“I didn’t kill you, did I? I just happened to help clear your meridians a bit while saving your life,” said Hunyuanzi casually, though his tone carried a sense of deep sorrow. “Your pathetic foundation techniques deliberately prevent you from cultivating your own meridians, leaving them blocked so you can’t become stronger. So when I was blocking that sword strike for you, I used the energy sealed inside the pill to clear all your meridians. Take a look now—don’t you feel much more comfortable?”
“How can I tell?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“Just use your own Force and try to circulate it through your body,” Hunyuanzi reluctantly explained in terms Yang Hao could understand.
“But using the Force on oneself is against the law,” Yang Hao muttered quietly, though he hadn’t forgotten that he’d already broken that rule the day before, leaving him little confidence to argue.
“Oh, that’s just the Empire trying to fool you,” Hunyuanzi hinted. “For cultivators like me, directing energy inward is known as the circulation of internal energy, one of the most important cultivation techniques. I suspect someone deliberately doesn’t want you to use this method.”
Yang Hao didn’t bother arguing. Instead, curious about the strange changes in his body, he followed Hunyuanzi’s instructions and began to activate his Force. Immediately, a scorching energy surged through his body along an invisible path—something Yang Hao had never felt before. Even with the slightest activation of his Force, his entire body felt burning hot, like it was ablaze.
“There really is something like ‘energy’ flowing inside,” Yang Hao closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, carefully sensing the changes in his body. “But why does it feel so painful and scalding?”
“That’s exactly the problem with your body,” Hunyuanzi replied in a tone resembling that of an old quack doctor. “If you had practiced the techniques of our Dan-Ding Dual Cultivation Sect before, the energy I just injected into you could have served as the foundation for your cultivation. But since you haven’t started cultivating yet, this energy is extremely harmful and could eventually lead to a fatal meridian rupture.”
“Then can’t I just get rid of this energy?” Although Yang Hao was angry, he tried to suppress his frustration, knowing Hunyuanzi had saved his life.
Hunyuanzi, clearly anticipating this question, answered immediately, “The energy can’t be expelled—it will remain inside your meridians.”
“Hey, old man, are you trying to poison me?!” Yang Hao finally couldn’t hold back. He felt like nothing good had happened since Hunyuanzi took up residence in his body.
“Hehe, you could say that,” Hunyuanzi admitted bluntly. “Anyway, if you don’t start cultivating now, you’re as good as dead.”
“So I have no other choice?”
Yang Hao felt the energy coursing through his body like knives cutting him, finally realizing the seriousness of his situation.
“It seems like you don’t.”
“I won’t learn your evil techniques! I won’t! I won’t!!!” Yang Hao was so furious he wanted to roll on the ground.
Hunyuanzi remained silent, patiently waiting for Yang Hao to make his decision.
Sure enough, after lying on the grass for just a few minutes, Yang Hao had no choice but to give in. “Fine! I’m only doing this to save my life, not because I want to be your disciple!”
“Whatever you say, my good apprentice,” Hunyuanzi said joyfully.
Yang Hao felt like the world was spinning—he was utterly helpless. He had been peacefully studying at school, so why did he have to swallow an old immortal into his stomach? Now he was being forced to learn some bizarre alchemy techniques. His life had become so absurdly chaotic.
“So what should I do now?” Yang Hao asked, recalling the situation. “Should I meditate or practice sword techniques? Hurry up and teach me—I want to get it over with as soon as possible.”
After successfully forcing Yang Hao to become his disciple, Hunyuanzi grew serious, truly embodying the demeanor of a grand master. “First, I want you to forget everything you’ve learned at school. What you call the Force is what we call ‘qi’ in the Dan-Ding Sect. Of course, qi must be directed inward for cultivation. Otherwise, how can it be called cultivation? So from the beginning, you must treat the Empire’s laws as nonsense. You must use the Force on your own body.”
Yang Hao nearly spat out blood. No wonder it was called a heretical technique—it lived up to its evil reputation. The very first lesson was to break the Empire’s strict laws.
But what could he do? His life was at stake. Yang Hao reluctantly nodded, too exhausted to even voice his agreement.
Satisfied, Hunyuanzi continued, “Second, you must forget all the cultivation methods you’ve seen or heard of before. Our Dan-Ding Dual Cultivation Sect cannot be compared to those random techniques.”
“You’re the one who’s random,” Yang Hao muttered angrily. “Others are orthodox sects—open and aboveboard.”
“Hey, you ungrateful apprentice! Show some respect for your sect. Why are you talking like that about yourself?”
“I’m not your apprentice, and I’m definitely not part of your ridiculous ‘aphrodisiac’ sect. I was forced into this,” Yang Hao said, sitting cross-legged. “Alright, enough. Just tell me how your useless sect cultivates. Don’t you need to meditate every day?”
Actually, Yang Hao wasn’t unfamiliar with cultivation at all. In his spare time, he often sneaked into the restricted section of the library, where many forbidden books about cultivation were stored. All of them basically described the same thing: sitting in meditation, cultivating energy until a ‘core’ formed in the belly—nothing particularly new or exciting.
However, when Yang Hao shared what he knew, Hunyuanzi was deeply moved. “My disciple, I must say I’m incredibly wise. I knew you had already been poisoned by those harmful teachings. Of course, our Aphrodisiac Sect’s cultivation methods are completely different from those qi-absorbing techniques. In fact, there’s no simpler method of cultivation in the entire world than ours.”
“If it’s really that simple, you wouldn’t be stuck inside a pill,” Yang Hao retorted, still angry, bluntly calling him out.
“That was just an accident,” Hunyuanzi shrugged. “Our sect doesn’t rely on meditation at all. We cultivate entirely through refining and consuming pills.”
“Pill refining?” Yang Hao asked, confused. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“That’s why I’m here to teach you,” Hunyuanzi said eagerly. “As long as you can refine the appropriate pill, consume it, and let its effects spread through your body, you can instantly ascend to a new level of cultivation. This is precisely where our Dan-Ding Sect surpasses those who cultivate by absorbing ambient energy.”
“Fine, I’ll refine it,” Yang Hao said, picking up two stones and striking them together as if that could somehow produce a pill. “So what do I do now?”
“Now we come to the most important part,” Hunyuanzi said seriously, almost word by word. “The very first step you must take is—make money!”
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