บท 156: Slaughter Qi
Even though Yaan rapidly ascended to the Peak Innate Qi Realm, the aftermath following this intense cultivation session would take much longer to recover from. In breaking through to the Innate Qi Realm before settling and stabilising his foundation in the Qi Gathering Realm, he inadvertently damaged multiple Qi Channels and meridians throughout his body. Luckily, his dantian was still in one piece, but injuries to the other meridians and Qi Channels were not easy to heal from either.
Of course, compared to a crippled dantian, this much was nothing. This was especially so when adding in his 3-Star Realm vital cultivation, the vitality within his Obsidian Rank blood, and the golden elixir which continued to nourish him from within.
When he made use of the reverse grey mist vortex to regenerate his injuries, his recovery was accelerated even further.
With all these factors stacking atop one another, Yaan's recovery was much faster compared to what a normal Qi refiner would experience in his position.
Under these optimal recovery conditions, his Qi Channels gradually began to reconnect with one another over time. Yaan attempted to use some recovery pills to accelerate the process, but these pills did not seem to have much effect on the restoration of the Qi refining system. He expected as much though, after all, recovery pills had been unable to help his crippled dantian.
Even though the recovery process was progressing, and even though it was far more smooth compared to the extended period of recovery that his dantian went through, Yaan still spent a full two months before he recovered to peak condition.
Now, there were only four months left until the three year deadline arrived!
Four months to reach the Qi Palace Realm, to ascend to the 9th Layer, then to form the Vital Core!
Was this possible?
Yaan had no idea, but he needed to at least try.
Before continuing on with his cultivation though, Yaan furrowed his brows. Currently, he was once again examining his internal condition. Whenever he looked at his Innate Qi, it caused him to show an uncertain expression.
His Innate Qi…was not like the Innate Qi that he was familiar with. It was nothing like the old Innate Qi that he had possessed as a child, but it was also different from the Innate Qi displayed by the many Qi refiners that Yaan had fought throughout his life.
There were many different ways for a Qi refiner's Innate Qi to develop depending on the cultivation technique they practised, along with other factors such as their constitution and the environment they grew up in. For the Innate Qi to possess a unique appearance didn't mean anything significant, and many Qi refiners had minor attributes and variations in their Innate Qi. But even so, Innate Qi was still Innate Qi…
But as Yaan examined his own Qi, he really had to ask himself…was this even still Innate Qi?!
Whilst he was cultivating earlier, he assumed that the blood-thirst emanating from his Qi was caused by his unstable foundation and his sustained injuries, but that was clearly not the case. Even now, Yaan could still feel the slaughterous desire stemming from his own Qi, as if it couldn't wait to pounce and kill him! He also realised that so long as he always maintained active control over his Qi, he could harness this desire, allowing him to exhibit a killing intent far more powerful than usual!
"You have developed Slaughter Qi…"
Yaan turned towards the Immortal Ancestor as these words slipped into his ears.
"Slaughter Qi?" He repeated back inquisitively. He had never heard this term before.
"It is a Variant Qi. It is normal that you have not heard of it. Developing Variant Qi is extraordinarily rare, and cultivators are unable to maintain their Variant Qi during the ascension to the Qi Core Realms…it is even more so for you. You will lose your Slaughter Qi when you develop your Vital Qi."
Upon seeing that Yaan was still doubtful, the Immortal Ancestor went on to explain the uniqueness of Variant Qi.
To properly explain this matter, it was first necessary to explain the Heavenly Dao, or rather, the Heavenly Dao's manifestation throughout the world.
The Heavenly Dao was all encompassing, and it was so vast that comprehending it directly was simply impossible. However, the Heavenly Dao did not show itself in a direct form, but rather, it manifested through the earthly daos. In all, there were 3,000 earthly daos, each of which could be categorised into one of five groups; principle, partial-principle, elemental, derivation and unique. Of all the earthly daos, the derivation category was the largest, as it included many smaller daos derived from the principle, partial-principle and elemental groups.
Death was a partial-principle earthly dao, slaughter was one of its derivations.
Variant Qi could be born within a Qi refining cultivator from any one of the 3,000 earthly daos. However, this had almost nothing to do with the cultivator's dao comprehension - simply comprehending a dao could not allow someone to develop Variant Qi. In fact, some Qi refiners developed Variant Qi the moment they stepped into the Qi Gathering Realm! In a way, Yaan had also done exactly this when he developed his own Slaughter Qi.
Slaughter Qi! To think that due to the nature of the Fiend Transformation Technique, combined with his bizarre circumstances wherein he had lost his Qi refining cultivation, then regained it by killing an Origin Soul Realm cultivator, he would actually end up developing this rare Variant Qi!
Yaan now understood his Qi, whilst he was able to guess at how he had developed it.
After refining the powerful Slaughter Aura, the aura transformed into a sort of energy which was not quite Innate Qi…this slaughterous energy could be considered a sort of ownerless Slaughter Qi. When Yaan noticed this Qi, he realised that it was superior to the Innate Qi that he knew of, and so, he attempted to refine it without removing its superior quality.
In the end, he actually succeeded, resulting in his development of Slaughter Qi!
Whether this was due to luck, talent, skill, or a combination of these factors, remained a mystery. Regardless, it seemed as if Yaan had developed quite the shocking power! Only…
"So, I will lose this Variant Qi as soon as I form my Vital Qi Core?" Yaan sighed in disappointment.
"Yes." The immortal nodded. "Variant Qi is domineering at the lower realms, but it is lost upon the ascension to Rank 4. Spirit Qi, Demon Qi, Vital Qi…regardless of the specific path taken, Rank 4 can only be achieved in Qi refining by forming a Qi-based core, and there is no place for Variant Qi in this ascension."
In a way, Yaan didn't feel surprised. If anything, it would be more shocking if he really had suddenly developed a truly perfect power out of nowhere without even trying or intending to do so. There was no such thing as a free reward in this world, everything had a drawback, nothing was perfect.
That wasn't to say that this Slaughter Qi was useless though, in fact, it certainly had a use which Yaan could exploit right now! He had a distinct feeling that because of the Slaughter Qi circulating around his body, his efficiency in refining Slaughter Aura would now become multiple times greater and faster compared to before.
However, there was also a serious drawback.
"Innate Qi is the untainted Qi of Qi refining." The Immortal Ancestor explained. "It is easier to develop a Qi Core starting from Innate Qi, the same will be true for your Vital Qi Core. Forming the Vital Qi Core from Slaughter Qi…it will be more difficult."
"Typical." Yaan couldn't help but sigh again.
Before, he was concerned regarding how he would progress through the Qi Palace Realm in this short period. Now, he had lessened the difficulty of his progression, but greatened the difficulty in taking the final step!
"Oh well, there's no use in worrying about it now." Yaan shook his head, then stood up and grabbed the mysterious sword which now looked ordinary once again. "There's no way for me to undo this development, so I might as well make the most of it."
As he walked past the dried up corpse of the cultivator whom he killed two months earlier, Yaan glanced at the sword in his hand and silently pondered this unusual blade and its hidden demonic nature.
'Is it an immortal treasure?' He couldn't help but wonder. As this thought crossed his mind, he felt the desire to keep this blade for himself…however, it seemed unlikely that doing this would be possible. Stealing from an immortal was a feat far beyond Yaan's current abilities.
Yaan stopped before one of the pillars in the Grey Mist Cultivation Chamber. Sealed onto the surface of this pillar were many Origin Soul Realm cultivators. Every single one of them was apparently captured from the Demonic North.
Yaan sighed in his heart. Before an immortal, even those at the peak of the Origin Soul Realm were like mortals. No, they were not even that, they were livestock…
They were cultivation resources.
CHI!
As Yaan plunged his blade through the dantian of yet another powerhouse, this time a younger looking woman whose brows remained furrowed from her capture until now, his expression remained completely serene.
He had already adjusted to the fact that these powerhouses were now just fish on a cutting board, and he felt no qualms about killing them to further his cultivation.
If he did not kill, he would die.
This had often been the circumstances of Yaan's life, to the extent that now, he simply saw it as a fact of life, regardless of his circumstances, irrespective of whether or not killing was actually essential in that exact moment.
You kill to progress. If you do not progress, you will die sooner or later. In the end, the choice was always to kill, or to die.
To kill it was.
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