Chapter 126: True Gold, Lung Qi
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A furnace cauldron stood upon a three-tiered earthen altar. A beast’s face, embossed upon its body, gaped wide-mouthed; this was the fire gate, within which blazing charcoal burned fiercely.
The charcoal was made from peach-heart wood. Ji Ming had heard that Old Ape had sent it over in advance. The old fellow had certainly been thoughtful.
Inside the cauldron, the alchemical vessel glowed red-hot. It was spherical in shape, formed from two hemispherical halves sealed together.
It was said that, to preserve the medicinal essence and prevent the furnace from exploding, alchemists would smear medicinal clay over the seam where the two halves joined. Such clay was compounded from numerous medicines and was exceedingly expensive.
Now that the Star Lord’s divine thought had already returned to Heaven, Ji Ming had no idea what form the crane’s body inside the vessel had been refined into.
“Fan it properly.”
Ji Ming sat before the altar, a shard of jade from the Yellow Millet Pillow clutched in his hand. He spoke to Spirit Maiden, who was tending the furnace.
“The Star Lord said before leaving that it must be refined for a full nine days.
“Burn the three-inch depth at the bottom of the vessel for three days, the five-inch depth for another three, and the one-inch section beneath the seam for the final three.”
As she worked the fan, Spirit Maiden asked excitedly, “Once it’s finished, big brother, will you be able to elevate the Crane-Control Art into the One-Qi Grand Seizing Hand?”
Ji Ming set down the jade fragment and nodded firmly. “That’s right.
“But the One-Qi Grand Seizing Hand has no further potential for elevation. If I want to go farther along the Dao, I’ll still have to become like Grandmaster and cultivate a divine ability.”
Ji Ming felt that he was becoming a little too greedy. Elevating an art by such a clever shortcut was already an extraordinary stroke of fortune. Could divine abilities be cultivated by shortcuts as well?
Spirit Maiden nodded sensibly. “I heard Sister Susu say that among the four realms of the Golden Core, hardly anyone manages to cultivate a divine ability. Grandmaster truly is amazing.”
“Those who take the first step gain the advantage in every step.”
As he spoke, Ji Ming retrieved the filthy pearl from the quiet chamber and handed it to Spirit Maiden.
“Though this pearl has no spiritual nature, it can still serve as a protective artifact. Refine it a little and use it for the time being.”
Spirit Maiden had contributed greatly in the matter of the Fragrant Crane, and she was also a blood relative of this body. Many personal affairs would have to be entrusted to her in the future.
Ji Ming understood this clearly: the deeper one’s cultivation, the more miscellaneous affairs accumulated. He needed to devote himself to cultivation and could not personally handle everything. Affairs—or, one might say, authority—had to be distributed among others.
He already possessed a killing sword such as the Flowing Plain Sword. His original intention had been to leave the Flying Fire Ruler with her.
But that ruler was connected to the Winged Fire Serpent, one of the Old Celestial Hosts of the Yellow Heaven. Leaving it in her hands might bring disaster rather than fortune.
Spirit Maiden held the pearl as though it were a priceless treasure, stealing glances at Ji Ming from time to time. The adoring light in her eyes could scarcely be suppressed.
“When you grow tired of fanning, have the two boys take over, or go into the cave and borrow a Fire-Regulating Talisman.”
With that, Ji Ming took up the Flowing Plain Sword and left the garden. At present, he needed to go at once to the thousand-year-old plum tree and thank Grandmaster for the gift of the sword.
This time, when he met Grandmaster again in the form of the Golden Lad, her attitude had changed. She was no longer as stern and taciturn as before, and occasionally even exchanged a few lighthearted pleasantries with him, chatting about the trivial matters of daily life.
If, in the past, Grandmaster had merely sought a sense of accomplishment and novelty from the Golden Lad, treating him as a substitute for a disciple, then her present efforts to understand him showed that she had already accepted him in her heart, regarding him as a nephew or junior of the younger generation.
Ji Ming showed nothing on his face, but inwardly he was somewhat overwhelmed by the favor.
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A cultivator who had never truly practiced and endured the bone-deep cold within it could never understand Grandmaster’s achievements. She was a towering mountain, and Ji Ming regarded her as his model.
As they continued talking, the subject naturally turned to cultivation.
“That crane willingly offered its body. Once the cauldron is opened, absorb the strand of spiritual astral energy within it, and you will be able to refine a superior Dao Organ. Your transformation in reverse should be restored.
“Now that you have this art at your side, within the second and third realms, you may not be invincible throughout the Southern Lands, but you certainly cannot be considered weak.”
Ji Ming humbly sought instruction. “If I succeed in reversing the cultivation, then absorb that strand of astral energy afterward, would it allow me to raise this art to an even higher level?”
Ji Ming’s fanciful notion left Grandmaster deep in thought for quite some time. It was indeed something rarely seen in all of history.
“Though the Crane-Control Art has no potential to become a divine ability, it is still one of the most renowned secret arts of Peaceful Mountain. The art it produces depends first upon astral energy, and afterward upon the subtleties of seizing and restraining.
“Astral energy is fierce and violent beyond compare, while seizing depends upon softness and dexterity. To control such violent astral energy through techniques of softness and skill—what could then be beyond one’s grasp? What enemy could not be subdued?”
Ji Ming remained unmoved at these words. At the very least, he could not seize Grandmaster’s golden vase.
“The highest form of astral energy is innate and acquired astral energy.”
At this sentence, his spirits lifted. In this world, anything touched by the word “Heaven” was extraordinary.
Since the creation of Heaven and Earth, the roots of innate substances had long since been severed. Only a few breaths of innate astral energy remained in existence, all belonging to great virtuous beings and mighty experts. Only acquired astral energy could still be created and refined.
“If, just as you are about to complete the reverse cultivation, you inhale that strand of spiritual astral energy, then you will gain two transformations: the elevation of the reversed art and the elevation of the Dao Organ. Perhaps you may obtain a trace of acquired astral energy.”
At this point, Grandmaster suddenly laughed.
“Elevating an art is a transformation as wondrous as turning stone into gold or water into oil. For an ordinary person to experience it once would already be Heaven’s favor. To experience it twice at the same time might bring about a great change—or perhaps no change at all.
“But if you truly manage to refine a breath of acquired astral energy and use it to achieve the One-Qi Grand Seizing Hand, then among all the prodigies and monsters of genius throughout the thirty-six regions, you would still have a place of your own.”
Grandmaster’s words set Ji Ming’s heart ablaze, though he felt she had said almost as much as she had left unsaid. Still, he could tell that she was subtly encouraging him to put the idea into practice.
“Grandmaster, please enlighten me,” Ji Ming said.
“Whether it succeeds or fails, you will know only after trying.
“Remember: there was originally no road beneath Heaven. It became a road because someone walked it. Sometimes the outcome is not important. What truly matters is the experience itself—that is the real gold.”
After hearing this, Ji Ming understood. He immediately took his leave and returned to the garden with the Flowing Plain Sword on his back.
Nine full days passed, and the opening of the furnace was at hand. Within the fire mouth of the cauldron, a great wind howled wildly. It was neither the wind of Heaven nor the wind of the underworld, but wind accompanied by astral energy.
Inside the furnace mouth, the alchemical vessel glowed scarlet, creaking and scraping as though something incomparably hard were grinding against its interior.
“The time has come.”
The two boys stood beside the furnace cauldron, holding fire-urging fans as they spoke in unison.
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Ji Ming put on an expression of calm and gave a slight nod. His vital force shot forth, opening the iron lid of the furnace cauldron from a distance. The red-hot alchemical vessel burst out whole, trailing a surge of fiery heat.
“Careful!” Spirit Maiden shouted as she watched the vessel fly out. “Astral energy belongs to the Three Heavens. It is trying to return to Heaven.”
“Return!”
Ji Ming gave a low shout. The glowing vessel instantly came to a halt, spinning rapidly in place. Then, carrying an astonishing heat, it prepared to plunge into Ji Ming’s arms.
He circulated his vital force again, capturing the vessel and suspending it before him. After giving Spirit Maiden and the two boys a few instructions, he carried the vessel back to his quarters.
Inside, as he watched the vessel gradually cool, Ji Ming could sense the impatient breath of spiritual astral energy within it, ready at any moment to merge with his lungs.
With a single gentle inhalation, he would be able to refine a Cloud-Hand Lung.
His reverse cultivation was now missing only the step of transforming the demon heart back into a human heart. The Crane-Control Art was not like Wei Wulan’s Heavenly Toad Leg, which possessed the potential to become a divine ability, and its difficulty of reverse cultivation was likewise far lower. Yet when it came to transforming the demon heart back into a human heart, Ji Ming still had little idea where to begin.
Ji Ming transformed the White-Bone Heart-Gathering Pearl into a round gray-silver radiance and hung it before him, illuminating his heart.
Within the sphere of light, his heart beat powerfully. From time to time, it sprayed demonic nature throughout his lungs, viscera, bones, and marrow, gradually accumulating the profound crane’s demonic essence within his flesh and blood.
Once enough demonic nature had accumulated, the signs of demonic transformation would shift from hidden to apparent, gradually turning Ji Ming from a human into a profound crane.
Ji Ming had once heard Wei Wulan say that many practitioners of reverse cultivation, after transforming their hearts into demon hearts, became trapped for a long time in the heart’s malign demonic nature and could advance no farther. Thus, they would take the dangerous path, deliberately inducing the transformation and hastening the maturation of the demon heart, just as extreme motion gives birth to stillness and extreme yang gives birth to yin, reversing the process until it became a human heart once more.
Watching the trembling alchemical vessel, Ji Ming felt that this “dangerous path” was not all that dangerous. If anything went wrong, he could simply absorb the spiritual astral energy at any time and dispel the reverse cultivation.
Having made up his mind, Ji Ming gently stroked the cooling vessel with his claws.
“Don’t be anxious. Wait a little longer—just a little longer.”
He gathered his mind and entered meditation, releasing the mind-monkey and indulging the will-horse. The demon heart was no longer restrained. It beat powerfully again and again, discharging an immense quantity of demonic nature.
The internal organs changed first, followed by the bones and meridians, and then the flesh and blood.
Ji Ming’s abdomen swelled and contracted. His muscles alternately tensed and relaxed, while his bones seemed to be forcibly rearranged within his body. His entire neck suddenly stretched long, so long that he could no longer lift his head.
An involuntary crane’s cry escaped his mouth. Wisps of auspicious cloud poured forth and lifted his body into the air.
“This is bad! Even the profound crane’s demonic arts are taking shape!”
Ji Ming panicked. He immediately opened the alchemical vessel, and a stream of diamond-like energy burst from within, rushing into his mouth and nose and flowing directly into his lungs, which had already undergone demonic transformation.
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