After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi simply sat cross-legged in the cave.

The ambient spiritual qi, originally so thin it was almost impossible to detect, was drawn in by this strand of precious qi, surging toward him on its own.

’It acts something like the spiritual aperture recorded in the Six Qi True Method, naturally attracting spiritual qi.’

Chen Lingxi’s eyes shone.

A spiritual aperture was a stroke of fortune that countless Qi Circulation cultivators dreamed of finding. Some were born with one; others had to cultivate it.

Once acquired, it absorbed massive amounts of spiritual qi at all times, along with providing numerous other wondrous uses.

’A lesser spiritual aperture?’

As he pondered, Chen Lingxi tried circulating the Six Qi True Method, using this strand of precious qi as a guide to breathe in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

In an instant, the spiritual qi vortex gathered by the Pure Wondrous Qi Pivot Array accelerated several times over. Thick spiritual qi poured madly into his body like water from a burst dam.

Then, the precious qi emitted a faint golden light, assisting the Six Qi True Method in refining this spiritual qi.’With this precious qi, my cultivation speed has at least doubled.’

’And...’

Chen Lingxi’s eyes flickered. ’And this is not the limit.’

He could clearly sense that this strand of precious qi could still grow, still strengthen.

’The precious qi lying dormant within Lin Longyue’s body is a treasure trove. I only need to continue merging my spiritual qi with hers, slowly refining it with the Six Qi True Method—’

’This First Wisp of Precious Qi will continuously draw nourishment from her body, endlessly growing stronger and more solid.’

Chen Lingxi marveled inwardly. ’Perhaps once I completely extract and refine this precious qi, my cultivation speed will multiply several times over!’

’And that is only one of its wondrous uses.’

Chen Lingxi’s mind suddenly stirred. He urged the precious qi, merged it with his own spiritual qi, and slowly channeled it into his throat.

”Hah!”

Dragon Roar Technique!

He opened his mouth and exhaled a breath, extremely light and fine.

The resulting sound was astonishingly deep and resonant. The air in the cave buzzed from the vibration, rippling outward in numerous waves.

Chen Lingxi’s pupils contracted slightly.

The power of this Dragon Roar Technique was more than just a notch stronger than before.

He fell silent for a moment, then pressed his fingers together like a sword, activating the Cyan Edge Method and the Hidden Edge Method.

The Cyan Edge Method was much sharper, while the invisible barrier of the Hidden Edge Method was tougher and far denser.

’The power of these spells has actually climbed to another level.’ He was quite pleasantly surprised. ’They must have already reached the Subtle stage!’

Ying Chi had once told him that there were four grades of technique mastery: Initial Sensation, Subtle, Sublime, and Profound Mystery.

When cultivating these arts in the past, he had long crossed the threshold of Initial Sensation but had never managed to step into a higher level.

Now, with the aid of this strand of precious qi, the Dragon Roar Technique, Cyan Edge Method, and Hidden Edge Method had all simultaneously undergone a qualitative change, crossing the threshold into the Subtle stage.

’To forcefully elevate the power of a spell without the need for comprehension—how truly extraordinary!’

The Subtle stage was no longer about simply unleashing a spell, but beginning to thoroughly grasp the underlying principles of the technique itself.

The circulation of every wisp of spiritual qi and the control over every critical juncture tended toward exquisite subtlety, vastly increasing the spell’s power.

If this level of progress were expected of an ordinary cultivator, they might not achieve it even after several years of bitter practice.

Yet simply because he had obtained this strand of precious qi, he had crossed over effortlessly, as naturally as water flowing to form a channel.

’Such a precious qi would likely be an extremely rare treasure even in the Greater World.’ Chen Lingxi let out a long breath of stale air and muttered, ”In that case, I will give you a name.”

He thought for a moment, raised his right hand, and lightly traced his index finger through the air. As if writing on paper, stroke by stroke, he outlined two characters.

”Profound Qi.”

Profound meant deep, esoteric, and subtle.

This strand of precious qi was so profoundly wondrous that calling it Profound Qi was perfectly fitting.

’However... why didn’t Lin Suri take such profound qi for himself?’

Doubt filled Chen Lingxi’s heart.

Lin Suri had cultivated the Six Qi True Method for an unknown number of years. With his cultivation base and discerning eyes, how could he possibly fail to notice such astonishing profound qi hidden within Lin Longyue’s body?

Yet he plotted to seize that illusory Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi, completely ignoring the precious qi right under his nose.

’Why is that?’ Chen Lingxi furrowed his brows.

’Could it be because Lin Longyue is Lin Suri’s biological sister, and this precious qi requires dual cultivation, forcing her to develop stirrings of affection before the qi can be harvested?’

On second thought, he felt this guess didn’t hold water.

’Lin Suri took over this body through possession. How could someone like him care about blood relations and ethical boundaries?’

Chen Lingxi was completely baffled. It wasn’t until a few breaths of time had passed that a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

’Could it be that he actually couldn’t see it?’ Chen Lingxi’s frown deepened.

Lin Suri was at the perfected peak of the Qi Circulation 6th Floor, only one step away from the Upper Three Floors.

He cultivated the Six Qi True Method and also possessed the Art of Qi Observation. If Chen Lingxi could see it, there was no reason Lin Suri couldn’t.

Unable to make sense of it, Chen Lingxi closed his eyes to think.

’Could it be...’ A thought he had never considered before floated up from the depths of his mind.

’Could it be that the Six Qi True Method I obtained from the Divine Chamber peddler is actually different from Lin Suri’s?’

Once the thought emerged, it could no longer be suppressed.

He ran through the True Formulas of the Six Qi True Method in his mind, from beginning to end.

From the initial refining of essence into qi, to condensing liquid in the qi sea, and the numerous methods of gathering the six qi for cultivation—he recalled every word without missing a single detail.

The more he recalled, the more he felt that this true formula was incomparably exquisite. The elucidation of every critical juncture was perfect, and the path for every step of cultivation was crystal clear.

It absolutely did not seem to have any flaws or deviations.

’I can’t figure it out. I just can’t.’

Chen Lingxi thought for a long time but still couldn’t make sense of it.

He shook his head slightly, temporarily suppressing his chaotic thoughts.

Regardless, this strand of profound qi had now made its home in his qi sea.

To him, this was a good thing—a monumentally good thing.

’With this profound qi,’ he muttered in his heart, his gaze falling toward the sea of clouds outside the cave, dyed pale gold by the morning light. ’By using Lin Longyue to further strengthen this qi while cultivating spiritual qi, I will step into the Qi Circulation 5th Floor in less than a month.’

At the Qi Circulation 5th Floor, the qi sea would reach major completion, unlocking numerous profound mysteries.

Upon reaching that floor, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap.

By then, supplemented by the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber, the Purple True Precious Qi, the Cyan Edge Method, the Dragon Roar Technique, Xi Mu’s Qi Circulation 6th Floor Undying Willow Puppet, and his various other foundations, he would no longer be a weakling in this Grotto-Heaven forced to act stealthily and tremble in constant fear.

He took a deep breath to suppress his agitation, closed his eyes, circulated the Six Qi True Method, and resumed his breathing cultivation.

Time passed silently.

As the saying went, there was no track of time in the mountains. In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

On this day, Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged atop the cliff face, his eyes closed in his breathing exercises.

Within his qi sea, that strand of profound qi was completely different from a month ago.

If it had merely been a golden thread mixed within cyan silk a month ago, it was now a golden flower rooted in the stream of spiritual qi.

As it grew stronger, Chen Lingxi’s cultivation speed rose in tandem.

At first, it had been only twice as fast, but now, it was more than three times faster.

The spiritual qi that would have previously taken him a month of bitter cultivation to accumulate could now be gathered in a mere ten days.

Under the winter daylight, the Yuanjiang River gleamed with a blue-grey luster, lying motionless across the land like a giant python that had slumbered for untold years.

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged.

The spring breeze blew past, yet he remained completely oblivious, his eyes shut tight as he pushed the Six Qi True Method to its absolute limit.

Using the breakthrough method recorded in the Six Qi True Method, he gathered, compressed, and refined that surging river of spiritual qi, thread by thread.

The instant the river of spiritual qi was compressed to its limit, his qi sea trembled with a boom.

It was like a dam bursting open under a spring flood, or a silkworm cocoon torn open from the inside.

Amidst this tremor, the boundaries of his qi sea abruptly expanded outward several times over.

A hint of a smile appeared on Chen Lingxi’s lips. ”Qi Circulation 5th Floor, complete.”

At this moment, the spiritual qi within his qi sea was as abundant as a deep abyss.

The spiritual liquid gathered into a small pool. Though it didn’t look large, it was like a bottomless pond, containing several times more spiritual qi than before.

He tried mobilizing a sliver of spiritual qi. Like an arm commanding its fingers, the spiritual qi surged out from the pool and flowed smoothly along his meridians. It was astonishingly fast and perfectly seamless.

”This is the Qi Circulation 5th Floor,” he muttered. He stood up, lowered his head, and looked himself up and down.

”Pores sealed against leaks, untouched by dust, and essence-qi perfectly contained.”

This was the ’Leakless’ profound mystery of the Qi Circulation 5th Floor.

His heart stirred slightly, and he tried mobilizing the pool of spiritual liquid in his qi sea again.

A small vortex abruptly formed on the surface of the pool. It spun faster and faster, increasingly frantic, as if an invisible hand was stirring the water.

As the vortex rotated, an extremely strong suction force surged from the pool, spreading along his meridians to his limbs and bones.

He raised his right hand and made a grasping motion toward a half-person-tall boulder not far away.

As if seized by an invisible hand, the boulder trembled violently before lifting off the ground and flying toward his palm.

”This is the ’Qi Sea Vortex’,” he muttered, a flash of enlightenment crossing his eyes.

This was precisely the method Lin Suri had used to suppress him during the Absolute Perception Deduction.

At that time, he had only felt an invisible suction force erupting from Lin Suri, seizing his body and leaving him completely unable to move.

If not for the Purple True Precious Qi, he would have been snatched away and fallen into Lin Suri’s hands.

Now that he had stepped into the Qi Circulation 5th Floor and manifested this profound mystery himself, he finally understood its secret.

”There is also a third profound mystery: ’Qi Current Eruption’.”

With a thought, the spiritual pool in his qi sea suddenly churned. The spiritual liquid transformed into rolling spiritual qi, surging along his meridians toward his legs and straight to the Yongquan acupoints on his soles.

He expelled the spiritual qi from his Yongquan acupoints.

In an instant, an abundant current of qi surged from his soles, like two invisible clouds supporting him from below.

His body was pushed off the ground by this qi current, his robes filling with wind and snapping loudly.

In the blink of an eye, he rose five zhang into the empty air.

The spring breeze at the mountain peak surged from all directions, blowing his robes like fluttering flags and whipping his tied-up hair into a wild dance.

He stood in the air. With only two faint clouds of spiritual qi beneath his feet, he did not fall, hovering steadily in midair like an eagle spreading its wings.

”Levitation...” Standing in the air, an indescribable wave of emotion welled up in his heart.

This was his first time hovering in the air using his own power.

Though he was only five zhang high and could maintain it for just a brief moment, the feeling of breaking free from the earth’s restraints to look down upon the mountains and rivers made his heart burn with passion.

He recalled the sight of Lin Suri hovering three zhang in the air with his hands behind his back, without the slightest leak of spiritual qi. He remembered the graceful bearing of Imperial Consort Chun riding a small skiff to break through the sea of clouds. He thought of the resplendent might of Xiao Changlv leaping high from a shattered mountain peak to cross a distance of several li.

Those sights had once felt completely out of reach to him, like a mortal gazing up at the stars in the sky—able to see a speck of faint light, but unable to touch it no matter what.

But now, he had finally stepped onto this path as well.

Though he was only just starting out, and though he remained a vast distance away from those figures, he was moving forward at last.

”And this is only the Qi Circulation 5th Floor.” He landed on the ground with a sigh. ”The profound mysteries of the Qi Circulation 6th Floor are even more extraordinary.”

The records in the Six Qi True Method contained the profound mysteries of the sixth floor.

For example, the ’Golden Blood’ profound mystery. Once successfully cultivated, one’s vitality would explode, making the physical body extremely difficult to damage.

A figure like Xi Mu, who was at the Qi Circulation 6th Floor, had forcefully maintained his vitality with spiritual qi and cast spells even after his chest was pierced by Imperial Consort Chun’s sword and his heart was shot through by his spirit arrow.

This was the terrifying aspect of the Golden Blood profound mystery.

There was also the ’Nine Returns’ profound mystery.

Spiritual qi would undergo nine compressions to strip away all impurities, making every drop of spiritual qi akin to a spirit needle.

When that time came, the lethal power and penetrating force of the spiritual qi would reach unimaginable levels.

Under the enhancement of the Nine Returns profound mystery, the power of ordinary spells would at least double.

He turned these thoughts over in his mind, his gaze burning increasingly hot.

Now that he possessed the profound qi, his cultivation speed could truly be described as extremely fast.

’Going by this pace...’ he calculated silently. ’I will only need half a year to break into the Qi Circulation 6th Floor.’

’When that time comes, with the two profound mysteries of Golden Blood and Nine Returns, my strength will climb to yet another level.’

He took a deep breath to press down his excitement, closed his eyes once more, and circulated the Six Qi True Method.