Soul Nourishing Qi

Hao Nhien stepped toward the stone door ahead.

Beyond it, the staircase continued upward.

The gray mist grew thicker.

The wind outside was stronger than before.

The gravity would certainly be heavier as well.

But Hao Nhien’s heart was calm.

He had just broken through.

His body needed time to adapt.

His meridians needed to be tempered further.

If the secret realm wanted to pressure him, then let it.

He had not made it this far through luck alone.

The riverbed.

The waterfall.

The deck of the boat.

Every time he had pushed his body to its limit, then slowly stabilized it again.

He had long since grown used to using pressure to carve a path forward.

Hao Nhien placed a hand on the stone door.

It slowly opened.

Gray wind immediately poured in from outside.

The hem of his robe snapped backward.

Hao Nhien stepped out.

One step.

Steady.

He immediately felt the difference.

The wind had not weakened.

Nor had the pressure lessened.

His body had changed.

Sixth layer Qi Condensation.

The true qi in his dantian was denser.

His meridians were broader and more stable.

The strength rooted in his legs had also become noticeably steadier.

When gravity pressed down on his shoulders, it still felt heavy.

But no longer as if his body were being crushed to the point of breaking.

The staircase ahead continued upward into the gray mist.

Wind blew down through the passage.

Sometimes strong.

Sometimes weak.

Without any fixed pattern.

Each gust felt like an invisible hand trying to drag anyone climbing the steps off balance.

Hao Nhien continued upward.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The gravity increased little by little.

His calves began to tighten.

Veins gradually stood out beneath his skin.

It felt as though a massive stone had been placed across his back.

Each time he lifted a foot, he had to draw strength deep from his hips and thighs to keep himself stable.

The wind swept past his ears.

Sharp and cold.

After several more steps, the staircase ahead curved slightly to the left.

From where he stood, Hao Nhien could see another section of stairs above.

A few steps ahead, a boy around fifteen was crawling bit by bit toward the next stone chamber.

Hao Nhien vaguely remembered seeing him before entering the Gray Gate.

At this moment, both of the boy’s hands were gripping the stone steps tightly.

His knees were nearly touching the ground.

Sweat poured down like rain.

Blood from his forehead ran along his face and dripped from his chin.

The chamber ahead was only a few steps away.

Only a few steps.

Yet now they seemed as distant as an entire mountain.

The boy gritted his teeth.

Growled softly.

And forced himself to lift his leg one more time.

At that exact moment, a spiral of wind swept down from above.

His body immediately swayed.

Both hands scraped hard against the stone.

Hao Nhien could even hear the grinding of his nails and his ragged breathing.

But the boy still could not hold his balance.

Hao Nhien’s gaze darkened slightly.

This was each person’s own trial.

Others could watch.

They could offer a word.

But no one could walk the path in their place.

Hao Nhien continued forward.

As he passed beside the boy, he quietly said:

“Keep going.”

The boy seemed to hear him.

But he no longer had the strength to answer.

He only growled again and tried to hold on.

The second gust struck immediately.

Boom!

His shoulder slammed into the stone wall beside him.

His hand shot toward the edge of the step.

But his fingertips only scraped across the cold stone.

“No!”

The shout rang out, filled with unwillingness.

The boy slid downward.

But he did not fall directly into the darkness below.

An invisible force immediately wrapped around him.

His body was dragged down along the staircase, striking the stone wall several times before quickly disappearing into the gray mist below.

The sounds of impact echoed for a while.

Then fell silent.

Hao Nhien stood still for half a breath.

He knew the boy probably would not die.

The Inner Secret Realm was a place to test the younger generation of the Quan family.

Not a place designed to kill them.

But elimination was certain.

Only a few steps from the chamber ahead.

Just a little short.

But on the path of cultivation, sometimes that little bit was enough to stop someone from going farther.

Hao Nhien withdrew his gaze.

Then continued upward.

The wind still screamed.

Gravity still pressed down.

The secret realm did not become even slightly gentler because someone had been eliminated.

By the time the sixth stone chamber appeared before him, Hao Nhien’s legs hurt so badly they were almost numb.

He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The moment it closed.

The wind vanished.

Two people were already inside the chamber.

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One had nearly half his robe torn apart, dried blood caked across one side of his face.

The other sat curled in a corner, both arms wrapped around his knees, breathing heavily as though he had just crawled out of a battlefield.

Neither paid much attention to Hao Nhien.

Here, everyone was fighting for every breath of recovery.

Hao Nhien said nothing either.

He found an empty spot.

Sat down.

Placed both hands on his knees.

And began breathing cultivation.

The spiritual qi in the sixth chamber was considerably denser than in the previous one.

Following the rhythm of his breathing cultivation, cool streams of spiritual qi entered his body.

His true qi immediately began to circulate.

The sections of his meridians that still burned from the pressure gradually calmed.

His strained muscles slowly loosened.

The wounds on his skin still stung.

But as vitality circulated with his true qi, the healing process was clearly faster than usual.

Hao Nhien found nothing strange about that.

True qi naturally possessed the ability to nourish and restore the body.

It was simply that the spiritual qi inside this chamber was far purer than outside, making that effect much more obvious.

But what drew his attention most was not his body.

It was his mind.

Although he had not used the Spirit Sword on the way here, his awareness had remained constantly stretched tight.

Every step required observation.

Judgment.

Adjusting his center of gravity.

Adjusting his strength.

Guarding against changes in the wind.

Guarding against sudden increases in gravity.

Mental fatigue was unavoidable.

But inside this chamber, besides ordinary spiritual qi, Hao Nhien sensed another kind of presence.

Extremely faint.

Very soft.

Very still.

It did not circulate through the meridians.

Instead, it seemed to touch his awareness directly.

When that presence brushed past, the chaotic fluctuations in his mind gradually settled.

The tension in his consciousness also eased.

Even the Spirit Sword within his meridians trembled softly.

The pale blue light around it gradually became steadier.

Hao Nhien’s heart stirred.

A kind of qi that nourished the soul?

The thought immediately surfaced.

He remembered the Soul Nourishing Fruit.

He did not know whether the two were truly related.

But this presence was clearly not ordinary spiritual qi.

If he had to give it a name...

Soul Nourishing Qi.

Hao Nhien did not rush to a conclusion.

He only committed the sensation to memory.

Then continued regulating his breathing.

He did not actively pull at it.

Did not force himself to absorb it.

He simply allowed his mind to slowly relax.

The Soul Nourishing Qi silently passed across his awareness.

Little by little.

Little by little.

The time it took an incense stick to burn passed.

The other two people in the chamber still had not stood.

Hao Nhien opened his eyes.

His body had recovered by more than seventy percent.

His mind also felt lighter than before.

He could even feel that the state of his soul power had become slightly more stable.

Not stronger by much.

No astonishing transformation.

Only like a cord that had been stretched too tightly for too long, finally loosened and set right again.

Hao Nhien knew he could continue sitting.

But time inside the secret realm could not be wasted carelessly.

How many steps remained above?

How long would the Body trial continue?

What else waited afterward?

He did not know.

Hao Nhien stood.

The man in torn robes near the door opened his eyes and looked at him.

A trace of surprise appeared in his gaze.

Perhaps he had not expected Hao Nhien to continue after resting for only about one incense stick.

Hao Nhien did not explain.

He pushed open the door.

Then stepped outside.

The wind immediately roared.

The moment his body left the chamber, he was pushed back half a step.

Hao Nhien immediately lowered his center of gravity.

His right foot pressed down.

His left foot took a short step back.

His body quickly stabilized.

Another gust slashed across his shoulder.

Rip!

His already damaged robe tore open even farther.

His skin burned.

A thin line of blood immediately appeared.

Hao Nhien gritted his teeth.

And continued.

The path from the sixth chamber to the seventh was clearly much harder than before.

Not only because the wind was stronger.

The gravity had also begun changing unpredictably.

At times, it suddenly became nearly twice as heavy.

At others, it unexpectedly lightened.

If the pressure only increased steadily, the body could slowly adapt.

But when it constantly changed, the force behind every step had to be recalculated.

Too much strength.

The body would surge forward.

Too little.

Gravity would crush it downward.

One mistimed movement and the wind would immediately drag a person off balance.

After four steps, Hao Nhien heard a scream from above.

A figure rolled down through the gray mist.

The person tried to grab the stone steps.

But his body was spinning too quickly.

The instant his palm touched the stone, it was torn away again.

He rolled past not far from Hao Nhien.

A little blood splashed across the steps.

Then the invisible force immediately wrapped around him and continued dragging him downward.

“Help...”

The cry faded before it finished.

Hao Nhien paused for half a breath.

Then continued forward.

Since leaving the fifth stone chamber, he had already seen two people eliminated.

He could not help them.

Nor should he.

This was their own trial.

The Inner Secret Realm did not choose those who were dragged forward by someone else.

It chose those who could keep moving on their own.

The wind struck his face.

Sweat mixed with blood and ran down his chin.

The soles of Hao Nhien’s feet burned with pain.

In several places, he could feel that the skin had torn.

Every time his feet touched the ground, pain shot all the way into his calves.

But because of that, he could feel the position of his center of gravity even more clearly.

At the sixty seventh step.

A sudden spiral of wind swept in from the right.

Hao Nhien leaned aside to avoid it.

At that exact moment.

The gravity beneath his feet surged.

Boom!

His body immediately sank.

His knee nearly struck the stone.

If he went down on one knee here, the rhythm of his entire body’s force would be broken.

Standing back up afterward might become far more difficult.

Hao Nhien gritted his teeth.

The tendons in his neck stood out.

He did not let his knee touch the ground.

His hips turned.

His shoulders lowered.

Force shifted from his left leg into his right.

His right hand pressed lightly against the stone step ahead.

Not to crawl.

Only to borrow one more point of balance.

Crack.

Pain flashed through his finger joints.

But his body finally stabilized.

Hao Nhien let out a long breath.

A very clear thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

Pain was still only pain.

What threw a person into disorder was not the pain itself.

It was the fear of it.

He did not know whether that thought came from the ways of observing the breath he had known in his old world.

Or from the countless times he had been pushed to his limits after arriving here.

Perhaps both.

But right now, it worked.

Hao Nhien did not try to fight the pain.

Nor did he let his mind chase after it.

He only knew it was there.

Knew his feet were torn.

Knew his back hurt.

Knew the wind was pulling.

Knew gravity was pressing down.

Knew he was still breathing.

Then keep moving.

One step.

Another.

At last, the seventh stone chamber appeared before him.

Faint gray runes were carved into the stone door.

A dim light lingered across them.

Hao Nhien reached out and pushed.

The moment he stepped inside.

All the strength holding his body together seemed to vanish at once.

He fell straight onto the stone floor.

Boom.

His back struck the cold ground.

Pain spread through his entire body.

Hao Nhien remained there for two breaths.

Then rolled over.

And, with complete practicality, raised both legs slightly.

He angled the torn soles of his feet closer toward the cool current flowing down from the formation above.

If anyone had seen him, the posture would hardly have looked dignified.

Hao Nhien did not care.

Not long ago, he had still been an ordinary person.

He had never developed the habit of torturing himself for the sake of some so called cultivator’s bearing.

Whichever part hurt the most got treated first.

Simple as that.

A cool current spread through his body.

The true qi in his meridians naturally began circulating with it.

The soles of his feet immediately became both painful and numb.

Hao Nhien inhaled sharply.

Painful.

Extremely painful.

The muscle fibers that had been stretched too far gradually loosened.

His tendons and bones gave several faint cracks.

The deep ache in his joints slowly eased.

The meridians that had only recently expanded after his breakthrough to the sixth layer were tempered once more by the new pressure.

True qi passed through them.

Nourishing.

Stabilizing.

Allowing those sections that still felt slightly strained after the breakthrough to gradually become firmer.

Hao Nhien gritted his teeth.

Sweat continued pouring from him.

This did not feel like simple recovery.

The parts that had just been pushed to their limits seemed to be repairing themselves in a more solid form.

Break.

Then rebuild.

For true qi and body cultivation, that principle was not especially strange.

It was only that inside the Inner Secret Realm, the process was forced into far greater clarity.

Nearly ten people were already inside the seventh stone chamber.

Some were meditating.

Their robes torn like rags.

Dried blood caked across their faces.

Some lay flat on the floor.

Gasping.

Their fingers still trembling.

Some leaned against the stone wall.

Eyes tightly shut.

Faces pale as though every bit of their strength had been drained away.

No one laughed at Hao Nhien’s strange posture.

Because none of them looked much better.

In this place, appearances did not matter.

Recovery mattered.

Continuing onward mattered.

Hao Nhien remained lying there for a few more breaths.

Only then did he slowly sit up.

Cross legged.

And begin breathing cultivation.

The spiritual qi inside the seventh chamber was clearly denser than in the sixth.

But more importantly.

The Soul Nourishing Qi was also clearer.

If the presence in the sixth chamber had been like a small stream brushing past his awareness.

Then here, it was like a fine rain falling across a dry lake.

Not powerful.

But continuous.

Steady.

Each time it touched his awareness, the tension eased a little more.

Hao Nhien’s mind had already been exhausted to the extreme by the path he had just crossed.

Now, as that qi passed over him, his entire consciousness seemed to slowly relax.

Chaotic fluctuations gradually settled.

The Spirit Sword within his meridians gave off a faint glow.

Not stronger.

But steadier.

Hao Nhien could also feel that his awareness of his own body had become slightly clearer.

His heartbeat.

His breathing.

The circulation of true qi.

Every point of pain within his body.

Everything felt clearer.

His earlier guess seemed increasingly plausible.

The Soul Nourishing Fruit.

Soul Nourishing Qi.

The two might not necessarily be directly connected.

But at the very least, the Quan family had clearly come into contact with methods related to the soul.

And the Body Soul Fist Art...

Without the word Soul, it truly could not be considered complete.

Hao Nhien did not continue thinking too deeply.

He kept his mind calm.

And allowed the Soul Nourishing Qi to slowly seep into his awareness.

Do not pull.

Do not force.

Do not chase.

Simply know.

Simply receive.

It was very similar to the way he had once observed his breathing.

The more he tried to grasp it.

The more the sensation scattered.

The more he relaxed.

The more naturally the Soul Nourishing Qi touched his awareness.

The time it took an incense stick to burn passed.

Hao Nhien’s body had mostly recovered.

But he still did not stand.

He realized that spiritual qi restored the body relatively quickly.

Soul Nourishing Qi was different.

It required stillness.

The more impatient the mind.

The weaker the effect.

He remained seated for another half incense stick.

Until the fatigue within his awareness had almost completely disappeared.

Until the Spirit Sword no longer showed any obvious trembling.

Only then did Hao Nhien slowly open his eyes.

A very faint gleam flashed through them and vanished.

His body had recovered.

His meridians had also become more stable after the recent breakthrough.

The state of his soul power had not only recovered.

It also felt slightly purer than before.

Only a little.

But it was real.

Hao Nhien looked around.

Of the nearly ten people in the chamber, several had already stood and left before him.

Others still remained seated.

Clearly unwilling to step outside yet.

A young man leaning against the wall saw Hao Nhien rise and spoke hoarsely.

“You’re going to continue?”

Hao Nhien looked over.

The young man appeared seventeen or eighteen.

His aura was somewhat stronger than Hao Nhien’s.

But his complexion was poor.

His breathing had still not fully stabilized.

Hao Nhien vaguely remembered seeing him enter the Green Gate.

It seemed the gates only separated participants according to their initial level.

After traveling far enough, the different passages could gradually converge.

Hao Nhien replied:

“I can still continue.”

The young man gave a bitter smile.

“The next section isn’t easy.”

“Two people went ahead just now.”

“One of them didn’t even make it five steps before being swept down.”

Hao Nhien nodded slightly.

“Thank you for the warning.”

The young man looked at him once more.

Then closed his eyes.

And continued regulating his breathing.

Hao Nhien walked toward the door.

Just before reaching out to push it open, his gaze suddenly stopped on the stone wall.

At some unknown point, a line of words had appeared.

“When the body reaches its end, the soul reveals itself.”

Hao Nhien stared at those words for a long time.

Body.

Soul.

Those two words surfaced in his mind once again.

For the first time, he felt that the name Body Soul Fist Art was not simply the name of a fist art.

Perhaps something much deeper was hidden within it.

He still did not understand.

But at least he had begun to touch one corner of it.

Hao Nhien placed his hand on the stone door.

Then pushed.

Boom!

The gray wind outside immediately roared like a savage beast.

Gravity surged in from ahead.

Heavier than anything he had faced before.

Hao Nhien took a deep breath.

Behind him was the safety of the stone chamber.

Ahead, the staircase continued into the gray mist.

He did not know how much farther he could go.

But he had already come this far.

If he feared being broken.

He would never have the chance to rebuild.

Hao Nhien stepped out.

The gray wind immediately swallowed his figure.