Chapter 15: Midstage Qi Guidance

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is absorbed into the body. In its initial form, it exists as a mixed gas state, utterly chaotic.
When this chaotic spiritual energy enters the body in the form of countless threads, it signifies the early stage of Qi guidance.
When these thread-like energies gather together to form larger “threads,” it marks the midstage of Qi guidance.
Qu Yi looked inward at his body and noticed that the adjacent “thread”-like energies were merging into one, indicating that he had reached the midstage of Qi guidance, with his energy level once again increasing.
“Haha, I, Qu Yi, am truly lucky! In less than three months, I’ve reached the midstage of Qi guidance. If others knew this, they’d be shocked to death!” Qu Yi said proudly to himself.
Generally, it takes a year to progress from a natural constitution to the early stage of Qi guidance, and another three years to advance from there to the midstage. Yet Qu Yi reached the midstage in just three months—a speed that’s truly astonishing.
This can only be attributed to his good fortune: he possessed the Dimensional Ball inhabited by a Weapon God, had access to the “Five Energies and Three Flowers” technique, and consumed the Purple-Stem Multicolored Lotus. As a result, he could practice all five elements’ techniques simultaneously. Such speed would be impossible otherwise.
Qu Yi looked inward again to check the flow of true energy in his dantian and was once more surprised. If the spiritual energy threads were counted in the tens of thousands, then now, at the midstage of Qi guidance, those tens of thousands of threads had condensed into thirty thousand. This level of concentration tripled the energy intensity compared to others at the same stage, and in terms of energy capacity, it could rival those at the later stage of Qi guidance.
In terms of sheer energy, Qu Yi was already on par with those at the later stage.
The next moment, Qu Yi’s consciousness entered his soul and directly faced the Dimensional Ball.
The “Five Energies and Three Flowers” technique card continued to rotate around the Dimensional Ball.
“Weapon God, I have good news—I’ve reached the midstage of Qi guidance!” Qu Yi’s consciousness took the form of a human-shaped shadow in his soul, fluttering excitedly as he shouted.
“Stop it. Just reaching the midstage and you’re already so happy? You really lack ambition,” the Weapon God replied, instead of offering praise as expected.
The shadow became chaotic, deeply shaken. After reforming, it said, “Weapon God, if you praise me, you’ll die! It’s the first time I’ve brought you good news, and you dampen my spirits. I won’t tell you any more good news in the future.”

The inch-sized sphere emitted a flash of green light, followed by loud laughter: “Qu Yi, you little rascal! Just say it straight—do you want to tell me this good news and also ask me to do something for you?”
The phantom spun to stabilize its emotions before speaking, “God of Tools, you’re truly clever. Alright, I’ll be direct. You call yourself the God of Tools and claim to be the best at crafting in all realms. I’d like to ask if you could teach me array formations and crafting techniques?”
“Get lost! You’re too greedy. Fine, I won’t discourage you anymore. Let me put it this way: I will definitely teach you my skills. Once you reach the early stage of Foundation Building, I’ll start teaching you array formations. As for crafting techniques, since you don’t even have true fire, what’s the point of teaching them to you? I’ll teach you when the time is right.” The God of Tools spoke frankly.
The phantom became excited, dissolving into thousands of pieces before reassembling into a human shape, finally calming down.
“Alright, Qu Yi, your soul is still too weak. Even a slight excitement causes this human-shaped phantom to disintegrate. Keep practicing diligently,” the God of Tools advised in an elderly tone.
“Understood, God of Tools. Don’t worry; Foundation Building won’t be long.” With that, the human-shaped phantom vanished.
At that moment, the inch-sized sphere where the God of Tools resided stopped pulsing, and the God of Tools spoke to himself, “This Xia Hou Si is truly a genius. He conceived the Five Qi and Three Flowers, encapsulating all the mysteries of the Five Elements’ primal laws. But Xia Hou Si doesn’t realize that after mastering these primal laws, his body will possess them all. He doesn’t know how to continue practicing once he ascends to the Divine Realm, as he himself is only at the Divine General level. Sigh, I chose these Three Qi and Three Flowers for him without his knowledge—whether it’s a blessing or a curse depends on Qu Yi’s opportunities.”
It turned out that the “Five Qi and Three Flowers” technique was incomplete.
Of course, Qu Yi was unaware of this. All he knew was that this technique was the most suitable for him, as his special body could only practice five types of techniques simultaneously. The “Five Qi and Three Flowers” perfectly resolved the conflict between these techniques, preventing energy collisions within his body and eliminating such concerns.
After leaving the Sea of Souls, Qu Yi immediately sat in seclusion and began practicing the “Silent Breath Technique.”
Cultivators naturally emit fluctuations of true energy, revealing their cultivation level. But most cultivators don’t want their strength exposed, so they practice techniques to suppress these fluctuations within their bodies.

“The Secret of Silent Breath” is a qi-concentrating technique recorded in “Five Elements and Three Flowers.” It seems that Xia Hou Si anticipated such a situation; in addition to the five-element techniques and various powerful spells, he also left behind special qi-concentrating formulas so that those who obtained “Five Elements and Three Flowers” could conceal their aura at any time and keep their strength secret.

Inside the dantian, the true qi of the five elements forms a vortex that spins extremely fast. The metal energy from the lungs, once it enters the dantian, is immediately drawn into the vortex without spilling out. Similarly, the wood energy from the liver, the water energy from the kidneys, the fire energy from the heart, and the earth energy from the spleen all enter the dantian and end up in the vortex as well, without leaking out.

The natural spiritual energy from the outside world also enters the dantian and is immediately consumed by the vortex, transforming into the true qi of the five elements.

With no true qi leaking out internally and all external spiritual energy absorbed, Qu Yi’s body becomes like a statue—completely lifeless, with his aura completely concealed.

“The five elements of heaven and earth, the internal world—aura concealed, silent and unseen!” Qu Yi opened his eyes and said in a low voice.

This is the mystery of “The Secret of Silent Breath”: it’s an excellent technique for hiding one’s strength and lying in wait.

……

Behind Xianyun Hall, on Zhuiyun Peak, there stands a magnificent pavilion—Zhuiyun Tower. The sect leader, Huai Qing, lives in Zhuiyun Tower and practices there most of the time.

At this moment, Huai Qing opened his eyes wide, expanding his spiritual awareness to cover the entire Zhuiyun Peak, allowing him to directly observe the training progress of each disciple there.

“Hmm, Qu Yi… How did he reach the early stage of Qi Guidance so quickly?” Huai Qing exclaimed in surprise.

After three months of quiet cultivation, this was the first time Huai Qing had checked on the situation on the peak, and he discovered something unexpected—Qu Yi, whom he thought would progress very slowly, had already reached the early stage of Qi Guidance.

“Man Er, go and bring Qu Yi here,” Huai Qing immediately sent a secret message to Bai Man, who was resting in bed.

Originally, Huai Qing intended to assign this task to De Quan, but he was too eager to learn about Qu Yi’s progress. Rather than having De Quan fly over to summon him, he decided it would be faster for Bai Man to take the Golden Crown Heron to bring Qu Yi here.

Bai Man had been worried. Ever since Qu Yi declared in front of Mu Qiushui that she was the prettiest woman in the Xianyun Sect, she had wanted to go see him, but she felt inexplicably uneasy. Over the past month, she hadn’t even visited Tingfeng Residence once.

Suddenly, Huai Qing’s voice came through. Bai Man was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. This was an order from her father—she was to go find Qu Yi. At last, she had a reason.

“Yes!” Bai Man replied softly, then called for the Golden Crowned Heron.
……
“Qu Yi, you’re out now. Your senior sister has come to see you.”
Outside Tingfeng Residence, before the Golden Crowned Heron even landed, Bai Man shouted loudly. She didn’t care whether Qu Yi was in the midst of cultivation or not and called out directly. If Qu Yi happened to be at a critical moment, he might be disturbed, causing him to spit out some blood.
Bai Man’s eagerness to see Qu Yi was clearly evident.
Fortunately, Qu Yi was in a meditative state and woke up immediately upon hearing her voice.
“Senior sister, you’re here! A warm welcome!” Qu Yi said loudly as he opened the door.
Bai Man stood there, looking at Qu Yi. She noticed that his demeanor had changed—he seemed more composed and even handsomer.
“Ah… Why am I observing his appearance?” Bai Man’s face turned red as her heart pounded. Such a thought crossed her mind.
Gugu!
Seeing that Bai Man remained silent, the Golden Crowned Heron reminded her.
“Oh, Qu Yi, your father wants you to go over. I’m here to pick you up,” Bai Man called out hurriedly, looking a bit flustered.
“Okay, I’ll go with my senior sister to see our master,” Qu Yi said with a smile as he ran over and stood beside Bai Man.
Bai Man glanced at Qu Yi, quickly turned away, and hurriedly climbed onto the Golden Crowned Heron, remaining silent. Qu Yi didn’t know the reason and didn’t dare ask too much. He then climbed onto the heron’s back as well.
After a while, the Golden Crowned Heron brought the two of them to the front of Zuiyun Tower.
“Qu Yi, go in by yourself,” Bai Man said softly, her face red.
Earlier, while on the heron’s back, Bai Man had been breathing in Qu Yi’s masculine scent, which had left her restless and distracted, making her speech a bit unsteady.
Qu Yi gave Bai Man a strange look, shook his head, and then entered Zuiyun Tower as instructed.
A moment later, Qu Yi saw Huai Qing.
“Master, your disciple has arrived,” Qu Yi said uprightly.
Huai Qing examined Qu Yi for a while, confirming that he had indeed reached the early stage of Qi Guidance, and that it was a metal-based cultivation method.
“Disciple, how did you reach the early stage of Qi Guidance?” Huai Qing asked intently.
Qu Yi was surprised for a moment before calming down. He thought to himself that the Artifact God was truly foresighted—having him finish cultivating the “Wuxi Jue” first, then make changes to hide the four types of true qi—wood, water, fire, and earth—while only revealing the metal true qi, with its fluctuations limited to the early stage of Qi Guidance, so as to conceal his true strength.

The Interest-Free Art can suppress all fluctuations of vital energy; of course, it can also suppress some of them. In this way, Qu Yi, who was at the intermediate stage of Qi Guidance, was able to deceive Huai Qing and hide his true strength. If Huai Qing learned that Qu Yi had reached the intermediate stage of Qi Guidance in just three months, it would be extremely dangerous. Even though he was his master, possessing a heaven-defying cultivation method still meant he might face persecution. After all, due to the matter with the Jade Sword, Huai Qing had already used the Soul Star-Picking Technique to erase Qu Yi’s memories. This time, if Huai Qing learned about the Dimension Ball and The Five Energies and Three Flowers, it was hard to guarantee he wouldn’t become covetous.