Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 11 The apprentice has finally succeeded!

For two days in a row, Zhang Chengdao quickly reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, while his cheap disciple Chang Ping'an was still trying to draw Qi into his body.

However, Chang Ping'an's cultivation progress has not remained unchanged over the past two days.

Although he failed to successfully draw qi into his body, he learned the sword techniques from the "Elementary Qi Refining Book".

This is a set of basic sword techniques that is very suitable for beginners, called "Three Sword Techniques".

As the name suggests, the Three Forms of Sword Technique consists of only three moves. The dozens of variations and routines that follow are all derived from these three moves. It is a sword technique that can be used from the mortal body up to the Foundation Establishment stage. Its various variations are explained in more detail in the "Intermediate Qi Refining Manual" and the "Advanced Qi Refining Manual".

As for why it can only be used during the Foundation Establishment stage...

Once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage and can freely utilize your spiritual power, you no longer need to fight with weapons—who would use a bronze sword when they can use firearms! The difference in cultivation level also creates a difference in swordsmanship!
Moreover, by that time, those who practiced swordsmanship could no longer be called swordsmen, but rather "sword cultivators" as they are known in various games and novels.

The swords used by sword cultivators are their natal spirit swords, which have been refined and intertwined with their own soul, making them somewhat similar to swordsmen in this martial arts cultivation world.

The difference is that in this world, if a martial artist wants to nurture their natal sword, they must use the true energy they have cultivated to nourish the sword. Only after years of refinement can it be called a natal sword, and there is only one of its kind.

For example, Chang Ping'an's natal sword was a sword he had nurtured for ten years until his true qi meridian was shattered, which led to the natal sword being broken.

The cultivation system is different. Cultivators can have many natal spirit swords. As long as their cultivation is high enough, they can cultivate hundreds or even thousands of them.

Furthermore, for cultivators, the reason why their natal spirit sword is called a "spirit" sword is because these swords are not like those worn on the body by martial artists who practice martial arts; instead, they are contained within the body and integrated with the soul.

When needed, one can summon one's natal spirit sword and wield it to fight; hence, the natal spirit sword is also called the natal flying sword.

Of course, it also has the additional function of temporarily replacing transportation, and its specific usage is taught in several books on Qi cultivation...

In short, only cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage can refine their natal spirit sword. Therefore, sword techniques like the Three Sword Forms, which are so low-level that they require holding the sword in hand, can only be used by cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage. What serious cultivator would hold a sword in hand?
However, according to Zhang Chengdao's speculation, in this world of martial arts and cultivation, these three sword techniques should not be considered low-level.

Even though Chang Ping'an had already learned the three most basic sword techniques, Zhang Chengdao refused his request to go down the mountain to pack up his belongings.

Based on my years of experience reading all the novels on the Three Rivers List, with my cheap apprentice as the protagonist template, if he doesn't play the Ten Mile Slope Sword God style to survive, he'll definitely suffer if I let him go!
"In short, without drawing qi into the body, you must not leave White Stone Mountain even a step!"

Zhang Chengdao's tone was resolute.

Chang Ping'an rarely saw his master so serious, and felt extremely ashamed.

The "Elementary Qi Refining Book" states that, barring unforeseen circumstances, most people can draw Qi into their bodies in just one or two days and establish their foundation in three to five months. Even those with poor aptitude can definitely establish their foundation within a year. However, I have been cultivating for nearly three days and have yet to draw Qi into my body!

No wonder my master refused to accept me back then; was my aptitude really that bad?

Chang Ping'an felt ashamed, but even more so disappointed, yet also somewhat unwilling. So, upon hearing his master's words, he immediately shouted, "Disciple understands! Disciple will never let Master down!" After saying this, he even sat down to meditate in the courtyard, adopting the air of someone who studies diligently and perseveres. Under this aura, the spiritual energy of the mountains seemed to subtly gather in the courtyard.

Zhang Chengdao was still a little confused: How did he end up cultivating him?

He just wanted his apprentice to play it safe for a while, and wait until he was strong enough before going out to have fun!
While he was still in a daze, the spiritual energy around him gathered more and more, and became more and more concentrated. Gradually, it even formed the kind of spiritual energy vortex described in the book!

Then, Zhang Chengdao saw the spiritual energy in the swirling wind rushing into Chang Ping'an's body like Jerry eyeing cheese.

Hmm... Chang Ping'an is like that piece of cheese. His body is still leaky. The spiritual energy that enters keeps dissipating outwards, but it is then swept up by the whirlwind and enters Chang Ping'an's body again.

This cycle repeated for more than ten minutes. Then, a light golden light emanated from Chang Ping'an's skin, and the spiritual energy that had entered Chang Ping'an's body stopped leaking out. Something seemed to have changed.

Zhang Chengdao suddenly opened the character panel and brought up Chang Ping'an's profile card. Sure enough, the cultivation level had changed from "not yet cultivated" to "Qi Refining Level 1".

My apprentice has succeeded?
Zhang Chengdao was somewhat excited.

As expected of a protagonist! In a world with such low spiritual energy concentration, he was able to draw spiritual energy into his body in just three days!

On the other hand, in the depths of his being, he felt the sensation of having broken through to the Qi Refining stage, which excited Chang Ping'an greatly. However, he restrained his urge to immediately go to his master to claim credit, and instead calmed down and tried his best to draw all the spiritual energy from the surrounding swirling energy into his body. Such an opportunity to gather spiritual energy together was extremely rare, and absorbing it all at once would greatly enhance his cultivation.

After a while, once Chang Ping'an had exhausted all the spiritual energy around him, he finally opened his eyes.

He also saw the pleased expression on his master's face.

Perhaps it was a sense of relief?

While he hesitated, he saw his master take a blade of grass and hand it to him.

This plant has only two leaves, and a few crystal-clear dewdrops are attached to the largest leaf. Although Chang Ping'an does not recognize what kind of plant it is, he can sense from the scent it emits that it is definitely not an ordinary plant!
Zhang Chengdao eagerly handed over the Immortal Dew Grass, saying, "Try this quickly and see if it has any effect."

"Fairy Dew Grass" is a name Zhang Chengdao made up. In reality, this thing is the "Fairy Dew" in the daily member gift pack. However, when it is taken out, it is attached to the leaves of this grass, so it is natural to call this grass Fairy Dew Grass.

【Fairy Dew】is used in the game to water the Immortal Tree, thereby increasing its growth value. However, it can only be used once every certain period of time, which is a significant limitation.

During his cultivation over the past few days, Zhang Chengdao secretly tried it out. He could use it once every time he advanced to the next level. For him, it could shorten the time it took to advance to the next level. For example, what originally took six hours would only take a little over four hours after using it. It seemed to reduce the cultivation time based on a percentage.

However, this treasure can only be used once per realm; using it more than once would be a waste, as the effects do not stack—he had already wasted one, so of course he was reluctant to waste a second one.

Now that my cheap apprentice has finally become a Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator, theoretically he should be able to use one!
This stuff isn't exactly rare; you get 5 drops in the daily member gift pack, so it adds up to 1825 drops a year.

It's not exactly precious, but it's still quite rare at this stage—only 5 drops a day. He's only been here for three days, so that's a total of 15 drops. Including the one drop he wasted, he's already used 4 drops. In Zhang Chengdao's mind, as a hoarder, anything in the warehouse with less than 100 units is considered out of stock!
Therefore, Zhang Chengdao, who wanted his disciple to try to improve his cultivation but was also worried about the stockpile of supplies, was naturally very cautious!
(End of this chapter)