Chapter 10
After reading through the general outline of the cultivation method, Xu Ziqing didn’t realize how lucky he was before.
It was important to know that before the spiritual source had been bound, the spiritual energy would only be temporarily retained in the Dantian. And no matter how tame the spiritual energy seemed, it was actually like a round peg in a square hole in a body that wasn’t acclimated. With a little bit of carelessness, his Dantian would explode and he’d lose his cultivation. Fortunately, he only tossed about once after deep meditation, so there was no accident. Next time, he must absolutely not.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Xu Ziqing was free to examine his body. He was originally an adolescent boy, his hair was not very long, and his stature was naturally not tall. But now, after his deep meditation, his whole person seemed to be taller, and his skin was fair, bright, and jade-like, being much more delicate than his original juvenile skin.
According to the basis in [Hua Cao Jue], the dirt on the surface of his body before were his internal impurities, which were discharged with the entry of spiritual energy. When he cultivated again in the future, impurities would continue to be discharged and would be completely ‘cleaned’ once his foundation was completed. Xu Ziqing figured that the process of increasing cultivation was also the process of ‘cleaning’ yourself inside and out.
Cultivation was like rowing against the tide. If one didn’t move forward, they would fall behind. Since it was late now and he couldn’t go out to work, he might as well continue to cultivate.
Xu Ziqing walked over to the bed again, sat down cross-legged, settled himself, and entered deep meditation.
Later, at the request of Old Man He, Xu Ziqing followed him to work in the spiritual field during the day. While listening to his teachings, he was responsible for being an assistant. In the evening, he would return to cultivate and try to absorb enough spiritual energy to fill his Dantian. The days passed quickly, and Xu Ziqing enjoyed it very much, not feeling bored at all.
However, his daily cultivation time was only half or even less than those with high aptitudes who didn’t have to do chores. Xu Ziqing also knew that his progress must be much slower than that of the same period. Therefore, as long as he has a moment to spare, he would cultivate diligently. After a period of time, it could be regarded as a small gain.
Old Man He didn’t know how well Xu Ziqing was progressing with his Dantian, but he taught the cultivation method. Granted that he fulfilled his obligations, what he really taught Xu Ziqing was the skill of managing spiritual herbs. His life span had passed 170, and he would decline in less than 30 years. He must cultivate a successor loyal to the Xu family.
And because Xu Ziqing’s surname was Xu, he had no reservations all the more. After all, Xu Ziqing was a part of the genealogy. Even if his status wasn’t high, he would surely have a sense of belonging to the clan. In the Xu family, honor one and you honor them all, injure one and you injure them all. Although Xu Ziqing was not really attached to the Xu family as Old Man He thought, he still respected Old Man He himself and didn’t reject being a miscellaneous worker like Old Man He in the spirit herb garden, cultivating and accompanying the spirit herbs.
Time flowed like water, and two months passed by in the twinkling of an eye.
On this day, Xu Ziqing was half squatting on the ground, stretching out his hand to gently flatten a tall and slender spiritual herb leaf. Suddenly, a thunderous roar sounded in the air, making his head buzz, and making him nearly tear the herb leaf into two pieces.
“Xu Zhengtian, your Xu family has gone too far in bullying others!”
He didn’t know who made this angry shout, but it was full of spiritual power. Not only did Xu Ziqing suffer, but all the juniors of the Xu family, as long as they were below the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, were pale and frightened. There were also those who had bad luck and were suddenly woken from deep meditation by this shout, causing them to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Xu Ziqing was protected by the array above Baicao Garden, which helped shield and sustain the spiritual herbs, as well as Old Man He who reacted in time to grab his wrist to help, so he was just given a fright. But then a clap of thunder suddenly rang out in the sky, the sound was endless, making him light-headed and unable to control himself.
However, he managed to hear Old Man He beside him say uncertainly: “Who is fighting against the Patriarch?”
Immediately, he heard another deep but vigorous voice resounding through the sky: “Tian Cheng, I respect you as the head of the Tian family and let you vent three points of your anger, but I’m not afraid of you. Yet you are adamant! Do you really believe that I, Xu Zhengtian, am a pinched persimmon?!”
Tian Cheng also replied without giving any impression of weakness: “You embarrass me, we’ll see what happens!”
Xu Zhengtian responded: “You don’t know what’s good or bad for you, don’t know what you’re talking about! My Xu family is not a place where you can throw your weight around!”
Both of them were experts in the Foundation Establishment period, their fighting abilities being earth-shattering. Tian Cheng got the thunder rolling, while Xu Zhengtian became a ray of light. The two people came and went, like two long angry dragons crossing the river, making the spiritual energy over the Xu family boil over like boiling water.
For that moment, no one dared to draw spiritual energy toward themselves anymore. If they attracted the spells of the two experts, wouldn’t they just be making a rod for their own back and end up killing themselves?
Xu Ziqing looked up and could see two small figures in the air, confronting each other with roaring wind and thunder. Within a radius of ten miles, there was a typhoon of thunder rumbling and lightning flashing. Even birds could not fly half a step into the sky.
“This… is the power of an expert in the Foundation Establishment period…” He couldn’t help muttering.
Old Man He also looked up at the two people: “The Patriarch still cares about the people of the clan, so the battle is carried out at a height of a thousand li1. It is because of the control of the Patriarch that you and I can see the glow of magic in the sky without being shocked by the aftershocks.”
Xu Ziqing asked: “Since the both of them are experts of the Foundation Establishment period, I wonder which side will win?”
Old Man He didn’t avoid the subject: “Naturally, the Patriarch is superior. Even if they are at the same level, there are differences between them. Tian Cheng of the Tian family is of the same era as the Patriarch, but his qualifications are inferior to his. The Patriarch’s cultivation has been in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment for 20 years, but Tian Cheng just entered the middle stage the year before last. The Patriarch’s heritage is thicker than that of Tian Cheng, so the rhythm of the battle is controlled by him.”
Xu Ziqing nodded to himself, it seemed that this was indeed the case. What Tian Cheng wanted was to harm the Xu family, while the Patriarch wanted to protect the Xu family. As the two entangled, they hit the areas where the Xu family wasn’t affected. Of course, this was the result of the Patriarch’s efforts.
The battle fighting in the air wasn’t over yet. Tian Cheng’s cultivation method was the manipulation of thunder, filling the whole sky with lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, a fierce gale blowing through. But Patriarch Xu Zhengtian held the wind and thunder in his hands, spiritual energy surging between each of his gestures. He controlled the lightning in the clouds, not letting even the least bit leak through.
Although it was not easy to make thunder, it was even more difficult to block thunder so completely. Xu Zhengtian’s victory is not only seen clearly by Old Man He, but also by the juniors of the Xu family who had higher cultivation.
After holding on for a while, Tian Cheng didn’t have endless spiritual power in the end and gradually began showing signs of decline. Xu Zhengtian was still at ease, and suddenly threw out a line of fire with his arms to surround Tian Cheng. Tian Cheng was carelessly hit in the chest by the line of fire, causing him to spit blood with a grunt, fall backward, and finally manage to stabilize before hitting the ground.
“Xu Zhengtian, you… you are very good!” Tian Cheng held his breath, waved his palm, and slammed it into the ground—an extremely strong pressure fell from the air, making the Qi Refinement cultivators tremble and crumble.
Xu Zhengtian’s eyes widened angrily: “Tian Cheng, lowly person, you dare!”
Tian Cheng laughed heartily: “Why don’t I, Tian Cheng, dare? You just clean up this mess slowly!” With that, the wind began to rise, and his whole person flew away into the distance.
Only one rampant remark was left—“At this year’s Kuiyuan, my Tian family will see how you look good!”
Xu Zhengtian didn’t have time to respond. Tian Cheng was very vicious. Before leaving, he used 10% of his spiritual power to send an attack toward the unprotected eastern main courtyard not far from Feijie Mountain. Those who lived there were all potential cultivation seedlings, but they didn’t have the power to protect themselves. How could they escape from the full effort of a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment period? If they were compromised, then the Xu family would show a situation of the granary being nearly empty but the new crop not yet being ripe!
With no option, Xu Zhengtian had to fall from the high altitude quickly. Even if he had to risk himself, he still had to prevent damage to the main courtyard on the east side!
At this critical moment, a shadow flew from Feijiu Mountain. Because of its proximity, it arrived at the east main courtyard faster than Xu Zhengtian.
Immediately afterward, there was a sword light that rushed out, slashing fiercely against the substantial attack with a loud bang!
Seeing the sword light pass by, the attack left by Tian Cheng collapsed, and instantly dissipated.
When Xu Zhengtian arrived, the aftermath of the attack had completely dissipated, making him breathe a sigh of relief.
“Well done.” He patted the person on the shoulder, and then returned to Feijiu Mountain with them.
Seeing the scene just now, Old Man He sighed: “It seems that from today on, the Xu family and the Tian family have completely torn their faces2. I wonder what discord between the two Patriarchs has caused Tian Cheng to be so furious to the point of coming to blows.”
Xu Ziqing knew that the elder was not asking him, a newcomer odd-job worker, but was just talking to himself. But even so, he still had questions, and couldn’t help but ask: “Steward He, I wonder who was the one who slashed the Tian family Patriarch’s attack with the sword light? It was so powerful.”
Old Man He smiled and said, “That person was Xu Zifeng. ”
Xu Zifeng? After thinking about it carefully, Xu Ziqing remembered the haughty but rational woman named Xu Zitang. It was said that she had a blood-related brother, Xu Zifeng.
On that day, Xu Zitang came to the herb garden to ask for a Qianji herb in order to refine a qi replenishing pill for Xu Zifeng who had successfully established his foundation in order to stabilize his vital qi.
Looking at Xu Zifeng’s sword just now, the sword light was piercingly cold, and even Xu Ziqing, a rookie who had just entered the way of cultivation, could also see that he had a vigorous aura, without the slightest lack of fluctuations. The herb must have helped.
In the beginning period of Foundation Establishment, he was able to block the attack of Tian Cheng, who was in the middle period of Foundation Establishment. Although the other party’s spiritual power had been consumed a lot, Xu Zifeng’s ease in blocking it was extraordinary!
For that moment, Xu Ziqing developed an admiration for Xu Zifeng.
Seeing Xu Ziqing’s fascinated expression, Old Man He couldn’t help but smile: “That Xu Zifeng is indeed the most talented child of our Xu family in 500 years. He is also a direct descendant and is already in a high position. He was determined and cultivated very hard, so he was able to lay a foundation at the age of 25, which made the Patriarch very proud. His status can be described as above the elders. If you have the heart, you can use him as a mirror, even if you can’t catch up, you can also use him to reflect on yourself.”
Footnotes
1, li, ancient measure of length.
2, The concept of ‘face’ is reputation; self-respect; prestige, honor; social standing. It will likely be mentioned in the future, as it’s a common concept. In this instance of usage, ‘to tear each other’s faces’ is like to break ties in a not-so-nice manner.