“Linge, do you know what Qi is?

Qi is the meridian of heaven and earth, the breath of all living beings. All cultivation begins with Qi, and thousands of divine abilities are transformed from Qi. Breathing in cycles marks the beginning of the celestial cycle.

What I’m teaching you today is the foundational chapter of our Du Xian Men sect’s inheritance, the ‘True Heaven Formula of One Qi.’

This chapter contains methods for building your cultivation foundation. Even across the Five Continents, it’s a first-rate foundation-building method. Even if you wish to cultivate other techniques in the future, you can build your foundation with this method.

Linge… Linge?”

“Disciple is here!”

Under the lakeside willow’s shade, Lan Linge withdrew her gaze that had unconsciously drifted toward the lake, nervously sticking out the tip of her tongue.

Elder Qi Yuan turned to look at the lake center and smiled, “Your Senior Brother is comprehending the Water Escape Technique. Don’t let him distract you. Listen carefully as I explain this cultivation method to you.”

“Yes!”

Lan Linge collected her thoughts, listening carefully to the marvelous cultivation methods her Master was explaining, trying hard to understand the meaning of these words.

However, after a while…

“Master! Senior Brother disappeared!”

Lan Linge’s almond eyes widened as she pointed at the lake surface and called out.

Elder Qi Yuan turned to look, immediately smiled helplessly, and sighed, “That’s an escape technique! Come, let’s go practice inside! Your Senior Brother has a strong interest in various escape techniques. This should be… the sixth escape technique he has mastered.”

“Master, what are escape techniques?”

Qi Yuan stroked his beard and smiled, “Escape techniques are a type of magic that allows the caster to quickly travel through different environments. The Water Escape Technique allows one to move through water more swiftly than fish. Look, your Senior Brother has appeared by the lake? The speed of this escape technique is quite remarkable.”

Lan Linge stood on tiptoes to look, just in time to see her Senior Brother’s tall figure emerge from the distant lakeside, standing quietly on the water’s surface.

She softly exclaimed, “Senior Brother is amazing!”

“Speaking of escape techniques, in our Du Xian Men sect, your Senior Brother indeed deserves to be called amazing,” Elder Qi Yuan’s face showed helplessness, “If only he could spend half as much effort on other techniques as he does on escape techniques, I would feel more at ease.”

Lan Linge blinked gently, already following her Master into the thatched cottage.

Elder Qi Yuan casually summoned two meditation cushions, closed the wooden door, and lightly tapped his small disciple’s head with his whisking brush, “Pay attention!”

“Oh,” Lan Linge hurriedly sat cross-legged, finally able to calm her mind.

On the lake’s surface, Li Changshou walked on the waves, and after taking two steps, his form transformed into a stream of water and vanished. Several breaths later, he appeared in the center of the lake.

“The Water Escape Technique is complete, but the speed is too slow.

However, when using the Water Escape Technique, being able to merge with the water can resist some magical treasure attacks.

Water benefits all things without contention, carries a thousand boats without breaking – indeed worth continuing to explore.”

Li Changshou stood with his hands behind his back, thinking for a moment, then continued walking on the water, disappearing from the surface every few steps…

Through his continuous exploration, he soon didn’t need to walk on the water’s surface anymore – as long as he contacted the lake water, he could directly use the Water Escape Technique.

Still unsatisfied, Li Changshou continued to ponder deeply, seemingly completely unaware of the passage of time.

Until afternoon, when Elder Qi Yuan’s voice called him back.

“Linge hasn’t achieved transcendence from food yet, and it’s not good to always eat Fullness Pills. When you build the thatched cottage later, also set up a stove. Before Linge achieves transcendence from food, prepare one meal for her daily.”

Li Changshou cupped his hands and responded, “Disciple obeys.”

“I shall go cultivate now. Linge, if you have any matters, you can speak with your Senior Brother.”

“Yes, Master!”

Lan Linge imitated her Senior Brother’s gesture, properly cupping her hands to respond to Master, but unfortunately, her small belly chose that moment to let out a growling sound, causing her pretty face to instantly flush red.

Elder Qi Yuan laughed heartily and disappeared in a wisp of blue smoke; Li Changshou also smiled but turned his gaze toward the lakeside to avoid embarrassing his little Junior Sister too much.

“Senior Brother! Was that the Smoke Escape Technique that Master just used?”

“Hm? Smoke Escape Technique?” Li Changshou didn’t react for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh, “That was the Phantom Form Technique, mainly used for survival in battle. It can also harm or trap enemies – it’s our Master’s specialty.

Want to learn it? You’ll have to wait until your cultivation realm has some foundation, then Master can teach you.”

“What about Senior Brother’s Water Escape Technique? Can Linge learn it now?”

“The Water Escape Technique will have to wait even longer until you reach the realm of Qi Refinement and Spirit Transformation. All Five Elements Escape Techniques are like this. Don’t think too much about it now, you rookie Qi cultivator who just completed your first meditation.”

Lan Linge blinked, “Senior Brother, what does ‘rookie’ mean?”

“It means a clumsy beginner?”

Li Changshou smiled with narrowed eyes, leading Lan Linge toward the space beside the herb garden, “What would you like to eat? Our mountain has plenty of wild game. If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, I’ll make recommendations.”

Wild game?

“Senior Brother, are we eating… these herbs for lunch?”

“Of course not,” Li Changshou extended his right palm, and a small stone flew from the side, spinning once in his palm before shooting into the forest with a sharp whistle.

Lan Linge couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of admiration, while the forest instantly erupted in chaos, startling flocks of birds into flight.

Soon, a pheasant with three-colored plumage came flying through the air, the stone embedded in its chest – this spirit bird had already breathed its last.

The stone went and returned, casually tossed aside by Li Changshou into the grass, leaving Lan Linge watching with sparkling eyes.

Before long, Li Changshou had skillfully set up a grill by the lake, plucked and cleaned the pheasant, and took out several jars of his treasured seasonings, beginning to ‘tempt’ his little Junior Sister… ‘s saliva.

“Senior Brother, what technique was that stone just now? Why did it fly back after flying out?”

“Simple object control,” Li Changshou smiled, “It’s just a minor technique.

In today’s cultivation world, or rather across the Five Continents, the most popular fighting style is to refine some magical treasures, imbue them with one’s cultivation power, and use them to strike others.

This kind of object control technique is the foundation for controlling magical treasures.

You’ve just begun cultivation, so naturally, you don’t understand these things well. I’ll explain them to you slowly in the future.”

“Mm,” Lan Linge knelt sitting nearby, her small hand arranging a strand of black hair beside her ear, speaking in a mosquito-like voice, “I feel… Senior Brother’s techniques are all amazing.”

Li Changshou shook his head slightly, earnestly educating: “You’re wrong, Junior Sister, this isn’t amazing.

Like Master, I am still just a Qi cultivator who hasn’t achieved immortality.

This primordial world is too cruel. Becoming immortal is just leaving the newbie village. After becoming immortal, you still need to pass through seven or eight major realms before you can barely be considered a master, and each realm can kill countless so-called geniuses and prodigies.

The primordial world has existed for too long, and there are countless top masters. It’s extremely difficult for newcomers to rise.

Moreover, the cultivation level is just the foundation. Even in a battle between two people of the same major realm, the one without powerful magical treasures will end up…

Dead with their dao destroyed!”

Lan Linge shrank her neck, her Senior Brother’s words entering her ears like demonic sounds, making her hair stand on end.

Li Changshou’s voice continued:

“Even if you have powerful magical treasures, without powerful divine abilities, you’ll still end up dead with your dao destroyed.

Even if you have both magical treasures and divine abilities ready, if your fortune is insufficient and you attract disaster, you’ll still inevitably end up dead with your dao destroyed.

In short…”

“D-dead with dao destroyed?”

Li Changshou immediately showed a kindly smile, praising, “Not bad, you comprehend quite quickly.”

“But Senior Brother,” Lan Linge asked softly, “Isn’t cultivation for becoming immortal and ageless, so no one can bully us, and we can roam freely in the world?”

“No, you might have misunderstood. Cultivation isn’t something noble,” Li Changshou shook his head, letting out a light sigh, “We cultivate to constantly become stronger, then deal with various harsh environments, to survive.

Immortality and agelessness are just a cultivation realm. Reaching that realm means you won’t die naturally, but various disasters can still take your life.”

“Then Senior Brother,” Lan Linge nervously asked back, “How can we truly survive?”

Li Changshou slowly turned the grill in his hand, answering systematically:

“First, avoid karma. Try not to get involved with strange things. The best way is to stay home and cultivate peacefully, don’t move around randomly, and don’t have too much contact with others.

Of course, this is very difficult to achieve.

For example, you and I, because we took the same Master, we have connections between us, which creates causes. If either of us has trouble in the future, the other will be drawn in – this is an effect.

So, even if we try our best to avoid karma, we can never completely avoid it. At this time, we need to learn to assess the situation, make reasonable judgments based on circumstances, and try our best not to fall into danger.

If you’ve done everything you can and still fall into danger, then there’s only a second way to deal with it.”

“What’s the second way…?”

Lan Linge wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth – the pheasant, now seventy percent cooked, had begun to emit an irresistibly tempting aroma.

“Trump cards.”

“Trump cards? What are those…”

“So-called trump cards refer to various hidden abilities,” Li Changshou tore off a piece of chicken and handed it to the already impatient Linge, continuing his education.

This entrance education for his Junior Sister was the result of several months of preparation and organization in his mind!

“If you have one hundred points of ability, you can hide thirty points and only show people seventy points.

This way, if someone tries to scheme against you, you can catch them by surprise…

More specifically, in the future, if you have any powerful spells, divine abilities, or magical treasures, hide them as your trump cards. Don’t let people know about them. When the crucial moment comes, throw them out, and they’ll be the decisive winning hand.

Your cultivation level can also be partially hidden – this is also a trump card.”

Lan Linge quickly finished the piece of chicken, her eyes shining as she ate, her taste buds savoring the flavor, making her unable to resist licking her fingers.

She carefully pondered her Senior Brother’s teachings and asked softly, “But Senior Brother, what if we use all our trump cards but still can’t defeat the opponent?”

“That’s where the third way comes in,” Li Changshou flicked his finger, and the roasted pheasant was immediately dismembered, turning into pieces of spirit-infused roasted meat floating in front of Lan Linge.

“The third way is very simple… it’s to escape.”

“Uh,” Lan Linge blinked. Although most of her attention was drawn to the roasted meat, she was still trying hard to understand her Senior Brother’s words.

Li Changshou said leisurely: “As the saying goes, ‘While the green mountains remain, there will always be firewood to burn.’

Acting on impulse will only ruin a beautiful future. Life is precious and you only get one chance – though those with excellent character and temperament might get lucky and get a second chance.

Ahem, back to business!

To escape from a master’s hands requires extremely strong battlefield reaction ability. This is where we must emphasize the importance of escape techniques. Learning one more escape technique gives you one more hope of survival…”

As the sun set in the west, the aroma of meat filled the air.

By the clear lake water, the young Qi cultivator tirelessly educated his newly initiated Junior Sister; the young girl, holding pieces of roasted meat and taking small bites, gradually became entranced by his words.

This would surely be a lesson that would influence her entire immortal life.

However, although little Linge kept feeling that her Senior Brother’s words made so much sense, when she carefully pondered them, something seemed…

Not quite right.