When Steward Reed finally introduced Henry Carter to the dog raised by the young lady who sold tofu pudding in the small town ten li west of Qingyang Sect at the foot of the mountain, and mentioned that the dog had recently given birth to a litter of puppies, one of which looked like a cat, Henry Carter couldn’t help but ask a question.

“That’s only natural. Haven’t I already given you both the Qi Refining manual and the Qi Refining pills?”

Steward Reed chuckled and said, “You see, we usually live deep in these mountains, where the wind is cold and the dew is heavy. If you don’t have any cultivation at all, your body simply can’t withstand it. The Immortal Sect allows us menial disciples to practice some Qi Refining techniques for this very reason. Some menial disciples slack off and don’t cultivate, and as a result, when it’s damp and rainy, their joints ache unbearably. So, you see…”

“Then… can menial workers in the Immortal Sect also become disciples of the Immortal Sect?”

Henry Carter automatically tuned out the rest of his words and asked a key question with great anticipation.

“Become a disciple of the Immortal Sect?”

Steward Reed was slightly taken aback. He looked at Henry Carter’s eager expression and, surprisingly, fell silent for a moment. After a while, he gently shook his head and smiled, “Our Qingyang Sect does have such a rule. It’s said that three thousand years ago, a sect master of Qingyang Sect was once a menial worker himself. Since then, this rule has been passed down: if a menial disciple can reach the third level of Qi Refining before the age of eighteen and then pass the elders’ assessment, he can formally be admitted to the Immortal Sect to cultivate…”

“So Steward Qiao really didn’t lie to me…”

Henry Carter immediately felt reassured, and his expression lightened up.

Steward Reed seemed to want to say something, but seeing how happy Henry Carter looked, he held back and continued leading the way, chattering on as he introduced everything to Henry Carter, from the sect’s rules to local customs, even down to the likes and dislikes of certain elders, leaving nothing out. He led him all the way to a dilapidated house built behind a great hall in the mountains, at the foot of a slope, and said with a smile, “From now on, you’ll live here. Your duty is to sweep and clean the Changming Hall at the front of the mountain. No one lives there now, but this job can’t be neglected, or else…”

“Understood, senior brother!”

Henry Carter agreed readily. He realized that the first thing to learn when communicating with Steward Reed was how to interrupt him.

“Oh dear, the sun is about to set. Junior Brother Carter, since you’re new to the Immortal Sect, how about I go fetch two jugs of wine and half a jin of pork head meat? First, to welcome you on behalf of your senior brother, and second, so I can continue introducing you to the customs and ways of our sect…”

“No need to trouble yourself, senior brother. I still need to tidy up the house today. In a few days, I’ll treat you instead…”

“Haha, good, you said it! When the time comes, we must drink to our hearts’ content and not leave until we’re drunk…”

Henry Carter was just being polite, but Steward Reed was overjoyed to hear it, and after chattering on for a while longer, he finally left reluctantly.

Henry Carter thanked him, then entered the small house in front of him, only to find it extremely shabby and simply furnished, with just a bed, a table, a chair, and a cabinet. On the table sat an oil lamp, covered in cobwebs, who knows how long it had been since it was last lit. Henry Carter took out a firestone and struck it a few times, managing to light the lamp. By its dim glow, he tidied up the room before sitting down.

He figured he’d be living here for quite a long time, but Henry Carter didn’t really mind. He came from a poor background, and the place he lived at his uncle and aunt’s house in Taiyue City wasn’t any better than this. At least this house looked sturdy enough and wouldn’t leak when it rained. It was just that the mountain winds at night were strong; after sitting for a while, he felt chilled to the bone and hurried to close the window.

“Steward Reed was right, the mountain wind and dew are harsh—ordinary people really can’t take it!”

He thought to himself, his gaze falling on the Qi Refining manual on the table, his eyes lighting up.

“Then let’s start cultivating and ward off the cold!”

As for the essentials of cultivating a manual, or even the key points of sitting in meditation and breathing exercises, Henry Carter was no stranger—he had long since consulted Mr. Brooks. However, due to sect rules, Mr. Brooks couldn’t teach him the Qi Refining manual, so this was his first time actually coming into contact with this mysterious Qi Refining technique!

But the underlying principles were not unfamiliar to him; they had been covered in the curriculum at the Immortal Hall.

Cultivation, in essence, is about absorbing the energy of heaven and earth, improving one’s own constitution, and step by step, mastering the powers that exist between heaven and earth.

The path of cultivation is divided into six realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, and Great Ascension.

The first step, Qi Refining, is the process of drawing spiritual energy into the body to improve one’s constitution. To achieve this, one must first sense the omnipresent yet elusive spiritual energy between heaven and earth. The manual explained this point clearly, detailing the methods of guiding the breath and circulating spiritual energy within the body, all written out in great detail.

Henry Carter had a good memory; after reading it a few times, he memorized the first chapter on guiding energy. Then he carefully reviewed it in his mind, and after making sure he understood it thoroughly, he sat cross-legged on the bed, regulated his breathing, and tried to empty his mind.

This, however, was not easy to do. Distractions would arise at the slightest provocation, and his mind seemed like a wild horse, beyond his control.

But Henry Carter was very determined and patient. He knew this couldn’t be rushed—if he failed once, he would try a second time.