Lord of the Demon Sect

The Ghost Mist Peak is located to the north of the Ghostly Slaughter Peak on Ghostly Slaughter Mountain, covering an area of several dozen miles. Within the peak, there is a small spiritual vein, where a row of cave chambers has been constructed.

Jiang Chen was also assigned a cave chamber, but it is the one at the very edge, consisting of just a single room. Inside, there is a bed, a meditation cushion, and a table, which can be described as extremely simple.

However, this was within Jiang Chen’s expectations. The Ghostly Slaughter Sect is, after all, a second-rate sect, and the status of Ghost Mist Peak within the sect is probably not very high. As the lowest-ranked named disciple, his treatment is naturally poor.

Jiang Chen opened his storage bag and saw a black long sword inside. It looked quite sharp and appeared to be a spiritual artifact, though Jiang Chen could guess that it was definitely the lowest grade of spiritual artifacts.

Additionally, there was a small porcelain bottle labeled “qi nourishing pill.” Jiang Chen opened it to find ten yellow qi nourishing pills inside, emitting a faint, refreshing fragrance. It was easy to guess that these were used to enhance cultivation and break through bottlenecks.

There was also a small booklet with the title “Ghost Slaughter Technique Qi Refinement Manual” written in large characters. It seemed to be a cultivation method.

Jiang Chen flipped to the table of contents and realized this was just the first part, focused on the cultivation methods for the Qi Refinement Stage, layers one to three. However, this was more than enough for him.

He turned to the first page of the main text, which read: “The path of cultivation lies in essence, qi, primordial energy, and spirit. What is cultivation? It is the process of transforming one’s own vital energy into the unique spiritual power of a cultivator.”

“The biggest difference between cultivators and ordinary people is that cultivators possess a primordial spirit, while ordinary people only have a soul. The breakthrough from being an ordinary person to becoming a cultivator is a process of qi refinement and spirit transformation. It combines the vital energy within the body with one’s own soul, merging the two to give birth to a primordial spirit capable of wielding spiritual power!”

“Once the primordial spirit is established, one can wield spiritual power and officially embark on the path of cultivation. Spells and supernatural abilities become unfathomable, and even the most powerful martial artists in the secular world cannot contend with even the lowest-grade cultivators…”

Jiang Chen flipped through the pages of the Ghost Slaughter Technique Qi Refinement Manual, working hard to memorize its contents. He did not immediately begin his cultivation; instead, he carefully pondered over what he read.

According to this cultivation method, the first stage of a cultivator’s practice is the Qi Refinement Stage, which consists of nine layers.

Cultivators in the Qi Refinement Stage have entered the world of cultivation, but they do not yet count as full cultivators. Although they possess a primordial spirit and spiritual sense, allowing them to cast spells and martial skills, they are unable to control spiritual artifacts with their minds. Moreover, they cannot infuse spiritual power into these artifacts unless they are in direct contact with them. Therefore, actions such as sword flight or decapitating an enemy with a flying sword can only be attempted once one reaches the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The manual also provides a brief overview of spells and martial skills. Spells are techniques used by cultivators to directly attack enemies with spiritual power.

Conversely, martial skills are attack techniques where cultivators wield spiritual power through spiritual artifacts. Martial skills typically involve close-range attacks, making them easier to control, which gives them slightly greater power and accuracy compared to spells of the same level. However, their range is significantly shorter. Thus, both spells and martial skills have their advantages and disadvantages. Generally speaking, martial skills excel in defense, while spells are stronger in offense; martial skills are suitable for close combat, while spells are better for ranged attacks.

The book emphasizes that martial skills are particularly important for cultivators in the Qi Refinement Stage. At this point, their spiritual power is insufficient to manipulate spiritual artifacts away from their bodies to attack enemies. Therefore, they must fight using their artifacts like martial artists in the secular world, highlighting the critical role of martial skills.

Jiang Chen sighed and took out the last item from his storage bag: a jade slip. This slip contained basic knowledge about cultivation, including common concepts such as spirit stones, spiritual elixirs, spirit wine, herbs, and spiritual artifacts, as well as information on alchemy, artifact crafting, mineral deposits, and spirit beasts.

The jade slip also provided a brief introduction to the Ghostly Slaughter Sect. For Jiang Chen, the most crucial information concerned promotion, which was described in detail within the slip.

It turns out that the Ghostly Slaughter Sect has something very important: sect contribution points. Almost everything can be exchanged for these points, ranging from spirit beasts and spiritual elixirs to spiritual artifacts and cultivation methods, and even qualifications for outer sect disciples. As long as one has enough contribution points, they can trade for anything.

Contribution points must be earned by completing tasks for the sect, with greater rewards for more challenging tasks. However, given Jiang Chen’s current lack of strength, as he hadn’t even reached the first layer of the Qi Refinement Stage, he was unable to take on any sect tasks.

It’s time to begin cultivating! I need to reach the first layer of the Qi Refinement Stage as soon as possible, then see what sect tasks I can take on before deciding on my next steps, Jiang Chen thought to himself.

With this resolve, Jiang Chen sat down on the meditation cushion in his room, reopened the relevant chapter in the Ghost Slaughter Technique Qi Refinement Manual on condensing Qi into spirit, and began to meditate and circulate his breath according to the method described.