Chapter 29: Cultivating the Yellow Locust Longevity Technique

Li Qiuchen did not stop until he reached a place where the village was no longer visible; he carefully checked his entire body, and only after confirming there was nothing suspicious did he feel completely at ease.

Finding a cool and clean spot to sit in meditation, Li Qiuchen closed his eyes and began to recall the text from the Yellow Locust Chapter.

First was the introduction regarding the Qi Refining Realm.

The Qi Refining Realm can be roughly divided into three stages.

First is sensing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, then drawing that Qi into the body—which is the origin of ‘Qi Refining’.

Second is using the Spiritual Qi to clear the Meridians and strengthen the Physical Body.

Finally, there is training the spirit to enhance Divine Sense, which then allows for the performance of Spells.

“So, doesn’t that mean I’m already at the Late Stage of Qi Refining?”

Of course, it wasn’t that simple.

When he first saw the Yellow Locust Chapter, Li Qiuchen realized that the contents of this small booklet were not comprehensive.

It couldn’t be considered a textbook; at most, it was an instruction manual.

It only told you how to Cultivate, not why you Cultivate.

The Li family’s Old Ancestor, Li Jingyun, had elaborated in detail on his own mental journey through years of practice and his understanding of the Great Dao in his own writings.

The classic of scenic clouds was equivalent to a general outline.

The Yellow Locust Chapter was merely a single chapter under that general outline.

One was the Law, the other was the Technique.

What Li Qiuchen lacked most right now was ‘Technique,’ but he still looked down on the Yellow Locust Chapter in his heart.

It was too specialized.

The Qi Guiding Art within it—at least the first half—seemed like a bunch of flowery nonsense to him.

Things like finding a yellow locust tree over three hundred years old, insisting on hugging and rubbing against the tree every day, taking bark and leaves to brew into medicinal soup for consumption, carving branches into wooden pins to insert into one’s Acupoints… the ultimate goal was to interlink the Qi of this yellow locust tree with one’s own.

Why did it need to be so complicated? Was the Pharmacists Blessing really such an inconvenient thing?

Li Qiuchen felt he could skip this step directly.

What was truly useful was the final section.

Normal cultivators absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and lead it into the Qi Sea, which is the Dantian.

But Medicine Masters Believers do not Cultivate the Dantian; they Cultivate the spine, also known as the Dragon Court.

Because of this, the cultivation level of a Medicine Masters Believer is extremely deceptive. If others use methods for observing ordinary cultivators to observe a Medicine Masters Believer, it is very difficult to discern their true strength.

In the Li family’s Cultivation Technique, the Qi Refining Realm is divided into twelve levels, also known as the Twelve Stories of the Qi Sea.

But as for what exactly those twelve stories were, the book didn’t say, so Li Qiuchen still couldn’t figure out his own cultivation level even now.

The Yellow Locust Chapter also described the cultivation Realms of Medicine Masters Believers in the Qi Refining Realm, subdividing the Early, Middle, and Late Stages of Qi Refining into thirty-three layers, also called the Thirty-Three Heavens, corresponding to the thirty-three vertebrae of the human body. As long as one cultivated the entire spine once, they could reach the Realm of Great Perfection in the Qi Refining Realm.

But aren’t there only 24 vertebrae?

Has the human body in this world mutated? Or did I learn biology wrong?

Maybe I should find a corpse to dissect and take a closer look later.

Putting this doubt aside for now, Li Qiuchen continued to recall the book’s contents.

The “Soul Tethering Technique” was a very sinister Spell. First, one had to find a way to sprout “flesh buds” from within their own body, then supplement them with other drugs to create Medicinal Pills or powders for the target to ingest.

This was equivalent to planting a part of the caster’s body into the target’s body, then using the power of the Pharmacists Blessing to influence the target’s actions and thoughts.

The simplest and most direct method was to give you a bit of sweetness when he wanted you to do something, and a bit of bitterness when he didn’t.

Cultivating with the Old Daoist Priest felt comfortable all over.

Going down to do farm work felt miserable all over.

After an ordinary person was conditioned back and forth a few times, they would become completely submissive.

Li Qiuchen was even more familiar with the “Human Elixir Formula.”

By striking a pre-cultivated seed into the opponent’s body, the seed would frantically seize the opponent’s flesh and blood, growing out of the victim’s corpse, ultimately absorbing the victim’s life entirely to bear a fruit full of vitality.

The “Spiritual Root” inside Cherry Grass’s body back then, and the large tree that Old Third Song had transformed into by the lake, both originated from this.

Cherry Grass had been fed various medicinal soups by Great-Uncle since she was a child, while he and Hong Yang—one having a family Cultivation Technique and the other reportedly having some Dragon Clan Bloodline—had narrowly escaped the fate of being fed medicine.

From Great-Uncle’s perspective, the more Spiritual Roots, the better.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the true person in charge of Songlin Village.

Perhaps in the eyes of the old peach tree, Li Qiuchen and Hong Yang counted as specially prepared side dishes with different flavors.

One must eat everything for a balanced nutrition.

Li Qiuchen didn’t go looking for any yellow locust tree; he picked a thousand-year-old ancient pine for himself and sat under the tree to begin cultivating the Qi Guiding Art from the Yellow Locust Chapter.

After completing one Great Heavenly Cycle, he only felt his back was warm and cozy, as if his strength had increased significantly out of thin air.

Opening his inner vision, he saw that the life energy in his body—which he previously couldn’t utilize effectively—had gathered into his spinal column, condensing into wisps of life essence, causing his perception and blood-qi to improve noticeably.

Li Qiuchen opened his eyes and found himself covered in pine needles.

This session of meditative cultivation had actually lasted for a full day and night, and he had been completely unaware of the passage of time.

The thousand-year-old ancient pine behind him looked as though its vitality had diminished quite a bit. Despite being in the middle of summer, large patches of pine needles had fallen off, and even some tender branches showed signs of withering.

The technique in the Yellow Locust Chapter was too overbearing, belonging to a category of completely unreasonable scavenging and plundering. He had a faint feeling in his heart that he could exhaust the vitality of this thousand-year-old pine by cultivating here for a week at most.

Was there any cultivation method more efficient than this?

There was, my friend, there was.

Cannibalism.

A melodious crane cry came from the sky, and the White Crane flapped its wings, landing gracefully.

“Found something?”

“Gah!”

The White Crane gave a heavy squawk.

It seemed it wasn’t just a discovery; the problem was quite serious.

While Li Qiuchen had been providing technical guidance in the village these past few days, he hadn’t let the White Crane stay idle.

Its travel speed was relatively fast, capable of flying hundreds of miles in a day and night, so Li Qiuchen had it scout the surrounding villages to see if there were any signs of activity from other Medicine Masters Believers.

There were, and many.

As the saying goes, when a whale falls, all things thrive.

Before its death, the old peach tree had somehow scattered countless root fragments, baiting out Medicine Masters Believers from within a radius of hundreds of miles.

The appearance of these Medicine Masters Believers was extremely deceptive.

After all, the pursuit of longevity is something everyone yearns for.

You can’t just say that because I grow some vegetables in my own garden and write myself a prescription, you all claim I’m a Medicine Masters Believer, right?

Kaoshan Village, Jiyang Shop, Zhuyaozi Gully, Sandaoling… over the next month, under the guidance of the White Crane, Li Qiuchen quietly visited all the towns and villages within a hundred-mile radius.

Eighty percent of those towns and villages had already been occupied by Medicine Masters Believers.