Chapter 457 - 399: A Difficult Problem

Chapter 457: Chapter 399: A Difficult Problem

"Patriarch."

Seeing Chen Li enter, Luo Pingyuan immediately rose and bowed respectfully.

Liu Zongying also clasped his hands in a salute.

"Third Master, you must be tired from your journey."

Chen Li instructed a maidservant standing by, "Take Master Liu San to the West Courtyard to get settled. See to his needs."

After the maidservant led Liu Zongying away, Chen Li’s gaze fell upon Luo Pingyuan. He gestured to a chair below him and got straight to the point. "Sit. Have you taken the elixir? How do you feel?"

Luo Pingyuan said gratefully, "Thank you for the divine medicine, Patriarch. My dantian has now been fully repaired."

He spoke with sincerity, truly shocked to his core.

Even after managing the Jiang Family for so many years, he had never encountered such an elixir.

His understanding of Chen Li’s methods and resources deepened, and his sense of awe grew even stronger.

"Mm, repairing your dantian is just the first step."

Chen Li nodded. "Your cultivation is currently crippled. If you were to recultivate your old technique, even with ample resources, it would take several years of hard work to return to your peak. As the Magistrate of Jingshan County, you’ll find it difficult to handle many matters without your cultivation."

He looked at Luo Pingyuan for a moment, then paused before continuing, "I have a cultivation technique here that can help you recover your cultivation in a short amount of time. You now have two choices. First, you can go back to basics and recultivate your original technique, but you will walk that path alone. Second, you can switch to my cultivation technique, and I can assist you. The choice is yours to make."

Hearing this, a flicker of doubt crossed Luo Pingyuan’s eyes, but it was suppressed almost instantly.

He said without hesitation, "My old cultivation technique was mediocre. To have the great fortune of being taught a divine skill by the Patriarch is the honor of a lifetime. I will follow the Patriarch’s arrangements."

He came from a humble background and had only changed his destiny by marrying into a prominent family; he was no fool.

It seemed as if Chen Li had given him a choice, but in reality, he had none.

’Refuse?’

’That would mean not only losing this chance to quickly recover my cultivation, but also becoming a pawn that could be discarded at any moment.’

Though his injuries had improved, his enemies were still at large and danger lurked everywhere. Without Chen Li’s protection, it was uncertain whether he could even stay alive.

He had a faint feeling that this cultivation technique, one that could restore him to his peak in a matter of days, probably came at a price.

But at this moment, he had no other choice.

Even if it was poison, he had to swallow it.

"Very good."

Chen Li seemed quite pleased with his astuteness. Without another word, he began to slowly recite the essential principles of the Righteous Wealth Cultivation Method, including its opening summary, sensing technique, qi flow route, and circulation transport.

Luo Pingyuan listened with rapt attention, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent as he silently committed it all to memory.

After all, he once had the cultivation of the Spirit Realm Seventh Level: Inner Mansion Pass. With his extraordinary experience and insight, he understood the profound mysteries of the cultivation technique’s core tenets as soon as he heard them, but he also keenly sensed that something was off.

When Chen Li finished, Luo Pingyuan pondered for a moment before speaking. "Patriarch, the concepts of this technique are profound and unlike anything I have ever heard of. It’s just..."

He paused, observing Chen Li’s expression. Seeing no displeasure, he continued cautiously, "I am slow-witted, but this cultivation technique seems... incomplete? Is there... another key aspect to it?"

He phrased it very tactfully.

Chen Li, however, didn’t seem to mind. He casually asked in return, "Magistrate Luo, your insight is indeed extraordinary to have noticed this upon first hearing the technique. I wonder, what are your thoughts on it? Or do you have any good suggestions? Feel free to share them. I will give them serious consideration and perhaps make improvements in the future."

His tone was calm, but the undercurrent of coldness in his words made Luo Pingyuan’s heart leap into his throat, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

’I got carried away!’

Luo Pingyuan immediately stood up, bowed, and apologized. "I wouldn’t dare! Please forgive me, Patriarch. My knowledge is shallow. Upon first hearing this profound skill, I failed to fully grasp its wonders and spoke nonsense. Please, Patriarch, don’t take it to heart."

Chen Li stared at him for a moment, his gaze so intense that Luo Pingyuan’s scalp tingled. Only then did he look away and say coolly, "In that case, focus on comprehending it. Inform me when you feel you can circulate the technique without issue."

Luo Pingyuan repeatedly agreed, not daring to say another word. He immediately composed himself and focused his entire mind on studying the cultivation technique.

"Patriarch, I have sorted out the cultivation technique. I am ready to try."

Half an hour later, Luo Pingyuan reported.

Chen Li said no more and had him sit in meditation.

Luo Pingyuan sat down cross-legged as instructed and focused his heart spirit.

Chen Li placed a palm on the Baihui acupoint at the crown of his head.

With a single thought, the Treasure Basin trembled.

Guided by Chen Li’s intention, a boundless, immeasurable amount of Wealth Qi from within the basin began to pour into Luo Pingyuan’s body.

"This is... Wealth Qi?!"

Luo Pingyuan’s entire body shuddered.

He felt a strange and pure energy pouring into him from the crown of his head.

This energy was unlike any inner qi he was familiar with. It was neutral and gentle, yet it carried an indescribable sense of wealth and nobility, as if he were holding a thousand pieces of gold, giving him a feeling of absolute confidence.

As soon as the Wealth Qi entered his body, he automatically began to circulate it through his meridians, following the route recorded in the Righteous Wealth Cultivation Method.

Wherever it passed, it was like a welcome rain after a long drought. The familiar yet distant sensation of power was slowly returning.

In fact, Luo Pingyuan was not wrong.

The Righteous Wealth Cultivation Method was indeed currently incomplete. One could even say it possessed a fundamental flaw.

A cultivation technique worthy of being passed down through generations must be all-encompassing and form a complete system in itself.

From the most basic step of sensing the Heaven and Earth Qi, to how to guide it into the body, how to store and circulate it in the meridians, how to use qi to break through barriers and overcome cultivation bottlenecks, and even to what Great Dao it ultimately points, every step requires a clear, rigorous logic and technique.

For Chen Li, the many stages of the Righteous Wealth Cultivation Method that came after guiding the qi were actually not the most difficult part.

At the higher levels of cultivation, all techniques lead to the same origin; many fundamental principles are interconnected.

Chen Li’s own cultivation had already reached the Dharma Aspect realm. His perspective was broad, and he had studied numerous cultivation technique manuals. By drawing on this knowledge and making deductions, designing a cultivation system for Wealth Qi was challenging, but not impossible.

The real challenge, and the most fundamental one, was "Sensing Qi."

Wealth Qi is not a natural energy of heaven and earth, nor is it a tangible form of energy.

Unlike other types of qi used for cultivation, it is deeply attached to currency.

To sense it, and then to distinguish and extract the qi from it for cultivation, places extremely high demands on a cultivator’s divine sense.

This raised the entry threshold for the Righteous Wealth Cultivation Method to a dauntingly high level.

An ordinary martial artist must break through the Divine Hall Pass to even begin to condense their divine sense.

This meant that the prerequisite for cultivating the Righteous Wealth Cultivation Method was to have, at a minimum, the cultivation of the Divine Hall realm.

A Divine Hall Grandmaster, relying on their existing divine sense, could try to sense and guide the Wealth Qi, and they would not be slow to get the hang of it.

But what about an ordinary martial artist with a lower cultivation level, or even a mortal who has never cultivated at all?

They would be unable to understand the profound descriptions in the cultivation technique, let alone comprehend how to see the flowing qi in a pile of silver coins.

To them, this cultivation technique would be no different from an indecipherable text.

This was quite a headache for Chen Li as well.

After much hard thought, the only solution he could currently devise was to combine it with two other cultivation techniques.

The Prajna Glaze Heart Sutra of the Self-Viewing and the Innate Qi Gathering Technique.

By doing so, the cultivation threshold could be lowered to the Spirit Realm First Level.

The Prajna Glaze Heart Sutra of the Self-Viewing, however, allows a cultivator to condense a divine sense illusion ahead of time through a special contemplation technique, even before they have opened the Divine Hall Pass.

Although this prematurely condensed wisp of divine sense is weak, it already possesses the most basic characteristics of a true divine sense.

After cultivating the Innate Qi Gathering Technique, it would be theoretically possible to use this wisp of divine sense to sense the Wealth Qi.

The problem, however, is that using such a weak divine sense to sense the Wealth Qi would be extremely inefficient. It might take a very long time just to capture a single sliver, and the pace of cultivation would be despairingly slow.

What’s more, both the Prajna Glaze Heart Sutra of the Self-Viewing and the Innate Qi Gathering Technique were Chen Li’s core cultivation techniques. How could he possibly trust anyone outside of his own bloodline with such secret techniques?

He hadn’t even taught these two cultivation techniques to Qin Yirong, who had long since pledged her allegiance to the Chen Family.

It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but that he truly did not dare.

The human heart is difficult to fathom. They could absolutely not be taught lightly.