38: The Enlightenment of the Ancestors

Xuan Yangzi, with red-rimmed eyes, handed over the jade box, his heart aching as he watched Fifth Ancestor "struggle" to open the lid.

The Old Ancestors were so weak they couldn't even open a box!

The moment the box opened, the rich Qi emanating from the Innate Spirit Marrow invigorated the Spiritual Qi of the entire Forbidden Ground.

Fifth Ancestor's hand trembled; that brat Gu Changge even gave this away?

"This... this is too precious..."

Fifth Ancestor was truly trembling this time.

Xuan Yangzi, however, misunderstood and quickly steadied his shaking hand.

"Old Ancestor, don't get excited! Take your time!"

He then turned to the other Old Ancestors and said, "This spiritual tea is also a treasure of Junior Brother Gu. He said it can calm the mind and nourish Qi, and there's a chance it can lead to an Epiphany..."

Fourth Ancestor's beard subtly twitched. Could it really be enlightenment tea?

Great Ancestor, seeing through the ruse, quickly and "weakly" changed the subject: "Little Yangzi... is the Sect... doing well recently?"

"Thanks to the Old Ancestors, all is well."

Xuan Yangzi respectfully replied, thinking that the Old Ancestors, in their current state, were still concerned about the Sect. He felt like crying again.

Second Ancestor suddenly began to "violently" cough: "It's... getting late... you... you should go back to your duties..."

Xuan Yangzi understood; the Old Ancestors were running out of strength!

He quickly stood up: "Disciple bids farewell. Old Ancestors, please rest well."

Before leaving, he didn't forget to gently place the tea caddy by the stone platform.

As soon as Xuan Yangzi's figure completely disappeared and the Forbidden Ground's barrier closed, the five "dying" old men instantly sprang up, full of vigor.

"Quick! Reinforce the barrier three times!"

Great Ancestor, no longer weak, spoke with a booming voice.

Fifth Ancestor was already circling the enlightenment tea on the stone platform: "Is this really enlightenment tea? I've only seen descriptions of it in ancient texts!"

Third Old Ancestor hugged the tea caddy and sniffed it intensely: "I feel like I'm about to enter an Epiphany just from smelling a single whiff of the tea's fragrance!"

Fourth Ancestor impatiently snatched the tea caddy, his fingers trembling: "Quick, quick, quick, brew a pot and try it first!"

Second Ancestor, however, suddenly pressed down on the tea caddy, his expression solemn: "Wait! If this tea is truly enlightenment tea, we must first adjust our state."

Great Ancestor stroked his beard and nodded: "Second Ancestor is right. We should first adjust our own state..."

Before he finished speaking, Fifth Ancestor had already secretly broken off a small piece of tea leaf and popped it into his mouth.

"Fifth Ancestor! You!" Third Old Ancestor's eyes widened.

Fifth Ancestor trembled all over, and three golden lotus phantoms suddenly appeared above his head, with Dao Rhyme flowing around his body.

He closed his eyes tightly and directly entered an Epiphany!

"This prodigal!"

Great Ancestor stomped his foot in anger.

"He just swallowed a piece of tea leaf like that! What a waste of heavenly resources!"

Fourth Ancestor, quick-witted, immediately protected the remaining tea leaves in his arms.

"Not a single leaf of the rest can be missing! We need to ask that brat Gu Changge where this tea came from!"

Just then, Xuan Yangzi's voice suddenly came from outside the barrier: "Old Ancestors, Disciple forgot to mention, the Sect competition is in four months..."

The five old men instantly froze, and with lightning speed, reverted to their dying appearance.

Great Ancestor even fell to the ground with a "thud," not forgetting to pull down the enlightened Fifth Ancestor with him.

The barrier opened, and Xuan Yangzi, seeing the Old Ancestors "fainted" haphazardly, immediately panicked: "Old Ancestors! What happened to you!"

Third Old Ancestor "weakly" raised his hand: "N-nothing... Fifth Ancestor... his old injury relapsed..."

Fifth Ancestor cooperatively "twitched" twice, a bit of uncleaned tea leaf residue still clinging to the corner of his mouth.

Xuan Yangzi fumbled to pull out a Jade Slip for communication: "I'll call Junior Brother Gu right away!"

"No!" The four Old Ancestors simultaneously "sat up in their death throes," startling Xuan Yangzi.

Great Ancestor quickly explained: "Such a small matter... no need to trouble Changge... you... you go back first..."

Xuan Yangzi looked suspiciously at the mess on the ground, then at the suddenly energetic Old Ancestors, feeling that something was amiss... And at this moment, Fifth Ancestor was cursing loudly in a Divine Sense message.

"You old geezers! I was having an Epiphany! You interrupted me!"

Xuan Yangzi retreated from the Forbidden Ground with heavy steps, the barrier slowly closing behind him.

The Old Ancestors' momentary "spirit" was too abnormal just now, especially that bit of emerald green tea leaf residue at the corner of Fifth Ancestor's mouth, which pricked his heart like a thorn.

But then he thought, perhaps the Old Ancestors were briefly invigorated by the tea's Qi, but in the end, their bodies were still at their wit's end.

So he suppressed the urge to turn back and walked towards Qingyun Peak.

Inside the barrier, the five "withered trees" on the stone platforms instantly came alive.

"Quick! Reinforce the barrier!"

Great Ancestor sprang up from the stone platform, his previously hunched back now ramrod straight, his voice booming and shaking stone fragments down.

He formed a hand seal, and three golden lights shot into the edge of the Forbidden Ground. The previously translucent barrier instantly solidified like glazed glass, and even the air seemed to freeze.

Fifth Ancestor was already squatting on the ground, hugging the box of Innate Spirit Marrow, his fingers trembling like falling leaves in autumn wind, as he carefully extracted a drop of Innate Spirit Marrow.

As soon as the spiritual liquid touched the air, it transformed into wisps of mist, emitting a moist Qi that could make metal and stone grow moss.

"Tsk tsk, this is Innate Spirit Marrow..."

He put the spiritual liquid into his mouth, and immediately his whole body trembled, the turbidity in his eyes vanishing completely.

"How many treasures did Daoist Zizhu leave for that brat Gu Changge?"

"Don't just enjoy yourself!"

Third Old Ancestor snatched the tea caddy, roughly tore open the lid, and the rich tea fragrance instantly burst forth, actually condensing into tiny golden particles on the stone platform.

He picked up a tea leaf, brought it to his nose, and inhaled sharply, his beard trembling like waves.

"It's enlightenment tea! It really is enlightenment tea! The ancient texts say that one leaf can make a Saint enter an Epiphany!"

"Less talk, brew it!"

Second Ancestor had already moved a stone basin and somehow produced a chipped coarse porcelain bowl.

"Brew it with spiritual spring water!"

Fourth Ancestor, quick as a flash, flicked his finger, and a clear spring gushed from a crack in the stone, tinkling as it fell into the bowl, a faint spiritual light floating on the surface.

Third Old Ancestor's hand, holding the tea leaves, trembled repeatedly, eventually hardening his heart and dropping in five leaves—any more, and he feared he wouldn't be able to control himself and would go mad on the spot.

"This prodigal!"

Great Ancestor was about to curse, but his mind was severely shaken by the tea fragrance in the bowl.

The aroma drilled up his nasal cavity into his Sea of Consciousness, instantly transforming into countless tiny light spots that rattled the Bottleneck that had him stuck at the Peak of the King Realm.

He no longer cared about lecturing Fifth Ancestor, picked up the coarse porcelain bowl, and drank it all in one gulp.

He then sat cross-legged, his eyes tightly closed, his body's spiritual power surging like a tsunami, and the cracks on the stone platform actually healed slowly under the nourishment of the spiritual power.

Second Ancestor and Fourth Ancestor also rushed to share the tea soup. After a few gulps, they each found a clean stone platform and sat down.

On the stone platforms, the five old men sat or lay, their bodies enveloped in a faint glow. The previously Death Qi-filled Forbidden Ground was now even more vibrant than the spiritual fields of Zizhu Peak.

Only Fifth Ancestor's resentment over his interrupted Epiphany still drifted intermittently in his Divine Sense: "When I get out... I'm definitely going to beat that brat Xuan Yangzi..."

Before he finished speaking, he was completely submerged by the surging wave of Epiphany.

The Dao rumbled in his Sea of Consciousness, and the golden light around his body grew even more intense. Even the moss on the stone platform was imbued with Spiritual Qi, growing wildly into jade-like vines.