Only after roughly finishing the Herb Transformation Art did Xu Ziqing realize how fortunate he had been earlier.
Before a spiritual source had been established, spiritual energy only remained temporarily in the dantian. No matter how docile that spiritual energy seemed, it had not been refined and was fundamentally incompatible with the physical body. With the slightest mishap, his dantian could have exploded just now, destroying his cultivation entirely. Fortunately, he had only entered meditation once before trying such a thing, so nothing had happened. He absolutely could not do it again.
After breathing a sigh of relief, Xu Ziqing finally had time to examine his body. He was originally a half-grown boy, still at an age when he had barely begun maturing, so naturally he was not very tall. But after this bout of meditation, he seemed to have grown by about one cun. His skin was fair and lustrous, with something of a jade-like sheen, even finer than a young boy’s skin had been before.
Elio’s Notes: A cun (寸) is a traditional Chinese unit of length. The source says Xu Ziqing grew by roughly one cun after meditation, so the original unit is preserved rather than silently converted.
According to the basics recorded in the Herb Transformation Art, the grime that had appeared on the surface of his body was made up of impurities expelled from within as spiritual energy entered him. As he continued cultivating, more impurities would be expelled until he completed Foundation Establishment and was finally considered thoroughly “cleansed.” Xu Ziqing thought that the process of cultivating to increase one’s cultivation was essentially a process of “washing clean” both the inside and outside of one’s body.
Cultivation was like rowing against the current: if one did not advance, one would retreat. Since it was already late and he could not go out to work, he might as well continue cultivating. Xu Ziqing climbed back onto the bed, sat cross-legged, and entered meditation again.
After that, at Old He’s request, Xu Ziqing followed him into the spiritual fields during the day, listening to his instruction while helping with various tasks. At night, he returned to cultivate, diligently absorbing spiritual energy to fill his dantian. The days passed quickly. Xu Ziqing enjoyed himself immensely and did not feel bored in the slightest.
However, each day he had only half as much time to cultivate as those highly gifted people who did not need to perform miscellaneous work, perhaps even less. Xu Ziqing knew his progress would certainly be much slower than that of many who had begun at the same time, so he practiced tirelessly whenever he had even a moment to spare. After some time, he had made a modest amount of progress.
Old He did not know how full Xu Ziqing’s dantian had become. As far as he was concerned, teaching him the cultivation method had fulfilled his obligation. What he truly taught Xu Ziqing was the craft of tending spiritual herbs. Old He was already over one hundred and seventy years old, and in fewer than thirty years his body would begin to decline. He had to cultivate a successor loyal to the Xu family.
And precisely because Xu Ziqing bore the surname Xu, Old He held even less back. After all, Xu Ziqing’s name had been entered into the clan genealogy. No matter how low his status, he ought to feel some sense of belonging to the clan, sharing in the Xu family’s prosperity and suffering in its decline. Although Xu Ziqing did not actually feel the attachment to the Xu family that Old He imagined, he did respect Old He himself and had no objection to remaining in the spiritual-herb garden as a menial worker like him, cultivating immortality while living among spiritual herbs.
Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, two months had passed.
One day, Xu Ziqing was crouched halfway to the ground, gently smoothing out a long, slender leaf of a spiritual herb, when an enraged shout suddenly exploded through the air like thunder. His head rang from the force of it, and he nearly tore the leaf in two.
“Xu Zhengtian, your Xu family has gone too far!”
Xu Ziqing had no idea who had shouted, but the voice was saturated with spiritual power. He was not the only one affected. Throughout the Xu family, every young disciple below the seventh layer of Qi Refinement turned pale and panicked. Some unlucky ones who happened to be meditating were violently jolted awake and spat out blood.
Xu Ziqing was protected by the formation above the Hundred Herbs Garden that safeguarded the spiritual herbs, and Old He reacted in time to grab his wrist and lend him aid, so he was merely startled. But immediately afterward, thunder began exploding continuously overhead. The unending booms left him dizzy and disoriented.
Beside him, Old He wondered aloud, “Who is battling the family head?”
A moment later, another deep voice resounded through the sky. “Tian Cheng, I respected you as head of the Tian family and yielded a little so you could vent your anger. That doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you. Yet you refuse to let this go. Do you truly think I, Xu Zhengtian, am so easy to bully?”
Tian Cheng shot back without yielding in the slightest, “You humiliated me. Let our abilities decide who is right!”
Xu Zhengtian replied, “You don’t know what’s good for you! The Xu family is not a place where you can throw your weight around!”
Both men were Foundation Establishment experts, and their battle of arts shook Heaven and Earth. Tian Cheng first filled the sky with rolling thunder. Xu Zhengtian then transformed into streak after streak of light. As they traded blows, they resembled two furious dragons churning the rivers, making the spiritual energy above the entire Xu estate boil like water.
For a time, no one dared recklessly draw in spiritual energy. If they happened to pull one of the two experts’ spells toward themselves, would they not be inviting disaster and throwing away their own lives?
Xu Ziqing raised his head and could make out two tiny figures confronting each other amid howling wind and thunder. For ten li in every direction, thunder cracked, lightning flashed, and gales raged. Even a bird would probably have been unable to fly into the sky.
“This… is the power of Foundation Establishment cultivators…” he murmured involuntarily.
Old He was also looking up at the two men. “The family head is mindful of the people in the main family, so this battle is taking place a thousand li above us. The reason you and I can see all those spell-lights filling the sky without being struck by the aftermath is because the family head is controlling it.”
Xu Ziqing asked, “Since both are Foundation Establishment experts, which side will win?”
Old He answered without hesitation, “Naturally, our family head has the advantage. Even at the same level, there are differences in strength. Tian Cheng of the Tian family and our family head belong to the same generation, but Tian Cheng’s aptitude is inferior. Our family head has been in mid-stage Foundation Establishment for twenty years, while Tian Cheng only entered the middle stage two years ago. The family head’s foundation is deeper, and he is the one controlling the pace of this fight.”
Xu Ziqing nodded inwardly. That certainly seemed to be the case. Tian Cheng wanted to cause destruction within the Xu estate, while the family head wanted to protect it. Yet the two had ultimately fought their way to a place where the Xu family would not be affected, which was clearly the result of the family head’s efforts.
The battle in the sky had not yet ended. Tian Cheng practiced a cultivation method that manipulated thunder, filling the heavens with flashing lightning, booming thunder, and violent winds. The family head, Xu Zhengtian, wielded wind and thunder in his hands, sending spiritual energy surging with every movement and forcibly containing all the lightning within the clouds without allowing so much as a trace to escape.
Manipulating thunder was certainly no simple feat, but completely containing it was harder still. Old He could clearly see Xu Zhengtian’s growing advantage, and so could the more highly cultivated Xu disciples.
As the battle dragged on, Tian Cheng’s spiritual power was ultimately not inexhaustible, and signs of decline gradually began to show. Xu Zhengtian, by contrast, still seemed entirely at ease. Suddenly, he swept both arms outward and sent a line of fire around Tian Cheng, encircling him completely. Tian Cheng slipped up and was struck in the chest by the fiery line. With a cry, he spat out a mouthful of blood and plummeted backward, barely managing to steady himself before hitting the ground.
“Xu Zhengtian, you… very well!” Tian Cheng forced down his anger and slashed a palm toward the ground. An overwhelmingly powerful pressure immediately crashed down from the sky, making the Qi Refinement cultivators below sway on their feet.
Xu Zhengtian’s eyes flew wide with fury. “Tian Cheng, you bastard! You dare!”
Tian Cheng laughed wildly. “What wouldn’t I dare? You can clean up the mess yourself!” Wind rose beneath his feet, and his entire body fled into the distance.
Only one arrogant declaration remained behind him: “When Kaiyuan comes around this year, my Tian family will make all of you regret this!”
Xu Zhengtian had no time to answer. Tian Cheng had acted with vicious intent. Before leaving, he deliberately used his full spiritual power to strike the undefended Eastern Main Courtyard not far from Feijiu Mountain. Those living there were all highly promising cultivation seedlings, but none currently possessed the strength to protect themselves. How could they possibly escape a full-strength attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator? If they were lost, the Xu family’s next generation would inevitably face a serious gap in talent.
With no other choice, Xu Zhengtian descended from the high sky at top speed. Even if he had to take the blow himself, he had to prevent the Eastern Main Courtyard from being damaged.
At that critical instant, a shadow suddenly flew out from Feijiu Mountain. Because it was closer, it reached the Eastern Main Courtyard before Xu Zhengtian could.
Immediately afterward, a streak of sword light shot out and slashed viciously into the nearly tangible attack with a deafening crash.
Where the sword light passed, the attack Tian Cheng had left behind shattered completely and vanished in an instant.
By the time Xu Zhengtian arrived, even the aftershock had already dispersed, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Well done.” He patted the newcomer on the shoulder, then returned with him to Feijiu Mountain.
After witnessing the scene, Old He sighed. “It seems that from today onward, the Xu and Tian families have completely fallen out. I wonder what dispute arose between the two family heads to make Tian Cheng so furious that he came here and started fighting.”
Xu Ziqing knew the elder was not asking a newly arrived menial worker like him, merely speaking to himself. But Xu Ziqing had a question of his own and could not help asking, “Steward He, who was the person who cut apart the Tian family head’s attack with that sword light? He was extraordinarily powerful.”
Old He smiled. “That was Xu Zifeng.”
Xu Zifeng? Xu Ziqing thought carefully and remembered an arrogant-looking but still rational young woman named Xu Zitang. He had heard that she had an elder brother by blood named Xu Zifeng.
That day, Xu Zitang had come to the Hundred Herbs Garden seeking a Thousand-Grain Grass precisely so a Qi-Replenishing Pill could be refined for Xu Zifeng after his successful Foundation Establishment, replenishing his vital essence.
Judging by Xu Zifeng’s sword just now, its sword light had been fierce and chilling. Even Xu Ziqing, a complete novice who had only just stepped onto the path of immortal cultivation, could tell that Xu Zifeng’s aura was deep and steady, without the slightest sign of instability. Presumably, he had already recovered completely.
He had only just reached Foundation Establishment, yet he could block a strike from Tian Cheng, who was at mid-stage Foundation Establishment. Tian Cheng had admittedly already consumed a great deal of spiritual power, but Xu Zifeng had blocked the attack with effortless composure, which was more than enough to show how extraordinary he was.
For a moment, Xu Ziqing felt some admiration for Xu Zifeng.
Seeing the yearning in Xu Ziqing’s expression, Old He could not help smiling. “Xu Zifeng is indeed the most gifted disciple our Xu family has produced in five hundred years. He is also of the direct line, so his status was already quite high. On top of that, his Dao heart is firm and he cultivates with extraordinary diligence. Reaching Foundation Establishment at twenty-five has brought immense honor to our Xu family. His standing can now be said to surpass that of all the elders. If you have the will, you can use him as a mirror. Even if you can’t catch up to him, you can still measure yourself against his example.”