Jade's Birth

Seeing everyone sitting upright and solemn, I nodded in satisfaction. They still knew what took precedence.

I first went to my eldest brother, Lang Feng. My brother Lang Feng was in excellent health, and he had practiced the Taiji Yin Yang Art for some time. Cleansing his marrow would naturally be the easiest.

I gently placed my right hand on my eldest brother's crown point, sank my mind into my Dantian, and sent True Primordial Energy from my Dantian through his crown point and into every one of his meridians... I truly had not expected it to be so simple, far easier than I had imagined. Yes, I succeeded with effortless ease.

I then cleansed the marrow of my three disciples in rapid succession. Only Zhang Yu consumed quite a bit of my True Primordial Energy, simply because his Internal Cultivation was truly poor. Still, he was a young man, and all this expenditure remained within what I could bear.

Brother Wang's meridians were also excellent, and I succeeded effortlessly. But his lover—my Sister Yu—had only learned a few superficial moves and had never cultivated Internal Cultivation, making me suffer untold hardships. Fortunately, I was a cultivator with immense experience—experience from my previous life—and I still managed to succeed. I let out a long breath. Next came the two older ones. I would have to suffer now. As my will moved, my True Primordial Energy began circulating faster to make up for the loss. Then I turned and walked toward Uncle Zhang.

Ha! Uncle Zhang was looking at me with a cheerful grin. I gave a bitter smile. I really was pitiful. But what could I do? Who told me to make such grand boasts just now? I could only bury my head and get to work.

Resigned, I placed my right hand on Uncle Zhang's crown point. Ah! Heavens! His—his—his meridians were actually completely unobstructed, as though he had been born an Innate Master. How could this be?

In an instant, I understood. Uncle Zhang had poured all his energy into jade carving, and he had already reached the level of borrowing the power of nature in his carvings. All things under heaven possessed their own Dao; naturally, his body had also been transformed by the power of nature. I was a little delighted. With an Uncle Zhang who had already comprehended nature, his cultivation would soar rapidly in the future. I could finally rest easy about his safety. In my plans, he was an indispensable link. Happily, I lowered my hand and walked toward the last person—Lang Feng's mother.

"Hey, worthy nephew, did you cleanse my marrow or not? Why don't I feel anything at all? Are you angry because I laughed at you earlier?" Uncle Zhang was still shouting behind me. I was about to go mad. And he still had the nerve to complain! I turned back and shouted at Uncle Zhang.

"Uncle Zhang, your own meridians are already completely unobstructed. There was no need for me to do anything superfluous, yet you're still shouting at me. Think about it—ever since you comprehended how to use the power of nature in your carving, haven't you stopped getting sick? And isn't your spirit better than before?"

"That does seem to be so. Hmm... worthy nephew, I wronged you. I'm sorry!" Uncle Zhang said to me somewhat embarrassedly.

I shook my head with a bitter smile, then turned and walked before First Wife. I placed my right hand on the crown point of her head. Heavens! I didn't want to live anymore.

I knew First Wife was no longer young, that her health was poor, and that she had never practiced any martial arts. Naturally, her meridians could not be much good. But I had never expected them to be so, so, so terrible that there was practically no trace of any open meridians. What could I do? I had said those words earlier, and she was also my eldest brother's mother!

I drew a deep breath and forcibly circulated my True Primordial Energy. Strands of True Primordial Energy, bearing a soft yin nature, seeped into every meridian throughout First Wife's body, slowly clearing away the impurities inside her. Her body was simply too frail; I did not dare force my way through. After a long time, my True Primordial Energy was nearly exhausted, but First Wife's meridians were finally opened...

I withdrew my right hand. My body swayed, and my face turned deathly pale. It had been a long time since I had felt so weak. But at least I had fixed First Wife's bodily meridians. To my surprise, I found everyone staring at me with wide eyes.

"What's wrong with all of you? Why are you looking at me like that?" Their stares made me feel embarrassed.

"Young Master, look at First Wife," Sister Yu said, glaring at me. What was wrong? First Wife couldn't possibly be unable to bear even such soft yin energy! If anything had happened to her, wouldn't Eldest Brother be heartbroken to death?

Uneasily, I looked toward First Wife. What? I froze as well!

First Wife had actually changed from looking forty years old to looking thirty. Her formerly haggard face was now radiant, and even those few strands of white hair had vanished. It was too miraculous. How had I not known that Marrow Cleansing could restore youth? No, that was not right. None of the others had changed so noticeably!

Eldest Brother Lang Feng walked up to me and said excitedly, "Second Brother, do you know how old my mother is this year? My mother is only thirty. It's just that her life these past few years was truly too hard. She toiled without rest, and she had just suffered a serious illness, so she aged so quickly. And now you've made my mother young again. Big Brother truly doesn't know what to say!" Eldest Brother was nearly speechless.

I looked at everyone and said, "You're all fine now. Do you know that I'm exhausted? I need to go recover. First follow Zhang Yu to the Wind and Rain Tower outside and bathe in the rooms we reserved. Your bodies are covered in impurities I forced out just now. Tonight, I'll be in the secret chamber."

"Worthy nephew, I don't have any impurities on me, so I won't go to the tavern. I'll stay here too," Uncle Zhang immediately said to me.

I glanced at him and said flatly, "All right, all right. I will definitely do what I promised. Before tomorrow morning, I will certainly give you a piece of Flawless Jade."

Uncle Zhang laughed happily, not the least bit embarrassed that I had seen through his thoughts. This man's skin was proportional to his age!

"Flawless Jade? Who has Flawless Jade?" Brother Wang immediately shouted. As the steward trained by the Zhang Family, he was familiar with all manner of treasures. He naturally knew very well about a treasure like Flawless Jade, which existed only in legends.

"Of course it's your Young Master. Other than your Young Master, who else could make such a grand gesture? One moment, a child becomes a Sword God; the next, there's immortality, becoming an immortal, and now there's Flawless Jade. There's nothing strange about it anymore." Uncle Zhang was exceptionally happy today. It was rare to see him so talkative.

"What is Flawless Jade?" My ignorant eldest disciple came out again to disgrace me. Sigh! Uncle Zhang began explaining the preciousness of Flawless Jade to him again, while Li Da and Li Er kept crying, "Wow!" "Wow!"...

"Uncle Zhang will stay here. The rest of you, leave first. Tomorrow morning, I'll let you see this Flawless Jade. Hurry up and go. It's already late. If you reach the tavern any later, you'll have to call the waiter to open the door. You stink in waves—why aren't you leaving?" I shouted at those fellows, who wanted to see the Flawless Jade after hearing Uncle Zhang's introduction.

Before I said anything, they had not noticed the strange smell on themselves. Once I mentioned it, they all began running outside.

"Uncle Zhang, rest here for a while. I'm going to the secret chamber next door to create the Flawless Jade you want. Once I succeed, I'll bring it for you to see. You absolutely must not disturb me. During the creation process, I cannot be disturbed by anyone at all. Otherwise, all previous efforts will go to waste. Do you understand? You absolutely must not disturb me!" I said sternly to Uncle Zhang.

"I understand. I'm a jade carver too. I know that one cannot be disturbed while working. I understand the principle, so don't worry!" Uncle Zhang knew that what I was about to do was extremely important, and he became serious as well...

"Good. Stay here. I'm going over. Goodbye!" With that, I walked out of the secret chamber. Once in the passageway, I headed straight for the secret chamber where I had discovered the Eight Formations Diagram and the True Martial Seven Sections Array. It was an excellent secret chamber for personal cultivation!

Walking into the secret chamber and seeing that table made entirely of green jade made me feel wonderfully at ease! Such a huge piece of high-grade jade contained tremendously powerful energy. Cultivating beside it also put one in a good mood. I took out a piece of top-grade jade from my robes. I had expended too much just now; absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would take who knew how many days. It was better to have this top-grade jade.

I sat cross-legged on a jade cushion. This jade cushion was quite ordinary, merely a piece of mid-grade jade. Holding the top-grade jade with both hands against my Dantian, I slowly yet steadily absorbed its vast energy...

In my dazed state, I sensed that the top-grade jade no longer contained much energy. I immediately looked inward at my Dantian. That golden core had already grown as large as a luminous pearl. It seemed I would not need much more time before entering the middle stage of the Golden Core realm.

A faint smile appeared on my face as I slowly opened my eyes. I knew that the flawless jade had already been born. It was in my hand. Looking down, I saw an emerald-green piece of jade lying quietly in my palm, emitting a dazzling jade-green radiance. It was so clear that one could plainly see what lay beneath it. Yes, it was transparent. Without the slightest flaw, it was Flawless Jade!

I quietly stood up, carrying the Flawless Jade to report back to Uncle Zhang. He must have been waiting anxiously!

When I reached the door of that secret chamber, Uncle Zhang was still pacing back and forth inside, his face full of anxiety. Brother Wang and the others were all there as well.

I walked in with a smile and greeted everyone cheerfully, "Everyone's here? Good. Then let us all take a look at this Flawless Jade together!"

Uncle Zhang looked at me and said, "Worthy nephew, your uncle waited for you all night. They, on the other hand, got to sleep all night and now get to look at it with me. I truly feel miserable."

Seeing Uncle Zhang's expression, I smiled and said, "Uncle Zhang, your body is in good health. What problem is there with staying awake for one night? All right, all right. Now everyone, take a good, careful look at this legendary Flawless Jade!"

As I spoke, I extended my right hand from behind my back and opened my palm. A piece of flawless jade emitting dazzling emerald-green light appeared before everyone's eyes. In this dim secret chamber, it appeared even more brilliant and captivating.

For a moment, the entire secret chamber fell silent. Everyone gazed at this legendary Flawless Jade, seemingly enchanted by its gorgeous, faint emerald-green glow. Uncle Zhang narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the Flawless Jade he had dreamed of day and night.

Only after a long while did exclamations finally rise within the secret chamber. This group had witnessed the birth of the first flawless jade in history, and because of this Flawless Jade, the legend of Zhang Xingfeng began.