Longevity Martial Arts: Starting from Inner Core Skill

Refining the elixir refines itself, which inherently requires drawing out the flame of the elixir and entering the furnace within the Yellow Court. However, Wang Sheng had made an incorrect estimation of his situation. He began practicing the Inner Core Skill using the Qi Blood Martial Arts of this world as the foundation, substituting the force of Qi-Blood Power for the Qi inherent in the Inner Core Skill itself. Later, his Qi-Blood Power was somewhat different from the Qi-Blood Power of this world. Especially when he reached the Refining Essence to Qi stage, the Qi-Blood Power, although special, still maintained a certain independence. However, one thing that could not be changed was that his current Qi-Blood Power belonged to the power of the elixir. Thus, this led to some special circumstances. Wang Sheng did not draw the flame of the elixir from the elixir itself; instead, his Qi-Blood Power surged into the furnace of the Yellow Court, which represented the Dantian itself as the original source of power. Therefore, this situation did not cause Wang Sheng any discomfort, but rather facilitated a smooth process. Likewise, in the process of constructing the "crucible," the "crucible" itself was closely linked to the Dantian, so the influx of Qi-Blood Power did not cause any damage to the crucible; the two elements were extremely compatible. This flame seemed illusory and ethereal, with no feeling of scorching at all, appearing explosive, but inherently very mild. The flame of the elixir was replaced by the flame fueled by the burning of Qi-Blood Power. With the flame of the elixir established, the next step was refining the great medicine. The initially constructed Round Furnace came into play, distributing the Qi-Blood Power's burning flame extremely evenly under the restriction of the Round Furnace. The crucible was interconnected, hence the flame in the Round Furnace appeared to transcend the void, affecting the three-legged round crucible situated in the Jia Gong. The elixir within the round crucible gradually transformed. The originally whole and round elixir began to soften, dispersing its power, but with the presence of the round crucible, not a trace of this power could leak out; it was all locked in. This was Wang Sheng's initial intention in establishing the round crucible. If these powers were not locked in, at this stage, the power of the elixir would cause a certain amount of leakage; how much would depend on one's own ability to construct the crucible and control it. If both abilities were poor, the power of the elixir could even leak up to fifty percent, a tremendous loss that could not only affect subsequent cultivation but, in severe cases, even affect one's combat power, requiring a great price to replenish. However, Wang Sheng certainly had no such problems. Not a bit of the elixir's power leaked and was locked in a hundred percent by the round crucible. After "softening," the flame did not stop; the crucible exerted its force once more, and after an indeterminate amount of time, the form of the elixir had completely changed—if previously it was solid, now it was liquid. This liquid emitted a faint golden-yellow glow, with most of its power already released. Wang Sheng only felt that under the illumination of this golden glow, his body seemed to have transformed. Something was changing. This sensation was extremely subtle, giving one a floating feeling. The agent of all this, now termed the Golden Liquid, had not yet concluded its transformation; the Golden Liquid was merely a mid-stage transformation of the Cloud Smoke Realm elixir, substantial to his body, seemingly inducing a change, but merely so. At this stage, the power of the elixir had neither been fully released nor affected the whole body, so it could not yet conclude. The crucible continued its operation, fulfilling its duty. It's unknown how much longer after, the Golden Liquid gradually transformed, beginning to vaporize. This was the final process of refining the elixir. At this stage, there was actually no difficulty. With little effort, only a mist-like gas remained in the Round Furnace; at this time, the power of the elixir had been completely released. The Jia Gong of the middle Dantian, influenced by this power, had undergone significant changes, appearing different from other parts of the body. "Qi Transformation is complete, the next step is the final one, reaching the fourth stage of Refining Qi into God." Refining Qi into God's fourth stage is not merely about transforming the Dantian, but altering the entire body. Next, one needs to maneuver the Mist of Cloud Smoke and the Round Furnace's essence, and then gradually operate along the pathway of Grand Circulation. The Mist within the Round Furnace will eventually descend to the bubbling spring at the sole of the foot, communicate through the Governor and Conception vessels, ascend to the crown at the top of the head, and finally return to the Dantian. This is the operation of the Grand Circulation and also one of the three River Carriages—the Grand River Car. Refining Essence to Qi is the path of the Lesser River Car, Refining Qi into God is the path of the Grand River Car, while Refining God and Returning to Void is called the Purple River Car Path. Transporting Essence Qi and the Qi of the Great Medicine is to traverse the Lesser and Grand River Car paths. As for the Purple River Car, it involves more advanced processes. As the Qi of the Great Medicine forms inside the Round Furnace, it must be pervaded between the furnace and the mist without dispersing or losing strength. Therefore, one must use spiritual power extended from one's gaze to stabilize this Cloud Smoke of Great Medicine, keeping its form dispersed but its essence concentrated. Since one cannot control the Cloud Smoke of Great Medicine with Divine Thought, it must operate autonomously, hence this method is employed. In fact, this is also an application of Divine Thought. Between one's eyebrows lies the Mud Pill, inherently the place of spiritual power. The power extended from the gaze is not exactly Divine Thought, but it has a certain effect which can influence the Great Medicine's Cloud Smoke. Without hesitation, Wang Sheng gradually released the Cloud Smoke of Great Medicine, and at the same time, his inner sight directly engaged with it. Initially, somewhat scattered, the smoke, at the risk of vanishing any moment, was stabilized by his gaze, forming a paradoxical, cohesive state. This contradictory state was exactly what Wang Sheng desired. It was also the state that the Cloud Smoke of Great Medicine sought. Upon entering this state, the Cloud Smoke of the Great Medicine started oscillating with the flames inside the Round Furnace. It initially descended slowly, but after descending to a certain level, it began to rise, no longer adhering to a singular pattern as many previous realms did, but moving back and forth within the furnace. Thus "Mist" refers to this situation. Within this Mist, parts of the power began from the lower Dantian, circulating along the Grand Circulation, transforming Wang Sheng's physical fitness. This was in preparation for the fifth stage and was also elevating Wang Sheng entirely. Physical fitness and Qi Blood Power were subtly changing as the Qi of Great Medicine circulated with the Grand River Car. Of course, the biggest change was in Divine Thought. Divine Thought seemed to undergo a qualitative change, feeling more consolidated — Wang Sheng did not know by how much. The most noticeable was the tremendous change in Divine Skills related to Divine Thought. For instance, "Five Internal Organs Containing God. Awakening Three: 55%" Five Internal Organs Containing God, had undergone a second awakening at twenty percent, and at forty percent, the third awakening saw another of the Five Internal Gods emerge. "Let's see which two of the Five Internal Gods!" However, just as Wang Sheng was about to explore the Five Internal Gods and the results post-breakthrough, he suddenly felt as if something was calling him. But this calling, he could resist. "What is this, seems somewhat familiar..." Wang Sheng mused, soon he considered a possibility, "Spirit World!" Not his own Spirit World, but the Spirit World of the Heavenly Father. "They want to summon me again, it seems they are prepared!" Wang Sheng knew, the Heavenly Father was certainly seizing the opportunity of his breakthrough to summon him. However, this breakthrough differed from the previous one, this time he could refuse, but— "Why refuse!" (Some hindrances in writing, need to organize the outline a bit; been feeling sluggish lately, but no worries, there are still eight days left in this month, only five days' worth of daily thousand-word goals, not a big problem)