Chapter 111
Chapter 111
The Return Journey (1)
Zheng Wan did not sleep that night.
The concentration of vital Qi in Chiyou City was much higher than that of the small city she had stayed in at the beginning. The Returning to the Origin Sutra emphasised neutrality and calmness, so it wasn’t particularly effective in absorbing vital Qi. As a result, even though she had heavenly-grade vital roots1, her progress was still not fast——
According to conventions, she should have entered the late phase of the Gateway stage long ago.
Therefore, even though she and Cui Wang parted on bad terms, after the “fight”, she still raced off to train.
During this training, she sensed something different.
All the ice vital energy that entered her body reached the centre of her brows, it smoothed out, coursing through the body obediently like a tamed field dog as obediently run through the body a week. It was as easy to control as her very own arm.
According to what Granny Jin had told her, rare vital roots were precious and scarce. They had extremely outstanding combat power and could also give rise to remarkable innate abilities. But at the same time, they were much more violent than ordinary vital roots.
They took a lot more time to tame than ordinary vital roots.
“Granny, why is this happening?”
Perhaps because Zheng Wan’s cultivation has been going well recently, the time Granny Jin was able to stay awake was increasingly frequent. “Naturally, it’s due to the innate Dao core. It was twelve long chimes, you know. Do you think it’s a special gift anyone can get?”
Zheng Wan remembered what she saw in the great hall: twenty small cities, a hundred and twenty people per city, resulting in a total of more than two thousand people at the trial, there was only once when the bell chimed thrice, and once when the bell chimed once——
It was clear that the Dao cores were rare.
“There are two types of Dao cores—innate and acquired. Innate Dao cores coincide with the morality of heaven and earth, and are Greater Daos, while acquired Daos are Lesser Daos. If one bears a Dao core, one would naturally get twice the result with half the effort during cultivation.”
Granny Jin sighed. “However, people who are able to obtain Dao cores at the beginning stages of initiation could also be said to be a particular type of person—one who is excessively stubborn about one’s obsessions. For such people, during the later stages, it is common for their heart’s demons to bear even more weight. It would be much more difficult for them to eradicate their heart’s demons than ordinary people.
“Tens of thousands of years ago, Ben Lei Xianjun invoked twelve long chimes, and single-handedly established the Guixu sect, leaving behind the most supreme teachings. He was such an amazing and brilliant figure, but unfortunately——”
“Unfortunately what?” asked Zheng Wan curiously.
“None of your business!” Granny Jin’s tone suddenly became vicious. “Little kids shouldn’t be so nosy.”
“……Oh.”
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Zheng Wan was startled by her response, and guessed that this Ben Lei Xianjun must not have had a good ending, otherwise, Granny Jin wouldn’t have been so agitated. She didn’t take it to heart, and tossed this matter aside soon after.
By the end of the next day’s meditation, she felt that another orifice within her body was filled; this was the tenth orifice. Granny Jin had said that during the Gateway stage, after filling up eighteen orifices, one could attempt to have a breakthrough.
“Little Junior Sister, Little Junior Sister, are you there?”
There was a knock at the door. Zheng Wan could tell from the voice that it belonged to the fellow disciple named Qing Shuang she met yesterday. She got off the bed hurriedly and went to open the door. “Senior Brother, why have you come so early?”
“Early?”
Qing Shuang looked at the sun outside the corridor’s window. The round, red sun was currently setting in the west. He scratched his head, “It’s already a quarter past five, and the third trial is over. Little Junior sister, it’s time to depart.”
Only then did Zheng Wan feel her belly rumbling like a drum; so, she had been training for so long?
Upon hearing that, Qing Shuang smiled and took out some food wrapped in oiled paper from his infinity pouch2. “Senior Brother only has some naan, have some, Little Junior Sister.”
“Does departing mean going directly to the sect?”
Zheng Wan took the naan and thanked him.
“Yes.” Qing Shuang was a thoughtful and meticulous person, otherwise, he wouldn’t have come here as team leader. Detecting something off about Zheng Wan’s expression, he asked, “Little Junior Sister, do you have unfinished business?”
Zheng Wan nodded.
“I’ve heard that sects would help make living arrangements for the relatives of inner disciples, is that right? I… would like to go fetch my parents.”
She added, seemingly bashful, “My father and mother… are mortals.”
Qing Shuang’s gaze softened immediately; he broke into a smile and reached out to rub her head. It was only now that he felt that this little junior sister was just a little child who loved her family.
Footnotes:
1 heavenly-grade: Zheng Wan’s vital roots were previously said to be “top-grade” by Granny Jin in an earlier chapter, and the four grades are: low, medium, top and immortal, but for some reason, from this point on, the author uses the word 天品 (heavenly-grade), which is none of the initial four grades we were introduced to before. A little inconsistency on the author’s part, please pardon it!
2 infinity pouch: Previously transliterated as Qiankun pouch, it’s a type of pouch where spatial dimensional laws do not apply, and (usually) can store an infinite number of objects, regardless of size.