Lying Low in the Martial World to Become a Saint

Several disciples training nearby couldn’t help but whisper among themselves, their anxiety plain on their faces.

"Master Li’s examination is in a month, but my Cultivation is still lacking..."

"Tell me about it! I don’t know if I’ll be able to break through to Embracing Pill Force."

"Sigh, we haven’t seen Master Li in ages. I heard he’s been in the back courtyard performing Alchemy. I wonder what kind of Pill takes this long to refine?"

...

The night grew darker, and moonlight, like liquid silver, flooded the square.

Only when it was well past 7 p.m. did the disciples, at a signal from Luo Xinyi, drag their weary bodies away.

The Transmission Square gradually fell silent, leaving only the sound of the night wind rustling through the leaves.

Beneath the moonlight, a massive golden figure circled downward. Its wingspan was nearly the height of a man, and it looked magnificent.

The Golden Feathered Eagle landed steadily on the edge of the Transmission Square.

Chen Qing gazed at the familiar Cyan Wood Institute. Every blade of grass and every tree seemed unchanged; only the disciples had been replaced, one generation after another.

He took a deep breath and walked straight toward the familiar courtyard gate.

Standing outside the back courtyard gate, Chen Qing reined in his aura and said respectfully, "Master Li."

Silence reigned in the courtyard for a moment before an aged, placid voice replied, "Come in."

Chen Qing pushed the door open and entered. Li Baichuan looked just as he remembered—calm and unperturbed, completely unchanged.

Before him stood an antique Pill Furnace, half a man’s height. Faint, abstruse patterns were visible on its body. Though there was no open flame beneath it, a gentle warmth radiated from it. Inside, a hazy energy seemed to flow, emitting an immense and inscrutable fluctuation.

Even with his senses sharpened by his Mid-stage Astral Force and condensed Five Elements True Astral, Chen Qing found the aura within the Pill Furnace as boundless as the ocean, impossible to fathom.

"You seem to be doing quite well for yourself these days. Even acquired a Golden Feathered Eagle from the Celestial Treasure Upper Sect?" Li Baichuan said flatly, without even lifting his eyelids.

"You jest, Master Li. It’s merely a means of transportation."

Chen Qing stepped forward and gently placed a wooden box, which he had prepared in advance, on the empty ground before Li Baichuan. "I have not returned for a long time and have been thinking of you, Master Li. This is just a small token of my concern. I hope you will accept it."

Li Baichuan’s gaze swept casually over the wooden box, but he didn’t open it. He asked directly, "You rascal. You never visit unless you want something. Why have you returned this time?"

He knew Chen Qing’s temperament better than anyone.

Chen Qing wasn’t embarrassed at being seen through. His expression turned serious as he said, "I do indeed have a matter weighing on my mind and have come to seek your guidance, Master Li. Relying on five Attribute Treasures, I have completely fused the Five True Astral within my body. Initially, the power was unparalleled, and my progress was swift."

"But recently, during my Cultivation—especially when I try to convert my Inner Astral to Outer Astral for external manipulation—I always feel a certain sluggishness in my True Astral’s circulation. It’s as if the Five Elements Power is not truly unified, that there is still some core repulsion. Master Li, why is this happening?"

He described in detail the abnormality he had been feeling.

After listening, Li Baichuan said flatly, "The five Attribute Treasures can indeed invoke the generation cycle of the Five Elements, helping you forcibly fuse the Five True Astral. But this is ultimately a shortcut. It’s like tying five wild steeds together with a rope. They may seem to move as one, but in truth, each retains its own nature."

"For fusing a single True Astral, or even two or three, this method might barely suffice. But the Five Elements True Astral both generate and overcome one another in a ceaseless cycle. The intimacy of their connection and the subtlety of their transformations are far from ordinary. Your fusion via Exotic Treasures has captured the form but not the spirit. It’s a tree without roots, a river without a source. Naturally, it cannot be sustained, let alone be projected harmoniously or controlled with fine precision."

He paused, then asked, "Since you’ve already sensed something is wrong, have you figured out the root of the problem?"

Chen Qing took a deep breath, cupped his hands, and said gravely, "In my humble opinion, the root of the problem is that I’m missing the general principles that can truly unify the Five Elements, governing their cycles of generation and destruction to achieve true Mixed Element Unity—I am missing the core text of the *True Insights of Primordial Five Elements True Astral*!"

"Precisely."

Li Baichuan nodded slightly, then his tone shifted. "You’ve identified the crux of the matter. But how did you know I would have a lead on these general principles?"

Chen Qing pondered for a moment before replying, "Master Li, your wisdom is profound. Your understanding of the *True Insights of Primordial Five Elements True Astral* is far beyond my own. Back in the Wutai Sect, I searched everywhere for it to no avail, which led me to guess it might be connected to you in some way. I wouldn’t dare presume you had it, but I held on to a sliver of hope and came to find out for certain."

He paused, then forced an ingratiating smile. "Master Li, you see, I still haven’t completed that task I promised you. If my strength were to take another step forward, wouldn’t I have a better chance of resolving that trouble for you? It’s like last time when you needed the Nine Revolutions Rejuvenation Pill—I found a way to get it to you immediately, without any delay."

He deliberately brought up the past to prove his reliability and competence.

Li Baichuan gave Chen Qing a long, hard look. Then, with a casual wave of his sleeve, an ancient Parchment Scroll fell into Chen Qing’s hands.

"Master Li... this?!"

Chen Qing took the Parchment Scroll and glanced at it, an expression of utter disbelief spreading across his face. "The general principles... you’ve had them all along?"

This was, without a doubt, the core text he had been desperately searching for!

...

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