The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror
Chapter 192 - 109: The Transformation of Crane Form Skill—Innate Qi!

Chapter 192: Chapter 109: The Transformation of Crane Form Skill—Innate Qi!

Xu Qing pondered for a while, feeling as if he grasped something, yet couldn’t concrete it.

"In cultivating here, it’s not as easy to enter the ’Yin Yang Coordination’ state as it was in Wutong Courtyard. The affairs here are on the right track now; there shouldn’t be any complications shortly. When I return, I’ll have Assistant General Liu draft some documents and set up a camp to suppress bandits here, nominally under Captain Zhang, but in reality, it will be my people managing it initially."

Xu Qing secretly made up his mind.

Since Duke Wei Mansion only dared to send a peripheral Taoist from Youhe Mountain Road, from the Southern Border, to cause trouble, it was clear they were wary of the Court and not willing to stir up more trouble.

The Raven Daoist was merely a scapegoat sent over—best if he worked out, but not a big deal if he didn’t, probably they would just accept it.

Thinking deeper, Xu Qing vaguely felt that if Duke Wei was the old cunning god they said he was, it didn’t make sense for him to send Breeze Temple and the Raven Daoist to their deaths.

Although previously when interrogating a survivor from Breeze Temple, a steward confessed it was an act orchestrated secretly by Young Master of Duke Wei Mansion.

But would a duke in his prime really be unaware of his son’s actions?

It’s understandable if he overlooked it once, but not the Raven Daoist’s scenario.

He considered it from another perspective and realized that by killing people from Breeze Temple, he was essentially tarnishing Duke Wei’s reputation, and killing the Raven Daoist would mean Duke Wei Mansion had faced setbacks twice.

Ultimately, Duke Wei Mansion wasn’t hurt fundamentally, but it seemed to suffer a loss in the eyes of others.

"Wait, if Duke Wei doesn’t take further actions afterward and bears this grievance, who could then claim that Duke Wei Mansion is the uncrowned king of the Southeast, nor could anyone accuse the Duke Mansion of being overbearing."

From Duke Wei’s perspective, encountering setbacks twice was just the excuse needed for Duke Wei Mansion to extract itself from leading a confrontation with the Court.

Xu Qing discovered the subtlety of the situation: "In the end, the power of the Court is immense; even a deeply rooted entity like Duke Wei Mansion, when faced with the hard stance of the central leadership, chose to temporarily retreat. This is a compromise, also avoiding greater loss."

"Strategy, after all, is a minor trick. If Duke Wei Mansion could truly dominate South Zhili, then it’s the Court that would be hesitant."

Xu Qing, clarifying his thoughts, felt a sense of enlightenment.

Next, apart from cultivation, was to prepare well for the provincial exam of the imperial scholarship. Only by passing as a Scholar, or even better as the Top Scorer of South Zhili, can the people close to him truly feel secure and united.

Now at the end of April, the provincial exam is in early September, just slightly over four months.

...

...

Back in Wutong Courtyard, Xu Qing had a good sleep, ate Yellow Millet Rice, and then began to consume the Secret Medicine—the Body Purifying Pill—gathered from Breeze Temple.

Although the efficacy of the Body Purifying Pill was far less than that of the Spiritual Fox flesh or even the Yellow Millet Rice, it had its benefits: it detoxified the body and slightly refreshed the organs.

Combined with Xu Qing’s First Rank Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound, the result was unexpectedly good.

The Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound enhanced the absorption and digestion of the medicinal properties, achieving the "Body Purifying" effect.

This was naturally a benefit that even Breeze Temple couldn’t have anticipated.

Moreover, Breeze Temple also had Calming Incense. For those who cultivate Divine Soul, it has the effect of calming and stabilizing the mind, but with Xu Qing’s state of Absolute Focus, Calming Incense was dispensable to him.

Regarding the Body Purifying Pill and Calming Incense, Xu Qing had found the formulae and handed them directly to Xu Fu for research.

This also included the Visualization Technique from Breeze Temple.

This Visualization Technique, named Breeze Visualization Technique, was, in terms of levels, relatively basic and lacking compared to the Lotus Visualization Method cultivated by Su Lianqing.

The benefit was that with the aid of Calming Incense, it was easier to start, but the cultivation progress was extremely slow. As seen from Breeze Temple, they only had an old Daoist whose Divine Soul barely reached the Exorcism level, and even the ability to create illusions was very weak.

Because of this weak ability to generate illusionary visions, the extent of terror from Heart Demons bred by illusions was relatively mild. Hence, there was virtually no risk of deviating into madness.

The higher the level of Visualization Technique doesn’t always mean better, like Xu Qing’s Xuantian Visualization Method, a top-tier Celestial Stars Observation from the Taoist tradition, requiring high mental fortitude, where careless mishandling could lead to deviation.

Xu Qing, on the other hand, had pre-emptively visualized his evil and murderous intentions into the Yaksha King and Rashamon King through the Five Great Demons Visualization Method, mitigating the formation of Heart Demons from the Xuantian Visualization Technique.

Besides, Xu Qing’s foundation was not something ordinary people could compare with.

Fortune where misfortune lies, misfortune where fortune rests.

Cultivating the Five Great Demon Gods Visualization Method certainly carried the risk of Demon Gods losing control, but on the other hand, it was beneficial for cultivating top-tier Visualization Techniques.

On the other hand, the Raven Daoist from Youhe Mountain Road had some items from Youhe Mountain Road, but lacked the most核心的key Secret Medicine and Gu Worms.

The Gu Worms were essential for the Raven Daoist to control those black ravens capable of creating illusions.

Fortunately, these items were enough for Xu Qing to gain a deep understanding of this peripheral method from Youhe Mountain Road, to avoid future confrontations without knowledge.

It could be considered an increase in knowledge.

Afterward, Xu Qing discarded all distractions and focused on stimulating the medicinal power of the Body Purifying Pill with the Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound. Once his body and mind were purified, he took out the Visualization Image of the Asura King again.

His attention still focused first on the words left by Elder Fang.

This line of text contained an inexplicable mystery.

Xu Qing vaguely felt that understanding it would be greatly beneficial.

"Focus on the Qi to become supple, can it be as an infant?"