39: Chapter 39 Dispersing Power, Tempering

"Since you intend to disperse your Qi and recultivate, I will give you this Medicinal Pill in advance. After dispersing your Qi, your Meridians will be empty and your Dantian withered, which is precisely the time when you need to rebuild your Foundation."

"An ordinary peiyuan pill can only improve one's chances by ten to twenty percent, but a supreme-grade peiyuan pill can improve it by more than double. It can also widen your Meridians and solidify your Dantian, making your new Foundation much sturdier than the old one."

Wang Shouren lowered his head to look at that Medicinal Pill, remaining silent for a long while.

The preciousness of this Medicinal Pill did not lie in how many Spirit Stones it could sell for, but in what it represented.

The head of an immortal cultivation Family, already over seventy years old, with his cultivation stuck at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, found the hope of Foundation Establishment growing dimmer with each passing year.

He had kept the best items tucked away in his pocket, waiting to leave them for a grandson who did not yet exist.

Now, he took it out and gave it to his own son.

"Father," Wang Shouren raised his head, his gaze meeting Wang Yaozu's, "I, your son, accept this Medicinal Pill."

He did not say thank you; some words did not need to be spoken aloud, for saying them out loud would instead make them feel lighter.

He simply tucked the jade box solemnly into his bosom.

Wang Yaozu nodded, saying nothing, and reached out to pat his son's shoulder.

"Since you are going to disperse your Qi and recultivate, your father still has some things here, and I will give them all to you together."

"This Storage Pouch is what your father has saved privately over the years. Inside are five thousand Spirit Stones, as well as some Medicinal Pills that you might use for body-and-Qi Dual Cultivation, and there is also a bottle of pulse-protecting pills. Given your Foundation, the likelihood of you using it is probably not high, but just keep it."

Wang Shouren took the Storage Pouch, nodded, and said nothing, simply tucking the Storage Pouch into his bosom as well.

"Go on." Wang Yaozu sat back down in his chair, picked up his teacup, and took a sip. Even if the tea was cold, he paid it no mind at all.

"Seclude yourself well, leave Family matters to me. When you emerge from seclusion, I will cook personally and prepare a table of Cloud Carp feasts to celebrate your success."

Wang Shouren's expression stiffened. With the old man cooking, given his culinary skills, they might as well forget it. Otherwise, how could his mother have kept his father from touching the stove all these years? It wasn't because his mother was particularly hardworking, but truly because even Xiaotian wouldn't eat the food his father cooked.

"Understood, Father should rest early."

Wang Shouren bowed in salute, turned, and walked toward the door. Just as he reached the doorway, his father's voice came from behind him again.

"Shouren."

He paused his steps without turning back.

"The path of body-and-Qi Dual Cultivation is one your father has never walked, nor has anyone in the Family ever walked it. If you want to walk ahead of everyone else, you must endure hardships that no one else has endured. But no matter how far you walk, the Family is your backing."

Wang Shouren stood at the doorway, fell silent for a few breaths, and then softly acknowledged.

"Your son remembers."

He stepped across the threshold and gently closed the door.

The night wind brushed his face, mountain mists swirled, and the lights of Lotus Pier were hazy like stars within the mist.

He stood still in the courtyard, raised his head, gazed toward the direction of the bamboo building across the pond for a moment, and then resolutely turned around to walk toward the back mountain.

That figure in white clothes walked further and further away in the night, walking steadier and steadier, until it finally disappeared at the end of the winding mountain path.

In front of the back mountain bamboo building, Wang Shouren and Sixth Grandpa sat facing each other and drank a pot of tea.

He reported the matter of his seclusion and recounted the gist of what he obtained at the Wanbao Pavilion and the conflict with the Ning Family, omitting only the details of Elder Yin's evil cultivation and the black lotus backlash.

After listening, Wang Chongyang did not ask much more, merely extending a withered and thin finger to tap lightly between his brows.

"Guard your original intent."

Wang Shouren kowtowed solemnly, turned around, and walked toward the depths of the back mountain.

Beneath the tail peak of Wogui Mountain, there was a naturally formed stone grotto. Its entrance could only allow a single person to squeeze through sideways, but the inside was another world entirely.

It was a stone chamber two zhang square, with its four walls as smooth as a mirror and icy cold to the touch.

This was the place of seclusion for successive generations of core members of the Wang Family. Embedded within the stone walls was a faint gathering spiritual array, and the Spiritual Qi was more than twice that of the rest of the Family, while excelling in stability and purity.

Once the stone door was closed from the inside, it was completely isolated from the outside world and would not open until the day of emerging from seclusion.

Wang Shouren slowly pushed the stone door shut, isolating the outside clamor from this point on. In the center of the stone chamber was a prayer mat; he sat cross-legged upon it, took out the items from the Storage Pouch one by one, and neatly arranged them before him.

Body Tempering pills, qi gathering pills, qingling pills, as well as a small mountain of spiritual herbs for Body Refining.

The hanshui earth fiend was sealed in a jade box and temporarily could not be used. A huge iron bucket was placed near the inner position, occupying nearly half of the space.

Finally, he took out that milky-white jade box and opened it.

The supreme-grade peiyuan pill lay quietly in the box, four light-golden pill patterns slowly swimming across the surface of the pill body, illuminating the entire stone chamber by a few shades.

That medicinal fragrance, so rich it was almost viscous, diffused once more, mixing with the cool Spiritual Qi in the stone chamber, making every breath feel like drinking a tonic.

At the same time, in his other hand was another identical Medicinal Pill, though it only had two pill patterns. "This one seems it won't be needed."

He closed the box lid and did not rush to consume the Medicinal Pill.

Dispersing Qi was no child's play; scattering more than a dozen years of cultivation entirely would plunge his Meridians and Dantian into unprecedented weakness.

Without a peiyuan pill as a base, he had no confidence in recovering quickly. Now, not only was there a peiyuan pill, but it was also a supreme-grade peiyuan pill. Not only would it save time, but it was also simply the most suitable thing for him to rebuild his Foundation.

Wang Shouren closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly guided the spiritual power vortex that had been operating in his Dantian for over a dozen years.

This time, rather than releasing outward, it was collapsing inward.

Intense pain struck.

The sensation of spiritual power flowing backward felt like someone scraping back and forth inside his Meridians with a dull knife.

He clenched his teeth, blue veins bulging on his forehead, and cold sweat gushed out, but he did not stop there.

Once, twice, thrice, the spiritual power vortex in the Dantian gradually lost its shape, transforming into countless scattered spiritual lights overflowing from the Meridians.

His cultivation was dropping layer by layer—the sixth layer of Qi Refining, fifth layer, fourth layer, third layer...

When the last wisp of spiritual power completely dispersed, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and his face was as pale as paper.

Inside, his body was completely empty, his Meridians dry and parched, and his Dantian could no longer be felt at all. Only a sliver of Divine Sense barely maintained the Foundation of a Cultivator.

Panting for a moment, Wang Shouren gathered his spirits, gritted his teeth, sat straight again, picked up the first bottle of Body Tempering pills, poured out a pill, and swallowed it with his head tilted back.

The Body Tempering pill melted upon entering the mouth, and a scorching hot current burned all the way from his throat down to his Dantian, immediately splitting into countless tiny tributaries that surged toward his limbs and bones.

That was the medicinal power of Body Tempering, transforming his Physical Body from the most fundamental level.

Immediately following was the second pill, the third pill, and then the peiyuan pill.

He opened the jade box and gently picked up the pill the size of a dragon's eye.

Four pill patterns swam beneath his fingertips, emitting a warm halo. Hesitating no longer, he placed the Medicinal Pill into his mouth.

The medicinal power of the supreme-grade peiyuan pill was vastly different from ordinary peiyuan pills.

There was no overbearing impact, no scorching pain; the medicinal power transformed into a warm and gentle milky-white stream, sliding down his throat into his Dantian.

Wherever that stream passed, his parched Meridians were like land enduring a long drought encountering spring rain, greedily absorbing every single drop of nourishment.