Ninth In the World

After Geng Jihua left, Di Jiu immediately closed the door and started to heal his meridians.

Although he was a level-four Array Great-Master, he only possessed theoretical knowledge. He had no practical skills, which meant that he had yet to really set a Dharma Array. This, in combination with the fact that he had lost the capability to do so, meant that he had to close the door before doing anything else.

As the Major Conduit Internal Records started to complete a Qi Circulation, Di Jiu felt the healing speed of his meridians increase.

At this recovery rate, it would take him at most two more days before he recovered completely.

Two hours later, as the Quintessential Essence started to fill up his dantian, Di Jiu suddenly remembered that he had obtained the Major Conduit Internal Records while he had been on Earth. The Galaxy Sect was a real cultivation sect, so perhaps the effect of the Galaxy Art would be better than that of the Major Conduit Internal Records.

Both the Galaxy Art and the Major Conduit Internal Records were Qi Refinement realm cultivation techniques. While Di Jiu could not find the subsequent cultivation techniques of the Major Conduit Internal Records, the Galaxy Sect would definitely know all about the Galaxy Art. Thus, so long as he managed to reach a higher cultivation realm, he would get the opportunity to obtain those subsequent cultivation techniques.

If he could do that, then why keep cultivating by using the Major Conduit Internal Records? Di Jiu quickly stopped cultivating and took out the Galaxy Art.

“Stars exist in the universe. Among the chaos a river is created. The revolution of the galaxy helps the body upgrade… Cultivators who cultivate the Galaxy Art experience the interlocking of the five elements and a nine-side reversion before they transform into immortals. The Dao of the galaxy is split into three paths. The first path opens the spirit meridian, the second path opens the acupoint meridian, and the third path opens the galaxy meridian…”

When he read the first chapter of the Galaxy Art, Di Jiu was dumbfounded. Although he understood what it was talking about, he had not expected that there would be three ways to cultivate the Galaxy Art.

The most conventional cultivation method was opening a spirit meridian, which resulted in the absorption of the Spirit Qi and the completion of a Qi Circulation. The Spirit Qi in the meridian was then transformed into a Qi Circulation. After a Qi Circulation, the Spirit Qi absorbed would help along one’s cultivation.

It seemed like Di Jiu would have to attend the lesson the next day. Otherwise, he would not even be able to understand the first chapter.

He had to give this a try.

The method Di Jiu was familiar with was naturally the first one: opening the spirit meridian. After following the Qi Channeling method stated on the Galaxy Art, he started to absorb Spirit Qi and complete Qi Circulations.

Di Jiu was stunned. The Spirit Qi he absorbed was incompatible with the Major Conduit Internal Records. To be more specific, the Spirit Qi he absorbed and the Quintessential Essence converted by using the Major Conduit Internal Records were like oil and water. Not even a Qi Circulation could be completed before it was stuck in the meridian.

Di Jiu attempted to forcefully push through the place where it was stuck, when he suddenly felt excruciating pain. It felt as if his Spiritual Sea and all his meridians were being ripped to pieces once again. The pain was unbearable.

After only one try, a sheen of sweat started to appear on his forehead.

Di Jiu’s heart sank. He suspected that even if he were to inform the teaching Elder, he might not be able to resolve this issue. Plus, he could not inform the Elder. He was already at the seventh-stage Qi Refinement realm, so if he told the Elder, he would be admitting that he had cultivated before.

The issue was not that he had cultivated before, but rather that the sect would check his background. How could the sect investigate him when he had no background?

He would have kept cultivating the Major Conduit Internal Records if there had been any subsequent cultivation techniques, but that was unfortunately not the case. Besides, he could sense that when he absorbed the Spirit Qi and cultivated the Galaxy Art, things would be significantly better than when he cultivated using the Major Conduit Internal Records.

Unwilling to give up, Di Jiu circulated the Galaxy Art once again. When he was done, he attempted to activate the gray stone in his Spiritual Sea.

Almost as soon as his Spiritual Force came into contact with the gray stone, the Qi Circulation of the Galaxy Art seemed to find an outlet. The Qi Circulation rushed into the gray stone instantly and exited it before entering a new meridian. This was a complete Qi Circulation.

Boom! Di Jiu felt his body vibrate. An indistinct small river appeared as soon as he completed the Qi Circulation.

This was not right. This was not a river, as there was no river water inside. It seemed more like a miniature version of an illusionary galaxy.

Di Jiu had never heard of a miniature version of the galaxy appearing in one’s body while cultivating before.

However, his cultivation knowledge was very limited, so all he cared about was being able to cultivate. Plus, he had regained the ability to cultivate and his Spirit Qi absorption speed was now way faster.

After the circulation of the Galaxy Art, he felt his meridian start to expand. No matter how much Spirit Qi was absorbed, it was far too little for the miniature version of the galaxy in his Qi Circulation.

After a few Qi Circulations, Di Jiu’s injured meridians were completely healed. It took less than two hours for his injuries to completely disappear.

Di Jiu was extremely pleased. The Galaxy Art was way more powerful than the Major Conduit Internal Records.

He was currently at the seventh-stage Qi Refinement realm, but given his cultivation speed, it would not be long before he broke through to the eighth-stage Qi Refinement realm. However, he soon realized that he had been too naive. After the completion of the Galaxy Art Qi Circulation and the continuous absorption of the Spirit Qi, he did not break through to the eighth-stage Qi Refinement realm. Instead, his cultivation level dropped below the seventh-stage Qi Refinement realm and reached the sixth-stage Qi Refinement realm.

This was only the beginning. His cultivation level continued to drop.

What was going on? Panicked, Di Jiu quickly stopped cultivating. He immediately sensed a dense surging aura within his reach.

Although he was not familiar with the Cultivation World, he knew that his cultivation level had dropped. Meanwhile, his strength had increased exponentially.

Di Jiu cultivated the Galaxy Art. While he communicated with the gray stone during the Qi Circulation, the illusionary shadow of a galaxy formed in his body. The Spirit Qi absorbed through that illusionary galaxy started to compress his original Quintessential Essence. The compression of his Quintessential Essence naturally caused his cultivation to decrease.

Meanwhile, the quality of his Essence Energy improved, which made his strength increase.

Di Jiu let out a long breath. This was probably a huge secret that should not be exposed. However, it seemed like he would still have to attend tomorrow’s lesson. In any case, his injuries had all fully healed sooner than he had expected.

There was still some time left before dawn, so Di Jiu, who had no intention of wasting a single moment, went back to cultivating, absorbing Spirit Qi and compressing his Quintessential Essence.

…..

The night passed quickly. Di Jiu, who was engrossed in cultivation, did not wake up.

At the first light of dawn, Geng Jihua was already standing outside his door. When he saw that the door was shut, he rubbed his head and muttered, “He’s not awake yet. I’ll head over first.”

Di Jiu had warned him not to disturb him while he was resting.

The Imparting Dao Hall was located on one of the mountain peaks at the outermost region. This mountain peak was also known as the Galaxy Imparting Dao Peak.

Geng Jihua lived at the border of the area where the outer sect disciples stayed, so the distance to the Imparting Dao Peak was very long. Even though he had woken up very early, it still took him an hour to reach the Galaxy Imparting Dao Peak. By the time he entered the hall, the Imparting Dao Peak was packed with people.

No seats were left, so Geng Jihua had to stand at the back. Fortunately, he was tall, so he was still able to see clearly despite the fact that he was standing.

Most of the hall was filled with new disciples who were chatting among themselves and introducing their backgrounds and origins.

One hour later, a cultivator wearing a black robe walked into the hall. The noise in the Imparting Dao Hall suddenly disappeared, as if it had been switched off.

The black-robed man walked onto the Imparting Dao platform. He did not give an opening speech. Instead, he said directly, “The Galaxy Art is the cultivation technique of my sect. Although the Galaxy Sect is a second-rate sect in the Polar Night Continent, the Galaxy Art is the best cultivation technique in the entire continent. It is easy to gain a rudimentary mastery of the Galaxy Art. You only need a Spirit Root to be able to cultivate it.”

“However, the Galaxy Art is also the most difficult technique to cultivate. No other cultivation technique has three cultivation methods. If you first start to cultivate the Galaxy Art and choose one of those methods, you will have to stick with that method forever. Today, I will be talking about those three different methods and explaining their differences.”

The Imparting Dao Hall was completely silent. Everyone was quietly listening to the black-robed man’s perspective.

Every outer sect disciple had seen the Galaxy Art before, so they all knew that there were three cultivation methods. Although the black-robed man did not say this explicitly, everyone could guess that choosing a method would affect their future significantly.

“The first method, which is opening the spirit meridian, is the simplest. Just like any ordinary cultivation technique, it involves Spirit Qi absorption, while the completion of Qi Circulations is done through the spiritual links. This is also the method over 90 percent of sect members, myself included, tend to choose. The second method is opening the acupoint meridian. This is a method executed by opening one’s acupoint. When a Qi Circulation is completed, the Spirit Qi will swim into the acupoint. This method allows the cultivator to be more successful than the first method…”

Most of the disciples who had just entered the immortal sect were very conceited. Once they heard that opening the acupoint meridian would allow one to be more successful than opening the spirit meridian, the majority of them started considering picking that cultivation method.

The black-robed cultivator, who seemed not to notice their reaction, kept talking. “The third cultivation method is opening the galaxy meridian. This cultivation method involves forming an illusionary shadow of a galaxy within the Qi Circulation. The Spirit Qi absorbed will then transform into a Qi Circulation through this illusionary galaxy. This is of course a metaphor and not a real galaxy. This method is the most powerful cultivation method of the Galaxy Sect. Any cultivator that chooses it will have a limitless future and even be able to transcend between realms…”

The black-robed cultivator seemed to sense the hot-bloodedness and desire of the disciples inside the hall. His gaze swept across the masses before he said coldly, “I said something wrong earlier. Once you start to cultivate the Galaxy Art, it’s not about which method you choose, but which method suits you best. Ever since the Galaxy Sect was founded, only one person has been able to cultivate by using the galaxy meridian and that was the Galaxy Sect’s ancestor.”