Chapter 14: This is blatant robbery!
After school in the afternoon, Lin Jingq undoubtedly cornered Chen An at the doorway.
“Is it fun to tease me?” the girl asked, tilting her head up, looking angry and ready to demand an explanation.
Chen An swept a glance and roughly understood the situation. He sighed internally. He had expected her aptitude to be average, but he hadn’t imagined it would be this poor. Even with his help in gathering spiritual energy, she still couldn’t reach the threshold of entry.
“You’re too stupid,” Chen An said truthfully.
“You…” Hearing this casual assessment, Lin Jingq’s entire body trembled with anger. She clutched her chest with one hand and pointed a trembling finger at Chen An with the other. Since childhood, how had she ever been associated with the word “stupid”? Her aptitude was so remarkable that even top sects like Mount Qingcheng couldn’t help but praise her. Yet today, she was mocked by an ordinary person with no cultivation? And not just once, but repeatedly!
Chen An understood Lin Jingq’s reaction. Lies don’t hurt; the truth is like a swift blade. However, being a kind person by nature, he decided not to say anything further to provoke the girl.
“Follow me,” he said, walking ahead. Lin Jingq clenched her small fists in her sleeves and stomped her foot, following him. She had already decided that if Chen An didn’t provide a reasonable explanation, she would let him know that her breathing and circulation techniques were not for nothing. It wouldn’t be much of a problem to deal with an unarmed ordinary person.
The two soon walked away. Behind the classroom door, a stylishly middle-parted boy watched their receding figures, his eyes flashing with regret, annoyance, jealousy, and many other complex emotions. He couldn’t help but fantasize in his heart: if only he had been bolder that day, not handing the love letter to Chen An, but choosing to face the challenge head-on… Perhaps he, Gao Qingyang, would be laughing and joking with Lin Jingq now.
“Damn it!” Gao Qingyang muttered under his breath. Despite his reluctance, he could only watch helplessly as his goddess was given away to someone else. To this day, he still believed the love letter was the problem. Little did he know, that love letter had long been discarded in some trash heap, and no one cared about it.
…
…
The usual spot, the school rooftop. Chen An turned back, pointed at the ground, and said, “Try again.”
“What?” The girl behind him looked confused. Chen An looked at Lin Jingq, sighed, and repeated, “Try meditating again, like you did on the sports field.” For some reason, even though Chen An hadn’t said anything, Lin Jingq felt a strong sense of disdain. A blush of shame and annoyance flashed across the girl’s face. “Chen An, are you trying this again?!” she exclaimed. “I won’t listen to you!” She then raised her small fist. “If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation, I’ll have to get serious.”
But Chen An didn’t offer further explanation. He just looked at her calmly. He softly uttered three words. “Believe me.” For some reason, upon meeting his clear, dark eyes, Lin Jingq lost all desire to argue. She stammered, her lips parting and closing, as if wanting to say something. After a long while, she finally sat down abruptly and, following Chen An’s instructions, began to meditate obediently.
*Sigh.* There was no loss either way, so she might as well humor him. Lin Jingq thought to herself. After all, this so-called “Qi Induction” method was purely natural and harmless. She closed her eyes, mimicking what her master had taught her, her breathing gradually stabilizing, her inhalations and exhalations slowly forming a profound rhythm. This was the unique breathing and circulation technique of Mount Qingcheng. It not only laid a solid foundation for those with cultivation aptitude but could also extend life and strengthen the body for ordinary people.
Chen An turned around, no longer looking at Lin Jingq, but raised his head to the sky. He stood still, his sleeves fluttering as if in a breeze. Streams of spiritual energy, imperceptible to ordinary people, began to gather on the rooftop. They swirled in the air above the rooftop, like a colossal tornado, sweeping in all the spiritual energy within a hundred-mile radius. Whether willingly or unwillingly, it all dissolved instantly. In that moment, the small rooftop became the most spiritually dense place in the world.
…
…
Qing City, southern suburbs. Here lay a continuous mountain range, perpetually cool in summer and warm in winter, with clear winds and waters – a rare feng shui treasure land. Mount Qingcheng was located within it. At this moment, deep within the Daoist temple of Mount Qingcheng, an old man with white hair and beard slowly opened his eyes. He seemed puzzled and perplexed, muttering to himself.
“Something’s not right…”
“Why is the spiritual energy becoming thinner and thinner…” Areas rich in spiritual energy had always been the foundation of a sect. Now, for some unknown reason, more than half of it had disappeared. After all, the spiritual energy in heaven and earth was ownerless and could not have an owner. It was born as part of the world, so how could such a large-scale decrease occur?
No, feeling the rapid flow of spiritual energy, the old Daoist couldn’t help but pluck at his beard, thinking, this isn’t a decrease, this is outright robbery! He furrowed his brow deeply, his heart filled with shock. Such a situation was not even recorded in the sect’s ancient texts. The only vaguely similar phenomenon seemed to be that legendary method of gathering spiritual energy. But that method was supposed to be lost to time. Mount Qingcheng hadn’t even preserved its inheritance, so how could anywhere else possibly have it?
And, even giving him the benefit of the doubt, if someone had truly learned this method of gathering spiritual energy, and by some incredible luck, had also collected the necessary materials… it still shouldn’t have caused such a massive disturbance! The ancient texts clearly stated that the method of gathering spiritual energy required superior spirit stones as a medium, hundreds of top-tier spiritual materials as guides, and the activation of formations to get the spiritual energy in heaven and earth to converge slightly and achieve the effect of gathering spiritual energy. But he had never heard of anyone being able to directly seize it!
Could it be… that the spiritual energy was about to perish again? In that instant, countless possibilities flashed through the old Daoist’s mind. Cold sweat trickled down his back, and an icy chill pierced his heart, causing his blood to freeze. He was the Old Ancestor of Mount Qingcheng, capable of moving mountains and seas with a wave of his hand. What kind of scene hadn’t he witnessed? Yet, he was deeply intimidated by the current scene and dared not act rashly.
Just as he hesitated, wondering whether to pursue the direction of the spiritual energy flow to investigate, the agitated spiritual energy around him suddenly quieted down and returned to its usual state. *Hiss!* Strange, truly strange! The old Daoist scratched his head. He made to step forward several times, but forcibly suppressed his curiosity. After careful consideration, he felt it was not prudent enough. So, he took out a smartphone from his Daoist robe.
“Hello?”
“Old Ancestor?!” The person on the other end seemed startled, then replied in an extremely respectful tone, “Old Ancestor, please command.”
“Take a few people and go to the city…”
(End of Chapter)
