither of these was something Jiang Yi could afford.
After he asked seven or eight times in succession, the light floating on the surface of the golden page dimmed, so he stopped.
Jiang Yi sorted through the various responses the Heavenly Tome had given.
“The Heavenly Tome examines cause and effect, and this is determined by myself. If the ‘cause’ I put forward is too heavy and I cannot bear it, then the ‘effect’ cannot be condensed.
Becoming an immortal on the spot and ascending in broad daylight are purely delusions.”
Those unrealistic questions just now had partly been for testing, and partly because Jiang Yi wanted to see the Heavenly Tome’s limits.
Having gained a rough understanding, he returned to a practical path of growth.
【I humbly beseech the Heavenly Tome: please show me how to obtain between five thousand and one hundred thousand talisman coins without leaving future trouble behind.】
The urgent priority was to make money first!
To make up for his shortage of cultivation resources!
That was what Jiang Yi thought.
【Matter examined: talisman coins】
【Deduction time required: one shichen】
“It seems that compared to ‘opportunities,’ the cause and effect involved in ‘seeking wealth’ is much smaller.”
Jiang Yi silently noted this point.
Through one inquiry after another, he could roughly derive a hierarchy within the same level: “cultivation techniques are greater than opportunities,” and “opportunities are greater than external objects.”
He had not worked today, and it was rare to have some leisure, so Jiang Yi was not in a hurry to sit in meditation and practice breathing cultivation.
Cultivation in the first realm of Qi Refining had quite a few rules and particulars.
He had once heard Old He Hun ramble a few words about it: all things beneath heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, great marshes, the sun, moon, and stars—all had their own qi.
They were either clear or turbid, rising or descending, each nurturing and transforming in its own way, thereby giving rise to “all manner of spiritual currents.”
Before reaching the fifth level of Qi Refining and opening the inner palace of the Primordial Gate, one could not gather spiritual currents and make use of them for oneself.
One could only be meticulous and patient, doing slow, grinding work day after day, accumulating true essence and tempering the self.
The True Meridian Qi Circulation Art that Jiang Yi cultivated did not even enter the ranks; it was merely teaching material provided by the Dao academy.
Ten parts of meditation yielded perhaps one or two parts of effect, and the growth of true essence and inner qi was slow.
In certain respects, even if Jiang Yi did not have to work and devoted himself entirely to cultivation, meditating for one and a half shichen each day would already be his limit. Any further effort would not yield much return.
“Crimson Flame Peak actually has a ninth-grade technique. It must be in Overseer Yang’s hands and not passed on to outsiders.”
Jiang Yi kept thinking about that Lesser Origin-Tempering Fire-Control Art. If he could get his hands on it, his cultivation efficiency would be raised a bit further.
“Rice is eaten one bite at a time, and roads are walked one step at a time. I can’t be too impatient either.”
He pressed down the restlessness in his heart and once again silently recited the two words “steady and safe.”
……
……
The evening glow of Crimson Flame Peak had always resembled molten gold splashed across the sky, intense to the extreme. Reflected upon the vast snow peaks of Beimang Ridge, it could be considered a sight in its own right.
Only, the menials who labored like oxen and horses for most of the day rarely had the leisurely mood to appreciate it.
As the last smear of afterglow fell into the communal courtyard, Old He Hun and the others carried their respective “congratulatory gifts” and prepared to light the fires and start cooking.
“Brother Yi, take a look! I spent no small effort getting these two spiritual fish from the manager of the Icefire Cave. They’re not much in weight, but they’ll be enough to make soup!”
Old He Hun shouted like a general returning victorious. Before he had even entered the courtyard gate, the two palm-sized bright-red fish in his hand had arrived first.
Widow Qin covered her mouth and teased,
“Those two spiritual fish of Brother He’s will have to be served on a small plate. They absolutely must not be put in a large bowl, or we may have to hold our chopsticks and search for them for a long time.”
Old He Hun was not annoyed at all. Instead, he said cheerfully,
“Small though the fish may be, they are still a token of my sincerity. Just watch me simmer a pot of rich soup later. I guarantee it’ll be so fresh your tongues will fall off!”
He usually liked bantering with women, but Widow Qin was at the third level of Qi Refining, so he could not casually jest and offend her.
It was rare that she was willing to pay him any attention today, so he had to seize the chance to say a few more words.
“Spiritual fish are delicious; I’ve long heard of them, but never had the chance to taste any. I’m basking in Brother Yi’s good fortune!”
Old Li held a small half-sack of spiritual rice. Judging by the look of it, it was old rice that had sat for a long time in the grain shop. Once opened, it gave off a damp, moldy smell.
He smiled awkwardly and said,
“If we rinse it a few more times, it’ll be just like new rice.”
Jiang Yi saw it all and sighed inwardly. What menial did not split every talisman coin in two before spending it?
This was the sort of life everyone lived.
Then he wanted to bitterly curse the original owner again, who had actually spent lavishly for a “factory girl” as if throwing money into the dirt!
“I bought ten jin of beef and mutton from the butcher, a few jars of newly brewed rice wine, plus some fruits and snacks. I hope everyone won’t mind.”
Jiang Yi had also spent seventy or eighty talisman coins making purchases.
On Crimson Flame Peak, food and clothing such as beef, mutton, fish, cotton clothes, and padded jackets were not expensive. Only cultivation resources with the word “spiritual” attached to them easily cost hundreds or thousands, far beyond what one could afford.
“Sister Qin and I will do the cooking. Husband, wash the fruits and set them on the table first.”
Old Li’s wife was efficient in her work. She rolled up her sleeves and went straight to the kitchen to busy herself.
Widow Qin, smiling, pressed Jiang Yi back down when he wanted to help out.
“This is to celebrate for you, Brother Yi. How could there be any reason to make you work? Rest for a while and be a ‘young master’ for once.”
Old He Hun brought over stools and set several tables together into one. Though the autumn chill outside was heavy, everyone was a Qi Refining cultivator, strong and hale enough to withstand it.
He and Old Li chatted about all sorts of things, while Jiang Yi listened from the side.
At first, they spoke of distant matters—mostly about which sect in Beimang Ridge had produced Dao talent, or which place had suffered at the hands of rogue cultivators.
Gradually, the topic was drawn back to what was before them.
Old He Hun cracked melon seeds, peeled peanuts, his mouth never stopping and his words never ceasing:
“Old Li, you and your wife are so diligent. Where are you planning to send your son? The Dao academy in Zhao’s prefectural city only teaches the True Meridian Qi Circulation Art. There’s nothing real there worth spending big money on.”
When Old Li mentioned his “son,” a few more traces of a smile appeared on his bronze, farmer-like face.
“To the west of Beimang Ridge, there’s a market town. Long ago, I followed Overseer Yang there several times to buy supplies, and I came to know an old artifact refiner at the fourth level of Qi Refining.
He said he came from the Yin Puppet Sect and recruits apprentices year-round. A few years ago, I sent my boy over, and as luck would have it, my boy actually had some talent.”
Old He Hun frowned, but said nothing more.
Old Li continued,
“To be an apprentice and learn the craft costs eight thousand talisman coins a year. The old artifact refiner saw that my boy was clever and reduced the price by two thousand.”
Only then did Old He Hun speak:
“You two husband and wife can save up six thousand talisman coins a year from work. Supporting the boy in learning a craft shouldn’t be difficult.”
Old Li shook his head.
“Ah, Brother He, you don’t know. How could six thousand be enough to settle it! Artifact refining consumes a lot of materials and uses up a lot of supplies. Just those expenses alone require another five thousand!
Other apprentices can afford to use them, so how could I let my own boy suffer a disadvantage? Add in food and drink too; the boy is at the age when he’s growing… In any case, all told, it comes to fourteen or fifteen thousand talisman coins.”
Old He Hun was rendered speechless upon hearing this. No wonder Old Li’s family normally would not even buy meat if they could help it, wishing they could gnaw on steamed buns and swallow pickled vegetables instead.
So it turned out they were raising a four-legged gold-devouring beast!
“The expenses have been even greater these past two years. The old artifact refiner said he has connections that can reach the inner peaks of the Yin Puppet Sect, as long as my boy can reach the third level of Qi Refining… No helping it! We still have to work harder!”
Jiang Yi looked toward Old Li. The other man’s eyes surged with longing, full of hope.
“When the boy enters the inner peaks of the Yin Puppet Sect, at worst he can become an overseer. He won’t have to suffer this hardship like me. Then my wife and I won’t have to keep fighting so hard.”
Old Li sipped his rice wine and narrowed his eyes, his face full of ease, as if he had already seen that scene.
Old He Hun laughed and said,
“Haha, when that day comes, you two husband and wife can descend the mountain as well, shed the toil of menial labor, and enjoy a little comfort.”
Old Li shook his head.
“We’ll descend the mountain, yes, but enjoying comfort is another matter. We were born to a life of hardship and can’t stay idle. My wife and I have already agreed that we’ll take the white certificate from the Qianji Sect and rent a few mu of spiritual fields.
I heard from a workmate on Herb-Gathering Peak that although inner sect disciples live on the inner peaks, if they want to cultivate in places abundant with spiritual currents, they still have to spend money to rent cave dwellings and quiet rooms. It isn’t cheap!
If we can save up a chamber and hall for the boy and let him be a bit more at ease, then I can die with my eyes closed.”
Old He Hun was stunned for a moment, then gulped down a bowl of rice wine and only said,
“Good thing I never married, much less had children. Otherwise, in this life I’d be like a donkey at the millstone, with no hope of stopping.”
But Old Li said,
“Brother He, that’s not right. We work hard and save talisman coins precisely so we can have something to rely on in the latter half of our lives! If one’s children make something of themselves, that’s better than anything!”
Jiang Yi listened from the side and felt that the rice wine in his bowl had a complicated taste. What, in the end, did a person live for in this life?
Immediately after, the resolve in his heart to cultivate the Dao became even firmer.
All toil, all suffering and exhaustion—only “long life” could carry one across them!
Before too long, the fragrant porridge and rice cooked from spiritual rice were brought to the table. Eaten with slices of sauced beef and mutton, they had a flavor all their own.
The steaming fish soup was placed in the middle. Everyone filled a bowl, and it was indeed extraordinarily delicious. Once it entered the stomach, it warmed both body and mind.
The remnants of the sunset scattered away, and the peaks all darkened. Only scattered lights came on in the surrounding workers’ huts, like fishing fires on a river.
The smoke and warmth, the laughter and conversation drifting from the communal courtyard where Jiang Yi was, drew passing menials to glance over a few times.
They seemed surprised that in such ox-and-horse days, year after year, these people could still find joy amid bitterness.