Chapter 401: Spiritual Qi

"It’s... Qi."

Yi Chen answered with a firm gaze, even though in his heart he wasn’t completely sure whether the answer was right or wrong.

However, just at that moment he saw Elder Hong Lie’s expression, which had become disinterested after hearing so many wrong answers, brighten up all of a sudden.

"You’re correct," Elder Hong Lie said with an impressed smile and asked the next moment with a testing gaze, "...Then can you also explain why Qi is considered the basic unit of cultivation? What was the approach you took to come up with this answer?"

"This..." Yi Chen made a difficult expression, not expecting to be hit with another question right after.

However, since his answer wasn’t a random guess, he was able to link up the scattered points in his mind into a proper structure before answering with the main point, "I chose it because of lifespan."

Yi Chen paused to check Elder Hong Lie’s expression and seeing an encouraging nod from him felt a wave of relief wash over him the next instant as he continued, "It’s only when we breakthrough from the Elementary Transformation Stage to the Meridian Refinement Stage that we finally let go of our body’s mortal limits as our lifespan expands, allowing us to live until the age of 200 years.

And for that to happen, the first step we take is to refine the first Meridian using the innate qi that has always been within us.

That’s what prompted me to think that it was the right answer."

The smile on Elder Hong Lie’s face widened when he heard this, as he said a moment later, "You’re thinking in the correct lines.

The very reason one is able to embark on the journey of becoming a cultivator is because of the presence of innate qi, which they possess since birth.

Without the presence of innate Qi, one might get a little stronger by reaching the pinnacle of the Elementary Transformation Stage, but they would never be able to enter the true path of cultivation.

The path that disobeys the Heavenly laws and makes us all aspire to do the impossible."

As Elder Hong Lie finished those words, he gestured with his hand, telling Yi Chen to take a seat.

"Sir, down. Since you’ve answered an extra question which I hadn’t stated earlier, instead of 10 contribution points, you’ll be receiving 50 contribution points."

"Thank you, Elder Hong Lie," Yi Chen cupped his hands with a grateful expression before taking his seat the very next second as the classroom turned chaotic.

"Fifty Contribution points?!"

"That’s equivalent to fifty high-grade spirit stones!"

"...I’m so jealous."

The majority of the women in class murmured with eyes filled with bitterness and regret for losing the opportunity to gain so many contribution points.

However, that wasn’t the case for men.

"Senior Brother Chen is so amazing..."

"As expected from Senior Brother Chen..."

"If it’s Senior Brother Chen, then it’s only natural..."

.

.

.

Hearing the completely different sets of opinions, Yi Chen couldn’t help but let out a forced smile.

’I guess all that PR work by Qin Yao wasn’t for nought in the end...’ he thought, knowing that whether to praise him for it or scold him for it would also become the reason that would attract unwanted attention in his direction.

Meanwhile, an interesting expression also formed on Elder Hong Lie’s face as he heard the murmurings taking place among the disciples.

A few seconds later, he met Yi Chen’s gaze and added, his voice loud enough to be heard by the entire class.

"In the afternoon, everyone will be receiving their identification beads from the Outer Sect Registration Hall. After the class is over, I’ll notify the staff there about your additional points, which they’ll enter into your identification bead. Is that fine?"

"Yes, Elder Hong Lie." Yi Chen nodded in a thankful manner, having no further doubts with regard to this matter.

Seeing this, Elder Hong Lie finally continued with the lesson.

"Now that everyone knows that the basic unit of cultivation is Qi, let’s talk more about it. Before that, a question for all of you..."

The moment everyone heard those words, their eyes brightened with excitement.

’Yes! Another opportunity to claim them!’

’This time the contribution points are mine!’

’Please, heavens...let it be something I already know...I would love to have those contribution points...’

However, before their expectations could come ablaze, Elder Hong Lie’s next set of words completely smothered it.

"There won’t be any contribution points for this one, though." Elder Hong Lie stated while observing the dampening expressions of all the disciples right in front of his eyes, making him lightly snort in amusement.

’Damn it!

’I should have said my mind out last time...’

’I hate my luck.’

However, not caring about their disappointed feelings, Elder Hong Lie continued, "Here’s the question then: what exactly is Qi?"

Despite the fact that no contribution points were allocated, several hands were instantly up in the air the moment the question was asked.

One after the other, Elder Hong Lie picked the disciples wanting to hear what they thought were the right answers and listened carefully to each one of them as a few minutes passed in this manner.

"Alright." Elder Hong Lie lightly clasped his hands in front of him and said, "It seems that everyone in the room has a somewhat rudimentary idea of what exactly Qi is.

However, this level of understanding will only take you so far in the path of cultivation. Therefore, if you don’t want to end up getting stuck at a bottleneck for the rest of your life, listen closely."

Elder Hong Lie stated the next moment, making everyone pay close attention to his following words.

"Everything in our surroundings carries Qi, and they are all distinct in their own way. A stationary piece of stone will have a different kind of Qi compared to a twig lying next to it.

At the same time, when the same stone is thrown in a particular direction by someone, the Qi within it will not remain the same. Going a step further, when this exact stone is sculpted into a statue later on, it will possess Qi that is totally incomparable to its former two states.

So, what causes this change to take place in the first place, you ask? The answer is a simple word: Intent.

A stone by itself just exists. However, when it’s thrown in a direction, its purpose changes, and so does the intent fed into it.

The intent interacts with the Qi resting within it, and this interaction causes the original Qi to undergo a change.

A blade used to attack has a different kind of blade qi when compared to the blade Qi it possesses when used for defence. In short, everything depends on the intent."

Elder Hong Lie paused for a moment, letting his words sink into everyone’s mind, clearly knowing that it was a concept that took a little time to understand.

A few moments later, he continued.

"However, if we classify everything on this basis, then it would be extremely difficult to do so, as it would make us come up with innumerable names to categorise each and every form of Qi.

Therefore, instead of going by that unfeasible method, we use general terms to describe Qi while always being aware that the Qi within is ever-changing based on the kind of intent that interacts with it.

We call the Qi which a leaf possesses Leaf Qi, the one that a stone possesses Stone Qi and the one that a sword possesses Sword Qi under this convention, which makes it easier to understand the deeper concepts.

From a broader perspective, all the different types of Qi around us fall in the following two categories:

1) Natural Qi

2) Derived Qi

Together they become what we get from spirit stones, the purest form of Qi, which is an amalgamation of all types of Qi and is a name everyone here must be familiar with." Elder Hong Lie paused briefly and continued, "...it’s called Spiritual Qi."

’Ah...I understand now.’

Yi Chen nodded his head as his understanding greatly deepened after hearing Elder Hong Lie’s teachings.

He wasn’t the only one, as it was the case for almost every disciple present in the classroom who was nodding their head in realisation.

A subtle smile formed on Elder Hong Lie’s face when he saw this scene as he continued, "The five Qi natures: Fire, water, wind, earth and space are all a part of Natural Qi, while everything else is derived because of their interaction..."

’Then...what about the dark Qi?’ Yi Chen thought in confusion but knew that there was no one here who could answer that question for him.

As a result, shaking that thought away, he focused back on Elder Hong Lie’s teachings.

"Now that you have a basic understanding of things, I’ll start going more in depth on each cultivation stage starting from the Elementary Transformation Stage ...."

With that said, Elder Hong Lie explained how the Elementary Transformation Stage was first discovered, the difficulties the early cultivators faced before going deeper into the intricacies which most, if not all, of the disciples weren’t even aware of.

Yi Chen’s eyes shone with delight the more he heard him, as each of Elder Hong Lie’s words was as precious as diamonds.

Time flew by quickly; soon it was nearing the end of the three-hour-long session.

By now, Elder Hong Lie had explored both the Elementary Transformation Stage and the Qi Absorption Stage in depth.

"Alright. That’s all for this session. After lunch, we’ll talk about the Qi Absorption Stage before moving on to different cultivation occupations and their importance.

However, before that, here’s a question for everyone to ponder before the next class."

Elder Hong Lie smiled subtly, seeing that everyone’s curiosity was stoked, and continued, "The maximum number of Qi Absorption Arts are created by cultivators at what cultivation stage? Is it the Qi Absorption Stage, the Core Building Stage or the Heaven Ascension Stage?... Think about it in the next two hours."

With that said, Elder Hong Lie’s steps resonated in the classroom as he left through the door.

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