Chapter Five: The Ancient Secret

  Bai Qi concentrated his mind, and only heard the wet nurse say: "In those years, the nine states were united as one land, corresponding to the heavenly phenomenon. The ruins of Kunlun are the core of the nine states. Later, the demon fairy war broke out, and the nine states were shattered. The continent where the Great Jin Dynasty is located is called Zhongzhou. Outside Zhongzhou, the ocean surrounds for millions of miles, with Shen Zhou in the southeast, Yang Zhou in the due east, Xian Zhou in the northeast, Xuan Zhou in the due north, Zhu Zhou in the northwest, Shi Zhou in the due west, Rong Zhou in the southwest, and Ying Zhou in the due south.

  Bai Qi listened to what his wet nurse said and heard something he had never heard before. He couldn't help but feel suspicious in his heart, and on purpose revealed a disbelieving expression on his face.

  The wet nurse didn't respond, and continued: "Outside of Zhongzhou, there are many Qi-refining masters. The countries are different from Zhongzhou, all controlled by Qi-refining masters. Among them, Shen Zhou is the most powerful."

  "What is a Qi Refiner, after all?" Bai Qi couldn't help but ask.

  "This brings up the history of the Nine States. In ancient times, the Nine States were unified, with humans and immortals mixed together. The immortal realm and human realm were connected by a divine tree. At that time, both humans and demons could freely travel to the immortal realm. Some living beings were incredibly powerful, and some didn't even need to cultivate to have abilities like overturning oceans."

  The wet nurse spoke in a gentle and continuous tone, and Bai Qi listened with rapt attention, without asking any further questions.

  "What happened later, no one is clear about now, only knowing that the world was in chaos, immortals fought each other, shattering the Nine Provinces continent, the divine tree disappeared, and the immortal realm went missing. After the Nine Provinces split apart, because the immortal realm was gone, the immortals who stayed in the Nine Provinces passed down the orthodox teachings, all cultivators of immortal techniques were collectively called Qi Refiners, regardless of human or demon tribe."

  At this point, a hint of mist appeared in the wet nurse's eyes. She lowered her voice and said: "However, among the nine states, only Rongzhou is where the demon clan thrives, Xianzhou is where humans and demons coexist. The rest of the major states have already been ruled by humans."

  Later, the strong among the Qi Refiners formed the Heavenly Court, wanting to learn from the Xian Realm's management of the Nine States. Unfortunately, the Qi Refiners in the Nine States each divided their forces within the Heavenly Court, causing chaos and darkness. Later, the Heavenly Court also split into numerous Heavenly Realms, for unknown reasons, and no longer managed the affairs of the Nine States.

  "Heaven and earth were separated, the matters of heaven, from then on, very few people knew. Before this, it was collectively referred to as the ancient era. You are also considered a cultivator now, so I'll tell you about the levels of Qi Refiners."

  "The cultivators of the world, regardless of what method they practice, are divided into four levels: refining essence to transform energy, transforming energy to refine spirit, refining spirit to return to emptiness, and returning to emptiness to merge with the Tao. The differences between each level are only three stages: upper, middle, and lower. This 'refining essence to transform energy' is also known as reversing the post-heavenly to pre-heavenly, that is, at your current level, all the post-heavenly energy in your body has transformed into pre-heavenly primordial energy."

  Bai Qi laughed and said: "Then I'm also a Cultivator now?"

  "It's not enough to be considered a true person, one can only be called a true person when entering and exiting the mundane world, and those who have achieved innate martial arts are no longer opponents. It is necessary to reach the level of refining qi and transforming spirit to be considered a qi-refining master, and refining spirit and returning to emptiness is what it means to achieve golden elixir. Even if one hasn't ascended to heaven, they can still be called an immortal."

  "Ah Niang, are you an immortal?" Bai Qi asked casually. The wet nurse smiled and said: "Qi'er, you're wondering if your father encounters any disaster, I might be able to help?"

  Bai Qi lowered his head and said: "Cannot trouble Auntie, I can also help Father."

  "Hmph, you can't even be considered a Qi Refiner, and when faced with ordinary troops, you may not even be able to protect yourself. What's more, in the capital of Great Jin Dynasty, where danger lurks everywhere, people from various sects have infiltrated."

  Bai Qi looked somewhat disheartened, and the wet nurse said: "I just formed a golden elixir, wanting to stir up clouds and rain in the capital, I'm afraid it's not possible. However, the Duke is a first-class martial artist from birth, under the golden elixir, almost invincible, if he advances one more level, even his mother would not be a match for him. Qi'er, you should cultivate your skills, being able to protect yourself is enough."

  "I understand now."

  "Hmm, you're 15 years old now, and in half a year, you'll be coming of age. Your teacher may not be a pedantic scholar, but he hasn't cultivated a broad and upright character either. I've given you a courtesy name - let's call you Qingyu. The Daoist scriptures have the phrase 'originating from Beihai and ending at Qingyu'. If in the future you can cultivate to the level of refining your energy and transforming into a spirit, you can call yourself Qingyu Daoren."

  Bai nodded in agreement, and the wet nurse continued: "It's not suitable for you to get involved in the affairs of the Duke. What you've been doing is fine. Once you enter the capital, just act like a young master, go out and have fun, and focus on your cultivation at home."

  Bai Qi didn't nod this time, but instead opened his mouth and asked: "Mother, what calamity did my father encounter?"

  The wet nurse pondered for a moment, then replied: "This must be said from before the establishment of the Great Jin Dynasty. The previous dynasty, Great Qin, lasted for six thousand years. Do you know why it fell?"

  "I don't know." Bai Qi had certainly read about the events of the previous dynasty in books, but when asked by his wet nurse, he would definitely have an answer different from what was written on paper. He didn't bother to repeat what was already written on paper.

  "After the collapse of the nine states, the Red County in Zhongzhou was the most chaotic. The First Emperor of Qin, who unified China, led 100,000 Qi-refining warriors to pacify the world. However, after establishing his country, he heavily oppressed those Qi-refining warriors. In the end, the First Emperor extracted their essence and blood to refine twelve hundred-zhang-tall copper men to suppress the national destiny."

  "What's the reason?" Bai Qi was puzzled. The First Emperor of Qin was shocked and admired, even in the books of the great Jin Dynasty, they didn't dare to completely deny it. Such a person would definitely not do anything to destroy the Great Wall.

  "In ancient times, the sage ruled the country. The national fortune responded to the heavenly phenomenon, with the protection of the North Pole Tai Huang Great Emperor, and evil spirits were dispelled. The external alchemists could not shake the foundation of the country at all. However, after the great war between the demons and the immortals, the immortal realm disappeared without a trace, even the Purple Micro Star Palace vanished. Since then, the country has never had the blessing of heaven, and its national fortune has never exceeded three hundred years."

  Bai Qi's heart was shaken and his spirit stirred; this ancient secret was completely different from what he had read in books.

  "The top cultivators can destroy a country. After the ancient times, the people have had very few peaceful days. Being able to live in peace for two generations is already a great prosperity. The First Emperor was doing this to rebuild the human way and suppress the immortals and demons."

  "This is also an emperor, and a heroic figure." Bai Qi sighed.

  "Not bad, but unfortunately the slaughter was too much, and it didn't live for a thousand years. For six thousand years in Great Qin, the Qi Refining Masters withdrew from the central plains and no longer participated in the worldly struggle for power. Later, when Great Qin perished and Great Jin rose to power, these Qi Refining Masters became active again. I wonder why?"

  Bai Qi shook his head, and the wet nurse said: "The twelve hundred-zhang copper men cast by the First Emperor have been lost. The Jin army conquered Xima Mountain, but did not obtain this treasure that suppresses the national fortune. However, the founding emperor of the Great Jin also knew that he could not let the alchemists interfere with government affairs, so he found a way to cast the Nine Tripods, replacing those twelve hundred-zhang copper men."

  "The power of these nine tripods is definitely inferior to that of the bronze man?"

  "Of course, so in the Great Jin Dynasty there was a position of National Master, each of the Xianmen sects wanted to take control of this position, to make their own Dao lineage flourish."

  Bai Qi heard it now and still didn't understand what these had to do with his own father.

  The wet nurse said, "Originally, a great dynasty like this one could have survived for another three to five thousand years without any problem. However, the current emperor somehow obtained news of the hundred-zhang copper men from the Qin Dynasty and dispatched the Imperial Guards to seize these twelve copper men back to the capital. He wants to build a Copper Men Temple in Xiyue Hill in the western suburbs to worship these relics from the previous dynasty and suppress the national destiny."

  At this time, without the wet nurse's explanation, Bai Qi also understood. His own father was probably going to supervise the construction of the Copper Temple. But all the Refiners in the world would regard their fathers as obstacles to destroying the Copper Man.

  "Not bad, young one. Your father has been appointed as the Taizi Taifu and also holds the position of Si Kong. This position of Si Kong, in the Great Jin Dynasty, is equivalent to the Grand Minister of Works, but in the previous dynasty, it was in charge of engineering, construction, and all other matters, ranking just below the Three Dukes. In ancient times, however, this Si Kong was specifically responsible for overseeing the construction of altars for ancestral worship."

  Bai Qi's heart turned cold and he said, "Isn't my father on the funeral pyre?"

  "It's true, however, the cultivation sects of the world, those that possess thirty-six heavenly caves and seventy-two blessed lands don't care about this matter. Only the sects without heavenly caves or blessed lands would consider your father a mortal enemy."

  Bai Qi's heart was in turmoil, and he didn't ask what a blessed place was. He just said, "Mother, please save my father!"

  Wei Guo Gong Bai Jian was already at the pinnacle of martial artists, a First-Rank Heaven's Chosen. However, facing the cultivators of the world, Bai Qi didn't think his father had any chance of survival. Even the wet nurse didn't dare say that in the Great Jin Dynasty he was invincible, and his father's strength, according to the wet nurse's tone, was even lower than hers.

  "What's the panic." The wet nurse scolded, saying: "In the Great Jin Dynasty, there were also nine tripods suppressing the aura, and the aura cultivators wanted to assassinate high-ranking officials in the capital. That was also a risk to their lives. Moreover, that hundred-foot copper man, aura cultivators didn't dare to approach easily. As long as your father doesn't leave the copper man too far away, his life won't be in danger."

  Bai Qi was still frightened, he had seen the ferocity of the cultivators, that red lotus temple monk, a casual attack almost took his and Xiao Yu's lives. He himself was also a first-rate martial artist in the mortal world, but in front of the monk, he didn't even have the ability to resist.

  The battle of a Qi Refiner is not about exchanging blows with you one-on-one.

  "Don't think about it anymore, I'll follow you to the capital. If there's any danger for Guo Gongye... we can only take it one step at a time! Now, remember this mantra."

  The wet nurse said, placing her hand on Bai Qi's head, and Bai Qi felt a cool sensation in his mind, an idea directly entering the depths of his brain, imprinted in his memory.

  A 36,000-word mnemonic was memorized by Bai Qi like this.

  Note 1: In ancient times, twenty was considered weak and immature; this book is a fantasy novel, not based on reality, so don't get too worked up about it.