Chapter 3: One Mouthful of True Breath

  Old Master Meng listened, his eyes widened in anger, wanting to scold him back, but ultimately didn't dare, and instead pulled Meng Xuan's hand towards the inner courtyard.

  Meng Xuan smiled bitterly and ignored the aunt, following his father inside.

  However, he knew that Master Meng was born to fear his wife. When his own mother was alive, he feared his own mother. After his own mother passed away, he feared Shi Ayi, and in recent years, Shi Ayi's son, who was also his elder brother, had grown up and begun to take over the family business, making Shi Ayi's power even greater. Master Meng did not dare scold her.

  Naturally, there is also a hint of guilt in this "dare not". After Meng Xuan's birth mother passed away, Old Master Meng should have made Shi Yiniang his legitimate wife, but for some reason, he insisted on not doing so and has been dragging it out for over a decade. In the early years, Shi Yiniang would occasionally make a fuss, but now she never mentions it again, having truly given up.

  But mentioning this Shi Yiniang's behavior, Meng Xuan just coldly smiled.

  He had a number in his heart, Shi Yiniang gave birth to the eldest brother, but after all, she was just a concubine. If we talk about it, he is the legitimate son and the rightful heir of the family. Shi Yiniang feared that he would seize the family property, so she had been looking at him with disfavor since he was young. Later, he went to cultivate immortality, which was good after all, as a cultivator would not care about worldly wealth. But unexpectedly, seven years later, Meng Xuan actually came back.

  I suppose now Shi Yiniang can't wait to drive herself out of the house!

  "Where's big brother?"

  Meng Xuan asked casually.

  Meng Lao sighed and said: "The rent collector has gone outside the city, never mind him, let's have a drink first, just the two of us!"

  At this time, the Xiao family was holding a grand banquet to celebrate Xiao Yufei's formal acceptance as a true disciple. Almost all the big shots in Sicheng City were there, and those who couldn't attend had to send gifts. The scene was bustling with excitement. On the other hand, Meng Xuan of the Meng family was expelled from the Immortal Gate, which wasn't good news at all. Naturally, they wouldn't be holding a banquet, but just a small celebration at home for the return of the second young master. However, even this celebration was filled with an inexplicable sense of awkwardness and embarrassment.

  Meng Xuan had a plan in mind, but he didn't say it out loud. After practicing the Great Sickness Immortal Technique, his vision had become extremely far-sighted and wouldn't be limited by these small matters. This time returning to Four Symbol City, he was actually also preparing to take a look at his father before leaving to venture into the Grand Thousand World. Unlike Xiao Yufei, who claimed to be visiting relatives but actually came home for money.

  Meng Xuan can refine his illness into a dan, but Xiao Yu Fei can only buy spiritual medicine and divine ore to achieve the same effect.

  Drank two jars of wine with his father, chatted about some trivial matters, and Meng Xuan excused himself due to fatigue and went back to his room to rest.

  It was still his previous room, nothing had changed, and it was spotlessly clean.

  He sat down on the bed and ordered his servants not to disturb him, then sat cross-legged.

  His palm opened, and a wisp of black air emerged from his palm, twisting and turning, which was the same as the sick energy on Leng's body.

  Under Meng Xuan's great elixir-refining technique, this strand of black energy gradually shrank, spinning non-stop, and finally transformed into a round and shiny black medicinal pellet. Although it was formed from the pathogenic energy, it looked just like a real one.

  Meng Xuan let out a satisfied sigh and a dragon head materialized from the refined aura around him, swallowing the second-grade medicinal pellet.

  Rumble...

  The elixir entered his body and immediately transformed into a rolling vital energy that clashed with his true energy.

  At this time, Meng Xuan's vital energy had already reached a bottleneck. With the addition of this vital energy, an abnormal change occurred immediately. It rolled like a dragon and first wandered around his body before finally settling in his true energy.

  "Hmm..."

  Meng Xuan opened his eyes, and in the darkness, only his piercing gaze was visible, extremely astonishing.

  "The seventh layer of true energy... has finally been broken through..."

  Meng Xuan only felt that the true energy in his body was surging, as if he was about to fly up. He slightly closed his eyes and savored the thrill of this breakthrough.

  What is called true energy is the first breath of air that a person takes in at the moment of birth.

  The ancients called this breath the "Original True Qi", also known as "True Qi".

  This one breath determines a person's power, life and wisdom. The cultivation of the mouth of the world is actually the cultivation of this one breath, using all methods to make this breath strong.

  For example, a martial artist is through the method of tempering the body, refining this breath.

  What the martial artist said "train internal energy and train mouth energy" is this principle.

  The Taoist school, on the other hand, achieves this through meditation and breathing exercises, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to supplement the prenatal breath, or by refining and transforming spiritual elixirs and medicines, which are then ingested to absorb their spiritual energy and nourish the prenatal breath.

  There are also Buddhist and Confucian scholars who understand reason and grasp the truth, cultivate this spirit through wisdom and insight into the principles of heaven and earth.

  Thousands of Dharma gates, myriad mysterious keys, are all for this one breath alone.

  "By cultivating through illness and adversity, one accumulates merit and elevates their cultivation, truly defying the heavens..."

  Meng Xuanping calmed down the surging true energy within his body and let out a soft sigh, involuntarily thinking of his master.

  If he didn't have a master, I'm afraid that even if he left behind a sect of immortals, he would only be the lowest level disciple.

  But his master had just died of illness, and was soon forgotten by others on the same peak, even the lineage was cut off.

  For cultivators, cutting off their lineage is just like ordinary people losing their descendants.

  "Hmph, as long as I'm still around, the legacy of our master will not be broken. Since Qing Cong Mountain has removed the name of our Sit Forgetting Peak, I'll make sure to separate the legacy of Sit Forgetting Peak and make those greedy people pay the price sooner or later..."

  Meng Xuan secretly vowed in his heart and decided to use this method to avenge his master.

  "Let's not think about those things for now, or it will disturb my mind. What's most important right now is still cultivation. Since I broke through to the next level today, I'll try to cultivate the second imprint..."

  As soon as Meng Xuan thought of his master, he felt his mind in disarray. He knew this was not good for his cultivation, so he forcibly suppressed it and decided to focus on his practice instead. After all, no matter what he wanted to do in the future, he would have to rely on his own strength.

  "Great sorrow..."

  Meng Xuan clasped his hands together, and his ten fingers began to form a mysterious and intricate hand seal.

  As he pinched his fingers together, the vital energy around him began to fluctuate and transform, and a faint magical sound seemed to emerge.

  "Hmmph..."

  Just as Meng Xuan was about to crush him, his face suddenly changed color and his vital energy dissipated instantly. He spat out a mouthful of blood.

  "It's still not enough, I'm really angry... although I broke through another layer, it's still not enough to cultivate the second seal..."

  Meng Xuan's eyebrows furrowed.

  He cultivated the Great Sickness Immortal Art, which mainly consisted of nine seal techniques. Each seal technique was a unique and wondrous application. He had only managed to cultivate the first seal, also known as the Great Sickness Seal. This single seal technique included methods such as extracting disease energy from the patient's body, refining it into a Great Sickness Elixir for himself to ingest, and so on.

  And the second seal, named Da Ai Seal, Meng Xuan has now reached the seventh layer of True Qi but still can't seal it.

  "Never mind, it can't be forced, let's just stick with the original plan!" Meng Xuan thought to himself.

  On the second day, Meng Xuan got up early and slowly practiced his fist technique in the courtyard. He had planned to go and pay respects to his father, but found that his father was still not out of bed. So he returned to his room, only to find a bowl of steaming hot tofu on the table as soon as he opened the door.

  "Who put this bean flower?"

  Meng Xuan saw this bowl of tofu and his heart was moved. He went out and asked the servants at home.

  "It was Qiao girl from next door who sent it over early in the morning through someone..."

  That servant smiled and said with a sly look on his face.

  "You're laughing at your own expense..."

  Meng Xuan kicked the servant with a mixture of anger and amusement, then returned to his room.

  He slowly picked up the bowl of tofu pudding, delicate and smooth, with green scallions and red chili peppers, the flavor was extremely familiar.

  After finishing his meal, he picked up the bowl and took a few packages of snacks from home to the alley next door.

  In the distance, he saw a young girl in a coarse linen dress busy at work. She was only seventeen or eighteen years old, tall and slender, with a very pretty face, and a sweet smile for everyone she met. Her every move had the elegance of a noble lady, which didn't quite match the place where she was. Meng Xuan couldn't help but sigh when he saw this, thinking that this time back, he would have to do a favor for this young girl.

  This young lady, named Qiao Yu'er, was a childhood playmate of Meng Xuan's. At that time, the Qiao family had not yet declined, and the two could be said to have grown up together like green plums and bamboo horses. However, later on, Qiao Yu'er's father went out of town once and encountered a monster from Hei Mu Mountain who was hunting, and he was taken away, leaving behind Madame Qiao and Qiao Yu'er, two women who were not good at managing the household. At that time, Qiao Yu'er was still young, and Madame Qiao did not understand how to run a business. With creditors coming to the door, one thing led to another, and their family business was completely ruined. Madame Qiao had no choice but to open this tofu shop to make a living.

  At that time, Meng Xuan often came to eat tofu brain at home and his relationship with Qiao Yuer had not become estranged.

  As soon as he saw the tofu brain on the table, he knew it was definitely sent by Qiao Yu'er.

  Last night, when chatting with Old Man Meng, he already knew that Mrs. Qiao had fallen ill three years ago and now all the affairs in the tofu shop were handled by Qiao Yuer alone. Of course, Old Man Meng, remembering old times, also secretly helped out from time to time.

  "Boss, bring a bowl of tofu brain..."

  Meng Xuan walked to the door of the store and said with a smile.