Upon returning to his quiet little courtyard, the first thing Chen Qing did was calm his mind and focus, carefully reviewing the gains and losses from his trip to Lin’an Prefecture.

The rewards had been substantial.

He had successfully obtained the Wood Yang Jade and, through his fight with Jiangchuan Bridge, gained a deeper understanding of Astral Force.

"Jiangchuan Bridge..."

Chen Qing took out the small, black notebook made of special material. He ground the ink, picked up his brush, and slowly wrote down the name.

He wrote down these names to constantly remind himself.

’I can’t let my guard down for even a moment!’

’How many people have fallen just because of a moment of carelessness?’

Only after finishing all this did he fully immerse his Heart and Spirit in his cultivation.

Chen Qing took out the Earth Essence Marrow Pearl and the Wood Yang Jade, placing the two Exotic Treasures before him. One was a heavy, earthen yellow, containing the essence of the great earth; the other was a gentle, emerald green, brimming with vibrant life force.

Chen Qing recalled Li Baichuan’s guidance: "To borrow their power, you must first align with their nature... Use yourself as a conduit to make the Exotic Treasure resonate with its corresponding attribute True Qi Origin... The Exotic Treasure acts as a bridge, guiding the two True Qi Origins to slowly approach and merge..."

He held his breath and focused, his hands hovering over the two Exotic Treasures. He began by slowly circulating the Eight Desolates Mountain-Suppressing Technique.

Inside his Dantian, the Earth True Qi, drawn by the Earth Essence Marrow Pearl, became unusually active and docile. A wisp of pure Earth Element True Qi naturally separated itself, passing through the Lao Gong Acupoint in his palm and slowly flowing into the Earth Essence Marrow Pearl.

HUMMM!

The Earth Essence Marrow Pearl trembled slightly, its surface swirling with yellow light as it grew deeper in color.

The wisp of Earth True Qi circulated within it once. Not only was it not consumed, but it absorbed a trace of pure, heavy, great earth Primordial Power, becoming even more refined and pure before returning to Chen Qing’s body along the same path.

At the same time, Chen Qing circulated the Cyan Wood Eternal Spring Technique with his other hand, following the same procedure to guide a wisp of Cyan Wood True Qi into the Wood Yang Jade.

The warm green jade immediately shone with an inner light, brimming with vitality. The wisp of Cyan Wood True Qi was like a stream flowing into a spring lake; as it was nourished and strengthened, it also became tinged with an extremely yang, warm, and Everlasting Life aura of Yimu Creation Breath before returning to his Dantian.

After repeating this cycle several times, a mysterious connection seemed to form between the two streams of True Qi and their corresponding Exotic Treasures, their frequencies gradually synchronizing.

Chen Qing knew the time was right.

With a slight shift in his thoughts, he carefully brought the wisp of Earth True Qi—refined and sent back by the Earth Essence Marrow Pearl—and the wisp of Cyan Wood True Qi—nourished and strengthened by the Wood Yang Jade—slowly together in the depths of his Dantian Sea of Qi.

Initially, the two streams of True Qi, with their vastly different attributes, were like repelling magnets, trembling slightly and pushing against each other.

Chen Qing didn’t force it. He simply used his Heart and Spirit to carefully perceive the characteristics of the two types of True Qi, guiding them like two small fish to slowly circle and test each other within his Dantian.

At this moment, the Earth Essence Marrow Pearl and the Wood Yang Jade played their crucial role as bridges.

The gentle force fields they emitted enveloped the two wisps of True Qi, greatly neutralizing their natural repulsion.

The weight of the Earth True Qi, the gentleness of the Cyan Wood True Qi...

After an unknown amount of time, under Chen Qing’s precise control, the last bit of repulsion seemed to dissolve. The tips of the two tiny wisps of True Qi finally touched, ever so carefully!

In that instant, a wondrous change occurred!

A faint flash of cyan and yellow light appeared. The two wisps of True Qi didn’t explode or annihilate each other; instead, like merging drops of water, they slowly intertwined and fused, ultimately transforming into a completely new wisp of True Qi!

This newborn wisp of True Qi possessed the attributes of both Cyan Wood True Qi and Earth True Qi. Its quality far surpassed that of either True Qi alone. It slowly drifted in his Dantian Sea of Qi, emitting a heart-pounding fluctuation.

’I succeeded!’

A wave of joy surged through Chen Qing’s heart.

He slowly guided this fused True Qi through a Minor Circulation in his body’s meridians. Everywhere it passed, his meridians felt incredibly clear and open.

’Just a preliminary fusion of two types of True Qi is this powerful...’

As he felt the aura within the True Qi, he couldn’t help but wonder, ’If I gathered all Five Elements and fused them completely, wouldn’t it be even more astonishing?’

But he quickly suppressed his excitement, knowing full well not to bite off more than he could chew.

The fusion of the Five True Qi had to be done step by step. It wouldn’t be too late to seek the remaining Exotic Treasures when the time was right.

His current priority was to use these two great Exotic Treasures to cultivate both the Cyan Wood Eternal Spring Technique and the Eight Desolates Mountain-Suppressing Technique to Fifth-Layer Perfection as quickly as possible, open the Twelfth Orthodox Meridian, and then completely refine his True Qi, transforming it into the more powerful True Astral!

At that point, he would try to fuse the Cyan Wood True Gang and the Earth True Astral. The power of that fusion would surely far exceed the fusion of his current True Qi!

His Heart and Spirit sank into his body as he silently gauged his progress.

’At my current speed with [Heaven Rewards Diligence], it will take about four months at most to open the Twelfth Orthodox Meridian. After that, refining and compressing my True Qi to transform it into True Astral will require at least another month of painstaking effort.’

Chen Qing silently estimated. ’If I dedicate myself completely, I might be a little faster.’

True Qi Transformation is a process of qualitative change, requiring the constant compression of vast amounts of True Qi to induce a fundamental transformation. It is by no means an overnight process.

With a clear plan in mind, Chen Qing began a life of secluded, arduous cultivation.

He made sure to use up all his allotted cultivation time in the Langya Pavilion provided by the Sect each month, and afterward, he would unhesitatingly spend large amounts of silver coins to extend his time.

The pure and dense Earth Core Milk Mist inside the Langya Pavilion could greatly accelerate his cultivation progress.

In his spare time, fishing became his only form of relaxation.

Sitting quietly by the water, holding a fishing rod, and emptying his mind, he would listen to nature in the silence. This, in turn, allowed him to deepen his comprehension of his Heart Method.

Occasionally, he would also appear at the Cyan Wood Institute’s Transmission Square to offer a few words of guidance to the other disciples of the institute.