Stand Up and Be the Master

Shangguan Yunying's voice rang in his ears, carrying a slight tremor. I will guide your True Qi through its first circulation. Feel it carefully.

As soon as she spoke, Gu Chengyin felt a warm, mellow stream of True Qi transmit from Shangguan Yunying's palm, flowing slowly like a stream into his meridians.

This True Qi was completely different from his own.

It was more condensed and more agile, carrying a unique rhythm. It was ethereal and mysterious, like drifting clouds in the mountains.

Under Shangguan Yunying's guidance, the two streams of True Qi merged and began to circulate along a complex and exquisite path.

Gu Chengyin held his breath and concentrated, dedicating his full attention to experiencing this first lesson.

The True Qi first sank into his Dantian, gathered momentum, and then rose. It passed through the Danzhong, traveled via the Xuanji, pierced the Tiantu, and like a hidden dragon emerging from the abyss, shot straight up to the Baihui acupoint at the crown of his head.

Along this path, Gu Chengyin only felt his mind clear and his senses sharpen.

Then, the True Qi split into two meridians, traveling downward along the Taiyang, Fengchi, Jianjing, Quze, and Neiguan acupoints, ultimately converging at the Laogong acupoint in the center of his palms.

As it flowed down, the meridians in his arms grew faintly hot, as if filled with inexhaustible strength.

Afterward, the True Qi flowed back from the Laogong acupoint, returning to the Dantian along another path, thus completing a minor circulation cycle.

Throughout the entire process, Shangguan Yunying's True Qi guided him gently yet firmly.

At every crucial acupoint, she would pause briefly, allowing Gu Chengyin to carefully comprehend the movement of the True Qi and the sensation within the acupoints.

Once, twice, three times.

By the third circulation, Gu Chengyin had basically memorized the path of the True Qi.

He attempted to detach from Shangguan Yunying's guidance, controlling the True Qi himself to circulate along the same route.

At first, it was a bit rusty; the flow of True Qi was inconsistently fast and slow, lacking smoothness.

But soon, thanks to a total volume and control of True Qi that far exceeded ordinary people, Gu Chengyin gradually grasped the trick.

By the fourth time, he was able to independently complete a full minor circulation cycle.

Shangguan Yunying noticed this, a flash of surprise appearing in her eyes.

She slowly withdrew her own True Qi, but she did not let go of his hand. Their fingers remained intertwined as she felt the movement of True Qi within his body.

By the fifth time, Gu Chengyin's True Qi circulation was already quite fluent, its speed even thirty percent faster than when Shangguan Yunying had been guiding him.

By the sixth time, the True Qi moved as easily as his own arm, retracting and releasing freely.

When the seventh time ended, Gu Chengyin slowly opened his eyes. A sharp light flashed through them, and his entire aura had transformed.

How is it? Shangguan Yunying asked with concern, simultaneously releasing his hand.

Gu Chengyin felt the flow of True Qi within his body, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. It is a very wondrous feeling. This Azure Sword Art significantly improves the condensation and circulation efficiency of True Qi.

Furthermore, I feel that when cultivating this mental mantra, my perception has become sharper. Although the improvement is very faint, it definitely exists.

Hearing this, the surprise in Shangguan Yunying's eyes deepened. You can actually feel the effect of enhanced spiritual perception on your first time cultivating it?

This is usually a change that can only be felt after cultivating the Azure Sword Art for three years!

She looked Gu Chengyin up and down, as if looking at some sort of monster. Your talent is simply too good.

Gu Chengyin understood in his heart that this was likely not a matter of talent, but rather the hidden benefits brought by the system.

However, he naturally wouldn't point that out. He simply smiled and said, It might just be that Master Yunying teaches well.

Oh, stop it! Shangguan Yunying rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help curving upward. Familiarize yourself more with the Azure Sword Art first.

Once you have proficiently mastered it, I can begin teaching you the Azure Sword techniques.

However, I cannot stay here with you for too long, otherwise the Qingli Bureau will definitely protest.

Speaking of this, Shangguan Yunying suddenly leaned in close, raising a hand to gently pat the bed.

Leaning near Gu Chengyin's ear, she whispered words of encouragement:

You must cultivate diligently, so that in the future you can turn things around and call the shots~

After saying this, she suddenly drew back, leaving behind a faint, fragrant breeze and a smile as she turned and fluttered away.

Gu Chengyin watched Shangguan Yunying's figure disappear through the doorway.

Then he looked back at the bed she had patted, falling into deep thought.

Had he just been hinted at something?

After pondering for a moment.

Gu Chengyin decided that right now, cultivation was more important.

After all, he couldn't even leave this place at the moment, so thinking about such things was pointless.

Thus, he gathered his focus and began to circulate the mental mantra over and over again.

The Azure Sword Art was like spring rain nourishing the earth, quietly altering the pattern of True Qi within Gu Chengyin's body.

Those originally vast yet scattered streams of True Qi, under the guidance of this top-tier cultivation method, began to integrate systematically.

It was like a school of aimless fish finally finding the direction of the ocean current.

True Qi surged through his meridians, following the circulation paths set by the Azure Sword Art, washing, condensing, and purifying time and time again.

Gu Chengyin sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, completely immersed in a profound and mysterious state.

He could clearly see the changes in his True Qi. That True Qi, which had originally been like mist and clouds, gradually became solid and clear under the tempering of the Azure Sword Art, even radiating a faint azure luster.

Every single thread of True Qi seemed to be endowed with life, flowing agilely and orderly through his limbs and bones.

Even more astonishing was the elevation of his realm.

Gu Chengyin's total amount of True Qi, which already far surpassed ordinary people, was now being utilized with high efficiency.

The barrier between the mid-stage and late-stage of the Qi Refining Realm, which many required months or even years to break through.

Under the impact of his majestic True Qi, it collapsed instantly like wet paper.

Then came the transition from the late-stage to the Great Perfection stage.

Ordinary cultivators needed to carefully polish their True Qi and increase its purity to cross this hurdle.

But Gu Chengyin's situation was completely different; his total volume of True Qi was extremely high.

Under the circulation of the Azure Sword Art, the purity of his True Qi ascended by more than just a single level.

The threshold of the Qi Refining Realm's Great Perfection was crossed naturally, like water flowing into a channel.

When the thirty-sixth circulation cycle was completed, Gu Chengyin slowly opened his eyes.

A breath of impure Qi was exhaled from his mouth, shooting out five feet away like an arrow, lingering in the air for three breaths before slowly dissipating.

He looked down at his hands, feeling the surging yet orderly power within his body, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl into a smile.

Qi Refining Realm, Great Perfection!

He was only one step away from Foundation Establishment.

On this path of immortal cultivation, Gu Chengyin walked differently from everyone else.

Others would first obtain a top-tier cultivation method, then painstakingly search for spirit grasses, spirit medicines, and natural treasures, accumulating True Qi bit by bit to arduously raise their realm.

Every time they broke through a minor realm, they needed months or even years of bitter cultivation, enduring the torment of countless bottlenecks along the way.

And him?

Relying on Luo Zhao's power and influence, he had gathered a massive amount of True Qi into his own body.

Only then did he go and cultivate the top-tier method, the Azure Sword Art, personally taught by Shangguan Yunying.

This was like others digging canals drop by drop to draw water, while he first possessed an entire vast ocean, and only then went to build the river channels to guide it.

Naturally, it was like a surging river, unstoppable once unleashed.