An Explosion Before the Fight, Heading Out

The lights in the suite's living room were still on.

However, the sky outside was already beginning to brighten slightly.

Yuan Zhonglü sat on the sofa, looking somewhat haggard with dark circles under his eyes. He clutched a cushion in his arms, appearing quite sleepy.

With her abilities, staying up for one night wouldn't normally be a big deal, but now it feels like she hasn't slept for two whole days.

Because Chu Tianshu and Chen Ying had a brief sparring match.

These two people are now sitting on the sofas, one on the left and one on the right.

Chu Tianshu looked to be in good spirits and full of interest. He was playing with his teacup in his hand, his eyes sparkling as if he were thinking about something.

Chen Ying remained expressionless, revealing neither joy nor anger. She sat there as if she could enter a state of Dao of Alchemy cultivation, a state of complete detachment from worldly thoughts, at any moment.

The two sparred directly in the living room, and their techniques were naturally very restrained; not a single item in the living room was damaged.

They simply sat on either side of a coffee table, using their hands instead of weapons, and competed in palm strikes, internal energy cultivation, and swordsmanship.

The only thing that might be affected is the glass panel on the coffee table.

Inside that glass, half of it is filled with pale white swirling vapors, some as large as the rim of a cup, others as small as a broad bean, which are still floating and drifting to this day.

Occasionally, a cyclone bursts open, shooting out a sword-shaped stream of air that pierces through other cyclones.

The other half of the glass looks much stranger.

There were bluish fingerprints, and the lines on the fingertips were clearly visible.

There was also a dark red crescent-shaped mark in the middle of all the blue fingerprints.

The blue seal is like water, like ice and jade; the crescent moon is like blood, like black flame.

Yuan Zhonglü reached out, wiped the glass, and then tapped it twice with his knuckles.

The marks left by those two people were not on the surface, but rather they were inside the glass.

However, the sound produced when tapping on the glass was not hollow, but rather solid and substantial.

"You two are truly outrageous. You didn't cause the slightest damage to the glass, yet you managed to infuse so much power into it, and it hasn't dissipated after all this time."

Teacher Little Yuan felt a mix of envy and helplessness.

"Those two who were actually fighting were really going all out, while I, who wasn't even involved, was exhausted."

After the marriage is finalized, Chen Ying can finally reveal her true form in reality.

However, if she wants to unleash her Taboo power, she must enter a state of "borrowing fate".

To put it simply, she and Teacher Little Yuan temporarily switched numbers, causing the forces of rejection in the real world to misjudge and stop rejecting Chen Ying, instead rejecting Teacher Little Yuan.

Yuan Zhonglü was weak, and when faced with this rejection, it was like a needle falling into a stream.

The force of the water flow on this needle is much smaller than the force of the entire stream.

Therefore, Yuan Zhonglü was able to hold out for a while longer, though not for very long.

Every time Chen Ying exerted her full strength, Teacher Little Yuan had to rest for a period of time.

"This exchange is necessary."

Chu Tianshu twirled the small white porcelain teacup in his hand, took a sip, and smiled, "Besides, this is also to let you get used to it in advance."

"Don't wait until a life-or-death emergency occurs before you experience this feeling of being rejected by reality for the first time."

There are two ways to determine the winner in the competition among the Seven Souls.

First, it's a battle of the strongest, where the chosen one from the Grotto-Heaven is completely annihilated.

Secondly, sever ties by killing the opponent's Incense-Bearing Child, forcing the opponent to retreat back to their Grotto-Heaven.

The Seven Souls experts are like seven gems embedded in the ruins of the Grotto-Heaven, unable to move at all inside the Grotto-Heaven.

Those who leave early can't cause any trouble in the Grotto-Heaven, and they also lose their last chance to be nourished by the earth's energy.

When the decisive battle of a hundred days is over and a victor is determined, the Grotto-Heaven Treasure Ship will automatically operate and refine the defeated who have retreated.

Therefore, it is highly likely that Yuan Zhonglü has been targeted and is being monitored.

No matter how hard she tries to hide, there's no guarantee she won't be found.

If they can adapt to being used by Chen Ying, allowing Chen Ying to maintain her fighting strength while Yuan Zhonglü can also move around, it would at least give them a better chance of survival.

"Child, you already possess the foundation of True Person Foundation Establishment, but you are unaware of it yet."

Chen Ying said, "While sharing common sense, you have already obtained the detailed methods of the Living Dead Method. Just follow the twelve more and twelve less sleeping techniques to sleep and recuperate."

Yuan Zhonglü nodded, put down the cushion, lay on his side on the sofa, propped one hand on his ear and covered his lower abdomen with the other.

She was naturally good at falling asleep, and she didn't know how she had this talent before. Now that she had obtained the detailed method, she could circulate her internal energy and relax her body in a balanced way.

She fell asleep in just four or five seconds.

Chu Tianshu looked at Teacher Little Yuan.

He could see that Yuan Zhonglü was moving towards a deep sleep, but he didn't stop there; he was moving towards an even deeper sleep.

"Jinggong?"

Hearing his whispered words, Chen Ying nodded and said, "Sleeping exercises are indeed a type of meditation."

Whether it's cultivating internal strength, internal energy, or Mind Power, all of them involve, to some extent, a process of stillness meditation.

The practice of meditation is not just about mental strength, but more about cultivating a state of mind.

Some minds seek tranquility in stillness, while others seek movement within stillness.

Depending on the method of practice, individual aptitude, acquired interests, and the development path of one's state of mind, there are countless variations.

But regardless of the state of mind, there is one commonality, the simplest manifestation of which is the degree of control over one's own power.

Of all the cultivation techniques Chu Tianshu has practiced so far, there is not a single set of dedicated meditation exercises.

Although his level of control over his power was not low, it was not obtained through dedicated comprehension, but rather through the effects of meditation attached to various techniques, as well as constant reflection and practice.

"The Living Dead Method, that sounds pretty good."

Chu Tianshu secretly took it to heart.

However, this level of meditation is merely icing on the cake.

The treasure trove of the "Sun-Chasing True Art" is still in its early stages and eagerly awaits further exploration. Chu Tianshu is currently circulating this skill within his body and is not in a hurry to inquire about other methods.

"Daoist Priest Chen, you said that there might be more than one Evil Spirit within the Grotto-Heaven energy. Can you describe the characteristics of their evil aura?"

"No."

Chen Ying said, "The seven of us have never met before, so our senses aren't very clear. We can only tell that it's definitely an evil aura."

Chu Tianshu pondered for a moment, about to ask another question, when he suddenly heard a faint explosion.

The explosion was quite far away.

But soon, the sirens of ambulances, fire trucks, and other vehicles passed by on nearby streets.

Chu Tianshu walked over, opened the glass door, and stepped onto the balcony, where he found the streets below filled with panic.

Many people were discussing it, and some were holding up their phones, shouting, "That was terrifying! It really exploded!"

Chu Tianshu's eyes locked onto the phone screen, and he took out his own phone to search for it.

The local trending topics just updated.

Upon clicking through, one finds numerous screen recordings from previous users.

Just minutes earlier, a man carrying a truckload of gas had stormed into the Shinsegae Mall.

The man was wearing a hoodie, looked to be no more than twenty or thirty years old, had an unusually pale face, and bloodshot eyes. He was live-streaming himself, laughing and shouting at the camera.

A security guard rushed over to stop him, but he grabbed him and threw him four or five meters away.

Customers and merchants near the mall began to flee and hide.

"Seven Stars, Seven Souls!"

After shouting, the man grabbed a lighter and lit all the gas cylinders. Fearing that the cylinders were of good quality and wouldn't explode, he then pulled out a large-caliber pistol.

Boom!!!

The video stopped as soon as the explosion and flames appeared.

Chu Tianshu swiped the screen and clicked on another live stream that was being broadcast from near the scene.

The person doing the live stream appeared to be on the second floor of a shop across the street from the mall. The camera was shaky, and the streamer and those around them were discussing it animatedly.

"I noticed something was wrong there just now; it actually exploded..."

"Across the street, our windows are cracked too, and it looks like several people were killed or injured at the scene."

"Don't let your hands shake! Our live stream angle is so good, it's bound to go viral!"

Chen Ying also walked over, her eyes grave. "Seven Stars and Seven Po Souls..."

"To point this out, and to act so lawlessly, is most likely the work of Evil Spirit; this is a provocation!"

She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a small, delicate yellow paper umbrella.

An umbrella made of stiff, tough yellow paper, when opened, is only about half the size of a palm.

It seems that these were probably items she carried with her before she was selected to enter the Grotto-Heaven. They had been refined with Mind Power and were well preserved, so they hadn't broken even after hundreds of years.

Chu Tianshu turned his head and asked, "What are you doing?"

Chen Ying said, "I'll use this umbrella to catch up with the car we just saw. Once they've arrived and are investigating the scene, I'll be able to hear what's happening there."

Although Northern and Southern Golden Elixir Sects primarily follow the path of Dao of Alchemy and qi cultivation, they also incorporate many elements of visualization and contemplation.

Wang Chongyang and Bai Yuchan were both figures Dual Cultivation of Life and Nature. In their later years, they both figured out some tricks for using internal alchemy to perform Dao of Alchemy.

For example, Wang Chongyang, though limited by the times and unable to cross the Taboo, possessed extraordinary skills, once using a large umbrella to fly from the top of a tall tower.

The umbrella flew more than two hundred miles to deliver a message to his apprentice.

Now that Chen Ying has mastered the Taboo, grasping these secrets shouldn't be difficult.

Chu Tianshu objected, "If it really is Evil Spirit directing things, even if they can't trace it back, they might still figure out your methods if they discover this umbrella."

Chen Ying paused for a moment, then realized what she meant.

"The Daoist priest doesn't seem to be very good at strategy, or perhaps it's because he just woke up?"

Chu Tianshu stepped back from the balcony, closed the glass door, and drew the curtains.

"You stay here with Teacher Little Yuan, I'll go check out the area myself."

Chen Ying watched his retreating figure, lost in thought.

The battle of the Seven Souls should be a clash between good and evil, followed by a duel between the strongest, a life-or-death struggle, where the victor lives and the deceased has no regrets.

Evil Spirit are immoral and cause such trouble.

But why did this extraordinary modern expert's demeanor become somewhat strange the moment he stepped out the door?

Yuan Zhonglü, who was on the sofa, was awakened by the car alarm. He asked sleepily, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, you can go back to sleep."

Chen Ying walked to her side, gently stroked her hair, thought for a moment, and then said, "Since this young man Chu is your friend, do you know anything about his life and deeds?"

Actually, I wasn't particularly familiar with him before; I'd only heard a few things about him.

Yuan Zhonglü thought for a moment, "The principal is quite familiar with him. In the principal's words, it's like..."

Teacher Little Yuan gave a thumbs up.

"Fierce yet always smiling, brave yet ruthless, what a fine young man, a pillar of the righteous path!"

Chen Ying choked for a moment.

The righteous path of your time is quite... extraordinary.

(End of this chapter)