Chapter 22: Hard to Find and Collect Recommendations

  With the help of Tai Zu's dictionary, Li Wenjun spent three days reading "Xiu Xian Za Lun" from cover to cover.

  "The Miscellaneous Discussions on Cultivating Immortals" is not a very thick book, only about 245 pages, and the total number of words is less than 200,000. There are also some illustrations inside. Li Wenjun spent more than half of his time looking up unfamiliar characters and words.

  After Li Wenjun finished reading "On Cultivating Immortals" from cover to cover, he was so delighted that he jumped three feet high.

  "The Miscellaneous Discourse on Cultivating Immortality" begins by clearly explaining what cultivating immortality is and how to cultivate it. Cultivating immortality refers to the practice of using the primordial energy of heaven and earth to refine one's essence, energy, spirit, muscles, bones, and blood, thereby achieving the goal of prolonging one's lifespan.

  That is to say, as long as the cultivation is successful, it can effectively extend human life. During the Qi-gathering period, it is comparable to ordinary people with a long lifespan, and the lifespan can reach 100 years. The foundation-building period increases by one fold, and the lifespan reaches 200 years. If you advance to the Golden Elixir period, your lifespan can be as high as 400 years. Of course, these are all approximate numbers, and when it comes to individuals, there will be more or less, but not too much difference.

  As for how to cultivate, you can directly cultivate and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. You can also use a mineral called crystal stone to cultivate, or take elixirs that enhance cultivation to quickly improve your cultivation realm. In addition, there are other ways to promote cultivation.

  After explaining what Xian is, "Xian Miscellaneous Discussions" also briefly introduces some things related to cultivation. This includes commonly used heavenly materials and earthly treasures, spiritual grasses, spiritual beasts, as well as brief descriptions of commonly used elixirs and other objects.

  After finishing "Essays on Cultivating Immortals", Li Wenjun finally understood that the people he had always mistakenly thought were immortals, were not actually immortals in the true sense of the word, but rather cultivators. They are a kind of existence between ordinary humans and immortals. Of course, to secular people, there is no difference between these people and real immortals; they can ascend to heaven and descend into the earth, turn rivers upside down, and have no limitations.

  Li Wenjun had always admired the immortal Taoist's methods, and after reading "Miscellaneous Discussions on Cultivating Immortality", he yearned for so-called immortality even more. He wished he could immediately transform into an immortal cultivator, have a lifespan of hundreds of years, and be respected by people wherever he went, just like the old Taoist.

  After re-reading "Essays on Cultivation" several times, Li Wenjun confirmed that there were no omissions and then began to read through "Changchun Gong". This is a cultivation method, as long as the cultivation is successful, one can become a member of the cultivators.

  Li Wenjun, as usual, first read the whole book from cover to cover. When he encountered unfamiliar characters, he looked them up in the Tai Zu Dictionary. This was his method of cultivation, and he didn't dare be even slightly careless. He spent a full ten days making sure he understood every single character and sentence before he began his cultivation.

  On this day, after the moon was behind the willow branches, Li Wenjun bathed and changed his clothes, adjusted his state, and began to formally take the first step in his cultivation.

  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, this day has special significance for Li Wenjun.

  According to the theory of "Changchun Gong", whether a person can successfully cultivate depends on whether the cultivator has a spiritual root and the quality of that spiritual root. Li Wenjun did not know if he had a spiritual root, nor did he know how to detect it, so he simply cultivated with a lucky mindset.

  Even if someone is willing to help him detect whether he has spiritual roots or not, regardless of the outcome, even if he doesn't have spiritual roots, Li Wenjun will still resolutely embark on the path of cultivation.

  Far away from home, fleeing in all directions, this experience for him can be said to be unbearable to recall, yet it also broadened his horizons, and more importantly, made him realize the existence of a group of cultivators in the world. How could he possibly be willing to return to his previous life, muddleheaded and ignorant, and spend the rest of his days like that?

  According to the theory of "Changchun Gong", Li Wenjun first used his mind to sense the existence of important acupoints on his body, which was completed quickly. Then, he began to enter the second step, which is also very important, that is, to sense the heavenly energy around him and try to introduce this energy into these important acupoints.

  For several days in a row, Li Wenjun couldn't sense the existence of heaven and earth spiritual energy. He was anxious and helpless, with no one telling him why this situation occurred. Did he not have any spiritual roots on his body?

  After several days of hard work without any results, Li Wenjun suddenly felt anxious and distracted. In this state, he couldn't do anything well. He decided to temporarily stop his practice, go out for a walk, clear his mind, relieve the annoyance in his heart, and wait until his mood calmed down before continuing his practice.

  After leaving the house, Li Wenjun first went to Sun's house to visit Sun Baicao. Sun Baicao's injury had recovered very well, and after fully recovering, there should be no major problems, except that the leg that was once broken might make it impossible for Sun Baicao to do too heavy work in the future.

  Li Wenjun stayed at the Sun's house for a short while, then went to the tea house, ordered a pot of tea, and listened to the storyteller tell stories about heroes from this dynasty. In the past, when he heard these stories, his heart would surge with excitement, but now he felt neither surging nor excited. He often thought of the fireballs that Lao Dao could conjure up with a flick of his finger, or the ice cones that the black-striped giant python could spit out. If those things appeared next to the founding generals of this dynasty, one fireball would probably be enough to burn them all to ashes.

  After listening to the book for a while, Li Wenjun dropped a few copper coins and left. He wandered aimlessly in the county town, watching people come and go, and listening to the calls of various shops. Although he was in such a lively and noisy environment, Li Wenjun felt that he could not integrate into it, as if there was a wall between him and them.

  Standing in the center of the busiest street in the county town, the hustle and bustle, the noise of people coming and going, not only did not make his heart feel annoyed, but instead made his heart gradually calm down. Having been through a lot and seen the old man's skills, witnessing someone flying in the sky like Kunpeng, it was impossible for Li Wenjun to return to his former mundane life again.

  In the evening, Li Wenjun took a bath and changed his clothes again, and began to practice with a calm mind.

  He sat meditatively for half the night, and by the second half of the night, Li Wenjun suddenly felt his consciousness turn black, and he entered a very mysterious state.

  Li Wenjun felt as if he was in a pitch-black environment, where he could control everything. As he looked around, he found that there were some very special things floating around him.

  There are very few of these things, and they are all small in size, like elves, floating in the air, like jellyfish, sometimes expanding, sometimes gathering together, brilliant light radiating from their bodies, dazzling and mesmerizing.

  Li Wenjun observed for a while, and suddenly realized that these things couldn't be suspended in the air forever. After a slightly longer period of time, they would silently disappear into thin air.

  According to the records of "Chang Chun Gong", these are the spiritual energies of heaven and earth, also known as "yuan qi". They are one of the things that immortals most desire to obtain, and are the foundation and basis for immortal cultivation.

  Li Wenjun was afraid that all the spiritual energy would dissipate, so he hastily activated the Long Spring Skill's technique to absorb these heavenly and earthly spiritual energies. As soon as he activated his skill, these aimlessly drifting heavenly and earthly spiritual energies seemed to have found their home, all rushing towards him.

  Li Wenjun tried to open the acupoints on his body, but he found that he couldn't do it. The acupoints on his body seemed to be locked up, no matter how hard he tried, they just wouldn't open. In desperation, he opened his mouth and took a deep breath, sucking in all the surging spiritual energy from heaven and earth into his mouth.

  A mouthful of heaven and earth spiritual energy entered his belly, immediately dividing into three portions. One portion entered the acupoints in his body, accumulating and nourishing them. Another merged with his sinews and bones, slowly and arduously transforming them. The largest portion, however, dissipated directly as it entered his body, unable to be utilized.

  This method is a relatively wasteful way of absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the efficiency with which the spiritual energy of heaven and earth can be effectively utilized will not exceed 50%. In other words, at least half of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth will be wasted. However, waste is better than nothing.

  Just taking a sip, Li Wenjun found that his surroundings had become empty and desolate, even cleaner than after being robbed.

  The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is gone!

  It wasn't until the next day when Li Wenjun resumed his cultivation that he discovered there was some more spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but the amount was far from comparable to yesterday's.

  Before he knew it, Li Wenjun had been cultivating for several days. He was depressed to find that the effect of his cultivation was minimal. The small amount of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy he had absorbed over the past few days made him linger at the entrance of his cultivation, unable to cross that invisible threshold.

  Of course, there are also some benefits, at least Li Wenjun feels that his body is getting healthier and stronger than before he started practicing.

  But this little benefit is not Li Wenjun's goal, he wants to increase his lifespan and master the immortal methods used by Lao Dao in the past. If he continues at his current cultivation speed, it would be a miracle if he can achieve some small success in three to five years.

  Three to five years, Huanghuacai has all cooled down! This is not the result Li Wenjun wants.

  He took out "Changchun Gong" and "Xiuxian Zalun" again, re-read the two books, he wanted to see if these two books could provide him with the answers he wanted.

  After flipping through it, Li Wenjun put the "Xian Xian Za Lun" on the table with some disappointment. His disappointment was not because he didn't find the answer, but because the answer was too devastating.

  "The Miscellaneous Discussions on Cultivation" mentions that the most suitable place for cultivators to practice is a spiritual site. These places are all concentrated with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and practicing here can achieve twice or even several times the effect. Spiritual sites are extremely difficult to find, and most of them in the Song Country's cultivation world have already been occupied by someone, making it impossible for outsiders to enter.