Chapter 64: Qi Condensation!

Damian woke to hunger, the deep and insistent emptiness of a body that had spent most of the previous day devouring Mana Crystals, rebuilding itself through several cultivation breakthroughs and then sleeping without dinner.

For a few confused seconds, he lay beneath the blankets wondering why the sensation felt so unfamiliar.

Then he remembered.

"Oh right... the Grain Avoidance Pill finally wore off."

Considering everything he had done while under its effects, Damian could hardly complain about the value.

Still, there was something comforting about being properly hungry again.

He washed, changed into his journeyman mage robes and instructed the servants to have breakfast brought over.

Jian Rui arrived shortly afterward carrying the message that the meal had been prepared, only for Damian to glance beyond him and notice the other three youngsters lingering outside.

Ever since Damian shifted the center of his Shengyuan operations away from the empty commercial tower, all four had been spending most of their time around his Guest Elder residence.

"Good. You’re all here. Come eat," Damian instructed.

Jian Rui immediately hesitated. "Lord Damian, the meal was prepared for you. We can eat afterward."

Damian stared at him directly. "Jian Rui."

"Yes, Lord Damian?"

"Sit down."

"...Yes, Lord Damian."

That settled the matter.

The others followed with varying degrees of stiffness.

The breakfast spread was unmistakably Shengyuan in character, with soft rice congee fragrant with herbs, steamed buns filled with seasoned meat, eggs simmered in dark sauce, pickled vegetables, sliced spiritual fruit and several small dishes Damian could identify only by taste.

It was worlds apart from the toast, cereal or greasy breakfast sandwiches he knew from Earth, but after his first mouthful, Damian decided hunger was the finest seasoning ever invented.

Unfortunately, the four youngsters were eating like they had been summoned before a disciplinary tribunal.

Damian sighed. "Relax. I’m feeding you, not evaluating your cultivation."

Bo Wen visibly loosened while Shen Lian almost smiled.

Lin Meiyu did neither.

She remained quieter than usual, her gaze dropping whenever it drifted toward Damian.

He noticed this naturally and sighed internally.

"Lin Meiyu."

Her chopsticks stopped instantly.

"Y-Yes, Lord Damian?"

"Look at me."

The young woman reluctantly raised her eyes.

Damian rested his forearm on the table and tapped it lightly.

"You made a mistake yesterday."

Lin Meiyu’s face paled slightly.

"When I ask you something directly, especially regarding matters connected to my own affairs, I expect you to answer unless you have a genuinely serious reason not to. You were assigned to assist me, so looking toward someone else for permission before answering me made it seem like your first loyalty in that moment was elsewhere."

Lin Meiyu lowered her head. "I understand, Lord Damian."

"I was harsh because I wanted you to understand that immediately, not because I planned to throw you away." Damian stated casually.

The young girl’s head snapped upward with pleasant surprise.

Damian continued eating.

"You four aren’t disposable servants. If I discarded everyone the first time they made a mistake, I’d eventually have nobody left except myself, and I’m far too lazy to run an organization alone."

Bo Wen coughed to hide a laugh, and the tension around the table loosened.

Damian pointed his chopsticks toward Lin Meiyu. "Don’t misunderstand me though. If you make the same mistake again after I explained it, then I’ll be genuinely annoyed."

Lin Meiyu’s eyes reddened, although this time the emotion behind them was entirely different.

"I won’t, Lord Damian," she promised earnestly.

"Good. Eat before Shen Lian steals your buns."

Shen Lian froze with one hand suspiciously close to Lin Meiyu’s plate.

"I was merely moving the dish, Lord Damian."

"Of course you were."

The meal finally became normal after that, or at least as normal as anything around Damian could currently be.

The four youngsters had already sensed his cultivation.

Damian practiced no concealment technique, turtle-breathing art or mysterious method designed to make everyone underestimate him until the dramatic face-slapping scene.

His cultivation sat plainly at Body Tempering Level 8 for all to see and sense, but nobody commented, not one of them.

Half a week ago, Lord Damian had barely begun Body Tempering.

Now he was at the eighth minor realm.

At this point, questioning the speed felt less useful than questioning why rain fell downward.

Lord Damian was Lord Damian.

Some things were simply accepted as they were for the sake of peace.

Damian finished another steamed bun before changing the subject.

"I’m going to participate in the war."

Four pairs of chopsticks stopped.

"No!" Bo Wen blurted immediately.

Jian Rui was only marginally calmer.

"Lord Damian, there is no need for you to personally enter the frontlines. The Nightmare Corpse Sect is specifically targeting you."

"Exactly! If they know you have entered the battlefield, they will send experts after you!" Lin Meiyu added anxiously.

Shen Lian frowned. "Your abilities are unusual, Lord Damian, but the frontlines aren’t the same as fighting one assassin or several Demon Beasts. Once formations collapse, attacks can come from anywhere."

Damian listened without interruption.

Then the door opened so quickly that the conversation effectively acquired a fifth opponent.

Mu Qingyao entered with a flustered expression. "Lord Damian!"

Damian raised an eyebrow.

Either news traveled at the speed of light in this sect, or she had already been on her way here and happened to overhear his words.

Mu Qingyao’s expression was unusually stern.

"I just heard what you intend to do. Please reconsider! The Nightmare Corpse Sect issued its ultimatum because of you. Entering the battlefield personally gives them precisely the opportunity they want."

Damian gestured toward an empty chair.

"Sit."

Mu Qingyao paused, remembered yesterday, and sat.

Damian looked around the table.

"I’m not planning to stand in the middle of two armies waving a banner that says ’Damian Baines is here, please surround me.’"

Nobody laughed at his joke.

Sheesh, tough crowd today huh.

He continued.

"First, I’m one of the reasons this situation escalated. I won’t pretend that means I owe the Evergreen Sect my life, because I don’t, but letting everyone else absorb the consequences while I hide behind the formations isn’t something I’m interested in doing."

Mu Qingyao opened her mouth, but Damian raised one hand.

"Second, I’m unusually effective against the Nightmare Corpse Sect. You already know that. Several abilities I possess interact extremely well with Corpse Qi and their methods. Keeping me completely away from the fighting because they’re afraid of me wastes one of our strongest advantages."

That argument landed much harder.

Damian leaned back. "And third, I never said I would fight alone."

His gaze moved across Jian Rui, Bo Wen, Lin Meiyu and Shen Lian.

"You four brats are coming with me."

All four stared speechlessly at that.

"We’ll operate as a small squad. As such, we don’t hold defensive lines nor do we charge armies. We also certainly do not fight battles where the enemy chooses the terms. We move around the edges, identify favorable targets, strike hard, collect whatever intelligence and advantages we can, then disappear before anyone can organize a proper response."

Shen Lian’s expression changed first as she immediately understood exactly what he meant.

"A battlefield hunting group!"

"Exactly. We snipe the battlefield." Damian confirmed with a nod.

Mu Qingyao remained unhappy about the whole thing, and Damian could see that clearly.

But she was no longer trying to tell him the idea was suicidal.

"I’ll be careful," Damian stated.

"If something appears beyond what we can handle, we leave. I’m joining the battle, not necessarily the war." Damian promised in a gentle voice.

Mu Qingyao released a reluctant breath.

"...Then at least inform me before you deploy anywhere."

"That I can do." Damian agreed with a smile.

With the matter settled for now, Damian finished breakfast.

Then he returned to cultivation.

......

Body Tempering Level 9 required eighteen hundred Cultivation Base.

With the Five Elements Harmonization Art at Perfection, his CON at 7 and <Heaven-Devouring Circulation> therefore providing another seventy percent cultivation speed, Damian’s calculations placed the required time at just under two hours and forty minutes.

Two hours and thirty-nine minutes later, the final barrier gave way.

[Body Tempering Level increased!]

[Body Tempering Level 8 → Body Tempering Level 9.]

[STR: 7 → 7.5.]

[DEX: 8 → 8.5.]

[AGI: 6 → 6.5.]

[CON: 7 → 7.5.]

The familiar Feat selection followed.

This time Damian chose a Qi Feat.

<Qi Transfer>.

[Selection Confirmed.]

[Feat Acquired: Qi Transfer.]

[Feat Name: Qi Transfer

Feat Category: Qi

Effect 1: The Host may permanently transfer accumulated Cultivation Base to another compatible being. The recipient receives 10% of the Cultivation Base permanently surrendered by the Host. Transfer efficiency scales with INT.

Effect 2: The Host may permanently transfer compatible Attributes to another being. The recipient receives 10% of the Attribute value permanently surrendered by the Host. Transfer efficiency scales with WIS.

Effect 3: The Host may permanently transfer compatible Skills, Specializations, Daoist Arts and Martial Skills to another being in full.

Current INT: 10.

Current WIS: 10.

Current Cultivation Base Transfer Efficiency: 10%.

Current Attribute Transfer Efficiency: 10%.]

Damian read the Feat carefully.

First things first, anything transferred was truly lost.

Cultivation Base would have to be cultivated again, Attributes would need to be reacquired and Skill or mastery progress would have to be rebuilt.

Damian found that perfectly acceptable.

"Faction building simulator."

That was what this Feat was.

His new abilities were already creating the possibility that Damian would eventually accumulate absurd amounts of excess progression.

<Demonic Plundering Dao Body> could steal Attributes and Cultivation Base, <Battle God> improved future progression from kills, and <Myriad Arts Master> reduced the burden of learning combat disciplines.

Eventually, bloat was inevitable.

<Qi Transfer> allowed Damian to redirect that bloat into the people beneath him.

Instead of leaving excess power uselessly stacked upon himself, he could turn it into stronger retainers, disciples and future faction members.

Damian liked that very much.

He continued cultivating right away.

Body Tempering Level 10 demanded two thousand Cultivation Base.

With his Constitution now at 7.5 and the Five Elements Harmonization Art remaining at Perfection, Damian estimated the next breakthrough at roughly two hours and fifty-one minutes.

The actual result was close enough that he had no complaints.

[Body Tempering Level increased!]

[Body Tempering Level 9 → Body Tempering Level 10.]

[STR: 7.5 → 8.]

[DEX: 8.5 → 9.]

[AGI: 6.5 → 7.]

[CON: 7.5 → 8.]

Peak Body Tempering, the final level of the realm.

Damian’s next Feat choice reflected where his mind had increasingly shifted.

He selected <Myriad Beast Slayer>.

[Selection Confirmed.]

[Feat Acquired: Myriad Beast Slayer.]

[Feat Name: Myriad Beast Slayer

Feat Category: Skill

Effect 1: Increases Experience gained from defeating qualifying Beast-type creatures and monsters across compatible realms.

Effect 2: Increases damage dealt against qualifying Beast-type creatures and monsters.

Effect 3: Increases resistance against attacks and abilities originating from qualifying Beast-type creatures and monsters.

Valid Realms: Valoria / Shengyuan.]

Simple, broad and useful.

Not every Feat needed seventeen paragraphs of metaphysical nonsense.

Sometimes hitting monsters harder while they hit you less was perfectly respectable.

Damian did not immediately attempt Qi Condensation.

Body Tempering Level 10 was the peak of an entire realm, and forcing his way through the next barrier immediately after reaching it felt unnecessarily reckless.

So he polished his foundation a bit more.

He circulated the Five Elements Harmonization Art repeatedly without chasing another numerical breakthrough, allowing his newly strengthened body to settle completely.

Bones, organs, muscles and meridians synchronized with the power already gained as his breathing steadied and his foundation compressed.

Only when Damian could no longer detect any instability did he finally turn toward the next realm.

Qi Condensation!

Body Tempering had been about building the vessel, but Qi Condensation was about finally filling it.

Damian guided the perfected circulation inward toward his lower abdomen, where the technique focused upon an empty spiritual point within the dantian.

The process was nothing like his previous breakthroughs.

Instead of simply strengthening existing structures, something new began forming.

A cavity.

A spiritual reservoir.

A... Qi Sea!

Mana flowed through the Five Elements Harmonization Art, transformed, refined, compressed and finally ceased behaving like environmental energy at all.

For the first time, it became his.

The first strand of Refined Qi appeared inside the newborn Qi Sea and Damian’s <Divine Sense> examined it instantly.

The strand was astonishingly fine, consisting of two spiraling currents wrapped around one another in a shape that immediately reminded him of a DNA helix.

It floated within the Qi Sea like the first thread of something immeasurably larger.

Then the breakthrough completed as power washed across Damian’s consciousness.

His body did not undergo the same dramatic physical reinforcement as before.

Instead, his mind became clearer, his thoughts accelerated, his comprehension sharpened and the world seemed subtly easier to process.

INT rose from 10 to 11.

WIS rose from 10 to 11.

SPI remained exactly where it was.

Damian quickly understood the distinction.

Body Tempering primarily developed the physical Attributes.

Qi Condensation shifted toward the mind, raising Intelligence and Wisdom as the cultivator refined and accumulated Qi.

Spirit was different as that Attribute belonged to the deeper nature of the soul itself.

According to the progression Damian had now encountered, meaningful natural advancement of SPI would not come until Nascent Soul and beyond.

There was one other supposed benefit, awakening of the Spirit Sense.

Every Qi Condensation cultivator naturally developed it upon opening the Qi Sea.

Damian technically did as well.

Unfortunately, <Divine Sense> looked at the newborn ability, metaphorically patted it on the head, then swallowed it whole.

The weaker perception simply assimilated into what Damian already possessed.

"No free upgrade, huh?"

He could hardly complain.

<Divine Sense> was already the superior form.

Damian spent some time moving the first strand of Refined Qi around the Qi Sea, drawing tiny portions into his meridians and becoming familiar with the completely different sensation of possessing supernatural energy stored permanently inside himself.

Then his Feat selection appeared.

Damian chose quickly.

<All Element Heavenly Body>.

[Selection Confirmed.]

[Feat Acquired: All Element Heavenly Body.]

The effect was wonderfully straightforward.

His affinity toward all recognized elements doubled, benefiting not merely cultivation but also combat, crafting, elemental manipulation, techniques and spells.

Anything in either Valoria or Shengyuan where elemental affinity meaningfully mattered could benefit.

Damian smiled.

His Five Elements foundation had already made versatility one of his greatest strengths.

Now that versatility had been multiplied!

At last, Damian rose from the cultivation mat.

Body Tempering was finished, and Qi Condensation had begun.

And he had other work waiting.

......

Jian Rui, Bo Wen, Lin Meiyu and Shen Lian gathered shortly after Damian left the cultivation chamber.

Their expressions upon sensing his new realm were impressive.

Nobody commented... again.

Lord Damian had been Body Tempering Level 8 at breakfast.

Now he was Qi Condensation by early afternoon.

Apparently this was simply their life now.

Damian contacted Mu Qingyao immediately afterward.

The Nightmare Corpse Sect had still not launched its declared all-out offensive, but movements across the frontlines were becoming increasingly frenzied.

Affiliated forces shifted and concentrated as patrols vanished, and the pressure reached a point where everybody could feel the storm approaching.

Damian understood the urgency, but war was not the only matter demanding attention.

He still had several products waiting for proper Shengyuan trials, and some of them could potentially influence that coming war far more than adding one newly advanced cultivator to a battlefield.

Damian looked at the four youngsters gathered before him.

"Get ready. We’re doing some official testing today."

Their expressions immediately changed.

After everything Lord Damian had already produced, none of them dared assume the word ’testing’ meant something ordinary.

Damian smiled.

It was finally time to see exactly what his newest goods could do.