Qi Refining Realm!

An immortal artifact has emerged, a mysterious figure has surfaced, and the old Dragon Emperor has left his lair.

All of these signs pointed directly toward the Central Province of the Cangnan Realm.

And the Central Province was the very soil where the Wuling Immortal Sect stood.

In such a turbulent time, Xu Jinghuai’s specialty was finding a place to crawl into a hole.

No matter what happened in the outside world, it had nothing to do with him; he wouldn’t know, wouldn’t care, and certainly wouldn’t participate.

After all, if the sky falls, there are always taller people to prop it up.

Xu Jinghuai had already begun calculating; he planned to hide away tonight and let his incarnation handle everything on the outside for the foreseeable future.

Just then, a golden streak of light flew in from the distance, coming to a halt right by his ear in the blink of an eye.

“Junior Brother Jinghuai!”

Old He’s familiar, thick voice vibrated in his ear. Xu Jinghuai glanced sideways, but he didn’t see Old He—only a ball of golden light hovering in mid-air.

A Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission?

Xu Jinghuai recognized the spell, but he didn’t understand why Old He was contacting him at this hour. Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind.

Right—the incarnation had mentioned treating Old He to some “Immortal’s Drunk.”

Sure enough, the golden light continued: “Junior Brother Jinghuai, you said you’d treat me to a drink in a few days. Exactly when is that?”

“I just took on a job from the Sect Master to forge a batch of elite weapons for the new disciples. I’ll be swamped starting in two days, so I’m checking in now to get an idea of the schedule.”

‘Old He is going to be busy too?’

Well, it made sense. In the entire Wuling Immortal Sect, Youyun Peak was the only place that was consistently idle, with absolutely nothing to do.

After a moment’s thought, Xu Jinghuai reached out to touch the golden light, sending a reverse transmission back: “Then let’s make it tonight. If you’re free, Old He, just come directly to Youyun Peak at the hour of the Pig.”

A moment after the message was sent, Old He’s boisterous laughter erupted from the golden light.

“Hahaha! Good! It’s a date!”

One could tell Old He was truly delighted. The golden light slowly dissipated before his eyes.

Xu Jinghuai turned around and pinched out another ball of golden light, sending a transmission to Tian Qingning: “Sect Master, Old He and I are planning to crack open the ‘Immortal’s Drunk’ tonight. Do you have the time, old man?”

Watching the light vanish, Xu Jinghuai rested his hands behind his head. He hadn’t forgotten his promise to invite the Sect Master; now that the message was sent, he only had to wait for a reply.

Splash—

Mhm?

A sound came from the pond. Xu Jinghuai looked over and noticed something strange.

Though no one had disturbed it, the water in the pond was no longer still. It began to form a swirling vortex, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of rushing water.

Xu Jinghuai narrowed his eyes, marveling at the sight. With his cultivation level, the mysteries behind it were plain to see.

In his vision, the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth was being drawn in, converging toward a single point.

The gathering energy took the shape of a vortex, which naturally dragged the pond water along with it.

And at the center of that vortex was Xia Jin, sitting cross-legged on the great bluestone.

However…

The spiritual energy was only being drawn and moved; it wasn’t actually being absorbed into Xia Jin’s body yet.

So, while the commotion was quite loud, she hadn’t officially stepped into the Qi Condensation stage.

Still, it was a very good omen.

If Xia Jin could move spiritual energy like this every time she cultivated once she actually reached Qi Condensation, then her progress toward the Golden Core stage would be a matter of days. If she ever activated her Immortal Body, that speed would likely double again.

‘My eye for talent was spot on. This disciple of mine is definitely a future protagonist.’

Xu Jinghuai had already planned out the plot for Xia Jin’s growth.

Fast forward to the sect competition: Xia Jin crushes the Sect Master’s disciples and takes the top prize!

However, “the tree that stands above the forest is the first to be buffeted by the wind.” Before she fully matured, exposing such terrifying talent would inevitably attract unwanted attention. While it was safe within the Wuling Immortal Sect, it was a different story outside.

‘Mhm, later I’ll have to teach her some methods for hiding her cultivation and some movement techniques for escaping, just in case.’

Xu Jinghuai nodded in deep approval.

This wasn’t about “playing the pig to eat the tiger” for the sake of showing off—this was the fundamental truth of the Way of the Coward!

Poor Xia Jin didn’t even know that before she had even stepped into the Qi Condensation stage, someone had already planned her entire future career in professional slacking and survival.

The reply to his transmission to Tian Qingning arrived while Xu Jinghuai was distracted.

“Fine. As it happens, I have some important business to discuss with you tonight anyway.”

Xu Jinghuai: “…”

As the Sect Master’s voice faded, Xu Jinghuai’s heart skipped a beat.

‘The Sect Master has business with me?’

Could it be related to the events in the Central Province over the last few days?

After all, Xu Jinghuai was effectively the heavy hitter for the Wuling Immortal Sect; it wasn’t impossible for the Sect Master to want him to step up.

‘No, I have to find a way to dodge the Sect Master’s work. If I really can’t avoid it, I’ll send the incarnation in my place.’

Until absolute safety was proven, he wasn’t going anywhere!

Fortunately, he had checked the Oracle Network and knew what was happening lately. Otherwise, if he had been uninformed, he might have been talked into something by Tian Qingning’s silver tongue.

As for why he didn’t just cancel the “Immortal’s Drunk” party?

That was impossible. Aside from his promise to Old He, which would be bad to break, Tian Qingning had explicitly said he had business to discuss. Xu Jinghuai was certain the Sect Master would hunt him down regardless of the party.

There was no escape.

So, rather than trying to sabotage the gathering, it was better to be direct. Not only would he proceed, but his main body had to be there.

That was “Immortal’s Drunk,” for heaven’s sake! Even he had only had a few sips! There was no way he was letting those two have it all for themselves!

Xu Jinghuai’s “dead-fish eyes” returned to his face as he pulled out the Oracle Network token to play another round of Tetris.

Happy times flew by in the game, and soon it was noon.

The sun was high, yet the back mountain pond remained cool—perhaps due to the shade and the water, or perhaps due to the excessively dense water-attribute spiritual energy.

While this place might not match certain legendary immortal lands, it was a dream paradise for any water-attribute cultivator.

Finally, with a soft pop, like a water droplet hitting a lake…

A phenomenon occurred in the Green Water Pond. The spiritual energy from all directions became increasingly active, racing to surge toward the figure on the bluestone.

Xia Jin had successfully learned how to draw Qi into her body!

In just half a day, she had grasped the concept and stepped into the Qi Condensation stage!

A genius! A monster!

Xu Jinghuai had been watching her closely. Ignoring the “GAME OVER” on his screen, he set down the token, rose from beneath the willow tree, and sent a streak of manly pink immortal power toward Xia Jin.

The arrival of his power instantly dispersed the surging energy around her, causing the dense vortex in the air to stall and gradually settle.

The tightly furrowed brows of Xia Jin finally relaxed once more.

Xu Jinghuai crossed his arms, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he had been watching. This girl had just grasped the concept of drawing Qi and instinctively tried to absorb all the surrounding energy at once—an act that was essentially the definition of suicidal.

Of course, this was a mistake many new cultivators made, so it wasn’t particularly surprising.

However, even with an Immortal Body, she had just stepped into the threshold.

Her Qi Sea hadn’t even formed yet. Absorbing that much energy with nowhere to store it would lead to a minor case of diarrhea at best, or a violent death by exploding at worst.

Luckily, he had used his immortal power to sever her connection with the spiritual energy, giving Xia Jin enough room to breathe and time to adapt to the new strength within her body.