Chapter 27: Pain and Itch

  Tie Xin Tang was taken aback and said: "How could I have forgotten? It seems that I was confused."

  Luo Xiaojuan and Tie Xintang packed their bags, followed Jing Shan to Songtao House. The two maids carried the luggage, following far behind. Along the way, they thought about what to say when they saw Shui Sheng's three people. Unexpectedly, Wu Mu Dao Ren had already returned to Songtao House and was standing in the middle of the courtyard with a blank expression, pointing to the hall and ordering them to go in. He then pointed to the two innermost rooms, indicating that Jing Shan and the maids should put their luggage away quickly and leave. This action completely disrupted their thoughts.

  Two hours later, the two of them finally walked out of the hall, each tightly grasping a small booklet in their hands, with excited expressions on their faces. It turned out that after Wu Mu Dao Ren entered the hall, he directly took out the first layer of heart method from the "Sitting Forgetting Sutra" and threw it at the two of them, saying: "If you two want to cultivate immortality, want to smoothly join the Jade Cauldron Sect, then learn this magic formula well, condense your true energy according to the magic formula's teachings. If you don't want to cultivate immortality, you can go down the mountain and return home now."

  The two women naturally agreed to stay. Tie Xin Tang only then understood why his father was so happy that the three Shui Sheng were punished to face the wall. Although Tie Yi had also practiced martial arts in the outer hall of Yu Ding Gate, he did not dare to privately teach martial arts due to the rules of the sect. On the other hand, he was afraid that Tie Xin Tang really had spiritual roots, and if there were any mistakes during the cultivation of true energy, his own shallow skills would be unable to control it, which might lead to unexpected dangers.

  Seven days later, Wumudao Ren fell into excitement again. Shuǐshēng not only had innate true energy but also possessed two kinds of spiritual roots that were born together - gold and water. Under the guidance of Wumudao Ren, Shuǐshēng finally managed to circulate his internal true energy freely. Only then did Wumudao Ren instruct Shuǐshēng to begin practicing the first layer of "Kǎn Yuán Gōng".

  Half a month later, Wang Long finally condensed his first strand of true energy.

  Xiao Juan and Tie Xin Tang both condensed their true energy on the same day, one day apart, after practicing "Zuo Wang Jing" for more than three months. Although Wu Mu Dao Ren discovered a very weak thread of Tian Gang Sha Qi in Xiao Juan's body, unfortunately, this thread of Tian Gang Sha Qi was far from comparable to the Tian Gang Sha Qi in Shui Sheng's body. Wu Mu Dao Ren couldn't help but feel greatly disappointed, yet he also admired Tie Yi's sharp and unique vision for choosing Xiao Tong, secretly guessing how many of these thirty children would possess a spiritual root.

  Of course, the reason why Wumeng Daoist locked up the five water-born children in Songtao Residence to cultivate their skills was purely a coincidence of various factors. Even if all the other little ones had spiritual roots and were geniuses, Wumeng Daoist didn't have the mood to bring them over for testing.

  At present, only the Great Bull has not condensed its true energy. Wumuwu is teaching Wang Long, Tie Xin Tang and Luo Xiaojuan the simple way of controlling the law while closely monitoring Shui Sheng and Da Niu.

  That afternoon, the sky was densely covered with dark clouds, and thunder rumbled. Following that, a torrential rain poured down. Half an hour later, Water Birth, who was in the midst of practicing her skills, suddenly felt a surge of hot energy rising from her lower abdomen. Immediately after, that hot energy became increasingly intense, like boiling water, while her limbs and other parts of her body were extremely cold, creating a very distinct sensation of hot and cold.

  But this feeling only lasted for a short while, the hot flow in the lower abdomen suddenly disappeared without a trace, and the limbs also returned to normal temperature, which made Shui Sheng somewhat stunned!

  Unthinkingly, a moment later, Shui Sheng's face suddenly changed greatly, his hands pressed against his Dantian and refused to let go of even half an inch, because at this point, a severe pain like the simultaneous stirring of dozens of sharp knives suddenly came. This made Shui Sheng's unguarded face turn pale in an instant, with sweat beads the size of soybeans rolling down from his forehead, his entire body instantly drenched, and his whole body bent into a bow shape.

  Shuǐ shēng was curled up in a ball on the cloud bed, desperately trying to gather even a thread of magical power, but no matter what he did, it was impossible. He wanted to let out a loud cry, but his voice couldn't even escape. Just as he was consumed by fear, a severe pain suddenly erupted from his dantian, countless thin streams of heat bursting forth and spreading throughout his body along the meridians, even penetrating deep into his bones.

  Right after that, the hot flow immediately turned into unbearable itching, as if countless ants were crawling non-stop all over his body. Shuǐshēng quickly took off his clothes and scratched all over with both hands. Just then, he saw fine black threads floating out from inside his body, wandering along the meridians on his skin, scaring him so much that he hastily stopped scratching with both hands.

  As that deep-seated, maddening itch spread, those strands of black silk suddenly dispersed and transformed into dark, ant-like silhouettes crawling all over the water-born skin. At this point, the water-born was already completely limp and powerless, unable to even move a single finger, his face contorted in agony, as if he wanted to get up and smash his head against the wall corner to slightly alleviate this suffering!

  This maddening torment lasted for as long as it takes to eat a meal, before a thread of coolness slowly began to emerge from the water-born dan Tian. Slowly, strand by strand, the true energy emerged from the dan Tian and surged through the meridians throughout the body. Wherever the coolness passed, that numb and itchy feeling retreated step by step. Shui Sheng hastily sat down cross-legged, gathered his spirit, and urged the power of the law to move within his body.

  At this moment, another unexpected thing happened. A visible mist of fine water vapor poured in from outside the room and slowly fell on Shuǐ's skin, making him feel much cooler. However, soon after, Shuǐ realized that something was wrong - the mist had actually seeped into his body, turning into a cool, icy substance that flowed into his meridians.

  Gradually, Shuǐyīng was enveloped in a thick layer of white mist right in the middle, and the mist inside the room grew thicker and more intense. The true energy within Shuǐyīng's body also grew stronger, and it seemed that this mist did not harm him. Shuǐyīng didn't bother with it either, only allowing his true energy to flow rapidly throughout his body.

  At the same time, those black "ants" on the aquatic skin dispersed again, turning into small black dots the size of sesame seeds. Moreover, as time passed, the color became lighter and lighter. After more than an hour, those small black dots finally disappeared completely, and the entire room was filled with a thick white mist.

  As the sky turned dark, the heavy rain finally stopped. The white mist in the room was completely absorbed into the body after half an hour of rain cessation.

  At this time, Shui Sheng's whole body was warm and cozy, with his internal true energy more abundant than ever before. He had an urge to rush out of the room and shout loudly. When he looked at himself again, he found that his body was covered in a layer of mysterious gray substance, like mud, sticky and emitting a strange smell that couldn't be described.

  Shuisheng was secretly guessing that the gray substance must be what those black "ants" turned into after they died, and as he was lost in thought, a light and quick footsteps sound came from beside his ear. This familiar footsteps sound had been heard for half a year, Shuisheng knew it was Xiaodao Tongjian bringing dinner again, but today this sound was much clearer, as if even which foot was stepping on the ground Shuisheng could "hear".

  Moreover, Jingxin was still quite far from Songtao Residence, and seemed to be walking in front of a row of old cypress trees dozens of feet outside Songtao Residence. As he walked, he was still cursing the heavens for raining so heavily that his shoes got wet. Shuixin couldn't help but feel astonished, wondering if his ears had become more sensitive. He listened carefully and found that not only could he hear the movements inside Wang Long's and Da Niu's rooms, but even the faint "sizzling" sound of Tie Xintang practicing his "Fireball Technique" in the innermost room of Songtao Residence was crystal clear.

  Shuǐ Shēng put on his clothes, sat up straight, and quietly waited for Jing Xin to arrive. Before long, the gate of Song Tao's residence was pushed open by Jing Xin, who then walked into Wang Long's room and then into Da Niu's room. Shui Sheng sat in the room, but Jing Xin's every move seemed to be right before his eyes. Shui Sheng couldn't help but feel a surge of wild joy. It was clear that he had become different from before.

  After a little tussle with Jing Xin, Shui Sheng finished dinner and washed several basins of water in the yard to clean off the gray dirt on his body. He changed into a clean set of clothes before cautiously walking out of Da Niu's room.

  He listened carefully for a long time, and since there was not a single sound coming from inside, he knew that Big Cow was meditating with concentration. Even though he had many things to say in his heart, he didn't dare disturb him. After circling around the courtyard, he saw that Wang Long, Xiao Juan, and Tie Xin Tang hadn't even eaten their dinner, all of them were focused on practicing their magic skills. He shook his head helplessly, and could only return to his own room, meditate for a while, and then fell asleep.

  Half a month ago, Wu Mu Dao Ren hastily left Yun Tai Guan and has not returned to this day. Shui Sheng, although having many questions about the strange phenomenon that appeared in today's cultivation, could only suppress the doubts in his heart.

  Heavy rain fell for four days, and during those four days, Shui Sheng would feel an intense itching sensation whenever he exerted his true energy to the fullest. At first, it was almost unbearable, but eventually, it transformed into a series of pleasant, thrilling sensations that made him want to shout out loud. If it were any other child, they might have stopped practicing due to their inability to tolerate this deep-seated itching. However, for Shui Sheng, the subsequent feeling of comfort made the initial pain negligible. Instead, he was extremely pleased with the rapid growth of his true energy within his body.

  Until the fourth day at noon, Wu Mu Dao finally returned from his observation outside, but his face looked unusually terrible, as if he didn't want to attract the attention of the few young children. He flew lightly and landed quietly in the Songtao Residence courtyard, without circling around each of the children's rooms like he usually did. Instead, he slipped into the room, took out a small jade bottle, swallowed two fire-red pills, and sat down cross-legged, looking extremely exhausted.

  That afternoon, a heavy rain fell again, and the water birth Dan Tian transmitted an unusual signal as usual. Wu Mu Dao Ren, who was meditating with his eyes closed, seemed to have sensed something, suddenly opened his eyes, and a hint of strange color flashed in his eyes. Then he released his divine consciousness, feeling every move Water Birth made in the room. When he found that groups of water vapor were rushing into Water Birth's room, a joyful expression appeared in his eyes.

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