I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Attempting to Practice a New Secret Technique

He was supposed to report to the Major Case Team before the 20th, but Vice Section Chief Li’s words were a clear reminder: the Major Case Team was extremely short-staffed right now. In other words, he had to report as soon as possible.

Today was the 17th—February 17th. The calendar in this world was based directly on the moon’s trajectory, and the Spring Festival marked the last day of the year.

Theoretically, Yang Wenqing still had three days of vacation left. However, he decided to heed Vice Section Chief Li’s advice and report to the Major Case Team early. From what the vice section chief implied, reporting early would likely bring some benefits, probably related to his position.

So, after parting ways with Song Yu and Wu Qi, he immediately returned to his apartment in Dongning Community. He locked the door from the inside and eagerly took out the badge, pressing it to the center of his brow. His Divine Sense immediately sank into it.

The first thing that appeared in his mind’s eye was the general outline of the Nine Refining Secret Skill.

The opening Chapter explained that this technique was designed to polish one’s foundation and temper the physical body, laying a Dao foundation for the future path of cultivation. Those with superior aptitude could use this technique to progress by leaps and bounds, multiplying their potential. Meanwhile, those with mediocre aptitude could use it to compensate for their innate shortcomings, significantly improving their cultivation efficiency and upper limits. Thus, the technique was said to have the effect of ”reshaping the body and defying fate.”

Yang Wenqing had already heard about this Secret Technique back at the academy. Those with talent already qualified for cultivation and would naturally progress by leaps and bounds. As for those with poor talent, they needed to polish their foundation during the Qi Cultivation Stage. If they succeeded, their future would be bright; if they failed, their journey would end there.

The First Refinement of Qi Cultivation was called ’The Resonance of Sinew and Bone’.

The core of the method involved guiding the pure Spiritual Qi from the Qi Sea to travel through, permeate, and temper all 206 bones and 639 muscles in the body. This would trigger a fundamental transformation, making them tougher and more capable of bearing and circulating vast amounts of Spiritual Qi. The cultivation process also required a specific stabilizing Array to prevent the Spiritual Qi from spiraling out of control and causing self-injury.

The Secret Technique provided a detailed map of the Spiritual Qi circulation routes, which involved many subtle meridians he had never touched before. It also included the complete Array Map for the Solid Yuan Array.

This Array required one’s own blood essence mixed with a small amount of silver or Gold powder to draw specific runes on the floor of a Quiet Chamber. The Array Base consisted of an inner and outer ring. The inner ring was inscribed with stabilization runes to steady the mind and anchor one’s qi and blood. The outer ring was composed of eight suppression runes used to suppress the earth’s qi, ward off external demons, and simultaneously gather Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to form a stable pressure field. This field would restrain the vibrating Spiritual Qi within the body, preventing it from leaking or running rampant, and it could also suppress pain.

Once the Array was activated, it would emit a soft, earthy-yellow halo. Standing inside the Array, one could clearly feel the surrounding space become thick and stable, as if deep within the earth.

A special note at the end of the technique’s description mentioned: ”When practicing this refinement, supplementing with the medicinal power of ’Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass’ will allow you to achieve twice the results with half the effort, greatly shortening the tempering time and offering a chance to awaken the latent potential of one’s muscles and bones.”

’Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass...’ Yang Wenqing knew of this stuff. A single stalk of ordinary quality cost 15,000, and it seemed its consumption rate was likely similar to that of White Dragon Ginseng.

He suppressed the various thoughts in his mind. First, he meticulously memorized and studied the Spiritual Qi circulation route for ’The Resonance of Sinew and Bone’ and every single Array Rune of the Solid Yuan Array, going over each node repeatedly until he was certain there were no omissions. He then ran several simulations in the Golden Core World deep within his consciousness.

Then he sighed. Silver and Gold were the best materials for inscribing Array Runes, allowing Spiritual Qi to pass through unimpeded. But both were quite expensive. Five hundred yuan could be exchanged for one gram of Gold, and twenty yuan for one gram of silver. An Array made with Gold was definitely better than one made with silver. Moreover, these materials were consumables.

’I’ll buy two hundred grams of silver to try it out first.’

A bitter smile appeared on Yang Wenqing’s face. He still needed to refine a better Spirit Gathering Array later on. Having experienced the benefits of Gathering Spirit, he now felt uncomfortable cultivating without a large concentration of Spiritual Qi. His new apartment gathered a decent amount of Spiritual Qi compared to before the Qi Cultivation Stage, but it was practically useless for his current level. On top of that, he also had to buy the Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Grass. Suddenly, he felt his current salary was not nearly enough.

But there was no other way. If he wanted to advance his Cultivation, some money had to be spent. After making his decision, he got up and left, heading to the nearest bank to exchange for two hundred grams of silver—specifically, silver that was already processed into a powder.

Then he spent another two hundred yuan on a bottle of Spiritual Qi ink, which was specially used for drawing Array Runes. Back home, he followed the method taught at the academy, mixing the silver powder and Spiritual Qi ink together. After simulating the drawing of the Array Runes one more time in his Golden Core World, he held his breath, focused his mind, and began carefully inscribing the Solid Yuan Array on his living room floor.

As time passed, beads of sweat gradually formed on Yang Wenqing’s forehead. An hour later, a Solid Yuan Array about ten feet in diameter, emanating a steady aura, was finally complete.

These Arrays also had fixed rules within them, just like the universal theorems in Yang Wenqing’s memory.

Yang Wenqing sat cross-legged in the eye of the Array. After composing himself, he activated the Array with his blood essence.

VMMMM—

An earthy-yellow halo rose up, forming a translucent shield of light that enveloped him. He instantly felt his body sink, as if burdened by an invisible weight, but the circulation of Spiritual Qi within him was unaffected.

He no longer hesitated. Following the method of the First Refinement of the Nine Refining Secret Skill, he carefully guided the Spiritual Qi from his Qi Sea. He began circulating it along the complex and unfamiliar route, gradually imbuing it with a special vibrational frequency.

At first, as the Spiritual Qi flowed through certain fine muscles and bones, it brought waves of stinging pain and aching soreness. But as the Spiritual Qi began to vibrate, his entire skeleton and all his muscles started to tremble slightly. A soft rustling, like countless silkworms munching on mulberry leaves, echoed through him—this was the initial sign of ’The Resonance of Sinew and Bone’.

Then, an intense sensation of aching numbness and an itching pain washed over him in waves. If not for the Solid Yuan Array suppressing his qi and blood, he would have found it nearly impossible to maintain precise control over his Spiritual Qi.

Yang Wenqing guarded his mind, enduring the intense soreness in his muscles and the bone-deep, itching pain. He focused all his effort on maintaining the Spiritual Qi’s vibration along the path dictated by the Nine Refining Secret Skill.

When the second cycle was complete, he used the projection from his Golden Core World to observe some damage within his muscles and bones.

’I have to stop!’

Yang Wenqing made a snap decision and stopped circulating the Nine Refining Secret Skill. The unbearable aching and soreness immediately began to subside, then slowly faded away.

He then switched Spells, guiding the remaining Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea to nourish the damaged bones and muscles.

By the time the injuries were successfully repaired, Yang Wenqing felt a hollowness in his Qi Sea. More than half of his once-abundant Spiritual Qi had been consumed!

’This consumption... it’s staggering.’ He opened his eyes, a trace of helplessness on his face.

Without the support of a powerful Spirit Gathering Array, relying solely on the ambient Spiritual Qi of the community and his own basic breathing exercises to recover, his progress with the Nine Refining Secret Skill would be despairingly slow.

Yang Wenqing cast a Dust Clearing Skill on himself to remove the sweat stains. Then he sat down cross-legged and circulated the Basic Qi Cultivation Formulas to recover his Spiritual Qi.

After several cycles, a small amount of Spiritual Qi had re-gathered in his Qi Sea, and the soreness in his body had lessened considerably, but he was still far from a full recovery.

Knowing it was unwise to force himself to practice the Nine Refining Secret Skill again today, Yang Wenqing turned his attention to Spells. He selected the Tracking Technique and the Anti-Demon Spell.

The Tracking Technique could extract all the auras at a crime scene and search for a matching source, similar to the function of a police dog. He chose this Spell because he was about to join the Major Case Team.

The Anti-Demon Spell had a nice ring to it, but it was really just a type of fire Magic. Its greatest use was enchanting bullets, which was his best offensive method at his current stage.

As for the Sword Control Technique that Captain Xiao Liang had mentioned, it was more complicated. He first needed to nurture a short sword, allowing it to achieve a certain degree of resonance with the Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea. Otherwise, it would be very clumsy to wield.

Yang Wenqing decided to wait until he had a good short sword before practicing this technique. Having made up his mind, his thoughts stirred, and his consciousness sank completely into the Golden Core World.

He simulated the construction of the Dharma Seal for the Tracking Technique. The first few attempts were bound to be unsuccessful, but he wasn’t discouraged. He failed again and again, and started over each time. After nearly twenty failures, he finally succeeded in condensing the first complete and stable Dharma Seal for the Tracking Technique.

He tried casting it in the real world. Upon success, he could see the auras of ordinary things. It was an incredibly profound and mysterious feeling, a form of sight within his consciousness, like ethereal energy particles connecting identical auras—such as his own.

After trying it a few times, he began simulating the Anti-Demon Spell. This Dharma Seal required greater instantaneous output and control of Spiritual Qi. During his attempts to construct it, he even caused the Dharma Seal’s energy to conflict.

This time, however, he got it in less than ten tries. The construction of this Dharma Seal was actually very simple, as long as one paid attention to controlling the output of Spiritual Qi. For now, he only tried enchanting a bullet and didn’t fire it to test its power.

Afterward, Yang Wenqing returned to his room and sat in meditation to restore the Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea. This session lasted for more than ten hours. He woke up from his meditation promptly at 4:30 the next morning, then slept for another hour and a half before getting up. After casting a Dust Clearing Skill on himself, he changed into a crisp police uniform, carefully pinned on his senior sergeant insignia, and, after checking his service pistol, holstered it at his waist.

Looking at the young sergeant in the mirror, Yang Wenqing took a deep breath, opened the door to his home, and walked with a steady pace toward the county bureau. Today, he was reporting to the Major Case Team.