Longevity: Start by practicing the ruthless way

Chapter 9 Entering the Qi Training Stage

Because of the warm rainforest climate, the Panlong Mountains have very dense forests. Coupled with the steep terrain, few people set foot there, and a pristine jungle with a primitive appearance has been formed.

Gu Chi planned to stay here for the time being, slowly accumulating longevity attribute points while devoting himself to studying the contents on the blue iron sheet.

What she and the big black dog have the most is time. They can wait until they have a certain ability to protect themselves before venturing into the outside world.

They explored deep into the primeval jungle and finally stopped in front of a clear lake.

"Old Black, this place has beautiful mountains and clear waters, and the environment is pretty good. Why don't we build our cave here?" Gu Chi asked the big black dog for his opinion. Naturally, the latter had no objection and immediately began to dig the soil with his claws.

They had no intention of living in a hut, as that would not only make it easy for people to discover it, but would also require frequent repairs and renovations in the event of severe weather such as storms, which would be far less troublesome than simply digging a hole in the ground.

The big black dog dug the soil hard and soon dug out two bedrooms and a living room underground. The space was not very spacious, but it was definitely not cramped.

Gu Chi moved a huge rock to cover the roof, and then covered it with grass and fallen leaves.

In the dark room in the basement, a warm kerosene lamp was lit, and the man and the dog were very satisfied with this new home.

Gu Chi rested his head on the big black dog, took out the piece of green iron, and examined it carefully in the light of the lamp.

Over the years, she had not dared to take out the piece of iron to study it because she was worried that the people from Qingxuan Dongtian and Lihuo Sect would find out the clues. She only took it out again now when she felt it was safe enough.

"It's just as I guessed. If you want to see the content clearly, your own strength must reach a certain standard." Gu Chi said.

When she first got this piece of green iron, she could only barely make out the first few ancient characters. Now that her strength attribute value has reached seven points, she found that she could already see all the contents related to the Qi training stage.

"There is spiritual energy between heaven and earth, the foundation of cultivating immortality..."

Gu Chi looked down intently, completely immersed in it, forgetting everything else.

Half an hour later, she looked away and remained silent for a long time before uttering two words: "Awesome!"

"Ah?" The big black dog was awakened, shivered, and turned to look at Gu Chi in confusion.

"Old Black, our lives are about to undergo a tremendous change! This is engraved with the method of cultivating Qi. With it, we won't have to think about working as slaves for those immortal cultivation sects!"

Gu Chi said excitedly, grabbing the big black dog's shoulders and shaking it hard.

"Ouch——"

The big black dog was also excited and let out a long howl. It had seen the methods of immortal cultivators, and it would be a lie to say that it didn't yearn for them.

"According to what is written above, the Qi training period is divided into ten stages. Once the tenth stage is completed, one can then establish a foundation."

Gu Chi explained the contents of the blue iron to the big black dog and said, "As long as we successfully embark on the path of cultivating immortality, we can not only better protect ourselves, but also keep the secret of immortality well concealed."

She continued to look down, but unfortunately she could not see clearly the content about the foundation-building stage after Qi training.

Just like the last time, the handwriting was twinkling like stars and shining like needles. It was impossible to make out the words by looking closely, and I didn't know what standard I had to meet to be able to see them.

"Old Black, let's first follow what's written here and concentrate our minds to feel the spiritual energy between heaven and earth."

Gu Chi sat up cross-legged with his five hearts facing the sky, and the big black dog followed suit.

They followed the method on Qingtie and entered a mysterious state, trying to capture the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. A day passed by unknowingly.

Seven days later, Gu Chi opened his eyes and met the big black dog's eyes.

Gu Chi raised his eyebrows and said, "You also couldn't draw the energy into your body?"

"Ah~" The big black dog drooped its ears and shook its head slightly.

"How could this happen?" Gu Chi muttered, pinching her jaw. So many days had passed and she still hadn't been able to successfully draw Qi into her body and step into the Qi training stage. This result was a little hard for her to accept.

She picked up the Qingtie, read it carefully word by word, looking for the problem, and finally came to a conclusion.

There is nothing wrong with Qingtie's method, it's just that their own qualifications are too poor.

Despite this result, Gu Chi was not discouraged. He encouraged the big black dog, "As the old saying goes, diligence can make up for lack of talent. Although we are mediocre and lack extraordinary talent, our greatest advantage is our immortality. We have plenty of time. As long as we work hard, any shortcomings can be made up."

The big black dog was encouraged and instantly regained his confidence and was no longer distressed.

Time flies, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

One day, Gu Chi stood on a cliff and looked into the distance. He felt that his vision had become extremely broad, and even the scenery far away could be seen clearly.

She carefully felt the subtle changes in her body after successfully practicing Qigong. Every blade of grass and every tree in the world seemed to come alive in her eyes.

That's right, it took her ten years to successfully practice Qigong.

"After ten years of practicing Qi, this speed cannot be considered genius, but it is definitely not bad compared to most people." Gu Chi encouraged himself.

Suddenly, Gu Chi discovered that the magic power in her body was flowing towards her eyebrows, like a trickle of water, flowing from her limbs and bones into her eyebrows, and the divine light was so bright that it seemed as if her third eye had opened.

"This is……"

Gu Chi was surprised, and at the same time she felt that her perception ability had improved a lot. She could clearly capture any movement within fifty meters around her.

"The world of immortal cultivators is truly beyond imagination." Gu Chi couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. This was just the effect of the first stage of Qi training. As his realm of cultivation improved, would he be able to understand all the changes in the world without leaving his home?

She immediately began to retreat until one morning half a year later, when a huge rumbling sound was heard from the cave deep underground, like a tsunami, accompanied by brilliant divine clouds breaking out of the ground.

Gu Chi stood up and walked out of the cave. There was no strong energy fluctuation, but there was an elegant and otherworldly temperament.

After half a year of seclusion, her cultivation level did not improve and she was still at the first stage of Qi training, but her spiritual awareness became increasingly sharp and could cover an area of ​​100 meters around her.

The big black dog is still in seclusion. Eleven years have passed and he still hasn't succeeded in practicing Qi. He is always just a little bit short of success.

"Help me—"

At this moment, a panicked cry for help came from a distance. Gu Chi looked in the direction of the sound and immediately saw four or five herbalists running desperately towards where she was, followed by a ferocious beast.

"Monster?!"

Gu Chi was shocked and quickly put on the ghost mask, then disappeared from the spot in a flash.

"What a fast speed! Is that an immortal?!"

Several herbalists were stunned. That speed was simply not something an ordinary person could achieve. They immediately thought of the immortal cultivator.

But when Gu Chi turned around just now, these herbalists clearly saw a ghost face with green face and fangs!

Because the distance was too far, they couldn't tell that it was a mask and mistakenly thought it was a monster in human form.

"What should we do? There are monsters in front of us and monsters behind us. Are we really going to die here?!" someone shouted in horror with a crying voice.

However, what they didn't expect was that the beast behind them actually passed them and chased in the direction where Gu Chi fled.

This beast is more than two meters tall and looks like a tiger. There are sharp bone spurs like knives on its back and limbs, and its bloodshot eyes are flashing with ferocity.

"Why the hell are you coming at me?!"

Gu Chi cursed inwardly, his feet almost smoking from running, but the wild beast seemed to be getting more and more excited as it chased him, and was about to catch up.

"boom!"

The beast suddenly attacked, and a large black claw slammed forward. Gu Chi narrowly dodged to the side, but was still knocked over by a huge force for dozens of meters, and rolled dozens of times before stopping.

"Ouch..." Gu Chi rubbed his arms and legs, grimacing in pain.

Seeing that she stopped running, the beast slowed down and approached step by step, growling loudly.

Gu Chi drew out his two swords with a clang. He did not panic but calmly looked at the beast in front of him, whose species he could not identify, looking for its weakness, hoping to kill it with one blow.

"Roar--"

The wild beast roared, shaking the mountains and forests. It kicked off with its hind legs and pounced forward, extending a pair of sharp claws to tear Gu Chi into pieces.

Gu Chi was waiting for this opportunity. She placed the Cuo Yuqie in front of her, and just as the beast pounced close to her, she slid under its body.

Blood splattered as Gu Chi used the wrong jade knife to cut a deep hole in the beast's abdomen. Its internal organs and intestines were scattered all over the ground as it howled and roared in pain.

Gu Chi did not give the other party a chance to counterattack before dying. He turned over and jumped onto it. The two knives in his hands pierced through the back of its head, completely finishing it off.

"It's a pity that Lao Hei hasn't come out of seclusion yet, so I can only enjoy such a big beast slowly by myself."

Gu Chi felt sorry for the big black dog, and quickly wiped out all traces of it, dragging the beast's corpse back to the cave.

Half a year later, the big black dog finally drew the qi into his body, opened up the internal circulation and entered the qi training stage. His joy was self-evident.

"Old Black, I never thought we would actually embark on the path to immortality. This feeling is truly amazing."

Gu Chi sighed as he ate the smoked beast meat in big mouthfuls.

The big black dog kept nodding. Its eyesight was not bad to begin with, and now that it had successfully drawn Qi into its body, it could even clearly see the scenery two hundred meters away in the dead of night.

Gu Chi said, "Our current Strength attribute value is already 18 points. Not to mention in the mortal world, even in the world of immortal cultivators, we can easily kill cultivators in the Qi training stage alone. I feel that there is no need to continue to improve it for the time being. How about we try the [Mana Power] option next year?"

She understood this option as mana, the storage value of her own mana, which would definitely come in handy if she learned any skills or supernatural powers in the future.

The big black dog shook his head, rubbed against Gu Chi's feet, and said, "Sister Gu Chi, how about we try the [Root of Tao] option?"

"The root of Tao..." Gu Chi did not give an immediate answer, but pinched his chin and thought carefully.

There are a total of options in the attribute column of the longevity system, namely [Spirit], [Strength], [Body Skill], [Defense], [Mana] and [The Fundamental of Tao].

The [Spirit] option should be for the bonus of mental power, such as soul and consciousness, but these can be improved through practice. Gu Chi does not want to add longevity points to this for the time being.

The [Defense] option means you can be more resistant to attacks, which can be of great help in battle, but this ability can also be acquired through practice.

In Gu Chi's understanding, the [Body Movement] option is nothing more than running faster and being more agile. This effect can also be improved through practice, and is currently no longer within her consideration.

As for the [Strength] option, she and the big black dog now both have 18 points, so they can put it aside for the time being.

However, regarding the attribute option of [The Fundamental of Tao], Gu Chi still hasn't figured out what kind of bonus effect this option has, and he hadn't considered it in the first place.

"Alright, then let's add the longevity point option next year and see what effect it has."

Gu Chi thought about it again and again, and finally agreed with the big black dog's opinion.

In the days that followed, they continued to practice in the cave, and occasionally went deep into the Panlong Mountains to identify and pick various medicinal herbs according to the "Baicao Lu" and study medicine on their own. This fulfilling life made Gu Chi sigh from time to time.

During this period, they also moved their cave several times. Due to the warm climate of Panlong Mountains, there would be a downpour almost every three or four days, and their cave was built underground, so it was inevitable that it would be flooded.

Finally, there was no other way, so the man and the dog gave up the idea of ​​living in the underground cave, and used local materials to build a simple wooden house by the clear lake. Later, they gradually improved it by adding a toilet, kitchen, etc.

"Come on, Lao Hei, let's take a look at what this so-called [Root of Tao] is."

Gu Chi sat on the newly built observation deck, looking at the heavy rain outside and listening to the sound of raindrops falling on the straw hut, flowers, plants and leaves. He felt particularly relaxed.

"coming!"

The big black dog ran up, his face full of anticipation.

A man and a dog leaned against the stove to keep warm. Gu Chi added this year's longevity points to the option of [The Root of Tao]. In an instant, Gu Chi's face changed drastically, and a layer of purple light appeared on his body!

"Sister Gu Chi! What's wrong with you!"

The big black dog suddenly jumped up, not knowing what was going on. Its face was full of anxiety, and it kept circling around Gu Chi and barking. If anything happened to Gu Chi, it didn't want to live anymore!

"Old Black...I...I'm fine."

Gu Chi leaned against the fence, sweat pouring down her forehead, as if she had just finished a marathon and was almost exhausted. She was so tired that she even found it difficult to speak.

"This thing...is this the only effect?"

Gu Chi didn't know where the bonus effect of [The Root of Tao] was reflected. Anyway, she couldn't feel where she had gained any bonus, she just felt that she was about to die.

"Lao Hei, why don't you try and see if it will have a different effect." Gu Chi opened the panel of the longevity system and added the big black dog's longevity points to the option of [The Fundamentals of Tao].

After a while, a purple light bloomed from the big black dog's body, and then it collapsed to the ground with a thud, panting heavily with its tongue hanging out, as if it had just experienced a fierce battle with three thousand beauties.

"Even you have the same reaction. There's something wrong with this thing." Gu Chi felt like he had fallen into a big trap. This wasn't an attribute bonus at all; it was clearly a threat to someone's life.