The system says there are no ghosts.

Chapter 6: The Useless Dao Foundation

The next morning, Chen Yi was awakened by A Qi's voice.

"Get up, get up."

He opened his eyes and found Ah Qi floating by the bedside, his eyes frighteningly bright.

"what."

"Let's go to the spiritual vein," Ah Qi said. "Let's hurry and cultivate while there are fewer people in the morning."

Chen Yi rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. Dawn was just breaking, and the dim light filtered through the curtains, casting a pale white glow over the room.

"Now?"

"Otherwise what?" Ah Qi floated in front of him. "Didn't you say you wanted to get stronger? Just thinking about it won't do you any good. You have to practice."

Chen Yi lay on the bed in a daze for a few seconds.

Yesterday's events felt like a dream. Words like "mission," "report," "spiritual vein," "wandering soul," "soul crossing," and "cultivation technique" swirled in his mind, mixing with reality, making it impossible to distinguish truth from fiction.

But the faint gray line on the inside of his left arm told him that it was all true.

He sat up.

"OK."

When I left, the dormitory area was still very quiet.

Most people were still asleep; only a few early-rising cultivators were out jogging on the streets. Chen Yi walked quickly past with his head down, trying not to attract attention. A Qi floated beside him, her figure very low.

When Chen Yi arrived at the Flying Sword Station, there were only two or three people waiting for the train on the platform. He bought a ticket, boarded the Flying Sword, and found a corner seat.

The flying sword has been activated.

Chen Yi leaned back in his chair, watching the scenery flash by outside the window. The sky was turning a pale white, and the outline of Lin Yuan City gradually became clear in the morning light.

"How did you sleep last night?" Ah Qi asked.

"good."

"Are you dreaming?"

Chen Yi remained silent for a while.

"I had one," he said. "I dreamt of your master."

Ah Qi was stunned for a moment.

"What?"

"The earliest memories of the Qingyun Heart Sutra," Chen Yi said. "Among the things you passed on to me, some belonged to your master. I can sense it."

Ah Qi didn't say anything.

He floated in his seat, gazing at the scenery outside the window, his expression somewhat complicated.

"...It was passed down to me by my master," he finally said. "And I've passed it on to you. This thread has always been there."

The carriage was quiet for a while.

The flying sword was slowly descending; Lingqiao Station was almost there.

Chen Yi did not respond.

He simply sat there quietly, feeling the wind blowing across his face from the window.

The entrance to the spiritual vein remains unchanged.

A rusty iron gate, a broken sealing array, and a warning sign sprayed on the wall: "Danger Zone, Do Not Enter." Chen Yi squeezed through a small gap to the side, with A Qi following behind him.

The passageway was dark. Just as dark as last night.

Chen Yi did not hesitate and walked forward.

After walking for about ten minutes, he arrived at the depths of the cave again.

The point where spiritual energy converged was still there, a faint blue halo emanating from the ground, forming faint traces of light in the air. The surrounding ghosts were still there, gazing at him with those empty, yearning eyes.

Chen Yi didn't look around much, and went straight to the meeting point, where he sat down cross-legged.

"How do I do it?" he asked.

"Same as last night." Ah Qi floated in front of him. "Close your eyes and follow the seed of the cultivation technique. This time you will understand it even better than last night."

Chen nodded and closed his eyes.

This time, it felt much clearer than last night.

He followed the blurry path deep within his consciousness and quickly found the feeling he had experienced before. That faint, almost imperceptible touch was like the wind brushing against his skin, like water flowing over his fingertips.

Reiki.

He tried to grasp that feeling.

Unlike last night, he now had a goal. The seed of the cultivation method was shining in his consciousness, like a faint lamp guiding his way forward.

He walked forward in that direction.

Slowly, slowly, that power began to flow into his body.

At first, it was just a wisp, so faint as to be almost imperceptible. But as his attention became more focused, that wisp of power began to grow larger and stronger.

He sensed it.

A warm energy was absorbed into the body from the air, flowing slowly along the meridians. The feeling was like the first drop of rain on a dried-up riverbed—tiny, but undeniably real.

Chen Yi did not stop.

He continued to guide that power, letting it flow along the meridians.

The meridian pathways of the Azure Cloud Heart Sutra appeared in his mind. It was a complex network of channels, like countless tiny rivers flowing through his body. Spiritual energy entered from the outside, passed through these channels, was absorbed by his body, and finally gathered in his dantian.

He tried to guide that power with his mind.

Starting from the dantian, the energy ascends along the three yin meridians of the hand to the chest, then descends along the three yang meridians of the hand back to the dantian. This is the basic operational route of the Qingyun Heart Method.

First lap.

He could feel the flow of spiritual energy. The warm energy moved slowly along his meridians, leaving a trace of power at each acupoint it passed through.

Second lap.

The spiritual energy flowed more smoothly, like water finding its channel and beginning to flow naturally. Each acupoint was like a small reservoir, storing spiritual energy and then releasing it.

Third lap.

With each cycle, that power becomes more stable, and the spiritual energy accumulated in the dantian increases.

Chen Yi felt some kind of change happening in his body. When spiritual energy flowed through his meridians, it brought a slight warmth, as if something was slowly awakening inside him.

He didn't know how much time had passed.

Time became blurred in this state. He simply kept guiding his spiritual energy, round and round, until the power became stable and controllable.

Then, he felt his dantian.

That's an acupoint located in the center of the body, a convergence point of spiritual energy. All the spiritual energy, after being refined through the meridians, flows here, settles down, and becomes a part of his body.

He tried to direct his spiritual energy to his dantian.

At first, it was difficult; the spiritual energy seemed to have its own will and was unwilling to submit obediently. But with his persistence, the power finally began to flow, slowly and gradually, toward the dantian.

He felt it the moment the spiritual energy entered his dantian.

It's like some kind of switch has been turned on.

A warm power surged from his dantian, flowing to his limbs and bones, making him feel warm and comfortable all over. The feeling was wonderful, like being embraced by something.

Chen Yi opened his eyes.

"You succeeded." Ah Qi's voice came from the side, filled with barely suppressed excitement. "You succeeded, Chen Yi. The spiritual energy has flowed into your dantian."

Chen Yi looked down at his hands.

A faint line appeared on the palm of his hand. The line was very fine, with a grayish-white sheen, and it shimmered slightly in his spiritual eyes.

"What is this?"

"Spiritual runes." Ah Qi floated over, looking at the lines on his palm. "A mark unique to cultivators. It means you've already entered the first stage."

Chen Yi stared at the pattern for a few seconds.

It was very subtle and faint, but it was definitely there. Like a mark etched on the skin, it was almost invisible to the naked eye, but it shone with a faint light in the eyes of a psychic.

This is proof that he has become stronger.

"Is this what cultivation is?"

"This is just the beginning," Ah Qi said. "Once you've mastered the basics, you'll be able to sense spiritual energy in ordinary environments. You won't need to visit spiritual veins anymore."

Chen Yi raised his head and looked at A Qi.

Then he froze.

Ah Qi's figure had become even fainter than before. Not just a little, but noticeably fainter. The edges of the gray mist blurred, and his features were no longer as clear as before. He floated there, like a wisp of mist that could dissipate at any moment.

Chen looked at him but didn't say anything.

Ah Qi didn't say anything, he just waved his hand.

Becoming stronger comes at a price.

And Ah Qi is bearing that price for him.

"Let's go." Ah Qi's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "It's time to go back. You still have to go to work."

Chen nodded and stood up.

He didn't look back at the ghosts in the cave. He knew they were watching him, but he dared not look any longer.

When we stepped out of the entrance to the spiritual vein, the sunlight outside was already quite dazzling.

Chen Yi stood at the cave entrance, gazing at the distant city of Lin Yuan. The dilapidated houses, narrow streets, and flashing neon lights were exactly the same as before. But his perspective had changed.

He looked down at his hands.

The spiritual patterns on my palm were still there, faint and barely visible.

From today onwards, he is no longer an ordinary cleaner.

He is a cultivator.

Those who practice the Qingyun Heart Sutra are not subject to system control.

"Wait a minute," Ah Qi suddenly said.

Chen Yi turned to look at him.

Ah Qi's expression turned serious. "You've now entered the initial stage, and spiritual energy is already flowing through your meridians. But have you considered this question?"

"What?"

"Your Dao Foundation Chip," Ah Qi said, "is still at 0% activation in the system's file, just an ordinary person. If your spiritual power overflows even slightly, the chip will report abnormal data. What do you think will happen when the system detects spiritual power fluctuations in someone with 0% activation?"

Chen Yi was taken aback.

He really hadn't thought about that.

"Will we be discovered?"

"They'll be flagged," Ah Qi said. "Losing the cleaner's job is the least of their worries; in more serious cases, they'll be taken in for inspection."

Chen Yi fell silent.

"What should we do then?"

"Activate it," Ah Qi said. "Download a system cultivation technique and activate the Dao Foundation Chip."

"I cultivate the Azure Cloud Heart Sutra, why would I need a system cultivation method?"

"It's not for cultivation," Ah Qi said. "It's for cover. Once the chip is activated, your file will have cultivation records. As long as the chip shows you're a low-talent Qi Refining stage cultivator, the system won't give you a second glance."

Chen Yi frowned. "Low talent?"

"You must have taken an activation test when you were born, right?"

Chen nodded. He remembered that number very clearly.

0%.

"0% activation rate. You can only download the free basic spiritual energy guidance technique and try your luck," Ah Qi said. "As long as you can activate the Dao Foundation chip, that's fine. But most likely you have a useless spiritual root, and your cultivation of the system's techniques will be incredibly slow. The system's expectations for someone like you are basically zero. If you show even a little bit of blue spiritual energy, the system will treat you as a low-level, useless cultivator who's struggling to cultivate."

"Then the ones who truly cultivate..."

"The Qingyun Heart Method follows the original meridians, and the spiritual energy is gray, which the chip cannot detect," Aqi said. "What the system sees is the waste spiritual root slowly being worn down, but what it can't see is your rapid progress in traditional cultivation methods. There's one path in the open and another in the shadows. You have to walk both paths."

Chen Yi looked at his palm. The spirit runes were almost invisible in the sunlight, but he knew they were there.

Gray spiritual energy, blue spiritual energy. One is real, the other is fake. But the fake one is a shell protecting the real one.

He took out his spiritual terminal from his pocket and opened the system's skill shop. The interface popped up, and at the very top was "Basic Spiritual Energy Guiding Technique (Free Version)".

"Confirm download?" the system prompts.

Chen Yi pressed confirm.

A few seconds later, the Dao Foundation chip became slightly warm. An extremely weak surge of spiritual energy flowed out from the chip, circulating along the data meridians controlled by the chip. The feeling was strange, like being touched by something cold, completely different from the warmth of the Azure Cloud Heart Sutra.

A line of text popped up on the spiritual terminal:

"Dao Foundation Chip Activation Complete. Activation Level: 3%. Spiritual Root Rating: Useless Spiritual Root. System Judgment: Not Worthy of System Cultivation; Basic Position Recommended. Downloadable Cultivation Technique Level: Basic (Free)"

Waste spiritual root.

It has no value for cultivation.

Chen Yi stared at those words for two seconds.

按照系统的定义:0-10%废灵根，11-30%凡灵根，31-50%地灵根，51-80%天灵根，81-90%圣灵根。

Above that, there are the once-in-a-century super spiritual roots.

3%, even among those with useless spiritual roots, is absolutely at the bottom.

The system considered him a waste. From the day he was born, his 0% activation rate stamped him as a useless spiritual root, unsuitable for cultivation, and destined to be a cleaner.

it is good.

Waste is waste.

"What are you thinking about?" Ah Qi's voice came from the side.

"It's nothing," Chen Yi said, looking away. "I'm just thinking about what to do next."

"Go to work first," Ah Qi said. "We can deal with cultivation later."

Chen nodded and walked towards the Flying Sword Station.

Ah Qi floated beside him, her figure appearing particularly thin in the sunlight.

He didn't know what to say.

So he didn't say anything, just kept his head down and walked forward.