Fire weakens, but wood can ignite its flames

The western mountains are shrouded in mist, and dusk descends.

Outside the Forging Academy in the Melting Gold Valley, in the mortal servant's courtyard.

Watching Meng Lian ride away into the distance, Yan Chen flicked his sleeves, turned around and went back into his room, where he sat cross-legged on the couch.

With a flick of his wrist, he held a large, emerald-green porcelain vase in his palm.

"Water and Fire Vine..."

Yan Chen's eyes were like water. After a moment of contemplation, he gently shook his head and put the item back into his sleeve.

According to Yu Shunan, Director Zheng's own practice of alchemy is unique, and he hopes to use this "examination" to select "alchemy seeds" and pass on the art of alchemy.

Then the problem arises.

If this "Dao of Alchemy" is so precious, then why doesn't Steward Zheng pass it on to the stewards of Danlan Valley, instead of choosing from among the common servants instead of seeking something far away?

Or is the special feature of this "Tao of Alchemy" that it must be practiced from the first level of Qi Refining?

Yan Chen closed his eyes slightly, his Taoist knowledge intertwined with what he had seen and heard, which deepened his understanding of "Dao of Alchemy".

Of all the arts and crafts, alchemy is the foremost, because it is of great benefit to cultivation.

Even cultivators with slightly less talent can greatly increase their chances of breaking through to a higher realm if they can obtain a superior elixir.

However, if one wishes to cultivate the Dao of Alchemy and achieve something, it is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Identifying medicines, taking elixirs, controlling fire, condensing pills... all require years or even decades of painstaking effort.

Putting all that aside, the alchemist's own cultivation level must also be maintained. With both factors combined, the energy consumed is immeasurable, and in the end, it is feared that only one in a hundred will achieve anything.

"Enough! That's not what I meant!"

Yan Chen shook his head, then stopped thinking about it, cleared his mind of distractions, and gradually entered a meditative state.

Before long, the sound of breathing arose, and the room was filled with the scorching heat of the fire, dispelling the chill. Warm light shone through the window.

……

……

Gold and jade flow and circulate, clouds come and go.

Spiritual practice knows no years; two days have passed in a flash.

Inside the room, Yan Chen's eyes were slightly closed, his nostrils flared, and with a faint, almost imperceptible breath, wisps of white, scorching mist stretched and surged from the tip of his nose, swaying and billowing.

The scorching fog was initially quite ethereal, but with each breath, it became extremely dense, like clouds flowing and hanging from the roof beams.

However, not long after, Yan Chen's brows suddenly furrowed.

Immediately afterwards, the breathing rhythm became slightly disordered, and the originally lingering scorching clouds gradually dimmed, resembling only the morning mist in the mountains, which would dissipate in the wind.

A moment later, Yan Chen slowly opened his eyes. The fiery light had completely subsided, leaving only a look of confusion in his eyes.

"Immortal Official, please inquire about the course of my own karma."

Name: Yan Chen

[Realm Level: First Stage of Qi Refining (Twenty Cycles of Qi Circulation)]

[Technique: Crimson Cloud Bright Light Control Technique (Rank 9)]

[Technique: "Tea Stove Brewing Sword Dance and Leaping Song"]

……

Yan Chen's gaze was calm, like a deep pool. He stared at it for only a moment before raising his hand to disperse the causal information.

"Since the last trip to Mount Gumang ended and I obtained the 'Tea Stove Brewing Sword Dance and Leaping Song' technique, only four days have passed, and I have already broken through the cycle of Qi eight times. My cultivation has progressed rapidly and bravely, which is truly beyond my expectations."

"Has it finally hit a bottleneck?"

Yan Chen calmed his mind, closed his eyes and examined his inner self, manipulating the fire element to circulate through his meridians. He could clearly feel a faint resistance hindering the flow of true energy.

However, it is quite different from the "Hulao Pass" that was once an obstacle.

This feeling is more like a problem with the true qi itself, a kind of inexplicable stagnation, like a bone-deep carbuncle, intertwined and entangled with the true qi, impossible to shake off, like bones broken but tendons still connected.

Yan Chen had already noticed this problem during his cultivation two days prior.

At the time, I thought it was just a normal obstacle to the circulation of Qi, and that it could be broken through with a little effort, so I didn't pay too much attention to it.

Unexpectedly, it has now become a major "bottleneck" for him to break through the second level.

Yan Chen thought to himself, if he didn't overcome this hurdle, even if he was only four more cycles of Qi circulation away—

The two levels of Qi Refining remain separated, yet they are still far apart.

This is the drawback of having no one to guide you.

"No wonder Senior Brother Li wasted a year in the first level of Qi Refining and failed to advance to the second level. Now that I think about it, it was definitely not just because of a 'Qi Guiding Technique'."

"Where exactly did things go wrong?"

Yan Chen fell into deep thought.

In the past few days, I have been diligently and steadily cultivating myself, following the methods of my predecessors, without any unconventional or unorthodox practices.

If I'm not at fault, then where exactly did I go wrong?

"Could it be a problem with this 'Tea Stove Brewing Sword Dance and Song' technique?"

Yan Chen's thoughts flashed through his mind, but his expression suddenly turned serious as he pondered deeply in his heart.

The so-called "Qi-guiding technique" is essentially nothing more than relying on one's own true Qi, so that the true Qi can have a special image to a certain extent, in order to temper the physical body and eliminate impurities.

In short, there is no problem with "Tea Stove Boiling Sword Dance and Song".

The problem lies in "true qi".

This "sword," formed from the fire element of the user, must have become somewhat dull after conquering eight strongholds, hence the feeling of sluggishness.

in short.

His "Ninth-Rank Bing Fire Qi" may not be enough to support him in advancing to the second level of Qi Refining.

After another careful examination, Yan Chen became even more certain that his guess was correct.

Therefore, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression softened a little.

On the path of cultivation, obstacles and bottlenecks are commonplace. The real danger lies in the difficulty in identifying the root causes and taking things one way or another. In the end, these problems accumulate to the point of no return, and it is too late for regrets!

Now that we've identified the problem, we can start looking for ways to solve it.

If your true qi is weak, the most direct way to deal with it is to improve its grade.

The "Crimson Glow Bright Light Control Technique" that Yan Chen cultivates is a clan-inherited technique of the Shangyang Yan Clan, ranking as the ninth grade.

With his current mortal body, it is utterly wishful thinking for him to cultivate higher-level techniques.

As for promoting the grade of cultivation techniques, whether it is feasible or not is another matter. Even if it is feasible, it is not something he can do at present.

Since this approach was not feasible, Yan Chen began to consider other countermeasures.

With his mind racing, a sudden inspiration flashed through Yan Chen's mind.

But then the scene of him giving his teachings in front of Yanxuan Hall that day appeared in his mind.

"Combined understanding of 'Yin Yang and the Five Elements,' with a unique emphasis on 'mutual generation of two elements'...mutual generation!?"

Yan Chen suddenly stood up, muttering to himself:

"The Qi flows continuously, mutually generating and nourishing each other, thus earth generates metal, metal generates water, water generates wood, wood generates fire... Could it be that we need to cultivate another wood-type technique?"

"The Azure Primordial Brightness Elixir Manual!?"

With this thought in mind, Yan Chen raised his hand and took out the porcelain bottle, Meng's words surfacing in his mind.

"It generates Wu Earth, contains Bing Fire within, favors Gui Water, yet belongs to the category of Jia Wood..."

"Such a peculiar spiritual seed, can we, with our mere first level of Qi Refining, truly cultivate it?"

"Deacon Wang and Deacon Meng seem to have a good relationship; perhaps he knows the inside story."

Thinking of this, Yan Chen's eyes flickered, shimmering with golden light.

"Imperial Official, please inquire within three days regarding the whereabouts of Wang Fu, a disciple of the Melting Gold Valley, and his karmic connections."

After doing all this.

He frowned again, carefully examining the porcelain vase before him. After a moment of contemplation, he seemed to realize something and immediately put it back into his sleeve.

However, in the blink of an eye, he was holding two other porcelain bottles.

When Yan Chen fulfilled that opportunity at Xiangzhi Forest, in addition to the money, he also took out three porcelain bottles from the belly of the fish.

One of them was a Qi-regulating pill, which was swallowed when the "meridian was opened and the vital essence was revealed".

Now, these are the other two porcelain vases.

"At that time, I had not yet refined my Qi, so I did not understand why."

"Looking at it now, these two bottles of spiritual liquid clearly contain a trace of Gui water energy and a trace of Jia wood energy..."

Yan Chen smiled slightly.

"As the saying goes, 'When fire weakens, it needs wood to ignite a blazing fire,' this thing is perfectly suited for my use!"

……