Chapter 36: Heaven and Earth Transformation

Due to exhaustion, Ji Yuan unconsciously leaned against the stone table and fell asleep. As he rested, his body stretched like tree branches sprouting in spring; his bones, meridians, and internal organs all extended. Excess spiritual energy, beyond what his body could bear, drifted from him like smoke wisps, bringing Ji Yuan back to a state of comfort.

"Mr. Ji, I've brought the books you requested!"

A faint voice came from outside the courtyard. Half-asleep, Ji Yuan squinted towards the gate.

"Is that Officer Liu? Please come in. I'm a bit tired, so I won't come out to open the door."

Since they were all spirits, any way in was fine. Besides, Ji Yuan felt he had become quite familiar with "Old Liu."

Outside the courtyard, two day patrols and four underworld officers, holding large black umbrellas, exchanged glances. Then, they slowly walked through the gate of Ju'an Pavilion. The City God himself had decreed that no underworld officers in this county were to disturb the tranquility of Ju'an Pavilion and must show respect to its master.

Ji Yuan sat up, watching the numerous underworld officers enter the small courtyard. So many had come!

Looking at the sun in the sky, the two day patrols must have had some innate ability, while the others probably relied on those large umbrellas.

The four underworld officers behind, under the umbrellas, each carried a bamboo chest on their backs. As they entered, the courtyard became noticeably colder.

"Mr. Ji, these are the books the City God ordered us to bring. Where would you like us to put them?"

Ji Yuan, a little impatient, pointed to the side of the stone table.

"Just put them here."

But these chests and books had passed through the door with the underworld officers. Could they be insubstantial?

Fortunately, Ji Yuan's worries proved unfounded. The four underworld officers unslung the chests from their backs, and the two day patrols reached under the umbrella canopy, took hold of the chests, and gently placed them by the table.

Ji Yuan could hear the thud of the chests as they touched the ground—a sound only real objects could make. He figured it must have been some kind of spiritual transportation method, similar to the ghost-carrying legends of his past life.

"Mr. Ji, the books have been delivered. We shall take our leave!"

"Ah, alright. Thank you all!"

Ji Yuan shifted his attention from the books and cupped his hands to the underworld officers as a gesture of courtesy. They, of course, returned the gesture without delay, then passed through the gate and exited.

After all, they were spirits, and even if they were human, Ji Yuan had no intention of politely asking them to stay.

Once all the underworld officers had left, Ji Yuan relaxed and looked at the four chests of books. He immediately went over and lifted one onto the stone table.

It felt slightly heavy when he picked it up, but Ji Yuan had a feeling it wasn't heavy enough. Such a large bamboo chest, if filled with books, should have been quite heavy.

Opening the chest, his blurry vision didn't reveal the stacks of books he'd imagined, but rather some cylindrical objects.

He reached out and touched one, and an idea formed in his mind.

'Bamboo slips!'

Ji Yuan took out one set of bamboo slips, weighed it in his hand, and then slowly unrolled it.

'The old City God is truly thoughtful!'

Unlike ordinary books written with brushes, the text on these bamboo slips was all carved. Ji Yuan could naturally "read" the content by gently tracing his finger over the slips.

Whether the old City God had intended it or not, Ji Yuan felt indebted.

'It seems I won't need to find someone to help after all!'

...

It was already deep into the night, but Ji Yuan felt wide awake.

As someone whose vision was almost the same day or night, he naturally didn't need to light a candle. From the afternoon until now, Ji Yuan had been "reading" in the courtyard.

Sometimes he held the bamboo slips, and sometimes he spread them out on the stone table, meticulously tracing each character with his index finger.

The carvings on the bamboo slips were very fine and small, allowing each slip to contain many characters. Ji Yuan read them slowly and carefully.

The content was a field Ji Yuan had never encountered before, something that would make any young person from a technological era extremely envious.

Ji Yuan was practically beside himself with excitement.

'Damn, I really am a genius! My comprehension is incredible!'

Ji Yuan found that he could understand even the obscure and difficult language.

When the green spiritual energy he had absorbed previously surged through his body, Ji Yuan had clearly perceived all the so-called meridians and acupoints. All he lacked were their names and a full understanding, which he could now learn from the books.

Ji Yuan read very slowly, not wanting to misunderstand anything. When he reached a later section, he would constantly flip back to earlier parts to integrate and comprehend.

Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, the Eight Directions and Six Harmonies—feeling the spiritual vitality of mountains, rivers, lakes, and all creation, drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, cleansing oneself to cultivate immortality!

The book Ji Yuan held was a "Qi Guiding Art," very simply named and indeed quite common. In the cultivation world, it was considered a very basic foundational cultivation technique. There were many other similar types, including more specialized and advanced ones for Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements.

Yet, for ordinary people and even worldly nobility, it remained an unattainable, miraculous, and divine text.

For Ji Yuan, it was the most precious treasure, his primer for entering the path of cultivation!

Since he had come to this world, who wouldn't want to be extraordinary, who wouldn't want to live forever?

'So the inner landscape of mountains and rivers I saw in the inn the first time wasn't because I was so special, but rather an anomaly that those first introducing spiritual energy might see.'

The inner scenes people witnessed varied; some saw meridians like rivers, others saw blazing fires, related to both their innate talent and their state of mind.

Not many could perceive such inner anomalies, and those who did were often highly regarded by their masters and had greater expectations placed upon them. While not absolute, the achievements of such individuals were often more promising.

'I really am a genius!'

Ji Yuan couldn't help but smile at this, but his smile faded a few seconds later because the book stated that the purer the vision, the better. For instance, seeing pure white snow or blazing fires was excellent, while a more chaotic or mixed vision was less auspicious.

Ji Yuan thought for a moment: he seemed to have seen beautiful landscapes of heaven and earth, mountains and rivers—that was mixed beyond imagination, wasn't it?

Never mind, don't think about it!

After studying the Qi Guiding Art well into the night, Ji Yuan had almost fully grasped its content. Besides a scroll summarizing common magical techniques and containing a few minor spells, there were no other cultivation-related books in the chests. The remaining bamboo slips contained martial arts manuals and Go diagrams.

"Let's try it!"

Murmuring to himself, Ji Yuan straightened his posture on the stone stool, relaxing his body and mind.

There was a grand universe outside and a small universe within the body. Every subtle meridian, acupoint, and organ in the human body corresponded to the profound mysteries of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and the stars of heaven. True cultivation was about perceiving the vastness of heaven and earth and grasping the power of the Great Dao and the universe.

Ji Yuan exhaled softly and inhaled slowly. His breath entered his chest and abdomen, circulating within and extending to his limbs and bones. His consciousness, ethereal and fleeting, seemed to flow with his breath inside his body, then spread outwards with his exhalation, diffusing across the vast expanse of the surrounding world, allowing him to sense the vibrant spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

The secret technique of the Qi Guiding Art—Heaven and Earth Transformation!

Regardless of the cultivation method, whether in an immortal mansion or an ordinary wilderness, countless individuals, young and old, yearning for eternal life, got stuck at this very first stage!

Yet, Ji Yuan, without even realizing it, gradually entered a state of ease, feeling no difficulty at all with this stage.

Ji Yuan felt that the sensation at this moment was very similar to the miraculous feeling of first drawing spiritual energy into his body. The difference was that the infinitely expanding body and world he experienced then were internal landscapes, whereas now, the diffusion of his consciousness was a transformation into the real scene.

It was as if something was both present and absent, ubiquitous. The spiritual energy, in its free-floating state throughout heaven and earth, could be "seen" by Ji Yuan.

It was as if, with a thought, he had transformed into a magnet. Spiritual energy, scattered like stars, was attracted and gathered, eventually congregating around Ji Yuan and seeping into his body through his skin.

There was no numbness, no itching, no soreness. Like spring rain falling on the earth, nourishing all things silently, it brought Ji Yuan only comfort and freshness.

The amount was not as great as when he had used his self-named "Holding the Piece" method to draw in qi, but it was exceptionally comfortable and perfectly aligned, even purer. Ji Yuan vaguely felt that this was the true path to absorbing spiritual energy!

However, the existence of Ji Yuan's self-named "Holding the Piece" method still gave him the confidence to boost his cultivation efficiency.