43: Chapter 43 Promise

The middle-aged Loose Cultivator stiffened all over, hurriedly standing up with a trembling voice: "Im... Immortal Master?"

"Sit cross-legged, and circulate your Qi according to the earth Spiritual Root Qi Gathering method I just mentioned. Do not be afraid, I am here."

The middle-aged Loose Cultivator was stunned for a moment, then obediently sat cross-legged and formed hand seals.

Beads of sweat seeped from his forehead. Evidently, this Bottleneck had stuck him for who knows how many years, and circulating his Qi before a Foundation Establishment Immortal Master made him both nervous and terrified.

Wang Chongyang did not look at him again and continued his lecture, as if what he had just said was merely casual guidance.

About the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn passed.

A wave of spiritual power several times more powerful than before suddenly surged from the middle-aged Loose Cultivator's body. That earthy-yellow spiritual light burst forth from his Dantian, spreading through his Meridians across his entire body.

He abruptly opened his eyes and let out a long roar toward the sky. The roar was mixed with years of suppressed melancholy and wild joy.

As the roar died down, his face was covered in tears. He turned around and heavily kowtowed three loud times toward Wang Chongyang's direction. His forehead struck the bluestone slab with a loud thud, actually knocking out a patch of bloody stains.

"Many thanks, Immortal Master! This Disciple has been trapped at the third layer of Qi Refining for seventeen years, seventeen years! Today, with a single word of guidance from the Immortal Master, I have broken through in a single day! The Immortal Master has bestowed upon this Disciple a grace akin to a rebirth, and this Disciple is willing to serve the Immortal Master loyally."

"There is no need." Wang Chongyang raised a hand to stop him, his tone calm. "Your Breakthrough is the result of your own accumulated efforts. I merely gave you a push; without me, you would have broken through sooner or later anyway."

The middle-aged Loose Cultivator shook his head while choking back sobs: "Seventeen years... I have sought guidance from countless people and entered countless mortal markets to buy and sell Cultivation Techniques, yet no one was willing to look at me straight. Only the Immortal Master, only the Immortal Master..." He could not continue, only kneeling on the ground with his shoulders trembling violently.

The stone terrace fell silent for a moment, and then a chorus of low murmurs arose.

Everyone's gaze fell upon the middle-aged Loose Cultivator, filled with envy and jealousy, but even more so with an unspeakable fervency. So a Loose Cultivator's Bottleneck could indeed be broken! So sitting beneath the stage to listen to a Foundation Establishment Immortal Master lecture on the Dao could truly lead to a Breakthrough!

By the end of the lecture that day, two more Loose Cultivators broke through on the spot on the stone terrace.

After the news spread, even more people came on the third day.

On the fourth day of the lectures, Wang Chongyang lectured on the Dao of Qi Circulation.

He no longer sat on the stone platform to lecture, but instead stood up and walked among the Loose Cultivators, casually pointing at a few people and having them circulate their Qi on the spot.

When someone's spiritual power ran falteringly during circulation, he would point out where blockages existed in the Meridians. When someone's breath was unstable during the exercise, he would point out that the direction of their spiritual power rotation in their Dantian was off by a fraction. When someone sweated on their head and had a flushed face during circulation, he would press a palm against that person's back, using his Foundation Establishment Stage spiritual power to clear a meridian that had been blocked for many years.

The one whose Meridians were cleared was an elderly Loose Cultivator with white hair and beard, nearing eighty years of age, at the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

When Wang Chongyang's palm left his back, he abruptly coughed up a mouthful of black blood that had accumulated for who knows how many years. Immediately afterwards, the Meridians throughout his entire body became unblocked, and his spiritual power circulated with a smoothness he had not experienced in decades.

The elderly Loose Cultivator knelt on the ground and refused to get up, calling him "Respected Master". Yet Wang Chongyang merely waved his hand, said "A mere trifle," and continued with the lecture.

On the fifth day of the lectures, he lectured on the Dao of Qi Transformation, which was spellcasting.

The Loose Cultivators lined up and stepped forward, casting spells one by one and getting reprimanded one by one.

Such one-on-one guidance was a privilege reserved only for Inner Sect Disciples in any Sect, yet Wang Chongyang bestowed it upon these completely unacquainted Loose Cultivators.

"Master Wang is teaching us at the cost of his life."

"Indeed, Master Chongyang's Lifespan is running out. Every bit of mental energy he expends is cutting into his already scarce remaining Lifespan."

It was unknown who said these words, but they quickly spread across the entire stone terrace.

The gazes that the Loose Cultivators directed at Wang Chongyang and the Wang family transformed from gratitude into awe, and from awe into something deeper, indescribable and unclear.

Originally, the first round of lectures was scheduled for five days. However, on the sixth day, many Loose Cultivators still gathered and refused to disperse. Because of this, Wang Chongyang made an exception and lectured on the Dao of Breaking Barriers on the sixth day.

On this day, Wang Chongyang did not lecture on any specific Mind-Cultivation Technique or Dharmic method.

He sat on the stone platform for an hour, analyzing one by one all the Bottlenecks he had encountered during the Qi Refinement Stage.

"Breaking through a Bottleneck does not rely on any Spirit Pills or wondrous medicine, nor does it rely on any peerless Cultivation Technique. For a Loose Cultivator, what you can rely on comes down to two words: endurance and comprehension."

"You always want to find shortcuts, tricks, and miraculous Medicinal Pills that can break through multiple Bottlenecks overnight. I am telling you, there are none. At least for Loose Cultivators, there are none. What you can rely on is only yourselves."

These words were spoken without mercy, yet the Loose Cultivators found them exceptionally agreeable to listen to.

Because they all knew in their hearts that what Wang Chongyang said was the truth. Although unpleasant to hear, it was the truth.

In this world, people willing to tell them the truth were far too few.

Time always passed quickly; a day's time quickly elapsed, and the lecture reached its end.

Old Daoist Chen knelt at the very front, tears streaming down his aged face: "Immortal Master, this old Daoist has practiced the Dao for fifty-eight years, and you are the first person willing to look at us straight and teach us genuine things. How can we ever repay this grace?"

The more than three hundred Loose Cultivators behind him knelt down in unison. Someone shouted hoarsely: "Immortal Master! Please lecture for one more day! This Disciple is willing to plow the spiritual fields for the Wang family for a year without taking any harvest, just to repay your grace!"

Shouts rose and fell on the stone terrace; some wanted to guard the mountain gates for the Wang family, some wanted to mine ores for the Wang family, while others who were not good with words simply struck their foreheads against the bluestone slab again and again.

Old Daoist Chen straightened his back and shouted with all his might: "If the Immortal Master is willing to lecture for one more day, from now on, the Wang family's affairs are our affairs. Even if we become dogs for the Wang family, we do so completely willingly!"

Wang Yaowu stood beneath the old pine tree, his clenched fists clicking audibly. "Eldest Brother, these Loose Cultivators... truly regard Sixth Uncle as their benefactor."

On the seventh day of the lectures—the final day won by the repeated requests of the Loose Cultivators—

when Wang Chongyang ascended the platform, no fewer than four hundred people had already gathered on the stone terrace.

The wooden scaffolding set up among the pine forests was long inadequate. Those who arrived later stood along the mountain paths, squeezed under the cliff walls, and some even rode on their companions' shoulders, all just to catch a distant glimpse of that grey figure upon the stone platform.

On this day, Wang Chongyang did not lecture on any new content.

He combed through everything he had lectured on during the previous six days from start to finish. From Qi guiding to Qi Gathering, from Qi Circulation to Qi Transformation, from barrier breaking to the direction of Foundation Establishment, he strung together the contents of these seven days into a complete Cultivation path.

By the end of the lecture, his voice had already grown hoarse—something very rare in the eyes of Cultivators—yet he still persisted in finishing every last word.

The stone terrace fell silent for a long time.

Then, that old Daoist who came from Funiu County stood up from the crowd, walked to the front of the stone platform, and bowed deeply toward Wang Chongyang.

He held high the stack of rough paper filled with writing in his hands, turned in a circle so everyone could see, and then spoke with a hoarse voice:

"Today, using his remaining Lifespan as firewood, the Immortal Master has lit a lamp for our generation of Loose Cultivators. We have nothing to repay you with, except to lift this lamp high above our heads and illuminate the path for those who come after.

Should the Wang family ever be in need in days to come, among the Loose Cultivators, there will surely be those who come carrying a lamp—even if the path ahead is an abyss of ten thousand zhang, as long as this lamp is not extinguished, this promise shall never be broken."

"This promise shall never be broken!!!"

Hundreds of people cried out in unison.