Qi Sensation

The next day, Wang Ping rose from bed feeling refreshed and invigorated.

He made breakfast, cleaned up, then after the meal took Su Dun to the Back Mountain to gather some dry firewood before returning to clean the Daoist temple. In the afternoon, it was time for cultivation practice as steady as thunder that never failed to strike. Yet unlike before, Wang Ping practiced far more casually today, leaving Su Dun clicking his tongue in wonder.

Three months passed like this. Winter arrived, and a few more people came each afternoon seeking treatment. They brought news from the Mountain Foot: before winter, the county had organized a Mountain Search Operation, clearing out the Lesser Demons in the mountain forests throughout the Surrounding Areas. Those they could not eliminate had been driven into the Deep Mountain.

The villages had managed reasonably well this year. Only some beggars had frozen to death in the city, their corpses thrown into the Mass Grave.

More days passed without notice. By the depths of winter, fewer people came for treatment. According to news brought from the Mountain Foot, a Wandering Daoist was holding a Free Clinic in the county.

Two days later, the Wandering Daoist knocked on the Main Gate of the Daoist temple. Daoist Yucheng brewed tea and discussed the Dao with him for three days. In the end, they seemed to have had a fierce quarrel over their differing views. However, it was said that when the Daoist left, he bowed three times toward Thousand Wood Temple at the Mountain Foot.

Spring Festival arrived without notice, then passed just as quietly. In the blink of an eye, it was the Farming Season at the start of spring. A village at the Mountain Foot sent up a thirteen-year-old boy through an intermediary. Wang Ping and Su Dun even went down the mountain specifically to investigate his background. In the end, Su Dun became a senior brother with boundless joy.

On March 27, after breakfast, Wang Ping specifically went to the Main Hall and cast a divination for himself.

That afternoon, in the Training Area of the Backyard.

Su Dun put on airs as he instructed his Junior Brother, Wang Kang. Wang Ping deliberately walked to a corner, casually assumed an Opening Stance, then casually stepped forward and followed his instincts to perform the Lifting Tripod motion.

The next instant, a Light Screen Panel appeared before his eyes:

[Evergreen Cultivation Technique: You suddenly gained insight and found a better method of practice. Persist in practicing your method 10 times every day, and you may gain Qi Sensation in half a year. (Progress 99/100, today's progress 0/10)]

Wang Ping was not overly eager. He had nurtured his qi for a full month for this day; he could not possibly let his State of Mind become unstable at the very end.

After the first round, his Limbs and Bones became warm and comfortable. After the second, a stream of qi slowly circulated within his body. After the third, he caught its location. On the fourth, he tried to control it, but failed.

The fifth round, he still failed...

On the sixth, Wang Ping caught a faint feeling. As he completed the set of movements, he smoothly struck a palm to the side. A visible current of air immediately appeared, but before it traveled even half an inch from his palm, it vanished without a trace.

The seventh round... the tenth round. The Qi Sensation within Wang Ping's body had become incomparably clear. When he concluded his practice, that stream of qi did not even disperse. Instead, following his breath and intention, it sank into his Dantian.

At this moment, the progress of Evergreen Cultivation Technique had also reached (100/100)!

He was one step closer to Cloud Ascending Scenery.

"Hah."

As Wang Ping exhaled this mouthful of turbid air, a fine layer of white mist visibly formed before him. Feeling the strength within his body, he murmured, "Is this what cultivation feels like?"

"Congratulations, senior brother!" Su Dun stepped forward to offer his congratulations.

A rare trace of a smile appeared on Wang Ping's face.

"It is only a minor path. Do not become obsessed with it. The true Great Dao lies within the Annotation of Heaven and Man your Master gave you." The Old Daoist had appeared at the entrance to the Training Ground at some point.

"Daoist Priest, could you explain it to me?"

"In your dreams. That is your Master's responsibility. Go ask your Master." The Old Daoist spoke irritably.

"Daoist Priest, are you hungry? But it is not time to eat yet." Wang Kang looked at the Old Daoist and spoke earnestly.

"Pfft."

Su Dun could not hold back his laughter.

The Old Daoist was not embarrassed either. Chuckling, he said, "But I am hungry now!"

After rolling his eyes, Wang Kang grinned. "If you have Rice Wine, I'll go cook for you right now."

Mao Yulong's Rice Wine had led another person astray.

One old man and two youngsters squared off against one another.

Wang Ping, however, had no intention of continuing the conversation. As usual, he walked out of the Training Ground. The patients who had been outside the pharmacy were already nowhere to be seen.

The three senior brothers and Daoist Yucheng stood in the courtyard, watching Wang Ping emerge from the Training Ground.

"Have you understood the Annotation of Heaven and Man?" Daoist Yucheng asked just as Wang Ping was about to pay his respects.

"Forgive this Disciple's dullness. Even after studying it until now, I still cannot comprehend it."

"Then what did you see?"

"Contradictions!"

"So you tried to understand the contradictions in the book?"

"Yes!"

"Hahaha!"

The laughter came from behind them. The Old Daoist laughed heartily. "The universe, Heaven and Earth, All Things and Spirits—at every moment, they are steeped in contradictions. If you can understand them, you can become a sage on the spot!"

"The contradictions of All Things and Spirits are merely what we see. Perhaps they are not contradictions at all." Liu Zixiu respectfully bowed to the Old Daoist before stepping forward and slowly voicing his view.

"This old Daoist will not argue with you. What you and I think and see are different. If we continue arguing, we will only be Talking Past Each Other!"

Liu Zixiu did not argue further upon hearing that. He first bowed to the Old Daoist, then bowed to his own Master before retreating to his original position, maintaining his genial smile.

"Dun'er, Xiao Kang, go cook first." Daoist Yucheng gave the two boys coming up behind them an instruction, then said to Wang Ping and the others, "You all come with me to the Main Hall."

"Yes, Master!"

Inside the Main Hall.

Daoist Yucheng sat cross-legged with his back to the golden divine statue of Taichu Heavenly Venerate. Wang Ping and the others sat separately on either side, while the Old Daoist sat in the seat below Daoist Yucheng.

"Six hundred years ago, Ancestor Master Lord Yuxiao established this cultivation ground here and passed down the Dao Lineage. Three hundred years ago, the four great Mystic Sects, two great Heaven Sects, and one Buddhist sect fought over the fortune of the world in search of that illusory path to immortality. This caused Heaven and Earth to collapse, and Ancestor Master also vanished in the Misty Sea."

"Thirty years ago, a Great Demon caused chaos. The prefectural lord's plea for aid was delivered at a gallop. The sect leader, senior brother, led the six of us Senior and Junior Brothers and dozens of Disciples to suppress the unrest. In the end, I alone returned alive."

Yucheng moved from legend to reality. His emotions were neither sorrowful nor joyful, and his expression was that of one viewing scenery as he gazed at the empty, silent courtyard beyond the Main Hall. "Fifteen years ago, I successively accepted Antian, Zixiu, and Yu Long into the sect. Over these fifteen years, I taught you medicine, martial arts, and some minor Daoist arts. So long as you continue practicing accordingly, you may gain something within twenty years. You three may be considered my Disciples."

"Today, I intend to accept your Junior Brother Wang Ping as my personal Disciple. Fellow Daoist Wu may serve as witness. The Apprenticeship Ceremony will be held on the sixth day of next month."

After Daoist Yucheng finished speaking, some life finally returned to his eyes. Every trace of that vitality in his gaze fell upon Wang Ping.

"This Disciple Wang Ping pays respects to Master!" Wang Ping performed a grand bow.

"Mm, good!"

A rare smile appeared on Daoist Yucheng's face. He then turned his gaze toward Li Antian and the other two. "I know that ever since the three of you achieved success in Qi Refining, your hearts have no longer rested in this tiny Thousand Wood Temple of mine. I will not keep you. In at least five years, at most eight, I will let you descend the mountain."

The path of cultivation was dull and flavorless, while the immortality of legend was as illusory as mist. Only a very few people could endure such tedium.

Li Antian and the other two all lowered their heads in unison. They did not dare defy Daoist Yucheng's wishes. Now that the three of them had achieved success in Qi Refining, living for more than a hundred years would not be a problem. There was no need at all to worry about five or eight years.