The vast sea of stars extends the sword to the heavens, a lone peak and cliff sleeps in the snow, the cold wind is biting and flowers no longer bloom, ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains, no one cares.
"I, Chen Dewei, a swordsman of Yanzi Cave in Guangxia Mountain, was enlightened by the Nine Heavens Xuan Nu Ruyi True Monarch, and was bestowed with the Sword Sect's talisman. I train under the Yao Guang Peak Master and Po Jun Sword Lord at Nine Yin Mountain.
Serving the sword for five hundred years, refining Qi and transforming the spirit, forging a sword infant, transmitting the sword and obtaining the Dao, I am now named Tianku, and today at the Daoist field of Guangxia Mountain, I open a platform to teach the Dao, founding a sect.
You eight, after worshipping the Xuan Nu Ruyi True Monarch today, will become one of us in the Mystic Sect, the Sword Attendant boys of Guangxia Mountain. When I am not on the mountain, Senior Brother Yue Peng and Second Senior Brother Zhou Feng will teach in my place.
Once your cultivation is successful and you form the Nascent Soul, you may enter my sect as the second-generation sword transmission disciples of Guangxia Mountain, and be granted the talisman of an Outer Mountain Disciple of the Sword Sect, receiving the true teachings of Beichen Swordsmanship."
Since starting cultivation at Yanzi Cave in Guangxia Mountain, autumn has come and gone, and it is now unknowingly the twelfth lunar month.
The Sword Attendant, wearing the old clothes and a green robe handed down by the senior brothers, with hair tied by a hemp rope, sat in the icy wind of Yanzi Peak, facing the first light of dawn, breathing in and out.
The so-called breathing practice is exhale first then inhale, with a single breath of innate true breath as the core, exhaled, harnessing the spiritual Qi between heaven and earth, returning to the body to be refined.
The bone-chilling icy breath cuts down the throat like a sword blade, then dissolves from within the lungs, circulating through the meridians, refining every Qi acupoint in the body, finally refined into a true Qi, exhaled through the mouth and nose, actually shooting out in a three-zhang white ribbon before him in the cold wind, forming a clearly visible ice crystal ribbon, rolling like a dragon or snake.
Thereafter discarding impurities, retaining the essence, inhaling back into the mouth and nose, this cycle repeats eighty-one times before it is counted as cultivation of Dao Breath, allowing the Qi to settle in the Dantian, and the breath to infuse into the inner scene.
This is the true transmission of the Mystic Sect, the secret of refining essence into Qi.
At present, the breathing Qi refining method Tie Dan is practicing is the entry-level cultivation method of the Beichen Sword Sect.
"Beichen God Iron Sword Refining Qi and Casting Sword Skill"
This skill concentrates the heaven and earth spiritual Qi into a singular Divine Gang True Qi, attaching it onto gold and iron, capable of creating indestructible armor and sharp weapons, most commonly used in battle to break the enemy.
At a glance, it seems simple, only a basic skill of breathing exercise, yet it is also the hardest first step in refining Qi cultivation.
Refining Qi, the focus is this innate Qi, daily hard work to temper a breath of true essence in the Dantian, refine and purify, to introspect the whole body, clearing the meridians and hundreds of acupoints, achieving the circulation of Qi and energy before one can further observe the manifestation and reflection of heaven and earth Qi, refine it as personal Dao Breath, and thereafter concentrate it into various weapons and swords, divine and devil dharma manifestations, executing various profound magic techniques, hence refining Qi is the first step towards the Great Dao.
Therefore, this type of grinding work is not to be neglected even for a day before achieving the Divine Transformation and establishing the foundation into the Nascent Soul True Man realm.
Otherwise, three days of fishing and two days of drying nets, two or three months without breathing and refining, the cultivation power will surely regress significantly.
Or even worse, in a fight with others, suffering internal injuries, losing limbs, or having a breath of essence shattered by someone, then truly a lifetime of hard cultivation would be wasted and one would have to start anew.
Thus, although the Three Constellations, Four Countries and Eight Domains are bustling, with countless people, and the Central Plains is a blessed land with countless spiritual veins and immortal mountains, many stray animals or even ordinary folks might chance upon a little spiritual fruit or fairy vegetables and embark on the Dao, not to mention naturally possessing spirited roots and bones are not exactly scarce.
However, genuinely persevering in hardships, refining essence into Qi for ten years as if it were a day, and establishing the foundation into the Dao is actually quite rare.
Starting cultivation from the age of hair-cutting, if one can reach Refining Essence and Building Foundation by the coming of age, then they are counted as possessing a Dao Seed, with astonishing talent.
Of course, there are those reaching Foundation Establishment at seventy or eighty years old, but that's through taking potions. The Demon Palace dominating the world for ten thousand years has long gathered all alchemists under heaven, collecting longevity skills, Yellow Court alchemy, for the emperor's sons' eternal enjoyment of ten thousand years. They also conduct long-term human-body drug experiments, mastering various human-animal modification techniques, demon transformation techniques, all called the Alchemy Dao, a kind of shortcut to immortality, which will not be discussed here for now.
But in summary, whether one refines Qi, or inherits power, or takes potions, as long as Foundation Establishment into the Dao is achieved, physical fitness will greatly improve, extending life and changing fate, becoming extraordinary and refined.
Tie Dan being favored by Senior Brother Yue Peng Big and Small Eyes truly is a show of giftedness, having undergone extraordinary trials and tribulations from a young age, lacking the many distracting thoughts of ordinary people, cultivating with a focused mind, plus consuming a Divine Storage Golden Pill, mentored hand-in-hand by Senior Brother, within just a short span of ten months, was able to fully grasp the Qi refining method taught in the master, nurturing energy and acupoints throughout the body, showcasing an incredible speed of cultivation.
Yet, due to the lack of Foundation Establishment Treasure, spiritual elixirs and secret medicines, he remains stuck at the Qi Refining Perfect Realm, able only to repeatedly refine a mouthful of sword Qi without an opportunity for Foundation Establishment breakthrough.
Refining Qi can go on indefinitely, removing impurities, refining for more excellence.
But truly to undergo rebirth, transcending into the Dao, establishing foundation and body, a single breath is not enough, naturally necessitating various priceless elixir womb spiritual medicines, Foundation Establishment Treasure to complement for a fundamental transcendence, shed the mortal body.
Tie Dan also heard from the senior brothers that heavenly materials and treasures for Foundation Establishment are priceless, the best value and easiest to obtain would be the Body Refining and Foundation Establishment Pill made by the Three Constellation Demon Palace, current price six thousand Divine Gang Coins per pill, market equivalent to roughly thirty thousand stones of rice and grain, the yield of twenty thousand mu of land, or the annual income of two hundred families.
However, Tie Dan has no money, not a single coin.
After all, not everyone is born a duke's son or a noble, having countless resources and magic treasures prepared by family aide. For those Gate Valve noble sons, it's just a drop in the ocean financially. But here at Guangxia Mountain, in deep forests and old woods, sparsely populated, where's there so much tribute...
Alas, such is the world, with methods, wealth, companions, and land, lacking any makes the path of cultivation as hard as reaching the sky.
While Guangxia Mountain is called a Sword Sect, it's actually just an Outer Mountain fragment, with all trades awaiting enthusiasm, Yanzi Cave inner true transmission actually only has these three people, even Chen Huzi often goes all over plundering, not, eliminating demons, to manage cultivation expenses, only extras may be given to disciples a bit, normally requiring disciples to earn cultivation daoist materials themselves.
Thus Yue Peng and Zhou Feng, typically also take turns guiding the child skills, while the other roams the mountains, practicing and gathering, truly having no meaningful accumulation to distribute to others.
In short, Chen Huzi actually started his own business after graduating from the main mountain, and these first-recruited children, when taught well, are meant to guard the house, work chores, refine alchemy, and grow the sect.
However, the other children of Tie Dan's batch are indeed inferior in foundation and comprehension, their cultivation speed noticeably slower, all still in the Qi refining stage.
But being all Guangxia Mountain disciples now, Chen Huzi cannot play favorites, therefore teaching Tie Dan not to rush, to continue refining sword Qi, laying a solid foundation, intending to wait until others' cultivation catches up, then together leave the mountain to search for heavenly materials treasures, preparing for Foundation Establishment.
Yet, within this batch of Guangxia Mountain students, there is indeed one person who stood out from the crowd, built their foundation first.
"Die——!"
Fingertips pinching an invisibility talisman, holding a three-foot sword, a green-robed girl suddenly exercised energy, breaking through the invisibility talisman, soaring forward with a sword! Directly striking towards Tie Dan's back!
The treasure sword glittered with golden light, its sharpness wicked! A single attack with the sword actually pierced a dragon's cry-like sword whistle in the air!
Tie Dan was no fool, having been ruined once, he simply wasn't going to handle this treasure blade divine edge barehanded, instead, he smoothly rolled over to dodge.
"Ha——!"
Jian Jia let out another angry shout, a wheeze of true breath sprayed onto the blade, causing the sword tip to emit white light! The sword edge extended an inch in a sweep directly towards Tie Dan's forehead!
Though he could see through the opponent's sword path, he hadn't expected with the opponent's Foundation Establishment breakthrough, combined with the divine weapon in hand, this time sword aura unexpectedly burst, Tie Dan was caught off guard, unable to dodge in time, using a steel bridge ducked away, but his eyebrows were still scraped with a blood mark, instantly seeing red, blood flowing over his face.
"Ha——!"
One successful strike, Jian Jia cheered, leaping forward, gripping the sword with both hands, cutting straight at Tie Dan's head!
However, Tie Dan simply exhaled energy, strength out of his feet, leaping off like an antelope, plunging into the cliff, falling into a perilous valley!
"Wha, what! Seeking death on your own?"
Jian Jia originally thought she'd finally driven the enemy to a dead end, unexpectedly at one swing missing, only cleaving off the rock.
Seeing Tie Dan jumping off the cliff at this moment, she's startled, ultimately still wary to jump down to the cliff bottom after him, hurriedly halting, holding the sword gazing down from the cliff.
Only to see that green-robed Daoist child, like a hawk, flipping, clinging to the cliff to dodge, like a panther, within the snowy valley leaping and bounding, leveraging the protruding rocks and mountain walls hiding left and right, in a moment has already descended the mountain by a small path.
"Bastard! Beast! Don't escape! Come claim your death!"
Jian Jia was outraged, shouting at the boy's back, somersaulted down the cliff, lifting her energy and chased several miles.
Yet even with her Foundation Establishment power, at this cliff top, there was no foothold, inconvenient to display, after a while she exhausted her Dao Breath, utterly unable to catch this figure running as if flying upward, could only angrily swing the sword, chopping down the grass, trees, and rocks at the roadside to vent her anger.
"Dog bastard! Dog bastard! You just wait for me! Sooner or later, I'll have you die by my hand!"