Nightwatcher

# 65. Peerless Talent!?

Li Yuchun, who was sitting in the chair in front of the bathtub, nodded, "You can go to the book pavilion to learn about this information when you have time."

"However, since I have to watch you here anyway, I'll talk to you. Do you believe that first rank is the limit of a system?"

Xu Qi’an nodded

“The ranks of the major cultivation systems were originally vague, and there weren't any clear-cut standards. It wasn't until the later years of the Sage that he divided the world's practice systems into nine ranks, which have been used to this day.

"However, the sage didn't include himself in the realms divided."

"Why so?" Xu Qi'an asked.

"Let me finish speaking." Li Yuchun continued, “There were four other people beyond the ranking system, the Gu God, the God of Warlocks, the Daozun and the Buddha.

"They were all said to be immortal and invincible."

Xu Qi'an understood it now, "Gods and Buddhas aren't ranked... Wait, There are really gods in this world!"

Li Yuchun shook his head, "I don't know."

Xu Qi'an thought for a while and made a guess "I heard that the Sage only lived to be eighty two. He should have lived forever according to you, Boss. So, there should be some exaggeration in the facts."

Li Yuchun didn't answer him since there wasn't an answer to the question.

Since ancient times, tales of immortals have spread throughout the world, and immortality had become the lifelong wish of every ruler.

But, Who dared to say that he had seen an immortal in the flesh?

"Other systems have a Beyond-Rank, but martial artists do not. Rank one martial artists are the strongest of the bunch."

*So, everyone says that martial arts is a vulgar system...* Xu Qi'an suddenly noticed a problem "No, there are also the Arcanists in Sitianjian."

Li Yuchun nodded, "But it is also undeniable that the arcanists have contributed the most to society out of every system."

Xu Qi'an also knew it was true. The ninth rank arcanists were healers who could rejuvenate with their hands, save lives and treat the wounded.

Seventh rank arcanists were Masters of Feng Shui, who could study the terrain and choose cemeteries for common people, royals and nobles, and have performed outstanding contributions in urban planning.

Sixth Rank Arcanists, Masters of Alchemy have greatly contributed to promotion of social development and meeting the material needs of the common people. They have made a great contribution to industry and handicrafts of this era.

Song Qing was one of them, and he has devoted himself into the cause of "Beast-people". Xu Qi'an sometimes felt that he had transmigrated a bit early, and if he waited until a few decades later, he might as well be able to write a book *Isekai Interspecies Reviews*[^1]

In addition, Xu Qi'an also knew that the arcanists in Sitianjian were responsible for updating and formulating the calendars.

For an agricultural civilization, calendars were very important and were directly related to the harvest.

Compared to the other systems, Arcanists were simply role models in terms of contributing to the civilization, country and people.

"Boss, I'm hurting all of a sudden." Xu Qi'an frowned.

The medicine infiltrated his pores as if they were fine needles and made his whole body tingle.

"It's good to hurt. It means that your tendons are being washed and your marrow is being purified." Li Yuchun said, “After a stick of incense, you'll feel as if you're being hacked into pieces. That's the moment when I will open the gate of heaven for you.

"You can talk to distract yourself from the pain."

Xu Qi'an nodded, "So, has his Majesty devoted himself to cultivate Daoism for more than 20 years in order to live forever?"

It was well known throughout the country that his majesty had appointed a stunning Daoist Nun as the kingdom’s high chaplain, and devoted himself to seeking the Dao for more than 20 years.

Even some down and out literati have written about the love affair between his majesty and the stunning Daoist Nun... their ending was of course to be sanctioned by the Mythical River Crab Monster.[^2]

"However, even if martial artists don't have any beyond ranks, they should be able to prolong their lives, right? Isn't it good to concentrate on martial arts instead of chasing some illusory immortality."

Regarding Xu Qi’an’s view, Li Yuchun asked back "When did you completely refine your body?'

"When I was Seventeen year old." Xu Qi'an said. He'd been stuck at the peak of Refining Body for two full years by now.

"It's a little slower. A child from an aristocratic family with sufficient resources could reach the peak of Refining Body at the age of sixteen. Considering the problem of physical development, fifteen years is the lowest age to refine one's body." Li Yuchun said.

"However, even these children from aristocratic families can't reach the qi refining state smoothly, since there's the issue of resisting beauty alongside daily physical conditioning they need to take care of. The more luxurious their life is, the harder it is for them to, say, fall for beauty."

*I get it, I get it...* *that Miss Fuxiang will scold me sooner or later for being inferior to a beast. I'll let her know what “rectification via whip” means tonight!*

Xu Qi'an felt the same.

The original Xu Qi'an was a martial idiot and had a bull headed stubborn personality. Only a person with this kind of personality could condition their body everyday and lay a solid foundation for martial arts.

Even so, the original Xu Qi'an fought fiercely with his hands daily, not giving any chance to his left or right hand.

If Xu Qi'an now had to do it himself, he couldn't guarantee that he could persist for so many years, let alone settle his mind in front of beauty.

After all, although men usually use their upper head to think, the lower head without a brain had their most fundamental personality.

Gradually, Xu Qi'an's interest in talking started to wane, even if he was chatting about knowledge of cultivation he was most interested in.

His brows began to furrow deeper, and the pain also began to exceed the limits of his endurance.

"This is almost enough. The function of the medicinal bath is to stimulate your body and to awaken dormant energy." Li Yuchun got up, put one hand above Xu Qi'an's head and spoke in a deep voice.

"Opening heaven’s gate is very difficult. If you have a good aptitude, I'll only need to run qi through your body for three microcosmic orbits[^3], and you'll be able to find out the qi by yourself and move it inside and out freely.

"What about those with poor aptitudes?" Xu Qi'an asked worriedly.

"The worse the aptitude, the more qi needs to cycle inside. The limit of a ordinary person is nine orbits. In other words, if you can't sense your own qi by the eighth orbit you're not suitable for practicing martial arts."

Li Yuchun stared at him, “I'm anticipating your aptitude very much.”

After he finished speaking, he closed his eyes and stopped talking.

Immediately afterwards Xu Qi'an felt a warm current pouring in from the *baihui* acupoint[^4], sinking into his dantian and swimming around his limbs.

His body seemed to have memorized the route by itself, and after running an orbit, he managed to sense and grasp the qi himself, leaving the guides and taking flight on his own.

... Li Yuchun opened his eyes and looked at the young man in the bathtub with a slightly blank look.

Xu Qi'an returned a blank look at him, "It seems to be quite simple..."

Li Yuchun"..."

"Try running it yourself for a few more orbits, and I'll see how it goes.", That's all LI Yuchun could say.

After completing a three orbits, Xu Qi'an opened his eyes. He didn't have a mirror, so he couldn't see the slight transformation he had undergone, after stepping into Refining Qi.

Firstly, his eyes were brighter, as if they were stars.

The change in eyes alone made his charm better.

Secondly, His temperament had became solemn, more restrained, like a deep pool in the high mountains.

Finally, his skin had changed. The medicine had soaked his skin and stimulated his pores to eliminate impurities hidden in his skin like blackheads.

The flushed skin exuded a delicate feeing.

Feeling the new energy contained in his body, Xu Qi'an stretched his limbs, raised his hand, and pushed his palm towards the window.

The lattice window cracked open with a "bang"

Release of Qi is the ability of Refining Qi. If he had held a sword just now, Xu Qi'an would have able to stimulate dao or jian sword energy.

Of course, the power generated wouldn't be too great, since he had just entered Refining Qi.

Those in the peak of Refining Qi like second uncle could cut through walls with a knife and control objects in the air.

"Very good!" Li Yuchun nodded without showing any expression. "You continue to run orbits. Circulation is the method to cultivate a strong Qi, and you shouldn't relax your body."

After speaking, the left the room. The moment he left the room, Brother Chun’s mind was filled with thoughts of "Impossible!".

Li Yuchun turned his head to look at the cracked window, and his mouth twitched.

*Peerless Talent!?*

*I met one so easily?*

*Right, his aptitude test is also over. I'll go and ask Duke Wei about his rating.*

*If it's below Yi, Adding on the talent of discovering Qi after a single microcosmic orbit could elevate it to Yi.*

In this way, the resources he got would also increase.

*If it's Yi, maybe it can be elevated to Jia. Jia is the aptitude required by a golden gong. He'll be a key training target of the Nightwatchers.*

*He hasn't gone through the combat power assessment yet. It's impossible for him to get to Yi rank without it. I'm just overthinking.*

After leaving the courtyard, he directly went to the headquarters of the Nightwatchers, the towering proud building.

After being allowed to enter by the officials in the building, Li Yuchun came to the second floor and saw his immediate superior and his superior.

Yang Yan nodded at him.

The feminine man turned his head to look at the scenery outside the building, uninterested.

"Duke Wei!"

He bent a full 90 degrees with a humble attitude.

"We were talking about you. You're lucky to recruit such a talent." Wei Yuan smiled gently.

*Huh?*

*Lucky to get a talent... This should be Xu Qi'an. Duke Wei praised him so? But I haven’t told him about the one orbit refining qi...* Puzzled, Li Yuchun said respectfully

"This small man wants to know Xu Qi'an's rating, so I can report a small incident to Duke Wei."

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[^1]: Interspecies reviews: [mangakakalot.com/read-he9er158504849820](https://mangakakalot.com/read-he9er158504849820) (Absolutely NSFW)

[^2]: River crab 河蟹 (pr. Hexie), which sounds similar to “to Harmonise” 和谐 (pr. Hexie), a euphemism in Chinese internet for being censored.

[^3]: See [Microcosmic Orbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosmic_orbit)

[^4]: TCM: Baihui is on the temple.