The Dantian:

Small particles of natural energy present in the air began to vibrate as a spiritual energy called them. They began to tremble upon being attracted to the source of that spiritual energy. They flowed and flowed until a small stream formed which upon entering into Rigel's body transformed into the Qi.

Rigel sat on his bed with closed eyes. For the first time, he tried to meditate and absorb the natural energy present in nature. Energy as a whole is the same. It can be called life essence when it occurs freely in nature; it is named Qi when present within a cultivators body, and it is called Demonic Essence when present inside the body of a demonic beast.

The form was secondary to energy's constitution. The various names given to the natural essence were based on the location of its presence. Rigel slowly absorbed this energy and guided it along his Qi paths into his dantian where he stored it.

The Dantian is like the heart of the Qi circulatory system. However, at the same time, it acts as a reservoir of Qi present within the body. Thus, it was the most important part of a cultivator's body.

They say that we can only appreciate the true value of life after we experience a near death situation. Similarly, people usually take dantian for granted. After all, all cultivators have one.

If it is destroyed, then these practitioners lose everything they had ever gained in their lives. Rigel dreamed of gaining power all his life. He dreamed because he had a duty to fulfill, and a debt to pay.

However, all his wishes were hidden deep in his heart because he knew deep inside that he can never fulfill them. After all, what can a person who cannot even cultivate do? At most he can bitterly try and die a moths death in the world of immortals. Rigel knew this, and yet he kept it hidden inside his heart and blindly believed that he would be able to achieve his goals.

He believed because he had to. It was the only way to keep his mind sane. However, never in his wildest dreams did Rigel think that he would be able to fix his shattered dantian.

Such a task was almost godly. It was simply unachievable for ordinary cultivators to fix a dantian. To achieve that, they have to know the dantian in its entirety and possess the strength to meld the Qi paths altogether, which are called the most complicated set of the circulatory systems found by man.

Since he now had a way to cultivate and increase his strength, how could Rigel even relax for a second? They say that being desperate is the only way to win in any situation. No matter how much talent you possess, if you aren't desperate enough, you can never reach the pinnacle of power.

Time passed like flowing water and soon, five hours flew by since Rigel started to cultivate.

Rigel finally heaved a sigh and opened his eyes. Cultivating was a tough process. You not only have to absorb the natural energy but also have to circulate it through the entire Qi paths for a cycle before storing it in the dantian.

Such an action puts an enormous strain on the mind. Spiritual energy is mainly a formless energy created by a cultivators mind. This mental strength grows with the cultivator and in time evolves into the divine sense.

Rigel watched the surroundings with a hint of a smile in his eyes. Even though his mind was exhausted due to the training, he was feeling extremely satisfied with his progress.

He didn't know why and how, but he felt that he was already on the point of achieving a breakthrough. It would be an amazing feat if he could breakthrough into the first level of Qi condensation stage, but something told Rigel that it wouldn't be so simple.

Everything in this world comes with complications. Diving into something without knowing the difficulties and the responsibilities that accompany it is foolishness. Rigel wasn't a fool. Even though he felt that he was already at the point of breakthrough, he didn't make any rash decisions and stopped training.

Rigel knew the true value of his dantian, and he wasn't ready to bet it all on a foolish act. Rigel was right, no one no matter who it is can never achieve a breakthrough within five mere hours.

The feeling experienced by Rigel was simply a feedback effect of the dantian. His Dantian, which was always empty, was suddenly filled with huge amounts of natural energy. Even though that amount of Qi didn't fill it up, it gave a feedback response to Rigel that it was full.

Rigel relaxed slowly by inhaling and exhaling the air. His breathing soon returned to normal and his eyes shined with power. He felt as if his entire body was rejuvenated by the Qi, which was now circulating in his Qi paths.

He smiled lightly and closed his eyes. His spiritual energy moved according to his guidance and followed the Qi as it flowed through the Qi channels. The turbulent paths of the Qi channels were complex. They had sharp turns and numerous junctions.

Rigel followed his Qi with intense concentration. The Qi passed from one channel to another and then it passed through that channel to another. Rigel soon found himself being thrown continuously from one channel to another until he suddenly reached a huge sea of white energy which was revolving like a vortex.

Rigel inhaled a sharp breath of cold air as he floated there in his spirit body watching the sea of Qi within his dantian. Even though the amount of time he spent cultivating was only five hours, he found to his astonishment that the amount of Qi within his dantian was in astonishing quantities.

As Rigel floated there above the sea of Qi, he noticed some black strands of fog amidst the white Qi ocean. With his curiosity piqued, Rigel flew towards the Qi ocean to observe the black fog.

The black fog was faint and was almost indistinct. However, he could see that the fog was flowing along with his Qi towards his Qi channels. Rigel frowned slightly and followed the black fog into the Qi channels.

The black fog slowly passed through the various Qi channels. As it passed, Rigel noticed to his horror that every time it passed through a Qi passage, it would attract even more black fog to seep slowly out of his Qi channels.

Rigel couldn't understand. A substance needed him first to absorb it before it seeps out. He couldn't understand how and why his Qi channels had the black fog stored within them. How could Rigel guess that this black fog was continuously generated by the black pearl when Frank shattered his dantian?

The faint, indistinct black fog slowly became distinct as it passed through the various Qi channels. Slowly it returned to the dantian, by this time, it was no longer indistinct and appeared clearly distinguishing it from the white Qi. The black fog then entered the vortex of Qi. Rigel frowned lightly, and he too jumped into the vortex.

Following the black fog, he dived deep into the vortex of Qi. As he sank deeper and deeper, the white Qi slowly changed into faint blue color. Soon, Rigel reached the border of the Qi vortex, and yet the black fog seeped deeper.

As he followed the black fog, he exited the vortex of Qi and entered a blank region. Everything before him was pitch black to the point that he couldn't even see the end of that space.

Rigel turned his head and glanced back at the white Qi vortex a little distance away. The black fog quietly seeped into that pitch black area and disappeared.

Rigel watched this with a frown on his face. He snorted coldly and followed the fog into that pitch black space, but he stopped in his track just as he was about to enter the area.

His face was filled with surprise and unbelievability as he observed the black space before him. Rigel couldn't help but mutter, "Don't tell me.." Saying so Rigel lifted his hand and tried to touch the pitch black space.

His hand didn't enter the area, but rather felt a smooth surface. His was drenched in sweat as he understood that the pitch black area before him wasn't a blank space at all. It was a humongous object which was inside his dantian.

He lifted his hand and backed away at high speed. As he backed away, he made his Qi vortex back away as well. The more he backed away, the more of the black surface he saw. The higher he flew, the larger it appeared.

Rigel backed away until he couldn't push his Qi vortex any further. He had no need to push it any further because he could already see the entirety of the black structure with his eyes.

It was a gigantic black pearl with strange markings all over it.

Rigel couldn't help but shiver as he saw that black pearl. He could clearly see from his viewpoint, the humongous size of the black pearl. The thing he feared the most wasn't its size, rather it was the aura emitted by the pearl.

The black pearl was unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. It was like a block of ice. Cold, evil and sinister. Leaving the question aside as to how the black pearl came into existence within his dantian, Rigel was shocked to find layers upon layers of black fog surrounding the black pearl.

Even though he was unsure just a moment ago, he could now say with absolute confidence. The black mist emanating from the black pearl was far from normal; it had the same properties of the poison used by the red-robed man, Diaz.

The black fog wasn't just poisonous; it was the replica of the poison used on him.

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