Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: The Sixth Layer of Qi Refining

In his past life, Zhang Zhixuan was Zhou Boyong, a young man from Earth who yearned for immortality. One day, he meditated incorrectly; when he woke up, he had been reborn into this immortal world.His mother was not a cultivator. She suffered severe damage to her constitution while giving birth to him and passed away after holding on for two or three years. His father had poor spiritual root aptitude—by the age of forty, he only reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining. When Zhang Zhixuan was eight, his father was killed by enemies.His ancestors for three generations were ordinary mortals, and all had long since passed away. Orphaned at a young age, Zhang Zhixuan would have struggled to survive in this dangerous world if not for a stroke of luck: at the age of six, he was tested and found to have spiritual roots. With the clan's protection, he survived in this harsh, perilous world, learned Daoist techniques, and consumed spiritual pills—fulfilling his past-life wish to continue cultivating in a world where the Dao manifests.Thanks to better spiritual root aptitude than his father and his own diligence, Zhang Zhixuan's cultivation had far surpassed his father's even before adulthood. Two years ago, he reached the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining; this breakthrough had brought him to the Sixth Layer. He was now just one step away from the late stage of Qi Refining—and from having a reasonable chance of avenging his father.When he first arrived in this world, Zhang Zhixuan's underdeveloped brain prevented him from recalling his past-life memories. His memories gradually returned after the age of six, and by twelve, he had fully recovered them. Even before that, he was known for being precocious: with the help of his past-life memories, his comprehension exceeded that of ordinary children, and he was far more mature and steady than most teenagers.In just half a year after turning six, he had mastered the writing system of this world and memorized all the meridians and acupoints. Under his father's guidance, he began cultivating. Within a year, he broke through the Innate Realm and entered Qi Refining. After that, he advanced almost one layer per year—over seven years, he broke through five bottlenecks and reached the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.The earlier a cultivator starts, the greater the benefits. Humans with spiritual roots are born with wider meridians, which only gradually block up after the age of eighteen. If one begins cultivating after their meridians are fully blocked, even those with good spiritual roots will take over a decade to reach the first realm—the Innate Realm.Unfortunately, young children lack the wisdom, experience, and ability to distinguish meridians and acupoints, or understand profound Daoist techniques. Typically, children learn to read around the age of six; by nine, they begin to recognize meridians and acupoints, understand Daoist terminology, and come into contact with cultivation techniques. Around eleven or twelve, under the guidance of teachers or relatives, they start practicing—beginning with simple internal martial arts to open their meridians and complete the Innate Realm. By fifteen or sixteen, when their wisdom matures and they gain some experience, they start learning immortal cultivation techniques to refine spiritual energy and store it in their acupoints and dantian.The Innate Realm is the first stage of cultivation. It can be both simple and difficult. To cultivate in the Innate Realm, one only needs to open the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, circulate internal energy, and guide it into the dantian. Once the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Heavenly and Earthly Bridges are opened, and spiritual energy is circulated into the meridians and stored in the dantian, one completes the Innate Realm and enters Qi Refining.Infants are the easiest to cultivate in this realm—they are not polluted by acquired qi. If they could practice, they would break through the Innate Realm in an instant and become Qi Refining cultivators. For children under six, who still retain a trace of innate qi, this step is also relatively easy: even those with average spiritual roots can successfully break through the Innate Realm and refine spiritual energy in less than a year.Adults, however, have blocked meridians. Opening them requires more resources and a great deal of time—even cultivators with top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Roots need three years to fully open all their meridians. Those over sixty, even with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, have missed the best cultivation period; even if they practice until old age, they may never succeed in Foundation Establishment.Thanks to the wisdom from his past life, Zhang Zhixuan had a head start over ordinary cultivators. At sixteen, he had already reached the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining—much faster than ordinary Three-Spiritual-Root cultivators. Most Three-Spiritual-Root cultivators at his age had just broken through the Innate Realm and entered the First Layer of Qi Refining. They might reach the late stage of Qi Refining around thirty or forty, and if lucky, reach the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining before sixty—giving them a chance to attempt Foundation Establishment.Only core disciples of major sects, who have abundant resources (plenty of spiritual pills and Spirit Stones), can halve this time.Thirty years ago, a great battle cost the Zhang Clan their important stronghold of Jiuhua Mountain—along with the Spirit-Measuring Platform on the mountain. For decades, the Zhang Clan has been unable to measure the attributes of spiritual roots; young cultivators cannot choose suitable techniques and can only rely on the experience of clan elders for guidance. This delay in selecting appropriate techniques has wasted some of their cultivation time.Over the past thirty years, Zhang Clan cultivators who have gone down the mountain after reaching adulthood usually only have a cultivation base of the First or Second Layer of Qi Refining. Compared to them, Zhang Zhixuan's cultivation is far higher—even many clan cultivators in their thirties or forties cannot match this sixteen-year-old.Moreover, Zhang Zhixuan is mature beyond his years. Though his cultivation and experience are still inferior to the clan's dozen or so core members, he is safer and more capable of facing the dangers of the immortal world than inexperienced young cultivators. Thus, given the shortage of hands, Elder Zhang Mengling wanted to send him down the mountain to make up for the lack of cultivators there.After hearing Zhang Menglian's words, Zhang Zhixuan nodded slightly. "I understand Nineteenth Uncle's intention. By the clan's rules, I still have two years of cultivation time. I will fight for what is rightfully mine—what does Seventeenth Uncle think?"Zhang Menglian smiled and said seriously, "The clan's rules are rules, but they must adapt to reality. You know our current situation: since the Clan Leader retreated to recover from his injuries decades ago, the clan's strength has declined sharply. Our finances are worsening—we've long been in the red and urgently need young people like you to step up. Without the clan's protection, how will you continue your cultivation? Do you want to leave and become a loose cultivator?"He paused, then added, "If you become a loose cultivator, you'll struggle every day for a single spiritual herb or a single Spirit Stone. You'll have none of the four essentials for cultivation—resources, companions, techniques, or a place to practice. Is that the life you want?"Zhang Zhixuan replied, "I'm willing to contribute to the clan. Without the clan raising me, teaching me techniques, and protecting me, I wouldn't be where I am today. But if I go down the mountain, there will be no Spiritual Veins—how will I continue cultivating?"Zhang Menglian said, "Your Nineteenth Uncle will take care of that for you. Though the spiritual energy at the foot of the mountain is thin and the conditions are far worse than on the mountain, there are still one or two spiritual spots—enough for you to keep cultivating."