Chapter 561: Secluded Cultivation

Jiang Li suddenly understood: “I was wondering why this technique felt more and more familiar the more I wrote it—it turns out this is the Three Corpses Severing cultivation method.”

“It took me a full hour and a half to write such a short and concise technique—I thought my ability to create techniques had declined.”

“Ahem, we generally don’t use the words ‘full’ and ‘hour and a half’ together like that,” Radiant Enlightenment Daoist quietly reminded.

Jiang Li completely ignored him: “Your Jingyu World’s technique ‘Melancholy Lamenting Heaven Technique’ is quite impressive—it can evolve into a cultivation method even the Dao Ancestor uses.”

“I think it might not be that our technique is impressive, but rather that Fellow Daoist Jiang Li is too heaven-defying,” Skeletal Devil Venerable also muttered quietly.

Radiant Enlightenment Daoist looked at the technique with envy: “This technique is good indeed, but it has many restrictions regarding cultivation level, talent, experience, mental fortitude, and so on. I’m afraid only beings above the Golden Immortal level could possibly cultivate the Three Corpses Severing method.”

“Severing the three corpses… severing the three corpses…” Jiang Li repeated it over and over, as if he had thought of something.

“Skeleton, are you still planning to stay here?” Radiant Enlightenment Daoist wanted Skeletal Devil Venerable to come out of seclusion. Skeletal Devil Venerable’s talent was almost equal to his own—for him to curl up here was a terrible waste of his abilities.

“Don’t try to persuade me. I don’t want to get involved in these conflicts anymore. If the Destruction Alliance wanted to summon that Earthly Immortal monster, I would still take action. But now that Fellow Daoist Jiang Li is here, the biggest crisis has been resolved, and I have no reason to leave this place.”

“Radiant Enlightenment, our pursuits are different. You follow the righteous path and seek to protect all living beings in the world. I follow the demonic path and only want to protect my wife and children—this small group of people. Our paths differ and cannot be shared. Even if I came out of seclusion, I would work against you. It’s better for everyone if I stay here.”

Skeletal Devil Venerable’s response didn’t surprise Radiant Enlightenment Daoist. He sighed softly and didn’t try to persuade him further.

“But if you have anything you don’t understand, you can ask me for advice,” Skeletal Devil Venerable said before they left.

“Get lost! If I don’t understand something, would you know it? Stop pretending to be so important. Back when we studied together, when were you ever better than me in any examination?”

…

“Master, you studied together with Skeletal Devil Venerable?”

“I was forced to study with him for a period. I told you before that there were two seniors from Jingyu World who ascended to immortality.”

“Yes.”

“After the two seniors ascended, they encountered a Celestial Immortal in the Immortal Realm who walked the line between righteous and evil, named Penglai Immortal. He took them as his disciples.”

“Later, Penglai Immortal saw that their conflicts were too great and their minds too restless, which was detrimental to cultivation, so he had them return to the Underworld to each cultivate a disciple to refine their temperaments. The two seniors then took Skeleton and me as disciples.”

“The two seniors continued their rivalry, treating us as objects of competition. They often taught us together without holding anything back, all to prove that their judgment of people was better than the other’s.”

“Skeleton and I were frequently examined by the two seniors.”

“Later, when Penglai Immortal saw that the conflicts between the two seniors had mostly been resolved, he summoned them back to the Upper Realm. After Skeleton and I completed our training, we gradually made names for ourselves in the righteous and demonic paths respectively.”

“Counting it up, Skeleton and I can be considered to have studied under the same master.”

Returning to Wen Quan’s home, Jiang Li dropped the words “I’m going into seclusion” and entered the study without another sound.

Radiant Enlightenment Daoist looked serious: “It seems Fellow Daoist Jiang Li has gained significant insights. Going into seclusion is no small matter—it could last as short as a few years or as long as a hundred years. With Fellow Daoist Jiang Li’s cultivation level, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to be in seclusion for a thousand years.”

“A hundred years?” Wen Quan exclaimed. “Our house only has seventy years of property rights! What if Senior Jiang hasn’t come out by then?”

Radiant Enlightenment Daoist silently looked at his disciple.

Was that the main point of what your master said?

Radiant Enlightenment Daoist discovered that since Wen Quan had come into contact with Fellow Daoist Jiang Li, his way of thinking had become so flexible that even he couldn’t keep up.

Radiant Enlightenment Daoist said to Wen Qing’er: “During the time Fellow Daoist Jiang Li is in seclusion, I will be responsible for teaching you.”

Although he didn’t have high hopes for Wen Qing’er, Radiant Enlightenment Daoist still wanted to give her a helping hand.

The two humans and one ghost imagined the scene of Jiang Li emerging from seclusion: Decades later, the bedroom door would creak open, accompanied by dust falling softly, and Jiang Li would emerge from behind the door.

The next evening, Jiang Li stretched lazily and walked out of the bedroom to have dinner with Wen Quan and the others.

Seclusion ended.

When Wen Quan saw Jiang Li, he directly sprayed white porridge from his mouth, with some even coming out of his nose.

Jiang Li looked at Wen Quan with disgust—was he trying to ruin everyone’s meal?

“Fellow Daoist Jiang Li, did you interrupt your seclusion?” Radiant Enlightenment Daoist looked at Jiang Li as if he’d seen a ghost.

“I finished my seclusion.”

“You’ve only been in seclusion for thirty hours!”

“Thirty hours isn’t long enough?” Jiang Li felt he had been in seclusion for quite a long time.

“What insights did you gain? Ah, if it’s inconvenient to say, then never mind.” Radiant Enlightenment Daoist realized he shouldn’t be too curious about this matter.

“Nothing major, I can show you if you want.” Jiang Li handed over a small booklet.

Radiant Enlightenment Daoist flipped through it once, thought he had misread it, and then read it again carefully.

“Isn’t this technique written way too simply? And the requirements for aptitude are too low—even someone with a Five Elements Spirit Root can cultivate it.”

Radiant Enlightenment Daoist felt this technique completely didn’t match Jiang Li’s style. After all, the previous Three Corpses Severing method took both him and Skeleton quite a while to understand—it was as obscure as heavenly scriptures.

But this small booklet was as simple as a comic book—anyone with some cultivation achievement could understand it.

Jiang Li chuckled: “If I wrote it too difficult, I was afraid they wouldn’t understand it.”

Two and a half months passed quickly. During these two and a half months, Jiang Li both supervised Wen Qing’er’s cultivation and taught her the most basic knowledge about cultivation.

“How does one refine essence into qi?”

“Spiritual energy combines with yang energy, transforming into a light, clear, formless substance where essence and qi merge. Maintain fullness and preserve peace, constantly doing so.”

“The relationship between essence, qi, and spirit?”

“Essence, qi, and spirit are also called the three treasures. When essence is abundant, qi is sufficient; when qi is sufficient, spirit is vigorous; when essence is deficient, qi becomes weak; when qi is weak, spirit becomes scarce.”

“Within thirty breaths, follow the pathways on the Spiritual Energy Diagram to circulate spiritual energy through your meridians.”

When thirty breaths arrived, Wen Qing’er had just completed one small circulation cycle.

“Not bad. With your current level, if you were in the Nine Provinces, you would already qualify to be an ordinary person.” Jiang Li was very satisfied with Wen Qing’er’s progress.

“Considering how hard I’ve been working, can I take a break?” Wen Qing’er made a bitter face while holding her horse stance. Although she wasn’t tired, she still wanted to rest.

Jiang Li was surprised: “I only asked you to hold the horse stance for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. That time hasn’t passed yet—why do you want to rest already?”

Wen Qing’er looked down at the electric mosquito repellent incense and didn’t speak.

“Fine, fine, I’ll let you rest for one day then.” Jiang Li wasn’t an unreasonable person.

Wen Qing’er sat on the sofa, looking somewhat unhappy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Senior Jiang, is my aptitude really poor?”

Jiang Li smiled: “Why do you say that?”

“I feel like the fourth level of Qi Refining is like a wall blocking my path—I can’t push through it no matter what. I’ve tried multiple times to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining using the methods you taught, but without exception, I’ve failed. The bottleneck hasn’t loosened at all. Will I be stuck at the third level of Qi Refining for my entire life?”

Jiang Li didn’t offer any comforting words. Instead, he took out half of a small booklet.

“Take a look at this—can you understand it?”