Reverse Malady, Visitors from Heavenly Saint Palace

Creak.

The door opened.

Chen Tianliang and Ying Shuangshuang entered, carrying a box of Mung Bean Cake.

Chen Zhixing swiftly put on an innocent, bewildered expression and held out his little hands. "Mother, hug."

"Oh, Mother's coming to hold you right away."

Ying Shuangshuang set down the Mung Bean Cake in her hands and gathered Chen Zhixing into her arms.

Looking at the rosy-cheeked Chen Zhixing in her arms, Ying Shuangshuang found herself more delighted the longer she looked.

"Come, let Father hold you too." Chen Tianliang had only just extended his hands.

When Chen Zhixing yawned. "Mother, I want to sleep."

Upon hearing this, Ying Shuangshuang drove Chen Tianliang out.

The moon climbed to the treetops.

Ying Shuangshuang held Chen Zhixing in her arms and softly hummed a lullaby.

After Chen Zhixing had fallen asleep, Ying Shuangshuang could not help rubbing her brow and sighing.

"Tianliang's Reverse Malady is growing more serious by the day. Before long, it will be the Eastern Xuan Region Tournament. What are we to do?"

Hearing this, Chen Zhixing, who had been pretending to sleep, felt his mind stir slightly.

He had nearly forgotten about this.

Reverse Malady!

It referred to the spiritual energy throughout one's body occasionally running wild and surging backward through the meridians!

Back at the Eastern Xuan Region Tournament, Chen Tianliang had only been at the Spirit Wandering Realm. In order to fight for a ranking in the tournament and secure resources for the Chen Family, he had forcibly broken through to the True Self Realm ahead of time during battle.

As a result, though Chen Tianliang had broken through to the True Self Realm, he had damaged his Dao Foundation. From time to time, the spiritual energy in his body would run wild, surging backward through his meridians and dantian!

Whenever the Reverse Malady struck, it felt as if hundreds of millions of needles were piercing him at once. The agony was beyond words.

And pain alone would have been one thing. The crucial part was that every outbreak of the Reverse Malady inflicted severe damage upon his Dao Foundation, scattering all the spiritual energy he had painstakingly accumulated!

This was why, after a full ten years, Chen Tianliang's cultivation had only advanced by a single realm, leaving him merely at the True Self Second Layer.

Back then, Chen Tianxiong had originally been suppressed beneath Chen Tianliang.

Chen Tianliang had been the Chen Family's foremost Heavenly Pride.

It was precisely because of the Reverse Malady that Chen Tianxiong had surpassed Chen Tianliang and now firmly occupied the top seat among the Chen Family's Second Generation Disciples.

Perhaps Chen Tianxiong's current targeting of Chen Tianliang also had something to do with how Chen Tianliang had once suppressed him.

Moreover, Chen Zhixing had a bold conjecture.

Chen Tianliang's severe injuries in the South Sea Secret Realm, which caused his cultivation to plummet and cut off his path of cultivation for the rest of his life—

As well as Chen Tianliang's drastic change in temperament afterward—

Were all connected to this Reverse Malady!

Father's Reverse Malady is a ticking time bomb sooner or later. I have to find a way to cure it.

Chen Zhixing silently pondered.

Whether for the sake of their bond as father and son, or because he needed protection while he was still growing—

He could not simply stand by and watch the Reverse Malady torment Chen Tianliang without end!

The Reverse Malady is an injury to the Dao Foundation, and treating it will be exceedingly difficult. I fear that aside from someone in the Great Longevity Realm taking action, only the Living Medicine King of Medicine King Valley can cure it.

But the Medicine King roams the world year-round and has long ceased concerning himself with worldly affairs. Finding him will be extremely difficult, and even if I do find him, persuading him to act and refine pills for Chen Tianliang will likely be just as hard.

Still, the Chen Family's Library Pavilion should contain records concerning the Reverse Malady. Perhaps I can start from those records and see whether, through Heaven-Defying Comprehension, I can develop a method to temporarily ease and suppress it.

Chen Zhixing pondered silently, then looked up at his mother, Ying Shuangshuang.

Besides that, I need to find a way to raise Mother's cultivation as well.

Countless plans surfaced in Chen Zhixing's mind.

Judging by the timeline of "Great Cultivation," the main storyline might begin before long.

When that time came, the Chen Family would face a calamity of annihilation! Before that calamity arrived, he had to raise not only his own cultivation, but also make his parents stronger.

Only when Chen Tianliang and Ying Shuangshuang became stronger would they be able to protect Chen Zhixing and give him enough time to grow! Father's greatest problem is the Reverse Malady, while Mother's greatest problem is actually her cultivation technique. The Chaos Origin True Scripture is supremely hard and blazing yang; it is not truly compatible with Mother.

Pondering these matters, Chen Zhixing gradually fell asleep.

The sun rose and the moon set; stars shifted and constellations turned.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Over that month, Chen Zhixing spent most of his time cultivating the Ox Demon Star Transformation Scripture.

With the support of the Innate Mixed Origin Great Dao Body, his cultivation speed was astonishingly fast.

The Stellar Force within the first Acupoint, the Laogong Acupoint, had already reached nearly thirty percent.

When no one was around, he tried it out a little.

He lifted a Sandalwood Table weighing three hundred jin with one hand.

Chen Zhixing guessed that his cultivation had likely reached the Precious Body First Layer completely.

As for the thousand-jin strength of the Precious Body Second Layer, once he finished refining the first Acupoint, the Laogong Acupoint, he should naturally advance into the Precious Body Second Layer! Apart from that, Chen Zhixing was exceptionally busy.

He had Chen Tianliang bring him a great many books on alchemy and medicine. Using the records concerning the Reverse Malady, he continuously threaded the pieces together and stitched them into a whole.

With the aid of Heaven-Defying Comprehension, he gradually found a method that could temporarily suppress the Reverse Malady! Perhaps before long, he would thoroughly develop this method.

Besides seeking a method to suppress Chen Tianliang's Reverse Malady, he began merging the Heart Sword Technique with the Refining Spirit Transformation Breath Method, hoping to create a Spirit Refining Art that combined the strengths of both!

However, because there were too many matters and they were too complicated, progress was much slower.

As for Ying Shuangshuang's cultivation technique, Chen Zhixing had also gained a few ideas.

It was simply that Chen Zhixing needed a suitable opportunity to bring it out.

Meanwhile.

At the foot of Ziwei Mountain, where the Chen Family was located, not far away.

Two figures were conversing in low voices.

One was an old man clad in a gray robe, with white hair and beard, a long, lean face, and clear, bright eyes. He possessed an air of refined elegance.

The other was a young woman whose looks and figure were both peerless.

The woman wore a long purple palace dress. A white ribbon cinched her slender waist, outlining a voluptuous figure with curves that could only be called perfect.

A thin veil covered most of the lower half of her face beneath her eyes.

Yet merely from those autumn-water eyes alone—

One could tell that she was an unparalleled beauty, bright-eyed and fair-toothed, with a face capable of toppling cities.

It was only a pity that a trace of chilliness lingered between her brows, adding an air of distance that made others dare not look directly at her.

"Your Highness, this is the Chen Family. Back then, the Chen Family was also one of the foremost long-lived aristocratic families in our Eastern Xuan Region. Their Ancestor, Chen Xuanfeng, possessed cultivation that reached heaven and earth, with means that pierced the skies. Yet after Chen Xuanfeng vanished from the world, the Chen Family was left with a gap between generations and has already fallen out of the ranks of long-lived aristocratic families."

The Gray Robed Elder smiled faintly before continuing, "But this time, the Chen Family's fortunes have turned. They actually produced a Nine Ancient Marks Wielder with an Innate King's Diagram, seemingly named Chen Zhaosheng."

The Peerless Beauty nodded, her expression showing little change as she said indifferently, "As an Immortal Dao Lineage of this age, our Heavenly Saint Palace has no shortage of those with exceptional talent. Yet those who can truly become great are few and far between.

"Over the years, how many Heavenly Prides have relied on their superior talent, only to neglect diligent cultivation and ultimately fade into the common crowd?

"What truly determines a person's achievements, beyond talent, are comprehension, Heart Temperament, perseverance, and countless other things."

"Your Highness is right. That is why we came here disguised as ordinary people—to assess Chen Zhaosheng, is it not? If Chen Zhaosheng is indeed extraordinary, it will not be too late to admit him into the Heavenly Saint Palace then." The Gray Robed Elder smiled faintly.

The Peerless Beauty looked up toward the distant summit of Ziwei Mountain and gave a faint smile.

"Yes. I hope Chen Zhaosheng can bring me a pleasant surprise."