chsdbacks Chapter 1 The Secret of the Vortex
Chapter 1 The Secret of the Vortex
The Kingdom of Yue, Mount Ling Shou.
In a secluded stone chamber on Huoyun Peak, the gray-brown cliffs exposed on all four walls, with only a small window about a foot wide on the east side. Outside the window, the sky had already darkened, and twilight was deepening. The furnishings inside were extremely simple, consisting of only a rough futon, a stone table, a small oil lamp, and a few dusty coarse pottery jars in the corner.
Chen Fan sat cross-legged on the futon, his palms facing upwards, his eyes slightly closed. His breathing was long and even, almost inaudible. Wisps of faint, ethereal spiritual energy were slowly drawn from the void, seeping into his mouth, nose, and pores, flowing along his meridians, and finally converging into his dantian.
He has repeated this process countless times.
It's tedious, slow, and allows no shortcuts.
This is the daily routine of a Qi Refining cultivator. Day after day, they absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, accumulating magical power bit by bit, like ants carrying grains of rice, hoping that one day they can accumulate enough capital to break through the bottleneck of Foundation Establishment.
After a long while, his eyelids twitched slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes. There was no glint of light or strange gleam in his eyes, only a deep, still calm. He lowered his head, his gaze falling on his outstretched left palm.
On his palm, a swirling pattern the size of a copper coin was quietly imprinted. The lines were delicate and intricate, like countless strands of hair intertwined, swirling and spreading outward from the center, at first glance resembling an exquisite tattoo. However, Chen Fan knew in his heart that this was far more than a simple tattoo.
A few nights ago, he was cultivating with a low-grade spirit stone in his hand when a faint suction force suddenly appeared in his palm. The spiritual energy within the spirit stone was instantly drained, condensed and compressed in a vortex, and in just a few breaths, it condensed into a pill.
Qi Refining Pill.
If it weren't for this cheat-like ability, Chen Fan would have almost forgotten that he wasn't from this world. Although he hadn't read this book in his previous life, he still knew a little about it from hearsay, since "The Dao Ancestor's Rebirth" was incredibly popular back then.
The most basic and common elixir in the cultivation world, an indispensable item for Qi Refining cultivators. In the market, a single Qi Refining Pill costs around five low-grade spirit stones. However, when refined using his palm imprint, the cost is only one spirit stone.
One spirit stone goes in, five spirit stones come out.
Even though Chen Fan was usually calm and collected, his heart still skipped a beat when he first confirmed the effect.
He was not someone who was unaware of great opportunities. It was precisely because he had a deep understanding of the cruel reality of the cultivation world, where the strong prey on the weak and danger lurks at every turn, that he understood even more what the mark on his palm meant.
This is a road.
A path to advancement that is completely different from the vast majority of independent cultivators and even sect disciples, who can carve out their own path in a desperate situation with scarce resources.
That's all.
Chen Fan instantly suppressed that slight tremor. An opportunity is one thing, but whether one can hold onto it and transform it into real cultivation is another matter entirely. The cultivation world is never short of those who possess extraordinary encounters; what it lacks are those who can live to turn those encounters into cultivation.
He raised his left hand to his eyes and probed the vortex in his palm with his divine sense.
The mark showed no resistance to divine sense probing, yet remained silent, like an inanimate object. It only reacted when it touched something containing spiritual energy. Chen Fan took out a low-grade spirit stone from his storage bag and held it in his palm. With a slight tether of his divine sense, a vortex suddenly began to spin.
The spiritual energy within the spirit stone was drawn away by an invisible force and flowed in along the swirling patterns, like water flowing into the center of a vortex. The spiritual energy spun, compressed, and solidified at high speed within the complex patterns, and the loose gaseous state was forcibly solidified into the structure of a pill under some rules he could not understand.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the spirit stone turned to dust and fell from between his fingers, leaving a small, milky-white pill the size of a soybean in his palm. The pill was smooth and emanated subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy, undoubtedly a Qi Refining Pill.
Chen Fan put the pill into a jade bottle, his face expressionless, except for a barely perceptible furrowing of his brows.
The consumption of spiritual energy was considerable.
If his entire spiritual consciousness were likened to a vat of water, activating the vortex mark once would require pouring out nearly thirty percent of it. After three times, his spiritual consciousness would be almost exhausted, requiring half a day of meditation to recover. With the spiritual consciousness strength of his tenth level of Qi Refining, he could refine at most three Qi Refining Pills a day.
The profit from three pieces, or fifteen spirit stones.
It sounds acceptable, but in reality, it's far from enough.
The energy expenditure of Qi Refining cultivators increases dramatically with their cultivation level. After reaching the tenth level of Qi Refining, maintaining daily cultivation alone requires at least twenty Qi Refining Pills per month. If one wishes to break through a bottleneck, the expenditure will more than double. Adding the expenses for magical artifacts, talismans, pills, and other life-saving items, a daily income of fifteen spirit stones is merely a drop in the bucket, barely enough to make ends meet.
To go further, one must first enhance one's spiritual awareness.
Chen Fan's thoughts settled on this.
Methods to enhance spiritual sense are rare in the cultivation world. Most cultivation techniques focus only on accumulating magical power and breaking through realms, often remaining vague about spiritual sense cultivation. Techniques that can systematically enhance spiritual sense are either the core inheritances of major sects or fragments found in ancient ruins.
He suddenly remembered a martial arts technique.
The Great Evolution Decision.
To be precise, it should be the extraordinary spiritual cultivation technique practiced by Han Li of Huangfeng Valley in the original novel, which focuses on enhancing spiritual awareness. Created by the Great Evolution Divine Lord, it has seven levels, and with each level completed, one's spiritual awareness doubles. Such heaven-defying effects are extremely rare even in the entire cultivation world.
Unfortunately, the Great Evolution Technique is located in Yellow Maple Valley.
And he was at Spirit Beast Mountain.
Chen Fan shook his head slightly, suppressing this almost delusional thought. Although Huangfeng Valley and Ling Shou Mountain both belong to the seven sects of Yue Kingdom and are nominally closely connected, they are actually deeply divided. For a disciple of Ling Shou Mountain to want to go to Huangfeng Valley to seek the core cultivation technique is nothing short of a fool's dream.
However, the origin of the Great Evolution Technique gave him a clue. Huangfeng Valley knew that the Lin family Foundation Establishment cultivator possessed the first four levels of the Great Evolution Technique, yet they did not try to seize it.
This shows that the core of divine sense cultivation techniques is not entirely untraceable. Although the Spirit Beast Mountain's foundation is not as profound as that of the Hidden Moon Sect, it is still one of the seven major sects of the Yue Kingdom. Within the sect, there may well be similar divine sense methods. Even without a complete inheritance, even if he only obtains some rudimentary techniques for using divine sense, it would still be a valuable resource for him.
To obtain these from the sect, one needs spirit stones.
A large amount of spirit stones are required.
Chen Fan withdrew his gaze from his palm and slowly stood up. In the stone chamber, the small oil lamp flame flickered slightly, casting dim light and shadows on his face.
First, go to the market and exchange the Qi Refining Pills you have for spirit stones.
As for the rest, we'll see how things go.
He took out a drab, gray robe of a rogue cultivator and changed into it. Then, he rummaged through the depths of his storage bag and pulled out an old wooden box. Inside the box were several disguise items: a box of ointment to change skin color, a few strands of soft glue to fill in his cheeks, and a bottle of pills to make his voice hoarse. These items were of low quality and had almost no value to a cultivator, but they were barely enough to conceal his identity.
In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak. If a low-level cultivator at the Qi Refining stage flaunts their wealth, they may die without even knowing how.
A little more caution means a little more chance of survival.
The reasoning behind this is self-evident and requires no instruction from others.
The outer market of Spirit Beast Mountain is located in a secluded valley thirty miles west of the sect's mountain gate.
When Chen Fan arrived, the night was already as dark as ink. Yet, the market under the twilight was even more bustling than during the day. Shops lined both sides of the long, bluestone-paved street, all now lit up. Ordinary oil-cured lanterns and lamps inlaid with soft, luminous pearls mingled, casting dappled light and shadows across the entire street, making it a scene of many figures.
Most of the monks passing by concealed themselves with cloaks and hats, hurrying and moving silently between the shops, leaving only the low sound of their footsteps and the rustling of their clothes, exuding an air of secrecy and aloofness.