Qiguan Cheng Da motioned at the chair opposite him with a smile. "Why don’t you sit down? Learning this isn’t something that can be done fast and explaining it might also take some time. So make yourself comfortable."

Jing Yi happily sat down on the chair, looking at Qiguan Cheng Da with sparkling eyes. He really had so much luck that he knew this nice senior martial brother. He really wondered how other people were able to learn about spiritual energy and how to imbue it. If they didn’t know a person that was as nice as senior martial brother Qiguan, then wouldn’t they forever be unable to find out how to do it? They had to be so disappointed! They wanted to become heroes but they weren’t able to. And just because of something like that. Really too sad!

Qiguan Cheng Da cleared his throat. "Spiritual energy has to do with our spiritual veins. First of all, you need to take it in and only then you’ll be able to expel it and imbue it into something else."

Jing Yi nodded even though he hadn’t really understood. "If there’s spiritual energy that can be taken in, then can’t we imbue that directly?" That sounded much easier than having to take it in first.

Qiguan Cheng Da’s brows twitched. This brat, was he making fun of him? How was that supposed to work? He considered telling him that yes, that was indeed possible, but if the boy went and told somebody that he had said that, then what would the others think? No, he shouldn’t overdo it. If senior martial brother Yu heard somehow … Wouldn’t his impression plummet? Then all his effort would have been in vain. Thus he continued to smile and explained truthfully. "It’s not that easy. The spiritual energy outside of our bodies is that of the elements. To make it your own spiritual energy, you first need to take it in. After you’ve done that, then you can imbue it into something. It just doesn’t work the other way around."

Jing Yi nodded again, this time feeling as if he had already understood it a bit better. "Then how do I take in spiritual energy?"

Qiguan Cheng Da’s smile got wider. That was what he had waited for. "Well, it’s actually not that difficult. There is spiritual energy everywhere around us that can be taken in. What type of spiritual energy you need depends on your spiritual veins. Do you understand?"

Jing Yi pondered and nodded. "That Elder said I had full the spirit veins. And that senior martial sister said that meant that I had six. So I’ll need to take in six types of spiritual energy?"

Qiguan Cheng Da nodded. It seemed this boy wasn’t completely stupid. "That’s true. Now, what makes cultivating with full spirit veins so hard is that you have to pay attention that you always take in the same amount of spiritual energy. So it’d be best for you to feel the energy around you, bundle it up and then take it in."

Jing Yi nodded. That sounded logical! "Then how do I feel it and how do I bundle it up? And how can I take the bundle in?" He did understand in theory but … it was still hard knowing how to do it.

Qiguan Cheng Da sighed. Actually, he also would have liked if this idiot went and tried on his own without getting anywhere and only came to ask him later on. The older he was when he started to cultivate, the worse the results would be. Wouldn’t that be good?

Senior martial brother Wu had paid way too much attention to this boy previously. If he showed even the least bit of talent, then wouldn’t he be able to get into the inner sect? He wouldn’t let that happen! It was because of this child that he had been humiliated previously and even in such a backwater place. There was no way he would let this person climb above his head. No, he had to make sure that nothing of the like would happen.

"Well, sensing it isn’t hard but a little difficult to explain with words. It is focusing on your surroundings and then you will be able to feel it as soon as you have put in enough effort. As for taking the spiritual energy in … Well, just imagine your head is a chest and all of it pours in. That should do the trick. You have to feel at first though.

"After you’ve managed to do these two things, imbuing it isn’t hard at all. You can just imagine pouring the energy out and into the thing where you want it to be. That should work."

Jing Yi nodded in a daze. So it was like that! He wasn’t sure if he would be able to do that but at the very least, he felt that he had understood a bit. He jumped to his feet and smiled brightly. "Thank you, senior martial brother Qiguan! You’ve helped me a lot."

Qiguan Cheng Da just smiled to himself. "Ah, don’t mention it. We know each other, so it’s a given that I would help you. If you run into any trouble, you can always tell me. I will certainly help you to the best of my ability."

"Mn! I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you again."

Qiguan Cheng Da nodded and Jing Yi turned around with a smile, waving at him for a last time before he ran back to his room. Where he immediately tried to put his newfound information into practice.

Needless to say, time went by but Zhong Jing Yi was unable to make any progress with his cultivation. Whether it was sensing spiritual energy or trying to apply Qiguan Cheng Da’s method of taking it in, none of that worked. In that manner, one year went by, then two and finally three years had passed without any progress.