Chapter 164 - 162: Qi Refining Era
In the Nether Sea, under his control, spiritual power was like a glowing brush, continuously sketching.
Many lines converged to form a slightly blurred blade.
This was the method for condensing spiritual power he learned from Liu Dingsheng.
The process of sketching with spiritual power was essentially the process of condensing the spirit.
The principle was not complicated, just simple consumption, use, recovery, and then consumption again.
Each consumption gradually increased the strength of spiritual power.
And each use naturally condensed the spiritual power.
This cycle was the simplest and most straightforward way to enhance spiritual power.
It is said that those hidden sects or some martial experts have proper contemplation techniques to more efficiently and effectively enhance the spiritual power of martial artists.
Of course, such contemplation techniques are as precious as martial techniques, and even Liu Dingsheng had no way to obtain them.
What Song Changming sketched was precisely his Dragon Pattern Saber, but each time he sketched to half of the blade, his spiritual power was already insufficient.
Before completely exhausting it, he had to stop and rest.
"Phew." Song Changming relaxed his mind, exiting the state of meditation, and the half-blade in the Nether Sea instantly dissipated without a trace.
"Seems like there is some progress..."
Day by day sketching, from initially being able to sketch only a small segment of the blade, to now a half blade.
The progress was quite noticeable.
As usual today, Song Changming again tried to comprehend and study martial techniques.
Suddenly, he felt a flash of inspiration unlike any in the past.
Flipping through the manual’s annotations on martial techniques, he seemed to have numerous insights all of a sudden.
Immediately opening the panel, it was indeed the martial technique he had long yearned for was listed.
[Ninth Grade Wind Dragon Divine Saber Technique: Basic level not yet achieved (0/1000)]
Though still in an uninitiated state, displaying the experience bar meant he could finally grind experience points!
"Wind Dragon Divine Saber Technique!" Song Changming felt exhilarated; he had waited long for this moment.
For ordinary martial artists, perhaps they have to wait until opening the Nether Sea, with strong enough spiritual power condensed, to gradually master such martial techniques.
But Song Changming was different; as long as the experience bar was displayed, he could master the martial technique!
Practicing martial techniques and enhancing spiritual power were no longer sequential for him, allowing synchronous progress.
The earlier he started grinding experience, the sooner he could master the martial technique!
Thus, moving forward, he intended to shift the focus of his daily martial practice slightly.
Martial techniques, this higher power system, naturally became his main project for grinding experience, occupying most of his energy and time.
While he delved into more profound martial arts, the matter of the dragon in Donglai Prefecture also came to the attention of the group behind Gu Wenhui in Nanyang, deciding to make a big deal out of it.
In their mouths, the dragon was referred to as a true dragon.
The true dragon’s appearance in the territory governed by Gu Wenhui indirectly proved that Gu Wenhui was the destined one of the era, meant to comply with destiny and become king!
Gu Wenhui’s ambitions were grand; this step was part of laying the groundwork for his ambition, occupying the high ground of public opinion.
Even in ancient times, such a battle of public opinion was equally important.
After all, only those who win the hearts of the people ultimately become the final victors, ascending to the highest position and gaining people’s acceptance.
Otherwise, someone who lacks popular support, forcefully ascending the throne, would ultimately be overturned again.
Moreover, such grand proclamations also attract more people to learn about him and join him, enhancing his momentum.
The effect was significant.
Yet, being so ostentatious also easily attracted hatred.
Currently, the world remained fragmented, with various large and small forces claiming dominion everywhere.
Seeing you develop well, they would try to trip you up.
Consequently, the briefly quiet southern warfare began to flare up again gradually.
...
Winter passed, and spring came, another half-year gone by.
On this day, in the courtyard.
Song Ping’an was practicing Light Body Skill on the iron stakes in the corner of the courtyard, concentrated.
Song Changming, on the other hand, sat cross-legged alone, and in the Nether Sea, a complete Dragon Pattern Saber glowed faintly, floating beside his spirit body.
The Dragon Pattern Saber had no hint of blurriness; even the two dragon patterns on it were sharply visible, exquisitely detailed.
A moment later, Song Changming exhaled, ending his meditation.
The Dragon Pattern Saber in the Nether Sea also dissipated accordingly.
Song Changming drank a sip of tea, then took up the Black Wood Saber on the table beside him and swung it across the air towards the several iron stakes in the corner of the courtyard.
The next moment, a familiar ripple spread out from his Black Wood Saber, followed by an endless saber wind that swept over.
The ripple struck the iron stakes, accompanied by a continuous rumbling sound, as the surface of the stakes kept denting and deforming.
Under the intense vibration, Song Ping’an lost his footing above and seemed about to fall.
However, he was immediately caught up by the rising gust of wind, blown to a higher place, landing in the alley outside the courtyard wall.
"Just about!" Song Changming nodded to himself.
This ripple was exactly the same as when he fought Li Pu before, where the opponent used spiritual force to demonstrate his martial technique.
[Ninth Grade Wind Dragon Divine Saber Technique: Basic level (850/6000)]
Now, more than half a year had passed, and he had successfully mastered the only martial technique at the basic level.
Therefore, he was also able to use spiritual force to activate the martial technique and wield the saber to perform it.
Although it was not genuine sword qi, the power was not to be underestimated. Just now, he didn’t even use full strength, yet it was more than sufficient as a trump card.
He could feel how difficult it was to comprehend and practice this saber technique.
But having practiced for half a year, the progress was much better than he had anticipated.
All of this was thanks to the transformation brought by the Dragon Transformation Pearl.
Initially, he was at a standstill because his innate talent attributes were too low, preventing him from starting the practice.
But after consuming the Dragon Transformation Pearl, his innate talent’s dual attributes doubled and skyrocketed, which set his martial technique practice on the right track.
And in the over-half-year’s time, the progress had been relatively fast, with no difficulties encountered. The saber technique had been successfully mastered at the basic level two months ago.
"With my current spiritual power strength, I should be able to begin Qi refining..." Song Changming put away the wooden saber, contemplating.
In fact, he had previously attempted Qi refining more than once.
But he could clearly feel that he lacked the strength, as his spiritual power’s intensity was insufficient to carry him through a round of Qi refining, thus all attempts ended in failure.
Only now, with further enhancement in spiritual power, did he finally have some confidence.
Returning to his room for a nap and after a little rest, once his spiritual power was full and abundant, Song Changming began Qi refining.
The process of Qi refining was nearly the same for every martial artist, without any special method, unlike body refinement which has focused directions.
Qi refining is about refining a breath into inner qi by drawing it into the body, and it is a monotonous process of continuous accumulation and growth.
His martial technique had some notes on Qi refining, but they weren’t detailed.
Fortunately, the breathing techniques needed for Qi refining weren’t rare, unlike martial arts, so no one would keep a regular Qi refining method as private inheritance.
Therefore, Song Changming spent thirty pieces of Han Gold to commission Liu Dingsheng to buy a Qi refining technique from a Qi refining expert.
The operation of the Qi refining technique itself wasn’t very difficult.
The real challenge was in Qi absorption, Qi movement, Qi refining, and Qi storage, which required continuous consumption of spiritual power to function.
If the spiritual power’s intensity was insufficient, one couldn’t endure the consumption of Qi refining and the process would fail at this stage.
That had been the case in his several previous failures.
When Song Ping’an returned from outside the courtyard wall, Song Changming was already back in his room, starting another attempt at Qi refining.
His breathing began to change rhythmically, while the spiritual power in the Nether Sea was mobilized by him, sinking into his body and guiding the Qi absorption into his body with the breathing rhythm.
The Qi movement circulated, traveling through his body, and finally with spiritual power refined the absorbed natural Qi within his body.
In the refining process, he had failed twice before.
Therefore, this time he was a little anxious until the final trace of refined inner qi took shape in his body, captured by his spiritual power.
Only then was the anxiety in his heart swept away, like clouds dispersing, leaving him in a great mood!
He made it!
Although it was not much, only a trace of inner qi, a successful start meant the most challenging first step had been successfully crossed.
Next was Qi storage.
The initially refined inner qi was unstable and easily dissipated, and it still required him to consolidate it with spiritual power so that this trace of inner qi could permanently remain in the body, like being branded for storage.
Until all his spiritual power was nearly exhausted, his mind drowsy, this complete round of Qi refining finally ended.
With spiritual power introspection again, he could clearly find that the trace of inner qi had merged into his entire body and flesh.
With a single thought, he could mobilize it out.
"Great!"
Song Changming was quite exhausted, but his heart was full of joy.
From this day forth, his Martial Tao officially stepped into a new stage!
The Qi Refining Era!
In this remote Donglai Prefecture, he believed there were Qi refining experts, but not many, possibly not even counted on two hands.
At this stage, most Qi refining martial artists were immersed in their martial pursuits, hidden in the city, and for the wide masses, those appearing in public were very few.
Therefore, Qi refining experts were generally quite mysterious, and due to the application of inner qi, their appearance seemed too mystical. On rare occasions, when they made a move and were seen by others, it would be enough to leave behind an incredible story in the streets.