Painting of the Nine Immortals

Chapter 14: Qi of the Fifth Level

Translator: /Tatienne Editor: Tennesh/Rundi

“How do you feel about waking the second Immortal?”

Ling Xian’s cheeks heated up instantly.

[The second Immortal!

Liao Cang Qiong, the Immortal of Alchemy, already gifted him two treasures and his lifelong work, ‘Bible of Alchemy’. What kind of treasures will the second Immortal bring him?

Even if the Immortal gives him nothing, to be taught by an Immortal is enough to drive all cultivators crazy! Remember that in the Taoism community, nobody had risen as an Immortal in 30,000 years.]

“Master, where should I go find a soulful lake?” Ling Xian asked impatiently.

“I’m not too sure about that myself. Why not wait for fate to happen? When fate is ready, you will be able to find a soulful lake and from there, you will be able to wake the second Immortal,” Liao Cang Qiong said.

“Yes, I will for sure find it.” Ling Xian tightened his fists, feeling the determination.

“There is no rush. Even if we can’t find the lake, the second Immortal can be awakened. I am looking forward to seeing him. It’s been 30,000 years… 30,000 years of nobody to talk to.” Liao Cang Qiong softly smiled.

[30,000 years old friend. You all should be waking up soon.]

“Master, the second Immortal… who is it? If he is an Immortal, he should be recorded in the history of Qing.” Ling Xian had high expectations.

“If I tell you, then it wouldn’t be fun. But I can tell you that compared to me, he was a lot more famous. You better train harder and train faster, because if he wakes up and you are still stuck in the stage you’re at, I can’t promise he will take you as an apprentice,” Liao Cang Qiong laughed.

“Take me as an apprentice?” Ling Xian was confused, “I have already worshipped you as my Master. What you said means that I have to call him Master too?”

Liao Cang Qiong sighed, “I do not want to share my apprentice, especially when my apprentice is a rare genius. However, you know the situation we are in. We are left with nothing but our souls and we are only alive because we rely on the Painting of the Immortals. When we entered this painting years ago, we made a promise to each other. Between the nine of us, we must choose one apprentice to pass on our inheritances. Whoever wakes up first, has the right to choose the apprentice. Since I chose you, I trust that you will not disappoint the other eight Immortals.”

“Then… I have nine Masters?” Ling Xian’s eyes and mouth widened.

Nine masters, and all of whom are unreachable Immortals!

“Correct. Gradually those old fellows will wake up, and you will no longer be my apprentice only.” Liao Cang Qiong seemed a little disappointed. He was highly pained by the fact that he had to share his beloved genius apprentice with those eight bastards.

“But wait, there are unwritten rules in the Taoism community: a woman cannot marry a second husband, and a man cannot worship a second master,” Ling Xian said and paused. Because he could not summon spirits since a young age, he wasn’t exactly a cultivator. Despite this, he was deeply rooted with the Taoism way of thinking. He was afraid that if he had two masters, others would look down on him and he would feel highly ashamed.

“Rules are meant to be broken. If none of us care, why do you care?” Liao Cang Qiong chuckled. “To have nine Immortals guide your training, you have such good luck! Nobody in history has had this kind of luck!”

Ling Xian smiled, he was embarrassed but happy. He felt like he has just woken up and was granted with infinite amount of spiritual stones.

“You have a mission now, and that is to train fast. Or else, when those bastards wake up and find you unsatisfactory, they will to use extreme methods to train you and I will do nothing.” Liao Cang Qiong winked. “They are not kind like me. Every one of them is meaner than the other.”

“Master, please do not worry. I have acquired an uncharted entrance to the hidden territory. When the hidden territory opens in ten days, I will use the opportunity to train and quickly reach a higher level.” Ling Xian took out the entrance token he received, the milky material it’s made out of was shining.

The hidden territory was an exclusive world that acted as a border between heaven and earth. Perhaps it was naturally formed, or perhaps it was born after an Immortal fell to death in a mystically tragic way. Nobody really knew the origin of the hidden territory, but inside that place, spiritual energy was infinitely higher than the mortal world and there were many treasures to be found. Though it contained the same amount of spiritual energy as the Painting of the Nine Immortals, the territory appeared only once in awhile and then vanished from the world. Then, after some time, it would reappear in a specific place at a specific time. This cycle continued until the lifespan of the territory ends.

The City of Qing was one of the only cities in the area to have a portal to the hidden territory. Though the portal only allowed cultivators in or below the base-building stage to enter, it was nonetheless a hidden territory. The portal only opened every five years and everytime it did, cultivators around the area all converged and attempted to enter the portal.

The next time the portal opened was estimated to be in ten days. Therefore, the allowance of entrance to the hidden territory was very valuable. If Ling Xian didn’t run into the opportunity to save the poisoned Ye You Lan, he would not have acquired the right to enter the hidden territory. Legend has it that every time the territory appeared, only 50 cultivators were allowed to enter. Within those 50, each of the three clans claimed 10 spots, and left 20 spots open for the Mayor to judge. Nobody really cared how the Mayor chose to distribute those spots.

“The right to enter the hidden territory?” Liao Cang Qiong sighed, “I haven’t heard about that for a while. However, a portal from the City of Qing… there is no way this small city can lead you to a hidden territory that has much to gain. I don’t think it would have more spiritual energy than the Painting of Nine Immortals.”

Ling Xian explained, “You are wrong this time Master. Even though the hidden territory from Qing is not that spectacular in terms of spiritual energy, rumor has it that a spiritual medicine is hidden in the territory. Its name is Flower of Vigor. This flower can speedily increase the pace of one’s training and can help increase spiritual mana. Every time the hidden territory opens, half the people go with the goal of finding that flower.”

“Flower of Vigor,” Liao Cang Qiong proclaimed in shock. He was a little confused as well.

He had been obsessed with alchemy all his life, and naturally he was familiar with all spiritual medicine. According to his knowledge, even though this flower was merely a Ninth Realm medicine, its rarity was in line with Fifth Realm medicine since it could only be found in prosperous hidden territories.

Therefore, he was a bit skeptical that the little hidden territory in Qing would have this flower. The City of Qing was very small, and the hidden territory that the portal takes people will no way be resourceful. Could it be that…

“Well, if the Flower of Vigor will be there, then you should definitely check it out. You need to speed up your training.” Liao Cang Qiong watched Ling Xian and noticed his abundant spiritual energy. He couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You have reached level four qi. At this point, you need to consider getting to the next stage.”

Ling Xian sat down in the lotus pose and prepared himself to begin absorbing spiritual energy.

He took out one of the Energy-Freezing Dans he made from his pouch and swallowed it. When the eighth-ranked medicine entered his body, surges of spiritual energy began to spread.

Just now, when he was detoxicating Ye You Lan, he already felt the abundance of his qi. If the situation allowed, he really would’ve played around with the spirits until he reached the next level. Now, under the effects of the eighth-ranked Dan, he was ready to reach the next stage.

Spiritual energy was revolving around him and like unstoppable tides, they rushed towards his body and entered through his chest.

Not long after, a surge of qi bolted into Ling Xian’s body as sweeps of spirits gushed outwards. Ling Xian opened his eyes and indulged himself in the amount of powerful energy he felt. He couldn’t help it, but to smile.

Qi of the fifth level!

At this point in his training, he could be considered as one of the best in the Ling Clan. There was no point in denying his natural talent as he reached this level in merely two days, whereas others spend years stuck in each qi level.

Normally, right before reaching the next level of qi, a bottleneck occurred. During regular qi training, the consumption of a Dan could help speed up the process. When the bottleneck is reached, unless the cultivator consumes a seventh-ranked Dan, the bottleneck could not be beaten. To overcome bottlenecks, a cultivator must depend on his or her own natural aptitude. This was why in the Taoism community, natural endowment was the number one quality.

If someone’s natural endowment was qualified enough, then bottlenecks don’t occur during the first few levels of qi. Only when they reached higher qi level, do the bottlenecks happen.

To Ling Xian, whose blood was flowing with supernaturalism, cultivation training was as easy as eating and drinking. To him, increasing his qi levels and going from qi training stage to the base-building stage was instant and easy. All he really needed was enough spiritual energy to support his desire.

Of course, if he only counted on his supernatural blood, his cultivation journey would get more and more difficult. The practice of Taoism was to slowly pave out a path, collect experience and endure hardship before becoming physically and mentally ready to move onto the next stage of cultivation.

Ling Xian tightened his fists and punched the air. His spiritual energy was released as a result and an explosion occurred in the air!

Liao Cang Qiong shook his head in dissatisfaction, and he asked, “You haven’t acquired a lot of techniques, have you? The fifth level of qi should not be this weak.”

Ling Xian frowned. He could not deny that fact. He remembered then, the book he had borrowed from the great library a while ago. He summoned the book, and a blue covered, leather book materialized from thin air.

“Master, I found this book in my clan’s library. When I saw it, there was a voice and an instinct in my heart that told me to get it. However, when I attempted it, I cannot understand a single character. Therefore, I have been unable to practice these techniques.”

“You can’t understand it?” Liao Cang Qiong frowned. He gestured for the book to fly to him, and then he turned the pages.

Looking at the strange characters that looked like little toads, Liao Cang Qiong faltered. He stayed silent for a while, and then finally spoke, “These characters, they are from the primordial times.”

“Primordial times?”

Ling Xian gasped. From the primordial times until now, it’s been a few billion years. He couldn’t believe that a book was preserved for so long.

“No, it’s not from the primordial times. The cover of this technique is written in modern characters. However, all the content written are connected to primordial times.” Liao Cang Qiong pondered hard for a very long time. Then he muttered to himself, “‘Bible of the Three Flowers’…. This name is a little familiar.”