The secret alchemy heritage of Taishang Dao was known as the Nine-Revolution Dan Scripture, the true transmission of the Dao of Dan from the Taishang Dao Ancestor. Reasonably speaking, aside from what was recorded in Doushuai Palace's fundamental method—the Nine-Revolution Golden Dan Scripture—the other true transmissions in the Central Lands, the Taiqing Sect and Louguan Dao, had never received the authentic heritage. Of course, Venerable Wenshi and Dao Venerable Xuandu certainly knew it.
Yet, as chance would have it, beyond the three true transmissions, the mortal realm of the Central Lands also possessed three lineage treasures left behind by the Taishang.
The Taishang Eight Trigrams Furnace and the Taishang Yin-Yang Fan were both spiritual treasures for alchemy, so they naturally held transmissions of the Taishang Dan Scripture. Yet for reasons unknown, the Taishang Dan Scripture could also be comprehended from the Taishang Dao Dust Pearl.
Perhaps the Taishang Dao Ancestor was truly deeply enamored with alchemy; every one of the three lineage spiritual treasures he left behind was imbued with his alchemical insights. Whenever he opened the furnace, he would either jot down a few strokes on the furnace itself or record notes on the fan used to stoke the flames. Even when rolling the pearl in his hands, he never forgot to murmur a few words.
Over time, perhaps these spiritual treasures had developed muscle memory of their own.
In any case, benefiting from this, Qian Chen possessed some knowledge of the Taishang Dan Scripture, and he even knew a fraction of the secret methods for refining the Nine-Revolution Golden Dan. The true transmission of Doushuai Palace differed from all others right from Foundation Building: while others refined a breath of internal qi to transform their constitutions and forge a Dao body, they swallowed external dan and gathered internal medicines, cultivating an internal dan right at Foundation Building.
This resembled a cultivator's Core Formation realm, except that it had been moved forward to the very beginning of cultivation.
Naturally, the quality of this internal dan could not match the internal dan a cultivator painstakingly cultivated through years of toil. It could only be counted among the lower three grades; starting at the ninth grade was entirely normal, and anyone who could elevate it to the seventh grade was already a rare genius. Doushuai Palace's subsequent cultivation consisted of continuously using the cultivated internal dan as the dan seed, repeatedly harvesting external and internal medicines, and refining it through the art of reverted dan. With each revolution, the internal dan's wonder and grade would rise significantly.
Usually, three revolutions were enough to achieve a first-grade core, granting cultivation attainment comparable to the most outstanding elites of the Daoist orthodoxy at first-grade Core Formation.
Starting from the sixth revolution, one could swallow the golden dan into the belly, refining it with the Yang Spirit to attain a Primal Spirit. If one waited until nine revolutions before swallowing the internal dan, the Yang Spirit often needed only to refine the golden dan to immediately become a Dao Lord... Combined with that gourd of Nine-Revolution Golden Dan secretly passed down in Doushuai Palace, inner and outer harmonizing together, Doushuai Palace had produced no fewer than ten Dao Lords over several million years, all thanks to this path.
Thus, the path of Qi Refining was not popular in Doushuai Palace; they replaced it with the Golden Dan Dao instead. This was unlike the Taiqing Sect and Louguan Dao, which placed greater emphasis on Qi Refining while practicing both the Qi Refining and Golden Dan paths in parallel.
Meanwhile, in Yuanshi Dao, the Zhengyi Dragon Tiger Mysterious Altar walked the two paths of Qi Refining and talismans in tandem, Yuxu Palace practiced both Qi Refining and the Golden Dan path, and the Kunlun Sect devoted itself entirely to the ancient path of Qi Refining. In Lingbao Dao, the Shangqing Palace also cultivated both Qi Refining and the Golden Dan Dao, whereas the Shaoqing Sword Sect combined sword cultivation with Qi Refining.
When sword cultivators reached profound realms, they diverged into two paths: "breaking myriad methods with a single sword" and "generating myriad methods through sword formations." One was the path of the qi-refining sword cultivator, emphasizing one breath and one sword; the other was the path of sword formations, emphasizing all-encompassing inclusion where everything converged into the sword. But such distinctions only emerged after the Primal Spirit realm...
Maoshan had originally been a true transmission of Lingbao Dao as well, cultivating the Yin Spirit, Yang Spirit, and the like, training both the methods of refining spirit and the path of Qi Refining, with an emphasis on crossing three tribulations to achieve a Primal Spirit.
Later, however, its lineage dispersed into the unorthodox branches—a deliberate move by Lingbao Dao to expand the Daoist orthodoxy's influence.
Nine out of ten unorthodox and heterodox sects in the world had benefited from Maoshan's great vow of yesteryear. When an unorthodox Perfected One achieved a Primal Spirit, they would either enter the Buddhist path, the Daoist path, or the demonic path. Yet the vast majority entered the Daoist path—not only because the Daoist orthodoxy was unfettered and light on constraints, but also because most teachings of the unorthodox and heterodox paths had been influenced by Maoshan.
Thus, though Maoshan had dispersed, Maoshan successors permeated unorthodox sects throughout the mortal realm, flourishing even more in the Heavenly Realm.
So long as a Primal Spirit True Person of the unorthodox and heterodox paths was willing to undergo the three tribulations, they could enter the Daoist orthodoxy's true transmission and be treated on equal footing in the Heavenly Realm. In recent years, the Buddhist path had swung its hoes with vigor, exploiting the Daoist orthodoxy's aloofness to poach from them several times, winning over many Primal Spirit True Persons from the unorthodox and heterodox paths. Scattering Buddhist grand dharmas among unorthodox sects was also an imitation of Maoshan's precedent.
Yet this was mostly because the current helm of the Daoist orthodoxy, the lineage of Yuanshi Tianzun, did not think much of unorthodox and heterodox paths.
For that very reason, Lingbao Dao had departed in indignation to take root overseas... In the end, it stemmed from differences in philosophy among the three Dao Ancestors of the Daoist orthodoxy. The Taishang Dao Ancestor governed through non-action, leaving the stewardship of the Daoist orthodoxy to the Yuanshi and Lingbao Dao Ancestors while he had long since united with the Great Dao to oversee the heavenly order. His lineages, too, mostly practiced tranquil non-action; a sect like Louguan Dao had even fallen into decline from being far too laid-back. While the Taiqing Sect fared somewhat better, that was only because they bore the duty of governing the fortune of the Daoist orthodoxy and overseeing whether the actions of all Daoist factions in the world deviated from the righteous path.
Consequently, they often had to take action to exterminate those Daoist lineages that had grown obsessed and fallen into the demonic path, serving as the executioners of the Daoist orthodoxy's punishment.
Doushuai Palace's disciples had to travel the world to collect external medicines for alchemy, so naturally they could hardly remain quiet and secluded either...
The Lingbao Dao Ancestor's philosophy was that education knew no distinctions. He wished to encompass all great paths of cultivation under the Daoist orthodoxy, swallowing demons, Buddhists, shamans, and monsters alike, so that anyone in the world who cultivated the Dao was a practitioner, and the Daoist orthodoxy was cultivation itself—possessing the grand audacity to absorb three thousand external ways into his fold.
The Yuanshi Dao Ancestor, on the other hand, insisted on distinguishing the internal from the external and despised the demonic path and unorthodox sects. He believed the Daoist orthodoxy should select only the elite rather than indiscriminately accepting the good along with the bad. Those with corrupt conduct or flawed character had to be expelled from the orthodoxy. Under his rule, poor innate talent in a Daoist disciple was permissible, but standards for temperament were exacting; at the very least, one's moral character had to be upright.
Because Taishang Dao valued tranquil non-action and disliked stirring up trouble, when the Daoist orthodoxy debated the Dao millions of years ago, it chose to support Yuanshi Tianzun. Of the three true transmissions of Lingbao Dao, Maoshan voluntarily dispersed its lineage into unorthodox sects, while the Shaoqing and Shangqing traditions departed overseas—the Shaoqing Sword Sect took root in the Eastern Sea, while Shangqing Palace fled all the way to the Great Desolate Continent of the Extreme North.
Be that as it may, within the Taishang Dan Dao propagated by Doushuai Palace, there existed the path of qi dan, born of comprehending both the Great Dao of internal dan and external dan. The Dao of internal dan had originally been derived from the art of external dan. Over countless years of development, driven by the Daoist orthodoxy's true transmissions, unorthodox wandering cultivators, and even the Buddhist and demonic paths, it had long since broken free of the shackles of external dan techniques to form its own profound mysteries.
Later, therefore, Doushuai Palace drew upon the secrets of the internal dan art—refining qi to form a core.
They developed an external qi dan akin to an internal golden core: much like a cultivator refining qi, one gathered various external medicines and primordial qi, modeled the condensation process of Core Formation, and used Daoist methods to refine an external qi primordial dan. In essence, it was using alchemical arts to forge a cultivator's golden core. An "external dan" of this kind functioned just like a cultivator's internal dan, conferring the wondrous benefits of augmenting cultivation attainment and cultivating magical power.
Known as an "external golden core," its wondrous uses were limitless.
Cultivating an external qi primordial dan was equivalent to possessing the magical power of Core Formation. It also allowed one to easily alter one's foundation and even grasp some of the secrets of Core Formation, serving as a marvelous reference for forming a core in the future.
Of course, this still paled in comparison to how every time a member of Taishang Dao refined pills, it was equivalent to simulating the process of Core Formation.
When refining an external dan in this manner, the worst method was using spirit medicines and the like. Herbs withered and flourished easily; once refined into an external dan, it was not only insufficiently durable, but its primordial qi also dissipated readily, causing it to degrade and spoil. The next tier was mineral dan. The nature of metal was imperishable, so refining an external qi primordial dan in the manner of forging a magical implement prevented deterioration. However, metallic qi was fundamentally distinct from the human body after all; though imperishable and indestructible, it struggled to harmonize with the body, amounting at most to a magical implement that boosted magical power and cultivation attainment.
This concept of mineral external dan was later adapted by Yuanshi Dao, incorporated into the restrictions of many magic treasures, giving rise to the lineage of artifact cultivators.
The second-best tier utilized demon cores, devil heads, the internal dan and golden cores of fellow cultivators, or ancient divine beasts and spirit creatures. Although such internal cores were fairly wondrous and could even yield the innate divine abilities of spirit beasts and divine beasts—known as external incarnations—
the process defied the natural order of heaven far too egregiously. Yuanshi Dao detested beast forms; Taishang Dao cherished life; and Lingbao Dao counted many non-human almighty beings among its ranks while loving nothing more than taming spirit beasts as mounts, so they would never squander a good mount in such a manner. Consequently, this method circulated least among the Daoist and Buddhist orthodoxies, whereas it was extraordinarily popular among the unorthodox, heterodox, and demonic paths.
The supreme grade was to refine this dan using the heaven-and-earth primordial qi.
Just as cultivators gathered qi to refine a core, the external dan most suitable for a cultivator was naturally forged from heaven-and-earth primordial qi. Yet qi lacked a fixed form, making the refined external dan difficult to solidify, which made this the most difficult of the four methods. Furthermore, the raw materials were the most precious. After all, gathering qi was no easy task for cultivators, and Qi Refining required painstaking daily labor; with the time spent gathering the essence of primordial qi, would it not be better to refine an internal dan for oneself and become a Core Formation Daoist?
Only a cultivator like Qian Chen—who aimed for a high-grade golden core and needed to polish his foundation with meticulous care, yet had no choice but to bolster his magical power to guard against impending calamity—would think of refining such an external dan.
Of course, the true reason Qian Chen conceived such an idea was that he happened to have suitable alchemy materials on hand.
The gang-sha qi of heaven and earth was precisely the best material for refining an external qi primordial dan. On that otherworldly strange stone in his possession, a trace of Heavenly Unity Pure Gang remained. Though far too scarce to cultivate the Innate Primordial Qi Great Capture or gather qi for Core Formation, it could be matched perfectly with that weak Earth Baleful Yin Vein beneath this desolate compound, combining gang and sha as one to refine an external qi primordial dan.
Yet Qian Chen's reservations and hesitation stemmed from the exact same thing... Both the gang and sha qi were far too meager. Even if their quality was fine and their purity more than adequate, it would still be impossible to refine a high-grade external qi primordial dan. The quantity was simply too small. Even if he could gather and refine qi later to continually enrich its essence and elevate its grade... that would take an enormous amount of time. As the old adage went, with that much time, wouldn't it be better for Qian Chen to form his own core?
It was originally intended only to weather a pressing crisis...
Even if Qian Chen succeeded in refining this dan, it would at best be eighth grade, hardly enough to contend with Miaokong. That was why he had hesitated.
Yet after several days of contemplation, Qian Chen still made up his mind to refine this dan... For one, such an external dan could after all increase magical power and temporarily boost cultivation attainment. With an external dan in hand, Qian Chen would truly be equivalent to an eighth-grade Core Formation cultivator, offering wondrous utility for ritually refining magical implements, gathering qi for cultivation, and defending the Dao and protecting himself.
Second, refining an external dan in this way would also be of immense help to Qian Chen in comprehending the keys to Core Formation later on.
Finally, Qian Chen also needed to refine an external dan to practice his hand. In the future, relying on this dan, he could venture into various spiritual mountains and perilous places; perhaps he might find an earth baleful qi suitable for the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang in his hands, allowing him to refine an Ice Soul external dan. Although the Ice Soul Cold Light Gang in his hands was not as pure in essence as the Heavenly Unity Pure Gang, there was plenty of it.
He already possessed the gangqi and knew the method of alchemy; he was only missing a final suitable baleful qi.
Among all the methods to rival Miaokong within a year, this was instead the one most likely to be achieved and with the fewest lingering complications.
Having made up his mind, Qian Chen began preparing to extract the Earth Baleful Yin Vein beneath the desolate compound...
Chapter 40