As usual, Yan Qi woke up, had breakfast with her parents at home, and finished her chores. Soon after, she found an excuse to return to her upstairs bedroom.
After closing the door, Yan Qi eagerly sat down at her computer and opened the photos she had taken yesterday—images of cultivation techniques she had brought back from Ma Fangfang’s house.
“Come forth, Empress Daoyan.”
Silently reciting these words in her heart, the image of the Empress Daoyan Transformation Card quickly surfaced in her mind.
In the next second, she transformed into Empress Daoyan, appearing right in the middle of her bedroom.
“Alright, let’s see if I—as Empress Daoyan—can deduce a cultivation method suitable for my ordinary self.”
Focusing on the content displayed on her computer, the transformed Yan Qi directed all her attention to the Tranquil Heart Qi-Gathering Technique.
It didn’t take long. With Empress Daoyan’s top-tier talent for cultivation techniques, Yan Qi quickly memorized the entire Tranquil Heart Qi-Gathering Technique.
Then, she turned off her computer, moved to her bed, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began cultivating according to the method.
After sitting in meditation for over an hour, she finally managed to condense a faint trace of spiritual energy inside her body. At that point, she stopped, opened her eyes, and ended her session.
“Hmm, this cultivation method does work… but barely.”
“Even with Empress Daoyan’s peak talent, it took me nearly an hour to gather this tiny bit of spiritual energy. If my normal self tried this, who knows how long it would take to gain any supernatural power?”
“Luckily, I only obtained this technique as a reference for deduction, not for actual cultivation.”
After this brief internal commentary, Yan Qi stopped dwelling on it and instead focused entirely on deducing a new cultivation method—one better suited for her ordinary self—based on the Tranquil Heart Qi-Gathering Technique.
Another hour passed. After several failed attempts and some adjustments, she finally succeeded in deriving a suitable method and wrote it down neatly in her notebook.
“As expected of Empress Daoyan’s supreme talent—she deduced a perfect cultivation method for my normal self so quickly!”
Looking at the densely written notes detailing the upgraded version of the Tranquil Heart Qi-Gathering Technique, Yan Qi couldn’t help but feel a little proud—even though she knew this achievement was only possible thanks to the system’s power.
“No time to waste. Let’s have my normal self try this method right away.”
With that thought, she canceled her transformation, reverting to her usual form—a petite, white-haired, red-eyed girl in casual homewear.
Picking up the notebook where she had recorded the new cultivation method, Yan Qi (now back to her ordinary self) felt slightly dizzy looking at the densely packed text. But after psyching herself up, she took a deep breath and began cultivating step by step, following the annotations she had left for herself.
The Tranquil Heart Qi-Gathering Technique she had obtained from Ma Fangfang was a passive cultivation method that relied on deep meditation to empty the mind, relax the body, and allow ambient spiritual energy to enter naturally. By combining this with a specific breathing technique, the practitioner could retain some of that energy, gradually refining their body and eventually gaining true spiritual power.
The advantage of this method was that anyone could practice it—there were no prerequisites. However, the downside was that it took an extremely long time to produce results. Unless someone was exceptionally gifted, an ordinary person might never develop spiritual power within their lifetime.
But after Yan Qi (as Empress Daoyan) upgraded it, the new method incorporated an active absorption mechanism—a spiritual energy vortex—while retaining the original technique’s accessibility. This completely eliminated the issue of excessive time requirements.
Clearing her mind and closing her eyes, Yan Qi soon sensed the ambient spiritual energy flowing in and out of her body, swirling unpredictably due to environmental fluctuations.
Ignoring these random movements, she focused entirely on her dantian (energy center), waiting for a spiritual vortex to form.
After about ten minutes, a small vortex finally appeared.
Seizing the opportunity, Yan Qi immediately adjusted her breathing, trapping the vortex inside her dantian.
While the vortex continued spinning, she further refined her breathing, using its suction force to draw in surrounding spiritual energy.
She guided the absorbed energy through her meridians, allowing her body to absorb as much as possible before directing the remaining energy back into the vortex—sustaining its rotation.
Repeating this cycle, she effortlessly achieved what would normally take years of practice with the original method.
“Xiao Qi, come down for lunch!”
Just as Yan Qi was immersed in cultivation, Li Caifeng’s voice suddenly rang out from downstairs, startling her and disrupting her focus.
The spiritual vortex in her dantian immediately dissipated.
Though abruptly pulled out of her meditative state, Yan Qi didn’t complain. Instead, she glanced outside at the sun high in the sky and muttered in surprise:
“It’s already noon? It felt like I only practiced for about ten minutes…”
“Xiao Qi, did you hear me?”
Hearing her mother call again, Yan Qi quickly shouted back:
“I heard! I’ll be right down!”
With that, she hurriedly got off the bed, found her slippers, and rushed downstairs.