Chapter 12: Dharma Power Surges

"Finally!"

Li Qingyun leapt to his feet with a long laugh, his pale face flushed with joy.

A faint aura of bright yellow light burst from his body!

Inside his heart, the fat, coiled, writhing Soul-Devouring Silkworm — having gorged itself far beyond its limits — had finally burst apart!

That plump, round worm-body exploded into a mass of spiritual fluid!

The fluid shimmered with a dazzling golden-yellow radiance, pumped outward from his heart, then rapidly spread throughout his entire body, nourishing Li Qingyun's flesh and blood.

Tendons stretched, bones lengthened, blood and vitality surged, and his physical body slowly grew stronger…

Li Qingyun listened to the strange sounds of cracking bones and snapping tendons within him, and a faint clarity rose in his heart.

"My very foundation seems to have been elevated and refined!"

He recalled the legends surrounding the Soul-Devouring Gu. This peculiar parasitic creature had only two possible fates:

Either it devoured everything from its host and ultimately burst free as a butterfly, thereafter existing as an entirely new spiritual butterfly.

Or the one who had planted it would cast a spell to extract it early, seizing the refined Dharma Power it had absorbed and converting it into nourishment to elevate the planter's own innate constitution.

Little did Lady Cui imagine that all her scheming would ultimately end up benefiting Li Qingyun instead!

In her eyes, an illegitimate son of the manor with neither Dao Bone nor Spiritual Root — even if he spent ten years at the temple — could never cultivate any Dharma Power. The Soul-Devouring Gu would likely remain dormant for the rest of his life.

"Lady Cui even ordered me to write letters home every month, reporting my cultivation progress in detail — that was also her way of monitoring the Soul-Devouring Silkworm's feeding, wasn't it!"

"Today, I have slipped free and escaped the cage. One day, I will repay this debt in full…"

Li Qingyun thought coldly.

Flickers of yellow light danced across his body — the outward manifestation of Dharma Power returning to its rightful owner.

At this moment, nourished by the golden-yellow spiritual fluid of the burst Soul-Devouring Silkworm, the thousands of pores across his skin began expelling dark, impure residue and oily filth.

A sour, foul stench filled the room — even he could barely stand it.

Yet he felt better than he ever had before.

The blood, vitality, and Primal Yang Essence that had been drained from this body by that demoness's Predatory Cultivation were slowly recovering.

Moreover, his blood and vitality, now infused with the aura of Dharma Power, shimmered with threads of yellow light — vigorous and flourishing, stronger than ever before.

The golden-yellow spiritual fluid from the burst Soul-Devouring Silkworm had all transformed into nourishment for his body!

On top of that, the Treasure Furnace Qi Absorption Art itself had a mild effect of improving the baseline constitution of Lingbao Temple disciples.

With both effects stacking together, Li Qingyun's so-called Dao Bone and Spiritual Root had been imperceptibly elevated by a small degree.

Though the improvement was not dramatic, at least he was no longer a complete dead-end for cultivation — slightly better than his previous utterly hopeless constitution, if only by the tiniest margin.

For others, cultivation began with having a Dao Bone and Spiritual Root, and only then could Dharma Power be cultivated.

But Li Qingyun, relying on the golden finger of the Dao Effigy's spectral form, had first generated Dharma Power, then used it to nourish his physical body, gradually improving his constitution bit by bit.

Of course, what could be supplemented after the fact had its limits. Truly transcending one's innate tier and undergoing a complete transformation was nearly impossible.

Unless one could obtain those rare heavenly treasures recorded in the Dao scriptures and cultivation texts — the kind capable of fundamentally transforming a cultivator's essence!

"Ha! I need to head to the pond near the bamboo cottage and take a proper bath…"

Li Qingyun couldn't help but laugh aloud.

The Dharma Power within him circulated in an instant, a faint glow emanating from the soles of his feet, and his figure accelerated in a flash, dashing toward the pond to the east of the bamboo cottage.

Even without having trained in any movement technique or spell, simply circulating his Dharma Power alone made his current speed far surpass that of any ordinary person.

The back mountain was home to numerous streams, ponds, and even a few hot springs — a natural bathing ground for the temple's disciples.

The disciples of the temple were a mixed lot, filled with many like He Xiao and Li Qingyun — those with poor roots and wasted talent — which gave the place a distinctly mundane, everyday atmosphere.

With so many people needing to eat, drink, sleep, and defecate, life here was not all that different from before they had come up the mountain.

* * *

The next day, Li Qingyun continued to stay in the bamboo cottage, sitting in meditation.

As he meditated, he carefully studied the Treasure Furnace Qi Absorption Art — of which he only had the first three layers.

"At my current pace, reaching the third layer of Qi Refining will only take a few days…"

With the mysterious Dao Effigy's spectral form in his mind, his cultivation now felt almost like it ran on its own — he merely needed to maintain his seated posture.

That morning, free from the Soul-Devouring Gu's interference, he had finally accumulated one furnace of Dharma Power and successfully crossed the threshold into true cultivation.

Strand after strand of bright yellow Dharma Power swirled within his elixir field, and he stepped smoothly into the Qi Refinement Realm!

Within the Qi Sea of his elixir field, wisps of bright yellow qi wove together and condensed into the outline of an ancient, weathered treasure furnace.

This furnace was the unique phenomenon manifested by successful cultivation of the Treasure Furnace Qi Absorption Art.

Li Qingyun had smoothly stepped into the first layer of Qi Refining!

Now, his enthusiasm for meditation burned bright. As long as his body could endure it, he was willing to sit until the end of time.

His roommate He Xiao returned to the room in the morning, stumbling slightly, still reeking of alcohol.

Seeing Li Qingyun still sitting there meditating like a fool, He Xiao clicked his tongue in amazement and teased him a few times. When Li Qingyun ignored his advice, He Xiao gave up and said no more.

The roommate climbed into bed and fell fast asleep, filling the entire room with the smell of alcohol.

He Xiao was living quite the carefree life at Lingbao Temple. From the moment Li Qingyun had moved in, he had seen He Xiao at one banquet after another, reveling in drink.

The two unfinished talismans on the desk seemed to have been completely forgotten by He Xiao — they remained exactly as they were.

"Brother He's little life here at the temple… tsk, tsk…"

Li Qingyun endured the alcohol fumes permeating the bamboo cottage and continued his meditation, occasionally adjusting his posture to relieve the numbness in his body.

He wondered whether he should head out into the mountain forests and find a quiet, secluded spot to meditate and cultivate.

But right now, immersed in the joy of his rapidly growing cultivation, he had no desire to move even an inch.

Before he knew it, the autumn sun was high in the sky — it was noon.

Li Qingyun's cultivation had surged wildly, with astonishing results!

At this moment, within his Qi Sea, the Treasure Furnace was filled with over three hundred strands of Dharma Power rising like clouds of vapor, and at his mental command, they coursed through the meridians and acupoints of his body like darting serpents and flashing lightning.

Endlessly cycling, circulating without cease, responding to his will like fingers obeying a hand.

A total of three and a half furnaces of Dharma Power!

The Treasure Furnace Qi Absorption Art mentioned that in this world's Cultivation Sects, the "furnace" was used as the unit of measurement for Dharma Power, serving as a rough gauge of a cultivator's level of attainment.

One furnace marked the entry threshold — the first layer of Qi Refining — from which point one was separated from ordinary mortals and became a true cultivator.

Ten furnaces: second layer of Qi Refining;

Twenty furnaces: third layer of Qi Refining…

By this progression, speaking purely in terms of Dharma Power, the ninth layer of Qi Refining corresponded to roughly eighty furnaces.

And the Perfected Qi Refining Stage required ninety-nine furnaces of Dharma Power!

"With the Dao Effigy's spectral form boosting me, I generate one unit of Dharma Power per second while meditating — roughly four hours to condense one furnace. Currently, without outside interference, my daily meditation limit is twelve hours, which yields four furnaces of Dharma Power!"

"At this rate, reaching the Perfected Qi Refining Stage would only take about a month!"

"The problem is that this body's innate talent is truly too mediocre. After twelve hours of meditation, with Dharma Power continuously surging through it, the meridians and acupoints throughout my body simply cannot withstand it — I can't just grind cultivation endlessly, or I'd sit here until the end of time."

"Also… my cultivation speed is far too shocking. If I run into a senior expert in the temple, they might see through me immediately — my constitution simply can't explain it. So I absolutely must learn a technique to conceal my cultivation level…"

After a full morning of meditation, Li Qingyun carefully analyzed his own situation, and gradually his mind became clear.

At lunchtime, Li Qingyun thought to invite He Xiao along, called out to him twice, and seeing no response, went to the dining hall alone.

When he returned after the meal, he found that He Xiao had already gotten up and had even bathed in the nearby pond.