Imperial Cultivation

Essence is derived from the five grains.

Qi is internal energy, true energy.

Spirit is the primordial spirit, mental power.

But this common knowledge is ineffective against the Heart Inquiry Saber Art.

The essence consumed by the Heart Inquiry Saber Art is not the essence of the five grains.

Last night, he fell asleep in a daze, unable to observe the changes in his body. Now that he woke up, he had recovered most of his strength, and his extrasensory perception re-examined his body.

He re-examined the strange aura that had been consumed.

This strange aura did not originate from the stomach, nor from the other internal organs, but rather from the bones.

Upon further investigation, it was from the bone marrow deep within the bones.

Essence and marrow, could it be that marrow is essence?

In the morning light, surrounded by the concerned gazes of Mo Yi and the four women, and accompanied by Zou Fang, Guo Chi, Gao Jiong, Sun Yanwu, and Ji Dongxiao, he entered the imperial palace.

He asked Chu Qingfeng about the nature of essence near the training ground of the Mingwu Hall.

Chu Qingfeng grasped his wrist, frowning as he stared at him.

Chu Zhiyuan knew that his face was as pale as someone recovering from a serious illness, the first time he had been so haggard since entering the Innate Realm.

"The qi of the five grains is essence, kidney qi is essence, and the qi of flesh and blood is essence."

"What about bone marrow?"

"Oh—?" A look of surprise appeared in Chu Qingfeng's eyes: "You even know that marrow is related to essence?"

"The relationship is extremely important, right?"

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have thought that essence actually came from bone marrow.

"The sea of marrow is the dwelling of the spirit. The spirit transforms into qi, and then into essence, so the marrow will also have an overflow of essence."

"This essence is a higher level than the essence mentioned above, and often cannot be directly used. This is a great mystery of cultivation."

"Unless you walk the path of body refinement. We walk the path of qi refinement. Knowing this or not doesn't matter."

—Why are you so depleted? Did you suffer a qi deviation while practicing?

Chu Zhiyuan then told him about the Heart Inquiry Saber Art.

"Heart Inquiry Saber—" Chu Qingfeng thought for a moment, and finally shook his head.

Chu Zhiyuan was not surprised either.

The Heart Inquiry Saber Art was too overbearing, a matter of life and death. I am afraid that those who have seen the Heart Inquiry Saber have become dead people, and others would naturally not hear its name.

"However, since it was obtained from Cheng Tianfeng, it must be unusual, and may be related to the Heart Inquiry Cliff," Chu Qingfeng said.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

"Use this saber with caution. It is too harmful to the body and not worth the loss," Chu Qingfeng said slowly.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Uncle, how can I replenish marrow?"

"Marrow can transform into blood, so the starting point is often from blood."

Chu Zhiyuan thought of the fourth level of the Dragon Transformation Art, which was marrow refinement, so he asked.

"Marrow refinement—I really don't know," Chu Qingfeng said, "Only you have practiced the inheritance of the Dragon Subduing Sect, and no one else has ever succeeded. I can only speculate."

"Uncle, please speak."

"Not to mention that the fourth level of the mental cultivation method is too complicated and difficult to get started. This shouldn't be a problem for you. But the fourth level seems to require the third level to be perfect before it can be practiced. Is your third level perfect?"

"Third level perfection—it's still a little short."

Chu Zhiyuan also discovered this.

He tried to practice the fourth level of the mental cultivation method, but to no avail.

So he understood that this fourth level was different from the previous three levels. It could only be practiced after the third level was perfected.

Chu Qingfeng had never practiced the Dragon Transformation Art, but he was able to see this point. It could only be said that the Grandmaster was indeed a Grandmaster.

"The Dragon Subduing Sect—," the inheritance was cut off for a reason. You should now know a little bit about the true face of the Dragon Subduing Sect, right? Dragon Subduing, hehe, shouldn't be called Dragon Subduing, but Dragon Descending! Not the Subduing of subduing, but the Descending of descending!"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said: "Uncle, first transform into a dragon, and then surpass the dragon, to truly subdue the dragon. There is nothing wrong with that. It is written very clearly in the Dragon Subduing Scripture."

"Hmph, in short, this Dragon Subduing Scripture cannot be practiced by people of today," Chu Qingfeng said: "If it weren't for the four secret realms, could you have practiced to this level?"

"That's true," Chu Zhiyuan said.

Without the Dragon Blood Stone and the Dragon Bone, he would still be at the first level now. He couldn't practice the second level, and if he couldn't practice the second level, it would be almost impossible to practice the third level.

From this, he could infer that the world where the Dragon Subduing Sect was located should be a world with dragons, just like in the four secret realms.

This world has no dragons. If it weren't for the four secret realms, it would be almost impossible to practice the Dragon Subduing Scripture, so the inheritance being cut off was only natural.

The inheritance of the Taiqing Yuan Sect and the Yuxu Sword Sect was too difficult, and the qualifications of later generations were difficult to reach that level.

He speculated that the world's spiritual energy had become thinner, which led to the decline in people's endowments and qualifications, and they could not meet the standards of the Taiqing Yuan Sect and Yuxu Sword Sect disciples.

As the two were talking, the crowd arrived one after another.

Chu Mingxuan and the three were elated.

Chu Zhiyao had not been to Mingwu Hall for the past two days, but now he looked solemn and serious.

Chu Mingxuan immediately dissatisfied: "Third brother, what have you been busy with these two days? You are always out of sight. Why do you have this expression? Aren't you happy for us?"

"Happy," Chu Zhiyao said with a solemn face.

"Is this happy?!" Chu Mingxuan pointed to his fat face: "My face is full of I! Am! Not! Happy!—Isn't it worth being happy that the three of us have entered the Innate Realm together?"

"Alright, I'm really happy," Chu Zhiyao said helplessly.

Chu Mingxuan snorted: "Speak, what happened? Did fourth brother cause something again?"

The Fourth Prince, Prince Xuan, liked to make a show of himself and cause trouble, but it was harmless. Everyone didn't get angry, but instead liked to join in the fun.

"No," Chu Zhiyao said: "Father has been very well-behaved recently, and the Grand Justice is watching him."

"Then what is there to worry about? Hurry up and say it, we still have to practice!" Chu Mingxuan urged.

Chu Zhiyao glanced around.

"Yo, is it still confidential?" Chu Mingxuan smiled: "Then let's talk in private!"

Chu Zhiyao sighed: "Forget it, you will know sooner or later. I received information from the army that the Great Meng envoy is also coming to Yujing."

"Hmm—?" Chu Mingxuan's big eyes widened even more. He turned his head to look around, then looked at Chu Zhiyao: "Aren't we at war with Great Meng?"

"This doesn't delay the arrival of the Great Meng envoy," Chu Zhiyao snorted: "Two countries at war do not kill envoys."

"What are they coming for?"

"I'm afraid it's not a good thing."

"To undermine our alliance with Great Zhen, right?"

"Eight or nine out of ten."

"The alliance has already been established, how will they undermine it?"

"Who knows, anyway, the arrival of the Great Meng envoy means endless troubles!"

"It's really lively!" Chu Mingxuan laughed hehe: "Will there be another competition between the heirs?"

He turned his head to look at Chu Zhiyuan, whose face was pale: "They really know how to pick their time. Now that fourth brother is injured, it will be troublesome if there is a competition between the heirs."

"The Great Meng envoy hasn't arrived yet, it will be a few days," Chu Zhiyao said: "By then, fourth brother should have recovered."

Chu Zhiyuan pretended not to hear them talking, stood in the Ziyang Stance, and felt the Great Ziyang Art absorbing strands of the purple light of heaven and earth.

But as the Great Ziyang Art reached the tenth level, his extrasensory perception saw strands of purple light in the void, like small fish swimming freely in the water.

The purple light came from the sky, from the rising sun's purple light.

As the sun rose higher, these purple lights became increasingly thin until they disappeared.

He had a deeper understanding of the Great Ziyang Art.

At the same time, he did not miss the words of Chu Zhiyao and Chu Mingxuan.

Great Meng envoy?

If the Great Meng envoy really comes, it will be really troublesome. We have to send the Great Zhen envoy away first, right? Cheng Tianfeng won't stay for a few days!

Thinking of this, he decided not to miss the opportunity.

After the sun rose and the purple light disappeared, Chu Zhiyuan left Mingwu Hall to report to the Ministry of Rites.

He didn't ask Gao Lingfeng much about the progress on the Zhenwu Division's side. After reporting, he left and went directly to the new residence near Hou Tu Hall.

As soon as he stepped into the backyard of the new residence, he formed a hand seal and chanted, while simultaneously activating his extrasensory perception to observe the Earth Venerable God Statue Diagram.

The Imperial Heaven Houtu Scripture circulated.

Streams of golden light emerged from the Earth Venerable God Statue and entered his body.

In the vision of his extrasensory perception, the golden light fell on his bones and was absorbed into them.

Then, the strange aura surrounding the bone marrow quickly recovered. After a while, he suddenly felt dizzy.

Restoring essence actually consumed a lot of spirit!

He hurriedly used a trace of clarity to activate the Tianyuan Art, and quickly replenished his spirit.

Then, he continued to practice the Imperial Heaven Houtu Scripture.

An hour later, his face was rosy and radiant.

He had completely recovered.

The Imperial Heaven Houtu Scripture can indeed replenish essence!

With the Imperial Heaven Houtu Scripture, he had ample confidence. The flying knife reappeared on the tip of his left finger, gently spinning between his fingers.

Through the rotation at his fingertips, he strengthened the muscles' perception and precise control of the flying knife, increasing accuracy.