Monsters

On his very first attempt at cultivation, he had sensed the spiritual energy around him and drawn it close. This greatly boosted Ye Yun's confidence. But even though he had attracted the energy, that didn't mean he could guide it into his body, since the acupoints all over him hadn't been opened.

The first level of the Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao mainly taught how to open the body's acupoints and guide spiritual energy inside, letting it circulate along a set path. The requirement for completing the first level was to guide the energy into the body and circulate it through thirty-six major cycles.

After reviewing the incantation for opening all his acupoints, Ye Yun took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and followed the manual, opening them one by one. To his astonishment, his acupoints opened one after another at his will, as if there were no obstacles at all. He was amazed and delighted, convinced that he was the legendary genius.

Just then, a voice rang out in his mind, shattering his daydream.

"Wake up, host. Stop dreaming. The only reason you sensed the spiritual energy and opened all your acupoints so quickly is that this system strengthened your body beforehand. Without my help, you'd be no better than Tian Ling'er—and that's assuming you were her age. As for your unenhanced, untransformed body, you'd be lucky to cultivate as quickly as Zhang Xiaofan is now."

"You could've let me enjoy feeling like a genius for a while! Would it kill you? By the way, system, have you collected enough energy for me to go home yet? I want to go back."

"Hey, system! Answer me! Have you collected enough energy or not?"

"Come on, don't play dead! Just give me a peep, whether you have or not. You're making me nervous."

"Peep."

Now it was Ye Yun's turn to fall silent.

"You win, system. I won't ask again. Just let me know when you've saved enough energy. I'm going to focus on cultivating now. I'm heartbroken."

After waiting a while without getting a response from the system, Ye Yun calmed his mind again and followed the Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao's incantation to guide the spiritual energy into his body and circulate it. As soon as he completed thirty-six major cycles, he could ask his shiniang, Su Ru, for the second level's cultivation method.

He had already opened all his acupoints, so this time, when he drew in the surrounding spiritual energy as instructed, Ye Yun immediately noticed a difference. First, the energy gathering around him was denser than before. Second, it no longer spun around him wildly, but began rotating in an orderly direction. Finally, once it formed a small clockwise whirlwind, streams of spiritual energy shot through the acupoints all over his body and entered him. The vortex continued drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around it, like a bottomless pit, absorbing as much as it could.

After who knew how long, Ye Yun felt his meridians beginning to ache and swell. He understood that his body had reached its limit; continuing might damage them. So he stopped, regulated his breathing, and opened his eyes.

Feeling the surging magical power within him, Ye Yun couldn't help grinning. On his very first attempt, he had circulated the first level of the Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao through twelve major cycles. That was practically unheard of. Sure, he owed it to the system for cleansing and refining his body, transforming him completely, but it was still incredible. Even someone like Su Ru, a leader of one of the Seven Peaks, needed more than a month just to guide spiritual energy into her body. If he told anyone what he'd achieved, they might just die of fright.

Ye Yun calmed his excitement and recalled the explanation Su Ru had given him about the different realms.

The Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao had three realms: Jade Purity, Upper Purity, and Great Purity. Each realm was further divided into nine levels—though the original story hadn't made that clear, so he'd assume there were nine. Qingyun Sect disciples included many talented and intelligent people, yet plenty of them never broke through the Jade Purity Realm in their entire lives. Even so, reaching the highest level of Jade Purity was already an extremely rare achievement in the world.

Qingyun Sect had nearly a thousand disciples, but only a little over ten had broken through the Jade Purity Realm and entered the Upper Purity Realm. True Master Dao Xuan, the sect leader, was among them. Yet those dozen or so were enough to make Qingyun Sect one of the strongest and most influential cultivation sects of the day. As for the legendary, supreme Great Purity Realm, it was said that only Ancestor Qing Ye, an unparalleled genius from ages past, had ever reached it.

Thinking of this, Ye Yun felt the urge to sit down and cultivate again. At his current pace, he'd reach the Upper Purity Realm before long, and that realm already put him among the top experts of the day. In other words, he'd soon have enough energy to go home.

But too much of a good thing could be harmful. His meridians couldn't withstand another round of cultivation yet. Before he tried again, his body had to fully adapt to the spiritual power he'd refined and absorbed. Besides, he was getting hungry.

With that in mind, Ye Yun got to his feet and opened the secret chamber's door. Only when he stepped out of Tai Chi Cave did he realize it was already evening. Half the sun had sunk behind the mountains.

When Ye Yun arrived at the dining hall, he caught sight of Tian Buyi and his family of three just as they were heading inside.

Once in the dining hall, Ye Yun respectfully greeted Tian Buyi, Su Ru, and his other senior brothers before taking his seat. As expected, the moment he sat down, Tian Buyi asked how his cultivation had gone that day.

His actual progress was simply too shocking, so Ye Yun didn't tell the truth. He downplayed it, saying only that he could sense the spiritual energy around him and was preparing to draw it in and open his acupoints.

Tian Buyi didn't suspect anything. He nodded and paid no further attention to him. But his senior brothers stared at him as if he were some kind of monster, making Ye Yun feel a little uneasy. Fortunately, with Tian Buyi and Su Ru still there, they kept themselves in check and didn't come over to poke and prod him.

Maybe cultivators lived longer, because meals took at least half an hour to finish. Even after more than three months, Ye Yun still wasn't used to it. But there was nothing he could do about that. He was the junior-most disciple, after all.

Ye Yun counted the grains of rice in his bowl while keeping an eye on Tian Buyi and the others. The instant Tian Buyi set down his chopsticks, Ye Yun hurriedly shoveled the last mouthful of rice into his mouth. He was waiting for Tian Buyi to give them permission to leave so he could rush outside—the gazes from Song Daren and the others were seriously unnerving.

But there was a saying that man's plans could never outmatch fate's. Before Tian Buyi could give the signal, a shimmering red ribbon floated up from beneath the table and wrapped around Ye Yun's waist, binding him tightly. What made him despair most was that his shiniang, who doted on him more than anyone, had seen what happened but did nothing. She set down her chopsticks and left the dining hall with her husband.

"Shiniang, save me!" Ye Yun's muffled cry for help came from the dining hall just as Tian Buyi and Su Ru stepped outside. Neither of them looked back. They simply continued on their way home.