Yuan Lian’s eyebrows twitched slightly, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.
She said to Chang Songzhu, “Keep quiet for a while, and I’ll release you.”
Chang Songzhu nodded vigorously, but when she could finally speak, she mumbled with some grievance, “You think I’m noisy…”
Well, who wouldn’t?
Yuan Lian ignored her complaint and said, “Your basic swordsmanship is decent, but your foundation is unstable. It seems your cultivation method is incorrect. Show me how you circulate your spiritual energy.”
Chang Songzhu was used to following Yuan Lian’s instructions. She responded with an “Oh” and was about to comply when she suddenly remembered something she hadn’t clarified. She couldn’t let Yuan Lian brush it off so easily:
“Xiao Lian, do you have some connection with Senior Sister Kuang Yuming?”
The more she thought about it, the more it seemed likely. Yuan Lian didn’t seem like someone interested in other people’s love and hate entanglements, yet she had specifically transmitted a message, letting her hear a complex love story of a lower realm cultivator. There was clearly something going on.
She scrutinized Yuan Lian, “Could it be that she’s your long-lost sister from the lower realm?”
After all, their names were so similar.
“I’m my father’s only daughter,” Yuan Lian replied.
“Then what’s going on?” Chang Songzhu was dying of curiosity. She circled around Yuan Lian, trying to soften her heart for a hint.
Yuan Lian, fed up with her pestering, simply sealed her mouth again and said sternly, “Are you going to mind other people’s business or not?”
Chang Songzhu had to suppress her curiosity and obediently shook her head.
Yuan Lian then released her, “Instead of meddling in your fellow disciples’ affairs, why not think about how to quickly improve your cultivation? I heard the Hundred Sect Competition is coming up. With your current cultivation, it’s not easy to take the top spot.”
Chang Songzhu wanted to retort that she was meddling because Yuan Lian had instructed her to, but upon hearing the latter part, she was immediately shocked, “Take the top spot?”
Yuan Lian was puzzled, “Why, is there a problem?”
“Of course, there’s a problem, a big one!” Chang Songzhu was on the verge of tears, “Xiao Lian, do you have some misunderstanding about me? Not to mention the entire Divine Realm, even just within the Wanyi Sect, there are so many talented people. Take the top spot? Me?”
Yuan Lian frowned, “I’m not asking you to compete across levels. You’re already close to reaching the peak of Qi Condensation. Isn’t it natural to be among the top in your level?”
Chang Songzhu was at a loss. She didn’t know how to explain to Yuan Lian that even if she reached the peak of Qi Condensation, the Divine Realm was full of geniuses who could fight across levels. Some exceptionally talented ones, even in their early twenties, could already hold their own against Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
And she was just an ordinary, unremarkable Qi Condensation cultivator among thousands.
Chang Songzhu had always been a carefree and content person, disdaining self-pity. But facing Yuan Lian’s expectations, she couldn’t help but feel a bit down.
“I don’t think I can…”
Yuan Lian couldn’t understand her thoughts at all. After all, she had always been unique. Not only were there no people above her, but it was also impossible to find someone in the entire Divine Realm who could match her.
“What are you afraid of,” Yuan Lian said, “There’s still time. If you work hard, how could you be worse than others?”
Chang Songzhu feared disappointing her, opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Yuan Lian, “Turn around and show me how you circulate your spiritual energy.”
Chang Songzhu complied listlessly.
Since ancient times, when cultivators practiced, the basic methods started with teaching how to attract spiritual energy and refine essence into qi. However, cultivation methods varied in quality, and each sect had different methods with different focuses.
The inner sect methods of the Wanyi Sect were already top-notch, but due to Chang Songzhu’s current status, she was still practicing ordinary methods she had picked up from the Immortal Market.
Yuan Lian, on the other hand, was a different case. She had never practiced any cultivation method because she was born with the ability to sense spiritual energy, not needing any methods summarized by predecessors. Dao Ji Shenwang cared deeply for his daughter but never worried about her cultivation.
She was as familiar with the flow and operation of spiritual energy, how to absorb it, and how to transform it into true essence as she was with breathing. Therefore, when teaching Chang Songzhu, she didn’t follow conventional methods.
“Guide the qi to return to the origin, starting from the spiritual base, first through the Ren meridian, then the Du meridian… from the Qi Street flowing to…”
Chang Songzhu had been following the method recorded in her manual, first guiding spiritual energy through the Hand Taiyin meridian. Now, suddenly changing the route, if it were someone else, they might have suffered meridian damage. But with Yuan Lian there, there was no such worry.
Chang Songzhu felt her meridians were firmly protected, and the exuberant spiritual energy, no matter how restless, didn’t harm her. Finally, the spiritual energy gathered in her middle dantian qi sea, transforming into true essence to nourish her body.
Following Yuan Lian’s guidance, she cautiously circulated the spiritual energy through twelve major cycles, gradually adapting to this new route.
Yuan Lian gradually let go, allowing her to adapt on her own without interference.
Chang Songzhu practiced repeatedly, and time passed without her noticing. She didn’t realize she had been cultivating from evening until the next morning.
When she opened her eyes, she was unprepared and was momentarily dazzled by the morning light. Blinking, she was astonished to find that in just one night, she had broken through to the late stage of Qi Condensation, becoming a peak Qi Condensation cultivator.
Such speed would be considered extraordinary even for those truly blessed with talent, let alone for Chang Songzhu, who had never had such luck before.
She was speechless with shock, feeling the situation was unreal. Her first reaction wasn’t to feel the changes of reaching the peak of Qi Condensation but to look around for Yuan Lian.
And Yuan Lian hadn’t left.
“Xiao Lian?”
Yuan Lian was sitting on a horizontal branch of a large tree, leaning against the trunk with her eyes closed. Sensing Chang Songzhu had awakened from her meditation, she opened her eyes and looked down at her:
“Hmm?”
Chang Songzhu walked to the tree, looking up at her, into her light gray eyes—so indifferent, yet so pure.
All her doubts and amazement dissipated, and what came out was another question:
“Xiao Lian, why are you so good to me?”
Yuan Lian didn’t think she was particularly good to her. She had come out to experience the world firsthand, but with so many people in the world, not everyone interested her or had the patience to interact with. Her encounter with Chang Songzhu was very coincidental and interesting, making her feel comfortable.
Having finally met a unique girl, even if she helped her, it was just for her own happiness, not about being good or not.
Yuan Lian thought about how to summarize her thoughts briefly, and indeed, she answered very briefly:
“Because I want to.”
“Oh,” Chang Songzhu’s initial gratitude was pushed back. She had many things she wanted to express, but in the end, she stammered out only the most important sentence: “Anyway… you’re my best friend…”
“The best.”
Yuan Lian recalled when Chang Songzhu counted her two or three dozen “ordinary” friends on her fingers and couldn’t help but smile.
She said lightly, “Just don’t embarrass yourself at the assembly.”
“I won’t… probably won’t…” Chang Songzhu said with some guilt.
Yuan Lian glanced at her and tossed her a plain white bottle.
Chang Songzhu opened it and saw a few gray pills inside, “What are these?”
“These are mixed spirit pills,” Yuan Lian said, “Your water and fire spiritual roots are too strong and pure. The Evergreen Sword alone can’t fully compensate for this disadvantage. These pills are specifically for neutralizing conflicting spiritual energies, with no other effects.”
Chang Songzhu examined them carefully, seeing the pills were dull in color and had no special fragrance, she felt relieved to accept them. Although she already owed Yuan Lian a lot, if they were extremely precious pills, she wouldn’t dare accept them.
“The Wanyi Sect is sending you into the Xiao Canglou Secret Realm, which will benefit your future cultivation. I took a look; your generation of inner sect disciples are talented but average in cultivation and temperament. Among your peers, they may not be much stronger than you.”
Chang Songzhu took a few steps forward, leaning against the tree trunk, looking at Yuan Lian, “It’s not just the inner sect. Even in the outer sect, that Kuang Yuming isn’t an ordinary person. If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have guessed he came from the Middle Thousand World.”
Yuan Lian thought of what her father had said about her senior brother’s experiences.
In a Middle Thousand World where refining essence was the pinnacle, how did he step by step reach where he is now?
Chang Songzhu didn’t know Yuan Lian was lost in thought. She thought of her conversation with Kuang Yuming and sighed, “His senior brother is even more impressive… Going through such a love tribulation without a hitch, his cultivation speed didn’t slow but accelerated. I heard from others that after coming to the Divine Realm, his cultivation advanced rapidly. It won’t be long before he enters the inner sect…”
Yuan Lian said, “Why care about others? If you put in the effort, you won’t be much worse than him.”
Chang Songzhu helplessly realized she had gotten used to Yuan Lian’s baseless confidence in her, and hearing this, she was actually quite happy…
“I don’t dare compare with him… I don’t know if all men are like this. After hearing what Kuang Yuming said, I don’t dare think about forming a bond with anyone else. If I encounter such a situation, I don’t have the heart of stone to handle it calmly.” She said to Yuan Lian, “You’re right, we should focus on cultivation. Who needs a dao partner, right?”
Yuan Lian snapped back to reality, feeling a subtle pressure gathering on her.
She blinked, thought for a moment, and then slowly asked Chang Songzhu, “Who said I don’t have a dao partner?”
“Hmm, hmm, hmm?!”
It seems like there’s a problem in our neighborhood…
*