Inside his temporary room at the Special Affairs Department, Bai Yue sat quietly, his mind sinking inward.
With a single thought, his mental power swept through the Azure Profound Ring.
In his perception, the space within the ring resembled a well-stocked general store. Aside from cultivation-related items, it even contained large quantities of mundane objects—gold and silver bullion stacked neatly, firewood, rice, oil, salt, spare clothing, shoes, bedding, and daily necessities arranged in an orderly fashion. There was even a simple wooden bed placed to one side.
"It seems the previous owner knew how to live comfortably," Bai Yue mused faintly.
Setting aside the ordinary items, he extracted the objects that truly caught his interest.
A pile of jade slips.
A palm-sized flying boat.
Several flying swords.
A handful of talismans.
A small stack of spirit stones radiating faint spiritual light.
And several bottles and jars containing pills.
For something once carried by a sect master, the contents seemed… uneven. Some items were decent, others clearly ordinary. It was obvious that this ring had passed through many hands over countless years. Still, gains were gains.
In the cultivation world, information was rarely recorded in books like mortal knowledge.
Instead, jade slips were used.
With a touch of mental power, the information stored within would directly manifest in one's consciousness.
Bai Yue casually picked up a jade slip. The moment his mental power connected, streams of information unfolded in his mind.
This particular slip recorded various rare materials from the cultivation world—spiritual herbs, strange metals, special energy constructs, and natural phenomena. Though physically thin, the amount of information it contained far exceeded modern digital storage. More importantly, the information wasn't limited to text; it included vivid three-dimensional projections, allowing direct observation from every angle.
Seeing this, Bai Yue increased his pace.
He picked up three jade slips at once and absorbed their contents simultaneously.
His brow tightened slightly—but the flow of information caused no real discomfort.
Encouraged, he grew bolder.
This time, he connected his mental power to all remaining jade slips at once.
The next instant, a tidal wave of information surged into his consciousness.
His face paled slightly as he steadied his mind, fully focusing on absorbing, sorting, and storing the knowledge. Several minutes passed in absolute stillness before the torrent finally subsided.
When it ended, Bai Yue exhaled slowly.
Now, he possessed a preliminary yet comprehensive understanding of the cultivation universe.
The jade slips made one fact clear:
The universe was vast beyond imagination.
Even cultivators found it nearly impossible to leave their native star systems through personal flight alone. As a result, most cultivators spent their entire lives on the planet of their birth.
When long-distance travel was required, they relied on star shuttles and teleportation arrays. Although technological spacecraft also existed, they were not the mainstream choice.
Heaven-and-Earth spiritual energy was distributed unevenly across the universe, fluctuating like invisible tides. Some regions were rich beyond measure, while others—like Earth—had almost none.
In such spiritually barren regions, technological civilizations naturally rose.
Conflict between technology and cultivation was inevitable.
Cultivators often viewed technological civilizations as clever but shallow, mere tricks unworthy of the true Dao. Meanwhile, technological civilizations regarded cultivators as irrational powerhouses—dangerous and unrefined.
Yet paradoxically, these conflicts drove mutual evolution.
Over time, both sides absorbed aspects of the other, shaping the modern cultivation world into something far more complex than the simplistic societies described in old novels.
Bai Yue turned his gaze to the small boat he had taken out earlier.
With a brief mental probe, recognition completed instantly.
As expected, it was a star shuttle.
A low-grade spirit tool, entry-level among such vessels. Its maximum conventional speed reached one-tenth the speed of light. When entering warp travel, it could exceed light speed by more than ten times.
Impressive—yet insignificant on a cosmic scale.
There was no so-called Dark Universe here, making interstellar communication and navigation even more difficult.
The nearest star system to Earth, Proxima Centauri, lay over four light-years away. Even at maximum warp, the journey would take nearly half a year.
As for crossing the Milky Way—an elliptical galaxy roughly one hundred thousand light-years in diameter—it would require close to ten thousand years at that speed.
Even for cultivators with long lifespans, that was an unacceptable duration.
Thus, for true long-distance movement, teleportation arrays were the preferred option.
But their cost was terrifying.
Activating even a short-range array within a single star system required at least twelve high-grade spirit stones.
Bai Yue checked the spirit stones from the ring.
367 low-grade spirit stones
19 mid-grade spirit stones
3 high-grade spirit stones
Not even enough for a single teleportation.
He smiled bitterly and put them away.
The remaining talismans, pills, and flying swords were all common items. Compared to the Taiyan Sword Pill, they were clearly inferior.
After sorting everything, Bai Yue returned the unused items to the ring.
He sat cross-legged on the bed and began carefully reviewing the cultivation methods stored within the jade slips.
The information was vast—detailed descriptions of sects, star regions, materials, formations, pills, artifacts, and more.
Among them were:
Ten Scrolls of Array Dao
Elixir and Artifact Secret Explanations
As for core cultivation methods, only a handful were truly complete.
The most notable were:
Qingxuan Scripture (main inheritance of the Qingxuan Sect)
Three Scrolls of Clear Water (female-focused)
Great Freedom Dao (ancient Qi Refining method)
After brief consideration, Bai Yue ruled out the female cultivation methods.
Between the Qingxuan Scripture and Great Freedom Dao, he chose the latter.
The reason was simple.
The ancient Qi Refining path resonated more closely with Earth's current conditions—and with his own foundation.
Bai Yue had already reached the peak of the acquired realm.
All primary meridians were open.
The only step remaining was opening the Ancestral Aperture and absorbing Heaven-and-Earth spiritual energy.
The environment had delayed this breakthrough—until now.
According to the Great Freedom Dao, however, advancement required more.
Not only the meridians, but 365 major acupoints and multiple hidden acupoints had to be opened, forming a complete internal cycle.
Without hesitation, Bai Yue began cultivating.
True Qi surged through his body.
One acupoint after another opened with astonishing speed.
What would take others decades was completed in mere moments.
His meridians were already open. His mental power was immense. His True Qi was vast and steady, showing no sign of exhaustion.
Where ordinary cultivators would collapse after opening a single acupoint, Bai Yue advanced without pause.
Finally, the preparation was complete.
Bai Yue circulated the Great Freedom Dao and directed his will toward his forehead.
Boom.
The Ancestral Aperture opened.
In that instant, his senses sharpened dramatically. The world felt closer, clearer, more vivid.
True Qi surged through his body at a hundred times its previous speed.
If Heaven-and-Earth spiritual energy were abundant, it would have poured into him endlessly.
But Earth was nearly barren.
With no choice, Bai Yue consumed spirit pills and placed spirit stones around him.
Spiritual power flooded in.
True Qi compressed.
Condensed.
And transformed.
A trace of pale-purple Innate True Qi was born.
Then another.
And another.
The middle dantian expanded, filling with refined energy. His meridians, acupoints, and dantians formed a flawless grand circulation.
Innate True Qi nourished his soul, strengthening it subtly yet continuously.
This was the miracle of ancient Qi Refining—nurturing spirit and essence together.
Three days later, Bai Yue opened his eyes.
The world felt utterly different.
His perception had increased more than tenfold.
Though the quantity of True Qi had decreased, its quality had risen beyond comparison.
He stood, stretched, and exhaled slowly.
Cultivating on Earth was inefficient—but manageable.
Stepping into the courtyard, he was immediately noticed.
The little girl ran over, grinning brightly.
"Brother Bai! You're out!"
"Yes," he replied, smiling gently.
"Your Qi is huge! I remembered you right away!"
Bai Yue chuckled.
As more people gathered, introductions followed.
Curiosity filled their gazes.
Someone finally asked softly, unable to restrain themselves:
"How did Brother Bai cultivate… to the Innate Realm, on Earth?"
Bai Yue smiled calmly.
"Just… a few fortunate opportunities."