Qi Formation realm

"We can come back to the Glaive manual later, right now you need to start cultivating your Qi," Sgt Wei said.

"In the simplest of terms, Qi is the purified form of spiritual energy that is all around us. You have to absorb the spiritual energy and convert it into Qi that you can use."

"Some individuals are born with small clusters of nerves and blood vessels called meridians. They are different from your blood circulation system and form another system entirely, which covers every single part of your body."

"Every creature has a different number of meridians, but the five main ones are present universally. You use meridians to store Qi to use during fights and when utilizing different skills and abilities."

"Our cultivation method forces the five main ones to be opened with a special energy type, whereas others can be opened by your normal spiritual energy," he explained in detail.

"The cultivation manual tells you which meridian to open and in which order, using which type of energy. For example, the hammer manual requires one to open their first main meridian using some sort of heavy elemental energy."

"For this, a cultivator can train in places of higher than normal gravity, or under physical pressure by tieing weights to your body or training deep underwater, and absorb the 'essence' of that to convert the spiritual energy into Qi, and blowing open your locked meridian."

"Just like that, it should say which type of energy you need to open your first meridian, whichever one it is," the Sgt said solemnly.

Hao Xuan closed his eyes and the Glaive manual appeared in his mind.

After the first page introducing the manual itself, the second explained much of what the Sgt had just told him. It said that the five main meridians were present in the forehead, both the legs and arms. But then it mentioned another, a sixth meridian, which could be used to cultivate something called a spiritual soul. It was located below the belly button.

The opening of this sixth meridian had some special requirements and would take a long time.

Hao Xuan was taken aback by this mention of a new meridian, especially since the Sgt had no information about it at all. Maybe this is why the glaive manual was so highly regarded.

Reading on, it said that the Glaive was a very flexible weapon in terms of the energy requirements to open the main meridians. One could use the Severing Energy of a saber to open the first one, the blunt and impact energy of a hammer user, the cutting energy of a sword, etc.

All one had to be mindful of was whichever type of energy they used to open their first meridian, it would overpower the rest. Meaning if Hao Xuan used a sword for the first meridian and hammer for the second, his attacks would have more cutting power than impact.

But this was all for later, right now he had to start absorbing spiritual energy and open his first normal meridian.

***

On the third page, it detailed the process of opening normal meridians. Hao Xuan followed the instructions and tried to sense the spiritual energy in the atmosphere around him. After just a few moments, he could "feel" the presence of something around him, it was everywhere.

His eyes were closed but he could still perceive that it had a rich blue color, even though it wouldn't normally be seen with the naked eye.

He emptied his mind of any stray thoughts as the manual said and thought of something that could attract the spiritual energy.

So Hao Xuan visualized a whirlpool forming inside his body. A few minutes passed without any reaction but the he noticed that some strands of spiritual energy started to slowly move towards him, almost like a living creature.

He could feel it enter his body and had a certain degree of control over it. Well, "control" would be a bit farfetched, he could just barely push it in a direction.

He imagined the whirlpool getting bigger and bigger, and even more spiritual energy gathered around him.

Sgt Wei's mouth slowly fell open from shock at how quickly Hao Xuan got the hang of it all. Normally it would take hours just to feel the energy flows, let alone draw it in. The lecture he had prepared for Hao Xuan detailing the importance of being patient and taking your time was useless now.

Hao Xuan continued absorbing the spiritual energy for about 30 minutes or so and then started applying force on it to compress it as much as possible.

After a few more minutes the energy turned into a much smaller blob of clear and dense Qi. He led it towards the meridians located in his right hand to start 'attacking' the many normal meridians there.

One after the other dozens of meridians unsealed, each one boosting his power by just a little bit. He could feel himself getting lighter by the second.

By now everyone in the entire camp could feel the vague flow of spiritual energy moving towards the training area. What was causing it? It wasn't even being absorbed anymore, but going towards Hao Xuan's location of its own accord.

He could feel a burning sensation in his eyes. It was an aching feeling that usually followed strenuous exercise. But instead of muscles, it was Hao Xuan's eyes that ached.

Sgt Wei suddenly stood up, stupefied by the disturbance in the spiritual energy. It was like the energy had finally found an outlet and happily moved into Hao Xuan's eyes.

"W-What's going on?" Sgt was baffled by the situation. "Does he have a special body?" he thought.

While all this was happening, Hao Xuan was completely focused on controlling the Qi. He had already opened a few dozen normal meridians.

After an hour he finally woke up from his meditative state. As he opened his eyes, they glowed red for an instant before reverting to their normal green color.

"Qi Formation Second stage?!!" Sgt Wei who was still standing a few meters away from him shouted, flabbergasted.

"Yes?" Hao Xuan asked, confused.

Quickly regaining his composure, the Sgt replied, "Ah, nothing, never mind. Do you know about the cultivation realms yet? I forgot to mention since its common knowledge but I know you haven't been here long."

"No idea," he replied awkwardly.

"Well, you just entered the Qi Formation realm. This is where you learn how to compress and control your Qi. After Qi Formation, there is the Elementary realm, Earth realm, Origin realm, Spirit Realm, and Profound realm. All the generals of the kingdom have to be at least Profound realm warriors."

"At that realm, they can also use their Qi to fly. They are powerful enough to uproot entire forests with a wave of their hand and truly step on the path of cultivation," the Sgt said respectfully.

"Each realm has Nine stages, first three are called Initial, then the middle, and the last three are the peak stages. After that is the Pinnacle stage of each specific realm where you get ready to break into the next cultivation realm."

"Once you break into the Elementary realm you'll understand the difference of the power level between warriors," he said with a smirk.

"Now that you broke straight into the second stage of Qi foundation realm, let me see what you can do," the Sgt said, throwing Hao Xuan a blunt sword.