She rolled her eyes at him, annoyed, and said, "That's what you finished. I haven't finished my homework yet."
"Isn't it the same whether I do it or you do it?" Xiao Wenbing muttered to himself.
Zhang Yaqi shook her head slightly and said, "Wenbing, my aptitude is different from yours. You can easily cultivate spiritual energy, but I cannot. My master said long before I entered the sect that with my aptitude, I'm afraid I will never be able to comprehend the energy mechanism and cultivate spiritual power in my lifetime."
Xiao Wenbing's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Your master?"
"Yes, it's Wang Hongxia, the chief disciple of the outer sect of Tianyi Dao Sect."
"It's her?"
"Well, in principle, this is the gate of a Taoist sect, and as an outer disciple, I have no chance to cultivate here. However, my master pleaded with the elder guarding the mountain, and finally made an exception and allowed me to enter the sect for three years. I hope that during these three years, I can comprehend the Qi mechanism and cultivate spiritual power."
"Three years to cultivate spiritual power?" Xiao Wenbing asked incredulously.
"Indeed, the spiritual energy within the mountain gate is far more abundant than that in the mortal world. If I cannot cultivate spiritual energy within these three years, then once I leave the mountain gate, my hope will be even more remote."
"Yaqi, do you really think you can develop spiritual power just by hoeing the ground?"
"have no idea."
"have no idea?"
"No one can explain how to comprehend Qi, nor can anyone clearly explain how spiritual power is generated and utilized. It seems that these things vary from person to person. Some people can easily master them, while others, despite a lifetime of diligent practice, still linger outside the door." Zhang Yaqi suddenly looked up and asked, "Wenbing, how did you cultivate spiritual power?"
Volume Three: The Tribulation of the Five Elements, Chapter Sixty-Three: Cultivation
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Xiao Wenbing thought back carefully, but his brows furrowed more and more: "It seems that my master infused me with a stream of spiritual energy, and then I mastered it."
He wasn't satisfied with this answer himself, but if he were asked to explain in detail how spiritual power was generated, he would truly be stumped. His spiritual power came about inexplicably, as if it had existed since birth, only to be brought to light by the old Taoist priest Xianyun.
Zhang Yaqi looked at him enviously and said, "Wenbing, someone with your talent is one in a million. For ordinary people like us, it's incredibly difficult to comprehend the Qi. Not only do we need to have a certain level of internal strength, but we also need unwavering willpower and perseverance." She sighed softly and said, "However, even with these basic conditions, it still depends on fate. If you're not destined for it in this life, then no matter how hard you cultivate, it will be like a flower in a mirror or the moon's reflection in water. You'll achieve nothing in your old age."
Xiao Wenbing nodded thoughtfully. He lowered his head and saw a strange sight before him.
The ground, which had just been loosened, slowly began to solidify again. After a short while, it was not only as firm as before, but even more solid.
"What...what's going on?" Xiao Wenbing asked in shock.
"Wenbing, don't make a fuss," Zhang Yaqi said with a playful smile. "This place was created by the Tianyi Ancestor himself using his great magic. It was all to train the unwavering will of future generations. So every time this land is loosened, it automatically returns to its original state."
Xiao Wenbing suddenly realized that this made sense. The Heavenly Dao Sect had countless disciples throughout history. If each of them were to cultivate three acres of land every day, even the largest Heavenly Dao Sect could not accommodate so much land.
“Wenbing, I’m already content to have met you. However, I still need to work hard to comprehend the Qi and cultivate spiritual power as soon as possible.” Zhang Yaqi reached out and nudged his shoulder, saying, “So, I need to do my homework.”
After saying that, Zhang Yaqi carried a hoe and went to the field, where she began to cultivate the land, hoe by hoe.
Her movements were skillful and graceful, and even while doing this kind of boring farm work, she seemed to be enjoying herself.
Xiao Wenbing's gaze followed the up and down movement of the hoe, and a trace of crystalline liquid welled up in the corner of his eye.
The path to immortality is incredibly difficult. Zhang Yaqi was able to abandon everything and embark on this path of no return. Even an idiot would probably already know the reason behind her actions.
Compared to Xiao Wenbing's naturally superior physique, she could be considered a typical example of someone who was frail and weak. Although she had trained for a year and learned some basic techniques, her skill level was still very low.
At the beginning, I used my strength and the speed was barely acceptable. But after clearing half of the wasteland, my strength was exhausted, and I had to rely on my physical strength and willpower.
Her movements grew slower and slower, but no matter how slow she moved, she showed no sign of stopping for a moment. Fine beads of sweat trickled down her beautiful hair and smooth neck.
A few moments later, her back was completely soaked.
Xiao Wenbing took a small step forward, his hands gripping tightly, as if trying to snatch the hoe from her hands and finish the rest of her homework for her.
However, he knew deep down that although Zhang Yaqi seemed gentle, she was incredibly stubborn and would never give up once she made a decision. If he did this, she would definitely make up for the missed lessons later.
Finally, under Xiao Wenbing's somewhat regretful gaze, she finished weeding the three acres of land as she had wished.
Looking up at the sky, the sun had already set, and a cool evening breeze swept by. Before I knew it, most of the day had passed.
Zhang Yaqi put down her hoe, but instead of resting, she sat cross-legged and began to practice her internal energy.
Wisps of white smoke rose from her body. However, Xiao Wenbing knew perfectly well that this was not spiritual power, but merely the internal energy cultivated by ordinary outer disciples.
When a person is exhausted, practicing meditation often yields the best results.
The vast majority of the inner disciples of the Heavenly Dao Sect throughout history have comprehended the mysterious power in the space under such circumstances, thus transforming their internal energy into spiritual power and opening the bright path to immortality.
However, whether one can comprehend the Qi mechanism depends on individual circumstances. Even the most accomplished and enlightened masters cannot clearly tell their descendants what to do.
Seeing Zhang Yaqi's serious expression, Xiao Wenbing suddenly had an idea. He stepped forward and placed his palm on her back.
Everything she touched was wet, a testament to how much sweat she had just shed.
A powerful spiritual force flowed continuously from his palm into Zhang Yaqi's body.
Xiao Wenbing's method was stolen from the old Taoist priest Xianyun. He was able to comprehend the Qi mechanism and cultivate spiritual power at once because the old Taoist priest Xianyun spared no effort to deplete his own cultivation to open up his meridians and finally left a trace of spiritual power in his body, thus saving him from all kinds of hardships and allowing him to skip the stage of cultivating internal strength and directly cultivate spiritual power.
The wisps of spiritual energy seemed endless, flowing ceaselessly through Zhang Yaqi's body along a specific path.
Seemingly stimulated by the spiritual energy within her body, the layer of white mist on her skin underwent subtle changes, becoming thinner and thinner until it was barely visible.
After a long while, Xiao Wenbing finished his practice and stood up. Just now, he poured nearly 30% of his spiritual power into Zhang Yaqi's dantian.
He wouldn't have stopped if he wasn't worried that her meridians and dantian couldn't withstand such a large amount of spiritual energy.
He let out a soft sigh. Although he was a little tired, he was willing to do it.
Staring blankly at that elegant and pretty face, Xiao Wenbing's expression suddenly changed. He reached out again and felt Zhang Yaqi's pulse. After a while, his expression became even stranger.
He sensed that the spiritual energy he had left within Zhang Yaqi's body was dissipating at an extremely rapid pace. A large portion had vanished without a trace, with only a small fraction transforming into internal energy and being absorbed by Zhang Yaqi.
Xiao Wenbing slumped down, realizing that everyone's constitution was indeed different. If you couldn't understand it, you simply couldn't understand it; there was no logic to it.
Otherwise, if each master could create an inner disciple simply by infusing spiritual energy into their disciple once, the number of cultivators would be unbelievably large, and regrets like those of Zhao Feng and Wang Hongxia would no longer exist.
Volume 3, Chapter 64: Every medicine has its side effects.
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The wisps of almost invisible mist slowly returned to Zhang Yaqi's body. She opened her bright eyes and said to Xiao Wenbing, "Wenbing, thank you."
Xiao Wenbing sighed and said, "There's nothing to thank me for. I didn't help you comprehend the Qi."
Zhang Yaqi turned her face to the side, revealing a mischievous smile, and said, "Don't be so discouraged. Even I have never given up hope. I firmly believe that I will succeed."
Sensing the strong confidence in her words, Xiao Wenbing looked up and met her eyes, which were like a pool of autumn water.
"I firmly believed that I would meet you, and now we have. So I firmly believe that I will be able to keep up with you and not become a burden to you."
Xiao Wenbing was deeply moved; such a simple sentence contained so much profound affection.
He suddenly stood up, gritted his teeth, and said, "Yaqi, don't worry, you will definitely get what you want."
After saying that, he flipped his wrist, and a jade bottle appeared out of thin air in his palm. He poured out a Foundation Establishment Pill from the bottle.
“Yaqi, look…” Xiao Wenbing said proudly, holding the item in his palm.
"Chocolate beans?" Zhang Yaqi looked at him in surprise. How could someone so grown up still be so greedy for children's food?
"Cough...cough..." Xiao Wenbing almost choked on his breath, looking at the Foundation Establishment Pill with a resentful expression. Before knowing its origins, anyone who saw it for the first time would definitely mistake it for a chocolate bean.
“Yaqi, this isn’t an ordinary chocolate bean. It contains a power that ordinary chocolate beans don’t have.” Xiao Wenbing was too lazy to waste any more words. His face was covered with what he thought was his most amiable smile as he coaxed, “Come on, try one and you’ll see.” Xiao Wenbing patted his chest and said, “I guarantee that after you’ve had one, you’ll want to have a second one, and after you’ve had a second one, you’ll want to have a thousand, a million more.”
Zhang Yaqi gently picked up the Foundation Establishment Pill with her delicate white hand, smiled slightly, put it in her mouth, and said indistinctly, "Do you know what you look like right now?"
Xiao Wenbing shook his head blankly and asked, "What does it look like?"
"Like a drug dealer peddling drugs."
Xiao Wenbing glared at him and said, "How could someone as honest and reliable as me be associated with that wicked drug dealer? You should apologize to me."
Zhang Yaqi chuckled and said, "Okay, I apologize. So you... you don't seem like a drug dealer, you seem... like a wolf in sheep's clothing."
"Grandma Wolf?" Xiao Wenbing suddenly started gesturing wildly, shouting, "Grandma Wolf is here! She's going to eat Little Red Riding Hood!"
Zhang Yaqi's face immediately flushed red. Suddenly, her expression froze, and she could no longer care about anything else. She immediately sat cross-legged.
Xiao Wenbing knew that the medicine in her body was taking effect, and the Foundation Building Pill had begun to exert its intended medicinal effect.
Zhang Yaqi sat silently, her expression solemn. Her entire focus was concentrated on the area within her body, where a surging, powerful force emanated continuously, like a raging fire, constantly tempering her internal organs and meridians. This energy was immense, boundless, and endless.
Cold sweat poured down her forehead. The powerful medicine brought unparalleled pain. Her meridians were swollen and on the verge of bursting. If the energy in her body continued to expand, she would explode and die in no time.
Since Zhang Yaqi took the Foundation Establishment Pill, Xiao Wenbing has also been extremely nervous. His palm, which was pressed against Zhang Yaqi's back, clearly sensed the changes after the Foundation Establishment Pill entered her body.
As the effects of the medicine wore off, Xiao Wenbing's expression gradually darkened. A stream of spiritual energy slowly flowed into her body, and the energy that was already on the verge of exploding seemed to suddenly find an outlet, rushing out all at once.
The vast majority of the energy generated by this Foundation Establishment Pill flowed into Xiao Wenbing's body, leaving only a negligible amount of energy that transformed into wisps of internal force and flowed into Zhang Yaqi's dantian.
With a deep sigh of helplessness, Xiao Wenbing finally realized that some things were not as easy as he had imagined.
For him, the Foundation Building Pill, which had obvious effects, could not exert even one percent of its efficacy in Zhang Yaqi's body.
Internal force and spiritual force are two completely different types of energy. In terms of power, spiritual force is more than five times stronger than internal force of the same amount.
However, spiritual power has another wonderful use, which is something that internal energy can't even dream of.
For cultivators, spiritual power is a bridge, the key to their ability to utilize the energy of heaven and earth.
No matter how high one's inner strength is, it ultimately falls within the realm of human power. Human strength, however great, is finite; how can it possibly contend with the might of heaven and earth?
Therefore, for cultivators, comprehending the flow of Qi and transforming internal energy into spiritual energy is the first step in cultivation. If one cannot even cultivate spiritual energy, then there is no point in discussing topics such as condensing or forming a dantian.
Spiritual power is the most crucial step in cultivation. Once one cultivates spiritual power, even one's physical constitution will undergo subtle and indescribable changes, making it easier for cultivators to sense the energy of heaven and earth.
The Foundation Establishment Pill is a sacred medicine of Taoism. If a cultivator who has comprehended spiritual power takes it, it can transform their marrow and bones, achieving a complete metamorphosis. Ordinary people who wish to take it must undergo numerous complicated procedures, using other precious medicines to harmonize the powerful energy within the pill. One Foundation Establishment Pill, taken in divided doses over a year, can transform a sickly ordinary person into a vigorous and healthy individual, immune to all ailments.