I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 241: Chapter 138: Directly Enter the Marrow Cleansing Realm?

The Quiet Chamber was unlit, with only the faint, flickering glow of the Gathering Spirit Array. Yang Wenqing walked to the center of the Quiet Chamber and lit an incense burner holding ’Soul-Condensing Spirit Calming Wood.’ He had now cultivated to the Eighth Refinement and was close to perfecting it, yet his Divine Sense could still be cultivated indefinitely.

He had completed the Fifth, Sixth, and the Seventh Refinement’s ’Meridian-Charging and Obstruction-Breaking’ all within just three years. The Eighth Refinement was progressing so slowly because of its unique nature. This stage, called ’Hundred Apertures Return to Origin,’ required breaking open the 365 major apertures throughout his entire body.

After calming his mind, Yang Wenqing submerged his consciousness into his Golden Core World to perform an Introspection of his body’s overall condition.

The skin of his projected body was as tough as a treasure. His flesh was dense, his blood and qi surging like liquid mercury, radiating vigorous life and heat. His bones were a lustrous white and indestructible. His internal organs each contained pure Five Elements Spiritual Light. His Spiritual Veins were wide and tough, and Spiritual Qi flowed and surged within them.

What was especially striking were the 320 apertures that had already been opened. They were scattered throughout his body, and each one steadily absorbed and expelled pure Spiritual Qi, engaging in a subtle yet highly efficient exchange with the outside world.

This physical state was already infinitely close to the characteristics described for the Ninth Refinement’s ’Purity Body.’ His affinity with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had reached an astonishing level. The turbid qi and impurities within his body had been almost completely washed away, leaving only the purest life force and Spiritual Qi.

This was because while he was cultivating the previous eight refinements, the Golden Core in his mind had also been slowly integrating the energy within his body, expelling impurities, and making his physical form perfect and flawless. This was precisely the cultivation process of the Ninth Refinement’s ’Purity Body.’

He suspected that, just as with the Fifth and Seventh Refinements, as long as he perfected the Eighth Refinement, he could bypass the cultivation process for the Ninth Refinement’s ’Purity Body’ and advance directly into the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Every time this suspicion arose, he would call up the description of the Ninth Refinement’s ’Purity Body’ from the *Nine Refining Secret Skill* stored in his badge and read it:

"...Skin like jade, flesh and blood like mercury; bones etched with gold, organs radiating light. Spiritual Veins are open, apertures shining like starlight. The great cycle flows unhindered, inner and outer worlds in harmony. All mortal dust is washed away, returning to primal purity. The body becomes like flawless glass, transparent from within to without. The Purity Body forms naturally, the foundation of the Dao solidifies, and Bone Marrow Cleansing is within reach."

This incantation clearly stated that when a Cultivator perfected the first eight refinements and washed away the last trace of postnatal mortal dust—making the physical body as pure as flawless glass and transparent inside and out—the ’Purity Body’ would form on its own. The ’Purity Body’ was the key prerequisite for entering the Marrow Cleansing Realm. In other words, he was just a stone’s throw away from perfecting the Qi Cultivation stage.

After a short while, Yang Wenqing gently shook his head, clearing the chaotic thoughts from his mind...

When the fragrance of the Spirit Calming Wood filled the Quiet Chamber, he extended the index finger of his right hand and pointed toward the center of the chamber. Instantly, a complex Array materialized. This was the ’All Heaven Star Aperture-Guiding Array,’ designed to complement the cultivation of the Eighth Refinement.

To be precise, this was merely the main Array Base of the Array. It was centered on the Cultivator’s meditation cushion and radiated outward into 365 tiny, core runic nodes, each corresponding to a major aperture in the human body.

These nodes were miniaturized and positioned in strict accordance with the actual locations and connections of the human body’s apertures, forming a star chart in the shape of a seated person. The nodes were linked by extremely fine, silvery spiritual threads that simulated the pathways of the body’s meridians, creating a foundational energy-guiding network.

Next, Yang Wenqing pointed at the ceiling of the Quiet Chamber. Instantly, an All Heaven Star Map was imprinted above. The map highlighted projections of constellations like the sun and Taiyin, which are closely related to the human body’s yang qi, Primordial Spirit, and essence blood.

These constellation projections corresponded with the aperture nodes on the ground. Their function was to draw in, filter, and transform specific types of Spiritual Qi, assisting in the opening and stabilization of the corresponding apertures.

Then, Yang Wenqing pointed to the four walls of the Quiet Chamber, and instantly, four Array Maps appeared, one on each wall. These four Array Maps were each independent.

At the core of these Four Symbols Array Maps were embedded corresponding top-tier Five Elements Spiritual Objects, forming a Five Elements cycle with the main Array Base. They influenced one another and were divided into yin and yang, their function being suppression and harmonization.

Suppression was to prevent the body from collapsing or the Divine Sense from dissipating due to an overly intense exchange of internal and external Spiritual Qi when the 365 apertures were activated.

Harmonization meant balancing the drawn-in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and the medicinal power of the ’Aperture-Opening Dew’—a substance used for the Eighth Refinement—to a degree most suitable for the apertures’ current stage of absorption. This prevented attribute conflicts or overly violent power from damaging the apertures’ foundations.

Additionally, hidden beneath the cushion of the main Array Base was a complex, three-dimensional composite rune. It served as the regulatory Central Hub for the entire grand Array and was connected to Yang Wenqing’s own Qi Sea and Divine Sense.

Through his will, Yang Wenqing could control this hub to fine-tune the power output of the Array’s different regions. For example, he could focus an assault on a key aperture along a certain meridian or temporarily strengthen the suppressive power of one of the Four Symbols of the Five Elements to handle unexpected risks.

The Cultivator himself was the living ’array eye’ of the Array. Only when Yang Wenqing was positioned within it, causing his own Spiritual Qi to resonate with the formation, would the ’All Heaven Star Aperture-Guiding Array’ fully activate. The Array would then adaptively adjust its energy output to closely match his current Cultivation progress and physical condition.

Yang Wenqing deployed the Array, and after confirming there were no issues, he walked to the central cushion and sat down cross-legged.

Immediately, with a single thought, the Spiritual Qi in his body began to slowly circulate according to the method of the Eighth Refinement. Then, the Array Patterns inscribed within the Quiet Chamber lit up one after another with a faint glow.

A dozen or so seconds later, the humanoid star chart on the ground activated first. Three hundred and sixty-five points of light emerged, creating a faint resonance with the corresponding apertures inside his body. Next, the phantom images of the Four Symbols on the walls formed a Five Elements cycle diagram with the main Array Base, emitting a steady and vast aura. Finally, the star map on the ceiling brightened, showering down hazy halos of light that resembled starlight.