Chapter Fifty-Five: Refining the Spiritual Mechanism into True Qi—From This Moment, Immortal and Mortal Walk Separate Paths!

At this moment, the same thought arose in the hearts of all four: The whole world had come alive!

Everything before their eyes seemed to have been suddenly wiped free of dust. The pines and cypresses, the emerald bamboos, the grasses and orchids, even the mountain waterfalls and bubbling springs—all became astonishingly vivid in an instant.

The vitality of the mountain was now in full bloom, utterly different from the solemn bleakness of autumn. It almost made them believe that time had reversed, and spring had returned!

What was happening?

A notion flashed simultaneously through the minds of both the elder and Zhang Yuanyi: Could that piercing, sky-shattering cry just now have come from the mysterious master of Red Pine Mountain? The very one who had left such awe-inspiring traces of swordsmanship in the woods?

Elder Yujing and Daoist Yuyin exchanged a delighted glance. They knew well enough who was behind the recent commotion. Who else but their junior brother, that figure in the mountain who seemed almost like an immortal, could possess such divine powers?

The series of earth-shaking changes Red Pine Mountain had undergone were all inextricably linked to this junior brother. Yet, even though they had grown somewhat accustomed to marvels, they could not help but be stunned anew, their hearts swelling with boundless joy.

After all, the stronger their junior brother became, the more prosperous the Red Pine Daoist Palace would be!

With this thought, both felt no desire to linger at the mountain's base. They took their leave of the elder, saying, “Honored guest, there are matters in the mountain that require our attention, so we cannot stay any longer. If we have been remiss in our hospitality today, we shall surely visit you personally another day to make amends.”

However, the elder, who had just been about to depart, changed his mind upon witnessing the marvelous scene before him! Was there truly such a master hidden in these mountains? He could not possibly let this chance slip away!

With a smile and a cupped fist, he said, “We have come a thousand miles to reach this mountain gate, and now we are tired and thirsty. Might you permit this old man to ascend, if only to have a cup of water or wine to quench his thirst?”

“This…”

Elder Yujing and Daoist Yuyin were visibly troubled by the request. As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face. The elder’s words had been unfailingly polite, and he had traveled a long way; to refuse him at the door would certainly be discourteous.

Noticing their hesitation, the elder’s eyes glimmered. He pressed his advantage, employing every ounce of his eloquence to persuade them to let him ascend the mountain.

Zhang Yuanyi, at his side, could not help but glance at him askance. He knew well enough who the elder was—a true regional governor, a prince with authority over an entire province. How exalted was such a rank? Yet here he was, acting as if he would pester these two Daoists endlessly, just for a cup of water or wine!

Yet even Zhang Yuanyi found himself strangely expectant. Was that awe-inspiring sword energy in the woods truly left by a master of this mountain?

The three of them chatted in circles for a while, but reached no conclusion. Just as the elder was preparing to redouble his efforts and continue his verbal sparring, a white-clad figure drifted soundlessly down from the mountain ridge.

“Honored guests, the Master invites you.”

Bai Yi descended with the wind, graceful as a swallow, and addressed the elder and Zhang Yuanyi.

…

At the edge of the sea of clouds,

Lin You sat on the cliff, his aura growing ever more lofty and inscrutable—vast and boundless, as if transcending the very clouds, yet connected to the world below.

A gentle breeze fluttered his broad-sleeved cyan robe, making it billow and swirl like flowing clouds.

Feng Ling stood quietly by his side, allowing no one to approach or disturb him.

In but a moment, Lin You opened his eyes. Divine light shone within them, as if galaxies swirled in their depths, piercing all illusions.

He saw the cycle of growth and decay in the mountain’s vegetation, the shifting of sun, moon, and stars; he glimpsed the rolling clouds and heard the bubbling of springs among the stones…

All within his spiritual domain seemed, in that instant, to be cleansed of yet another layer of dust.

“Wipe away the obstacles of the heart, see clearly before your eyes,” Lin You murmured, a smile upon his lips as he stood at the edge of the cliff, hands behind his back.

At this moment, all the martial energy within his body had transformed. His bones were like jade, his marrow like frost; all impurities had vanished, and his vital energy was pure and bright.

Within his dantian, thirty-six streams of lively, spiritual true qi coursed through his body, surging like dragons in flight.

Now, each strand of this true qi far surpassed the sum of his former martial energy, endowed with spiritual transformation and the capacity to perform all manner of wondrous Daoist arts.

True energy, true qi! A difference of a single word, yet they marked two entirely different realms.

To refine spiritual essence into true qi was to step beyond the mundane, to tread the immortal path.

Lin You looked inward. In the sea of his consciousness, the small tree stood radiant and serene. Since cultivating the scriptures granted by the little tree, his connection to it had deepened, and with their resonant energies, his command over the domain had grown stronger.

Now, within a radius of more than ten miles around Red Pine’s main peak, all the other surrounding mountains had been brought under the scope of his spiritual domain.

Though still but a corner of the world, the domain now possessed the air of an immortal mountain, a true blessed land. Yet its spiritual essence remained shallow, enough only for his own cultivation for now.

Lin You gazed at the little jade-green tree, its spiritual leaves freshly consumed, and could not help but sigh. Thirty-six streams of spirit—not a small number, yet not truly many. In but an instant, he had exhausted them all.

Spiritual essence was needed for daily cultivation, to sustain the domain, and in contests with others, it would be spent like running water.

If he wished to travel further on the immortal path, he would have to rely on the foundation of the Red Pine domain. Especially in this declining age of the Dao, if he hoped to realize the great path of longevity, he could not do without the world’s spiritual essence.

At this thought, Lin You recalled the recent gathering of fellow cultivators. That small meeting had already brought him such rewards—what marvels might await at the grand assembly spoken of by Daoist Jiang and the others?

Now, though he had obtained scriptures for cultivation, they were incomplete. He would need to collect more and more techniques and texts, so the little tree could continue to deduce and evolve them. The scripture for establishing his Dao foundation, in particular, was of utmost importance.

Ordinary cultivation methods required only the refinement of a Dao seed to establish the foundation. But Lin You wished not to limit himself to a single path; he intended to refine the little jade tree itself as part of his foundation, to make it the root of his cultivation and his very life’s treasure.

Only then might he hope to go farther in this age of declining law.

Therefore, before establishing his foundation, he must gather enough scriptures for the tree to deduce this most crucial practice.

Standing with hands behind his back, Lin You gazed at the spiritual spring in the valley. Around the spring, myriad spiritual herbs grew in profusion, brimming with vitality. After the recent transformation of his domain, these herbs had become even richer in spiritual essence. If refined into Essence-Nourishing Pills, they could be used for his own cultivation or as items for trade.

Those very pills would be his leverage at the great assembly of cultivators in half a month’s time, his token for exchanging for techniques and spiritual treasures.