Chapter 28:
Chaojun the Super Handsome
OVER AT WOXUAN SANCTUM, Xuanji-zhenren stood on the lake with his hands behind his back and gazed at the two beams of light in the sky. “The new disciple Qingtong took in is truly extraordinary to have established his foundation in less than a year.”
“Such brilliance must imply substantial power,” Yuanhai drawled from where he was standing on the zigzag bridge.
“Indeed. He’s even faster than those with a heaven attribute.” Huaqing chuckled, poking Yuli with his elbow.
Yuli reacted to his cue. “Oh, yeah.”
Hearing this conversation, Cheng Xi clenched his fists. He’d thought he was a prodigy for reaching the third level of the qi-refining stage within a year. But now that dual-attribute trash had already established his foundation? How was that possible?! Just then, his fingers brushed against a cool porcelain bottle in his sleeves.
Oh right! It must have been because Mo Tianliao had eaten the secret pill Huaqing gave him!
Seeing the disdainful looks his own master and seniors were throwing him, Cheng Xi decided to eat that secret pill tonight. He had to establish his foundation as soon as possible too, or he wouldn’t get to become a personal disciple!
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MEANWHILE, on a nearby mountaintop, a marten gnawing on a chicken drumstick looked up with interest and patted the white rabbit munching on grass beside it. “Who exactly is Mo-shidi?”
The rabbit ignored him and crunched through the grass stalks in his mouth before pulling out another one.
“Hey! You ate up all the Swordleaf Grass again!” the marten shouted.
The rabbit froze, looked down at the newly shorn grass, and silently swallowed the half-chewed stalk in his mouth.
“Oh my, what are we going to do now? Shifu hasn’t had his dinner today. Maybe I should send you over.” The marten held the drumstick in his mouth and hopped around in front of the rabbit.
“Shut up!” The rabbit sprang up and slammed into the marten, sending him flying, then plopped down on top of him.
The rabbit was a chubby, round ball of fur, while the marten was a slender little thing. The marten struggled from where he was pinned under the rabbit, but the only thing still visible was his large tail slapping against the ground.
“You two are fighting again!” Yanlie, who had come to summon his two juniors, walked over in resignation and picked one up in each hand. He shook the dusty marten. “Change to human form and follow me to Woyun Palace. We have guests coming.”
The marten jumped onto the ground and transformed into the charming Zimo. “Who? Not that bunch from Qingyun Sect coming to make trouble, I hope.”
The rabbit, behaving again now that his senior was here, jumped down and transformed into the docile Bailuo.
Yanlie narrowed his pretty eyes. “You need to stay on your toes. We folks at Woyun Sect will take just about anything except someone else’s crap.”
✦ ✦ ✦
TO ESTABLISH A FOUNDATION meant channeling the spiritual energy from all over the body into the core at the dantian, much like various rivers converging toward the ocean. Mo Tianliao slowly opened his eyes. An abundance of spiritual energy swirled in his core, and the once-lackluster woodfire finally came alive in a spirited dance.
Mo Tianliao glanced at the heap of shattered spiritual stones beside him and quirked a smile. Now that he’d established his foundation and he was chock-full of spiritual energy, he’d be able to use some of his higher-level spells. He could finally ride on his sword, too, and travel to faraway places in search of his divine artifact.
Pursing his lips, he picked up the jade slip for The Art of Burning Wood and held it against the center of his forehead, wanting to see what came next after the foundation establishment stage.
New words appeared in his consciousness, but the technique remained at qi-refining stage level. As to how to cultivate beyond the foundation establishment stage, there was only one statement: Figure it out yourself!
Speechless, Mo Tianliao put the jade slip away and walked out of his courtyard to find a man in white standing beneath the peach blossom tree.
Winter had passed, and spring had come. Before he’d realized it, a year had gone by, and the peach blossoms in the courtyard were blooming again. The tree of light pink blossoms was as picturesque as misty clouds, but even that was no match for the person by the tree. The whole world paled in comparison to the handsome face that slowly turned to look at him.
“Why are you here?” Mo Tianliao walked over and reached for his hand.
Qingtong raised his hand to avoid Mo Tianliao’s and frowned. This insolent disciple is really getting more and more impudent, going “you, you, you” all the time. Where’s his respect for his shizun? And the audacity to grab his master’s hand. Outrageous!
“Just passing by.” Qingtong harrumphed and turned to leave.
Mo Tianliao was taken aback. Then his lips curved into a slight smile as understanding dawned on him—his master had come to protect him during his breakthrough.