Shun Jing City.
Winter arrived, bringing waves of biting cold air. At night, only by walking through the deep, winding alleys could one truly feel the bone-chilling cold that seemed to cut into the flesh.
Faint rays of light spilled onto the street from a few dilapidated square houses next to the Qi Yun market district in the North City. Wang Ke sat cross-legged on a bed whose cotton-padded mattress had hardened like an iron slab. His tightly closed eyes slowly opened. He gazed at the string of thirteen dark blue beads in his palm, involuntarily narrowing his eyes slightly. He put the string of beads on his right wrist and hid it inside his sleeve, then put on another padded jacket and pushed the door open to go outside.
He walked through the narrow alley, soaked in the biting night mist, passed through the Qi Yun market district, and headed east. That was the famous "Tian Yun Night Market" in the North City. For seven years now, he had walked this path every day in such freezing weather. Regardless of wind or rain, he had never stopped.
Shun Jing was the imperial capital of the Great Ming Dynasty, built eighty years ago. Over these eighty years, the Great Ming Dynasty had focused on internal governance while ceaselessly expanding its conquests externally. The Four Yi (the term Chinese people used for ethnic groups to the east) had submitted, and it had become an unprecedentedly powerful great dynasty.
Shun Jing had over a million inhabitants and had also become the most formidable city ever, a place of 'dragon's lair and tiger's den' where many masters resided, including quite a few Qi Refiners.
Qi Refiners used external objects to control the primordial qi of heaven and earth, a method unimaginable to an ordinary soldier. Emperor Taizu, who rose from humble origins and established the mighty Great Ming Dynasty, was himself a Qi Refiner.
In ancient times, Qi Refiners only cultivated internal qi, then relied on consuming elixirs, collecting various spiritual herbs to refine into elixirs for use. However, Emperor Taizu chose a different path, using his understanding of various spiritual woods as auxiliary means for combat.
Spiritual woods that grew for a thousand years were found in sacred mountains and vast rivers, absorbing the primordial qi of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon. If a Qi Refiner could comprehend the method of utilizing the spiritual energy within these spiritual woods, they could instantly unleash unimaginable power.
Among all spiritual woods, the foremost was Jin Jing Zi Tan.
Jin Jing Zi Tan grew on high mountains in overseas regions. After a long period of growth, its body would resemble the former Qi Refiners' Elixir Cauldrons. After absorbing the primordial qi of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon, within the wood grain of the Jin Jing Zi Tan, beads would condense. Each tiny bead, transparent like a golden star, contained astonishing spiritual energy.
Emperor Taizu, by chance, obtained a string of beads made from Jin Jing Zi Tan, refined it into a magic artifact, and became an incredibly powerful Qi Refiner with divine abilities.
Subsequently, Qi Refiners gradually learned to use spiritual woods to aid their cultivation and as means of combat. But how could spiritual woods, imbued with the essence of heaven and earth, be so easily obtained? Furthermore, the Great Ming Dynasty controlled weapon manufacturing and thus collected all such woods into the Imperial Armory. For ordinary Qi Refiners among the populace, acquiring even a small amount of spiritual wood artifacts for cultivation became exceedingly difficult.
Wang Kha’s master, Daoist Chu, hailed from the Jing Tian Temple in Shun Jing City. Although Daoist Chu was not particularly renowned in Shun Jing City, he was among the earliest unorthodox Qi Refiners to grasp the spirit wood after Emperor Taizu. Unfortunately, throughout his life, Daoist Chu never had the fortune to find a suitable magic artifact.
The dark green beaded bracelet, each bead the size of a pigeon’s egg, currently on Wang Kha’s wrist, was passed down by Daoist Chu and crafted from Lu Dan.
Lu Dan possesses a faint fragrance, highly beneficial for Qi Refiners seeking to focus their minds and nourish their spirits. Furthermore, the plant itself requires several centuries to mature. However, due to its rather large trunk, the essence absorbed from heaven and earth is dispersed throughout the tree, meaning the amount of spiritual energy contained within each bead is not particularly abundant.
Wang Kha had refined this Lu Dan bracelet for many years, becoming intimately familiar with its properties. After his refinement, it emitted a translucent spiritual glow. However, as his cultivation level rose, Wang Kha increasingly felt that this magic artifact was no longer sufficient for his needs.
Every night, he would visit the Tian Yun Night Market, precisely because he hoped to find a better magic artifact there.
Years ago, the legendary Emperor Taizu was able to establish his vast empire precisely because he had obtained the Golden Star Zidan Cord from within this very Tian Yun Night Market.