Chapter 15 First Stage of Qi Refinement

Based on the properties of the medicinal ingredients and the difficulty of refining, pills are divided into four grades: inferior spiritual pills, medium spiritual pills, superior spiritual pills, and supreme spiritual pills. A pill master is someone who can refine pills of the corresponding grade, maintaining a success rate of no less than sixty percent. Typically, a single furnace yields ten pills, referred to as a full batch; only those who achieve six or more pills per batch are considered qualified pill masters of that grade. Accordingly, pill masters are also classified as inferior, medium, superior, and supreme spiritual pill masters.

Cultivators strive for longevity against the will of heaven and compete for resources against their peers, so on Blue Moon Star, injuries are commonplace. To facilitate cultivation and healing, nearly all cultivators aspire to master pill refining, and Chu Tianfeng was no exception in his previous life. Yet, his motives differed from most others. He sought to reclaim his dignity as a man, to restore his sense of pride.

However, as the saying goes, dreams are beautiful, reality is harsh. Few cultivators truly master pill refining, and even fewer become pill masters. Superior pill masters are as rare as phoenix feathers, nearly extinct, while supreme pill masters seem to have vanished altogether. Chu Tianfeng belonged to the group who could refine pills but had not yet earned the title of pill master.

Since he could refine pills, concocting medicinal liquids was no challenge. Even so, Chu Tianfeng exerted tremendous effort, spending over two hours before finally producing a batch of Essence Nourishing Pill liquid. Lacking spiritual spring water, he had no choice but to use mountain spring water instead.

Gazing at half a furnace of Essence Nourishing Pill liquid, Chu Tianfeng was quite satisfied. His pill furnace was modest in size; half a batch amounted to roughly three liters. He cooled the furnace, then took a large gulp of the liquid. Using the Five Elements Technique, he sensed that the medicinal power was limited, seemingly less than a tenth of what he once experienced from a single Essence Nourishing Pill.

If quality is insufficient, quantity must suffice. Normally, a batch of liquid yields ten pills; hence, drinking a tenth of the batch would equate to consuming one pill. Perhaps the medicinal herbs used were far inferior to standard ones; Chu Tianfeng assumed their potency retained half its original strength, but after that first sip, he realized his estimation was gravely mistaken—only a tenth remained.

Thus, he would need to drink all the liquid to match the effect of one Essence Nourishing Pill. Three liters of liquid! Fortunately, he had skipped breakfast, so he treated it as breakfast milk. Yet the liquid was unbearably bitter, nothing like breakfast milk.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the furnace and began to gulp down the liquid. He drank about a liter in one go, then set the furnace aside to catch his breath. Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed his lower abdomen, his dantian. At the same time, a surge of heat erupted from his dantian, stimulating his true essence and causing it to run wild.

Something was wrong! He immediately realized the issue lay with the medicinal herbs. Though dried, their potency was largely preserved; his previous assessment had been accurate. However, since the herbs had been sun-dried, their effects manifested more slowly than usual. Thus, after his first sip, his dantian showed little reaction, leading him to misjudge. Now, after drinking a whole liter, he had essentially consumed the equivalent of two Essence Nourishing Pills—a potent dose.

His injuries had only just begun to heal, and now he suffered another blow. But it was too late for regrets. He quickly sat cross-legged, activated the Five Elements Technique, and guided the rampaging true essence, slowly refining the medicinal liquid into true essence.

His face turned ashen, blood seeped from the corners of his mouth, and white smoke billowed from his head. Boom!

He shuddered violently, breaking through to the first level of Qi Refinement!

There was no time for joy; his true essence remained chaotic. Gritting his teeth, he endured the piercing pain, patiently guiding the true essence through the small circulation. Gradually, the white smoke atop his head faded and dissipated. His true essence also settled, growing stronger.

An hour later, his dantian was finally quiet, his true essence robust and even on the verge of another breakthrough. Chu Tianfeng dared not ascend further; since the pain in his lower abdomen had subsided, he promptly ceased cultivation and stood up.

Whoosh—

He realized his entire body was drenched, as if pulled from water. Though his injuries worsened, he now possessed cultivation, and was deeply pleased.

After a brief wash, he switched on his phone. Several missed calls appeared, all from Jiang Ziyue. Chu Tianfeng called her back.

As expected, Jiang Ziyue answered with complaints, blaming him for having his phone off, then asked where he was. She mentioned that Peng Yongliang and others had fought with some thugs in town, and two had been taken to Jianmen Hospital.

Chu Tianfeng was unable to tell the truth, so he replied vaguely. Later, Jiang Ziyue said Xiang Yanping wanted to have drinks with him to celebrate someone avenging him, leaving Chu Tianfeng both amused and helpless.

After the call, Chu Tianfeng turned off his phone again. He found a spot under a tree and began to stabilize his cultivation, practicing basic spells.

At the first level of Qi Refinement, one could practice simple spells such as Fire Control, Water Control, Wind Control, and Ice Control—the basic techniques of the four elemental systems.

Fire Control allowed true essence to form fireballs, fire spears, fire arrows, and also to manipulate existing flames into such forms. Water Control, Ice Control, and Wind Control worked similarly, creating water balls, water spears, water arrows, ice balls, ice spears, ice spikes, wind balls, wind blades, and so on.

Additionally, Wind Control included Wind Riding, which used wind to enhance movement speed, akin to the principle of Wind Escape, though the former was simpler.

Metal and Earth Control were different: Metal Control used spiritual sense in conjunction with true essence to manipulate existing metals, such as Sword Riding; Earth Control used existing soil to form various objects.

These two techniques required stronger true essence and could only be cultivated in the later stages of Qi Refinement.

Sword Flight, Invisibility, Thunder Control, and other spells necessitated Foundation Establishment, demanding much stronger spiritual sense and true essence. Five Elements Escape also generally required Foundation Establishment.

Chu Tianfeng’s Five Elements Technique was formidable, his true essence far surpassing even the heavenly-level techniques of his previous life. Now, his true essence at the first level of Qi Refinement was as robust as the fourth level in his former life.

He estimated that with his cultivation, he could learn Sword Flight, Invisibility, and Five Elements Escape ahead of schedule, possibly as early as the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refinement.

At the first level, one could also form a Sea of Consciousness, awakening spiritual sense.

In his previous life, it was Qian Ling who helped him awaken his spiritual sense. He never understood what spiritual sense was, but Qian Ling explained it as a cultivator’s third eye, patiently guiding him to open the chaotic space of his Sea of Consciousness and extend his spiritual sense outward.

Spiritual sense differed from eyesight; it could penetrate most objects, reaching their interiors or even their backs, making it far superior to vision. However, extending spiritual sense consumed energy—unlike eyesight, which rarely tires, using spiritual sense can quickly exhaust a cultivator.

Like true essence, spiritual sense grows with cultivation. Generally, a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refinement can extend their spiritual sense about one meter outward—meaning within a one-meter radius, everything is under their control.

Spiritual sense serves another purpose: object control! Anything a cultivator has refined can be manipulated with spiritual sense, moving within its range.

If trained in specialized spiritual sense techniques, one’s spiritual sense can not only surpass ordinary cultivators but also be shaped to attack, much like true essence.

However, spiritual sense techniques are extremely rare, and cultivators capable of spiritual sense attacks are even rarer. On Blue Moon Star, they are scarce; on Earth, even more so.

Chu Tianfeng, benefitting from his past life’s extensive experience, awakened his spiritual sense in less than half an hour, not only forming the Sea of Consciousness but easily extending his spiritual sense outward.

Then, he spent several hours reviewing Fire Control, Water Control, and Wind Control. Each spell consumed true essence—for example, with fire techniques, his current cultivation allowed him to cast two fireballs or fire arrows per attempt, each fireball the size of a porcelain bowl, each fire arrow as thick as a thumb.

Water and ice techniques consumed less true essence; he could cast four water balls or ice balls, though their power was weaker. Wind techniques consumed even less; with Wind Riding, Chu Tianfeng estimated he could use it continuously for about an hour.

These basic spells weren’t particularly useful in combat, but for now, Chu Tianfeng could only practice them.

Afterward, Chu Tianfeng sat cross-legged again, circulating his true essence to heal his injuries. With his improved cultivation, the healing process was much swifter than the day before.

Before sunset, his wounds were nearly fully healed. He stripped bare and leaped into the lake, enjoying a refreshing swim and washing his clothes clean.

As for the remaining medicinal liquid, he planned to take it back, store it in a wine bottle, and temporarily keep it in the cafeteria’s freezer.

——————

Jiang Ziyue put down her phone, her face full of questions.

“Where is he?” Xu Yan asked, sitting at the head of the bed, casually playing on her phone.

“He said he’s by the lake,” Jiang Ziyue replied, puzzled. “Why does he spend every evening at the lake? Isn’t he worried Peng Yongliang will cause him trouble?”

Jiang Ziyue thought perhaps there was a beautiful woman at the lakeside, and that was why Chu Tianfeng risked danger to meet her there every day.

“Why didn’t you remind him?” Xu Yan finally looked up from her phone.

“Hehe, I forgot.” Jiang Ziyue took out her phone and dialed Chu Tianfeng’s number again.

But the familiar female voice came through: “Sorry, the user you are trying to reach has switched off their phone or is out of service area. Please try again later.”

“Crazy! He turned it off again!” Jiang Ziyue was speechless. She angrily plopped down beside Xu Yan, tossing her phone behind her.

“Do you think something happened?” Xu Yan leaned over to pick up the phone from the bed and handed it back to Jiang Ziyue.

“How could it? He was just fine a moment ago.” Jiang Ziyue pouted, then looked curiously at Xu Yan. “You seem quite concerned about him.”

Xu Yan rolled her eyes. “Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Jiang Ziyue finally took back her phone, hanging it around her neck. Then she grabbed Xu Yan’s shoulders. “Hehe, come on, admit it—do you like Chu Tianfeng or not?”

“That’s even more ridiculous.” Xu Yan lowered her head to play on her phone again.

Jiang Ziyue reached out her right hand and covered the screen. “You’ve already given him your first kiss—what else is there to hide?”

“If you mention it again, I’ll get mad,” Xu Yan said, her face tinged with anger.

“Alright, I’m scared of you.” Jiang Ziyue raised her hands in surrender, then leaned in close. “By the way, what does kissing feel like?”

Ah—

Jiang Ziyue’s prolonged scream echoed through the workers’ dormitory.