Tu Shanjun awakened from his boxing practice inside the Revered Soul Banner.

He had had enough of being imprisoned in this banner for the past three months, thankfully, this fellow had finally succeeded in sensing qi.

As for talent?

Tu Shanjun no longer cared about such things. As long as he could sense qi, that was enough.

If he had to keep rotting away in confinement within the Revered Soul Banner, he wasn’t sure if he wouldn’t go mad.

“Hahaha, finally! I’ve done it, three whole months!”

Li Qingfeng leapt from his bed in joy. He had finally sensed qi.

“You did it, Young Master!” Wubao, who knew exactly what his young master had been up to, rejoiced.

After all, they had discovered the immortal together.

It was just that Wubao couldn’t even recognize many characters. He would fall asleep the moment he started reading, so cultivation was simply beyond him.

Now, seeing Li Qingfeng dancing with such glee, Wubao instantly understood why and he was genuinely happy. From now on, his young master would be an immortal. He himself would no longer be a mere study boy, but an immortal attendant.

“Young Master, this is joyous news!”

“I’ve done it! Wubao, I’ve really done it!”

The wisp of qi, as thin as a strand of hair, darted wildly around his body before finally settling into his dantian.

Li Qingfeng stood barefoot on the ground and slammed open the door.

Wearing nothing but a short tunic, he rushed outside in sheer excitement.

He looked like someone who had just topped the imperial examinations, perhaps even happier than that.

After three grueling months, he had almost given up, thinking he truly had no spiritual roots.

Yet today...

Today it finally happened!

“Don’t tell me he’s going to turn into Fan Jin¹ after passing the exam...” Tu Shanjun within the banner frowned.

Though he was delighted that Li Qingfeng had sensed qi, there was such a thing as overjoying to the point of calamity.

If the boy lost his mind from ecstasy, they’d be right back at square one.

Fortunately, after a few wild laps around the courtyard, Li Qingfeng was spent panting and returned to his room and picked up the Revered Soul Banner, examining it closely.

From the Blood Fiend Grand Method, he had acquired two techniques. The first was Spirit-Seer Eyes.

It allowed one to discern people imbued with spiritual light, recognize ghosts, monsters, and anomalies. It was a fundamental spell.

The second was Banner Control.

A technique used to command the Revered Soul Banner.

Ordinarily, he would have to forge his own banner through rituals, but now he had a ready-made one in his hand.

The moment he picked it up, scarlet script appeared on Tu Shanjun’s interface inside the banner.

[Bind new banner master?]

“Bind.”

After all that effort, there was no way he’d let a new banner master slip away.

Regardless of his talent, even if it was the most pitiful of aptitudes, with Tu Shanjun’s guidance, he could certainly surpass the average cultivator.

Luckily, though Li Qingfeng’s aptitude was poor, he wouldn’t require the contingency Tu Shanjun had prepared.

And that contingency... wasn’t something achievable in mere months.

A few years at the least, decades at worst.

Even with Tu Shanjun’s immense patience, he had no desire to wait that long.

Once the binding was completed, Li Qingfeng immediately sensed a strange connection with the Revered Soul Banner.

As if it had always been his, so familiar.

He then set the banner aside.

Now that he had sensed qi, he would need to refine essence into qi, and at the same time absorb the energy of heaven and earth, to quickly reach the first layer of Qi Refinement.

As for why one didn’t do it in reverse, it was because, in the early stages, internal refinement through essence transformation was faster and more efficient. Only at higher levels would the approach be reversed.

The first step in refining essence into qi: eat well.

Preferably, eat meat.

The Li family held the rights to several rice, flour, and silk shops in Eight Directions City and owned large tracts of farmland outside the city.

They were essentially landlords. Eating meat every day was no problem at all.

Moreover, Li Qingfeng’s parents didn’t want him to ruin his health through excessive studying, so they routinely purchased meats and supplements, delivering them every few days.

This significantly accelerated Li Qingfeng’s path of refining essence into qi.

After just over a month, he had reached the first layer of Qi Refinement.

Tu Shanjun couldn’t help but sigh in admiration: “A poor scholar, a wealthy warrior.”

Li Qingfeng’s aptitude was poor, and it had taken three months of relentless effort just to sense qi and step into the threshold of cultivation.

But now that the hardship had passed, he had reached the first layer of Qi Refinement in just a month.

While this was partly due to the Blood Fiend Grand Method’s ability to forcibly break through bottlenecks, it was still impressive.

The blood fiend energy hidden within his flesh was more than sufficient.

He had finally set foot on the path of cultivation.

“Young Master, the Liu family’s young master is here again!” Wubao rushed in.

“Brother Qingfeng, I understand your dedication to your studies. But there are still two years until the provincial exam. There’s no need to overwork yourself and ruin your health.”

“Uncle and Aunt have also asked me to invite you out for a stroll more often.”

“It so happens there’s another poetry gathering this month. You’ve declined three times already. I’m shamelessly inviting you once more.”

As Wubao entered, the Liu family’s young master dressed in azure robes and holding a folding fan followed with a cupped-fist salute.

Li Qingfeng thought for a moment. Cultivation wasn’t something that needed rushing.

Now that he had entered the path, he needed balance between work and rest.

Besides, after refusing three times already, and with Liu Chuang invoking his parents, it would be poor form to decline again. “Alright, alright, I’ll go today. I’ll go.”

He picked up a sunshade, tucked away the foot-long Revered Soul Banner.

Strapped on a silver pouch, called for Wubao, and headed straight for the Music Pavilion.

The Music Pavilion was filled with refined entertainers who sold only their art, not their bodies. Many were eventually taken as concubines by the wealthy sons of Eight Directions City.

Of course, places that sold more than art were also plentiful in the surrounding alleys.

Whether truly refined or merely pretending, these students and scholars always held their literary gatherings at the Music Pavilion. It was tradition.

“Gentlemen, look who I’ve brought today!”

“Oh! Brother Qingfeng!”

“A rare guest indeed. We heard you had locked yourself away for four months. Didn’t expect Liu here to drag you out.”

“Looks like Brother Qingfeng is determined to ace the provincial exams. I offer my early congratulations!”

Li Qingfeng chuckled in response. He couldn’t exactly tell them he had been cultivating immortality. “Just a few small gains.”

Now, looking at these old friends, he couldn’t bring himself to confess. And, unknowingly, he felt a subtle sense of superiority.

“Let’s have a poetry contest today. I still haven’t gotten over losing to Brother Qingfeng last time.”

“Eh, today’s theme has already been decided. We’re to critique the work Liu acquired with great effort. Can’t just change it on a whim.”

“That’s my bad. I’ll drink as punishment.”

“Liu, since everyone’s here, shouldn’t you show us the masterpiece you’ve obtained?”

The speaker had a birdcage beside him. Inside wasn’t some exotic bird, but a white-feathered, red-beaked pigeon.

Liu Chuang beamed with pride. “Bring out the rare treasure this young master acquired!”

A square sandalwood box was placed on the table.

Five people gathered around.

Li Qingfeng was still mulling over cultivation formulas, his mind drifting.

Liu Chuang, impatient, opened the box to reveal a painting scroll lying quietly within.

The other three, though respectful weren’t entirely invested, maybe fifty to sixty percent interested. But they didn’t want to embarrass Liu, who was known for his lavish generosity.

Besides, admiring a painting wouldn’t take long. There was still plenty of time to enjoy music.

Rumor had it that the Music Pavilion had recently welcomed a new headliner, and everyone was curious.

As the scroll unfurled and was hung upon a blank section of the wall...

The idle expressions vanished instantly. All eyes fixed intensely on the figure in the painting.

The woman in the painting was breathtaking.

Astonishingly beautiful.

A nude beauty, posed coquettishly.

Her eyes brimmed with seductive allure, enough to melt a man’s soul.

Tu Shanjun was the first to notice something wrong. He sensed a powerful, stimulating aura.

Not the scent of blood, something indescribable.

Moreover, the painting was steeped in yin energy. Definitely not a good thing.

Li Qingfeng also felt something off. He could’ve sworn the eyes of the woman in the painting had moved just now.

Thinking he had imagined it, he glanced at the others’ rapt expressions and instantly felt alarmed: "Something's wrong with this painting."

Though he had reached the first layer of Qi Refinement, facing such an eerie sight still made his knees go weak.

His legs trembled, ready to bolt.

The lustful fire that had surged in his chest was instantly doused.

His spine felt cold, a chill stabbing straight to the back of his head.

(End of Chapter)

¹ Fan Jin (范进) is a character from The Scholars, a Qing Dynasty novel. After repeatedly failing the imperial exam, he finally passes and goes mad with joy. Its a cultural idiom for losing control due to overwhelming excitement