Vampire Progenitor of the Immortal World

Chapter 97: Chapter 74 : Qi Reinforcement

The breakthrough had given him more than a larger reserve. He could feel the difference in the way his Qi responded to his thoughts, especially when he tried to make small adjustments rather than simply forcing it through his body.

Ethan turned away from the river and continued along the road. He would need to find time during his journey to practice what he had just discovered. When night came, he settled beneath the broad branches of a large tree, leaning against its trunk as he began his cultivation.

His progress was slower than it had been when he had a stable place to cultivate, but he didn’t stop. The road made things less settled, but Ethan still found himself drawn to the process of understanding what was happening around and within him while also discovering what else cultivation might reveal.

The fight in the ravine remained in Ethan’s mind, especially the way Qi had flowed over the rogue cultivator’s blade. He had already seen what that simple layer of Qi could do, and the more he thought about it, the more useful it seemed. Until now, his physical abilities had carried him through most situations, but whenever he faced someone who actually knew how to use Qi in combat, the difference became obvious.

He had speed, strength, and regeneration, but no proper combat technique of his own. If he could learn to use his Qi through a weapon, perhaps he could finally close some of that gap and give himself another way to fight when his physical abilities alone weren’t enough.

That evening, after finding a quiet place beneath the trees, Ethan picked up a fallen branch and turned it over in his hand, recalling the way Qi had coated the rogue cultivator’s blade during their fight. With that image still fresh in his mind, he focused on his own Qi and tried to reproduce what he had seen.

A thin strand of Qi moved through his meridians and gathered in his palm as Ethan guided it toward the branch, expecting the energy to spread across its surface. Instead, it dispersed almost immediately. Ethan stared at the branch for a moment before realizing that simply forcing Qi into it wouldn’t work. He tried again, this time using less, and the result was slightly different, the Qi clung to one part of the wood before thinning out and disappearing.

Ethan didn’t become frustrated. He simply adjusted his approach and tried again. This time, he focused less on pushing the Qi into the branch and more on guiding it along the surface.

For a brief moment, the wood carried a faint layer of energy before it vanished, and Ethan’s eyes lingered on the branch as he considered the result. That was closer.

He continued for a while, making small adjustments with each attempt. Too much Qi made the layer collapse almost immediately, while too little failed to cover the wood at all. When he tried to push the energy along the branch too quickly, it scattered before he could stabilize it.

Eventually, Ethan set the branch down. He had learned something, the problem wasn’t simply how much Qi he could use, but how well he could control it. His gaze shifted to the other branches scattered beneath the tree before he reached for another. There was no reason to rush. He had seen the it in action once; now he needed to understand it for himself.

The following days passed as Ethan continued along the road.

He practiced whenever he found enough privacy, starting with branches before gradually moving to smaller pieces of wood. The results remained inconsistent. Sometimes the Qi vanished the moment it touched the material; other times, he managed to keep it there for several breaths before losing control. Once he had a better feel for the flow, Ethan moved on to stones.

The difference was immediate.

They did not bend beneath the Qi or give way when he concentrated too much energy in one place, making it easier for Ethan to focus on the flow itself. He gradually learned to spread the Qi evenly instead of allowing it to gather in a single spot. Once he could maintain a layer around a stone for several breaths, he moved on to something more delicate.

Leaves.

The first attempt destroyed it, while the second barely lasted a moment. Ethan picked up another leaf and tried again, this time slowing the flow until the Qi was little more than a thin film around its surface. The leaf trembled between his fingers, but it remained intact. Ethan examined it carefully. His control had improved, not enough to call it a technique, not even close, but enough that he was finally willing to try something more important.

His gaze shifted to the short dao at his waist. He had no intention of experimenting with it until he was certain he could control the Qi without risking damage to the weapon. The dao was the only proper weapon he had, and he couldn’t afford to lose it.

Over the next few days, Ethan continued along the road, returning to his practice whenever he found a quiet place to rest. The branches slowly became easier to work with as he learned to keep his Qi from dispersing too quickly. With each attempt, he became more familiar with the flow, gradually learning how much Qi he needed and when he was pushing too much into the wood.

Once he could maintain the flow to some extent, Ethan moved on to stones. Their solid surface made the Qi easier to work with, allowing him to focus on keeping the flow even without worrying about the wood bending or splitting. It took time, but with each attempt, the Qi began to respond more naturally to his control.

Leaves were different. Their thin surfaces left little room for error. Too much Qi tore through them, while too little disappeared before he could form a proper layer. Ethan spent more time practicing with them, slowly reducing the amount of Qi until he could keep a faint layer around a leaf without destroying it.

By then, Ethan had a much better sense of what he was doing. It still wasn’t a technique. He had no way to direct the Qi into an attack or any practiced movements to go with it, and his control was nowhere near what he had seen from the rogue cultivator. But he could make Qi cling to an object and keep it there. After several days of practice, he felt his control was finally stable enough to move on.

After working his way from branches to stones and finally to leaves, Ethan had reached the point where he could finally put that control to a proper test. His attention settled on the short dao at his waist. He had kept it out of his practice because it was the only proper weapon he had, and using it while his control was still unreliable would have been foolish.

Now, he felt ready to try.

Ethan rested his hand on the dao’s hilt and slowly drew the blade. The familiar weight settled into his palm as he turned it slightly, watching the light reflect along its edge before bringing his attention inward. He took a breath and began circulating his Qi.

A small amount of Qi gathered in his palm. Drawing from everything he had learned through his earlier practice, Ethan guided it toward the blade, keeping the flow slow and controlled. When the Qi reached the metal, he carefully spread it along the blade, using the same control he had developed with the other materials. The Qi formed a thin, uneven layer across the surface.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the sensation. The Qi no longer felt as difficult to control as before. He could sense its flow more clearly, noticing when it gathered too much in one place and adjusting it almost naturally. He didn’t add more Qi. Instead, he made small corrections, allowing the layer to settle until it held steady along the blade.

The Qi began to weaken.

He tried to reinforce it, but the moment he increased the flow, the layer became unstable.

Ethan immediately eased the flow. The faint layer flickered before fading away completely. He lowered the dao and studied the blade in silence. The attempt was far from refined, and maintaining the Qi had taken more out of him than he expected, but he had managed to keep it on the blade without losing control of it immediately. The practice with the branches, stones, and leaves had finally paid off.

Ethan’s gaze shifted toward a nearby tree. He walked over, raised the dao, and let his Qi flow into the blade. The sensation was still unfamiliar, but his control held as he drew the weapon back and slashed across the trunk. The blade passed through the wood with surprising ease.

Ethan lowered the dao and watched the tree. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a faint creak came from the trunk, followed by the trembling of its leaves. The entire tree shuddered before slowly tilting to one side, and a deep thud followed as it crashed into the ground, sending a slight tremor through the earth beneath Ethan’s feet.

He stared at the fallen tree. The cut through the trunk was clean and smooth, as though the hot iron had passed through butter. Even the dao’s edge had held. Ethan looked at the weapon in his hand, his eyes widening slightly.

So this was what Qi could do when combined with a blade.

He looked down at the blade again.

The rogue cultivator’s Qi reinforcement had been far more powerful and controlled, and Ethan couldn’t reproduce that level of strength from memory alone. What he had now was only a rough imitation, something he had pieced together through observation and repeated practice.

Still, it was useful. With more practice, he should be able to refine it further and make better use of it in the future.

A few days passed as Ethan continued his journey eastward. He kept to the roads when they were safe enough and left them whenever his senses gave him a reason to be cautious.

The journey itself had become a quiet routine; travel during the day, find somewhere secluded when night came, and continue again once morning arrived. His cultivation continued alongside it, and whenever he had the privacy, he practiced the Qi reinforcement he had been developing. It was still crude, but his control was slowly becoming more stable.

A few days later, while traveling along a narrow road, Blood Perception brushed against several distant presences. Ethan slowed and stopped, focusing on what he could sense. One presence was stronger than the others, while several weaker ones followed behind.

He stepped off the road and moved into the trees, keeping himself out of sight as he watched the group approach. Their robes made their identity clear, the familiar Azure Cloud insignia, three layered cloud strokes surrounding a small crescent of azure light, was visible even from a distance. They were moving quickly along the road, Qi flowing through their legs with each step and carrying them forward at a pace far beyond that of ordinary travelers.

Ethan’s gaze settled on the object hanging at one cultivator’s waist, it seems to be a talisman, he couldn’t make out what it does from this distance. But instinctively he can’t help feeling that it’s a tracking talisman.

He remembered the one from before.

The group continued along the road, unaware of him. After a while, the cultivator carrying the talisman suddenly slowed. The paper at his waist gave a faint tremor, barely noticeable from Ethan’s position.

The cultivator reached for it and held it up, examining the faint reaction. His companions slowed with him, their attention shifting toward the surrounding area.

Ethan’s expression tightened.

The talisman had reacted.

It seemed they had finally come within his range.

The talisman wasn’t pointing directly at him. It could only give them a direction once they were close enough, and the searchers would still need to narrow down where the signal was coming from. They hadn’t found him yet, but Ethan had no reason to wait and see how long that would remain true.

He turned and moved deeper into the trees.

His body responded almost immediately.

The distance between him and the road began to widen far faster than he expected. Ethan adjusted his pace as he moved between the trees, his steps light and controlled as Qi flowed through his legs. The terrain slowed the search party behind him, while Ethan’s speed allowed him to put more distance between them with every passing moment.

The talisman continued to react for a while, but the search party couldn’t close the distance quickly enough. By the time they reached the edge of the forest, Ethan was already far beyond its effective range.

The reaction faded.

Ethan continued eastward for some distance before slowing. He glanced back through the trees, but nothing followed.

They had lost him.

He stood there for a moment, feeling the change in his body more clearly now. His breakthrough had done more than increase his cultivation. His speed had improved as well, enough that he could now create distance before a search party had time to properly converge on him.

Ethan turned back toward the road and continued east. He knew there were still cultivators far stronger than him, and this advantage would not be enough against everyone. But knowing he could detect danger and leave before being caught made the journey ahead a little less difficult.

Near sunset, Ethan stopped on a ridge overlooking the road. The wind moved quietly through the grass around him as he took the map from his robe and unfolded it. The treated animal hide had already begun to show signs of use. One corner had curled slightly, a faint water stain marked part of the river, and the creases had softened from being opened so often.

Ethan traced the route again, following it eastward toward Lunar Echo. His hand rested briefly on the short dao at his waist. The Qi reinforcement still wasn’t good enough, but it was improving, and with continued practice, he should be able to make better use of it.

He folded the map and put it away before continuing down the road. By then, the sun was already sinking behind the distant hills, casting the road in fading light as Ethan walked on, continuing steadily toward the eastern edge of Azure Cloud territory.

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