Wuu~
All of a sudden, the furnace-cauldron mark in his palm formed a living vortex, forcefully drawing something out of the scroll—the ink-rich characters themselves, which flew one after another into his palm!
Rumble!
The dark black furnace-cauldron in his mind abruptly burned red-hot.
Qin Chuan watched helplessly as the ten characters, including “Great Prospects” and “Heavenly Diligence,” were swallowed by that enormous furnace.
[Estimated time for this re-smelting: five hours]
Five hours!
Qin Chuan immediately felt that something was wrong. Not daring to be careless, he focused his mind and calmed his breath.
He already knew that whether it was refinement or re-smelting, both consumed his own spirit, energy, and blood.
Five consecutive hours of high-intensity re-smelting—if he could not keep his mind concentrated and his strength abundant, something unforeseen might happen.
In the blink of an eye, five hours passed.
On the couch, Qin Chuan’s face was haggard, dark circles heavy beneath his eyes, as though he had not slept all night.
“Even my doubled spiritual sense nearly couldn’t hold out?”
He forcefully suppressed the grogginess in his mind and looked toward the final result.
He saw the lid of the dark black furnace-cauldron open slightly, and from within, five crystal-clear objects suddenly flew out. Each was about the size of a fingernail, hovering at the upper right of the Tianyun Furnace.
[Furnace Master has obtained: 5 points of Dharma Essence]
The Dao gives rise to all laws; dharma nourishes all spirits.
Dharma Essence is the quintessence of the law-nature of all things. There is nothing it cannot transform, nothing it cannot accomplish. It is sustenance on the path of cultivation.
By re-smelting objects imbued with another’s law-nature, one may obtain Dharma Essence, which can be used to improve one’s spell cultivation.
……
As these flowing lines of text trickled down the outer wall of the furnace-cauldron,
Qin Chuan’s own information surfaced before his “eyes”:
Furnace Master: Qin Chuan
Dharma Essence: 5 points
Register Rank: Fire-Worker Daoist (unranked)
Cultivation: Qi Induction (not yet initiated)
Spells Cultivated:
Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle (Second Level)
Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations (First Level)
Clearly, after obtaining these 5 points of Dharma Essence, he had finally unlocked the Tianyun Furnace’s second core function—
Adding points with Dharma Essence.
“I wonder how far these 5 points of Dharma Essence can raise the two arts I’m currently cultivating?”
Qin Chuan’s thoughts raced. Without hesitation, he first tried applying it to the Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations.
Merely the first level had doubled his spiritual sense. The profundity of this cultivation art was undoubtedly his reliance for surpassing ordinary people.
“I’ll add 1 point first and test the waters.”
As soon as the thought moved, there was a crisp crack. One point of crystal-like Dharma Essence shattered in response within his mind.
Buzz~
Beneath “Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations,” a ball of light actually appeared. It was grayish-white, and as though it had received a charge, it began accumulating “crystal-colored” energy.
Three breaths later.
Looking at the energy within the ball of light beneath Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations, which had stopped at roughly 5%, how could Qin Chuan not understand the reason?
“Huh? One point of Dharma Essence can only raise the progress of the first level of Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations by about 5%? In other words, even if I dump all 5 points in, it’ll only reach 25%. I’ll need at least 20 points of Dharma Essence to break Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations through to the second level?”
Having obtained this figure,
Qin Chuan drew in a deep breath and thought to himself, “As expected of a cultivation art that can greatly strengthen spiritual sense. The Dharma Essence it consumes to improve is truly astonishing.”
Then he thought of the cultivation restriction of Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations—ordinary people had to break through within three years, or else they would be in danger of qi deviation. This meant that the vast majority of people would have to bitterly cultivate for at least three years just to break through one level…
Yet he had only spent a few paintings and calligraphy pieces, along with some spirit money, and it was equivalent to saving several months of another person’s hard work. What was there to be dissatisfied with?
“Let’s try this flying-needle spell next.”
With a shift of thought, he likewise consumed 1 point of Dharma Essence.
Crack!
Immediately afterward, he saw the energy inside the ball of light representing “Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle” rapidly fill to 100%, and the entire ball of light abruptly lit up—
Pop!
In an instant, countless experiences and insights regarding flying-needle control flooded into Qin Chuan’s mind.
Breakthrough! Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle, Third Level!
What delighted him even more was that after the breakthrough, the energy inside the ball of light had not been exhausted. It still remained at around 30% of the “proficient” stage. Clearly, there was still some surplus after the breakthrough!
Qin Chuan no longer hesitated and invested the remaining 3 points of Dharma Essence into this flying-needle spell as well. His thinking was very practical: he had only just arrived here, and though he had already begun qi refinement, he had no ability to protect himself. Rather than hoarding Dharma Essence to improve his spiritual-sense cultivation art, it was better to first master one practical spell. At the very least, if he encountered danger, he would not be completely unable to fight back.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Accompanied by crisp breakthrough sounds, Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle advanced one level after another:
Fourth Level! Fifth Level! Sixth Level!
……
Qin Chuan looked at the clearly marked “Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle, Sixth Level” before him and was momentarily stunned.
“Wasn’t this spell supposed to have only five levels? How did a sixth level appear?”
He hurriedly calmed his mind and sensed the spell experiences from the fourth to the sixth levels. Very soon, a peculiar illusion arose within him—as though this additional sixth level were the result of his own painstaking research and innovation.
Qin Chuan’s spirits immediately lifted.
“The Tianyun Furnace can not only add points, it can also continue deriving cultivation arts? Build a high tower out of thin air?”
Did this mean that, in the future, Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations could even be extrapolated into “Hundred Startling Spirit Transformations,” or “Thousand Transformations”?
—So long as there was enough Dharma Essence!
The moment he thought of the Dharma Essence requirement, it was as if a basin of cold water had been poured over him.
The second level of Thirteen Startling Spirit Transformations alone required at least 20 points of Dharma Essence. Who knew how much would be needed to cultivate all thirteen levels to completion? As for a hundred transformations, that could wait until later.
At this moment, merely digesting the unprecedented sixth level of Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle had already given rise to many ideas.
Cultivating Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle required correspondence with the body’s acupoints.
This spell had originally been created for using flying needles to pierce acupoints, exterminate pests, and cure illnesses to save people; killing enemies was secondary. The spell naturally contained a great deal of knowledge concerning acupoints and meridians, and these were also included within the insights of the sixth level.
Qin Chuan immediately took out a silver needle, looked toward his own wrist, and flicked his finger—
Whoosh!
The silver needle instantly pierced into his wrist. The needle tip emerged on the other side, while the tail of the needle trembled slightly.
This needle strike looked perilous, but he felt no pain, nor did he bleed. Instead, he felt a wave of numb tingling, and even the mental fatigue and headache caused by refining paintings and calligraphy yesterday were alleviated considerably.
He slowly twisted the silver needle, administering treatment to himself.
“So sleepy…”
The moment the needle entered the acupoint, drowsiness surged over him like the tide. Qin Chuan’s eyelids gradually grew heavy, and he actually fell into a deep sleep while sitting cross-legged just like that.
……
The next morning.
Sunlight spilled into the room through the window lattice. Qin Chuan woke naturally, feeling comfortable throughout his entire body, his mind clear and refreshed. He could not help stretching and letting out a long breath:
“Ah~ In my previous life, I ran around like an ox or horse, worn down by toil. In this life, the pressure from bitter study was no less intense. It’s been more than ten years since I had such a comfortable sleep.”
He lowered his head and looked. That silver needle was still steadily suspended at his wrist. With a light swipe of his hand, the silver needle silently vanished as if by sleight of hand, returning to the needle case.
The skill behind last night’s needle strike could be called profoundly refined.
With a single needle, he had not only struck the acupoint, but had also precisely touched the minute meridians—using the words of his previous life, it was practically as though he had completed an advanced, highly precise neurosurgery operation.
All of this had been accomplished with the sixth-level cultivation of Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle, without the aid of any precision instruments.
“This spell can absolutely be used to regulate all kinds of problems in my own body. Unfortunately, I still haven’t condensed spiritual waves. If I had spiritual waves, I could even control the needle inside my body and have it travel throughout my entire system.”
Born into this world, people ate grains and suffered all manner of bumps and knocks. Everyone’s body inevitably had some hidden issues.
Unless one underwent rebirth after Foundation Establishment, one could only then reshape the body and reach a state of clarity both inside and out.
But now, Qin Chuan saw a hope: before cultivating to the Deputy-Abbot level and reaching Foundation Establishment, he could already nurture his physique to a state approaching perfect health.
Of course, the premise of all this was successfully stepping into the first level of qi refinement and being able to control the needle with spiritual waves.