I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 258: Chapter 145: Leaders Stand Guard, Charging the Marrow Cleansing Realm

”Furthermore, the Five Qi in his body are balanced, making his aptitude perfect for practicing the Yuqing Secret Skill. It would be difficult to find another person like him in all of Wanxuan. If he advances to the Marrow Cleansing Realm at his current age, he’s certain to attract the attention of the Provincial Hall, and maybe even headquarters. If I don’t take him as my disciple now, I’m afraid I’ll lose the chance.”

Qi Yue nodded. ”That’s true. If he weren’t so suited for the Yuqing Secret Skill, I would have considered taking him as my own disciple. With an aptitude like his, reaching Entry will be no problem. It’s just that this disciple of yours tends to overthink things. I’m worried he’ll read too much into us helping him raise his cultivation this time. Aren’t you going to explain a little more to him?”

Director Qin shook his head. ”There’s no need. That’s just the kind of person he is. As long as our actions align with his intentions, it’s fine. Explaining more would only burden him, and that won’t help his cultivation.”

”If that’s the case, then so be it,” Qi Yue said slowly.

...

Back at the manor, Yang Wenqing had already stabilized his consciousness. As time passed, his mind grew increasingly empty.

Before he knew it, it was already nine o’clock at night.

The door to the Quiet Chamber was pushed open without a sound. Director Qin and Qi Yue walked in side by side, both looking travel-worn. They had clearly just finished handling strenuous official business. Following closely behind them was a middle-aged man in a formal, dark cyan suit. His gaze was calm and composed.

”Wenqing, this is Lin Ran from the Civil Affairs Bureau, Director Lin,” Director Qin said, offering a simple introduction. ”Director Lin can perform a Divine Art to safeguard your consciousness, sparing you the agony of having it torn apart while you open your orifices.”

Yang Wenqing immediately rose and bowed respectfully. ”I must trouble you, Director Lin.”

Lin Ran gave a slight nod, saying nothing more. His gaze merely lingered on Yang Wenqing for a moment, as if assessing his condition.

”Let’s begin.”

Qi Yue’s voice was steady as he walked to the center of the Quiet Chamber and gestured to Yang Wenqing. ”Set up your Circum-Celestial Star-Guiding Orifice Array. Its foundation is linked to your very life force; it will serve as a base for both guidance and as a buffer.”

Yang Wenqing did as instructed. With a mere thought, faint light bloomed in sequence across the floor, walls, and ceiling of the Quiet Chamber. A humanoid star chart, the Four Symbols and Five Elements, and projections of the circum-celestial stars gradually materialized.

Qi Yue nodded in approval. He then raised a hand, and with a simple gesture, a palm-sized jade bottle appeared in his palm. The moment he uncorked it, a peculiar fragrance that seemed to bore straight into the depths of one’s consciousness wafted out. Just inhaling a faint wisp of it made Yang Wenqing’s orifices tingle, and the flow of his Spiritual Qi quickened.

”This is the Nine Orifice Divine Dew,” Qi Yue explained. ”It’s made from the heart of a thousand-year-old chalcedony lotus from the depths of the East Sea, combined with the first wisp of purple qi at dawn and the essence of moonlight, then refined in the internal furnace of an Entry-level pill cultivator.” His expression then turned solemn. ”Wenqing, sit cross-legged in the eye of the array. Guard your heart and focus your mind. No matter what happens, all you need to do is hold on to a single, inextinguishable spark of awareness.”

Yang Wenqing took a deep breath. He knew that the Nine Orifice Divine Dew was the best Spiritual Medicine for practicing the Eighth Refinement. It cost fifty thousand yuan a gram and was practically impossible to find on the market. ’With my current means, I could only dream of owning something like this,’ he thought. ’I can’t believe Director Qi is actually using it to help my cultivation.’

He suppressed the surging tension and anticipation in his heart and did as he was told, sitting cross-legged on the cushion at the core of the Circum-Celestial Star-Guiding Orifice Array. Adopting the posture of the five centers facing heaven, he closed his eyes. The Heart Method for the Eighth Refinement of the Nine Refining Secret Skill began to circulate naturally within him. The three hundred and twenty-one orifices he had already opened resonated faintly, like stars in the night sky.

Qi Yue walked to a spot three feet behind Yang Wenqing and sat cross-legged as well. After centering himself for a moment, his hands formed a complex and ancient Dharma Seal. He shouted in a low voice, ”Xun position, arise! Anchor the eight directions! Let the flow of qi converge!”

As his voice faded, the spectral image of an Innate Eight Trigrams Diagram, roughly ten feet in diameter, materialized out of thin air beneath him. The diagram’s lines were sharp and solid. One by one, the eight trigram symbols—Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui—began to glow with a profound light. The Xun trigram blazed the brightest, and from it came the faint sound of swirling wind.

With the appearance of the Eight Trigrams Diagram, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi for dozens of miles around the Quiet Chamber began to shift subtly. With a grand and imperceptible force, it began to converge on the manor, on the Quiet Chamber, and on the Eight Trigrams Diagram beneath Qi Yue...