“Ring-ring-ring~”
The piercing bell made Yang Wenqing, deep in sleep, snap his eyes open. By the faint light spilling in through the window, he saw the mottled ceiling above him.
After staring blankly for a moment, Yang Wenqing reached out and shut off the mechanical alarm clock by his pillow. A chill wind took the opportunity to slip under the quilt, raising goosebumps all over his body and waking him completely.
Getting out of bed, he stretched out of habit, then instinctively swept his gaze around. The room he was in was very small; a single bed took up most of the space, and on the wooden table by the window sat all sorts of daily necessities.
In the corner to the left of the wooden table were several wooden buckets. Beside them, near the left side of the window, was a small tea table holding a miniature boiler. Beneath the tea table, bowls and chopsticks had been placed in a disorderly heap. Together with the shabby wardrobe by the door, these were all of Yang Wenqing’s possessions.
Yang Wenqing moved his arms and legs briefly in front of the bed, then walked to the wooden table by the window. He picked up his toiletries and half a pack of tissues, and, as was his habit, looked at the half-moon hanging in the sky outside. The moon gave off a faint blue halo, and beneath the starry sky behind it, an even larger full moon could be glimpsed, faintly discernible.
“Huu~”
After exhaling a breath of stale air, Yang Wenqing cleared away the thoughts surfacing in his mind, picked up his toiletries, took his key, and walked out of the room. Outside was a quiet corridor, with densely packed doors lining both sides; one glance was enough to tell that it was the hallway of some dormitory.
After pulling his door shut, he walked to the end on his right. Since he had gotten up so early, there was no one at the shared washstands or toilets. He washed up and used the toilet as quickly as possible, then returned to his room. After putting away his toiletries, he took out a square wooden box he carried with him.
“Open!”
Yang Wenqing placed the wooden box on the table, formed a hand seal with his left hand, and opened the preservation array on the surface of the box. He took out the remaining small half-section of specially processed White Dragon Ginseng inside, then skillfully sliced off a small piece and placed it into a glass cup.
“Splash~”
As the boiling water from the thermos was poured into the glass, the small slice of White Dragon Ginseng immediately melted at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Yang Wenqing closed the wooden box and reactivated the preservation array on its surface. After quietly waiting for the White Dragon Ginseng to finish melting, he raised the glass and drained the medicinal liquid in one gulp, then returned to the bed as quickly as possible and sat cross-legged in meditation.
When his mind sank inward, a streak of golden light instantly appeared in his mind. It was a Golden Core gathering within his spiritual platform. When his consciousness entered the Golden Core, he saw a space over a hundred meters across, and at the center of that space sat an illusory figure meditating cross-legged.
This was Yang Wenqing’s projection. Here, his body seemed both illusory and real, and the spiritual meridians within him were so clear that one could see the state of the spiritual energy flowing through them. At this moment, the lower dantian where his spiritual meridians converged was rapidly generating spiritual energy. A white light continuously revolved at the center of his sea of qi—that was the power of the Golden Core digesting the energy of the White Dragon Ginseng.
Once all the power of the White Dragon Ginseng had been transformed into spiritual energy within the sea of qi in his lower dantian, Yang Wenqing followed the method recorded in Basic Qi Refining, circulating the spiritual energy through his spiritual meridians, expanding them while absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from the outside world.
Time passed without his noticing. After the spiritual energy had circulated through Yang Wenqing’s body for three major heavenly cycles, the spiritual energy gathered from the White Dragon Ginseng was already exhausted. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy within him still had not formed a complete heavenly cycle circulation. However, there was now a faint, almost imperceptible sense of qi, allowing him to preserve the sea of qi in his lower dantian.
“My spiritual meridians are damaged again!”
Yang Wenqing sighed inwardly. Through the illusory figure within the Golden Core world, he easily discovered the minute damage that had appeared in his spiritual meridians during cultivation just now, and he hurriedly mobilized the small portion of successfully refined spiritual energy within his body to repair it.
In common terms, his condition meant that he had no aptitude. If he wanted to truly cultivate to the Qi Refining stage, he would need at least thirty years of bitter effort, and after that, there would be no further possibility.
But within his sea of consciousness, he possessed a Golden Core. Not only could it disregard aptitude, it could also purge all toxicity from medicinal herbs and pills within his body. This allowed him to consume White Dragon Ginseng once every day, making his cultivation improve day by day. At present, he had already successfully opened the spiritual meridians in his body.
It was just that his spiritual meridians were far too narrow, preventing the spiritual energy in his sea of qi from circulating on its own. He had to guide it every day; otherwise, not only would his cultivation fail to advance, it would regress instead. As time passed, his spiritual meridians would also slowly close again.
The Golden Core within Yang Wenqing’s sea of consciousness had suddenly formed when he became aware of things at the age of five. At the same time, when this Golden Core formed, an additional segment of memories appeared in his mind, as if they were memories from a previous life. He had already forgotten most of those memories, but they had given him the talent of being born with knowledge, and had made him grow up overnight.
When he woke from meditation, mottled sunlight was already shining in through the window. Yang Wenqing got up and walked to the window, forming a hand seal with his fingers. Instantly, a line of white runic symbols appeared in front of him. This was the talismanic script of the Immobilization Curse.
With the help of the Golden Core world, all he needed to do was visualize the spell pattern of this technique in his mind, and he could cast it with ease—several times faster than ordinary cultivators. It was just that, at present, he could cast it at most twice a day before the spiritual energy in his sea of qi was declared exhausted.
Fortunately, rune technology in this world was highly developed. As he cast the spell, he took out a sheet of black talisman paper used to record spells. After imprinting the technique onto it, he carefully put it away. It could be sold for money, and it could also be thrown out during a magical duel.
After confirming that there were no issues with the spell imprinted on the talisman paper, Yang Wenqing placed the wooden box containing the White Dragon Ginseng into his pocket. He then walked to the wardrobe by the door and pushed open its doors, revealing four sets of summer clothes inside, two of which were pale blue uniforms.
At the age of five, after Yang Wenqing became aware of things, the first thing he did was run to the clan school to audit classes. In one year, he learned most of the commonly used characters in this world, then read through all the books the clan had opened to the public. From them, he learned that this was a civilization where Daoist arts and technology coexisted, and that its technology was primarily rune-based.
After thinking for a period of time, Yang Wenqing decisively made the decision to join the city defense system of the country he lived in. This was because it was a nation of order, and what maintained that order was the City Defense Bureau. Moreover, this was also one of the few places where commoners could obtain secret cultivation methods.
After putting on his uniform, Yang Wenqing pinned his work badge to the left side of his chest. He then picked up a mechanical watch, put it on, and glanced at the time. After that, he walked to the boiler, took a hard rice cake from the pot, and bit it between his teeth. Smoothly taking down the water flask hanging on the wall, he filled it with boiled water with practiced ease, carried it in his hand, and went out the door.
By this time, the corridor outside had already become lively. Most of the people here were teachers from nearby schools, and all of them had families with them. When they saw Yang Wenqing, they greeted him politely, and Yang Wenqing responded courteously as well.
Yang Wenqing had only been temporarily settled here, but if he spent his entire life achieving nothing, then perhaps this place would become his final destination.
After walking out of the dormitory building, he found himself in a very large courtyard. Beyond the small courtyard was a stone-paved road, and most of the people on it were workers hurrying to nearby factories for work.
New book—please send recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, investments, tips, and comments. Give me some comments, bosses. During the new-book period, please remember to keep reading. I beg you all, bosses.