42: Chapter 42 Ning Family

"Everyone, take a look, how is this wisp of mana in this old man's palm?"

Over a hundred pairs of eyes on the stone platform stared over.

That wisp of azure Qi was indeed extremely clear, and sunlight passed through it without a trace of impurity, leisurely hovering above the palm. It neither surged nor dispersed, staying as quiet as a pool of frozen spring water.

Seeing the mana form of this Foundation Establishment Immortal Master, even more people on the stone platform revealed expressions of sudden realization.

The old Taoist from Funiu County trembled slightly all over, gripping the coarse cloth hem of his clothes on his knees tightly, and muttered,

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is. For forty years, I've only been pouring it in wildly and never thought to purify my mana..."

Wang Chongyang continued his lecture, speaking from guiding Qi into the body to the preliminary circulation of Spiritual Qi within the Dantian, and then from the circulation of Spiritual Qi to how to use Spiritual Qi to nourish the Meridians in reverse.

What he taught was not cultivation tips, nor was it some unorthodox shortcut method, but down-to-earth Foundation work.

These things could be found in the Scripture Pavilion of any Sect, but no Sect Cultivator was ever willing to explain them to Loose Cultivators like this.

The sun rose from the east to the center, and then shifted from the center to the west.

Not a single person on the stone platform left.

Someone fished out dry rations from a Storage Pouch, eating while listening, not daring to take their eyes off the stone platform for a single moment.

When someone heard a crucial part, they scratched their ears and cheeks wanting to write it down, but having no paper or pen, they broke out in a cold sweat from anxiety.

Seeing that anxious Loose Cultivator, Wang Chongyang suddenly stopped, took out a stack of neatly cut rough paper and a few charcoal pens from his sleeve, and placed them on the edge of the stone platform.

"Those who didn't bring paper and pen, come here to get them. Don't fight over them, everyone will have some."

That Loose Cultivator froze for a moment, hurried forward, took the paper and pen with both hands, and bowed deeply to Wang Chongyang. When he returned to his seat, his eye sockets were already red.

As the sun tilted westward, Wang Chongyang finally stopped speaking.

He stood up from the cattail mat, didn't say any closing words, just nodded slightly to the crowd on the stone platform, turned around and stepped onto a Flying Sword, transforming into a gray shadow that disappeared in the direction of Lotus Pier.

The people on the stone platform still sat in their original places, reluctant to leave for a long time.

The old Taoist from Funiu County carefully folded those few sheets of rough paper filled with writing in his hand, tucked them into the most intimate position in his bosom, and then stood up, bowing deeply toward the direction of Lotus Pier.

Behind him, over a hundred Loose Cultivators—some cupped their fists, some bowed, and some just quietly gazed in the direction where the gray shadow had disappeared.

Their actions were unanimous; no one took the lead, and no one spoke.

Wang Yaozu stood under the old pine tree, watching this scene, and remained silent for a long time.

Wang Yaowu didn't know when he had walked behind him again.

"I've investigated the background of those people." Wang Yaowu closed the booklet. "Two came from the Ning Family, three came from the Yan Family, and one's origin hasn't been probed out yet."

Wang Yaozu nodded; all of this was within his expectations.

The situation of the sermon could not be kept hidden, nor was there any need to hide it. With today's sermon successfully completed, half of the Wang Family's layout had already succeeded.

"Sixth Uncle has to continue tomorrow. You and the Second go arrange it, clear out an open space in the pine forest next to the stone platform. With today's effect, the first sermon will last for five days. Tomorrow there will only be more and more people; it would look bad if there isn't enough seating."

Late at night three days later.

In the Ning Family of Xiaoshan County, Ning Shengli sat in the study, pinching a sound-transmission Jade Slip just sent over from Baishan County, his expression gloomy and ugly.

Grand Elder Great Elder Ning Shengkui stood opposite him, narrating the news that the clansmen had inquired about.

"Family Head, Wang Chongyang is preaching. On the very first day, over two hundred and thirty Loose Cultivators attended the lecture, and this number hasn't decreased for several consecutive days.

The Loose Cultivators are endlessly grateful to the Wang Family, and many have already taken the initiative to speak for the Wang Family and run errands for them. The prestige of the Wang Family among the Loose Cultivators of the Three Counties has already surpassed that of the Ning and Yan Families."

The Jade Slip slipped from his hand, falling silently onto the tabletop.

He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly slapped the table with his palm. Tea splashed all over the desk, dripping down the edge of the table one drop at a time onto the ground.

"Preaching... Very well, Wang Chongyang, you old thing who is about to go into the grave, yet you still want to pave the way for that bunch of good-for-nothings. Then let them be proud for a few more days; the good days of the Wang Family are about to come to an end anyway."

"When Ning Liandie returns from the Baihua Sect, I don't believe your Wang Family can still stir up any waves."

To these words, Great Elder Ning Shengkui expressed neither approval nor disapproval. The Baihua Sect had three Golden Core Realm Cultivators holding down the fort, and its strength was no less inferior to the Spirit Sword Sect. Although Ning Liandie was only an Outer Sect Disciple, she had been fancied by an Inner Sect Disciple and taken as a Dao Companion.

The Ning Family could now be considered to have latched onto a big tree. Once Ning Liandie could enter the Inner Sect, she would have hope for Foundation Establishment. By then, the Ning Family would have two Foundation Establishment figures in one clan, so what waves could the Wang Family possibly stir up?

Seeing that he hadn't left yet, Family Head Ning frowned and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Hearing this, Great Elder Ning Shengkui's face showed entanglement: "Family Head, please do not get angry after hearing this news. It's about Young Master Xishan."

On the second day of the sermon, the number of people on the stone platform doubled.

After those Loose Cultivators went back yesterday, they spread what Wang Chongyang had taught from one to ten, and ten to a hundred, in the market, teahouses, and taverns where Loose Cultivators gathered.

Many Loose Cultivators who originally held a wait-and-see attitude set off overnight, afraid of missing this rare Opportunity.

By the time the lecture started at the Chen hour, the stone platform was densely packed with people. The Loose Cultivators in the front row were almost squeezed to the foot of the stone platform, and latecomers could only squeeze into the edges of the pine forest wherever there was a gap. A few people even simply climbed up the old pine trees on the cliff, straddling the tree forks and peeking down.

Wang Yaowu stood under the pine tree, looking at this crowd of people, his brows furrowing into the shape of the character chuan.

He waved his hand to call over two disciples of the Shou generation and whispered a few instructions.

Not long after, several Wang Family disciples carried newly felled pine boards up the mountain, setting up a few rows of simple wooden frames in the open space among the pine forests to serve as extra seating.

Even so, quite a few people could only sit cross-legged on the gravel ground beside the mountain path, pricking up their ears to listen from afar.

Wang Chongyang was still in a gray robe, still arriving by stepping on that most ordinary iron sword.

He sat cross-legged on the stone platform, his gaze sweeping across the densely packed heads below. His expression was as calm as water; he neither grew proud nor nervous because of the large crowd, as if sitting below were not over two hundred living Cultivators, but a patch of stones in the mountains.

"Today we will talk about Qi Gathering."

He got straight to the point without half a sentence of nonsense.

"Yesterday we talked about Guiding Qi, which was about how to guide Spiritual Qi into the body.

Today we talk about Qi Gathering, which is about how, after Spiritual Qi enters the body, to make it remain and transform into purer mana. Guiding Qi is opening the door, and Qi Gathering is closing the door. No matter how wide the door is opened, if it cannot be closed, the room still cannot keep anything inside."

The so-called Qi Gathering actually already involved everyone's Cultivation Technique. Every Cultivator treated their own Cultivation Technique as their life, so Wang Chongyang naturally would not spell out his own family's cultivation method.

Instead, he used five common Cultivation Techniques in the Immortal Realm as examples: the Gengjin Technique, the Dachun Technique, the Soft Water Technique, the Flame-Dallying Technique, and the Thick Earth Technique.

His explanation was profound yet simple, and a chorus of suppressed low gasps rang out on the stone platform.

Everyone present was a Cultivator and had long been proficient in Qi Gathering. Trying to Cultivate according to Master Chongyang's suggestions, they quickly discovered the wonderful benefits within.

"The mana I just cultivated is truly three parts stronger than before!"

"If we continue to Cultivate in this manner in the future, wouldn't we have even more certainty of defeating Cultivators of the same Realm when we encounter them?"

Anyone could see that Master Chongyang truly did not treat them as outsiders. No wonder the Wang Family could be passed down for three hundred years; they truly had a genuine family heritage.

His subsequent lecture was no longer as lofty and visionary as yesterday's, but instead specific to the Qi Gathering key points of every single Spiritual Root.

For every Spiritual Root he talked about, Loose Cultivators with the corresponding Spiritual Root below would abruptly raise their heads, a light of sudden realization appearing in their eyes.

When it reached noon, Wang Chongyang suddenly stopped.

He closed his eyes to regulate his breath for a moment, and when he opened them, his gaze fell upon a thin, middle-aged Loose Cultivator in the front row.

That man had a sallow complexion and blue lips, and the Spiritual Power fluctuations on his body fluctuated between strong and weak—clearly he was right in the middle of a certain Bottleneck period.

Just now, when he heard Wang Chongyang talk about the Qi Gathering method for the Earth Spiritual Root, his entire body had been trembling slightly.

"You." Wang Chongyang suddenly reached out and pointed at him.