Chương 9: Connections

Senior Brother Hui's lesson was about spiritual farming. He taught mostly basic stuff, like which spiritual plants were mostly used for farming and which were rare. How much each would yield and what the price would be outside and inside the sect. For Lin Yi, this lecture was informative but not of much importance. It was likely that in the near future he would not have much surplus of money or sect points. His 'library' position was not coveted for more than one reason.

Furthermore, he planned to practice inedia once he reached the Crimson Palace Stage. Only when he truly had enough sect points or money would he buy spiritual food, and then only high-quality ones. Or maybe some tea. He liked to drink tea in his past life occasionally. He perked up as an idea surfaced in his mind. Maybe I can raise spirit bees in my own courtyard after I join the Scripture Pavilion. He always drank tea with honey, and maybe could produce it on his own here.

He could also sell the rest that he didn't need, and the bees could be used to supervise his courtyard or even fight for him in extreme cases. Lin Yi knew that the sect had a beast taming inheritance. After all, their founder and current foremost ancestor, the Charging Bull Perfected One, was a beast tamer. His dao title and the sect itself were named after his bull companion. Heaven, the bull, was a Golden Core Realm Spirit Beast itself!

Once he formally joined the Scripture Pavilion sect division, he would get his own courtyard or cultivation abode, and he could start planning. Not every division would grant a whole abode to one disciple. In popular divisions, multiple disciples would have to share one. Similar to how it was in the Valley of Immortal Seedlings, with around twenty people in one courtyard. However, it would not be that extreme. The Scripture Pavilion division was different in this case.

Lin Yi could infer from Elder Bai's words that there were not many disciples in the division. He would very likely get a courtyard of his own. Once the lecture ended and everyone walked to their intended destinations, Lin Yi was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Junior Brother Lin!" Lin Yi turned around and saw that the caller was a young girl, his courtyard neighbor and fellow town member of Old Pine Town, You Lei. Several disciples, who were about to leave, looked at them both, maybe looking for some gossip or something else. But as they saw that both of them were from the same courtyard, they didn't care and left with their friends. Lin Yi looked up at You Lei's face and greeted her.

"Hello, Senior Sister You." You Lei looked down at Lin Yi's adorable form and smiled at him.

"How are you, Lin Yi? You did break through to the first level, right?" Lin Yi nodded. He was not surprised that You Lei could tell that he entered the cultivation path. He felt a similar energy of his Qi, namely her own Qi, circulating through her body.

"Yes, Senior Sister. I broke through just yesterday. I didn't know that you also became a cultivator." You Lei nodded vigorously, as Lin Yi smiled wryly. While it was not noticeable during the immortal examination, he knew from the few times they talked that she was an open and enthusiastic girl. It was in contrast to his introverted personality, so he didn't seek contact himself.

"Yes! I broke through a week ago or so. I have after all a Four Element Spirit Root!" She said with a smile and continued.

"A pity I don't have a special talent like you. Your Innate Spirituality must have helped you immensely during your cultivation." Lin Yi nodded. While it was mostly his experience from another life, in which he semi-regularly meditated, his Innate Spirituality also played no small role in helping him achieve Wu Wei. You Lei had it simpler. With her Four Element Yellow Spirit Root, she was one of the more talented disciples of this batch.

The majority of newly accepted Outer Court disciples possess only Five Element Yellow Spirit Roots. Maybe only ten percent possess Four Element Yellow Spirit Roots, and even less have Three Element Yellow Spirit Roots. Not to mention Two Element Yellow Spirit Roots or higher. None of these would be in the Outer Court branches. They were all accepted into the main Outer Court branch in the Luan Prefecture, where the Inner Court was also stationed.

Before Lin Yi could properly answer her, You Lei continued speaking with an exhausted expression.

"Of course, it wasn't easy for me either. Day for day meditating in silence was really hard." Her face bloomed in joy during the next sentence.

"If it weren't for my sister, I would likely still be stuck in boring meditation." Lin Yi was surprised at this. How did You Lei's sister helped her in her cultivation? He decided to ask her.

"Senior Sister, your older sister joined the sect five years ago, right? But how did she help you? I heard that external resources for breakthroughs are expensive." You Lei looked at Lin Yi with a non-harmful-meaning smug smile.

"My sister is greatly talented, mhm. She awakened a Three Element Yellow Spirit Root with the elements of Fire, Wood and Wind. After leaving the Valley of Immortal Seedlings, she joined the Alchemy Valley and was appointed as an Alchemy Assistant." One day, she will become an Alchemy Master, and she is already at Grand Completion of her Golden Cauldron! Becoming a Dao Master for her is not impossible." Her smile was so bright that Lin Yi could even sense her Qi becoming more radiant.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Lin Yi was truly astonished, both because of You Lei's own transformation of her Qi and because of her sister. He knew that a property of Qi was its transformative ability and that strong emotions could passively influence Qi. To witness this firsthand was quite wondrous. And regarding You Lei's sister, You Leyou...

Even if one joins the Alchemy Valley, becoming an Alchemy Assistant directly was quite an achievement. Lin Yi read through many internal immortal texts, and the Alchemy Valley of the Charging Bull Sect was described thoroughly. Joining the Alchemy Valley, even as a prospective disciple who entered the cultivation path in under a month, one would most often get assigned to a minor helper position.

Spiritual herb management, cauldron cleaning, spirit farming of certain precious plants that are not outsourced to the Spiritual Farms, and other idle jobs. These were positions for new disciples. The profession of an alchemy assistant was only shortly below that of a true alchemy disciple. Alchemy assistants actively helped with pill refinement, regulating pill fire, or purifying lesser, less important ingredients, and they even did some procedures that only alchemy disciples did.

Furthermore, if a disciple was appointed to this position at a young age and with a low cultivation level, it was likely that the Alchemy Master was training them to become an alchemy disciple. After all, it was nearly unheard of for someone who had just joined the Outer Court to become an alchemy disciple. With all this in mind, You Leyou indeed has a promising future and would likely reach the ninth level of Qi Condensation, with a small chance of Foundation Establishment. She might even enter the Inner Court.

Lin Yi thought as You Lei continued proudly.

"My sister assisted an Alchemy Master with refining a batch of Mind Calming Pills, and when some of the pills were of an inferior grade, she asked if I could have one."

"Though the effect of an inferior pill has nearly no resemblance to a proper one, it still has some influence. Their prices are drastically reduced that the Alchemy Master wouldn't make much profit with them to begin with, so he consented to big sister's request."

"Using this pill, I was able to calm my mind and enter my Golden Cauldron." Lin Yi was again astonished. He was not surprised by people using their connections to help their close ones, but he didn't expect that You Leyou would help her sister so early in cultivation. Of course, he didn't know the relationship between You Leyou and the Alchemy Master, whether they were close or distant, and if this kind of request was normal among alchemists. You Lei was not finished talking.

"Big sister told me to cultivate properly and enter the cultivation path before the first month ends, so that I can freely join the Alchemy Valley. There she can take better care of me."

"You should also now know of the free choices for us prospective disciples from Elder Bai, right?" Lin Yi nodded and muttered inwardly. So this was the reason her sister helped her so early. She will join the Alchemy Valley, and then they can support each other better. After their talk, You Lei invited him to a gathering.

"Lin Yi, are you interested in coming to gather with some other friends? We always do one when someone achieves a breakthrough." Lin Yi pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"Thank you, senior sister. But I had some cultivation problems solved this morning by Elder Bai, and I want to try it out in cultivation. Maybe next time." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Very well, then. Till next time, Junior Brother Lin." You Lei waved her hands as she left. After saying farewell as well, Lin Yi returned to his courtyard room. It was time for him to cultivate again. During his conversation with Elder Bai, he found the solution regarding the dantian's transition delay. It was time to try it out. Lin Yi sat on the meditation cushion and calmed his mind, entering a meditative state.

As he looked inwards, he saw his Golden Cauldron, its spiritual connection, and a few meridians through his body. First, Lin Yi tried again, entering the Golden Cauldron through the spiritual connection and through this spirituality, both with the same delay as before. Next, he entered deeper meditation to try achieving Wu Wei.

He knew the difficulty was so great that it would likely take a long time to enter Wu Wei, and that he could not yet properly control this state, but he wanted to do it at least one time before advancing his cultivation. Lin Yi disregarded his perception of time and delved deeper and deeper into meditation. He cleared his thoughts, mind, and any want, even the desire to enter Wu Wei itself. Minutes passed first, and then hours. After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yi's state of mind changed.

His mental state returned to the nature of heaven and earth. The moment he achieved Wu Wei, the thought of 'I achieved Wu Wei' flowed seamlessly towards the action of 'entering the lower dantian´. Lin Yi's perception entered the spiritual connection and pathway of the dantian, and without any delay or obstruction, he was inside. Before him, his Qi Flame refined his Essence continuously into Qi while drawing nourishment from it to grow stronger and stronger.

Although only a night had passed, his Qi Flame had already grown a considerable amount. From the size of a pinky finger to the size of a middle finger. And this was only the passive growth without active cultivation. Without wasting any unnecessary thoughts, his perspective changed back to his whole physical and spiritual body, seamless as before. Then Lin Yi used his spirituality to transition into the dantian and back. No obstruction appeared. He nodded inwardly with satisfaction.

His eyes opened and gazed out of a window, and he saw that the sun was already setting. Using his spirituality, he communicated with this sect identification plate and checked the time. The sect plate has many functions. Some of these functions are accessed by the connection of the sect plate with its mother treasures. One of the connected sect treasures counts the exact time and gives this information to one of its connected treasures, the plate's mother treasure, which then gives it to the sect plate itself.

Lin Yi didn't know why, but the time and date system back on Earth and the system used here on the Grand Vastness Continent were the same. One day I will find out the reason. He gave himself this side goal. The nineteenth hour had just begun, and Lin Yi was still in the Wu Wei state, so without any further thinking, he followed his natural desire to pursue the dao and turned inwards again.

Lin Yi is currently at the first level of the Qi Condensation Realm, also known as the Initial Beginning of the Golden Cauldron Stage. To break through the second level of Qi Condensation, he needs to form an autonomous Qi circulation of his 12 Standard Meridians. Through the cultivation method, Classic of Qi Refinement, he had already extended insights into many meridians.

To progress further in the first level, one can choose any of the twelve meridians and add a circulation between it and the Golden Cauldron, or one can directly try to form a Qi circulation with more or even all twelve meridians. The latter options were mostly reserved for the more talented disciples, and Lin Yi knew why that was. He looked towards the 12 Standard Meridians in his body and only saw four and a half. Four meridians were fully visible, and one was only partly visible.

This was not to say that, due to this, his future cultivation path was cut off and he had never had a chance to advance further. Two main factors determine how strong one's Inner Sight was. One was the cultivator's spirituality, in which Lin Yi was powerful in, and the other was the grade of the Spirit Root, which Lin Yi's was not powerful in. Spirituality and Spirit Root both played a great role in seeing meridians, but in the end, Spirit Root played a bigger role.

The stronger the Spirit Root, the easier it was also to complete the autarch Qi circulation. Maybe this is also a sign of opposite sites, and yin and yang. My spirituality is strong and will only grow stronger in the future, while my Spirit Root is weak and will stay the same forever. Lin Yi thought to himself, My spirituality is yang upon yang, flourishing upon a strong base. While my Spirit Root is yin under yin, a weak base frozen for eternity.

This may not be a true representation of the heaven and earth's yin and yang, but it is a small branch of my own personal yin and yang manifestation! During these thoughts, Lin Yi's subconsciousness recalled all the experiences and memories regarding yin and yang, one after another, from his current life and his past life. From major and obvious things, like the earth below his feet and the blue sky above his head, to minor and unimportant things, like a pencil and an eraser.

One thing creates and writes, another destroys and vanishes. Lin Yi remembered, recalled, and organized these experiences, and unknown to him, even in his Wu Wei state, sparks of enlightenment appeared in his spirituality. This enlightenment passed quickly as his thoughts ran out and his spirituality calmed down. When Lin Yi looked at his spiritual body again, he saw not just four and a half meridians anymore, but a full eight of them.

He knew that he had just a short moment of enlightenment, likely caused and/or strengthened by being in the Wu Wei state. He marveled at the mental state's mysteries and power. Furthermore, he felt something deep in his mind. As if this enlightenment of yin-yang just gave him a foundation for something. While he might not know what this abstract feeling of a foundation was for, he had possibilities in mind and would look into it among the immortal dao classics. But now was not the time for it.

Right now, it was time to progress his cultivation.