Hundred Refinements

Chapter Twenty: Hundred Refinements?

Qin Zhan smiled with relief, a genuine smile that swept away years of pent-up frustration and gloom.

"Xiao Yu, you just need to know that all my efforts these past years were for you and Xue'er to enter the sect. This was your mother's and my shared wish!" Qin Zhan said slowly.

"Is that so? By hiding everything, what do you take us for? Your puppets? Xue'er and I have to follow the path you've laid out?" Qin Yu retorted coldly. He hadn't wanted to get involved in Qin Family matters at all; he was just a passerby, and soon he would forge his own path. But the current situation made it impossible for him to extricate himself cleanly. To leave the Qin Family and head to the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect, he still had to endure these next six months.

Moreover, Xue'er was still here, and Qin Yu didn't want her to be sad. There was also a sliver of guilt and moved feeling in Qin Yu's heart because Qin Zhan had knelt for three days and three nights.

Qin Zhan's expression flickered, his eyelids lowered as he fell into thought and struggle. After a long pause, he suddenly said, "Haven't you wondered why you've suddenly become so intelligent? And... the technique you used when fighting Cui Shuo, that should be the Myriad Heavens Battle Art, right? I didn't expect you to have learned it so quickly."

Qin Yu was taken aback. He had just been wondering if he was making Qin Zhan suspicious, and now Qin Zhan's sudden words made Qin Yu sense something. He stared at Qin Zhan, not answering.

"Your mother left something behind on you. I'm not entirely sure what it is. She only said that you would awaken what she left behind around the age of sixteen. What surprised and pleased me was that you awakened it early. Since that's the case, you have the right to know some things," Qin Zhan said with a hint of sadness, as if recalling many memories.

Left something behind?

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes. He didn't feel anything inside his body. Could it be because his cultivation was not high enough?

"And you should have also noticed that my cultivation isn't at the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm, right?" Qin Zhan added.

Qin Yu's gaze sharpened. Back then, Qin Zhan had used his Qi to support an object and shatter the Three Mountains Defending Heaven Formation Qin Yu had set up with a single palm strike. Qin Yu was certain Qin Zhan's cultivation was at least at the Gangqi Realm. However, Qin Yu was puzzled as to how he had managed to deceive him, especially since Qin Yu had interacted with cultivators of various realms and could easily discern their cultivation from their aura.

"I reached the Martial Realm thirty years ago, the early stage of the Gangqi Realm twenty years ago, and the middle stage of the Gangqi Realm seventeen years ago!" Qin Zhan's eyes flashed with a strange light.

Qin Yu frowned. Ten years to go from Martial Realm First Layer to Ninth Level of the Martial Realm? And only three years to go from early Gangqi to middle Gangqi?

"The reason my cultivation fell is related to the spiritual art I cultivate. I obtained this spiritual art by chance when I was young. It cultivates very slowly, but within the same realm, I don't fear anyone in a one-on-one fight."

"Twenty-three years ago, I accidentally discovered this spiritual art was a bit strange. I could actually burn my cultivation to gain immense power. It was then that I caught Cui Hong's eye, and he promoted me to general and married Cui Liu to me. However, at that time, Cui Liu was already pregnant. For all these years, Cui Liu and I have treated each other with respect, sharing the name of husband and wife, but not the reality of it."

Qin Yu's eyes gleamed. No marital relations? That means Qin Feng and Qin Yong aren't Qin Zhan's biological sons? And Qin Zhan has been enduring this all these years...

Qin Yu felt an inexplicable pang of sadness. If, at first, Qin Zhan was forced by the Cui Family's power, then now... enduring for so many years, it was likely for him and Xue'er!

It was hard to imagine that for over a decade, Qin Zhan had raised the sons of another man without revealing a single flaw, while Cui Liu dared not reveal the truth for fear of Cui Hong's reprimand. This meant even Cui Hong didn't know, showing how bitter Qin Zhan's life had been all these years.

"Nineteen years ago, I met your mother. We fell deeply in love and were devoted to each other. But our happiness was short-lived. One day, seventeen years ago, someone inexplicably attacked the barracks. Your mother annihilated those attackers, while I burned my cultivation and, at the middle stage of the Gangqi Realm, killed a cultivator at the Second Realm of Heavenly Quenching. However, my cultivation dropped from the middle stage of Gangqi to the Martial Realm Second Level. It took me all these years to finally return to the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm!" Qin Zhan said, a slight curve to his lips, as if recalling past happy times, however brief.

If Qin Yu had felt a bit dismissive before—what kind of talent is this, staying at the Martial Realm for ten years?—he was now shocked by Qin Zhan's subsequent words!

Burning cultivation? Killing a peak Second Realm of Heavenly Quenching cultivator at the middle stage of Gangqi?

What kind of terrifying spiritual art is this?

Even after reading through the entire Library Pavilion of the Tian Qi Sect, Qin Yu had never encountered such a bizarre and overbearing spiritual art!

One had to know that the higher the cultivation, the greater the gap between each realm. It was like how he, at the Sixth Level of the Martial Realm, could fight Cui Shuo, who was at the early stage of the Gangqi Realm, by using the Six Transformations of the Mad Demon. But he absolutely could not achieve killing a peak Second Realm of Heavenly Quenching cultivator at the middle stage of Gangqi, even with the Six Transformations of the Mad Demon!

"It was also at that time that your mother saved Cui Hong's life. Cui Hong also learned that your mother was from the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect. This is precisely why Cui Hong has been secretly supporting me all these years, just as you said, wanting to get in touch with the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect!"

"After that battle, your mother and I lived peacefully for a few years. Cui Hong and Cui Liu didn't dare to disturb us. It was then that you and Xue'er were born. But after Xue'er was born, your mother left without a word. Even though so many years have passed, I firmly believe your mother is not dead, and I want to find her."

"But reality forces me to stay here. One reason is that you two were still young. The second is that after my cultivation regressed, my cultivation speed became even slower. I've immersed myself in business all these years, accumulating wealth greedily, hoping to quickly improve my cultivation, but it was useless. Fortunately, what comforts me is that although my cultivation progresses slowly, my strength seems to increase with every minor realm advancement."

"Although I am currently at the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm, I don't even consider ordinary Gangqi Realm cultivators. Moreover, I have activated another area besides my dantian." As he spoke, Qin Zhan glanced at Qin Yu and pointed a finger towards Qin Yu's brow.

"Sea of Suffering?" Qin Yu exclaimed inwardly, whispering the words.

"How do you know that place is called the Sea of Suffering?" Qin Zhan looked at Qin Yu in surprise. He had searched through numerous ancient texts to learn that the place between the eyebrows was called the Sea of Suffering.

He didn't know that Qin Yu was not only shocked by this but even more so by the spiritual art Qin Zhan cultivated. Qin Yu vaguely felt that the spiritual art Qin Zhan practiced was extremely similar to a spiritual art described in ancient texts he had read in the Tian Qi Sect's Library Pavilion.

Seeing Qin Yu's silence, Qin Zhan attributed it to Qin Yu's mother again. With a sigh, he said, "Your mother's origins are not simple. She deliberately hid them from me. For all these years, I haven't even known her background, only that she was a disciple of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect. But I did inquire, and it's true that your mother is a disciple of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect. In fact, she was said to be the maidservant of a celestial maiden from the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect. However, I have a nagging feeling that's not the case, because I met the celestial maiden of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect once, and she treated your mother with courtesy, not like a servant."

"Therefore, I've been waiting. Once you and Xue'er enter the Immortal Sect, and once my cultivation improves, I will leave to find your mother!" Qin Zhan sighed. These matters had weighed solely on him for years. He had endured for so long, his experiences had smoothed his rough edges, but they could never erase his feelings for Qin Yu's mother.

Qin Yu stared at Qin Zhan, sensing he had aged considerably, and felt a deep unease. However, regarding the spiritual art Qin Zhan cultivated, Qin Yu vaguely had a clue.

Seeing Qin Yu's silence, Qin Zhan assumed Qin Yu couldn't accept it all at once. After a long pause, he said, "In these next five and a half months, I will do everything I can to help you improve your cultivation. You should rest for a while." With that, Qin Zhan slowly stood up and left wearily.

Watching Qin Zhan's retreating back, Qin Yu suddenly thought of a phrase, a flicker of surprise and shock crossing his eyes.

"A thousand hammerings upon the body, a hundred refinements of the heart, could it be 'Hundred Refinements'?"

"How is that possible?"

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