Chapter 6: Devouring the Demon Core

Late at night.

Jiang Min sat at her desk, her little face grave, engaged in a silent showdown with a pile of monster core embryos on the table.

She had obtained these discarded core embryos from the kitchen before leaving her duties there. Having slipped some favors to the steward, she was granted permission to scavenge in the waste bins. There, among the bloodied refuse, she fished out a few cast-off monster core embryos, wrapped them up, and brought them back to Floating Cloud Peak.

After staring at the pile for a while, Jiang Min murmured to herself,

"Before I experiment with the peachwood branch, I should first try to absorb spiritual energy on my own and reach the first level of Qi Refinement."

After all, she considered the possibility that some unknown monstrous spirit might reside in her dantian, and so, with a sense of resignation, she resolved that cultivation must go on, come what may.

She bundled up the monster core embryos and put them away, then returned to her bed, sitting cross-legged with the "Spirit Communication Technique" laid out before her.

"Qi is the elixir of immortality, heart is the master of qi and spirit.

If the heart is clear, immortality can be attained.

The word 'heart' bears two meanings:

First, the human heart—the master of temperament and spirit.

Second, the heart aperture—the principal among all apertures."

Jiang Min had heard her senior brothers say that the cultivation techniques of the Eastern Spirit Sect emphasized the dual cultivation of life and mind—refining the heart to achieve clarity and spiritual strength, while also using the heart aperture as the core for cultivating qi. For those with all five spiritual roots, the heart aperture must be linked with the five organs, connecting the five elements.

However, practicing the "Spirit Communication Technique" was truly troublesome. For the first attempt, one had to circulate spiritual energy through the five organs in the sequence of the five elements, establishing a perpetual cycle centered on the heart aperture—a complete microcosmic orbit—before officially stepping into the first layer of Qi Refinement.

Thereafter, every cultivation cycle required a complete transformation through the five elements to count as one full orbit.

This was why cultivation for those with five spiritual roots progressed far more slowly than for those with fewer. It was said that those with a single spiritual root did not need to convert the five elements at all; they merely inhaled the corresponding spiritual energy and refined it directly, advancing at a blazing pace.

At this moment—

Jiang Min closed her eyes slightly, calming her mind.

With her spiritual eye already awakened, she could keenly sense the spiritual energy around her, enveloping her like a dense white mist.

Following the "Spirit Communication Technique," she inhaled a thread of spiritual energy, guiding it along the prescribed path—over the bridge of her nose, through the Bright Hall, down the spine, into both lungs... Yet, before she could even transform the energy into metal qi at the lung position, she found herself unable to breathe. She failed to hold on, and expelled the unrefined spiritual energy from her body.

"Huff... huff..." As the breath left her, Jiang Min felt as if she had been granted amnesty, gulping in the fresh air as though she would suffocate otherwise.

Her eyes widened in disbelief—why was opening the spiritual apertures so difficult? Why was it so hard to absorb spiritual energy?

“It is said that there are two main difficulties in absorbing spiritual energy: first, the cycles of breath and inner circulation must be kept distinct and not confused; second, one must change one’s method of breathing.”

"I confused the two cycles of breath, naturally I couldn't breathe.

Also, previously, the spiritual energy I inhaled only reached my chest, so it couldn’t linger within my body. The technique requires the energy to be drawn all the way down to the dantian. I’ve heard that changing the breathing method is uncomfortable at first, but it gets better with practice.”

"Let’s try again!"

Jiang Min braced herself and continued to attempt absorbing spiritual energy.

After many failures—

At last.

She successfully guided the spiritual energy to her lungs, transformed it into metal qi, then, through the heart aperture where water and fire met between the heart and kidneys, completed the refinement, sending it into her dantian to nourish the metal spiritual root, and from there, the metal qi flowed to the kidneys...

Repeating this cycle five times, completing the orbit, the spiritual energy returned to her dantian, and a sensation of abundant power surged through her entire body.

The first layer of Qi Refinement!

Jiang Min felt a surge of joy—she could sense, as if by instinct, that with a single thought she could command the spiritual power within her dantian for her own use.

She lingered in this marvelous feeling of newfound power.

After a while—

She realized something odd.

The spiritual energy she had refined through this method was less than a tenth of what the peachwood branch had fed her earlier that day. That branch, after absorbing just a wisp of unformed monster core energy, could return such a vast amount of spiritual qi to her.

If she could harness the peachwood branch for cultivation, her progress would be...

"No, no, I mustn’t touch that peachwood branch!"

Jiang Min shook her head vigorously, banishing the dangerous thought.

"It must be because it's my first time circulating the orbit—I'm still inexperienced. If I try again, I’m sure I can absorb more spiritual energy."

She steadied her mind and began another cycle.

...

"How fragrant."

A dozen days later, Jiang Min took out the monster core embryos.

After days of practice, she could now skillfully absorb spiritual energy and complete the microcosmic orbit—she had truly set foot on the path of cultivation.

But no matter how she practiced, each session only allowed her to painstakingly refine a sliver of spiritual energy, adding a barely noticeable thread to the power in her dantian. At this rate, even if she cultivated day and night without rest, reaching the second layer of Qi Refinement would remain a distant dream.

It was said that using spirit stones would greatly speed up cultivation, but the one she earned from her last labor had already been spent on fasting pills. Soon, she would receive her annual allotment—just twenty low-grade spirit stones—but she calculated that would barely cover her daily expenses, let alone leave any for cultivation.

Even if she had plenty of spirit stones, the technique for those with five spiritual roots doomed her to slow progress. Swift advancement was simply impossible.

No wonder, she thought, so many drudge disciples strive diligently at their cultivation, some even from wealthy cultivation families with no lack of spirit stones, yet few ever reach the fourth layer of Qi Refinement before thirty, shedding their menial status to become outer disciples.

Jiang Min felt somewhat discouraged.

It was said that even in cultivation clans, those with five spiritual roots found it nearly impossible to establish a spiritual foundation, a goal most would never achieve in their lifetimes—how much less hope did she, a powerless, penniless, destitute girl, have?

"Yesterday, well-informed Senior Brother Zhao told me someone was inquiring about my whereabouts—if not Li Mao, then who else could it be?"

"The Library Pavilion is remote and heavily guarded, a place of utmost importance to the sect. If Li Mao's connections can reach here, then his influence is already enough to threaten me. If I continue to rely on fate and cultivate at this pace, sooner or later I’ll be in grave danger."

"Even being devoured by a monster would be better than being killed by that damned fat brat!"

Jiang Min was not one to court danger, but sensing the looming threat, she knew she had no choice but to risk harnessing the power of the peachwood branch.

She sat cross-legged, picking up a monster core embryo from the pile before her.

This core was crimson, half-translucent, its texture soft, filled with a dense and volatile monster energy.

The energy within these monster cores or embryos was entirely unusable to cultivators. It was said that to forcefully absorb such power would only invite the chaotic, demonic aura to disturb the mind, resulting in madness and loss of control.

Yet as Jiang Min took up this fire-attribute monster core embryo, the peachwood branch in her dantian began to stir again. The fire energy within the embryo flowed ceaselessly from her hand up her arm, entered at the spinal aperture, sank straight to her dantian, and was absorbed by the peachwood branch, strand by strand.

At the same time—

A rush of pure, intense crimson fire spiritual energy gushed forth like a spring. Jiang Min quickly guided this surge—ten times greater than usual—through the orbit, refining it as she went.

By the time the entire monster core embryo was devoured by the peachwood branch, she refined all the pure spiritual power it released, nourishing her dantian. The spiritual energy there swelled, becoming misty and abundant.

Jiang Min was both amazed and delighted.

Just by absorbing one monster core embryo, she had refined as much spiritual energy as she had in the previous dozen days combined.

Looking closely at the peachwood branch, she saw that, once it finished absorbing the core, it became utterly still, as if nothing more than a lifeless object.

Seeing this, Jiang Min felt reassured.

"Then let’s continue!"

She set aside the now-dim fire-attribute core embryo, picked up a white one, and proceeded to devour the monster energy within.