Li Qingshan gained some more understanding of the imperial court’s structure. This probably could also be regarded as the separation of powers into three branches! It seemed very primitive, but it was fundamentally impossible to use meticulous ways of government because the surface area was too big. Therein, the Eagle Wolf Guard rather resembled the Ming Dynasty’s two Depots and one Guard1. Its influence was comparatively even a little greater. He couldn’t help but say, “So the Eagle Wolf Guard turns out to be so extraordinary.”
Ye Dachuan said, “That’s right, so don’t hesitate, a great future is waiting for you.”
Yan Song said, “Not spending money for wining and gambling is only a small thing. Would you still lack this little money as an Eagle Wolf guard? Qingshan you don’t look to me like someone who adores power and influence, but the Eagle Wolf Guard also has many spiritual devices, spiritual stones, spiritual medicine, and techniques. There’s probably no qi refining warrior that wouldn’t be tempted.”
Li Qingshan said, “Qi refining warrior? Then what’s an innate master?”
Li Qingshan was modestly asking for guidance, and Yan Song’s state of mind was increasingly milder and gentler. He was willing to be the light that guided the way. Moreover these things were nothing more than common knowledge.
It turned out that there were an extremely low amount of people who were able to refine true qi from the beginning. They were the so-called qi refining warriors. But to become a qi refining warrior required extremely high natural talents; the great majority of people couldn’t walk on this road. There was another road they could travel however, which was to train internal strength. Internal strength almost didn’t have any harsh requirements on natural talent. Almost everyone could develop internal strength as long as you weren’t not foolish or stupid and were willing to persevere,.
The internal arts trained by ordinary martial artists were equivalent to simplified and weaker qi refining techniques, with lowered requirements for natural talent. They were easier of entry and allowed almost everyone to learn them. But the internal strength trained this way was far from matching the effects of true qi, because they didn’t genuinely unblock the meridians but were still restricted by the meridians. They were unable to nourish the five internal organs2, and even less able to radiate outside the body.
However, as long as one could train internal strength to the pinnacle and once again achieve a breakthrough, then they could transform it into true qi and become a qi refining warrior. Such people were precisely the commonly called innate masters.
The path of qi refining was divided into ten levels.
Moreover it wasn’t as primitive as the kind of division in first-grade or second-grade masters inside the martial world. Sometimes it was very difficult to ascertain whether a certain person was a first-grade or second-grade master, because there the martial skills they trained in were each different, with a thousandfold diversity in effect, and their approaches were also greatly different.
But when it came to the way of qi refining, no matter the cultivation or the technique, they were all for the sake of unblocking the eight extraordinary meridians3. Those were the Yang Heel meridian, Yin Heel meridian, Yang Linking meridian, Yin Linking meridian, Belt meridian, Penetrating meridian, Conception meridian, and Governing meridian.
These eight meridians were neither subordinate to the heart and lungs nor did they coordinate the relationship between the interior and the exterior. The reason they were known as extraordinary was because each of them went through the entire body and linked many major acupuncture points together. Each extraordinary meridian that was thoroughly unblocked strengthened true qi by a little, const.i.tuting another realm. One who’d completely unblocked the eight extraordinary meridians would have reached the ninth level of qi refining.
It was even more difficult if one wished to attain the realm of the tenth level. One had to entirely unblock the twelve standard meridians, divided respectively into the three yin hand meridians, three yang hand meridians, three yin feet meridian, and three yang feet meridians. These twelve meridians intersected with each others, connecting hands and feet with heart and lungs, joining the five elements together. It was extremely easy to suffer deviations and bring harm to the heart and lungs, but if one could breath through this juncture, one could reach the great perfection realm of the tenth qi refining level and walk to the pinnacle of qi refining warriors.
Li Qingshan hadn’t even unblocked a single meridian, because there was absolute no talk of meridian whatsoever on the way of the demons he walked on. There were mult.i.tudes of strange types among monsters, very few of them with a body-type similar to humans. Would you actually ask of a snake or a bamboo to have eight extraordinary meridians?
An idea rose inside his mind however when his thoughts reached this place. He was actually a real and genuine human after repressing the bull demon and tiger demon with the [Spirit Turtle Sea Guarding Secrets]. He’d recovered his former state, so was he truly unable of refining qi? It seemed he also had to to find a qi refining technique and give it a little try. This impulsive thought of little importance embarked him on an even stranger and more unique road.
Yan Song complained after his explanations had reached thus far. The status of people like them who came from a martial arts background was really too low. He wasn’t young anymore by the time he’d cultivated to the innate realm and was able to refine qi. He’d unblocked the Yang Heel meridian with the help of his profound internal strength turned into true qi, thus breaking through to the second level of qi refining, but no matter how he tried he couldn’t progress any further, couldn’t unblock the Yin Heel meridian and break through to the third level of qi refining.
Everyone comforted him a little. Yan Song said, “Body tempering is fierce and powerful, but after all it’s not the genuine way. Qingshan you’re young and you’ll certainly be able to reach the third level, even the fourth or fifth level. If you can unblock the Belt meridian and reach the realm of the sixth level by cultivating a sea of qi, then you will be eligible for a promotion to the Red Wolf Guard holding office in Clear River City. Then this life will have been worth it.”
Yan Song’s vision was sinister. He could see that Li Qingshan’s true qi couldn’t have been at the second level of qi refining, but he could easily defeat himself. That meant he was walking on the road of body tempering. In a certain sense, the hard external martial arts of the martial world were also simplified versions of body tempering arts. However body tempering was the same as training in hard external skills in the martial world. The might was formidable in the early stages, but they offered no future prospects. It was very difficult to cultivate to an even higher realm, hence they didn’t receive much attention.
Li Qingshan said, “Many thanks for protector Yan’s reminder, I’ll pay attention in the future.” As a monster however, it was simply impossible not to cultivate the body.
But his understanding was much clearer after hearing these words. Some conjectures ran through his mind. Which level of qi refining warrior could he rival in his monster state? As a Dark Eagle Captain, Blessed Peace’s Zhuo Zhibo was probably at the level of a low-ranked Red Wolf Guard. He would probably have cultivated a sea of qi, his strength roughly around the sixth level of qi refining.
He didn’t know which one was stronger out of a human forming a sea of qi or a monster forming a monster core, but there was presumable not much of a gap. He could escape even if the situation made a turn for the worse. The thought of going to Blessed Peace and experiencing the so-called “It’s easier to cultivate in the six ministries4” was a tempting thought for him.
Li Qingshan asked again, “May I know which qi refining technique protector Yan has?”
Yan Song said embarra.s.sed, “Qi refining techniques are secrets that can’t be spread out of any gate and any sect.”
Li Qingshan also knew his question was a little rude. It was somewhat inappropriate to ask for qi refining techniques after just reconciling with someone. He said smiling, “I have been rude.” He downed a cup and didn’t speak any further.
An embarra.s.sed Yan Song thought for a moment. “However Qingshan, if you really want, this old man can also only bite the bullet.”
Li Qingshan was delighted. He offered another few toasts to Yan Song. Ye Dachuan and Liu Hong also burst in congratulations. Dragon Li exposed an incomparably envious expression, thinking that the strong was truly revered in this world. Li Qingshan hit this old stuff with a few slaps and earned a set of qi refining techniques instead.
After the meal, Yan Song pa.s.sed on a set of qi refining secret techniques to Li Qingshan inside a quite training room.
The name of this set of techniques was [Innate Qi Refining Secrets]. It was also divided into nine layers, but one would merely be able to reach the third level of qi refining after cultivating to the ninth layer. It was easy to see this wasn’t any sort of extraordinary divine skill.
Yan Son also frankly explained this point. “This [Innate Qi Refining Secrets] is merely used to build your basics. With Qingshan’s talents, you can certainly use a better technique to cultivate in the future.”
When it came to qi refining techniques, if one said they were precious then they were very precious and could cause many people to shed their bloods and risk their lives. But if one said they weren’t precious then they weren’t precious either, especially this [Innate Qi Refining Secrets] that was known by almost each and every person among qi refining warriors. The reason most of those who didn’t know it was because they had come into contact with better and stronger qi refining techniques from the start.
The most precious things weren’t the techniques but the people who could cultivate the techniques. On the whole, you merely had to possess a natural talent for qi refining and there would be countless people under the sky willing to teach you this set of basic qi refining techniques. Li Qingshan would naturally have obtained it as long as he reached the Eagle Wolf Guard. Yan Song saw that Li Qingshan’s future was immeasurable, so there was no harm doing such a favor that didn’t cost him anything.
“Many thanks protector Yan!” Li Qingshan’s greatest goal was to try whether he could refine qi or not. The relative level of this set of techniques was actually a small matter. On the contrary, this kind of basic technique most often had the particularity of being easier to start in even if their might and margin for progress weren’t great. They were actually the most suitable for him to cultivate.
He had some other guesses in his mind. Was every supernatural skill and technique always divided in nine layers? Every supernatural skill and technique he was cultivating now was separated in the standard nine layers. He’d asked Little An, and it was so even with his [Dao of the Beautiful Bones].
Yan Song took his leave and went away to continue his selection of disciples, leaving Li Qingshan to cultivate inside the quiet room.
Incense helping to focus the mind and quieten the mood burned inside the room. Li Qingshan sat cross-legged, his eyes faintly shut as he silently comprehended the subtleties of the [Innate Qi Refining Secrets].
He’d once experienced the refining of qi, and had even cultivated a considerably strong true qi. But the result had been that all of it was for the purpose of turning the true qi into monster qi, ultimately allowing for his transformation into a monster. It was simply not a genuine qi refining method.
Only now could he be said to come into contact for the first time with a human qi refining technique. After a moment of comprehension, he discovered it was much simpler than those several supernatural skills the green bull had taught him. Especially the first three layers that didn’t involve any meridian yet and merely taught how to perceive and gather true qi.
It could be compared to a mid-school student studying primary school textbooks and completing physical programs designed for primary school students. It was extremely simple. Li Qingshan had condensed another thread of true qi before two hours went by. It was yet another proof his natural talents were out of the ordinary; he even had the innate talent for qi refining. If he’d been born inside Clear River City, he would probably have been taken in as a disciple and started on his journey on the road of a qi refining warrior long ago.
But then his monster core sucked in that thread of true qi before he any had time to feel happy, transforming it into monster qi.
Li Qingshan couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. Was his way of thinking actually wrong? After some thoughts he once again started to cultivate the [Spirit Turtle Sea Guarding Secrets]. He stilled his state of mind and absorbed that spiritual qi between heaven and earth. A full six hours went by. The monster qi inside the monster core approached a state of saturation. Of course, he couldn’t truly saturate the monster core with monster qi even if he were to cultivate for another sixty hours.
Li Qingshan once again cultivated the [Innate Qi Refining Secrets]. The true qi he coagulated was again swallowed by the monster core and turned into monster qi, but at least it left a little of it behind. He felt wild joy in his mind however. This proved his guess and choice were correct. He truly could refine qi like ordinary people.
The color of the sky gradually turned dusky. Li Qingshan cultivated with unremitting efforts, gathering true qi bit by bit with great difficulties, just like the working cla.s.s laboring under the cruel exploitation of great shareholders, the major part of the fruit of their painstaking labors striped away from them.
Of course, this great shareholder was still Li Qingshan himself. It couldn’t actually be said to be a waste.
Dragon Li came to knock on the door after a time and invited him to eat, but Li Qingshan was entirely submerged in this kind of self-abusing cultivation. There was but a single thought in his mind occupying his undivided attention, disregarding anything else.
1. Two Depots and one Guard probably refers to the Eastern Depot, Western Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Ming Dynasty. All of them were imperial secret services/spy agencies.
2. I believe the five internal organs have already been mentioned in the story. It’s traditional taoist/chinese medicinal speak, just like the “four limbs and hundred bones” etc. The five organs are the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
3. The eight extraordinary meridians represent the deepest level of energy connection inside the body in traditional taoist/Chinese medicine.
4. “It’s easier to cultivate in the six ministries” is a saying found in wuxia novels afaik. “Six ministries” refers to the ancient Chinese imperial governments often split into six ministries under the supervision of two prime ministers.