DS 05

Chapter – 05

Making a Name at Baiyun Temple

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment, then said uncertainly, “Huh?”

Li Yu flicked his finger, and a pill flew into Jiang Li’s mouth.

He had originally planned to sell one Qi Gathering Pill and trade it with Elder Sun for a low-grade magic tool or talisman for self-defense. But after hearing Jiang Li’s words, Li Yu changed his mind.

Spirit coins are precious, but friendship is even more valuable.

Magic tools and talismans could be saved up for gradually, but a true friend who genuinely cared for him—there was only this one.

As the Qi Gathering Pill entered his mouth, Jiang Li felt a surge of spiritual energy rampaging through his body. Soon, a foul-smelling black substance began to appear on his skin.

Li Yu had anticipated this. The moment he popped the pill into Jiang Li’s mouth, he had already moved a safe distance away.

Before long, by a stream in the Baiyun Mountains—

A figure descended from the sky. Li Yu had changed back into his own clothes and had also brought a set for Jiang Li. It was best to take the Qi Gathering Pill out in the wild; if taken indoors, the room would be uninhabitable for at least ten days to half a month.

Li Yu placed the clothes on the riverbank. Jiang Li crouched in the water and said, “Just toss the clothes down.”

Without a word, Li Yu picked up the clothes and tossed them over. Jiang Li was generous when it came to others, but he was also terribly particular—almost like a woman. If it weren’t for his completely flat chest, Li Yu might have genuinely suspected he was a woman.

Jiang Li possessed a Water Spirit Meridian and cultivated a water-attribute technique, so he didn’t need to worry about his clothes getting wet.

Soon, he dressed and walked out of the water. Since Li Yu was a bit taller than him, Li Yu’s clothes looked slightly oversized on Jiang Li, making him appear somewhat comical.

Jiang Li awkwardly adjusted his sleeves and asked Li Yu curiously, “Where did you get that Qi Gathering Pill?”

Qi Gathering Pills weren’t cheap—they cost at least five hundred spirit coins. He couldn’t imagine where Li Yu had saved up that many spirit coins.

Li Yu shrugged and said, “I found it…”

“…”

Jiang Li was dumbfounded. In the end, he could only chalk it up to Li Yu’s incredible luck.

When the two returned to Baiyun Temple, they encountered many disciples along the way. Quite a few people looked at Li Yu with strange expressions. To be precise, the male disciples’ gazes carried a mix of envy and jealousy, while the female disciples mostly wore odd looks.

“Did Li Yu really succeed in gathering his qi?”

“Of course. I saw it with my own eyes. Chen Ming was sent flying with one punch, and Li Yu could fly through the air. If that’s not gathering qi, what is?”

“There are still three months before the sect’s envoy comes to select disciples. He’s really lucky…”

Everyone’s gazes were full of envy. After all, successfully gathering qi meant officially stepping onto the path of cultivation. Unlike them—after two years, they were still stuck at the Qi Induction stage and would soon be expelled from Baiyun Temple.

Some female disciples gathered around a young woman and whispered, “Senior Sister Zhou, is what they said true? Did you really see it?”

The young woman recalled a certain image and blushed. Seeing this, the other girls exclaimed, “Li Yu, oh Li Yu—who would’ve thought…”

Li Yu didn’t appear before everyone again until three days later.

During those three days, he stayed inside, focusing on organizing his memories. Even his meals were brought to him by Jiang Li.

Li Yu’s current body was exactly eighteen years old. His memories before sixteen were nothing special—just a boy who had lost both parents, struggling to survive in this world.

The turning point in his life came at sixteen.

That year, he met the demonic cult’s enchantress.

From then on, a strange and magnificent new world opened its doors to the boy.

Now that he had officially entered the Qi Refining stage, Li Yu spent those closed-door days heavily digesting memories related to cultivation.

A very, very long time ago, the ancients of this world began their pursuit of immortality. Numerous cultivation methods flourished. But over time, many unorthodox techniques were lost, leaving only a handful remaining.

Li Yu and Jiang Li practiced the Daoist method. It was said that by cultivating the Dao to its utmost, one could break through the realm and ascend to the legendary Immortal Realm, living as long as heaven and earth, shining as brightly as the sun and moon.

The Qi Refining stage is the first step in Daoist cultivation. During this stage, the main focus is on the meridians. Ancient practitioners divided the body’s three hundred and sixty acupoints into five spiritual meridians, each containing seventy-two acupoints corresponding to the five elements. To advance in the Qi Refining stage, one must fully open all seventy-two acupoints of one meridian.

Li Yu raised his hand and examined it. At his current level, although he could store spiritual energy in his body, he could only store it at the Shaochong acupoint of his right hand. He still needed to open at least eight more acupoints to reach Qi Refining Level 2.

With eight acupoints per level, the Qi Refining stage has nine levels in total.

Opening acupoints is not easy. From Qi Refining Level 1 to Level 9, those with good talent might complete it in a few years; those with average talent might take decades; and those with poor talent might never succeed in building their foundation in their entire lifetime.

Li Yu didn’t think his own talent was particularly outstanding. If he cultivated normally, it might take a long time to reach Qi Refining Level 2. So he was eager for a second meeting with the enchantress, hoping to use his silver tongue to squeeze some more benefits out of her…

Unfortunately, Li Yu had no way to contact the demonic enchantress—he could only wait for her to come to him.

At noon, Jiang Li walked in from outside and called Li Yu to go to the dining hall for lunch.

The food at Baiyun Temple was very plain. Li Yu took a steamed bun and ate it with cabbage and tofu. He kept feeling like people around him were staring. At one point, he finally turned to Jiang Li and asked, “Don’t you think they’re looking at us?”

Jiang Li coughed lightly and said, “Maybe they’re just envious of your successful qi gathering…”

Li Yu hadn’t left his room for three days, so he didn’t know that he had already become famous among the disciples of Baiyun Temple—though not for his qi gathering, but for something else entirely…

While Li Yu was focused on his meal, a waft of fragrant breeze blew past him.

He turned his head and saw a young, beautiful woman walking toward him.

Li Yu was very familiar with this woman. Her name was Zhou Zixuan. Because of her outstanding looks, she was quite famous in Baiyun Temple—practically the temple’s flower. She had countless suitors around her daily and possessed strength at Qi Refining Level 1 herself.

Li Yu had a good impression of her. Several times when Chen Ming had tried to attack him and Jiang Li, she had stepped in to stop him. If not for her, he and Jiang Li would have suffered more losses at Chen Ming’s hands.

Seeing her stop beside him, Li Yu took the initiative and asked, “Senior Sister Zhou, is something the matter?”

The disciples of Baiyun Temple hadn’t formally joined the Kunlun Sect, so they didn’t need to address each other as senior or junior disciples by default. For those with a casual relationship, calling each other by name was fine; for those closer, they might use terms like “brother” or “sister.”

Senior Sister Zhou smiled and said, “Here’s the thing—there’s a mission with a generous spirit coin reward that still needs one more Qi Refining cultivator. Would you be interested, Junior Brother Li?”

Things in the cultivation world couldn’t be bought with mundane gold or silver. Spirit coins were the currency of the cultivation world. To purchase pills, magic tools, cultivation techniques, and so on, one needed spirit coins—and they could be obtained from Elder Sun.

The only way Li Yu and the others could earn spirit coins was by taking on missions posted at the temple.

Although Li Yu desperately needed spirit coins, he didn’t agree right away. Instead, he asked first, “What kind of mission is it?”

Senior Sister Zhou smiled and said, “Yesterday, a wealthy merchant came to the temple, saying that his new house was haunted. He asked us to help exorcise the ghost. He offered a good amount of incense offerings to the temple, and the reward for this mission is a full one hundred spirit coins. After completion, you can have twenty spirit coins.”

Li Yu had long since rebuilt his worldview and knew that this world had demons and ghosts. Some powerful evil spirits could even contend with top-tier cultivators. But this was Daoist territory—no matter how strong a ghost was, it wouldn’t dare to act recklessly. At most, there might be some wandering souls that couldn’t even harm people. A Qi Refining cultivator could easily handle them.

Generally speaking, this kind of minor exorcism mission only required one person. Two would be safer, and three was overkill—after all, more people meant more shares of the reward.

There was no real reason for Senior Sister Zhou to seek out Li Yu for this mission; it was purely out of kindness.

Li Yu didn’t want to refuse her goodwill, nor did he want to turn down spirit coins. Besides, the reward for this mission was indeed impressive. So he nodded and said, “Thank you, Senior Sister Zhou. I’m in.”

Senior Sister Zhou said cheerfully, “Great! This mission is urgent, so we should set off right away.”

Li Yu thought for a moment and said, “Senior Sister Zhou, could we add one more person? I’d like to bring Jiang Li along. His share can come out of my reward.”

He wouldn’t forget his good brother when it came to a good opportunity to earn spirit coins. To avoid affecting anyone else’s cut, he could only take a smaller share himself.

Hearing that Li Yu wanted to bring Jiang Li, Senior Sister Zhou agreed without hesitation and generously said, “If Junior Brother Jiang is coming too, that’s even better. I can give each of you fifteen spirit coins…”

Jiang Li had no objections to Li Yu making the decision on his behalf. The two went back to their room to pack and then headed to the temple gate, where Senior Sister Zhou was already waiting for them.

Standing beside Senior Sister Zhou was another figure—Chen Ming.

As the two biggest good-looking guys at Baiyun Temple, Li Yu and Jiang Li walking side by side was quite a sight, instantly catching the eye. Senior Sister Zhou stepped forward to greet them with a smile, saying, “Junior Brother Li, Junior Brother Jiang, you’re here…”

Chen Ming’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Junior Sister Zhou, the other two companions you mentioned—they’re them?”

Senior Sister Zhou said, “Don’t worry. Junior Brother Li and Junior Brother Jiang’s rewards will come out of my share. Your fifty spirit coins won’t change.”

Although Chen Ming was irritated, he couldn’t really complain. The mission was jointly accepted by the two of them. As long as it didn’t affect his interests, Zhou Zixuan could bring as many people as she wanted—more people meant more help.

But he had originally seen this mission as a chance to spend some time alone with Junior Sister Zhou. He never expected her to bring two annoying people—and not just any annoying people, but the two he hated most in the entire temple…

Now that Li Yu had gathered his qi, Chen Ming had nothing to say to him. He turned to Jiang Li and said to Zhou Zixuan, “Junior Sister Zhou, don’t get me wrong—Li Yu is one thing, but Jiang Li hasn’t even gathered qi yet. Bringing him along is just asking for trouble, isn’t it?”

Jiang Li glanced at him and said flatly, “Who said I haven’t gathered qi?”

As the words left his mouth, his body slowly rose, floating at least three feet off the ground. Chen Ming stared in shock. “You—you gathered qi too!”

He looked at Jiang Li, then at Li Yu. They had both entered the Qi Refining stage. He probably had no chance for revenge now. If he provoked them again, he’d likely end up with another thorough beating.

Chen Ming gritted his teeth so hard he nearly ground them down, letting out a low growl from his throat: “You two bastards—you’re both damn hateful…”