Chapter 403 - 211: The Three Sects Assemble at the Patriarch’s Main Hall

Chapter 403: Chapter 211: The Three Sects Assemble at the Patriarch’s Main Hall

A few seconds later, the Spiritual Qi concentration in the room returned to a relatively normal level. A very faint grunt escaped Sun Chen’s lips. He then opened his eyes and subconsciously stroked the little fox’s furry head.

Only then did he see Qin Huaiming in front of him, and Gu You and Yang Wenqing to the side.

"Martial Uncles... Junior Brother Yang..." Sun Chen tried to get up and bow, but Qin Huaiming gently pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don’t move. Focus your mind, regulate your breathing, and guide the remaining Spiritual Qi back onto the right path," Qin Huaiming said in a serious tone. "You were absorbing too hastily just now. You couldn’t refine the Five Yang Qi fast enough and nearly brought about a catastrophe. Right now, you need to stabilize your mind and clear out the residual Five Yang Qi. Otherwise, you can forget about the grand competition the day after tomorrow."

Sun Chen did as he was told and closed his eyes. He readjusted his breathing and carefully guided the still-turbulent Spiritual Qi within his body.

Qin Huaiming and Gu You finally breathed a small sigh of relief and turned their gaze to Yang Wenqing. Gu You patted the gray cloth pouch in his hand and grinned. "Lucky for him you found out early, kid. A moment later, and damage to this boy’s foundation would’ve been the least of his worries."

His tone held a note of relief, but also a trace of lingering fear.

Qin Huaiming also said, "Wenqing, you did well."

Yang Wenqing’s thoughts raced. After a moment of deliberation, he replied, "I was also nourishing my five viscera when I suddenly sensed a restless instability in the surrounding Five Yang Qi. On top of that, Lan Ying sensed Red Shadow’s anxiety. I felt something was wrong and took the liberty of breaking down the door to check."

Qin Huaiming nodded, his gaze falling back on Sun Chen, who was still regulating his breath.

Just then, Li Ping clearly wanted to enter. His face was frighteningly pale, sweat was beading on his temples, and he opened his mouth as if to speak.

Qin Huaiming raised a hand to stop him and said in a low voice, "It’s under control, Steward Li. Nephew Sun needs to rest quietly. You stand guard outside and don’t let anyone disturb him."

As he spoke, he gestured to Gu You and Yang Wenqing. The three of them then quietly exited the room and returned to the corridor.

As if granted a great pardon, Li Ping wiped the sweat from his forehead. He propped up the fallen wooden door, leaving it ajar, and after carefully checking it, he turned to face Qin Huaiming and the other two in the corridor, his face filled with lingering fear and self-reproach.

Then, he lowered his voice and explained, "Director Qin, Senior Gu You, Director Yang, this is truly my negligence. Captain Sun has been different from others since he was a child. Even before he started cultivating, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around him would spontaneously nourish his physical body, as if he were a Spirit Beast favored by the Celestial Dao. Such talent is one in a million, but it also brings many inconveniences."

He wiped away the fine beads of sweat that kept forming on his temples and continued, "Ever since Captain Sun officially began cultivating, he only needs to cultivate for two or three hours a day before his Qi Sea is already full, or even overloaded. He spends the better part of the rest of the day sorting out his meridians."

"Over the years, he’s become very disciplined, always paying attention to the degree of his absorption. The Quiet Chambers prepared for him at the General Headquarters all have special suppressive Arrays to assist him. I never thought that upon returning to the sect, his old cultivation habits would nearly lead to disaster!"

The more Li Ping spoke, the more terrified he became, and the lower he bowed. "It was my dereliction of duty. The Qian Bureau entrusted Captain Sun to me, repeatedly instructing me to watch over him carefully. But I thought that since we were at our own sect’s residence, with two senior masters present, I could lower my guard. I didn’t keep an all-night vigil outside his door and nearly caused a major incident. I..."

Seeing him look as if he wanted to bash his head against the ground in regret, Qin Huaiming took a step forward, patted him gently on the shoulder, and comforted him in a warm voice, "Steward Li, there’s no need to blame yourself so much. The danger has passed. Standing guard outside the door now is you fulfilling your duty."

"Besides, Nephew Sun has a profound foundation. This experience isn’t necessarily a bad thing for him. If guided properly, it could instead help him gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between himself and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. You just focus on looking after him here. If you need anything, just call for someone."

Gu You nodded and said, "Don’t scare yourself."

Li Ping’s terrified expression finally eased a little. He repeatedly agreed, bowed once more to the three of them, and then retreated to the door, where he straightened his back. His eyes, however, kept darting worriedly toward the crack in the door.

After hearing Li Ping’s explanation, Qin Huaiming gave Yang Wenqing a pointed look. The thought occurred to him that if Sun Chen’s talent could be paired with Yang Wenqing’s, they could achieve twice the results with half the effort.

But it was just a passing thought. He then left with Gu You, while Yang Wenqing returned to his own room alone.

He closed the door. Lan Ying flapped her wings and landed on his shoulder, rubbing her small head against his cheek. Her thoughts, filled with a mix of amazement and awe, came through in his Spirit Sea:

"Qingqing, that Senior Brother Sun of yours... his innate constitution seems to be naturally in tune with the Spiritual Attribute of the Inspiration World. Spiritual Qi just burrows into his body on its own, just like us Spirit Beasts."

"It would be great if you had an innate constitution like that too, Qingqing! Your speed at refining Spiritual Qi is already so fast. Paired with a constitution like that, it would be perfect. Maybe in just a few years, you’d be able to surpass Master and the others."

Yang Wenqing couldn’t help but chuckle at her words, reaching up to gently stroke Lan Ying’s smooth feathers.

The thought flashed through his mind like a spark, only to be immediately extinguished by a deeper rationality and understanding.

Innate constitution was determined by fate. The fact that he, Yang Wenqing, had come this far was no longer reliant on his mediocre initial constitution. Besides, the advantages of one’s constitution were most prominent before the Entry realm.

Once one successfully broke through that threshold, the advantages of innate constitution would gradually fade. The true path to the heavens had never been just about the height of one’s starting point, but more about the tenacity of one’s character and the clarity of one’s Dao heart.

"Everyone has their own destiny; it cannot be forced," Yang Wenqing replied to Lan Ying in his Spirit Sea. "Senior Brother Sun is uniquely blessed, but I have my own path and my own opportunities. The path of cultivation is long. It’s not a competition of who is faster at the moment, but of who can walk the farthest."

He sat down cross-legged on the cloud bed again, his state of mind returning to the tranquility of an ancient well.