Chapter Thirty-Three New Feelings

  "Within a hundred days! Isn't that more than three months?!" Qingyan was stunned by Qingxu's words.

  It's really hard to believe, I thought from closing my eyes to practice qigong to opening them and seeing Master Big Brother would be at most a few hours, how could it have passed 100 days in an instant? No wonder cultivators can live up to one or two hundred years old with ease. It turns out that time is so worthless to cultivators, blinking for decades has already passed. I originally thought staying on Kunlun Mountain for six years was already a long time, but it seems like these six years of cultivation will pass by in the blink of an eye!

  Qingxu looked at his dazed junior brother and thought to himself, "In just 100 days, you've successfully built your foundation. Junior brother, you're truly astonishing. In the history of our sect, which spans over a thousand years, you hold the record for the shortest time it took to build one's foundation. I myself spent an entire year and three months to complete mine, and back then, Master said my talent was decent and that I progressed quickly. Who would have thought that you'd achieve this in such a short amount of time? It's truly...". Qingxu couldn't think of any words to describe Qingyan. He recalled how earlier, when Master saw Junior brother successfully build his foundation, he merely nodded and said "Not bad!" before returning to his closed-door meditation, without showing the slightest hint of surprise. This meant that Master thought this was normal. Which in turn meant that Junior brother was no ordinary person, but an absolute freak! This was Qingxu's ultimate conclusion about Qingyan.

  Being a freak, Qing Yu naturally wouldn't harbor jealousy. Moreover, he has a calm temperament and a broad heart, originally having a liking for his younger brother, now it's even deeper!

  Qingyan spent a long time thinking about it and secretly asked Zhao Wujin. Zhao Wujin explained that the Lingzhu gave Qingyan too much spiritual energy, which would take a person more than a year to accumulate. With Zhao Wujin's help, Qingyan successfully built his foundation after refining his Qi and meridians, but in reality, it was the Lingzhu that provided sufficient spiritual energy for him to complete this most important first step of cultivation in such a short time. Otherwise, even if Qingyan were a prodigy, he wouldn't have been able to build his foundation so easily. The Lingzhu is indeed the greatest contributor!

  Qingyan said, "Thanks to the Gathering Spirit Pearl! Just now I almost got killed by it. If you hadn't woken up in time, brother, who knows when my punishment would have ended? Maybe my meridians would have been severed and I'd have become a useless person!" As he spoke, Qingyan felt his liver fire rising.

  "Zhao Wu Jin advised: 'It's not intentional, it'll be fine next time! Besides, if you want to fly and escape quickly, you still need the help of the Lingzhu Pearl!"

  Qing Yan's fiery temper subsided a bit, and he said, "Big brother, you take care of it and don't let him make any more mistakes!"

  Zhao Wuji pondered for a moment before saying "Stone! From now on, you must be more diligent in your cultivation. Big Brother can't help you anymore! I'm going to go into seclusion!"

  Qing Yan was shocked upon hearing this and hastily asked, "Big Brother, you're also going into seclusion?"

  Zhao Wujin exclaimed in surprise, "How can there still be people who are closed off from the world?"

  "Master also closed the door! I haven't even seen his face. Now you're going to close the door again!" The tone was very pitiful.

  Zhao Wujin heard this and thought "Guangxian has gone into seclusion again! Who was that Taoist priest just now? What is Guangxian up to?"

  When Qingyan was in a state of meditation, he was completely unaware of the outside world. However, Zhao Wujin and others who had achieved a certain level of cultivation could sense and see things clearly. Guangyan had been guarding this place for at least several dozen days. Although he and Guangyan were not close, they had met several times before, but he couldn't quite figure out the leader of the Cangyan Sect. In terms of cultivation, Guangyan was actually not bad, but as the leader of a sect, he lacked the demeanor and aura that one would expect. Moreover, although he and Zhao Wujin were only a few years apart in age, every time they met, Guangyan would act like a junior, which made Zhao Wujin laugh and cry at the same time. He still remembered discussing the leaders of various sects with Gu Changfeng, who said that if there was one leader who didn't have the demeanor of a leader, it would be Guangyan. Gu Changfeng just smiled and didn't comment. Who would have thought that Gu Changfeng would turn out to be a disciple of the Cangyan Sect, even holding the position of elder? It was truly unexpected for Zhao Wujin. No wonder Gu Changfeng didn't comment on Guangyan, but instead highly praised Taichu's abilities - it turned out he had an ulterior motive. Since meeting Qingxu and then learning about Gu Changfeng's secret, the Cangyan Sect had surprised him several times. It was a bit strange that Guangyan had just been here, but claimed to be in seclusion. Moreover, his reaction to Xiaoshi's behavior wasn't unexpected at all - it seemed he knew more than he let on!

  Zhao Wuji was lost in thought here, Qingyan waited for him to respond and asked again "Big brother! Are you really going into seclusion?"

  Zhao Wuji came back to his senses, sighed and said "Is this fake?! This time I'm in seclusion is extremely important, if my cultivation succeeds, I can recover all my powers, and may even have a breakthrough!" He spoke with great confidence, making people feel that he had complete control.

  Qingyan was overjoyed and said "How long will it take? Is it going to be a long time?"

  Zhao Wujin said, "According to my estimate, about three years should be enough. Shi Tou, during these three years, you must work hard and make good use of your time. The Lingzhu will help you, and the fiery red true energy from earlier, you must also diligently practice it. This true energy won't conflict with the Taiqing Dao power you're cultivating. When your cultivation reaches the point where you can refine equipment, you can then refine the Wang Qing Shan and Han Xi Bi into magical artifacts. However, these two items, as well as the Taiji Bag, cannot be easily shown to others. Especially the Wang Qing Shan, it's a famous magical artifact of the Yīn Shān Sect, if they find out, that would be quite troublesome! Did you remember everything I said?"

  Qingyan nodded, three years is not a long time, seeing Zhao Wujin's detailed explanation, he knew that he was worried about himself. He said "Don't worry, big brother, I will definitely cultivate well! Besides, this is Kongtong Mountain, nothing will happen."

  "Listen to me, Zhao Wuji warned, "Stone! You remember I once told you 'one must rely on oneself', don't be too dependent on others for everything. Others can help you temporarily but not forever, your master is no exception and neither am I! Remember, it's better to help yourself than to burden others. Your big brother me, although not a great hero, has always been able to hold my head high with a clear conscience, never betraying anyone. Alright, that's enough said. Your senior brother, they're all waiting impatiently!"

  Qingyan suddenly remembered that his senior brother was still waiting beside him. He had wanted to chat with Zhao Wujin for a few more sentences, but had no choice but to give up. Looking at Qingxu again, he found that her eyes were fixed on him, and asked, "Senior brother, is there something on my face?"

  Qing Xu was originally talking to Qing Yan, but after Qing Yan said a sentence, he fell silent. After waiting for a long time, Qing Xu only saw Qing Yan looking distracted and thought, "Could my junior brother have practiced too hard and hurt his brain?" He hastily called out several times, but Qing Yan was chatting with Zhao Wuji and didn't hear him, which made Qing Xu a bit worried. Just as he was about to tap Qing Yan's shoulder, he heard Qing Yan speak up again.

  Qing Yan suddenly spoke up, startling Qing Xu, who composed himself before asking, "Little brother, are you alright?"

  He stretched his arms and stood up, then stretched his legs again. He felt an indescribable sense of comfort and joy all over his body, from the inside out. "Ah, this is great!" he exclaimed. "I've never felt this good before!" He looked at his hands in amazement - they had become incredibly delicate, with smooth skin that seemed almost like jade. Even the scars he had gotten while playing as a child were gone. It was truly amazing!

  Just ask Qingxu what's going on. Qingxu said that after the foundation is established, a person's physique will change. Because after all the meridians in the body are opened up, the hair and marrow are washed, the qi and blood are greatly enhanced, and all the impurities inside the body are completely eliminated from the body, allowing the human body to start growing anew from the inside out. It is what ordinary people call "rebirth" or "regeneration of qi and blood".

  "Wait for a while, your pores will gradually disappear, and the blood vessels that were originally visible will slowly become invisible. At that time, your skin will be no different from jade! Look at my hand." As he said this, he stretched out his hand to let Qingyan see, and indeed, his skin was like white jade, with only a hint of redness showing through, and the pores and blood vessels were completely invisible, without even any fine hairs.

  Qing Yan was astonished for a good while, and then discovered that his height had increased by quite a bit. Previously, he was several inches shorter than Qing Xu, but now the two were almost the same height. The Taoist robe that originally fit him perfectly was now a bit short, which was another phenomenon after successfully building his foundation. What excited Qing Yan the most was that he finally felt it - no, should see the invisible air wall formed by the Taichu Dao power laid down by Dafang Zushi on Qingfeng Cliff. That layer of air wall surrounded Qingfeng Cliff in all directions, forming a huge canopy. The extremely faint cyan airflow was something that human eyes couldn't see, slowly flowing without stopping for even a moment.

  Looking out again, Qingyan couldn't express her feelings at this moment. The mountain was still the same as before, but everything was so different!

  It's been a hundred days and now it's early summer, the time when grass grows and swallows fly, everything is full of life. Qingyan can feel that the flowers, grass and trees are quietly growing, absorbing the nutrients provided by the earth, the flowers and leaves are growing little by little, and their colors are so vibrant, what a magnificent scene of vitality.

  The breeze blew, one wave after another. It was surprisingly clear and distinct, bringing a refreshing and invigorating breath of air! Qingyan realized that this was a brand new world and a brand new self, it was truly magnificent!

  "Master brother, don't you feel it? It's too beautiful!" Qingyan said somewhat dazedly.

  With a gentle smile on his face, he said, "This world was originally very beautiful, you just didn't notice it before!" He naturally understood Qingyan's feelings at this moment, and he had also experienced all of this.

  "Is that so? I was really foolish before!"

  Qing Yu gently patted Qing Yan and said, "It's not that you're stupid, but rather you haven't grasped the ability to discover his true nature. Now, little brother, you can do it. From now on, half of your destiny is already in your hands, so work hard!"

  "Alright! And what about Master's other half of his destiny?"

  Looking up at the sky with a clear and empty mind, he slowly said, "If we can conquer heaven, then what else can't be grasped? But can humans really conquer heaven?"

  Yes! Can we conquer the heavens? Isn't it the dream of every cultivator to ascend to heaven, transcend life and death, and escape reincarnation? But who has actually achieved this? Even someone as powerful as Step Cloud True Person is still struggling in their cultivation, trying to survive the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation and catch a glimpse of the Heavenly Way. And the carefree Sword King Zhao Wujin, who once roamed the world, was struck by heavenly lightning, his physical body destroyed, his powers greatly damaged, now residing within Qingyan's body.

  Is this the price one has to pay to defeat Tian? Is there really no one who can do it?

  Qingyan looked at the azure sky with white clouds and said, "I believe that man will conquer heaven! It must be!" His tone was very firm, without a hint of doubt.

  Qingxu didn't answer him, but somehow had the Qingming Sword in his hand. He pointed it at the sky and a pale blue sword energy shot up into the air. Although he didn't say anything, his intention was clear.

  Qing Yan looked at the Qing Ming sword energy sweeping across the sky, and couldn't help but look up to the sky and let out a long whistle. The sound shook the clouds and echoed for hundreds of miles!

  After a long time, Qingxu finally sheathed his sword and retracted his energy. Qingyan also slowly came to a stop. The two brothers looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  The two of them laughed for a while, and Qingyan suddenly furrowed his brow. Qingxu also noticed it and smiled, "Haven't eaten for 100 days, is your stomach hungry?"

  Qing Yan smiled awkwardly and said, "I didn't feel it just now, how come I'm so hungry all of a sudden!"

  "Although you've successfully built your foundation and have abundant true energy in your body, this period of time has been nourished by the spiritual energy here. Now that you've stopped practicing, the spiritual energy is cut off, and that big laugh just now also consumed a lot of physical strength. After all, it's been 100 days without a drop of water or food, so naturally you'd feel hungry."

  "It turns out it's like this, I thought I wouldn't have to eat again in the future!"

  Qing Xū laughed and said, "You think it's that easy. Wanting to not eat or drink is something that can only be achieved when one's cultivation reaches the state of Wu Ji."

  Qingyan heard this and calculated that he was still 108,000 miles away from Wuji Realm. His stomach growled even more, and he covered his belly with a pained expression, saying "In that case, let's hurry up and eat! I'm starving to death!"

  Qing Xū couldn't help but burst out laughing at his appearance.