Chapter 23: Strategist Ji's Mixed Blessing
“That Strategist Ji had no small stroke of fortune. The paper book he obtained had the protective immortal spell dispersed during the explosion of the storage pouch, so he was able to easily read its contents.
The immortal technique recorded in that book likely belonged to a poison cultivation sect that used poison as their path to the Dao.
The thod began by sensing and drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body, then using a secret art to refine the juice of various poisonous herbs into a dicinal prir, which was then absorbed into the body for refinent.
Once the spiritual energy was strengthened and stored within the body, it would gradually enhance the ridians and internal organs, eventually completing the entry into Qi Condensation, reaching the first level of the Qi Condensation Stage.
This kind of cultivation thod was by no ans a righteous path. Unlike Daoist, Buddhist, or Confucian cultivators who advanced step by step with solid foundations, this thod relied on poisonous herbs to forcibly cleanse the ridians and remodel the body. One could say it was a path of extre deviation.
Strategist Ji, beyond his imnse stroke of luck, was also a ruthlessly bold individual.
First, he didn’t even know whether he possessed spiritual roots and yet dared to try cultivating. If he had no spiritual roots and mistook internal energy for spiritual energy, once the poison-infused liquid entered his body, he would have died instantly.
Second, this technique happened to match the attribute of his spiritual root, otherwise, it would have been extrely difficult to succeed.
After obtaining the book, he was naturally elated and decided to cultivate it. But since this immortal technique used poison to cultivate the Dao, the beginning of the book recorded the secret formula for the dicinal mixture.
For an entry-level cultivation formula like this, the herbs required were naturally not extrely rare, for a sect, that is. But among mortals, the few herbs listed were exceptionally hard to co by.
However, for soone from the Immortal-Seeking Lineage, who often road deep mountains and prival forests, this wasn’t too difficult. Strategist Ji soon found most of the herbs, but still lacked two essential ones.
These two herbs were crucial for balancing the dicinal power. Without them, during the absorption process, the unbalanced poison energy would cause extre pain and suffering for the cultivator.”
Li Yan was silent. At this mont, he finally understood why his own cultivation process had been so excruciating, it was caused by the missing herbs ant to balance the dicinal power.
“After several years of searching, Strategist Ji finally found one of the missing herbs. But the last one remained elusive. At this point, his ruthless character showed itself fully.
Even lacking one of the required herbs, and without yet confirming whether he possessed spiritual roots, he began drawing the dicinal concoction into his body to cultivate.
Fate worked in mysterious ways, the cultivation thod and his spiritual root attribute were perfectly compatible. Though the process was agonizing, after forty-nine days of cultivation, he succeeded in stepping into the first level of Qi Condensation.
However, what he didn’t know was that even though this was just a low-level introductory formula, it had been refined over tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands or millions of years by the immortal sect it ca from.
It had already been streamlined to the extre, every herb had a unique function. One could not ignore or omit even auxiliary ingredients.
By cultivating forcefully without the final balancing herb, Strategist Ji had already planted a deadly seed.
Because the dicinal power lacked balance, residual dicinal toxins remained in his body. Over ti, this developed into fire poison.
Initially, there weren’t many outward symptoms, just as you experienced recently: irritability, restlessness, agitation. But by then, Strategist Ji had already reached the second level of Qi Condensation, so he could suppress it with his spiritual power.
He believed that as his cultivation advanced, his spiritual power would eventually be able to completely purge the fire poison. So, he continued cultivating while also seeking ways to calm his mind and suppress the symptoms.
From the introductory paper book, he learned that only after reaching the third level of Qi Condensation could one’s divine sense leave the body, and only then could the jade slip and jade book be read.
Unable to open the jade items, he didn’t know if they contained a solution, so he turned to simpler thods, ditating in icy plains, imrsing himself in music, and so on.
By these ans, he managed to forcefully cultivate to the third level of Qi Condensation. When his divine sense could finally leave his body, he eagerly used it to read the jade book and jade slip.
The jade book, of course, he couldn’t open. When he opened the jade slip, he first discovered that it and the paper book were parts of the sa technique, which excited him. He thought he had finally found a solution but what he read shocked him to the core.
The jade slip recorded the incantations for levels four through ten of the technique, and at the end, it clearly emphasized the advantages and drawbacks of using the introductory formula.
The benefits were not worth ntioning. The drawback, however, was this:
If one improperly used the formula and forcefully cultivated, the result would be the developnt of fire poison in the body, which would be continuously nourished and grown by the spiritual power.
Eventually, even one's own spiritual power would no longer be able to suppress it. By the ti the cultivator reached the peak of the third level of Qi Condensation, the fire poison would explode uncontrollably.
At that point, the cultivator would have no chance to react. The poison would erupt, causing blood to reverse, and the body would explode and die instantly.
But if one thought to avoid this by simply not cultivating past the third level, that too was impossible, the fire poison grew stronger with each passing day, and could only be suppressed through advancent.
This was nothing short of drinking poison to quench thirst.
In the cultivation world, especially in sects with thousands or even tens of thousands of years of legacy, which sect wouldn’t build protections into their own techniques? Even the lowest-level entry thods would contain intentional traps or safeguards.
This was precisely why the paper book didn’t reveal these flaws, to prevent it from falling into outside hands. By the ti outsiders discovered the truth, it would already be too late, and death would be inevitable.
This result left Strategist Ji both shocked and furious. From then on, he began searching everywhere for a solution.”
Later on, one day, Strategist Ji encountered a Foundation Establishnt Stage senior. Coincidentally, this cultivator was also from the Immortal-Seeking Lineage.
At the ti, if that Foundation Establishnt cultivator had been willing to expend a significant amount of his own spiritual power, he could have helped Strategist Ji cleanse and eliminate the fire poison from his body.
However, in the cultivation world, the law of the jungle prevails, the strong prey on the weak. Killing soone at the slightest displeasure is commonplace. That Foundation Establishnt cultivator had already done quite well by sparing Strategist Ji’s life out of respect for their shared lineage.
After Strategist Ji begged and pleaded, the cultivator finally gave him a possible path to survival out of consideration for their shared affiliation.
He told Strategist Ji If he could cultivate to the fourth level of the Qi Condensation Stage, it might be possible to purge the fire poison from his body but the odds were not high.
After all, the cultivation manual itself clearly stated that upon reaching the peak of the third level, the fire poison would erupt violently, causing blood to reverse and resulting in death. There wouldn’t be any ti left to continue advancing.
There was another thod, to delay cultivation as long as possible.
If he could, within that window, capture another small cultivator who had also cultivated this sa technique, he could forcibly absorb the spiritual energy from their body in an attempt to break through to the fourth level in one surge.
If successful, he might eliminate the fire poison. If he failed, both would die on the spot.
But this thod had specific conditions:
One, both must have cultivated the exact sa technique, so their energies would not clash.
Two, the chosen cultivator must have reached the peak of the first level of Qi Condensation, no higher, no lower.
If the chosen one had too high a cultivation, Strategist Ji’s third-level power wouldn’t be able to absorb it, and the backlash would kill him instantly.
If the chosen one’s cultivation was too low, the spiritual energy wouldn’t be sufficient to help Strategist Ji break through, and it would be a wasted effort.
After that, the Foundation Establishnt cultivator wasted no further words and directly taught Strategist Ji the thod for absorbing another’s spiritual energy.
Although this spiritual-energy-absorbing technique wasn’t considered a secret art in the cultivation world, it was extrely rarely used.
First, regardless of whether the attempt succeeded, the one being absorbed would have their life force completely drained and die instantly, a truly miserable end.
Second, absorbing soone else's spiritual energy is not easily done. Even if the techniques were compatible, the energy still needed to be refined and assimilated, which required a long period of secluded cultivation.
The ti needed could range from a few years to several decades, even centuries, depending on how much spiritual energy was absorbed.
During this ti, the cultivator could not use any spiritual power; otherwise, the two types of spiritual energy would clash internally, causing madness or death.
Given that, one might as well cultivate steadily on one’s own, it would be safer.
Third, such behavior was considered despicable in the cultivation world. While it wouldn’t lead to public execution, if others discovered that you were practicing such a vicious technique, many would gang up to destroy you.
Therefore, unless absolutely desperate, this kind of thod was usually considered useless and dangerous, a last resort.
The Foundation Establishnt cultivator also made it clear to Strategist Ji that even if he reached the fourth level, there was no guarantee he could remove the fire poison, it was rely a possibility.
Even so, Strategist Ji was already kneeling in gratitude, thanking him profusely.
Finally, the Foundation Establishnt senior gifted him three packets of “Clear Heart Powder”, a low-grade dicinal powder classified as a kind of pill dicine. It had no powerful effects.
For novice cultivators who had difficulty entering ditation, who often felt irritated or distracted, this powder helped them calm the heart and mind, stabilize their internal energy, and maintain focused cultivation.
But for Strategist Ji, this powder was precisely what he needed. It allowed him to greatly extend the ti he could suppress the fire poison in his body.
After receiving guidance from the Foundation Establishnt cultivator, Strategist Ji began scheming how to find a suitable target.
Naturally, the ideal candidate would be soone from the sect or clan where this immortal technique originated. He would wait for the right mont to infiltrate, locate soone who had cultivated to the peak of the first level, subdue them, and extract their energy.
But such a plan, he dared not attempt it. That would be nothing short of seeking death.
As a long-standing mber of the Immortal-Seeking Lineage, Strategist Ji knew very well: soone like him who secretly cultivated a stolen technique, if discovered by the sect or clan that created it, there would be only one fate: death.
(Chapter End)
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