Chapter 65: Inner Qi and the Beginning of the Journey

Along with the burning of the flames, Louis felt not a shred of emotion in his heart. Clearly, the first attempt had failed.

However, this had long been anticipated. Calmly, Louis took out a second sheet of cinnabar paper, continuing the ritual of sketching the Eight Trigrams array, pricking his finger for blood, and following the complete set of procedures. It wasn't until the seventh attempt that the roaring flames flickered with a faint, bloody red hue, bringing a sense of inexplicable relief to Louis's heart.

It was done.

Clap, clap.

A pale-faced gambler was shoved into the room. As the blindfold was yanked off, his face instantly filled with terror.

Corpses, corpses, so many corpses... and a bleeding sheep... the dim lighting... the indifferent black-haired youth...

A cult ritual!

A gambler born in this land knew all too well about this sort of thing. A new religious cult was founded here every single day; most of them were just for play, but nobody ever knew whether some malicious cult might be mixed in...

"Ah, ah, ah!!"

"Please, spare me! I—I can pay you back! I—I still have a daughter, she's very pretty, you can take her as collateral for the debt, I—"

Louis's expression remained unchanged. He flicked his finger, and a fine powder drifted into the gambler's nose with his rapid breaths, instantly blurring the man's eyes.

"Powder... powder... so good?"

Yielding to the voice echoing in his ear, he dazedly picked up a single dollar bill from the ground, which in his eyes seemed to have transformed into a hundred-dollar bill.

Yet no sooner had he picked it up than some semblance of consciousness returned to him. He bit down hard on his tongue to instantly snap out of it, staring at the money in his hand with a mixture of confusion and panic.

Louis felt a trace of helplessness.

This was precisely the limitation of the Craft of Cotton-Stringing; it could only briefly delude a mere gambler. If it were a normal adult, or those iron-willed soldiers...

When all was said and done, this was merely a minor spell used for abducting children, and its upper limit was truly not high.

Clap, clap!

He gave a gentle round of applause.

The two burly men in sunglasses who had been standing with their heads slightly lowered this entire time immediately stepped forward, knocked the gambler unconscious, and dragged him out with utmost care.

With this, the transference of disaster was complete.

Feeling the refreshing, invigorating sensation within his soul, Louis sensed that the opportune moment for a breakthrough had arrived.

He immediately crossed his legs and sat down.

Wait.

As if remembering something, Louis turned his head to look at the two sheep bound in the corner.

The process of the introductory-level Art of Livestock Creation was far too disgusting, and since Louis lacked cultivation at the time, it was impossible for him to reach the proficient or mastery realms, so he had only practiced on two.

Since he was about to break through, not only did he need a protector, but any unstable factors had to be eliminated as well.

Seeming to sense something, the two sheep began to struggle violently.

Splat!

Splattering blood stained the surroundings.

Soon enough.

The agile Golden bounded forward from the front room first, followed closely by Khorne and his eighteen ferocious hounds emerging from the warehouse, while the burly men in black carefully brought in the high-calorie food they had purchased.

Now, inside the cavern were Golden, Khorne, and the eighteen ferocious hounds, and outside the cavern were the armed, burly guards.

Louis could finally close his eyes in seclusion with peace of mind.

...

The Grain-Avoiding Qi-Guiding Diagram.

An ancient method combining stillness and motion, it was also a supreme foundational cultivation technique.

When reaching the highest realm, inner qi would be born from the inside out. This inner qi was refined from the body's vital essence, condensing the spirituality of one's own soul—it was the convergence of essence, energy, and spirit.

Though referred to as inner qi, it could also be called spiritual force, belonging to the preliminary power required for magical arts.

Sitting cross-legged, Louis regulated his breathing with utmost regularity, his mind and body gradually uniting. Slowly, wisps of concentrated white vapor that refused to dissipate were exhaled from his nose and mouth, growing progressively denser.

A massive volume of oxygen was drawn into his body, invigorating the circulation of his blood.

Suddenly, Louis stood up and began executing a series of movements. Each movement appeared somewhat peculiar yet possessed a distinct aesthetic quality. The pace of the movements gradually accelerated until they ultimately became fluid, and imperceptibly, Louis's posture shifted.

It transformed into the Eight Trigrams Palm he had learned, which was even better suited for tempering vital essence and energy.

Every single palm strike now whistled with the sound of rushing wind.

This sequence of movements continued for a full half-hour.

Inhale~ Exhale~

An arrow of white vapor actually shot forth with Louis's respiration, persisting in midair for a full ten seconds before finally beginning to dissipate.

Louis slowly opened his eyes, his gaze exceptionally bright.

Within Louis's body at this moment, an ethereal, subtle current of energy was circulating according to a regular pattern, slowly growing stronger.

He picked up the food he had prepared beforehand and began to devour it ravenously. After more than half an hour, the food had already grown cold, but Louis did not care. He was desperately hungry now—famished!

Chicken, beef, pizza.

Three bites went down into his stomach.

A moment later, his eating pace finally slowed down.

"Burp~"

Rubbing his belly, Louis experienced the body undergoing rapid transformation, becoming somewhat infatuated with the sensation.

He could feel that his current state was unimaginably good; his strength, speed, internal constitution, and vitality were all undergoing enhancement.

From this moment on, he was a genuine cultivator—or, of course, one could call him a sorcerer.

Had he lived in ancient times, he would have already transcended the level of village shamans performing exorcisms, and would be quite sufficient to establish a foothold in a county town. Placed in the turbulent chaos of modern times, he could at least count as a person of some consequence.

Naturally, speaking of founding a sect or establishing his own school of thought was still a rather distant prospect.

"Now, the Art of Livestock Creation can be further advanced."

Clap, clap.

The familiar sound of applause rang out.

...

Three days later.

Everything was fully prepared.

David sat waiting for his family in the newly replaced elongated limousine.

Ever since he had cheaply picked up the machinery from the Great Bear, he discovered that those machines were merely mediocre, falling quite short in manufacturing precision, so he simply sold them off to other small factories, acting as a middleman to net a tidy profit.

Through this, he discovered a business opportunity.

By reselling supplies, he now had a massive amount of liquid cash in hand. Naturally, doing this should have carried inherent risks, but as luck would have it, he always bought and sold through the channels of the Carno family.

Thus, nothing had ever gone wrong up to this day.

The only problem roughly lay with those fellows at the IRS. Thinking of that hefty tax bill, David couldn't help but massage his temples.

In America, especially during this Cold War era, the taxation on capitalists was truly heavy, even if he was merely a low-level, small-time capitalist.

Never mind, he was making a profit anyway; there was no use dwelling on it.

David snapped out of his reverie to find that Jenny and Yolanka had already gotten into the car, while Emma and Louis were currently saying goodbye to the neighbor's child. What was her name again? Carrie? Quite an introverted kid.

Louis held Emma's music box for her, waiting impatiently.

Behind him, Emma said something, then imitated Louis by patting Carrie on the shoulder, seemingly offering encouragement.

Carrie nodded with a flushed face, her eyes stealing glances toward Louis's retreating back.

Click.

The car door shut.

David started the engine, and the vehicle slowly rolled forward along the avenue.

Carrie watched with eyes full of envy.

How she also longed to go on a trip with her family or friends.

Just then, the front door swung open, and Margaret abruptly hauled Carrie back inside, staring at the departing vehicle with a gaze full of terror, as though it were some sort of destructive flood or wild beast.

Well, as far as she was concerned.

Emma was pretty much no different from a flood or a wild beast.