Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 66: The Road of Qi Refining

At this moment, Zhang Yao’s heart was filled with indescribable joy.

The thing he feared most did not happen. For the first time cultivating the "Thick Earth Spell," he successfully captured the "Qi Sensitivity."

"Collect!"

Zhang Yao suppressed the joy in his heart, calmed his mind, and used the magic skill to collect the earth attribute of celestial and earthly spiritual qi by his intent.

In an instant: Spiritual qi from all directions gathered and surged into Zhang Yao’s body, coursing along invisible qi veins.

After circulating for a Great Celestial Week, the spiritual qi began to gradually transform into magical power, converging little by little, amassing into a stream like a shallow creek of magical power.

This was Zhang Yao’s first thread of magical power.

"Phew..."

Zhang Yao let out a long breath, opened his eyes again, and once more saw the red sun rising in the east.

His first cultivation of "Thick Earth Spell" and the capturing and refining of spiritual qi to magical power unknowingly took a full twelve hours.

"Finally, I’ve embarked on the path of cultivation! Decades of hard work were not in vain."

In this moment, Zhang Yao was particularly excited.

The esoteric practitioners become divine and long-lived by consuming qi; cultivators inhale and refine spiritual qi, making them true "Qi Refiners."

Once magical power is born, one steps into the Immortal Sect and is no longer of the mundane world.

"Capturing Qi Sensitivity and refining magical power went so smoothly; it must be because of my Martial Dao realm."

Zhang Yao recalled the process of Qi Refining, pondering deeply.

The first step in cultivation is to capture the mysterious "Qi Sensitivity," which can take from several days to years.

Aside from the most important talent, which is the Spirit Root Level, it is also influenced by Mental Realm and Divine Soul, all three jointly determining the speed.

Zhang Yao still did not know his own Spirit Root Level.

But his Martial Dao had long reached the pinnacle of the mundane world, and his Divine Soul’s strength might even surpass that of "Lunan," who had reached Qi Refining Third Layer.

Having lived over a hundred years, tasting all of the world’s flavors, he naturally had a unique advantage in terms of Mental Realm.

"In the blink of an eye, I’m already 107 years old and have just stepped into the Immortal Sect."

Zhang Yao sighed, his gaze falling on that unremarkable little bag.

According to Lunan’s records, this was a Storage Bag, but there was a restriction placed on it, only openable with magical power of Qi Refining Third Layer from the "Thick Earth Spell."

Cultivators begin from the Qi Refining Stage, which is divided into ten layers, followed by Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divinity Transformation, and other realms, gradually becoming movers of mountains and seas as Great Divine Power Users.

Zhang Yao’s path in Qi Refining was just beginning.

"Let’s go."

He put away the texts and Storage Bag close to him and left the place.

......

Three years later.

In the northwest of Fu Province, deep in the mountains and forests.

Alone, Zhang Yao was testing the magic he had learned in a clearing in the woods.

"Boom!"

A fist-sized blue-purple fireball shot out violently. After a loud explosion, it blasted a large pit more than a foot deep and half a yard wide in the ground.

After the flames dissipated, the pit still retained an astonishing high temperature, enough to roast raw meat.

"Swish!"

A blue wind blade swept past, its speed fast enough to leave only a blue phantom.

After cutting down five towering ancient trees, the blue wind blade gradually dissipated into a cluster of spiritual qi, vanishing without a trace.

"The power of these spells is truly astounding!"

This wasn’t Zhang Yao’s first time using magic, but witnessing this scene, he couldn’t help but marvel in his heart.

Over the past three years, his magical power had steadily increased, not only solidifying his cultivation at the Qi Refining First Layer but also mastering numerous magical spells.

Spells like Fireball, Wind Blade, Concealing Breath, Spiritual Eyes, Divine Movement, and others have no strict restrictions on mana attributes, they just don’t have the additional amplification that earth attribute spells do.

"Hmm..."

Zhang Yao mused silently, calculating in his mind.

Over these three years, by combining the records of "Thick Earth Spell" and his own exploration, he gained a deep understanding of the wonders of magical power.

It is a power far surpassing Martial Arts True Qi and has limitless potential.

Martial Dao cultivation is fundamentally about tapping into one’s own power, but the human body has limits, and naturally, so does Martial Dao.

The path of Qi Refining is different; its essence is absorbing external spiritual qi for oneself, essentially consuming the mysteries of sun and moon and capturing the essence of heaven and earth, with virtually no upper limit.

The gap between the two paths can also be seen from martial techniques and magic:

Magical power travels through qi veins and, after circulating along specific routes, is triggered by intent and also absorbs a portion of external spiritual qi in the process, greatly enhancing its power.

Zhang Yao had estimated that the spells in the Qi Refining Stage approximately use one part of magical power to leverage four to five times the spiritual qi, resulting in this exaggerated power.

And martial artists’ techniques, no matter what, could never generate four to five times the power out of thin air, which is as impossible as lifting oneself by pulling one’s own hair.

"A Qi Refining First Layer cultivator, even without the aid of Spirit Talismans or Magical Artifacts, as long as they are prepared, could easily kill a Grandmaster."

"Under Concealing Breath, with a fireball or wind blade, a Martial Arts Grandmaster could be taken out."

"For a Grandmaster to win, they would have to gain an intelligence advantage, ambush from hiding, and strike unprepared, needing to close within ten steps, otherwise they’re no match for spells."

"The lifespan at the Qi Refining Stage is also very long, generally able to live over a hundred years, with the longest reaching up to 120 years."

Cultivators completely surpass martial artists in every aspect.

Even at the nascent stage of Qi Refining First Layer, whether in power or lifespan, or in all sorts of wondrous methods derived from magical power, they already surpass Martial Arts Grandmasters.

A lifetime of tough Martial Dao training culminating in reaching the Grandmaster Realm is still no match for a young, novice cultivator. This is the harsh disparity between martial prowess and the immortal path.

"The path of Qi Refining is truly the Heaven-Reaching Dao!"

"Especially given my two talents, only through cultivation can they be truly utilized!"

Thinking of his own talents, Zhang Yao couldn’t help but reveal a smile.

After becoming a cultivator, by utilizing his Primordial Energy Spring talent, he perceived a surge in his primordial qi limit.

This is the difference caused by the disparity between cultivators and martial artists:

The lifespan extension of a cultivator is genuine; as the upper limit of life extends, it transcends ordinary human levels.

Martial Arts Grandmasters are still considered mortal; their lifespan limit is already set, and they live long only because the loss of their foundational qi is slower.

The Essence and Yuan Qi rely on each other, and as the primordial qi limit increases, Zhang Yao’s Essence Qi limit also soared accordingly.

"Now that I activate my Essence Qi Transformation talent, my self-healing ability has improved tremendously compared to three years ago."

"If I continue to cultivate, and as my talent strengthens, reaching the level of regenerating severed limbs or even surviving decapitation might not be impossible."

With this thought, Zhang Yao took a deep breath, and the magical power within circulated slowly.

He prepared to perform the "Spirit Root Detection Technique," a relatively complex magic mainly used to investigate the spirit roots within himself or others.

Zhang Yao spent a full three years just to grasp the basics, enabling him to attempt investigating his own Spirit Root Attribute.

"Buzz..."

As the magical power circulated, a five-colored brilliance flashed before Zhang Yao’s eyes, cycling through white, red, blue, yellow, and black.

After a moment, the five-colored brilliance gradually stabilized, revealing its true attribute...