Chapter 1: Cultivating Internal Energy in the World of Qigong

  Snowflakes fell, although it was a dark night, but because the snow covered the ground, from afar, it seemed brighter than usual.

  In the past, Luo Feng Fort at this time was still brightly lit, and even the most brutal and rough Jianghu people would gather together to eat meat in large chunks and drink wine in big bowls, making the entire fort filled with smoke and fire.

  Now no one is drinking wine from a large bowl, and even less people are eating meat in big chunks. Everyone has stripped off their shirts and is wildly killing with their own weapons.

  Thousands of black-clad men wielded various weapons, crazily slaughtering in the castle. Eighteen types of weapons, thirty-six kinds of strange doors, all were present. One swung a long knife, flying up and down, chopping countless old, weak, and disabled people; another swung a fishing net to catch beautiful young women and then dragged them into a nearby house to commit adultery. There were also big men carrying two huge hammers, smashing randomly, and strong men, as well as small babies, were all smashed into minced meat by this guy.

  "Wang Guang, you evil Daoist, why have you brought bloodshed to my Luo Feng Fortress? I ask you, has my Luo Feng Fortress ever committed any wrongdoing against you, or harbored any intention of harming you? Why do you treat us this way? If you want to kill me, come at me alone, why must you slaughter these innocent weaklings?" An old man with white hair and a robust physique, his armor stained with blood that he couldn't distinguish as his own or that of the black-clad men. He shouted loudly while wielding his long sword to fend off the seven or eight black-clad men surrounding him.

  "Wuxiang Tianzun! I, a humble Taoist, have seen the people of Luofeng Fortress commit heinous crimes against heaven and reason. For decades, no one has eradicated this evil place. My indignation knows no bounds, so I will take it upon myself to uphold justice and eliminate you, the leader of these demons. Furthermore, I will reduce this gathering place of evil spirits to ashes, avenging the ordinary people who have suffered oppression and humiliation at your hands for decades." A man in a green robe stood atop a building within the fortress, shouting loudly.

  This man was two meters tall, with bulging muscles all over his body, and even the wide Taoist robe couldn't hide it. Upon closer inspection, this Taoist priest appeared to be around thirty years old, with a head of long hair tied up in a Taoist knot, eyes gleaming with ferocity, mouth open as if emitting a bloody aura. His slightly yellow face had three to five scars, it was unknown whether they were cut by knives or swords, making him look extremely fierce.

  Behind the Taoist stood hundreds of burly men in black, who did not go down to fight, but silently guarded around the Taoist, preventing anyone from harming him.

  "Haha! You demon, you want to slander me, today I will also die, why not tell me the purpose of killing me?" The old man's long sword waved slower and slower in his hand. Although he was already a pre-heavenly expert, the seven or eight people surrounding him were also pre-heavenly experts. As time went on, however, he fell into a disadvantageous position.

  "I, the poor Taoist, was originally perfect and complete from birth, but I heard that there is a Qi-practicing immortal who walks among the mortal world. I don't want to become a pile of yellow earth after three or five hundred years, so I sought out this Qi-practitioner to ask for guidance. This Qi-practitioner promised me that if I kill three to five million people in the Jianghu world, he would teach me the secret method of breaking through the void and achieving immortality, allowing me to enjoy all the wealth and pleasures of the mortal world." The Taoist said with a sly smile.

  "So that's how it is, you've actually resorted to such tactics for the sake of the shattered void. That cultivator must not be a good person either. I'm afraid that when you go see him, he'll slap you to death with one palm." The old man who had been struggling to hold on suddenly understood why his opponent had gathered so many people to surround and kill him.

  "You don't have to worry about that. I'd rather be slapped to death by that qigong master than live a dull and ignorant life in the mortal world for three to five hundred years, only to become a pile of yellow earth." The Taoist said this with a ferocious and bloodthirsty expression.

  The thick snow turned into blood, and the tens of thousands of men and women above and below Luo Feng Fortress were all beheaded by the demon king Wang Guang. Afraid that someone would hide in a secret room to escape with their lives, he also took some gate schools' refined Thunderbolt and placed them in various corners of the castle, and scattered more than 100 barrels of fierce fire oil throughout the entire castle.

  At one time, the mighty Luofeng Fortress was reduced to a pile of ruins in a series of intense explosions and towering flames, leaving only remnants for future generations to mourn.

  But Wang Guang, seeing that Luo Feng's fortress was completely destroyed, ordered his subordinates to disperse and return to their respective branches according to plan, while he himself rushed towards a distant mountain thousands of miles away.

  Nothing happened on the road, except that he killed three or five hundred Jianghu people who provoked him with ease, and there were no other obstacles.

  After dozens of days of flying, he finally arrived at the mountain peak where the Qi cultivator he had met earlier was located.

  This mountain peak is really a poor and ferocious mountain, on the 5,000 to 6,000-meter-high mountain peak, strange rocks stand upright, except for the sky with birds flying over from time to time, the entire mountain peak can't even hear the roar of beasts such as wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards.

  Following the Qi Gong master's suggestion, Wang Guang took a deep breath and jumped onto these strange rocks, advancing towards the mountain top. Halfway up the mountain, some bare-chested young men were practicing martial arts.

  Some wielded a pair of short swords, others brandished long spears, threw flying knives, swung sleeve arrows and fired crossbows. For a moment, it was quite lively.

  These young people didn't even reach the Innate stage, and Wang Guang was too lazy to bother with them. Although he didn't conceal his figure, those who saw him didn't stop him either, they just looked at him strangely as he headed towards the mountain top.

  "Boundless Heaven Venerable! I've seen the Taoist priest." Just as Wang Guang was about to reach the top of the mountain, he saw a giant stone with a black-robed Taoist sitting cross-legged on it. The Taoist's entire body was shrouded in a cloud of black smoke, making it impossible to discern whether he was fat or thin, let alone his facial features. However, this was exactly the same as the Qi-refining practitioner Wang Guang had seen for the first time.

  "What you've done, I've heard it all. In just one year's time, you've annihilated dozens of Jianghu factions and over a dozen castle families. You've slaughtered tens of thousands of Jianghu people, far exceeding my imagination." The black-robed Taoist said in a hoarse voice. "It seems that you're the most suitable for our sect. Cultivate this method, and when it's successful, you'll break through the void and reach the world of Qi Refining Masters. There, you'll be met by fellow disciples who won't treat you poorly."

  As he spoke, the Taoist threw out a thin piece of paper to Wang Guang. "You stay here and cultivate, I don't want this broken void secret method to spread out in vain. Don't show off your tricks in front of me, you're not qualified yet."

  "The poor way is narrow." Wang Guang took a deep breath and bowed his head in respect.

  He saw that the black-robed Taoist priest was no longer speaking, so he sat cross-legged on a nearby boulder and began to cultivate the paper-based method. A thin sheet of paper, with only a few hundred words written on it.

  Take a closer look and it's actually simple, just mobilize your inner strength and follow a few special meridians in sequence to walk around a few circles!

  After a while of calming down his excited mood, Wang Guang began to move this method. Dazed and confused for less than half an hour, he only felt that his whole head was dizzy, and then he hurriedly opened his eyes to look around, but found that he was no longer in the poor mountains and evil ridges.

  He carefully looked around, only to find himself sitting cross-legged on a stone platform over ten meters in diameter. Lowering his head, he saw that the platform was etched with countless lines and patterns, which made him feel dizzy for a moment.

  He hastily shifted his gaze around, only to find himself in a massive stone chamber. The chamber was extremely simple, with only seven or eight thick stone pillars supporting it, and no other figures or decorations in sight.

  "What a bloody aura." Just as Wang Guang was searching all around, a vague voice suddenly reached his ears.

  "Boundless Heaven Venerable! I don't know which Daoist is speaking? I, Wang Guang, have come to this place due to the fragmentation of the Great Roundness of the Primordial Heaven. In this unfamiliar world of Qi refinement, Wang Guang hastily stood up and bowed in all directions, saying..."

  "Be quiet and listen to me, I'll tell you. If you have any questions, ask later." The voice disappeared for a while before speaking again. "The Qi cultivator you met is one of our sect members. Today, you passed the test by relying on your own strength to break through the two realms barrier and come here. According to the rules, from now on, you will be an inner disciple of our sect. This is the sect's map, follow the guide on the map to choose a cultivation method first, then return to your residence to cultivate. All the rules are recorded on this map and in your residence, don't break any sect rules."

  As soon as the voice fell, a map floated down from one of the stone pillars and landed right in front of Wang Guang.

  After receiving the map, Wang Guang didn't examine it carefully, but instead put it in his bosom and said: "I don't know what this inner gate explains? What does the barrier between the two realms explain?"

  "The inner gate is the backbone of this sect, and most members are ordinary people from the mortal world who have cultivated themselves to the level of Pre-Heavenly Great Perfection, and some are rivers and lakes people who have killed tens of thousands. Only a small part are some Pre-Heavenly Great Perfection rivers and lakes figures in this Qi-practicing world."

  "Similarly, with the inner gate there is an outer gate. The outer gate disciples are those who have not yet advanced to the Pre-Heavenly Great Perfection. Most of them cannot bear the loneliness and have practiced the Qi Refining Method prematurely before achieving the Pre-Heavenly Great Perfection. Therefore, they have no hope for the Golden Elixir in this life, so they are just cannon fodder for the sect. They can be killed or played with as one wishes, without any need to worry."

  "As for the barrier between the two realms, it's quite simple. Since ancient times, this cultivation world has been connected to the mundane world, but during the primordial era, a great deity set up an unparalleled prohibition, relocating all cultivators to one place and isolating them from most people. Gradually, someone referred to this prohibition as a barrier, which is why there are cases of people in your mundane Jianghu breaking through the void to continue their cultivation in this world."

  Then Wang Guang asked other questions, and the voice answered them one by one. After about two or three hours, Wang Guang finally understood the distribution of the sect's map through the voice's guidance, so he tidied up his Taoist robe and went out to head towards the mountain top.

  This stone room is located at the foot of the mountain where the inner door disciples gather, and there are buildings such as the Scripture Pavilion on the top of the mountain, which serve many inner door disciples.

  He walked all the way without getting tired. Even when he met some practitioners of qigong, they just nodded to each other and didn't speak. In less than half an hour, Wang Guang arrived at the top of the mountain.

  At the top of the mountain, there is a solitary stone pavilion. The huge stones are stacked on top of each other, about ten or more zhang high. This pavilion has only one large gate, and at the entrance, there are over a dozen white jade stone pillars, with a qigong practitioner sitting cross-legged on each pillar. Some are men, some are women, all wearing Taoist robes and holding feather dusters.

  "Wu Liang Tian Zun, fellow masters, my mundane name is Wang Guang. I have just completed the Pre-Heaven Great Perfection and have come here to select a Dharma door scripture. I hope you will point out one or two for me." Wang Guang bowed his head and performed the rituals with ease, having played the roles of Taoist priests and Buddhist monks during his time in the Jianghu, he was quite skilled at it.

  "In the Scripture Pavilion, there are countless Daoist techniques and millions of Dharma gates. The inner disciples often cultivate the 'Great Zhou Tian Golden Elixir Guiding Technique'. Although this technique is slightly slower to progress in cultivation, the resulting magical power is much purer than other techniques. This technique is not inferior to some orthodox sects' techniques, but rather better. A cultivator near the entrance smiled and said. He knew that Wang Guang was here following the sect's rules, so he didn't make things difficult for him at all, instead sharing his own experience. More importantly, the other party had broken through the barrier between the two realms with their own strength."

  "As for other cultivation methods, I haven't practiced them either, so I don't know their characteristics. You can go in and choose slowly. However, I suggest you focus on cultivating one method, on the one hand, cultivating multiple methods can easily lead to conflicts between techniques, on the other hand, it will delay your progress. Being greedy for many things but not mastering any of them, this principle you should know." The Qi Practitioner then told Wang Guang about the situation in the Scripture Storage Pavilion and let him enter afterwards.

  After bowing his head and thanking the stranger, Wang Guang didn't linger and directly flashed into the Scripture Pavilion. The Scripture Pavilion was divided into three layers: upper, middle, and lower. The first layer stored various basic knowledge of the Cultivation World, as well as all sorts of interesting stories and records.

  The second floor stored various qigong schools and the experiences of predecessors who practiced these schools.

  The third floor stores various Taoist secrets and techniques, which are strange and varied. There are methods for refining yin thunder, descriptions of how to refine flying swords into magical treasures, in short, the third floor has the most hidden books and is also the most complex.

  The first floor was empty, with only dozens of large pillars supporting the building, over a hundred tall bookshelves three to five meters high, and some tables and chairs.

  Wang Guang didn't stay here either, and directly came to the second floor. The bookshelves on this second floor suddenly increased in number, with five or six hundred huge bookshelves, densely packed with all sorts of books. Around the bookshelves, there was a ring of tables and chairs, where over a hundred Qi-practicing scholars sat reading the books in their hands.

  Following the reminder of the Qi-practicing guardian of the Zangjing Pavilion, Wang Guang quickly found his way to the bookshelf where "The Great Zhou Tian Golden Elixir Guiding Exercise" was stored.

  The bookshelves here are divided into more than a dozen layers, each of which stores some Taoist scriptures. Some were made from animal skin, some recorded on stone tablets, and some described on jade tablets. The strange and varied recording methods made Wang Guang very curious.

  Soon after finding the qigong method he wanted, Wang Guang took it to one side and looked at it. The Taoist book was not thick, only over 30 pages thin. On it, small characters explained the practice methods and precautions in detail.

  "A single chapter is only a few thousand words, but after roughly flipping through it, I've spent three to five days on it." Wang Guang suddenly closed the book in his hand and began to ponder: "It's no wonder that this Qi-practicing world is even more complicated than the internal cultivation of the martial arts world. Fortunately, when I was wandering around Jianghu back then, I studied Taoist classics for three to five years in order to pretend to be a Taoist priest. Otherwise, who knows how much longer it would take to understand the descriptions of these techniques? However, this Qi sect doesn't seem like an evil cult or demonic path, otherwise they wouldn't have emphasized various Taoist classics so much."

  Although he was somewhat perplexed in his heart, he quickly shook his head and drove that thought out of his mind.

  He casually picked up the jade box in front of him, took out a red pill from it and swallowed it to alleviate his hunger. This pill was actually made by those outer sect disciples to earn contribution points, although it could supplement hunger and some other things, but after all, it was just one of the lowest-grade elixirs in the Qi-refining world, nothing precious about it. The sect provided such low-grade elixirs unrestrictedly to various Qi-refiners in order to vigorously cultivate inner sect disciples.

  However, the inner door practitioners also knew that their own cultivation could not rely entirely on elixirs, and these elixirs were of too low a grade. Therefore, after reaching a certain level of magical power, they rarely took them anymore.

  Actually, Wang Guang didn't know that the free elixir provided by this sect was actually a rare treatment in other sects. All of this was because the One Qi Sect was relatively powerful and could be considered a strong sect; otherwise, to get elixirs in ordinary sects, only elite disciples who had made great contributions could get them for free.

  He ate this kind of elixir, in addition to supplementing the body's nutritional needs, can also extremely slowly improve the user's physical constitution, making it easier to cultivate magical powers. Although there are other better ones, Wang Guang has not yet cultivated a magical technique and cannot convert the true energy in his body into magical powers, so he cannot eat them.

  After spending some time memorizing the method, Wang Guang didn't leave in a hurry, instead he continued to linger around and started flipping through other cultivators' notes on practicing this method.

  More than a month has passed, and Wang Guang has been staying in the scripture pavilion without leaving. When thirsty, he drinks from the spiritual spring provided by the sect; when hungry, he takes various flavored elixirs to supplement his energy; when tired, he sits cross-legged on a chair, circulating his internal energy to recover his mind and spirit. Fortunately, most of the people in this scripture pavilion are inner disciples who have risen from the Jianghu, so they all know the importance of cultivating their skills, and no one speaks, only intently reading the Taoist scriptures, so no one will disturb him either.

  For over a month, Wang Guang only heard one piece of news from his fellow cultivators: the barrier between the cultivation world and the mundane world had suddenly begun to collapse slowly. Large numbers of Jianghu people who had not yet achieved the Great Circle of Heaven and Earth, as well as ordinary people, poured into the deep mountains and ancient forests in search of opportunities to attain enlightenment and become immortals.

  Not to mention how many of them died in the mouths of wolves, tigers and leopards, or fell off cliffs and deep gorges without being able to return alive. Just talking about Wang Guang and these hardworking inner door disciples for decades or even hundreds of years, their hearts are not pleasant.

  At first, in order to become a Qi Refiner, they struggled hard in the Jianghu and killed countless strong enemies. Now, some people who are even weaker than them back then can easily enter the Qi Refining Sect, which makes them feel uncomfortable.

  Fortunately, someone arrived at the Yi Qi Sect, but those people were all outer sect disciples. None of them became inner sect disciples, and only then did everyone feel a little more at ease.