Opening of wings

Wuming Cultivation Technique.

It was both a cultivation technique and an encyclopedia, teaching the most fundamental concepts in a very didactic manner.

The Qi Refining Realm was subdivided into nine layers and was all about absorbing spiritual energy and refining it into true qi. The purer and denser the true qi of the practitioner in this Realm, the stronger his raw power and foundation.

Humans possess average talent when it comes to refining true qi, and even the most talented individuals couldn't surpass certain biological limits.

It was natural for limits to exist, and they do for a reason. Growing endlessly in a specific realm would make it nearly impossible to advance to the next realm.

Because if the foundation was too strong, it would have a terrible drawback, lack of elasticity.

Every time a cultivator crossed a major realm, their foundation would inevitably be polished somehow to allow for further transformation.

Without elasticity to allow those polishments, the cultivation base would only be able to grow in quantity, but not in quality.

It was important for Wuming to learn that truth since the Wuming Cultivation Technique granted him the ability to accumulate foundation as much as he wanted.

If he accidentally accumulated too much, he would get stuck in the same realm.

"Draw in the clear qi, and cleanse away the turbid qi..." Wuming muttered while regulating his breathing, he was cross-legged atop a huge boulder in the middle of the forest.

He still had no cultivation base, despite having been cultivating for almost a whole year.

He spent that time refining his body, meridians, and dantian with spiritual energy by following his cultivation technique, strengthening his most basic foundation without refining a single strand of true qi.

It would normally be impossible for someone to do it without help, but it was made possible for him through the Wuming Cultivation Technique.

"To think that in this world..." Wuming opened his eyes and looked at the cloudy sky, "Knowledge and wisdom can be converted into supernatural power."

He was still getting used to it, meditating and reflecting on complicated truths and mysteries.

Things like phases of qi, the transformation of the five elements, the inversion of yin and yang, and etc... he learned that by gaining enlightenment on those things, a cultivator could gain tremendous help in his cultivation.

It was something ridiculous to even think about in his home world.

Sometimes when he gained new understanding while cultivating, he would suddenly discover it was easier to control spiritual energy, and his mind felt clearer.

If he already had a cultivation base, it would have increased quite a bit.

"It's about time..." he stopped his meditation and began to stretch his body, feeling extremely refreshed.

His body had already reached a peak, he couldn't get stronger through ordinary training anymore.

He then bathed in a lake leisurely and tried to relax. His long black hair floated on the surface of the water as he also floated with his face towards the sky.

Ordinary black eyes reflected the unordinary blue sky.

He closed his eyes and decided to do it right there.

Wisps of invisible spiritual energy began to gather towards him as if to fill a void.

Even though that place had very thin spiritual energy, it was no problem for Wuming.

Slowly but surely, those wisps of spiritual energy entered his body and coursed his meridians before entering his dantian.

His spirit root absorbed all of it very naturally and began to feed back to him... true qi.

Instead of being invisible like spiritual energy, true qi was five-colored, each color representing an element.

Instead of circulating his body immediately, it just remained in his dantian, slowly accumulating.

Wuming didn't know how long it took, he was too concentrated to realize, but he began to feel signs of bloating in his dantian.

He knew it was time to let it go, and his true qi began to circulate his entire body through his meridians like snakes desperately seeking food.

A wave of indescribable emotion washed him entirely, his whole body seemed to scream pleasure and pain, both closely related.

He didn't know, but his skin was glowing with the colors of his true qi, making quite the spectacle in the lake.

The speed of gathering spiritual energy skyrocketed as he circulated his cultivation technique more and more aggressively. With true qi, he could now use the entirety of his cultivation technique.

Spiritual energy began to circulate along his true qi, as if trying to blend with it, before finally entering his dantian and getting refined.

His skin began to crack and blood began to flow outside his body, but it was black rather than red, and the clear water of the lake began to be tainted by it.

As if black ink had fallen on it.

After a few hours of transformation, Wuming finally opened his eyes, and not caring about the pollution of the water, he left the lake.

There were no more cracks on his skin, they all healed as his body was transformed by the true qi.

Wuming clenched his fists and took a deep breath, his sensibility of spiritual energy was an order of magnitude higher than before.

Feeling the power contained in his body, which seemed unchanged from outward, Wuming couldn't help but punch a tree with all his strength.

BANG!

The trunk of the tree gained a gaping hole, and Wuming gained a new understanding of his strength.

That punch used raw physical strength, he didn't channel his true qi into his fist at all, otherwise, he would have blasted the tree to oblivion.

First layer of the Qi Refining Realm. He, Wuming, was an official cultivator!

Not able to contain his excitement, an animalistic howl escaped his mouth, probably scaring the poor animals nearby.

"I can finally explore this world!" he shouted in excitement, he would no longer confine himself in the town, he had enough confidence to leave his nest.

Moreover, the spiritual energy there was too thin for his cultivation. The only reason he was able to cultivate there was because of his special cultivation technique.

Not to mention cultivation, even sensing spiritual energy there was difficult for others with low-grade spirit roots like him.

After returning to his residence he hurriedly opened the guide.

[If you can read this page, you must have entered the door of cultivation, it finally, took you long enough, even a pig would have been faster than you...]

"Fuck..." Wuming's eyes were bloodshot out of anger.

[But even with the cultivation technique I gave, you won't be able to increase your cultivation efficiently in such a poor environment, you need to areas with denser spiritual energy.

[Although I know plenty of those, it's better for you to gain experience and explore by yourself.

[Anyway, with your current strength, you won't be in danger unless you lower your guard.]

The next day, not willing to waste time, Wuming bid farewell to the owner of the place he rented, who was also someone with a little friendship with him.

Because of his reputation as both an unknown foreign and a crazy guy, not many wished to be in contact with him.

He packed his few belongings and clothes and left the town with a straight posture, not regretting anything.

He just felt a little emotional, since he lived there for many years. It would take a long time to forget about that time if that was even possible... Not that he needed to forget it.

The town's residents only noticed in the next few days... that the infamous crazy guy was gone for good.

And the roads and prairies of the outside world gained a new wanderer.

With long black hair, black eyes, and a strong body, this wanderer carried with him an unfettered nature regardless of his okay appearance.

After leaving the town, his first goal was the county seat, the political and also economic center of the county.

It was a long journey, and he only had the help of a map he bought.

He could have waited until a caravan passed by the town, but he didn't want to.

Rather, he was overflowing with a heroic and adventurous spirit. With confidence in his strength, he wanted to gain experience by traveling like that.

He didn't have enough money to buy a horse or even a donkey, so he had to travel with his feet. Not that it was hard for someone like a cultivator.

He would walk during the day, while also hunting for food, and rest during the night, beside improvised campfires.

Because he was alone, he had to rest with 'one eye open' even after setting traps nearby, but he could bear it.

("One eye open" is not to be taken literally.)

Even if he was ambushed by a human or wild animal, it would be difficult for them to cause him serious damage, his body was no longer mortal.

He stopped eating the pills since he became a cultivator and instead ate meat and fruits along the way.

In a sense, that journey was the most relaxing period for him since he was transported to that world.

He didn't worry too much about his safety, while also not having to worry about food and shelter, for his strong body was enough shelter for his soul.

Days passed like that, and he didn't bother to count the passing of time, he was enjoying it.

But all rivers reach the great ocean, and after a journey without any kind of grave peril, he reaches his destination.

It was a magnificent city, worthy of being the seat of a county. With tall and sturdy walls, full of armored guards, the city stood beside a mountain and a river.

It was big enough to impress Wuming, a modern man, and was said to contain hundreds of thousands of inhabitants within its walls alone, not counting the urban area in the outskirts.

"Pay the fee or show your permission," the guards at the gate stopped Wuming.

"How much is the fee?" Wuming looked like a country pumpkin, but he was by no means stupid.

"One silver coin," the guards asked without changing their expression.

"I'm flattered, do I look like someone who carries silver coins?" Wuming shrugged and gave his back to the guards, feigning to give up.

"Wait," one of the guards shouted, "Seeing that you came from afar, we will let you in for twenty copper coins."

'It seems they still have a little conscience,' Wuming thought, he knew this was the true fee to enter the city.

Obviously, the guards were just trying their luck. But seeing Wuming was a poor ghost, they quickly adjusted.

Wuming still made a sad face as he reluctantly handed the twenty copper coins, as if it was a piece of his flesh.

And indeed, it was a quarter of his total savings.

After entering the city, he didn't look for an inn, he knew it would be too much for the poor him. Instead, he looked for ways to make money.

Working hard at miscellaneous jobs? No way, how could a dignified cultivator do such a thing.

He used his dignified strength to take money from evil people.

As a result, the city was suddenly significantly safer just by his arrival, and the legend of the nameless foreign robber began to circulate in the shady alleys.

"Evil people sure have a knack for money..." Wuming muttered while playing with a small sack full of silver coins, and he even got a dozen golden coins.

Such an amount of money was probably enough to buy half of the town he lived in before.

He then rented a room in a famous inn and began to eat good food as if there was no tomorrow.

"The spiritual energy here is just as bad as that town," he muttered to himself while massaging his full belly.

But in the next few days, he gained useful information. After all, that county seat wasn't isolated from the world as the town.

He already knew he was in an empire named Great Li, but he knew very little about the world beyond.

Although it was named Great Li, it was one of the smallest territories in the continent, and was considered barren compared to the great powers.

It was said that martial arts truly flourished in the great powers, and martial artists with the power to shatter trees' trunks with their hands alone were as numerous as the grains of sand.

As for Great Li, only the noble families and the imperial family possessed true martial artists, and they ruled with absolute strength.

"Martial arts..."

He knew about it by reading the guide, it was a way to strengthen the body in places with very poor spiritual energy, and basically the only hope for most ordinary people to form a spirit root.

When a martial artist reached the Innate Realm of martial arts, they could try to form a spirit root by relying on their strong qi and blood, along with their powerful inner strength.

But the strongest known state of mortal martial arts was to be equivalent to the ordinary peak of the third layer of Qi Refining, so the difference in potential was clear.

Although Wuming was a little interested in martial arts, he was more interested in the legends he heard about while visiting teahouses and wine shops.

Many storytellers were excited when talking about immortals from beyond the land visiting.

Some of them said they came from an immortal continent, and others said they came from beyond the sky, it was difficult to say if any of those tales were true.

"If I want more information, I need to go to the people who possess it," Wuming muttered while relaxing in a bathtub in his room, "I guess I will visit the imperial city... but, just to be on the safe side..."

Wuming didn't leave the city immediately but instead used the horribly thin spiritual energy there to cultivate.

Although he was already very strong compared to most martial artists, if he encountered a master about to form his spirit root, he might struggle a little bit.

Although it would be impossible for him to lose, since his cultivation technique made his cultivation base extremely powerful compared to others at the same level, he just didn't want to struggle at all.

As he cultivated, he was more and more sure it would be impossible for him to make a breakthrough in a short time because of the harsh environment, but it was enough for him to get to the peak of the first layer of Qi Refining.

As long as he did that, he would be as strong as an ordinary cultivator at the peak of the third layer of Qi Refining, or a peak martial artist. He wouldn't need to worry about accidents then.