Chapter 37: Undefiled Early Cultivation

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

It was still dark, but rooster crows were already echoing, one after another.

Ji Yuan, engrossed in reading in the courtyard of Jù'ān Pavilion, realized that nearly the entire night had passed.

Between the third and fourth watches of the night, Ji Yuan had been practicing the 'Heaven and Earth Transformation' technique from the Spirit Guiding Art, allowing his body to be thoroughly nourished by spiritual energy.

During this process, Ji Yuan also attempted a 'Hand-Held Gathering' of spiritual energy. This time, however, he chose to first disperse all the spiritual energy before absorbing it with the Spirit Guiding Art.

This method led to a higher concentration of spiritual energy in the small courtyard, and while significantly boosting the efficiency of the Spirit Guiding Art, Ji Yuan himself felt no pain or burden.

However, this method ultimately had its limits; or rather, Ji Yuan believed his current body was inherently limited.

By the fourth watch, Ji Yuan could feel that his body's capacity for spiritual energy had reached its limit. The spiritual energy accumulated throughout his body, slowly refining it, though at a very low efficiency.

Ji Yuan felt helpless about this. He only possessed the Spirit Guiding Art and completely lacked any true Qi cultivation method. There was only so much he could do, and this was already significantly better than his previous method of 'Hand-Held Gathering.'

So afterward, he continued reading, picking up another set of bamboo slips related to cultivation.

This set of bamboo slips described various magical arts. Most of its content covered common types of magical arts, such as those related to the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, lightning spells, peculiar curses, illusory arts, and some unique special techniques like dream walking, soul manipulation, and the miraculous 'Spirit Imprisonment.' It also touched upon matters related to the divine path, including incense deities and nature spirits of mountains and rivers.

However, because the book itself spanned only two bamboo scrolls, its content was limited, even with small characters. It provided merely a brief, introductory overview of the various types it mentioned.

At the end, it also recorded a few minor magical arts: two simple illusion techniques, a small fire control spell from the fire element, and a minor water-warding spell from the water element.

These basic magical arts, even without a proper Qi cultivation technique, could be performed by Ji Yuan using his current untempered spiritual energy. However, this only provided the fundamental basis for casting; Ji Yuan still needed to learn and master them, so he couldn't immediately attempt them.

While these bamboo slips contained only foundational knowledge, they opened the door to a truly new world for Ji Yuan, bringing him an unprecedented sense of excitement and anticipation.

At this moment, Ji Yuan felt like the child he once was, pestering his great-uncle and grandfather for stories, filled with yearning for this wondrous world.

Sleep? Apologies, that was completely out of the question!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

This time, the rooster's crow was very close to Jù'ān Pavilion, likely coming from a rooster in a nearby chicken coop.

“Whew—I didn't realize I’d been reading all night!”

A gentle breeze brought Ji Yuan the coolness of early spring. He knew he still had a long way to go, certainly far from being impervious to cold and heat.

The branches of the large jujube tree in the courtyard rustled softly, swaying gracefully with the gentle breeze.

Ji Yuan looked up at the old jujube tree, thinking it would surely be laden with fruit come harvest season.

In this world, unless one reached the level of interacting with immortal abodes, off-season vegetables and fruits were simply not an option. Thus, Ji Yuan eagerly anticipated his own fresh, sweet jujubes.

“You’re the only one who kept me company through a night of reading. Not bad, not bad, I’m not really that lonely!”

Ji Yuan offered himself a small comfort, smiled, gently set down the bamboo slips, and stretched in the courtyard.

Having spent the entire night reading the two most important books, Ji Yuan decided to balance work and rest by rummaging through the remaining book box for other interesting titles.

He set aside the chess classics and manuals, directly searching for the martial arts manuals. Of the remaining ten bamboo scrolls, he found that, apart from one scroll of chess classics and two of chess manuals, the other seven scrolls surprisingly contained only two martial arts manuals.

One was the 'Iron Punishment Battle Post,' a six-scroll manual covering internal cultivation methods and combat techniques; the other was 'Eagle Claw Hand,' which focused only on breathing techniques and specific combat skills.

Ji Yuan had a slight suspicion based on the names, and the descriptions in the manuals confirmed it.

Both martial arts manuals were intended for practitioners like constables and public officials. Based on their self-descriptions, these techniques were not top-secret, but they were certainly not common either; they belonged to the upper-middle tier of martial arts.

Both martial arts were created by a high-ranking yamen official, renowned as the 'Iron Constable of Six States' in his time, who dedicated his life to their development. Their hallmarks were ease of learning, rapid progress, and formidable, vigorous moves. The first half of both manuals was widely circulated among public officials, and many excellent civil servants had studied them.

Naturally, martial arts qualifying as upper-middle tier would not be simple; they were typical 'easy to learn, difficult to master' styles, making it hard for true masters to emerge from them.

Ji Yuan found himself both amused and exasperated.

These two martial arts manuals rambled on about countless topics, far exceeding the content of the two cultivation classics. Yet, in Ji Yuan's eyes, they seemed overly convoluted.

“Well, martial arts!”

He tossed the bamboo slips up and down in his hand. Since there was no better cultivation technique available for now, practicing martial arts to gain some self-preservation skills seemed like a good idea.

***

Days passed, the sun rising and setting. More than half a month went by, during which Ji Yuan lived a leisurely, almost self-oblivious life, engrossed in an experience akin to discovering computer games for the first time in his previous life.

Whenever his body could tolerate spiritual energy, he would use the 'Hand-Held Gathering' method to concentrate it, then guide it with 'Heaven and Earth Transformation.' Afterward, he would practice the two martial arts manuals, and in his leisure, he would study the chess classics and manuals.

In short, apart from going out for meals each day, Ji Yuan lived an even more reclusive life than in his previous existence. As a result, beyond the gradually familiar neighbors in Tianniu Fang, only a handful of people near his usual noodle shop recognized him.

One day, Ji Yuan adjusted his breathing, standing tall and still as a pine tree, his feet slightly lifted on his toes.

He suddenly leaped up, then with light, quick steps, he scaled the jujube tree in the courtyard, reaching the treetop in just a dozen steps. After a graceful backflip, he soared more than three zhang higher.

The entire movement was fluid. Instead of plummeting like a heavy object after reaching the peak, he drew a breath and, like a swallow gracefully descending, quickly and softly landed on a branch of the jujube tree, bending it into an arc with a creaking sound.

He stood steadily on the branch, a breath of True Qi seemingly swaying with the branch and his center of gravity. For a certain period, as long as the True Qi did not disperse, his weight would not break the branch.

'Impressive!'

Ji Yuan couldn't help but exclaim inwardly!

After practicing light martial arts for so long, he had finally achieved this level. Though Ji Yuan had no benchmark for comparison, he felt his martial arts progress was incredibly fast, especially since the arduous training described in the manuals often spanned years.

Ultimately, Ji Yuan's remarkable efficiency in martial arts training stemmed from the spiritual energy.

For mortal martial artists, the transition from Acquired to Innate cultivation was a significant turning point. Martial arts manuals often described the Innate realm in fantastical terms, speaking of perceiving the vastness of heaven and earth and extracting its power to cleanse marrow and purify organs.

From Ji Yuan's perspective, however, the so-called Innate realm simply meant beginning to purify oneself with the aid of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The qualitative change of internal force at the Innate stage could be described as a special True Qi imbued with spiritual energy.

Therefore, for Ji Yuan, setting aside specific martial arts moves, internal cultivation proved remarkably easy to grasp, which also led to significant achievements in light martial arts.

The combat forms, however, were more challenging, as they required extensive practice. Nevertheless, internal cultivation and combat forms complemented each other; rapid advancement in internal cultivation inevitably led to swift improvement in the forms.

The book also contained the saying, 'Once Innate, all arts are understood.' Ji Yuan considered this an exaggeration, but it certainly highlighted the drastic increase in efficiency.

These mundane minor arts, which immortal cultivators would utterly disdain, Ji Yuan pursued with tireless enjoyment.

Dismissing his thoughts, Ji Yuan leaped down from the tree, landing steadily beside the stone table. With a hook of his toes and a straight right leg executing a 'Heaven-Ascending Kick,' a jujube tree branch flew over his head, which Ji Yuan deftly caught.

'Smooth!'

In his previous life, such a move would likely have resulted in a severe injury, but now it felt as simple as drinking water.

Ji Yuan paused to consider, then, using the tree branch to simulate a broad-backed straight saber, began to practice his forms in the courtyard, producing a flurry of 'swooshing' and 'whipping' sounds.