Chapter 20: Late Stage of Qi Guidance

“Qu Yi, about a hundred miles ahead, there’s a mountain covered in red flowers. At the foot of the mountain, there’s a hidden cave containing a spiritual spring. Go there—it’s time to advance to the late stage of Qi guidance.”
The Artifact God had been inside Qu Yi’s body, guiding his cultivation. It sensed that the gathered true qi was showing signs of gathering again, indicating that the breakthrough to the late stage of Qi guidance was imminent.
Although the Artifact God’s soul was incredibly powerful, due to the confined space of its dwelling sphere, its sensing range was equivalent to that of a Golden Core stage being—just two levels higher than Qu Yi’s.
A range of five hundred miles was the maximum sensing distance for a Golden Core stage being. At this point, the Artifact God detected a spiritual spring about a hundred miles ahead.
Hearing this, Qu Yi was overjoyed. He had just wanted to ask if there was a safe place for meditation when the Artifact God anticipated his needs and informed him first.
“Senior sister, call down the Golden Crested Egret. Let’s release this Iron Ox Beast,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
A hundred miles away, the Iron Ox Beast was no longer suitable; it was more convenient to ride the Golden Crested Egret.
After spending three months with Qu Yi, Bai Man had become familiar with his personality. Hearing his words, she knew the situation was urgent. Without responding, she simply waved her hand in the air.
The Golden Crested Egret uttered a cooing sound, and its massive body descended.
The mountain spanned ten miles, reaching five kilometers in height. The entire mountain was covered with trees bearing red leaves, and those trees were adorned with vibrant pink flowers everywhere. The vast mountain range, with its layers of forests in various colors, was truly magnificent.
At this moment, Qu Yi and Bai Man rode the Golden Crested Egret to the top of the mountain.
“Wow! Junior brother, look! How beautiful these red flowers on the mountain are!” Bai Man exclaimed excitedly.
“Senior sister, you’re far more beautiful than these flowers,” Qu Yi replied sincerely, while patting the Golden Crested Egret to guide it toward the cave at the foot of the mountain.
Bai Man was stunned. Her cheeks turned slightly red, her eyes sparkled with happiness as she smiled contentedly, though she remained quiet.
After a while, the Golden Crested Egret landed at the foot of the mountain.
Qu Yi quickly found the cave—a ten-meter-wide red stone protruded from the ground. Beneath the stone, bright red grass grew thickly, and beyond the grass lay a cave entrance wide enough for a person to pass through.
There was only weak spiritual energy at the entrance, but the Artifact God’s spiritual perception, being extremely powerful, detected that the spiritual energy inside the cave was much denser than the surrounding natural energy.
Qu Yi held his Green Python Sword, channeling true qi as he swung it. Instantly, the cave entrance expanded enough for a person to enter.

“Junior brother, how did you know there was such a cave here?” Bai Man asked in surprise.
Bai Man knew that Qu Yi was only at the initial stage of Qi cultivation, without even a formed spiritual core, let alone the ability to sense spiritual energy. Yet, despite being a hundred miles away, he had arrived here and found this cave filled with spiritual energy.
Qu Yi looked at Bai Man calmly until she grew embarrassed and annoyed. Then he smiled and said, “Senior sister, I have some secrets. If they were revealed, I would immediately be pursued. I hope you can keep them for me.”
Secrets like the Inch Realm Ball and the Five Qi Three Flowers—Qu Yi didn’t want the outside world to know about them.
Bai Man was stunned for a moment before suddenly understanding. Recalling Qu Yi’s constitution with five spiritual roots, she realized why his cultivation speed had been so fast in less than a year—it was because of some secret treasures. Now it made sense.
“Junior brother, don’t worry. I swear on my life that I will never reveal any of your secrets, not even to my father,” Bai Man said immediately.
After three months of close interaction, Bai Man already had a special place in her heart for Qu Yi; she just hadn’t expressed it outright.
Once a woman accepts a man, she will do everything possible to take care of him. Bai Man was even more so, going so far as to swear on her life.
Qu Yi looked at her gratefully, suddenly jumped over, hugged her tightly, and whispered in her ear, “Senior sister, thank you!”
With that, Qu Yi vanished into the cave.
Bai Man shuddered and then ran into the cave, her face red, cursing, “Qu Yi, I’ll twist off your head! How dare you take advantage of me?”
…
Inside the cave, the spiritual energy was dense, with a spiritual spring constantly spraying out fine streams of water.
As Qu Yi entered this one-mile-deep cave, his internal true Qi became active. His entire body, including skin, mouth, and nose, began to absorb spiritual energy. The five cultivation techniques—“Golden Splendor,” “Revival of All Plants,” “Unity of Water and Sky,” “Spreading Flames,” and “Majestic Imperial Land”—immediately accelerated their operation, continuously refining the spiritual energy.
In his dantian, the mixed true Qi became denser. The spiritual energy that kept flowing into his body was continuously refined into mixed true Qi, which then began to coalesce.
Combining, then combining again.
Inside his entire dantian, tremendous changes were taking place. The linear true Qi strands merged into thicker strands, which then merged with other linear true Qi strands.
Throughout the cave, fierce winds howled as all the spiritual energy formed a vortex, with Qu Yi at its center. The spiritual energy kept pouring into his body at high speed. Meanwhile, the spiritual spring in the cave sprayed even more water, faster and faster.

Bai Man pressed herself against the cave wall, staring in astonishment at the scene inside, her eyes filled with confusion.
Was this still just the early stage of Qi cultivation?

A day later, the spiritual energy in the cave became thin, similar to that outside. The spiritual spring also stopped gushing water, as if all the spiritual energy had entered Qu Yi’s body.
“Ah, what a pleasure!”
Qu Yi regained consciousness from his state of stillness and exhaled in delight. His internal vital energy surged strongly. He knew he had entered the later stage of Qi cultivation, his strength having increased once again.

Bai Man had watched for a whole day. Now that Qu Yi had awakened, she immediately jumped out and shouted, “Qu Yi, have you reached the later stage of Qi cultivation? Were you hiding your strength before?”
Her doubts, accumulated over a day, finally made her impatient.

Qu Yi subdued the gleam in his eyes and looked at Bai Man gently, smiling. “Sister, you’re right. I have indeed reached the later stage of Qi cultivation.”
With that, he suddenly drew out the Green Python Sword. As he channeled his vital energy into it, a green python the size of a human leaped out from the blade. The python headed straight for the spiritual spring, followed by a thunderous explosion—as the spring was completely destroyed, sinking five meters deep.

At the later stage of Qi cultivation, one already had enough vital energy to control magical weapons.

Bai Man shook her head, scrutinizing Qu Yi as if he were a monster. Suddenly, she laughed and said, “Qu Yi, I increasingly can’t understand you. How many secrets do you hide?”

Qu Yi sheathed his sword and walked over with a smile. “Sister, now I can tell you that from now on, besides our master, I can also protect you.”

Bai Man was stunned, then her face turned red. Her delicate body trembled with excitement, tears welling in her eyes.

The two stared at each other in silence. Their feelings were deepening…

“Qu Yi, there’s a Golden-Furred Spiritual Ape ahead! Be careful!”
In the air, Bai Man sat on the back of a Golden Crown Heron, observing the surrounding monsters before reporting to Qu Yi.

Although the Weapon God had already informed Qu Yi of the surroundings, hearing Bai Man’s warning still made him cheerfully wave his hand in the air before flying forward swiftly.

Since reaching the later stage of Qi cultivation, Qu Yi had started hunting monsters at the Foundation Establishment stage. Now, six months later, his collection had grown significantly.

The Golden-Furred Spiritual Ape was a monster at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. It was tall and strong, reaching three meters in height, with incredible speed and power—hard to deal with.

Qu Yi didn’t launch a sneak attack. Instead, he flew to ten meters in front of the ape, smiling as he pointed the Green Python Sword at it, signaling it to attack first.

Although the Golden-Furred Spirit Ape still lacked a true spirit, its sense of perception was extremely sharp. Noticing that Qu Yi’s vital energy was only at the later stage of Qi Guidance, it immediately abandoned its caution. Its dark eyes sharpened as it took big steps forward, humming and exhaling breath as it charged straight at Qu Yi.

Qu Yi stood firm, smiling as he watched the enraged Golden-Furred Spirit Ape rush toward him, casually waving his Green Python Sword, creating flashes of sword light.

As the ape got closer, it swung its dark palm at him, with a faint golden glow emanating from the palm. Truly a demon beast at the middle stage of Foundation Building—it had already learned to circulate its vital energy throughout its body.

The palm strike was fierce; being hit would be fatal.

Qu Yi remained calm. Over the past three months, he had slain hundreds of demon beasts at the Foundation Building stage, so he had faced every kind of risk. Seeing the palm strike carrying golden vital energy coming toward him, he didn’t wait for it to get close. His body vanished abruptly, reappearing behind the Golden-Furred Spirit Ape in an instant.

With speed that was like miles turning into inches, Qu Yi’s movement became even faster after reaching the later stage of Qi Guidance.

The Golden-Furred Spirit Ape was terrified. It quickly turned around, trying to swing its palm again.

Too late!

Qu Yi darted forward and drew his sword. In almost an instant, the Green Python Sword pierced through the ape’s back. His continuous vital energy surged, tearing the ape’s body to pieces from within.

The Golden-Furred Spirit Ape struggled to turn around, its eyes wide with fury. It let out a roar before falling to the ground, dead.

“A demon beast at the Foundation Building stage isn’t very challenging. Though it has just begun to develop intelligence, its wisdom is still insufficient,” Qu Yi said, lamenting as he disposed of the ape’s body.

Having killed so many demon beasts at this stage, Qu Yi no longer felt anything—it was as if he were just handling a routine task.

……

In a secluded place in the Misty Demon Mountains.

Liu Qingfeng and Mu Qiushui had finished their joint cultivation. Their clothes were tightly fastened, and their bodies radiated a sense of joyful satisfaction.

“Brother Qingfeng, nine months have passed. Shouldn’t we go look for that kid Qu Yi?” Mu Qiushui asked in a coquettish voice, batting her eyelashes.

Liu Qingfeng looked at the charming girl before him and nodded in approval. “Good. After our joint cultivation, your strength has reached the middle stage of Foundation Building, and I’ve also reached the later stage of perfection. It’s time to go look for that kid.”

Nine months of unrestrained indulgence and joint cultivation had improved their cultivation levels.

“Hmph! This time when we find him, we must tear him apart—only then can I rid myself of my inner demons,” Mu Qiushui said resentfully.

It’s a terrible feeling for a woman, especially a beautiful one, to have a man criticize her appearance in front of another beautiful woman. Mu Qiuwei’s situation was even worse; she had always been praised for her beauty in the Xianyun Sect, but Qu Yi mocked her, and this inner torment grew stronger by the day. If she didn’t get rid of this torment, her cultivation would face many difficulties in the future.
Liu Qingfeng sneered, grabbed Mu Qiuwei, and roughly squeezed her before saying with a smile, “Don’t worry. With me here, he can’t escape. This time, I’ll definitely help you fulfill your wish.”
After a brief pause, the two immediately took off to search for Qu Yi.