Chapter 75 The Great Colander

The second year of Liang Yuanping, July 25th.

"Time truly flies."

Reflecting on it, it had been over half a year since he first woke up and arrived in this world. In the blink of an eye, a few more months and it would be a full year. He had experienced both the warmth of spring and the bitterness of winter, living alone amidst the mountain forests, guarding this secluded Taoist temple, sitting and watching the blue skies above the peaks, and observing the clouds rolling and unrolling.

Standing on the stone platform, he held his arms out horizontally.

Kicking one leg up to shoulder height, he balanced on a single foot. Chen Yu's breathing originated from the depths of his being, a low, muffled, inaudible rumble. His skin rippled like water, and his vital energy and blood were concealed within his flesh, seemingly rising like a cool breath from the soles of his heels all the way to the Niwan Palace at the crown of his head, instantly making his mind feel clear and bright.

The internal harvesting breathing technique circulated, and wisps of Qi were born from his acupoints. Building the meridians to nurture Qi was no difficult task; in fact, after breaking everything down and starting anew based on his previous experiences, he cleverly incorporated inspiration he had gained from array patterns and formations. This made the acupoints and meridians within his body harmonize better, allowing the internal circulation to flow increasingly smoothly.

Externally, a faint white breath exhaled from his nose and mouth, instantly dispersing around his entire body, rippling like a pond into which a pebble had been cast.

This was the manifestation of Qi filling his entire body.

Over the past six months or so, the changes in the Taoist temple and in himself could hardly be called small.

Before and behind the mountain, several patches of medicinal fields had appeared, and the previously withered and barren terraced fields had transformed into vibrant green, teeming with vitality. As for Chen Yu himself, the changes from the inside out were countless.

Ever since his spiritual power condensed and manifested, the other side of the material world had opened up before his eyes—a variety of fantastical and bizarre landscapes, far more detailed and colorful than what ordinary eyes could perceive.

And after creating the breathing technique by integrating three methods, transforming his physical body and stepping into the realm of Qi harvesting, he increasingly perceived the extraordinary nature of this world.

Or rather, the human body was truly a treasure trove, and how could the universe and the heavens outside the body not be an even greater treasure?

Now, both were opening their arms to him alone, allowing him to explore to his heart's content using Qi and spiritual power.

Chen Yu had little interest in longevity; by comparison, he found the chaotic and hazy realm outside the Niwan Palace much more fascinating, though he had no idea when he would be able to delve deeply into it.

There was also the ubiquitous gossamer veil outside this realm of heaven and earth, and he had no inkling of when he might lift it to gaze upon the true face hidden behind it.

He was immensely curious, yet he also understood that he was still far from capable of achieving such feats. Thus, he could only continue to accumulate, looking forward to the day when a stronger spiritual power would make it possible.

Of course, Chen Yu did not merely wait blindly. Whether it was wooden talisman arrays, spiritual energy, or Qi harvesting, he was constantly groping and pressing forward in those directions to the best of his ability.

Hoo—

He exhaled a breath, completely soundless.

Most of the Qi lingering around his body dissipated, with only a very small fraction clinging close to his skin being drawn back into his body.

Not long ago, he had begun pondering how to draw back the Qi he had released. He had thought of many methods. According to common sense, Qi was extremely stable with little internal or external change; the reason it kept dispersing lay entirely in this world itself, which was like a sieve.

It simply could not retain it.

At first, he thought that once Qi was released, all of it would permeate and disappear. Spiritual energy was like this, and spiritual essence was likewise.

This phenomenon of dissipation, as if being sifted out, was what he called the Great Sieve of Heaven and Earth.

However, subsequent discoveries revealed that although all three dissipated in the same manner, their processes differed greatly. Qi was formed by the combination of spirit and embryonic breathing, and its dissipation rate was much slower, with spiritual essence being the fastest of the three.

It seemed that spiritual essence was the most delicate; once exposed, it would vanish completely before long, whereas Qi could at least persist for a short while. This also gave Chen Yu the opportunity to harness and manipulate it; otherwise, carving array patterns would have been utterly impossible.

Moreover, the dissipation of spiritual essence was the most thorough, leaving not a shred of residue. Qi was similar, leaving nothing behind.

On the contrary, spiritual energy differed in this regard. Its dissipation process was much more unique and could even be considered strange in Chen Yu's eyes.

If the environment during the dissipation of the other two could be compared to a constantly shaking Great Sieve, then the sieve faced by spiritual energy after volatilization seemed to be artificially controlled.

Timed and quantified; every time, only half would be sifted away, and the remaining half would continue into the next sifting. It possessed cyclical characteristics.

Although this remaining portion would eventually dissipate as well, through successive retentions, the rate of overflow would gradually slow down. At the very end, spiritual energy that persisted for a full fourteen double-hours slowly vanished under the gaze of his spiritual power!

Regarding this, Chen Yu pondered that perhaps the purity of spiritual energy itself was far inferior to Qi and spiritual essence, and even inferior to spiritual power—the latter also dissipating when not manipulated.

The exact reason remained undetermined for the time being. Later, he experimented multiple times and finally confirmed that the retention time of spiritual energy in the air was indeed influenced by the cyclical [Great Sieve of Heaven and Earth], allowing it to persist longer.

Moreover, after consuming several Qi pearls, he realized a point: if the density of spiritual energy within a space was increased to a certain level, this phenomenon of slowed filtration speed would become even more pronounced.

It was as if the filter outlet had been blocked, but then he thought, if that were the case, wouldn't releasing enough spiritual energy prevent it from being filtered and sifted out anymore?

Unfortunately, he later found this idea impractical, because the filtration phenomenon was slowed at most, but never stopped. Instead, with the accumulation of excessive spiritual energy, the filtration speed increased again to a certain extent.

It wasn't until he once again expended a massive amount of spiritual energy that Chen Yu finally narrowed down the approximate range: as long as he maintained the density within this numerical range, the overflow of spiritual energy would slow down to the ultimate extreme.

Through testing, the longest single retention time could reach forty double-hours.

That was more than three days.

This was a very long time. Chen Yu rejoiced over this for quite a while, but upon turning back to think carefully, he didn't understand what he was celebrating.

To begin with, why didn't the Qi inside his body dissipate?

The Great Sieve of Heaven and Earth could not possibly fail to affect the interior of the body. Harboring this doubt, Chen Yu used his spiritual power to drill deep into his flesh and blood once again, only to be blocked by that ubiquitous layer of gossamer veil.

He was not surprised that such a thing existed inside his body; it would have been astonishing if it hadn't.

However, Chen Yu quickly found a difference: this membrane inside his body adhered to the deepest parts of his limbs, yet what appeared under his spiritual perception was an extremely harmonious scene.

Unlike what was manifested in mountain rocks, grass, and trees, he verified this multiple times, ultimately concluding that the membrane within the physical body was somewhat... smoother and glossier?

It was not visual, but a peculiar perception.

Intuition told him that membranes were not all the same, and this was most likely the reason why the Qi within his body did not automatically dissipate.

Regrettably, it was like a natural chasm, impossible to cross and explore further.

...

His morning exercises and daily routines never stopped. After practicing the internal harvesting breathing technique, Chen Yu proceeded to practice the techniques of the Cloud Crane Manual.

Amidst all his tasks, he was also groping his way forward on the path of cultivation.

What the next step after Qi harvesting should be had always been a vexing chore. At present, he could not say he had no clues at all, but they were utterly chaotic, and he could not tell which path was the safest.

Whichever way he looked, they all appeared steep and difficult to tread.

After several attempts, each time left him irritated and restless, nearly breaking the state of mind he had cultivated over months of calming his thoughts and purifying his mind. Finally, he simply returned to the origin and began pondering the martial arts techniques for self-protection.

On one hand, it served to diverge his thoughts and clear away the various frustrations of recent times; on the other hand, he also wondered whether he could integrate Qi into them, pioneering some marvelous methods and enriching his foundation.

In addition to this, there was primal blood.

"My physical body has been undergoing transformation for a long time, yet there is still no sign of efficacy. I always feel that I have been somewhat slack regarding my physical form."