Eternal Immortal Dynasty: Starting as a Petty Official

At the beginning of Hai hour, in the stillness of the night, a few barks of dogs occasionally rang out in the countryside.

The cold wind howled, whipping the withered branches and broken leaves in the yard.

Sitting quietly on the couch, Zhao Xianwei closed his eyes, focused his mind, and gradually his spirit sank into his dantian.

A cloud-like mass of magical power hovered above his dantian.

With a thought, a wisp of magical power rose from his dantian, entered his meridians, and slowly circulated.

Zhao Xian held his breath and concentrated, and before he knew it, a trace of his magical power had traveled through all the acupoints of the twelve meridians.

This completes one major cycle of cultivation.

The human body is naturally interconnected with all the meridians. What cultivators refer to as "opening up the twelve primary meridians" is actually "connecting the twelve primary meridians."

Just like building a road, it expands the rugged country lanes into wide and straight highways leading to the sky.

In the early and middle stages of Qi cultivation, one focuses on practicing the twelve regular meridians. Once the twelve regular meridians are successfully connected, one can begin practicing the eight extraordinary meridians.

At that time, one will have entered the late stage of Qi Refining.

During this period, all the county officials that Zhao Xian saw were at the late stage of Qi Refining.

Of course, this excludes Wang Jia, the bandit leader of Xiangting, who cultivates the martial arts of qi and blood, so he can only be a deputy, not the head.

In all the counties and prefectures under the jurisdiction of Yunlan Sect, the officials in charge are all practitioners of the Dao of cultivating Qi.

The magical power of cultivators in the early and middle stages of Qi Refining is relatively weak, making it impossible for them to cast spells or control magical artifacts. They can only perform minor techniques, and their combat power is not significantly improved.

Therefore, some officials also practiced martial arts of qi and blood for self-defense.

Once cultivators reach the late stage of Qi Refining, they can cast spells and control magical artifacts, at which point their combat power will naturally increase.

Minor arts and spells are naturally not the same thing; minor arts are simply simplified versions of spells.

For example, there are corresponding higher-level spells for spells such as Spirit Eye, Spirit Ear, Light Body, Fire Burning, and Water Gathering.

However, minor techniques are also quite helpful to Qi Refining cultivators. For example, the Lightness Technique can be used to leap ten feet into the air.

They move as swiftly as the wind and as fast as a galloping horse, easily covering tens of miles in a short time.

Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, the crowing of roosters could be heard outside the window.

Zhao Xian slowly finished his practice, his eyes slightly open, a flash of crimson light appearing and disappearing in his pupils.

Hearing the rooster crowing outside the window, Zhao Xian was quite surprised. After a quick calculation, he realized that four hours had already passed.

"No wonder people often say that a day in the mountains is like a thousand years in the world."

"Time truly flies when you're practicing!"

With a sigh, Zhao Xian's lips curled up slightly. After a hard night, he had finally converted all the magical power in his dantian into fire-attribute magical power.

From this day forward, I can finally call myself a cultivator!

After the initial excitement subsided, Zhao Xian began making his bed. What difference did it make if he became a cultivator? He still needed to sleep and eat, making him almost no different from an ordinary person.

If you want to truly transcend worldly concerns, you need to at least reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Suppressing his reverie, Zhao Xian gradually drifted off to sleep.

翌日清晨，天光微亮.

Zhao Xian pushed open the door and went out, only to see that his father had already gotten up and was sitting in the yard smoking a pipe.

"Father, why are you up so early? It's freezing cold. Didn't the doctor tell you to rest?"

Zhao Xian hurried over, preparing to help his father back into the house.

"I came out for some fresh air, I'll go back inside in a bit."

"Brother, did you begin practicing the Six Yang Technique last night?"

Zhao Yi took a puff of smoke from his pipe, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and then asked with a smile.

"Yes, the Six Yang Technique is definitely better than the martial arts techniques used in the village."

Zhao Xian also squatted down to the side, smiling as he spoke.

"Since Tingjun has treated you so kindly, you must never let him down in the future!"

Zhao Yi took several puffs and finally sighed.

For ordinary people in the countryside, nothing is more valuable than their lives.

Zhao Xian understood his father's unspoken meaning and nodded with a smile.

"There's no training today. If you're free, go see your grandfather and show him those two martial arts manuals!"

"Auntie has more experience in the south, let him help you make a decision."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian nodded in agreement once again.

......

After breakfast, his younger brother and sister continued practicing boxing at home, while Zhao Xian headed towards his grandfather's house.

It was only a hundred or so steps, and soon we arrived at my grandfather's house.

"Sister-in-law~"

Upon entering, Zhao Xian saw his sister-in-law sweeping the courtyard with her young child on her back. He immediately greeted her with a smile.

"Oh, Jiulang's here!"

"Your brother didn't take a break today."

The eldest sister-in-law also stood up and said with a smile.

My elder brother is now a garrison soldier. According to the Qian law, he can only take a day off every five days. He eats and lives in the garrison.

"I've come looking for my grandfather, but where is he?"

"It's in the backyard."

The elder sister-in-law answered with a smile, and Zhao Xian also lifted his leg and walked towards the backyard.

My grandfather's house occupied a large area with two courtyards, front and back, while Zhao Xian's house only had a front courtyard.

My grandfather used the backyard as a vegetable garden. With more vegetables grown, he could exchange them for firewood, rice, oil, and salt at the market, which helped supplement the family income.

Upon arriving at the backyard, I saw my grandfather, Zhao Mu, watering the vegetable garden, while my uncle, Zhao Ren, was leaning against the wall, basking in the sun.

The saying goes that it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone. My uncle, being a second-rate martial artist, even though his recovery ability is stronger than that of ordinary people, still had not recovered from his injuries in just over ten days.

"Grandfather, I'll help you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian quickly rolled up his trousers and sleeves, preparing to get out of bed and help his grandfather with the work.

"You just wait there; it's almost done."

Zhao Mu turned around and called out, then picked up the wooden bucket and walked towards the base of the wall.

Zhao Xian also stayed close to the wall, carefully walking over so as not to step on the seedlings.

Seeing Zhao Mu walk over, his uncle Zhao Ren also took out the water bag from his pocket and handed it over.

Zhao Mu drank several mouthfuls of warm soup, then tossed the water bag to his uncle, who immediately stuffed it into his clothes to keep it warm.

"Why aren't you training today? Why aren't you resting at home? What brings you here?"

Zhao Mu looked at Zhao Xian with a smile and asked.

The backyard wall was only five or six feet high. Zhao Xian looked around and, seeing no one outside the wall, stepped forward and whispered something in his grandfather's ear.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mu was quite surprised and gestured for Zhao Xian to take it.

Zhao Xian didn't waste any time and directly took out two books of martial arts manuals and handed them to his grandfather.

Seeing this, Zhao Ren's expression also became more serious.

"There shouldn't be any problems. With these two cultivation manuals in hand, once you reach the late stage of Qi Refining, our family will be considered a small but significant cultivation clan."

After a moment of quiet reflection, Zhao Mu handed the two manuals to Zhao Ren, who was standing to the side.

Uncle Zhao Ren was not only literate, but also knew a few Taoist characters. He took the cultivation method and began to study it carefully.

Fortunately, these Yellow-rank cultivation techniques, whether low-grade or high-grade, are all written in ordinary characters.

Only cultivation techniques at the Xuan level and above are written in Daoist script.

After his uncle read it, he was also quite shocked.

"Ninth Brother, I wonder how I will repay Tingjun's kindness in the future!"

Zhao Ren was a thoughtful person, and he had thought of this point.

"Cultivate yourself diligently, and you will repay me in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mu replied solemnly.

Zhao Xian and Zhao Ren both nodded silently.

After glancing at Zhao Xian, Zhao Mu pondered for a few moments before reaching into his robes and taking something out.

Zhao Xian looked at it and saw that it was a necklace made of animal teeth.

"These are the spoils of war I seized when I fought those mountain barbarians in the south."

"The beast teeth are nothing special, but this chain is made from a piece of dragon tendon."

"If you cultivate to the late stage of Qi Refining in the future, you can use this section of dragon tendon to forge a bowstring."

A hint of reminiscence flickered in Zhao Mu's eyes. After speaking, he removed the beast tooth and handed the necklace to Zhao Xian.

"This~"

"It's so precious, Grandfather, you should keep it for yourself!"

Zhao Xian glanced at his uncle Zhao Ren, but quickly declined.

"It's not considered precious. There are many rivers in Nanzhou, and many dragons and snakes roam around. This dragon tendon is nothing special in Nanzhou."

"Don't be stingy, just accept it!"

After saying that, Zhao Mu stuffed the piece of dragon tendon into Zhao Xian's hand, and then glanced at Zhao Ren.

"Jiulang, your archery skills are the most superb; quickly put it away."

Zhao Ren also quickly spoke up to persuade him.

"In that case, Jiulang will accept this!"

Zhao Xian also wore the necklace around his neck, just like his grandfather.