Small World, Soccer, Yu

On the seventh day after Professor Chen left the Small World,

Chen Qing sat meditating in the courtyard. The Spiritual Energy he absorbed into his body was tangible; it produced intangible Primordial Qi, which was then completely transformed into wisps of true qi. It was more condensed and more powerful.

Chen Qing circulated the true qi into both arms and easily lifted a vat of water in the courtyard.

Chen Qing continued meditating. After circulating the true qi through the twelve standard meridians forty-nine times, he merged it all into the broader Ren Meridian.

The Ren Meridian was soon filled. Once brimming, it felt swollen and taut.

Before he could react, a stream of qi passed through Tiantu, crossed Lianquan, bridged the Magpie Bridge, passed through Chonglou, rose to the crown of his head, then followed the Du Meridian down along his spine, passed through Mingmen and Changqiang, and entered Huiyin...

At that moment, the Ren and Du Channels connected, flowing freely without obstruction.

The true qi rose from Huiyin, passed through the Ren Meridian, connected with the Du Meridian at the top of his head, then followed the Du Meridian down and returned to Huiyin, repeating the cycle endlessly.

With each cycle, the true qi became more condensed, and the strength in his body grew stronger.

Just as Chen Qing opened the Ren and Du Channels, Bai Xue emerged from the alchemy room. When she saw him, she gestured for him to open his mouth.

Chen Qing opened his mouth, and three pills the size of little fingertips were stuffed inside. They melted as soon as they entered his mouth.

Chen Qing asked with a smile, "What is this? It's sweet, with a faint fragrance."

Bai Xue grinned. "A pill for Nourishing Origin and Strengthening Root. I refined it according to the book." With that, she casually returned to her room.

Chen Qing gave an "oh," then continued meditating after she left.

After he swallowed the Origin Nurturing Pill, its effects soon took hold, releasing a large amount of Spiritual Energy inside his abdomen.

The Spiritual Energy was refined into true qi, which grew increasingly swollen in his meridians. The true qi continued increasing as well.

Just as he felt his meridians had been stretched to their limit and were about to explode, the true qi in his twelve meridians and the Ren and Du Channels suddenly surged toward his waist and abdomen.

Chen Qing let out a loud roar. It felt as though a huge chunk had been gouged out of his abdomen.

Before he could react, all the true qi in his meridians rushed toward his abdomen. A hole had appeared there, like water flowing into it.

Under the probing of his spiritual sense, he discovered that a tiny space had appeared three inches below his navel and above Mingmen.

A dantian?

"Bai Xue, I've cultivated a dantian!" Chen Qing happily ran to Bai Xue to show off. The moment he pushed open the door, a pillow flew toward him.

"Get lost!"

"Don't you know how to knock?" Bai Xue burrowed into her bedding, sticking her head out to roar angrily. The aloof, mature beauty had been seen in her bedclothes.

Chen Qing awkwardly backed out.

He heard Bai Xue scold, "What's so special about opening a dantian? I had one three days ago."

Chen Qing felt even more embarrassed after hearing that. Discouraged, he stopped cultivating and took his two puppets outside to carve wood. He was making small puppets and planned to make ten of them, divided into red and black teams, so he could play soccer with Bai Xue.

Day and night alternated in the Small World. Bai Xue immersed herself in alchemy while Chen Qing focused on making puppets.

A year passed. The fish in the pond had grown fat, and the ducks had grown up, crossed the pond, and run into the lake to play in the water. The hens had built more than a dozen nests and filled them with eggs, while the roosters flew onto the roof of the Siheyuan Courtyard and crowed after eating their fill.

The black and white swans followed behind Bai Xue, honking incessantly. She had just fed them a large handful of pills, and they had come back to beg for more.

Bai Xue held a soccer ball sewn from grass carp skin and silkworm-silk cloth. She was just about to go find Chen Qing. He had marked out a soccer field beside the Siheyuan Courtyard, and the ten small puppets he had refined could already coordinate in simple ways, though they were far inferior to the ten robots from his future life.

Two large puppets served as goalkeepers, while wooden frames formed small goals at either end of the field.

"Chen Qing, have you repaired my players?" Bai Xue shouted from far away. She wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, with her hair tied in a ponytail. She looked bright and beautiful.

Chen Qing did not even raise his head as he casually replied, "There's only one formation left. In a moment, have them run more slowly. If they run too fast, their energy will be depleted too quickly, and I'll have to fire more spirit-stone batteries."

"If their skill isn't good enough, improve it. If you make more demands, I won't play with you anymore. I'll go back to refining pills." Bai Xue sounded displeased and mocked him.

Hearing that, Chen Qing's firm tone immediately softened. Every time, he had to beg Bai Xue to play, making her braised fish and spicy chicken as a feast. Only then would Bai Xue reluctantly play with him for an afternoon.

When Bai Xue reached the goal, she high-fived the goalkeeper puppet. Under her spiritual-sense control, the five small puppets ran back from midfield. They all wore red silk vests, dyed with duck blood.

The five small puppets on Chen Qing's side, wearing black silk vests, were also ready.

Bai Xue's puppets kicked off from midfield and launched an attack down the wing. All five small puppets pushed forward together. They broke through the flank, lofted a cross, and took a shot, but the large puppet caught it securely.

Chen Qing attacked. His ball-carrying puppet had just crossed midfield when Bai Xue's puppet tripped it. With no referee, Chen Qing could only send a second puppet to steal the ball, while Bai Xue ordered her puppets to block it.

Chen Qing began using tactics, passing the ball back and forth among the five puppets' feet. Bai Xue's puppets could not touch the ball and could only slam into Chen Qing's puppets. After four puppets knocked down four others, the game became a series of one-on-one duels.

Chen Qing's small puppet dribbled past the last defender with a leaping step. Just as only the goalkeeper puppet remained, the large puppet charged out and kicked both the small puppet and the soccer ball flying.

It had kicked too hard, sending the ball into the distant lake.

Bai Xue burst out laughing and waved her hand. The black and white swans honked as they took flight to retrieve the ball.

Chen Qing had encountered this scene many times. He ground his teeth in fury. Who could he blame when there was no referee?

This time, the soccer ball was punctured by a broken limb of a small puppet. Once it filled with water, its weight exceeded its buoyancy, and it soon sank toward the bottom of the lake. The black and white swans dove underwater to search for it.

"Quack... quack..."

The black and white swans emerged from the water and flew into the air, staring at the lake and crying out loudly.

First, a soccer ball broke through the surface. Then two more round balls emerged.

The black and white swans charged toward the round balls at the same time. With a whoosh, the balls shot into the air.

After several soft popping sounds, the round balls extended arms, legs, and heads.

"Cackle... cackle..." Laughter spread through the air.

The Nascent Souls of the Great General and Princess had been bound underwater by Chen Renfeng's magic power, but the black and white swans had just broken them free.

Chen Qing and Bai Xue hurried to the lakeside when they saw them.

The Great General's Nascent Soul looked at them and said greedily, "Perfected Qi Refining Stage. They smell so good!"

The Princess's Nascent Soul exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Qing, those two mortals reached the perfected Qi Refining Stage in only a year. Isn't that too fast?"

The Great General's Nascent Soul cackled. "Yu, in this Small World, if we hadn't been restricted by our Karma Value back then, we could have done it easily as well."

Seeing the two muttering to themselves, Bai Xue shouted angrily, "You two ugly freaks, why have you come back again? What were you muttering about just now?"

The Princess's Nascent Soul was furious when she heard herself called an ugly freak. How could she, a beauty, accept that? "You're courting death!" she roared, preparing to rush down and seize Bai Xue's body.

"Yu, wait!" The Great General's Nascent Soul hurriedly teleported in front of her and blocked her. Then he lowered his voice. "Yu, the time isn't right yet. They haven't formed a Golden Core Pill, and their bodies aren't strong enough to bear a Nascent Soul."

The Princess's Nascent Soul had no choice but to give up. She made a face at Bai Xue, flew past her, and headed toward the edge of the grassland.

The Great General's Nascent Soul teleported beside Chen Qing and spun around him, inspecting him from head to toe. Then he circled Bai Xue once as well. Bai Xue tried to kick him, but he immediately teleported three zhang away.

Bai Xue scolded, "Ugly freak, you'd better stay away!"

Chen Qing was somewhat tense. He moved in front of Bai Xue and asked, "What are you trying to do?"

The Great General's Nascent Soul cackled. "Become your friend!"