Chapter Thirty-Two: Laying Foundation in Hundred Days

  Qingxu saw his master arrive and felt at ease. Although Guangyan's actions were unreasonable, giving him a headache, after all, Master was still Master, and Guangyan was the leader of the Kongtong Sect, no matter what aspect, he was much stronger than himself, the eldest disciple.

  The master stood there, not speaking or moving, just staring at the young apprentice for a long time. Then, looking at the master's face, it was deep and solemn, an expression rarely seen on his face. Having followed the master for over 100 years, he had only seen this expression twice before. Once was 12 years ago when the master passed through Red Gold Town and saw the young apprentice who was seriously ill with a high fever that wouldn't subside. The second time was when Qinghua didn't return to attend the "Jiazi Year Meeting" and the master also showed this expression. This is the third time, and again it's the young apprentice! The first time he practiced qigong was just seven days, and now he has started to cultivate his qi again. The young apprentice is not an ordinary person. Thinking about it again, Qingyuan, who was only 12 years old, was already as tall as an adult. Qingxu concluded that "the young apprentice must be a freak!" Otherwise, why would he be so strange?

  Guang Xian carefully observed Qingyan for a long time, but didn't know what he was thinking. At this moment, Qingyan's breathing was still very regular, as if he had already made great progress in his cultivation. Guang Xian then asked Qingyu, "Did you agree to accept Tiehu as your disciple?"

  Qingxu didn't expect his master to say this, and he was stunned for a long time before saying "It's what my junior brother promised, Master, how did you know?!" He thought to himself "Aren't you in seclusion? How do you know everything? You even knew that Junior Brother's cultivation is strange, and now you also know about the Iron Tiger affair... What kind of seclusion is this?"

  The solemn expression on his face had long since disappeared, as if he had suddenly understood something. He saw the doubt in Qingxu's heart and said, "What are you thinking about? Although I was in seclusion, I still know everything that happens within a hundred miles. Your precious disciple has been waiting anxiously at home, probably thinking that Buddhism and Taoism are one family, and in the past few days, he has stirred up all the temples and monasteries on Mount Kongtong, almost turning the entire mountain upside down."

  It's a bit exaggerated to say that everything within a hundred miles is as clear as the palm of one's hand, but Qingxu knew that Master would definitely know if anything was amiss around Congtai Mountain and Qingming Peak. Qingxu had been guarding Qingyan for days because of the Clear Rock affair and had even forgotten about Tiewu. Upon hearing Master's words, he felt a sense of urgency in his heart, knowing what Tiewu was capable of, and asked, "Master, where is Tiewu now?"

  "I came to Qingfeng Cliff when this little guy just arrived at the Fa Lun Temple, now I reckon he's going to demolish someone's mountain gate!"

  A sudden shock, the Fahua Temple was built during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with a long history, it is the most famous Buddhist Zen forest in Kongtong Mountain. Although the monks inside may not be able to preach the Dharma, they are all virtuous and knowledgeable about Buddhism. What if Tie Hu's temper flares up and he demolishes someone's mountain gate, and then injures several monks? Although the disciples of Buddhism are compassionate and have a mind to transform and save the world, after all, they are not Bodhisattvas. They will not let things go easily, thinking about this makes me worry about Tie Hu. I want to go down the mountain to find Tie Hu, but Qingyan is in this situation, it's really difficult to decide what to do!

  Guang Yan looked at him with a subtle shake of his head, thinking to himself that this big disciple of his was good in every way except for being too considerate of others, having a kind and soft heart. He should really go to the Great Bright Temple to become a monk. Thinking about his three disciples, two of them already had this temperament, he wondered what would become of the youngest one. Sighing, he said "Qing Yan, you're in charge here as the master, go bring Tie Hu back home. When you have time, pass on the inner sect techniques to him and tell him to focus on practicing at home, we'll formally accept him as a disciple later. This disciple of mine isn't someone who can be trifled with!"

  Qing Xū heard the words, secretly scolding himself for being rash, and thought that since Shifu was here, he didn't need to worry about his younger brother. He immediately said, "Thank you, Shifu! I'll go bring Tie Hu back!"

  "Hurry up and go! It's likely that Tie Hu has already made his move!"

  Qing Yu didn't dare to delay any further and glanced at Qing Yan once more before flying out of the Clear Wind Cliff in the rain to look for Tie Hu.

  The vast and empty eyes gazed out at the distant horizon, shaking his head to himself, saying "In the blink of an eye, over a hundred years have passed, Qingxu should also have disciples by now!" After finishing speaking, he turned his head to look at Qingyan sitting quietly there, letting out a soft sigh, and once again had that expression on his face. He pondered for a long time before saying "Strange! Why isn't he by my side?" It's unknown whether Guangxian was referring to him, her, or it. After finishing this sentence, the sound ceased, except for the outside wind and rain sounds, as well as Qingyan's rapid and slow breathing sounds.

  Qing Yan was unaware that his master was beside him, and he didn't even know that he had been practicing for seven consecutive days. On that day, he followed the heart method to practice, only to feel that the spiritual energy around him was constantly entering his body, and the feeling of the spiritual energy accumulating more and more made it seem as if his entire body was going to be inflated by the spiritual energy. He knew that this was the phenomenon that Qing Xu had said would necessarily occur during the initial stage of guiding the energy, and at that time, Master Brother had clearly stated that if such a situation occurred, he should stop practicing. Just as Qing Yan was about to stop practicing, he felt a slight tremor in his brow, which was where Zhao Wuji's primordial spirit resided. Qing Yan thought it was just Zhao Wuji sensing that he was guiding the energy and didn't pay attention to it. However, after the tremor in his brow, he felt that the spiritual energy he had just guided into his body was suddenly flowing towards his brow again, and he was puzzled. Suddenly, he remembered that his brow was not only where Zhao Wuji's primordial spirit resided but also where the Lingzhu was located. It seemed that all the spiritual energy he had painstakingly guided in earlier had been absorbed by the Lingzhu. Qing Yan secretly cursed, thinking to himself, "What is this? Robbery! Brother Zhao doesn't even care!" Meanwhile, Zhao Wuji was practicing a great technique and didn't know that the Lingzhu was misbehaving.

  Qing Yan's eyes widened as he saw his own spiritual energy being absorbed by the Lingzhu, leaving not even a single bit for himself. He cursed in his heart, "Thief, bandit! Why don't they just call it the Soul-Stealing Pearl instead of the Lingzhu!" Just as he was enjoying his rant, he felt a sudden jolt at his brow and thought to himself, "What's the point? It's all gone anyway!" But little did he know, this jolt was followed by a surge of refreshing energy bursting forth from his brow, like a spring gushing out from beneath the earth, flowing throughout his entire body.

  Qingyan was both shocked and delighted, thinking to himself "It can't be that I'm going to get scolded, has my conscience finally returned the spiritual energy?!" The Spiritual Gathering Pearl not only returned the spiritual energy it had absorbed earlier, but also increased its intensity. Qingyan felt that the spring water was gradually getting bigger, with a stronger flow. At first, it was just a gentle trickle, but in the end, it became a mighty river with turbulent waves. Qingyan's emotions changed from shock and delight to shock and fear, how could the spiritual energy become so crazy? With so much spiritual energy, if he wasn't careful, he would burst! What are you doing?! Qingyan shouted in his heart.

  To know that the Lingzhu can gather the spiritual energy between heaven and earth inside the bead, and the space inside the bead is exceptionally large, it's truly "having capacity is great", infinite and endless. It is considered a treasure by cultivators. Cultivators only need to use their own Dao method to absorb the spiritual energy stored in the Lingzhu into their body and convert it into true energy to increase their cultivation level, without wasting time absorbing energy themselves. Moreover, the purity and thickness of the spiritual energy are absolutely top-notch.

  No wonder Zhao Wujin was overjoyed when he obtained the Lingzhu, but his joy was short-lived. Such a divine object is not easily obtainable, and the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation followed immediately, striking Zhao Wujin and destroying his physical body, almost causing him to be reborn in a new cycle of reincarnation.

  But fortune and disaster are interdependent, Zhao Wuji would not have been able to recover his five-element powers in such a short time without the help of the Lingzhu. The Lingzhu has also undergone refinement and fusion with Zhao Wuji's yuan Shen during this period, becoming inseparable from him, truly a spiritual object.

  Today, Qingyan was practicing qigong, but Jīngzhū felt that Qingyan's practice was too slow and the amount of spiritual energy absorbed was too little. So it decided to help Qingyan out, after all, it was living in someone else's body. First, it sucked into the pearl the pitifully small amount of spiritual energy that it thought was lacking, then after refining and merging it with the pearl's own spiritual energy, it sent it all to Qingyan in one go.

  But Qingyan was not Zhao Wujian, he didn't have such a strong yuan soul, and even his own meridians hadn't been opened up, so it was really impossible for him to enjoy the big gift package sent by the Lingzhu.

  The frantic spiritual energy filled Qingyan's entire body at an extremely fast speed. Normally, Qingyan could now use his heart method to convert this spiritual energy into true energy and absorb it for himself. However, Qingyan only knew the incantation of the Refining Qi Method but didn't understand how to apply it. As he watched, the spiritual energy grew more and more abundant, showing no signs of stopping, yet Qingyan was completely helpless. The Spirit Gathering Pearl saw that Qingyan wasn't using his internal energy like Zhao Wujin did, thinking that Qingyan thought there wasn't enough spiritual energy, so it added another burst of power, causing a large amount of spiritual energy to surge out again. Qingyan felt as if his entire body was an inflated leather bag, on the verge of exploding. He thought, "Big Brother Master, I'm all puffed up like this, why won't you come and save me!"

  He didn't know that in the short period of time he thought, seven days had actually passed. And from Qingxu's point of view, he was simply normal and couldn't be more normal, with a calm and peaceful mind that was the essence of guiding Qi.

  Qingyan was tormented by the thick spiritual energy, his five internal organs had long been turned upside down, his breath and blood were in chaos, everything was out of order. He finally got a taste of what it's like to cultivate the truth, but it was really too bitter. The Lingzhu was still releasing large amounts of spiritual energy, as if afraid that Qingyan wouldn't suffer thoroughly enough. Even though Qingyan had once been refined by Zhao Wujin's Yin Yang and Harmony Great Method, his physical body was stronger than ordinary people, and ordinary swords and knives couldn't harm him in the slightest, he still couldn't withstand the entry of such powerful spiritual energy, and just as Qingyan's meridians were about to be injured by the spiritual energy, Zhao Wujin woke up.

  Zhao Wuji had originally planned to cultivate for a day, but didn't know that Qingyan had run to the Clear Wind Cliff to practice. The spiritual energy of the Clear Wind Cliff was extremely pure, and when Zhao Wuji started cultivating, he felt that the spiritual energy was several times stronger than usual. He secretly praised "The spiritual energy of Mt. Kongtong is indeed rich and thick, surpassing all other famous mountains." At this point, he devoted himself to cultivation, without any distractions. When his cultivation was complete and his spirit returned, he discovered that Qingyan was in a precarious situation, with danger lurking within a few breaths.

  "Steady, Stone! First recall the 'Clear Way' incantation to calm your mind!" Zhao Wuji's voice rang out in time, allowing Qingyan, who was about to be overwhelmed by the spiritual energy, to see a lifeline. The Spirit Gathering Pearl also stopped its frantic movements and ceased sending out spiritual energy at this moment.

  Qingyan quickly muttered the incantation, and Zhao Wujin thought for a moment before saying, "Very good! Now, Stonehead, do as I say. Relax your mind and let your energy flow freely. First, enter the dantian..." Originally, Zhao Wujin had taught Qingyan how to use the Taicheng Dao's method of refining his spirit energy into true energy in an instant. This was also why he could help Qingyan stabilize the overly powerful spirit energy, giving him time to slowly refine it. As time passed, the spirit energy within Qingyan gradually transformed into strands of true energy, and eventually all of the spirit energy was converted into true energy that dispersed throughout his body.

  Knowing that the spiritual energy was gone, Qingyan let out a long sigh, but then heard Zhao Wujin say "Don't rest yet, let's make a concerted effort to open up our meridians!" Without caring whether Qingyan agreed or not, he felt the true energy that had been scattered throughout his body slowly gathering in his dantian. He quickly used his heart method to harmonize the true energy, condensing each strand into one place in his dantian. The true energy in his dantian grew more and more abundant, until after several strands had been harmonized, they merged into a single strand that surged and churned within his dantian, its momentum growing stronger and stronger. Qingyan felt very clearly that the true energy was a pale blue color.

  When the true energy is formed, it will wait for the opportunity to break through the barrier and achieve success in one move.

  Qingyan exerted his full strength to control his true energy, but it was like a runaway wild horse, impossible to rein in!

  "Follow your heart's desire, all things will fall into place naturally. How can you not let go?" This shout was truly a wake-up call, a thunderclap that shocked him out of his dream!

  Qingyan was shocked and suddenly enlightened. The divine intention relaxed, and the light blue true energy burst out of the dantian like a flood, sweeping through the body's meridians from top to bottom, front to back, each breakthrough making Qingyan feel lighter, until all the meridians were cleared, the true energy reached everywhere, and he felt an indescribable ease in his heart, his body feeling more relaxed than ever before.

  The true energy travels through all the meridians and finally returns to the Dan Tian. As soon as it calms down, a fiery red true energy suddenly rises from the Dan Tian!

  This scarlet true energy came exceptionally suddenly, and it was extremely powerful, completely beyond Qingyan's control. The meridian route of the scorching true energy was different from before, although its speed was fast, but Qingyan remembered it clearly. Wherever the true energy passed through, the meridians expanded, and the scorching feeling penetrated deep into his heart and soul. What a powerful true energy!

  The calm light blue aura, seemingly provoked by the fiery red aura, unwilling to show weakness, roared up from the dantian and chased after it. The two auras, one red and one blue, rapidly rotated in the meridians of Qingyan, coming and going several times, until finally the fiery red aura was one step ahead, returning to the dantian first. Qingyan felt a surge of heat in his dantian, like a burning fire. The light blue aura followed closely behind, and Qingyan felt the temperature in his dantian drop again. Everything returned to calmness once more.

  Mission accomplished! After guiding the Qi back to its origin, Qingyan only felt an unprecedented ease and lightness throughout her body, this feeling was truly too comfortable.

  "Thanks, Uncle Zhao!"

  "No need, it should be me thanking you instead!" Zhao Wuji said inexplicably.

  Qingyan knew he was joking, the fiery red true energy just now was Zhao Wujin's Chi Yang True Energy, the heart formula made him remember it clearly, wasn't Big Brother Zhao teaching me to cultivate Chi Yang True Energy?!

  Qingyan didn't say anything more, and the two of them understood each other's hearts, inseparable like real brothers, saying thank you was really superfluous.

  Qing Yan didn't know how long he had been cultivating, stretched his arms and slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was Qing Xū's face with a mixture of surprise, relief, and an indescribable expression. He knew that he had worried Qing Xū. He said apologetically, "Big Brother Master let you worry."

  Qing Xū gazed at Qing Yan's intact foundation for a while before saying, "Congratulations, little junior brother! You've actually succeeded in building your foundation within 100 days!"