Asking About Longevity

Chapter 16 The third level of Qi refining

 After Mo Hua entered Tongxian Sect, the new year of sect life began.

 Tongxian Sect is a first-grade sect, and a first-grade sect is the lowest sect in the world of monasticism.

 Sects in the monastic world have strict levels of hierarchy.

At the beginning of the establishment of a sect, the products first need to be finalized and reviewed and decided by the Taoist court.

The requirements for determining the product are very strict, including the sect's assets, the mountains it occupies, the depth of its inheritance, whether the leader's moral character is deficient, the cultivation and number of the elders and teachers in the sect, the number of disciples it can accept, etc. There are strict assessments.

The promotion of the sect is even more stringent. Several high-level monks must have been teaching for a certain number of years before they can go to the Tianquan Pavilion of the Daoting to apply for promotion.

　　Promotion is a top priority for any sect. It requires many years of preparation and smooth relations with the Taoist court, which consumes a lot of manpower and financial resources.

Among the Tongxian Sect, only the old master is a foundation-building monk, which is far from the qualifications for a second-grade sect. And it is estimated that within a hundred years, he will not be eligible for promotion.

In addition, Tongxianmen’s family property only has three peaks, Tongling Peak, Tongxuan Peak and Tongming Peak.

In the outer sect of Tongxian Sect, the disciples in the early stage of Qi refining, that is, the 1st to 3rd levels, practice and learn Taoism at Tongling Peak, the 4th to 6th level disciples in the middle stage of Qi refining are in Tongxuan Peak, and very few disciples in the 7th to 9th levels in the late stage of Qi refining The outer disciples are also in Tongxuan Peak. Because the number of these disciples is too small, they have to make do with the placement.

 The inner sect and direct disciples, including the sect’s head, elders and teachers are all at Tongming Peak.

It is said that there used to be a Tongxian Peak, which was used solely for the sect leader and elders to live and practice. Later, because the sect was not managed well and was insolvent, it was sold with tears.

 How can Tongxianmen be called Tongxianmen without Tongxian Peak?

The heads of Tongxian Sect in past generations have determined to redeem Tongxian Peak, but it is a pity that this ambition has not been realized so far.

 The disciples of each peak of Tongxian Sect are divided into four classes: A, B, C and D. The quality of the disciples decreases from class A downwards, as does the sect's emphasis and training intensity.

Class A generally only recruits the so-called "proud ones of heaven", who must have good spiritual roots, high talent and understanding, and fast cultivation.

Of course, if you have a relationship with the head elder of the sect, or are willing to donate a large amount of spiritual stones to the sect, you can also enter Class A.

 In short, you either have talent, connections, or spiritual stones.

Class B includes students with average spiritual abilities, but good talent and understanding, relatively hard work, and good grades in various aspects.

 The disciples in Class C have average spiritual abilities, and their understanding and grades are also average. The disciples in Class D generally have even worse spiritual abilities and grades, and they can basically just hang around.

Mo Hua is assigned to Class B, a disciple with average spiritual roots, but who works hard and is pretty good at all his homework.

Mo Hua only has the second level of Qi Refining, so he eats, sleeps, and practices at Tongling Peak, which is also the peak with the most disciples of Tongxian Sect.

After entering the sect, I greeted my familiar classmates and began a year of study and practice in Mo Hua.

The monks at the bottom, no matter how poor they are, still have to collect some spiritual stones to let their children enter the sect to practice, at least lay some foundations for practice, and not be too ignorant of various knowledge in the monastic world, so in the early stage of Qi refining in Tongxian Sect has the most disciples.

As for whether you can continue to practice in the middle stage of Qi refining, firstly, it depends on the monk's own talent, and secondly, it depends on the monk's family background.

Some casual cultivator families can't afford the spirit stones, so they have to drop their children out of school and help others refine weapons and do odd jobs, or learn to hunt monsters in the mountains, barely making a living. A hundred spiritual stones a year for cultivation is not a small sum. Otherwise, the family will starve to death before the children can become talents.

And there are even fewer people who can continue to practice in the sect at the later stage of Qi refining.

Several classmates whom Mo Hua was familiar with disappeared. After asking around, he found out that they all had to drop out of school because their families were poor and encountered difficulties, so they couldn't afford to pay for study.

The Taoism is complex and profound. If there is no one to teach you, you will have to take many detours. If you drop out of school in the early stage of Qi refining, unless you have a great opportunity, it will be difficult to make any progress in spiritual practice. Mo Hua sighed slightly, feeling very sorry in his heart, but his own situation was not very good, so he didn't have much time to express his emotions.

Mo Hua is taking classes and practicing at the same time. In his free time, he draws formations and leads a busy and fulfilling life.

 A few months later, without even realizing it, Mo Hua broke through to the third level of Qi Refining.

 Cultivation during the Qi refining period relies more on persistence and accumulation. If you persist in practicing every day, and over time, when the spiritual stone flowers are in place, you will naturally achieve a breakthrough.

 But what casual cultivators lack most is always spiritual stones.

  Breakthroughs in small realms rely on accumulation, while breakthroughs in medium realms will have bottlenecks. These bottlenecks require some corresponding heavenly materials, earthly treasures, or elixirs to help break through.

As for breakthroughs in major realms, such as refining Qi to building foundations, it depends more on fate. For most low-level casual cultivators, it is a chasm that cannot be overcome in a lifetime.

 Every time the realm improves, it will be of great benefit to the monks.

The ink painting on the third level of Qi Refining feels that the spiritual power is more abundant, and the spiritual consciousness is naturally stronger.

　　The open flame array that I used to draw was laborious, but now I can do it with ease, and I don’t even need to rest for a long time after finishing the painting.

 Although it was expected, the ink painting was still a surprise.

 No wonder so many monks endure the boring practice and only think about improving their realm. The simple and unpretentious happiness obtained after this boring practice is the real happiness.

Mo Hua is ten years old and at the third level of Qi Refining. This level of cultivation is above average in Class B.

 At the third level of Qi refining, Mo Hua has to choose a method.

 After class one day, Yan Jiaoxi asked several disciples from the third level of Qi Refining to stay, including Mo Hua.

Yan Jiaoxi left the ink painting with them, and then got straight to the point:

“This was originally taught by Mr. Zhou, but he is a little unwell, so I will temporarily do it for you and talk to you about the exercises.”

"The most important thing for a monk is spiritual power. Whether it is physical cultivation or spiritual cultivation, whether it is drawing formations to make elixirs, or refining weapons and making talismans, spiritual power must be used. If your spiritual power is strong, you will be superior to others. If your spiritual power is weak, you will be inferior. Inferior. The most fundamental difference between monks is the difference in spiritual power."

“A monk’s spiritual power is determined by his spiritual power, and his spiritual power is determined by his spiritual root. What kind of spiritual root he practices, and what kind of practice he practices, determines the amount of his spiritual power.”

"Spiritual roots are innate. They are predetermined by nature and cannot be changed the day after tomorrow. You cannot choose your spiritual roots. What you can choose is what kind of exercises you practice."

"Choosing a suitable skill will be of great benefit to your future practice. If you have a weak spiritual root and practice the right skill, you will have a relatively long-term path to spiritual cultivation. But if you have a good spiritual root but practice the wrong skill, then It’s basically equivalent to cutting off the path to immortality.”

“So regardless of whether one’s spiritual roots are good or bad, one must be very cautious in matters related to martial arts…”

 “Is it a Kung Fu method...” Mo Hua thought silently in his mind.

 Mo Hua is a lower-middle-grade minor five-element spiritual root. Among his peers in Tongxian City, he is considered to have an average-to-lower spiritual root qualification.

  I don’t know what kind of exercises he can learn with his spiritual roots.

 (End of this chapter)